A/N: Since the last chapter, I: had Covid for the second time, hernia surgery, finally moved out into a new apartment away from the lying Jackasshole, have been catching up on some anime new and old (have watched 413 at the time this is being posted), finished* Hades, finished Pumpkin Jack, finished Nights of Azure 1 and 2 (2 again and still a good game.), finished Pokemon Black 2 and then White 2, playing it again (thank you, Chuggaaconroy), almost finished with Warriors All Stars, and recovering from a bronchitis infection. On the story side of things, put out two chapters of my Kingdom Hearts story, Light of Salvation. I was working on another one-shot story, but I felt like working on this. So yeah, that's what's been going on with me lately. Oh, and I should plug this in; if you want to see Wendy shoot a shotgun in ye old days of the wild west, check out Crimson Soldat's Fairy Tail/Red Dead Redemption crossover story, Wild West Dragon. I've been helping him a bit with it. You'll even see a familiar character in it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Akame Ga Kill, RWBY, and/or Fairy Tail. They belong to their original owners.
A New Beginning: Vol Special Part Nine
Across Worlds
Kill Ninety Two: Get Hit Hard, Hit Back Harder
Everyone waited in silence as they saw Esdeath, Wave, and the "younger" Leone standing on the side of the worn-torn battlefield while Wendy was standing on the other side. Yang was one such feeling a little excited. "Alright, we finally got the last fight. I guess we'll see what the kid's got."
"And it'll be a different experience," Taeko added.
"Why do you say that?" Rienna asked.
"Because of the three fights we've participated in and witnessed, FT Akame, FT Chelsea, and FT Leone we met all adapted to Wendy's world. Wendy herself is a native of that world. So, we'll be catching a glimpse of what her world is truly like."
Among the group, there was one who was more curious than anxious. "What's wrong, Mine?"
Mine glanced over at Cordelia who was looking at her with curiosity. "Is there something on your mind?"
Mine looked back at Wendy. "There's something that's been bothering me that I can't figure out for the life of me. How is it that a kid like her was able to kill Esdeath? I get her aura is strong for a kid her age, but all we know about her is that she can use healing magic. So, how can someone with healing magic kill someone like Esdeath? I know there's something more to her than that."
Rienna could understand Mine's plight about the young dragon slayer and looked in the younger girl's direction. "I'm sure we'll see soon enough. FT Akame, FT Leone, and FT Chelsea wouldn't have a lot of respect for her otherwise." It was a good point she brought up. She and everyone else will find out what made Wendy so special to her three otherworldly comrades.
Weiss was wondering about something else. "So, our side has one point, and the other has two. Four matches total so it'll still be our loss even if our side does win."
"Well, how about this?" Weiss turned to FT Chelsea. "If your side manages to win, we'll call it your win for the whole thing. After all, Wendy's pretty strong."
"You sure keep her in high regard," Blake spoke.
"It's only natural," FT Leone spoke next. "That girl's done a lot for us. Sometimes I think we don't deserve someone like her and yet she's changed our whole lives. That's something we'll always be grateful to her."
Meanwhile, Wave, Esdeath, and the "younger" Leone looked at Wendy from across the distance. "So, what are your guys' impressions of the kid?" The "younger" Leone asked.
Wave crossed his arms while looking at Wendy. "From what we know so far, she has a powerful aura and is strong enough to kill the General."
"She also has healing magic," Esdeath added "But I don't see how healing magic can be used in a fight."
"Well, she's gotta be something else. I don't think my other self and the others are the type to lie and build up hype for nothing on some things. Especially about some kid killing Esdeath. Anyway, just because she's a kid doesn't mean we hold back. Got it?"
"Right." Wave and Esdeath replied in unison.
Over to Wendy, she took a long look at each of her opponents. "Leone..." She remembered her first fight with FT Leone at the hideout. "Wave..." She recalled her fight against Wave back at the Path of Peace headquarters. "Esdeath..." She remembered all the moments she spent with Esdeath from her capture to their first fight, to her second capture, to their final fight, and finally their rematch. There was no doubt she was a figure that left a permanent mark in her life and continued to be one for the rest of it. That much she's accepted. At least this Esdeath was a much kinder one. She could say the same about the other two. "They're all opponents I've fought before and now I'm fighting them again. At least it's in friendlier terms." She had a determined look in her eyes. "I beat them once, Esdeath twice, and I can do it again. I won't back down."
Jaune looked at the two opposing sides. "The final match between Esdeath, Leone, and Wave vs. Wendy is about to begin. Are both sides ready?"
The "younger" Leone slammed her fist into her palm. "We're ready."
"As am I," Wendy replied.
Jaune nodded as he raised his scroll above him. "Then let the final match begin!" He tapped the air horn app and it blared.
Insert Fairy Tail OST: Indomitable
Wendy immediately went into a stance while spreading her left arm in front and her right arm back. "Elemental resistance rise, Deus Corona! Physical ability rise, Deus Eques!" She closed her eyes, and her body began to glow. "Ile Arms, Ile Armor, Ile Vernier! Enchant!" Her body glowed brighter.
Her magic quickly caught Ozpin's attention. "Oh, my. She's an enchanter."
"What's an enchanter?" Ruby asked.
"Enchanters use a special kind of magic known as Enchantments. Even in my time, they were quite rare to see."
"Okay, and what the hell are Enchantments?" Kurome asked next.
"Think of Enchantments as something similar to your semblance, Miss Chariot. Except for strengthening one's self, they attach magic power and strengthen a certain parameter to a person or object. I've heard that even a stick that's been enchanted would have the power to surpass that of even the strongest forged weapon. What I find most incredible is her casting multiple enchantments. It's difficult to cast so many enchantments and yet she does it easily. Quite impressive for someone of her age."
As soon as the "younger" saw Wendy close her eyes, she immediately jumped at the chance and launched herself at the younger girl. Yang was quite impressed at the sight. "I don't think I've ever seen Leone move that fast before."
"Bad move, kid! You're not supposed to take your eyes off your opponent!" The "younger" Leone did feel a twinge of guilt fighting someone younger than her, but only slightly. "Sorry, Wendy but when it comes to a fight, I won't hold back even if you are a kid." Meanwhile, FT Leone couldn't help but feel a sense of Deja Vu seeing this scene. The "younger" Leone had already reached where the young dragon slayer was and pulled her right arm back. She threw the first punch at her opponent and made the first hit. Or at least she thought when her punch went through her and vanished.
She and the others immediately knew what it was "She can use Akame's Afterimage technique?!" Before she could react, she felt a powerful punch striking her midsection. Powerful winds erupted from Wendy's attack "Sky Dragon's Iron Fist! And..." A funnel of wind erupted from her elbow. "Sky Dragon's Gusting Elbow!" Her second move added more power and blew the "younger" Leone away from her. The attack made her skip across the ground like a rock on water.
FT Leone closed her eyes and nodded at what happened. "Yep, something like that happened to me too. Though, she got it rougher than I did."
She passed Esdeath and Wave and stopped a little away from them while groaning in pain. They were shocked to see what'd happen. Cordelia and the others shared their reaction. "You guys heard that too, right? When she yelled out her attack name?"
Mine narrowed her eyes and nodded. "Yeah, I sure did." She turned her attention to the FT group. "That kid yelled out 'Dragon'. At this point, we know all too well what that means. So, do you mind telling us who the hell is this kid?"
FT Leone and FT Chelsea smiled at her. "She's the Fairy Tail member, Wendy Marvell and she is the Sky Dragon Slayer, the Sky Maiden."
"Sky Dragon Slayer?!" Almost everyone yelled at the same time.
"Yep," FT Chelsea spoke. "Sky Dragon Slayer magic works a bit differently than your usual Dragon Slayer Magic. While healing magic is the main forte, it's also capable of powerful support magic called Enchantments. That makes her an Enchanter as well. And since it's Dragon Slayer Magic, it's also very powerful. And one thing about dragon slayers is that they have heightened senses meaning they have better hearing and smell. Better than Leone's even."
Now Mine got her answer to the question that's been bugging her. "So, that's how a kid like her was able to take on Esdeath. Still, Dragon Slayer or not, there has to be more."
"So, does she eat the ozone layer or something?" The younger Chelsea questioned.
"She devours air." FT Akame answered.
Wave took out his Imperial Arms and stabbed the ground. "Grand Chariot!" The Danger Beast that made up his armor appeared from behind out of the ground roaring. It vanished and Wave equipped his armor. "ESDEATH!'
"Right!" Esdeath slammed her right hand on the ground. "Arktischer Rausch!" A line of large ice spikes erupted from the ground and headed right toward Wendy.
The young dragon slayer jumped high into the air to avoid the attack but that left her open. An opportunity Wave immediately took. He launched himself right at her and quickly closed the distance between them. "You can't dodge in midair!" He threw a punch at Wendy and the attack hit. Right through her and she vanished, which surprised him. "Another Afterimage!?"
"Sky Dragon Talon!" In the next second, he felt a powerful kick strike him at the top of his head. The blow sent him hurdling to the ground and crashing near Esdeath.
Wave groaned as he stood up recovering from the attack. "Ow, that hurt. How did she manage to avoid my attac-" As he looked up, he gasped in shock at what he saw. The rest of the RWBY crew had a similar reaction to what they saw.
They saw Wendy floating in the air with a very familiar pair of wings. "MASTEMA!?"
Mine looked back at the FT crew. "How the hell does she have Mastema?!"
"It was a gift from Run just before Wendy and us went to Earthland," FT Akame replied. "He mentioned about how a Sky Dragon should be able to soar through the skies."
That was one question answered but another had to be asked. "Wait, since Wendy has an Imperial Arms, and Wave has one does that mean one of them will die?" The younger Chelsea asked.
It was a good question and FT Leone provided a good answer. "I don't believe we have to worry about that. I spared with Wendy plenty of times while she was using Mastema and I was using Lionel. No deaths whatsoever."
"We suspected if it's a fight to the death, yes the rule would apply but that doesn't seem the case when it comes to friendly sparing. And since this fight isn't a fight to the death either, I don't think we have to worry about either of them dying." FT Chelsea explained.
Wendy spread her arms out. "With the wind gathered in my right hand…" The wind circled her right hand. "And the wind gathered in my left hand…" The wind circled her left hand. "When these winds merge together…" She combined the two winds above her and formed a massive sphere of wind. "Sky Dragon's Raging Storm!" She hurled the sphere right at Wave and Esdeath.
They jumped back to avoid the attack but as it struck the ground, it exploded and powerful winds burst everywhere. Esdeath raised her right hand and created a wall of ice to block the winds. When the wind died out, the wall broke apart and she put both her arms in front. "Weiss Schenbal!" She summoned countless icicles right at the young dragon slayer.
Wendy retaliated by putting her arms in front on top of each other with her index and middle fingers extending outwards. "Sky Dragon's Serrading Winds!" She sent countless blades of sharp winds at the icicles. The two attacks struck each other, and the wind blades slashed the icicles in half. The remainder of the attack was headed for Esdeath but she moved to the side to avoid it.
While it wasn't surprising this Esdeath could use ice like her counterpart, the FT group quickly noticed something about it. "Is it just me or was I sensing aura in Esdeath's ice?" FT Chelsea wondered.
"It's a thing Esdeath does. She applies her aura to her ice attacks to make them a bit stronger." Ruby explained.
"Though, admittedly, that hasn't worked out a lot in her past fights," The younger Chelsea commented.
Esdeath brought her right hand down. "Hagel Sprung!" A gigantic sphere of ice appeared above Wendy and began to fall on top of her.
Wendy looked up to see the attack and in a strange move, she moved up toward it. Once near, she veered off and was now behind it. The wind circled her right leg. "Sky Dragon Talon!" She kicked the giant ice sphere and sent it right at Esdeath and Wave.
They saw the attack coming right at them and Wave did think of destroying it, but he never got the chance to do so. Out of nowhere, he and Esdeath saw the "younger" Leone run past them and to the giant ice sphere. She stopped dead in her tracks and put both her arms in front to catch the attack. She managed to catch the ice sphere, but the momentum had pushed her back a bit with her boots digging into the ground and leaving a trail. She grunted and struggled a little but managed to stop. With a mighty grunt, she spun around while gripping the ice sphere tightly several times. "Here, kid! Have your present back!" She threw the sphere back right back at the young dragon slayer. "Esdeath, make a wall as big as you can!"
"Uh, right!" She slammed both hands on the ground and created a giant ice wall behind Wendy.
"Wave, you take left and I take right!"
Wendy heard that and had to escape lest she get caught in a pincer attack. She flew up as her only choice of escape. She successfully did so as the ice sphere broke through the ice wall. As it did, she gasped once she saw who was above her. "Wave?!" She thought Wave would attack her from the side, not from above.
Wave threw his right arm around and sent out a chain from his palm right at her. The chain managed to connect to her. Seeing such a thing surprised her. "What's this chain?" Whatever it was, she knew she had to break away from the chain. "Deus Zero!" She cast a separation enchantment spell to cancel the chain, but it did nothing.
Wave pulled the chain with Wendy along with it and fell right toward her. The young dragon slayer had no time to brace herself for the incoming attack. In a matter of seconds, his attack hit her dead center. "GRAND FALL!" The moment the attack hit, a small but loud boom occurred and canceled the chain. In the next second, his attack immediately launched her away from him and crashed through the giant ice sphere, shattering it into countless pieces and crashing into the ground.
End OST
After the attack, Wave landed on the ground. "Nice shot, Wave." He turned to face the "younger Leone smiling at him with Esdeath behind her. "Thanks to you, we got our first hit on the kid."
"Thanks, but I still don't know how to feel using Grand Fall on a kid." Wave spoke with uncertainty as he put a hand behind his head.
The plan you thought of was incredible, Leone!" Esdeath praised.
Wave recalled a few seconds earlier when the "younger" Leone told him to attack from the left. But what she said was different from what she actually told him to do. "Wave, you take left and I take right!" As soon as she spoke those words, she gestured to him to go up and then made a fist and brought it down on her other hand but didn't touch it. She then lowered herself and interlocked her fingers to give him a jump start. He understood the assignment and put one foot in her hands, and she launched him with everything she had. Once he and Wendy locked eyes, he had to close the distance between them and the only choice he had was to use his semblance.
All in all, it was a good plan but now there was a problem. "Since I used my semblance, she now knows about it. I was hoping to save it for later."
The "younger" Leone didn't see a problem with that. "It'll be fine. This fight's far from over. And besides," She looked in Wendy's direction. "We're dealing with the kid who killed the Esdeath we knew. I know she's far from done."
Speaking of the "younger" Leone's plan, Carla thought highly of it. "She had Esdeath create a wall behind Wendy to seal off her escape and then blatantly yelled she and Wave would attack from both sides. The only way to escape was to fly up but instead found Wave above her and used that chance to issue a surprise attack. Quite a well thought-out-tactic. Clearly, she's much cleverer than the Leone we know."
FT Leone did agree with her but then her words finally kicked in and she realized what she said. "Hey! I can be smart at times!"
She heard FT Chelsea snicker and turned in her direction. "No offense, Leone, but you're definitely a 'punch first, ask questions never' kind of person."
FT Leone refused to believe that. "That's not true! Akame, back me up here!" She, unfortunately, didn't hear a reply from her and looked away. That was not the answer she was hoping for. "You too!? Come on!" Now Mine couldn't help but snicker. Meanwhile, Blake couldn't help but smile as she remembered the plan the "younger" Leone came up with back in Menagerie.
"So, is the kid going to be alright?" Yang asked. "She did take one hell of a kick from Wave."
That was something FT Leone could smile about. "Oh, you don't have to worry about her. She's taken worse hits." She and everyone else looked in the direction where the young dragon slayer lay. Within the next second, everyone saw her hop back on the ground effortlessly.
Mine was honestly impressed by that. "She got back up that easy after taking an attack like that? An attack like that would've killed a normal person."
"That goes to show you how crazy strong this enchantment magic is," Kurome commented.
"There's one more thing you should know," FT Leone continued. "When it comes to Fairy Tail, whenever we get hit hard, we hit back harder."
Wendy patted her stomach and sighed. "That last attack really hurt." She focused her attention on Wave. "This Wave is much stronger than the Wave I fought back at Path of Peace headquarters." She then thought back to the chain he used and tried to get rid of it. "Deus Zero didn't work on the chain. I guess that shows my magic doesn't affect semblances. It must be something this Wave can do because I don't remember the Wave I know doing this." She sighed again and closed her eyes for a moment. "Okay, I think it's time to take this to the next level." She opened her eyes and took a deep breath.
Insert Fairy Tail OST: Third Generation Dragon Slayer
She let out a powerful yell as her hair immediately turned white except for the tips of her hair and that same white color covered her hands to her elbows. It also covered the sides of her eyes to her cheeks and the sides of her jaws. "CHANGE MODE: ICE SKY DRAGON!"
Strong, cold, harsh winds erupted from her when she transformed and powerful pulses traveled through the ground and reverberated through the air. Everyone in the area could feel them. "The ground's shaking! What's going on!?" Jaune shouted.
Those who could sense aura were immediately taken back when they sensed Wendy's. "What the hell?! The strength of her aura skyrocketed like crazy!" Mine exclaimed.
Next, they heard a bunch of panicked caws, chirps, and squawks coming from the forest behind the "younger" Leone and her group and saw countless birds fleeing from the trees and away from the area as fast as they could. "That can't be good," Qrow commented.
Wendy took another deep breath. "ICE SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!" She unleashed a massively powerful breath attack of ice and wind right at the other group.
Naturally, the "younger" Leone instantly thought of the most sensible thing to do in this situation. "HIT THE DECK!" She, Esdeath, and Wave moved out of the attack's way. The attack missed them and instead struck the forest behind them. The attack decimated the trees that stood in its path and traveled to the base of the mountain that lay behind the forest. As the attack struck the base of the mountain, a huge explosion occurred, and the ground shook violently. At the same time, fierce winds blew out as a result. The winds traveled to where the rest of the group was, and most of them had to put their arms up to protect themselves from how strong the winds were.
When the winds died down, everyone lowered their arms and were stunned by the sight they saw. "Did that kid just destroy an entire forest!?" Weiss exclaimed.
"I think she blew up the base of the mountain too." Yang pointed out.
The "younger" Leone and co had similar thoughts when they saw the destruction Wendy's attack left behind. "What the hell kind of kid is this!?"
"With the wind gathered in my right hand..." The group turned around to see Wendy with her arms spread out and a large vortex of wind circling her right hand. "And ice gathered in my left hand," A large vortex of ice circled her left hand. "You merge them together to form…" She combined the two together above her head to create a large sphere of ice and wind. "ICE SKY DRAGON'S RAGING STORM!" She threw the sphere across the ground as it headed toward the three. They almost had no time to react as the sphere reached them and exploded. The sphere expanded quickly as the ground shook violently once more while cold winds blew furiously.
Everyone who was watching was in awe of the devastating power Wendy had displayed thus far. "Hey, remember when it took all of us and everything we had to stop Cinder and the White Fang from destroying Haven?" The younger Chelsea asked.
"Yeah?" Ruby responded.
"I think she could do that all on her own."
Qrow thought differently. "I think she'd destroy Haven on her own. Hell, I think she'd destroy all of Mistral."
Out of everyone, Ozpin was the most astonished by what he saw. "Such power and destruction." The only time he's seen magic this powerful was out on battlefields. There was one other detail he noticed about Wendy's power. "And she can use two different kinds of magic at once and combine them. I've never seen such a phenomenon before."
"What exactly is this power Wendy's using?" Blake asked.
"Ice Sky Dragon Mode" FT Leone replied. Everyone turned in her direction. "It's a power Wendy can use and as you can see, it's powerful. She got this power when she first fought against Esdeath and ate her ice. She used that power to beat her."
Mine found that hard to believe. "She ate Esdeath's ice? I thought you told us dragon slayers can only eat their own element?"
"They do," FT Chelsea responded. "But there have been some circumstances where they can eat other elements and that leads to the result you see now. Wendy's not the only one who can do this sort of thing. Natsu can use something called Lightning Flame Dragon Mode and Gajeel can use Iron Shadow Dragon Mode."
"And Sting can use White Shadow Dragon Mode," FT Akame added. The more they heard about what dragon slayers could do, the more insane they appeared to be.
After hearing that, Taeko noticed a tiny detail in FT Leone's explanation. "She said defeated Esdeath using this form, not killed. That leads me to believe she either killed Esdeath in her normal form or..." She didn't have enough evidence to prove that latter idea to be true but she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
The sphere vanished and the "younger" Leone and others were lying on the ground groaning. The pain was rampant throughout their bodies. "Ah, God. Is anyone else alive?"
Wave groaned as he stood up. "I can still move."
"Me too." Esdeath groaned in pain
They were all shaken up by the immense power Wendy had displayed thus far. It was far beyond what the "younger" Leone and Esdeath had encountered thus far. Second for Wave since the first was him and Tatsumi fighting Emperor Makoto and his mutant Supreme Imperial Arms together. As they stood up, all three looked in Wendy's direction. Only for them to see she wasn't there. "Where the hell did she go!?" The "younger" Leone shouted.
"ICE SKY DRAGON'S..." They all looked up to see Wendy in the air with ice and wind circling her forearm and arm.
She was descending quickly right toward Wave. "No time." He crossed his arms and braced for the incoming attack.
Once Wendy was near, she threw her punch at Wave. "STRIKING SPEAR!" As soon as the attack struck, a giant spire of bluish-white light appeared and shot up into the sky.
The "younger" Leone and Esdeath both screamed as they endured the winds caused by the attack. They heard Wave scream and were sent hurdling out of the spire. The "younger" Leone saw this and jumped in his path behind him to catch him. "Gotcha!" Her boots dug into the ground again while moving through it until they both stopped. "You okay? You're still conscious, right?"
Her reply was Wave groaning in pain. "I'll be...fine. I just...need to recover for a second."
"Alright, I'll set you down." She set him on the ground.
Seeing Wave like that was almost unbelievable to Kurome. "This is the same guy who went toe-to-toe against that Tatsumi guy and that one attack from Wendy was enough to hurt him that much? The power this kid has is insane."
The "younger" Leone looked over in Wendy's direction and narrowed her eyes at her. She didn't have a lot of options fighting her, so she went with the only option she had. She launched herself right at the young dragon slayer. "Esdeath, back me up!"
"R-Right!"
As the "younger" Leone charged at her, she began to serpentine so she wouldn't be as obvious as she was the first time. "Attacking her head-on is stupid, but she's a lot more dangerous with those attacks. Up close and personal is my only choice." She managed to reach Wendy and threw the first punch with her right fist. However, even with that close-range attack, the younger girl moved her head to avoid the attack. That didn't deter her and moved her body along with the momentum of her previous attack. She spun her body and delivered a kick with her left leg.
However, Wendy ducked to avoid the attack and saw an opening for her next attack. She counterattacked by striking the "younger" Leone's midsection with two fingers. With only two fingers, the older girl grunted loudly in pain as she was pushed back away from the young dragon slayer.
The "younger"' Leone held the side where Wendy struck her and felt the pain from her attack. Upon seeing it, Taeko narrowed her eyes. "That attack...it's the same fighting style Chelsea used in her fight against Rienna."
Wendy was going to follow up with her previous attack when Esdeath started her attack. "Heilige Hölle!" She put her right hand in front and sent out countless hailstones at the young dragon slayer. Wendy saw them coming and moved her wings in front to block them all. Try as they might, no matter how many, none could penetrate them.
That was fine for the "younger" Leone as she took this as an opportunity. While the younger girl was busy blocking Esdeath's attack, her back was vulnerable. She quickly moved behind her and pulled back her right arm. "Gotcha!" She threw her fist forward and finally landed a hit.
Or so she thought when her attack went through instead as she attacked another Afterimage instead. "Oh, come on-" She couldn't finish her surprised thought as she was pelted by countless hailstones.
Esdeath saw this and stopped her attack. "Leone! I'm so sorry!"
The "younger" Leone rubbed her face after the last hailstone struck it. "It's fine. It's fin-"
"ICE SKY DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" The "younger" Leone felt an immensely powerful attack from behind. It sent her hurdling right toward Esdeath. Both the "younger" Leone and the attack struck her, and another explosion occurred.
"Esdeath!" Ruby cried out in worry.
End OST
The attack subsided and it showed the "younger" Leone and Esdeath lying on the ground. The blonde Faunus groaned as she opened her eyes to see the condition of her teammate. "Please tell me you're okay." Her response was a weak groan. It was good enough for her and she stood up. She panted heavily as her body was heavily damaged by Wendy's last attack. All her focus was on the young dragon slayer as she took a few steps forward.
"Damn it, this kid." At that moment, she remembered every opponent she'd faced. Out of all of them, none of them came close to how powerful Wendy was. In reality, she was staring down at a young child but, in her mind, she was a small person up against a giant. That's how she viewed the difference in their strength. She stopped walking.
Insert Akame Ga Kill OST: Le Chant De Roma
It was subtle, but her body was trembling. Ever since Wendy went into her Ice Sky Dragon Mode, her animal instincts screamed at her to run away, but she refused to listen to them. She only had one thought running through her mind. "I need to get stronger. If I don't get stronger then..." In her mind, she was in an endless black void, and in front of her was Akame with her back facing her.
She remembered how happy she was to see her again, only to learn she had joined the enemy's side and then they fought. It was the most heartbreaking moment she'd experienced. It was followed by learning what her true intention was as explained by Taeko. "In order to deceive your enemy, you must deceive your allies. I must admit, Akame played her role very well. She certainly did have all of us fooled."
Right now, Akame was dead center next to the greatest evil they're facing; Salem. She'd be lying if part of her wasn't worried about what'd happen if something went wrong. If it did, then there'd be nothing she could do about it. She knew Akame was doing this for their benefit, but she still wanted to save her because she was more important to her. If she wanted to get her back, she'd have to get through Salem and her followers first. To do that, she had to get stronger.
"Stronger..." She clenched her hands tightly and gritted her teeth. "If I want to get Akame back, I..." She had brief flashes of her and Akame's time together both while in Night Raid and after. I'll do anything, give up anything..." She envisioned Akame finally looking back at her. "To get the kind of strength I need to do it!" As soon as she finished that thought, she felt a familiar, painful thumping within her chest. At the same time, it felt like her body was set on fire. She clutched her chest tightly while feeling the pain in her chest increasing with each heartbeat. She was heaving and panting more heavily than usual.
This caught the attention of FT Leone and the rest of the Fairy Tail group. "What's going on? Is she okay?"
The heartbeats became faster until they became a constant rhythm with no rest in between. The "younger" Leone groaned in pain until her heart stopped and the pupils in her eyes became slits. In the next moment, she let out a powerful yell and a bright pillar of light erupted from her body. As the light appeared, it quickly took the shape of a giant lion. A lion FT Leone immediately recognized. "No way. That's the Danger Beast used to make Lionel. What the hell is going on?!"
The lion roared thunderously, and a golden pulse of light erupted from it. The light traveled throughout the battlefield. Almost everyone had to cover their ears from the roar. After the roar, the lion Danger Beast began to shrink and morph into a new shape. It took the form of a young girl who had golden fur. It covered the lower half of her body, her breasts, and her arms. It was undoubtedly the "younger" Leone, but this took the Fairy Tail group by surprise, including Wendy. "Is that...supposed to be Leone? What the hell happened?" FT Chelsea asked.
"I don't know," FT Leone replied. "It's like she became one with the lion Danger Beast."
"It happened again." Everyone turned their attention to Blake who was in a state of disbelief.
"Again? What do you mean?" FT Akame asked.
Blake nodded at the question. "Yes, back at Haven when she was fighting against the Akame we know." Everyone else heard about it, but it was something else entirely seeing it.
FT Akame then remembered what the "younger" Leone said earlier. "After that is when things started to get weird. I remember my body felt like being on fire and from what everyone said, my appearance changed, and apparently, my arm grew back."
Seeing this phenomenon now, it made sense to FT Akame to what she was talking about from before. "So, that's what she meant."
Seeing this transformation for the first time, Wave couldn't help but notice something about the "younger" Leone's transformation. "This form...it reminds me of when the Tyrant Dragon was trying to take over Tatsumi's body."
"Wave, Esdeath," Both of them heard her speak. "Can you still fight?"
Wave groaned as he finally stood up. "I can."
Esdeath stood up as well. "S-So can I."
"Good. Let's give this everything we got."
Wave took a quick look over in Wendy's direction and sighed as he deactivated Grand Chariot. A move FT Leone thought was strange. "Why'd he take off his armor?"
He stabbed the ground with his Imperial Arms once again and assumed his usual stance. "GRAND CHARIOT!" The dragon that created Grand Chariot appeared behind him as it roared. He donned the armor once more but this time, they saw he had a familiar set of wings. "IMPERIAL ARMS SIMULTANEOUS ACTIVATION!"
Wendy and the other Fairy Tail members couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Wave has Mastema too?!"
"What in the hell?!" FT Chelsea shouted. "How can he use two Imperial Arms at once? I thought that was impossible!?"
"I suppose if anyone could do it, it'd be Wave." FT Akame had a feeling Wave would be the person to pull off such an impossible feat.
As Esdeath saw this, she looked down at her hands and clenched them tightly. "Wave and Leone are going to give it their all and I should too." She took a deep breath and concentrated.
In the next second, the sky began to darken as storm clouds gathered. This left FT Chelsea rather confused. "Uh, were we expecting rain or something today? What's with the clouds?"
The wind was blowing harshly from Esdeath and multiple bolts of lightning struck the ground. She began to slightly levitate above the ground and opened her eyes to reveal fiery ice-blue flames coming out of them. Esren noted that. "So, you're going to use your Maiden powers again, Esdeath?"
The "younger" Leone in her strange new form, Wave using two Imperial Arms at once, and Esdeath using her Winter Maiden powers. All three are up against Wendy in her Ice Sky Dragon Mode. FT Leone couldn't help but grin at the matchup. "Looks like the second round's going to start and it's going to be interesting."
A/N: Next chapter. Oh, ho, ho, ho, next chapter.