Chapter 66

Star's Strike

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

The crumbling base hit the ground as the membrane splintered and sliced. Chunks of stone fell to the ground as the two kings stared each other down. "It has been quite a while, king of the stars." Mard Geer declared.

"Not long enough, Mard Geer." The spirit sneered back.

"I must say, I'm surprised that someone here could summon you." The demon confessed.

"I see your still lugging that battered tome around. Have you not yet fulfilled your ambition?" The King asked.

"This holds the embodiment of Tartaros, END's soul." The Underworld King replied. "We will revive END and return to Zeref. Until then, I cannot waver."

"Is that why the summoner brought me here? Because she impeded your twisted game?" He questioned. "If so, then you will pay for every tear she's shed."

"Then let's end this." Mard Geer declared as the king swung his blade. Mard Geer jumped to the side and waved his hand, causing a dozen vines to puncture the Spirit Kings body. "May these never ending briars puncture your heart and bring about your ruin."

The Spirit twisted and snapped the vines before holding the sword high. It glowed brightly before he slammed it down, shaking the planet itself. The dust settled and Mard stood next to a giant canyon created from the slash

"What the hell is going-" Jackal shouted before the rubble he was standing on shattered, sending both him and Lucy tumbling down. Standing up, he found Lucy clutching the broken key. "You did this, didn't you!?" She did not reply, still crying. "Answer me!

Throwing an explosion, a dome of water protected the girl. The sphere flowed into her, charging her power. 'You now share Aquarius' magic power, if only for a moment.' The king explained to her. 'Use it. Stand up and fight!'

Standing up, her outfit had changed as another explosion almost hit her. "You stupid girl!" Jackal shouted, firing off explosions. All were blocked by more water as he missed the chant Lucy was reciting.

"Shine! Urano Metria!" 88 spheres of magic power slammed into Jackal, blasting him back into the rubble. Crashing into a stone wall, the rubble crushed him again, finally beating him. Both fell to the ground as Torafuzor looked on.

Mard Geer jumped into the Spirit King's face, only to get batted back. "You're not as spry as before." The demon mocked "Is something causing you pain? A spirit, no matter how large, is forever bound to its summoner. It really is a shame, but this is where you end."

The King blocked a volley of curse power before holding his blade to the sky. "I swore an oath to eliminate you. Come to me. May the starlight of the 88 bodies illuminate with celestial might. Galaxia Blade!" The sky cleared as a beam of light shot down, blinding Mard Geer.

"It's an omni-directional attack!?" He jumped as best he could, but the beam grew larger. "Your summoner is nearby, would you eliminate her too!?" A smirk caught his attention before the light flooded the land. "You're dispelling the Alegria!?"

"The cleansing light of the stars has chased the shadows you cast." The King declared as his body glowed. "My friend and her comrades will finish the job, and send you back to where you belong. Once again, your lack of understanding is glaring. It is no weakness, but our greatest strength." He faded away as Mard Geer started turning to stone.

"Damn you, Spirit King!" He shouted. "…It doesn't matter. Victory will be mine in the end. The engine of humanity's demise… will appear…"

Neo Minerva stood next to the trapped Erza in confusion. "What could this light mean?" Motion caught her attention as Erza suddenly charged forward. "Yes! The fight I need!" She swung her claws and hit Erza's blade, sparks flying everywhere.

Torafuzar stood over Lucy in shock. "That pitiful little girl is more of a warrior than I thought." He confessed, holding up his fin blade. "He should have just killed you when he had the chance!" Swinging his arm, a heavy force pushed him back as Gajeel stood between the two. "Impossible. I thought the girl was the only survivor."

"Survivor of what?" He sneered back.

A black mist dived at the Dragon Slayer, only for water to suddenly pool around him. "Water Nebula!" A full spiral of water cut Keyes off as Silver stepped forward.

"You should cool down." He declared, ice creeping forward.

"Not happening!" Gray shouted, his ice countering the oncoming wave.

"The boy canceled out Silver's ice?" Keyes mumbled, shocking Gray.

Tempester landed in front of the stunned Ice Wizard. "WOOSH." Fire shot forward and enveloped the group, only for it spiral downward. "Impossible. He's eating my fire attack?"

Natsu swallowed the flames and burped with a smile. "I don't know how you did it, but you saved the day." He chuckled, looking at the four demons across. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us. These guys are serious." He slammed his fists together and fire exploded off them. "I'm fired up now."

The eight stared each other down as Natsu sniffed the air. "Payback time for freezing me and Flare's home." He growled at Zero.

"The guy smells like Gray…" Gajeel mumbled.

Instantly, Zero rushed forward and tackled Gray backwards. "This one's mine. I'll take him with me!" He chuckled before both vanished from the sight.

"Never turn your back onto a calamity." Tempester declared before summoning a trio of spiraling tornados. A heavy thud caught his attention as Gajeel alone walked through the windstorm, the others flying around.

"Good luck blowing me away!" He shouted before launching a club forward.

Torafuzar jumped in front of the path and blocked the hit. Keyes floated downwards and Natsu jumped off of Gajeel to kick the monk, only for his flaming foot to go right through him. As did the water attack Juvia sent afterwards. "How are we supposed to hurt that!?" Gajeel questioned, only to get thrown back by an elbow to the gut.

Keyes blasted Juvia backwards as Tempester zapped Natsu with lightning. Standing back up, the three charged into battle as the demons stood their ground.

"This is just pathetic." Lily mumbled as he and Slate walked through the rubble. "We need to find the others soon, we can't do anything alone."

The two rounded a corner and found Happy, who seemed horrified at the mushroom coming out of his head. "Could he… always do that?" Slate questioned.

"Is it… alive?" Lily added, worried for Happy.

"What if Carla doesn't think I'm handsome anymore?" Happy worried.

"I could cut it off." Slate offered, holding up a kunai.

"No, it's fine!" Happy shouted in a panic. "Maybe it'll catch on." The three began walking through the rubble, unaware of the mouth and eye that sprouted from the shroom.

'Good thing I forced this feline to absorb me.' Franmath chuckled. 'Now I'll just wait for them to find their friends and then I'll strike. Something Mard Geer said is nagging me. The Faces activation is imminent… Did I miss something?'

Wendy slowly opened her eyes and sat up, sitting in a cave. "Wendy!" Carla cheered before hugging the girl.

"We didn't… explode? How are we still alive?" She questioned. "What about Face!?"

"Thanks to you, it stopped moving." She glanced over and found Doranbolt sitting against the cave wall. "Just glad I was able to help in time."

"He saved us the moment the explosion happened." Carla explained before the two hugged.

"Sorry to tell you this, but this fight isn't over yet." He said, shocking Wendy. Carla picked up Wendy and flew upwards, shocking the girl.

"No..." She mumbled, looking down at the sheer number of Faces sticking out of the ground.

"There's no official count, but there could be thousands." Doranbolt declared as the two landed.

"We nearly gave our lives just to destroy one, but thousands remain." Carla mumbled. "It's ov-"

"Don't say it, Carla." Wendy interrupted. "I'm tired of despair. I'm done with it, it doesn't change anything." She swung her hand and a blade of wind cut off her hair. "I've cried enough for one lifetime. I won't give up when my friends are still fighting."

With Erza

Minerva swung her claws as hard as she could before finally shattering the blade. "I have been reborn as the ultimate wizard!" Erza jumped back and launched herself forward, trying to kick her in the head. Neo Minerva merely chuckled before swapping places with her, punting Erza back.

"Was that good for you as it was for me?" She mockingly asked before Erza stood back up and punched her in the face. Minerva growled in anger and swung her claws, forcing Erza to dodge. "I gave everything for strength, including my feeble humanity!"

"Then explain to me what are you using this strength for!" Erza demanded, punching the demon to the ground.

"You're a disgrace. You're of my blood, so tell me why are you weak?"

Neo Minerva roared in anger before standing back up, slashing at Erza. "I AM NOT WEAK!" She shouted. "I HAVE TO BE STRONGER THAN YOU!"

Erza charged and punched her in the face, sending Minerva flying back into a broken wall. "Back at the Grand Magic Games, you crossed a lot of lines." Erza declared. "I can't forgive you for hurting my friends, but I can understand that you needed to do what's best for your guild. Why do we have to fight?"

"…Kill me." Minerva requested, shocking Erza. "I've always been weak, and that weakness led me down this dark path. I beg you… End my shame."

Erza regained her composure and walked over to the downed woman. "I won't do it." She declared, stunning Minerva. "Somewhere, someone is waiting for you to come home, I know it."

Footsteps caught their attention as they turned around. "This is why I despise your kind. It's bad enough you go through birth and death, but must you speak of it?" Mard Geer questioned.

'I know that voice… The Underworld King, Mard Geer.' Erza thought in a panic.

"The Celestial Spirit King freed all that refuse I managed to trap." He huffed. "Luckily, I have a bit of time to spare. More than enough to clear you away once and for all."

He waved his hand and blasted them back before a glowing beam snaked at Minerva. "…Erza, run." She mumbled before an explosion blasted the redhead away.

The dust began to settle as Mard Geer scowled in disgust. "We made it." Minerva looked up and found herself in the arms of Sting, Rogue standing next to him. "We came to bring you home, m'lady."

"You belong with us in Sabertooth." Rouge added, the two Exceeds popping up on the ground. Erza's words echoed in her head as tears poured from Minerva's eye.

And it was this point that officially cemented my distaste for Lucy. Why? Because Minerva has the EXACT same backstory as her, but DONE RIGHT! Seriously, Jiemma is about ten times a worse father than Jude ever was, and probably ever would have been. Yet people will readily attack Minerva (and I saw one story where Erza BRUTALLY murders her in the GMG) simply because they're simps for one or the other. Get over yourself.

That aside, this was a wild ride. I bet no one saw the break down from Minerva happening. And a hell of a battle happened between two kings. Probably one of my favorites in the whole show. Why it didn't get more screen time, I don't know. Bye.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang