"Ice Make: Eagles!" Lyon exclaimed as he threw his hands forward, causing a cyan magic seal to appear before him, unleashing a flurry of flying ice eagles towards Ur.
"Ice Make: Shield!" Ur shouted as she spread her arms out, creating an ice shield to protect her front. But, Ur forgot that Lyon could actually move his ice creations, hence him being the dynamic ice mage make. The eagles circled around the shield, flanking Ur as a result, and slammed into her side, breaking her shield as a result.
"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray yelled, using this opportunity to rush Ur. He formed an ice hammer in his hands, and swung it at Ur's side, leaving her no time to react as the hammer slammed into her side, causing Ur to let out a grunt of pain.
"Gah…!" Ur grunted as she slid back, just barely managing to stop herself from rolling across the ground. The senior ice make wizard then look at the Lyon and Gray tag team, smirking slightly as she rubbed her side, noticing the bruise on it. "Not bad…"
"I think this proves I'm the star pupil," Lyon said to Gray with a smirk. "If it weren't for me, you and Juvia would be popsicles by now."
"We just softened her up for you…!" Gray replied, his own smirk forming.
"You two never did know when to stop fighting…" Ur shook her head slowly.
"Who said we're fighting?" Gray replied to Ur as he turned his attention back to her. "The only one we're fighting is you."
"Yes, and I feel I've been too lenient on you two…" Ur responded.
"Ice Make: Ape!" Lyon shouted as he completely ignored Ur's comment. From a magic seal, a giant ice ape appeared before Gray and Lyon.
"Hn…" Ur stood defensively as the ice ape made a charge forward. The ape reared its fist back, but Ur easily managed to dodge this by rolling off to the side.
While Ur was distracted with the ape, Gray ran forward, jumping into the air with his fist in his palm once again. "Ice Make: Prison!" A large ice cage formed above Ur, and fell down, aiming to trap her in it.
"Ugh…" Ur growled slightly at the incoming cage. "That won't work on me!" Ur shifted her body weight to the side, rolling once again, but as she came to a stop, the ice ape took her off guard, slamming a full powered haymaker at her jaw, the force literally sending her flying back. As she flew back, her back eventually hit the rocky ground, and she continued to slide for a few seconds before flipping and catching herself, her back now covered with cuts and bruises. "Agh…"
"Finally starting to make some leeway…" Gray chuckled before regaining his serious expression. "I told you…I don't go easy on anyone who hurts my comrades…"
.
.
Kairi and Azuma were locked in close combat; Kairi threw a high kick to Azuma's head, but Azuma block Kairi's leg with his forearm, now rearing his own fist back and throwing it forward at Kairi's jaw, but the angelic takeover mage managed to evade the attack, but Azuma's fist just barely scraped against her cheek. Following the dodge, Kairi threw a knee into Azuma's stomach, but the Tree Mage managed to dodge just before the hit could connect. "Now!" Kairi exclaimed as she cupped her hands together, creating a sphere in the empty space between her hands.
"Evil Push!" Mirajane shouted out, creating a magic circle behind Azuma that forcefully pushed him forward towards Kairi. Kairi fired off her beam of light, slamming directly into Azuma; a direct hit. This hit caused Azuma to fly back, moderately damaged from it, but he saved himself by causing a tree root to pop from the ground.
"Damn, he's still not down…!?" Kairi groaned at Azuma's endurance.
"How did you beat him last time…?" Mirajane asked Kairi while she took flight into the air.
"Skye's poisonous scythe is what finished him…we were having a rough time anyway…" Lairi replied, keeping her eyes locked on Azuma.
"If you can keep him distracted I can finish him in one shot." Mirajane said while keeping a steady height in the air.
"How long…?" Kairi asked. "And why do I have to be the distraction…?"
"Just follow my lead…" Mirajane replied. But, before Mirajane could do anything else, she noticed tree roots erupting from the ground beneath her. Her immediate reaction was to fly away, which she did, but a tree root wrapped around her angle, halting her progress completely. "!"
"Tree bomb!" Azuma exclaimed, and a small timer appeared at the base of the root. "Three seconds."
Mirajane remembered this attack all too well. It was what led to her loss against Azuma back on Tenoru Island, because he used it against her youngest sibling. Mirajane desperately tried to escape from the root, but to no avail. Before Kairi could reach Mirajane, the tree root violently exploded, the force so great some of it even damaged Kairi, thus causing her to fly back. "Gah…"!
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, Mirajane was seen still in her Satan Soul form, but her leg was heavily charred, almost unusable in fact. "A-Ah…" Mirajane winced as she pushed herself up, taking flight once again, but she had to ignore the searing pain in her leg.
"This isn't going well…" Kairi mumbled to herself as she picked herself up, shaking off whatever impact was still around her body. Kairi then ran forward, placing her palms forward as she released air bullets towards Azuma, but he just brought up a large tree root to protect himself from the bullets, much to Kairi's annoyance. "And this is getting annoying…"
Though injured, Mirajane saw her chance. Azuma was open, and that's all she needed. Since she was in Satan Soul, she had the ability to use some form of lightning magic. She allowed said magic to form around her arm that she drew back. With as much speed as she could muster, she threw her sparking arm forward at Azuma's temple, landing a direct hit. Azuma's eyes widened for a split second before he hurtled into the wall, KO'ed from the single hit. "Finally…" Mirajane let out a sigh before the pain of her injured leg finally caught up to her. She landed on the ground, leaning against the wall as she returned to her normal state to conserve magic. When she lifted up her dress, she noticed how bad the injury really was. "I need Wendy…" Mirajane mumbled to herself.
"Or Aira…" Kairi replied as her takeover also faded, walking over to Mirajane. "That looks bad…"
"I'll be fine…" Mirajane nodded to herself as she took a step forward, only to noticeably wince, but despite her frail stature, she didn't collapse from the pain. "Let's just…keep moving…"
.
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Evanee and Karma slid away from each other. Since Evanee still had prior injuries, she was on the losing end of the battle, plus Karma was naturally strong. "For an old man you sure don't move like one…"
"Tch," Karma merely shook his head. "I don't believe this…how could someone like you defeat Gaia…the EARTH Dragon…!?"
"Well, I was at full strength for starters…" Evanee said as she rolled her shoulders. "And secondly she gave up, which is something I suggest you do. I have two members that need rescuing, and you're standing in my way."
"No, you're staying here until I'm finish with you!" Karma nearly screamed, his anger apparent. "I will make you pay for shaming Cosmic Star!"
"You're still on about that…" Evanee sighed, but she kept her guard up, as this old man was rather unpredictable.
"Of course I am!" Karma gripped his cane tightly. "You...I don't know what you did, but Cosmic Star is in shambles because Gaia yielded to you! My crowning achievement, ruined! I had a Dragon following my commands!"
"You're blaming that on me?" Evanee rolled her eyes. "Guy-chan quit because she actually has a heart. So do the rest of them. I dunno what Guy-chan has on me...but...I know one thing: they deserve far better than you."
"How dare you!?" Karma snarled. "I was a former Pergrande solider! En route to become a Commandant! Until that woman snatched everything away from me. She may not realize it, but I was going to be the one to rise to the top!"
"I'm not asking for your life story!" Evanee lunged forward to punch Karma in the face, and it landed, causing him to stagger back.
Karma turned his head, spitting up blood, but grinned. "Oh ho, but you should! The formation of Cosmic Star all came about through Magnus! Do you know who destroyed his village, wiping out almost everyone who could see the future? It was me! Magnus was far too young to remember the incident itself, but I posed as someone passing through and took him in. With his power, I've been able to manipulate as many events as I want! Finding Gaia, Yakuza, Daryan, Alex, Shadowlore..."
"You really are a twisted old man..." Evanee grit her teeth.
"Tell me something, have you heard of Nymph magic?" Karma asked as he stroked his beard, now moving onto a more casual attitude, which surprised Evanee slightly, but she kept her guard up as she shook her head slowly. "Ah…I see…well, that's the magic I possess. Which is where my mist ability comes into play. But, I've realized something…my magic is far inferior to yours, the magic that made the mighty Gaia yield."
"So you're saying you're weaker than me…?" Evanee inquired as she cocked a brow.
"I didn't say that you little…" Karma quickly sighed, releasing his anger as he counted to ten in his head. "I'm saying my magic is weaker than yours, the Stone Dragon slayer magic you've possessed for quite a number of years now."
"It's MY magic," Evanee replied as she sneered at Karma. "What, are you going to pull something like that copycat and copy it?"
"Ew, no, copy magic is pointless. Why copy when I can just take?" Karma then smirked and stabbed his cane into the ground. His cane was no ordinary cane; it was a magic cane with a special ability. "Magic Swap!" The cane glowed brightly for a few seconds before two magic beams pulsed out, one striking Karma in the chest, and the other Evanee. Evanee's eyes widened as she could literally feel the stone dragon lacrima in her body being pulled out. She tried to pull herself away from the beam as a result, but she couldn't; all she could really do was stop herself from releasing what would've been an agonizing shriek of pain. The cane eventually pulled the dragon lacrima out, and pulled out a large sphere from Karma's chest, his own magic. "Excellent…"
"W-What the hell…..?" Evanee panted heavily, just barely able to support her body after all the strain put on it.
"We're not done yet!" Karma grinned and the can began to twirl around, now forcing the opposing magic's of the two mages to enter their bodies. Karma attained Evanee's third generation dragon slayer magic, while Evanee attained Karma's Nymph magic. After the magic swap was complete, Evanee fell to her knees, practically heaving. "So…this is what it feels like to have power capable of slaying a dragon…It's a shame the side effects of this spell render me unable to use this magic for quite some time…But I don't need this magic to finish you off, despite how delicious the irony would be…" Karma lifted his cane up, now standing over Evanee, who was too physically exhausted at this point to really do anything. "Now then…" Karma swung his cane down, but before it could strike Evanee...sharp spikes of black ice pierced through his chest. "...!?"
"...Sorry, old man." That came from Yakuza, who was standing behind the shocked Karma. His expression was stern. "I hate to do this, but this world would be a much better place without you in it."
'Y-Yakuza...!?" Karma tried to turn around, but he was frozen in place. "Why-!?"
"I heard what you just said...and also..." Yakuza stared down at the ground. "It's better to put you out of your misery. Just as your name, what goes around, comes around."
"You...you..." Karma could do nothing as his body was frozen solid, and proceeded to shatter into pieces, until there was nothing left of him.
"..." Evanee blinked slowly, looking up at Yakuza as she rested on a knee. "...You...were pretty cold about that..."
"...Yeah, maybe so." Yakuza said with a heavy sigh. "You know, he wasn't all bad. Well...he's always been like that, but he gave me and several others a place to call home. Even when he wasn't there, we were still able to mostly get along. Cosmic Star without Karma was...kind of a nice place. But he was also the only one keeping us together. Why do you think we all split up?"
Evanee paused for a moment, before standing up slowly. "...I don't think that's true. I dunno what all you were going through at the Games, but everyone could see he was a piece of trash to you all. But I think the one that kept you all together was Guy-ch...Gaia. I've seen how far she was willing to go to protect someone. I wouldn't be right here if it wasn't for her. Don't give up on Cosmic Star just yet. You guys just need a second chance to do things the way you want to, not the way someone out of touch with human emotion does. If you know what regret feels like, then you should know the steps to take to make sure you don't feel that way again." She stared at the spot Karma was once standing.
"Huh." Yakuza looked at Evanee, almost smiling. "I didn't know you could give good speeches."
"There's a lot you don't know about me." Evanee said.
"...Sorry about your magic." Yakuza realized he was a little too late on that front. "But if I didn't take that chance now, you would've..."
Evanee remained silent. "...It's...It's fine." She didn't have the time to think about it. She would later, but for now? They still had some fighting to do. She couldn't afford to relax yet. "How did you even get here?"
"Oh...some guy called the Dark Phantom just kinda brought me here." Yakuza rubbed the back of his neck.
"Huh. And also...are you going to tell Magnus the truth?" Evanee asked. Yakuza had to have heard that part.
Yakuza glanced away for a moment. "...I dunno. He really doesn't know the truth. He's known Karma longer than any of us. But he's a grown man. He's facing the present and the future with everything he's got. So someone has to help him accept the past as well. If it has to be me, so be it..."
"Try not to look so bored when you do." Evanee couldn't help but notice it. Yakuza's tone always held that drag to it.
.
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Laxus threw himself forward, attempting to slam an electric fist into Arc's midsection, but the darkness demon slayer swayed to the side, easily avoiding the hit. Arc counted with his own punch, but Laxus managed to dodge, now leaving a window open for Takeru, who came in with a spinning roundhouse aimed for Arc's face, but the demon slayer brought his forearm up, easily blocking the hit, though he did slide back slightly. "Damn, what is this guy?" Laxus asked while keeping his eyes locked on Arc.
"He's a demon…" Takeru replied.
"The darkness demon slayer…" Arc replied. "I don't know why I left this guild in the first place…It's clear I belong here…"
"Dammit, Arc…we were like brothers…!" Takeru replied.
"Which is why I'll go easy on you," Arc responded, a sinister grin forming on his lips.
"I don't care about your little relationship…" Laxus said as he held his hands above his head, creating a halberd of lightning in his hand. "Raging Bolt!" Laxus yelled as he threw his arms forward, sending the bolt hurtling towards Arc.
Arc merely smirked, allowing darkness to cover his hand. "Darkness Demon's Slash…" Arc threw his hand forward, cleaving through the Raging Bolt with ease, much to the surprise of Laxus.
"What the hell!?" Laxus' eyes widened somewhat, but he kept his guard up.
"My turn…" Arc's smirk turned into a grin, and with amazing speed, he rushed forward, slamming his knee into Laxus' stomach. He moved faster than a bolt of lightning, and before Laxus could react, Arc already slammed his leg into his side, causing Laxus to fly into the wall. But Laxus flew back just as fast, slamming his leg into Arc's stomach to send him flying into the wall in return. "Guh...!" That was a heavy hit, but it made Arc grin. Laxus was a challenge! Takeru, on the other hand...
"Dammit!" Takeru growled, now rushing towards Arc with his fist balled. "Darkness Shadow Dragon's Slash!" Takeru exclaimed as he swung his arm towards Arc, a heavy trail of darkness following behind, but Arc side stepped while swaying his body to the side, the perfect combination which allowed him to easily evade Takeru's attack. Arc then threw his own arm forward, smashing it into Takeru's side, causing Takeru to roll away, gripping his side in pain. "Ugh…"
"This guy is annoying…" Laxus let out a growl as he stood back up, rolling his neck. Sparks began to fly all around his body, electricity now flowing from his eyes as he popped his jaw open, unleashing a sudden Lightning Dragon's Roar upon Arcturus.
"Empty Eye…" Arc mumbled as he opened his eyes, causing Laxus' roar to disperse. Not just that, but Arc nullified all magic in the room aside from his own, meaning Takeru and Laxus were forced out of their forms, utterly caught off guard.
"What the hell just happened?!" Laxus asked as he looked around.
"He took away our magic…!?" Takeru shouted in shock.
While the two dragon slayers were distracted, Arc began to inhale. What was he inhaling? The darkness in the room; the room literally began to turn gray as Arc inhaled all the darkness around the three. "Darkness Demon's Screech…" Arc then threw his head forward, unleashing pure darkness upon Laxus and Takeru.
"Shit, look out!" Laxus roared, but it was too late, the screech exploded once it hit the two dragons, creating a large dust cloud. When the smoke cleared both Laxus and Takeru were unconscious, and heavily damaged.
"Because we –were- brothers, I'll leave you with the gift of sparing you," Arc then turned as the runes around the room vanished. "See you soon, Takeru Tenebrae." After that, Arc left the room.
.
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The onslaught of exploding embers wasn't going to end anytime soon. This left Selene and Wendy with very limited options as they had only a little time before they would lose. "Do you have a plan!?" Wendy asked Selene, hoping the diamond dragon slayer would indeed have a plan to save them.
"Just one…you still have your dual mode, right?" Selene asked.
"Y-Yeah!" Wendy replied.
"Good, because I'll need you to use it!" Selene shouted, and after she did, her diamond scales shattered purposely as new diamond scales formed around her arms, cheeks, and legs, now radiating a black/purple aura around her body, entering her Diamond Shadow.
"H-Hai!" Wendy nodded, allowing the wind to pick up around her body as red flames surrounded her body as well, entering her Omega Flame Sky mode.
Long, curved blades of diamond formed on Selene's wrist as she began to spin in place, conjuring up a raging vortex of shadows that flew around her in rhythm with her spinning movements. The hurricane began to spread, covering a wide radius of the room, dragging in the ghost as a result, along with the remaining blue fire in the room, turning the black hurricane into a light blazing blue color. During this, thousands of dark purple blades released from Selene's wrists, mixing in with the hurricane to cause maximum damage to the ghost. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Gleaming Essence: Dark Hurricane!" Exclaimed the Diamond Shadow dragon. After she stopped spinning, the hurricane dispersed, and the ghost began to fall to the ground. "Wendy!"
"Aye!" Wendy shouted as she jumped into the air, spreading her arms out. "Omega Flame Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy then crossed her arms, unleashing a hurricane of multiple waves of blue wind mixed with red fire, slamming into the ghost at full force, blowing them into the wall. When the smoke from the impact cleared, the ghost were gone, and the magic circle on the ground faded, along with the runes. "We did it…!" Wendy let out a sigh of relief, exiting her dual mode to conserve magic.
"That was too stressful…" Selene groaned slightly as she reached into her pocket, pulling out her bag of diamonds. She exited her Diamond Shadow mode and popped a diamond into her mouth to replenish her magic.
"There are two paths down this hallway…" Wendy pointed out as she glanced into the hallway.
"Then we split up..." Selene said, not feeling too comfortable with the idea. "I don't like it, but it's the only way we can do it without wasting time…"
"I'll take the right…" Wendy nodded.
"Then I'll take the left…"
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.
"Holy Blast!" Sting exclaimed as he formed a sphere of white light on his hand, and hurled it forward towards Rogue. However, the Shadow dragon slayer managed to dodge the attack by shifted to the left, now engulfing his hand in shadows.
"Shadow Dragon's Slash…" Rogue mumbled as he swung his shadow engulfed hand at Sting's side, grazing the holy white dragon's side as Sting jumped back, smirking slightly.
"Not bad Rogue!" Sting replied as he ignored the pain in his side. Sting then rushed forward towards Rogue once again, forming a sphere of light in his hand. "White Dragon's Claw!"
"Hmph…" Rogue grunted, knowing full well what Sting was attempting to do. As Sting brought his arm forward, Rogue utilized his abilities to turn his body into a shadow, easily evading Sting's attack; still in his shadow form, Rogue wrapped his shadowy body around Sting, constricting his movement. Rouge then wrapped his hand in shadows and slammed it into Sting's chest, causing Sting to hold in a yelp of pain.
"Tch…" Sting grunted as his White Dragon's Claw initially missed. He saw this coming, but he couldn't help but find it slightly annoying. As Rouge wrapped his body around him, Sting got an idea. He took the pain, but raised his hand up, slamming his previously avoided attack into Rogue's chest, tearing through his clothing, and left a visible white stigma glowing on his chest, preventing Rogue from moving. "Got'cha." With a grin, Sting opened his mouth, his cheeks already puffed out, unleashing point blank White Dragon's Holy Breath (What was believed to be stronger than the Roar) on Rouge, blowing the shadow dragon slayer back.
"GAH!" Rogue shouted out in pain as he flew back, unable to move due to the stigma on his chest, so he just landed on his back. (Let me take over Rogue, I can help you win…and you can save Yukino…) a voice whispered in Rogue's head, but he shrugged it off. "I was prepared for this…" Rogue then allowed the shadows to cover his body, mainly his chest, filling the stigma with darkness, eventually causing it to disperse. Within the next second, Rogue changed into a shadow, and began moving from side to side erratically, throwing Sting off now.
"I knew this wasn't going to be an easy fight…" Sting smirked slightly as he attempted to keep his eyes on Rogue, but he failed, as Rouge appeared form behind him, slamming a shadow infused leg to the back to the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward. Sting turned around, preparing a White Dragon's Punch, but he realized Rogue wasn't where he thought he was. "Wha…?"
"Shadow Dragon's Roar…!" Rogue barely exclaimed, shooting a vortex of shadows from Sting's blindside. Before Sting could react, the roar slammed into him, creating a small explosion as he flew into the air.
"Agh…" Sting grunted, but he flipped, catching himself as he cupped his hands at his waist, creating a sphere of light. "Holy Ray!" Sting threw his arms forward, unleashing a barrage of holy white rays towards Rogue.
Rouge quietly pulled out his Katana, allowing the shadows to form around it. "Shadow Dragon's Quiet Rage…" Rouge spoke before dashing forward, slashing his katana at every ray that was in his proximity. Rogue successfully managed to slash every ray that was close to hitting him, leaving him unscathed from the attack.
"Heh…" Sting landed on the ground, rolling his neck. "Are we done with the warmup…?" Rouge merely nodded in response. "Great…" Sting grinned, and white scales formed around his face, arms, and abdomen, entering Dragon Force, and of course, Rouge followed suit, black scales forming around him.
(Heheh…That's all the power I needed, Rogue…)
.
.
"Flame God's Iron Knuckle!" Zancrow laughed as he spoke, swinging his black flame coated fist at Rylo, who barely managed to dodge by swaying his body to the side. Zancrow followed up with a flame coated leg to Alexander's side, landing a direct hit, causing Alexander to slide back. Taranis then moved in, attempting to slash Zancrow with his electric blade, but Zancrow swayed his body from side to side, narrowly avoiding each slash, but he made it look like he wasn't having any trouble dodging. "Flame God's Eruption!" Zancrow shouted as he slammed his fist into the ground, causing an eruption of god flames to erupt around his body, which struck Taranis, forcing him to back off.
"This guy is loud…" Alexander grumbled. "Ih Ralgas!" With this call, Alexander's hands engulfed in orbs, and he manipulated them to have a water-like effect to counter Zancrow's fire. Alexander rushed towards Zancrow, throwing multiple punches at the flame god, but Zancrow was able to block them with a single hand, laughing manically.
"Ha! Is this all you can manage, weakling!?" Zancrow laughed before jumping back.
"Tch!" Alexander swung a haymaker towards Zancow's jaw, but unfortunately Zancrow had jumped back as he did.
"This guy's annoyingly strong…" Rylo thought to himself. Rylo snapped his fingers, causing a card to appear behind Zancrow, the infamous ace of spades. "This your card?"
"Eh?" Zancrow turned, just in time to see the card. His eyes went wide for a second before the card exploded in his face.
"Got him!" Taranis grinned, but the grin didn't last long as Zancrow ate the explosion, but the force of it was what really caused him some damage. "Never mind..."
"HAHAHAHA!" Zancrow laughed as his black flames flared more intently than before. "Thanks for the snack!" Zancrow's cheeks then puffed out. "Flame God's...!"
The three Twilight Zone mages quickly entered defensive positions, but Zancrow just kinda stopped. He didn't move, from his current position. "He stopped...?" Alexander blinked a few times.
"He forgot to close the door..." Tsami said as she and Melanie limped out of the cell Zancrow had so rudely tossed them into.
"Ah, she froze him." Rylo nodded.
"We should hurry...I don't know how long he's going to stay like this..." Tsami said with a nod.
"Alright, let's find Evanee and the others, and get going," Rylo nodded once again, and the few mages left, leaving a time frozen Zancrow behind.
"Oh...time magic...?" Hyde grinned slightly as he appeared from the shadows, tapping the tip of his sickle on Zancrow's shoulder. "Interesting...very interesting..."