Chapter 109

Doomsday Clock

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Igneel crashed into Acnologia and the two behemoths glared at each other. "That's… Igneel?" Lucy mumbled in fear.

The creatures roared at each other before crashing heads. "It… was in… you…" Juvia stuttered out. "What, how?"

"Gajeel? You okay?" Levy questioned.

"The pain… it stopped." He mumbled out as his body stopped shaking.

The entire battlefield, human and demon alike, stared in shock at the two reptilians slammed into each other. A mix of fear and wonder permeated the air as Mard Geer jumped away from his own fight. "The wings of darkness, Acnologia. The king of flames, Igneel. There's no way I'm letting you get in the way of my plans. You'll be among the forgotten ones when Face detonates."

Back in the frozen center, the five looked up in horror. "Gajeel, hang in there!" Levy begged.

"The hell is happening…" He mumbled before turning to Natsu. "Oi! Salamander! Was that Igneel!? What the hell was he doing in you!?"

Natsu was shaking as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "The hell I'd know…" He confessed. "And here I was, looking for him the whole time…" Fire shot out of his feet and he took to the sky in anger. "Don't screw with me, Igneel!"

He latched onto his father's tail and started climbing, much to his annoyance. "Fool! I told you we'd talk later!"

"No! We're talking now!" Natsu snapped back, now on his wing. "Why'd you go missing so suddenly!? You were in me the whole time!? Where're Gajeel, Wendy and Laki's dragons! What happened on July 7, 777!?"

"SHUT UP!" The Fire Dragon swung his tail and swatted Acnologia back. In annoyance, he grabbed Natsu in his claw before unleashing a torrent of flames. Natsu watched in horror as the Black Dragon was encased in a fiery explosion.

"Whoa… you did it." He mumbled in shock.

"No. It didn't even land a scratch on him." Igneel replied. True to his words, Acnologia flapped his wings and roared in defiance at the attack. "Now I'm fired up. Natsu, stay out of this."

"No way! It's been too long since we've seen each other and this is how you treat me!?" The human snapped back.

"Like I said boy, we'll talk later." Igneel replied. "For now, I have a job for you." Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "Heard you joined a guild or something? Consider this a request. Look."

He pointed down and Natsu stared at Mard Geer. "See that book in his hands? That's the book of E.N.D. Get it for me."

"Why would I do that?" Natsu asked back.

"Because it's something only you can do." His father answered. "Besides, that man is the cause of all this chaos and death. Isn't that reason enough to go after him?" Natsu nodded before turning to his father. "Listen well, NEVER open that book. Just take it from him. It shouldn't be in his hands."

"What's the reward?" Natsu asked, confusing the dragon. "I'm in a guild, you know…"

"…I'll tell you everything you wanted to know." Igneel answered.

"I'll do it!" Natsu said with a smirk. With a smile, Igneel pulled his arm back and threw Natsu towards Mard Geer. "You'd better keep your promise this time!" Mard Geer heard the screaming and turned his head. "I'm all fired up!"

"And who might you be?" He questioned as Natsu's arm caught fire.

"I'm Igneel's son!" Natsu shouted, throwing a punch. Mard Geer caught it and the blast pushed him backwards.

"The son of a dragon?" Mard Geer questioned before a kick ended his train of thought.

He was pushed back even more as Natsu sprinted towards him. "I'm taking that book! And stoping Face! It's over!"

Mard Geer almost chuckled as he waved his hand, creating series of thorny vines. To his shock, Natsu dodged all of them perfectly. 'How could he dodge a curse he's never seen before?'

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed his burning fist into Mard Geer's face, the same time Igneel punched Acnologia.

The king of the underworld smiled as Natsu set himself ablaze. 'Kyouka, can you hear me?'

Control Room

The bird demon turned to the destruction the dragons were wreaking at the voice in her head. 'Lord Mard Geer?'

'These dragons are more trouble than I thought.' He explained. 'So I've decided to detonate the Faces sooner. You're in the control room, aren't you?

'Yes… but you should know, M'lord, Keyes and Sayla have been defeated. She reported in shame. 'Which leaves us with no way of controlling the chairman.'

'No need to worry.' Mard Geer replied. 'Once the Faces have been activated, anyone can trigger a detonation. Even you. The main lacrima should be in the control room. Simply use Body Link to connect yourself with it.'

'Body Link!?' Kyouka repeated in shock and horror.

'By doing so, you will make yourself the key. Which will allow us to expidite our plan.' He explained. 'If we can activate Face, we can stop these wizards for good. And if we're lucky, we maybe able to drain the dragon's life force. Then our master, E.N.D. will finally be revived. Victory will be ours. Now Kyouka, do it.'

'…Lord Mard Geer.' She whispered back. 'If I were to Link my own curse power with the power of the Faces, then I would die."

'So what?' Mard Geer asked back, scaring Kyouka. 'Are you afraid to die?'

'Not at all.' She replied. 'If it means Tartaros is victorious, I will gladly give my life.'

'Everything we do, we do for our Lord Zeref!' Both declared as she raised her hand upwards, her claws digging into the crystal. Like a grappling hook, she pulled herself up and hung upside down, her body glowing in a green aura as she screamed in pain.

Thousands of dots appeared around the group, scaring everyone as the lacrima shrank. "Theses are all the Face locations throughout the continent." Kyouka declared as she stood up. "And now, you are looking at the official detonator. I've just made things very easy for you, Erza dear. If you kill me, then you will stop the Faces."

'Regardless, I'll be dead either way.'

"You certainly are full of yourself." Erza said back. "But have you never considered the possibility that you could lose?"

"No need. For I have something you don't." She jumped off the orb and it was then that Erza saw her transformation.

Kyouka had gained a mask similar to her original one with long structures on the side resembling horns. Her hair was replaced by a large tuft of feathers with a long ponytail that reaches down her body and ends in another tuft. She gained pauldrons made of feathers and revealing black armor that covered her arms and wraps around her torso, revealing most of her stomach and breasts. Her legs were covered by black boots that begin mid-thigh where they are lined with feathers.

With one slash, she cut through both Erza's sword and her armor. "I am Kyouka, Goddess of the Slave Planet. And this is my true Etherious form."

"She broke her armor bear handed!?" Pantherlily asked in shock.

Kyouka let out a roar and the timer suddenly jumped ahead nine minutes. "She can will the timer to count down faster!?" Minerva questioned in horror. "Hurry, Erza!"

"I know!" Erza quickly donned her Black Wing Armor and rushed forward.

"I cannot be defeated by you." Kyouka declared. "My Curse is enhancement. Every second, my power increases. A demon that can increase her power without limit. With my body linked to the activation lacrima, when Face goes off, I shall perish." Her words shocked the entire group. "But I have no regrets." She swung her claw and blasted Erza backwards.

"If Master E.N.D can be revived with this, if we can return to Zeref with this, I will gladly do so!"

"Why are all of you so hell-bent making this so!?" Erza shouted as she dodged an attack.

"Because it is our destiny." Kyouka answered, swinging wildly as her attacks ripped through the stone. "We, the demons of Zeref's books, are destined to return to him. Lord Mard Geer likened it to a homing instinct. We are born of Zeref, and so we shall return to Zeref."

"No, you chose death!" Erza declared now in her Heaven's Wheel armor. "You gave up on the path you walked with your friends."

"SILENCE!" Kyouka roared in anger before a chain of Curse Power hit everyone. Erza froze in panic as her entire body ached in pain. "It hurts, doesn't it?" She chuckled. "I have laid bare your sense of pain. Now, even the slightest breeze will wrack your body in pain."

She walked over and found the others in a similar state. "It seems I was unable to fully control my powers. Even your friends are affected by it." Kyouka blew on Erza and she screamed on pain before toppling over. The demon stomped on the red heads gut and she cried in pain. "Brings back memories, doesn't it Erza? Remember the fun we had in that little room?"

Erza could say nothing as she shook in pain. "Armor doesn't suit you. It hides your beautiful skin." Kyouka sliced off the armor piece by piece, leave her almost naked. "Know despair, Erza. First, I shall steal your sight." Erza flinched in horror as her vision slowly faded away, the last thing she saw was Kyouka's laughing face.

"Now touch. Taste. Smell. And finally sound. These are the last words you will ever hear in your life." The others collapsed as well, Kyouka's power overwhelming hitting them. "When I told you I had no regrets in my life, I lied… I do have one regret…" She confessed, knowing they couldn't hear her. "I'm looking for someone I lost long ago-"

A wooden whip wrapped around her neck, cutting her off as she gripped the timber. "I don't know what you did to Erza and the others, but it stops here!" Laki declared, holding on for dear life. "Rose, get them somewhere safe!"

"On it, Laki!" Rose shouted, sprouting her wings.

"It… can't be…" Kyouka said with a smirk. Rose suddenly fell to the ground as she snapped her binding free. Instantly, she rushed Laki and dug her claws into her shoulder.

To both their surprise, black blood came out of the fresh wound. "Fare truly is a cruel mistress. After all these years, I finally found you, and on my death bed no less. Little Laki… You are my daughter."

Laki stared at the wound in shock before regaining her senses and head-butted Kyouka backwards. "Impossible…" She growled back, hooding her shoulder. "I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling, but I'm a human being. Not a damn demon."

"Then explain that." Kyouka pointed at the wound, still leaking blood. "Only demons have black blood."

"Stop lying to me!" Laki launched a massive wooden spike at Kyouka, who dodged and sliced it apart.

"I studied demon anatomy for years." Kyouka explained, charging and swinging her claws. "I thought to improve upon what Zeref had done with us." Laki summoned her Bark Shield and it was torn apart, as well as some of her clothing. "After decades of research and countless failures, I finally succeeded!"

She rushed past Laki and sliced her hair off, cutting her face on the cheek. "I made you, the first of the next generation of demons. I raised you like a daughter, but you were growing too comfortable with me. So I left you in a forest for a trial of blood and courage."

Laki stumbled to the ground, black blood coming out of her face. "Then why do I remember having a dad?" Laki asked.

"It's most likely you imprinted on Mard Geer." Kyouka chuckled, kicking her 'daughter' back. "When I returned to that forest, you were gone. The Underworld King declared it a failure, and destroyed all my research." She dug her claws into the opposite shoulder, making Laki cry in pain. "But I never loat hope I would find you."

"Now, we will stand side by side as the age of magic comes to an end. And you will be the first to greet Master E.N.D. in this new era."

"Stop lying to me!" Laki shouted. "I know who I am, and that isn't some lab rat you abandoned in the woods!"

"I see…" The demoness retracted her claws and stepped off her. "It seems you must be freed of these distractions." She walked over to the downed Erza and held up her hands. "With their death, you will be free and join me."

"Stop it…" Laki groaned out, pushing herself up.

"Oh, no. Erza is too much fun to kill off." Kyouka chuckled as she turned to Happy and Rose. "These two, on the other hand, are useless."

"Stop it…" Laki's arms hung from her side as her glasses fell off. "Stop it."

"Say good bye to these pathetic creatures." The demoness declared, bring her claws down.

"STOP IT!"

Laki exploded in a black aura, blinding Kyouka and stopping the assault. "I don't believe it…" She mumbled in amazement, Laki's eyes glowing red at her. "You've unleashed your Etherious form." She did nothing as Laki rushed past her and sliced her chest open, killing Kyouka.

"I'm… proud of you…" She mumbled, falling to the ground. Laki returned to normal and collapsed, the others slowly standing up.

"Wha-what happened?" Erza questioned, pushing heself up with a sword. "Laki? Rose? When did you two get here?"

"Just after you guys lost all your senses." The Exceed replied. "But then I don't know. Looks like Laki won somehow."

"So, does that mean we stopped Face?" Minerva asked before looking up. Her eyes went wide and everyone else followed her gaze. To their abject horror, the clock above their heads read 0.

Yeah, how's this for a twist? I've been planning this for a while now as a replacement for the canon explanation because… I'll be honest, I'm less annoyed at the outcome as I am with the excuse. If they actually came up a good reason for why Erza won, I'd be fine. But the whole 'because she's Erza' thing is just stupid.

And if you're a bit perturbed that I didn't show Laki's Etherious form, don't worry about it. You'll see her in her full glory down the line. But yeah, not much left to say for this now. Hope you all had a happy holiday season. I'll see ya next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang