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Nashi's eyes widened as Apocalypse finished his sentence, watching the man look completely indifferent. Casting her glance over to the lacrima confirmed what he said, there was now a timer going down in the center of Apocalypse's magic circle.
"Are you serious?" She asked quietly. Apocalypse chuckled.
"Are you worried?" He asked. "Surely if you came all the way here you intended to defeat me." Nashi remained silent at this. That had been her objective originally, but now faced with the prospect of doing it in five minutes, she doubted everything.
Nashi didn't know what to do.
She had five minutes.
Five minutes until whatever Apocalypse had aimed for received a blast of Etherion. She didn't know how far along the sequence was but, if she didn't get it done within five minutes, it wouldn't matter. Nashi growled, fire flickering around her body.
"You're such an asshole." Nashi hissed, her body igniting. "You want me to do this in five minutes? Fine, no problem." Apocalypse grinned and crossed his arms.
"You sure are full of yourself." He commented. "If you really want to give it a go, be my guest."
"Nashi?!" Ken's voice yelled in Nashi's head. "What's happening?! Answer me!"
"Just find out what he's aiming for, Ken." Nashi replied, severing the connection from her end. She really didn't need Ken in her ear about this. Apocalypse smiled.
"You have four minutes Dragneel. Let's see what you got."
"Nashi! Nashi!" Ken shouted, standing up and yelling for the Dragon Slayer. Mami watched as Ken slowly sat back down. "She severed the connection." he murmured.
"Can you reconnect?" Taro asked.
"She's blocking me out." Ken replied. "I don't even know how she's doing it."
"Not much you can do about it." Mami replied. "Find out where he's aiming through, Nashi did give you the coordinates."
"Where is she?" Elise asked from her seat, rubbing her forehead.
"She went after Apocalypse." Akio told her. "Seems she found him."
"And you guys won't even let me leave." Elise hissed, rubbing her head. "Just because I'm a bit dizzy." Mami frowned at the dragon slayer after this.
"You wouldn't last in a fight, it's bad." Mami lied. The only reason Elise wouldn't last was because the mere presence of anyone from Phantom Dove could sent her back unconscious. That was far to great a risk to let her leave. "You may not feel it, but Apocalypse brutalized you."
"Yeah, whatever." She mumbled. "What about the others?"
"All of them are still out there." Taro answered. "I assume in the middle of a fight from the explosions we've been hearing." Elise nodded a this and remained silent. There wasn't much to talk about, seeing as the normal topic came from Ken's information which he was currently trying to find. Mami sighed and ran a hand through her ginger colored hair as another explosion sounded in the distance. She didn't know which side it originated from, but it didn't do anything to quell her anxiety.
"Wait..." Ken said slowly. "No, no surely that's a miscalculation."
"What's the matter?" Akio asked.
"No no no no...recalculate it..."
"Ken?" Mami asked warily, watching the Archive screen triangulate the coordinates. Once it did Ken gulped.
"Shit..." he murmured.
"Come on pretty boy, where the hell are they aiming?" Elise asked angrily.
"They're..." Ken slowly looked over at them. "They're..."
"Fucking...Idiot..." Winter hissed, keeping her arm tight around Drake's upper chest. "This... Is why... Girls like you..." Once she got to the edge of the water, she grabbed it and pulled herself up, turning around and pulling the unconscious Dragon Slayer up as well. She laid him down and stared down at him, panting from the exertion it took to pull herself and him across the small pool and over onto the dry edge.
"I guess its better both of us didn't go unconscious..." She said weakly. "That way I could save your dumb ass." Winter shook her head in disapproval of her ex's actions, the same actions a gallivanting harem shounen MC might take.
Winter leaned down and pressed her ear near Drake's mouth, listening for a breath. After far to long, nothing came out of his mouth.
"Great." She growled. "You swallowed some of that shit water too? I feel bad for you man." It took Winter a moment to realize she better get on saving him, or he'd die. "I know cpr, but..." Winter felt uncomfortable at the thought of lip contact, especially since Drake had sewer water in his mouth.
She wasn't some girl in a manga, she had no problem with the lip contact in itself. Just, you know, the fact he had sewer water in his mouth.
"What am I saying, I need to save your life..." Crossing her hands over Drake's chest, Winter started with the chest compression. After that, she looked over at his mouth. After another few pushes, nothing happened.
"You would make me kiss you." Winter snapped. "That's just like you, you son of a bitch." Moving over to his head, Winter frowned and gathered her courage. Pinching his nose, she leaned down and pressed her mouth over his, forcing air down his throat. She pushed on his chest a little more, and his body started to convulse. She backed up as water spewed from his mouth and he sat bolt right up, looking around.
"Where am I?" he asked wearily.
"Still in the sewers." She replied. "After you played hero and saved me."
"...Right." he looked over at her, purple eyes bright with concern. "Are you okay?" Winter glared at him, exasperated.
"Are you kidding me?" She asked. "You're the one that almost drowned for God sake, why the hell are you asking if I'm okay?!" She then smacked the back of his head, which caused more water to fly out of his mouth.
"Ow!" He shouted. "I was just asking!"
"Show some concern for your own well being sometimes!" Both of them glared at each other, neither ready to back down. Drake sighed and coughed, more water coming out.
"Thanks for the save." He said. "You resuscitated me pretty quick."
"Yeah well I really had no choice in that matter, now did I?"
"Well," Drake laughed as he shifted. "Your Sky magic would let you work that fast.
"...E-Eh?" Winter asked, backing up a bit. Drake made a face.
"Sky magic." he replied. "You made air go down my windpipe didn't you?" Winter blushed wildly and spat into the pool.
Shit! I could've done that too! Why the hell did I subject myself to that?!
"Y-Yeah, of course..."She said quietly. "That's exactly what I did."
"Well, kudos." Drake said, sniffling. "Now, what the hell do we do?"
"Beats me." Winter observed their surroundings. The chamber was dark as per usual, but at least not as much as before so she could still see a few feet in front of her. "I suppose we could...Hey, are all our exits cut off?" Winter couldn't see any exit that wasn't covered by darkness, and she watched Drake come to the same conclusion.
"You're right, we'r stuck in here." He said. "I'm sure you're listening then, huh Quintus? Having fun?" No response came, and Winter sighed.
"Well now we're screwed for sure." She said. "We can't get out."
"There's still one more option." Winter looked over at Drake, who played with his hands.
"What is it?" She asked.
"We're in an enclosed space. Cover your ears." When Drake met Winter's gaze, she realized what he was planning to do. She clasped her ears as tightly as she could over her ears,and nodded at Drake once she was sure she was using all the strength she had to cover her hearing.
A high pitched screaming came Drake, a sound that his Sound magic created. The sound tore at Winter's ear drums, causing her to tighten her grip around her ears and doubling over, her head spinning from the sound.
"...Wi...Winter...Winter!" Winter looked up, Drake was shaking her. The sound had been so terribly loud she couldn't see straight, but the blurry man was definitely Drake. As the ringing in her ears stopped, Winter sat back up.
"What happened?" She asked, making Drake grin.
"We flushed him out." he replied, pointing into the pool of water. Floating in the middle of it was a man with black hair. Winter waved her hand. and a gust of wind carried the man towards them. Drake caught him and slammed the man up against the wall, his head lolling uselessly.
"He's out cold." Winter reported, wiping her wet hair from her eyes. Drake proceeded to slap the man a few times. After a few slap sessions, the man came too.
"About time asshole." Drake hissed. "Now, where the hell is Apocalypse?"
"...W-What?" Quintus asked.
"Apocalypse, where is he?"
"Speak up kid, I can't..." Quintus eyes widened and he sat up, staring at Drake. "I...I can't..."
"What?" Winter demanded, and Drake chuckled, sitting back.
"He can't hear us." Drake reported darkly.
"W-Wait a minute, does that mean...?"
"Yeah. I deafened him."
Damien watched the to tuxedo-clad demons square off with glares, eyes not leaving each other.
"I asked what you were doing here." Xisplate said. Vantros chuckled. Xisplate growled.
"Surely you aren't that stupid Xissy."
"Are you saying..."
"Exactly."
"What the hell is going on?" Damien demanded, cutting into their conversation. "Why are you here?" Vantros smiled.
"You are the one that defeated Taisho, yes?"
"...Yes..."
"You stole his soul and converted to magic power to keep yourself alive."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"The spell Demons Judgment steals the soul of the victim. However, when used on a Demon Lord takeover wizard, it has another effect."
"Which is?" Vantros smiled as he did an over extravagant bow, making Xisplate roll his eyes in annoyance.
"I am here to serve, Damien." He said, sending a cold chill down Damien's back. What did that mean? That he was Damien's takeover now? How did that work? Why? How long had it been?
"W-What the hell does that..."
"Surely you remember that Demon Lords have very little weaknesses." Vantros said. "Other Lords, Holy magic, some other lost cabal magics, but you need all the help you can get if you want to defeat Akirelys but are against using Xisplate. So, here I am."
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that I'll be able to control you?"
"Are you seriously going to stand here and tell me you know for a fact you can't?" Vantros quipped. "Weigh your options Dreyar, because you don't have many." It was around then an earthen pillar flew past Damien, which caused him to turn his attention to Terra. He was forced to dodge another pillar and then grab Terra's wrists to prevent her from crushing his skull. "Clock's ticking, Dreyar."
"I know!" Damien shouted. Terra gave him a weird look.
"Who are you talking to?" She asked weakly as she applied more force to her wrists.
"I'll explain later." He muttered. "Do you think you can break free of his control?"
"I've been trying this whole fight, he's got an iron grip on me." Damien nodded weakly as he twisted her arms and kicked her in the midsection which caused her to fly back. Shuichi waved his arms, and Terra brought her arms up, and Damien was entrapped in the earth that sprung up beneath him. He struggled, but it was a vain attempt, it was far to thick and he couldn't move his arms to free himself.
"Well, it's been fun Damien." Shuichi said. "But I think it's about time Terra finished this." Terra's eyes widened as he hands clasped together, the earth beginning to shake.
"Damien, hurry up and get out of there!" She shouted. "He's trying to cast Rumbling Mt. Fugi!" Damien's eyes widened at these words and he struggled even harder, but it was no use. He needed only a little more use of his hands to do anything.
"Well?" Vantros asked beside him. Damien grew solemn as the demon spoke.
"I suppose I don't have many options, huh?"
Terra watched fearfully as the ground began to open up, but Damien still hadn't freed himself.
"Damien you're out of...!" Terra was cut off as the explosive attack came from beneath Damien, engulfing him in bright blue light. "Damien!" She screamed, but no one answered her. Shuichi was laughing.
"I wonder how many times he'll take one of those." Shuichi commented offhandedly. "I guess we'll have to see, huh?" Terra stared at the ground as the attack rumbled around them, it still wasn't done.
Until it started to freeze over.
Terra could see ice forming around the attack. The very magic itself was freezing over, stopping it where it was.
"What the hell is that?" Shuichi demanded. "Why is the magic..."
Crack!
A crack had appeared in the ice. The crack grew in size, spreading up and down the column. Other cracks spread out around the frozen attack, and Terra watched it fearfully.
Boom!
Terra was forced to stand still as shards of ice flew past her, some of it cutting her body. All she could do was watch, Shuichi didn't give her the command to protect her body. Once the ice had stopped flying, Terra slowly looked up.
Damien was still standing where he had been, but his demon form had changed considerably. The red armor had changed into a blue cloak. His hair had changed to have blue streaks. He wasn't looking at them, but she could sense the cold. Shuichi choked.
"V-Vantros?!"
Nashi flew back and into one of the machines, breaking it and hearing the metal around her groan. Sh tried to move out of it, but her body didn't respond fast enough before another green magic circle appeared behind her and sent her flying back out, rolling and coming to a stop in front of Apocalypse.
"This is kind of disappointing, Nashi." He told her as she struggled to all fours. "I mean, you don't have time to be joking around." Nashi struggled to all fours and breathed heavily, trying to stand but failing. A Rapture circle appeared on her right arm, and more pain circulated through her upper body. "Are you sure you can do this?"
"You're damn right I..."
Beep beep beep!
Nashi's stomach turned at this sound, which caused Apocalypse to turn around at the sound and chuckle.
"Looks like you're out of time, Dragneel." He said, the magic circle on the system lacrima growing bright. "It's been five minutes." Nashi watched the magic circle growing even brighter, the screen bugging out.
"No...Wait..." She murmured, trying to move. She managed to get up on her feet just as the circle stopped glowing.
And the lacrima broke into a thousand pieces and flew all over the place.
It was over.
The launch couldn't be stopped.
"Looks like you weren't fast enough, Dragneel." Apocalypse said, clicking his tongue. "That's a shame, I suppose the launch will go to the mixing sequence now." Nashi kept her gaze on the lacrima shard near her feet, her stomach swirling angrily, mostly directed at herself.
"Nashi." Nashi looked up a little bit as Ken's voice came back into her head. "I triangulated the launch."
"And?" Nashi asked hollowly. "Where is it going?"
"..."
"Ken?"
"...Magnolia, Nashi. He's aiming for Magnolia."
Nashi's failed once she learned Apocalypse's target! I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!