Greetings, everyone, and welcome back to another chapter of AQFT! However, this month you're in for a treat, with not just one, but TWO new chapters for this fic.
Well, at least in a sense.
What do I mean by that? Well, I have a brand new story I'm releasing at the same time as this one, called Redemption V. The reason I'm bringing it up here is simply because it takes place in the AQFT universe. (A Quincy's Fairy Tail) In other words, it's canon to this story. Why am I uploading it separately then? Well, that's quite simple, really. It's because Redemption V takes place later on in the timeline of AQFT. When exactly? Hard to say currently, but some time after Tenrou Island.
It's a fun project I've worked on for over a month now, and I'm very happy with out it's come out. You need not worry about spoilers from it either, as I've managed to write it in such a way that the first chapter won't reveal any events that take place during or after the Battle Of Fairy Tail.
So please, if you want to see more of what goes on in the AQFT universe, check it out!
Normally, I try to write a head for the story for two reasons.
1 If life gets busy, I'm able to have a considerable backlog to keep you guys entertained. However, I'm all for special allowances, occasions such as this. Besides, this is a short chapter by my own standards.
2. Due to the changes that the TYBW anime is making to the arc and how relevant that arc is for this story, I like to give myself enough time to let the anime finish and make any corrections needed to AQFT to account for new material. The beginning of episode 24 alone should prove why this is so important.
Hope you guys can understand now why I wait till the first of the month to upload a chapter.
Though to be completely honest, I didn't really write this chapter, minus a few touch up and rearranging of words. A close friend of mine pitched in and really helped. Thank you once again.
Also, I haven't seen the finale of cour 2 by the time of this upload, but given what little I currently know...Jesus Christ. (Also, REALLY not looking forward to THAT scene with Bambietta.)
One last reminder btw, that I now have a discord to go over this series and have discussions with other fans along with myself. I can't promise I'll always be able to engage, nor will I reveal any major spoilers, but the option to join is still open. Simply PM me a request and I'll see what I can do. If you've already asked and by some chance I just forgot to invite you, I apologize and will attempt to invite you yet again. Please don't use the reviews to contact me for this.
Anyways, that's enough about the spin off and the Discord server. Let's get back to AQFT proper. We've got ourselves a whopping three battles going on this time around, so I won't bother with wasting anymore of your time. Let's go!
"Damm it, how do I keep getting myself into these kinds of messes!?"
Warren couldn't believe his rotten luck. The battle of Fairy Tail had been hectic as it was with just fighting the other Members of his guild. Thankfully, he had this far been able to avoid running into any of Freed's traps that would have forced him into such a confrontation, but he was currently wishing that he was.
Why? Because Warren Rocko found himself in the midst of a hostage situation. A small contingent of about seven dark mages had attacked him on his way through Magnolia, no doubt seeing him as an easy target. Fortunately, his Telepathy magic had come in handy, allowing him to avoid all of their attacks. However, they soon changed tactics, taking a wandering mother and her young son as hostages once it became abundantly clear that they were incapable of hitting him.
Now Warren found himself incapable of moving the dark mages warning him that if he so much as took another step, they would kill their hostages, and from what he could read from the ring leader's mind...He wasn't bluffing.
"That's right, don't even think about so much as twitching one of your damn fingers," The leader of the group told Warren as he pressed his sword against the mother's throat. "Not unless you want that brat over there to see his mom die right before his eyes."
Warren couldn't help but grit his teeth as he felt anger swell up inside of him. "You're a monster, they don't have anything to do with this, so just let them go!"
The dark mage sneered. "And why on earth would I do that? I've got you right where I want you so long as I have her in my clutches. So how's about you shut your trap and let us kill your sorry ass."
"Mom!" The young boy yelled as he tugged against the tight grip of one of the other dark mages.
The man snarled before he slammed the boy to the ground. "Shut your trap you damn brat! I don't get paid enough to listen to kids like you cry!"
"No, please, don't hurt him!" The mother pleaded. "Please, I'll do whatever you want, I'll give you anything, just please, let him go!"
"Shut your damn mouth!" The ringleader declared, pressing his sword hard against her neck as the top of his blade pierced her skin. The woman began to cry in earnest then, as her teary eyes looked into Warrens.
"Please... Save my son."
Trust me mam, if I could I would! Warren thought. As things stood, there was nothing that he could do. Telepathy magic was handy in avoiding attack and counteracting, but without any other magic to support it, there was nothing he could do in a situation like this. He had already tried using his magic to ask for assistance, but much to horror, everyone else seemed to have been preoccupied with a battle of their own, or had already been knocked out. As things stood now...
"Well, well. Looks like you've found yourself in a rather precarious situation."
(Song of choice: Avalon, Code Geass OST)
Warren and the other's turned their heads towards the new voice. A tall, yet lanky man confidently made his way towards them, as his dark purple eyes bore into the dark mages, sending a shiver down their spines. Warren, however, recognized him almost instantly. "Y-you're one of the Emperor's guards, right? Jonathan?"
Jonathan shook his head. "Well, you've got my name right, but I'm not a bodyguard. I'm rather ill suited for the task you see. What I am suited for , however, is helping you out of this little predicament of yours."
The ringleader snarled at Jonathan's apparent lack of concern. "Oi, what are you talking about, jackass! In case you're blind, we've got two hostages, so unless you want to see their blood splatter in the floor, you'll -"
Jonathan just sighed, his annoyance clear as day. "As riveting a conversation this is, I'm afraid I'll have to cut things short. Chessboard: Command, Pawn Acquisition."
Before anyone could inquire as to what his last words entailed, the ringleader and the other dark mage holding the son hostage suddenly let go of their respective hostages before their body's stiffened to an upright posture, their faces completely devoid of any emotion. Almost immediately, their skin was coated in a sliver, metal armor plating as they warped over their clothes. Eventually, even their faces were completely consumed by the metallic substance, leaving a perfectly blank and circular mask in their place.
As the mother and son quickly ran over towards one another and scurried off, the remaining dark mages looked at their former comrades with dismay.
"B-boss, what happened!?"
"He got Randy too!"
Jonathan didn't even bother to give the remaining dark mages so much as a second glance as he looked at the transformed mages. "Now with the hostages all safe and sound...let's wrap this up shall we? Pawns. Attack."
Then with a snap of his fingers, the metallic beings sprang into action, charging towards their former comrades. Startled as they were, they quickly went in the counter attack, blasting the metallic shoulders with various spells. Unfortunately for them however, each and every single one left not even a scratch on their enemies.
One of the 'pawns' grabbed one of the mages by the face before throwing them through a nearby wall, while the other kneed it's opponent hard in the gut, breaking several rubs and sending the dark mage rolling across the ground.
The remaining two dark mages gave each other a worried glance before they bolted in the other direction. What was supposed to have been an easy victory had quickly turned into something beyond their pay grade.
However, as they tried their best to get some distance from the silver soldiers, the two felt an iron, vice-like grip on their shoulders. Before they could do much as turn around to see just who had caught them, the two 'Pawns' slammed their heads together, cracking their skulls and rendering each of them unconscious like the rest of their ally's.
"Woah..." Warren couldn't help but utter. While defeating the dark mages wasn't exactly the most impressive feat, taking over the bodies of two mages to force them to battle their own comrades, and with such ease, was something else entirely. "What kind of magic was that?" He asked the Neo Sternritter Grand Master.
Jonathan gave him a small smile. "Oh, it's not magic. At least, not in the traditional sense. I'm not much of a fighter, you see. His Majesty came to me not for my talent as a warrior, but for my intellect. As such, he decided to bestow on to me this power, 'C, the Chess Master.'" He then looked over towards the two 'pawns'. "With this power, I can take command of any being with less power than myself. Though if I want any pieces under my command with any real power, a willing piece on my 'Chess board,' is several times more powerful and effective. "
"H-how so?" Warren asked."
Jonathan looked back at his 'Pawns' "These pawn pieces lack the freedom of thought and use of their magic they otherwise would have had. Nor do they inherit nearly as much power as the Chess piece they have been designated. As they are, the prices are only at a third of their current potential."
"Only a third!?" Warren shouted. Those things seemed plenty powerful as it was, and if this was what a pawn piece was like...
He shook his head, bringing himself back to the situation at hand. "Well, regardless, thanks a bunch for bailing me out. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"Think nothing of it. We're trying to rebuild an alliance between our two kingdoms after all." Jonathan told Warren. "Though, even if we weren't, the idea of letting scum like them doing whatever they please simply doesn't sit right with me. In any event, I was actually looking for you."
Warren pointed at himself. "Me? Well, what can I do for ya?"
"I need you to send out a warning throughout all of Magnolia to warn the civilians what's going on." Jonathan told him.
"Tell the people of Magnolia?" Warren asked. "But if we do that, then-"
"I understand that you don't want to create a panic," Jonathan interrupted. "If this was just Laxus and the Thunder Legion trying to take control of the guild all on their own, that would be one thing. However as you can see the situation is far worse than that. With so many dark mages on the loose, it's best to give everyone a warning so what just happened won't happen again. It might not be perfect, but they'll be a lot more safe cooped up in their homes than just roaming the streets."
Warren rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that's a fair point I guess. Alert, I'll send out a city wide broadcast to keep everyone safe."
Jonathan nodded. "Good, the sooner the better." He then swiped his hand in front of him, as a blue, hologram miniature view of Magnolia formed before him. Above the tiny artificial town was a floating screen of some sorts, with varying stats and the like littered about. However, most noticeably if all, were the chess pieces that were moving about, each with a name floating above the respective piece.
Jonathan's eyes narrowed at the information as he frowned. "I see. Just as expected, most of your guild has already taken each other out. How unfortunate."
"W-what?! How many people are on our side are left!?" Warren asked.
"Given what I'm seeing right here...Only a little over ten."
"Just over ten!?" Warren shouted. The guild had about 100 people in it, how on earth could they have been whittled down so fast!?
No, it's not that hard to believe. I mean...we have been practically fighting ourselves this whole time. Not to mention the dark guilds out there. Warren realized as the situation began to sink in. "If that's the case then..."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you." Jonathan reassured him as he continued to look at his 'Chessboard.' "Most of your guildmates have fallen, but most of the ones who fell were more or less equivalent to pawn pieces, with a few bishops , Rook, and one knight overall. Fortunately for you-" The Grandmasters eyes then narrowed in on the lone queen piece, and the remaining pieces that remained.
"Your guild has far more of a fighting chance than Laxus thinks."
As the battle of Fairy Tail continued to wage on throughout Magnolia, one Rukia Kuchiki found herself running as fast as she could through the street's. Unlike the majority of the guild, she had taken steps to avoid any unnecessary conflict by checking her surroundings, listening for anything out of the ordinary and keeping an eye out for the occasional flare gun shots from her allies. Even if the members of the guild were no longer fighting each other, mostly due to the vast majority having already taken each other out, there was no telling when and where one of the members of the Thunder Legion would show up.
Thankfully, Evergreen had already been defeated, alongside Bickslow, leaving only the arrancar, various dark mages, Freed, Emberella and Laxus himself remaining. The Reigai had little fear of Laxus's intervening personally, the man seeming like the type not to intervene unless it was absolutely necessary. It was a sort of arrogance that no doubt led him down his current path, likely thinking nobody else was worth his time unless they proved their worth.
Well, that's fine by me. Rukia thought. The sooner we defeat Freed and free Wendy, the sooner you'll have nothing to bargain with.
She still couldn't phantom why Laxus enacted this scheme in the first place. Did the shame this would bring both the guild and his Grandfather mean nothing to him? As a woman who valued the honor of her family, even as just the replica of the original, it left the reigai baffled.
However, just as she turned around a corner and rushed into Magnolia's park, Rukia could hear a distinctly bizarre sound behind her. Glancing behind her back, she noticed Freed's runes materializing around the entire border of the park itself. She walked back and held her hand out, feeling the invisible wall as runes emerged wherever she touched it.
Rukia sighed. "So much for avoiding any meaningless battles." she spoke with some discouragement. She knew now that escape was impossible until she I'm not fulfilled whatever rules were set within her confinement. She took a moment to read what the rules of this particular barrier were, and she scowled.
"The use of High Speed movement techniques and Shikai are prohibited in this barrier." Rukia spoke aloud with irritation. Well, that was just fantastic. Flash Step was key to avoiding nasty attacks one couldn't dodge through normal means and her shikai was without a doubt the most important part of her arsenal. To fight like this would be challenging to say the least.
As she walked at a more brisk pace through the park, Rukia noticed some strange architecture throughout the park, looking like mechanical columns and platforms of various sizes in rectangular shapes. "That's odd. These couldn't be part of the Harvest Festival, could they?"
Just as Rukia made her way towards the center of the park, a large magic circle emerged beneath her. The glow caught her attention but just as she looked, the ground gave in. Just as Rukia started falling, she grabbed the ledge of the pitfall before she pulled herself up. Rukia looked down the hole and to her surprise, it seemed to go on forever. Nevertheless she was well aware that she was fortunate that she had reacted quickly enough to avoid falling into the trap.
(Song of choice: Pokemon sword and shield, Gym Leader theme)
"Well, well, well. Your reflexes are quite sharp,"
Glazing to the left, Rukia noticed a tall, slim and slightly tanned middle-aged looking man with a thick mustache coming from behind one of the trees. He wore a gray overcoat and had a composed look in his green eyes. Speaking with a refined and sophisticated tone, he gave a terse nod. "Pleasure to meet you, young lady. My name is John Sageeza. And it appears you and I shall be fighting one another, today."
"John Sageeza?" Rukia asked suspiciously as she thoroughly looked over him. "I don't recognize you as a member of Fairy Tail. You're a dark mage, aren't you?"
"An excellent deduction." John replied with a slight bow. "I'm working alongside the Thunder Legion for this little game Laxus came up with on behalf of my own master," John answered, adjusting the yellow and black colored rings on his fingers before reaching inside the front of his coat, pulling out a gray and bronze large revolver styled gun with two barrels. "Now let's begin, shall we? Neither of us can leave this park until the other has been incapacitated in some way. I'd rather this not drag on any longer than it needs to."
Right as he aimed his gun, John smirked as he fired several shots at the shinigami Thinking quickly, Rukia just barely avoided the bullet as she ran to the right,though the bullet grazed her back, causing her to hiss in pain. However, before she had a chance to draw her zanpaktou, John fired another round, the gunman shaking his head. "Oh come now, surely you can do better than this. I haven't had a decent test to test out my dear invention's all day."
After finally getting some appropriate distance, about two meters away from her opponent, Rukia drew out her blade. However, her opponent didn't seem the least bit frightened at the sight of her weapon. The thumb of his left hand pressed against the ring on his index finger, changing the color from turning the black to cyan. Just as he finished, the machinery within the park floated up. The parts and pieces combined together, forming into four levels of levitating scaffoldings.
With her attention focused on what had transpired before her eyes, Rukia noticed that she was beginning to float upwards as well. It was as if the gravity around her had completely changed. She was about to perform an air dash, but the gravity increased, slamming her back onto the underside of the platforms. She grunted with effort to move, but much to her shock, Rukia found movement was much more sluggish as the gravity continued to intensify.
As she struggled John took aim and shot at her but Rukia focused her reiatsu to power herself out of the intense gravity and rolled away from the shot, the bullet only grazing the left side of her waist.
What on earth is going on with this gravity? Is it because of this strange machine? Rukia pondered as she slowly got up to her feet before she looked downward at her foe. Using the ring on his hand once more, hexagonal shapes of hard-light formed into the air as they turned into elevating platforms, John using them as makeshift stairs as he proceeded to run up towards step on as he hopped to the same level Rukia was before he took aim and shot at her once more.
With the gravity being what it was, dodging through the attacks proved all the more difficult, Rukia just barely managed to defect each of the shots with her zanpakuto before she ran towards another platform and made her way up. She couldn't afford to attack as things stood now, there were too many unknown variables. What she needed now was time to formulate a plan and figure out just what was going on.
She then took a second to catch her breath, the shinigami panting and wheezing from her light jog. Damn it, this gravity is making dodging far more tedious than it needs to be, but what's more…I feel like my power is starting to leave my body. But I don't understand, I haven't even had a chance to properly fight back yet, so why on earth am I-
Another shot was fired, this time with the bullet hitting her right in the back of her head. Panicking, she went to reach around to the back of her head only to feel…nothing? Pain aside, it was almost as if she had never been shot. She was about to ponder the matter more, but she took off into a sprint as another shot was fired at her.
However, try as she might, escape was proving to be next to impossible as John continued to create more platforms of hard-light for himself as he quickly jumped off the level of the platform he was on, only to run upwards towards Rukia. Several more bullets were fired, forcing Rukia to deflect. However, while she was able to deflect the vast majority of the assault, the last one managed to hit her right in the stomach. Rukia gasped out in pain as her knees buckled before she glanced down towards her stomach.
Strangely enough, her clothes didn't have a scratch, nor did it seem like she had suffered any real damage. In fact, as she looked around her entire body, the same could be said for all of the places he had managed to land a hit so far.
No doubt it's a part of whatever sort of magic he's using…or perhaps maybe it has to do with his weapon. Rukia thought to herself before she just barely dodged below yet another bullet.
"Is all this machinery yours?" Rukia asked, glancing back at John as she continued her way throughout his floating device.
"That is correct. You see, I'm both a brilliant scientist and engineer," John said. ""All of these devices we're using for our aerial arena are entirely my creation. The platform we're on right now increases gravity on whoever's unfortunate to find themselves trapped on it. Well, except for myself and whoever wishes to make use of this device, of course."
"And the lights you walk on?" Rukia asked.
"Also technology. Think of them as hardened holograms that I can conjure up some of my other rings."
A cheeky grin creased Rukia's face before she retorted, "I see. So you rely on gadgets and weapons instead of magic. Guess you don't have any real power of your own."
"Oh, I do have magic," John said in annoyance. "But the human mind can either be your worst enemy or your best friend. I choose to make it the latter, because I believe brains can be just as effective as brawn, if not more. Why work harder when you can just work smarter? It's why I made this device we're fighting on right now. I'm only slightly stronger than the average wizard, but there's no shame in weakening your opponent as long as it allows you to claim victory. How you win in battle is irrelevant as long as you're the last one standing."
"You really think so?" Rukia asked as she poised to strike. "I think you're just afraid of fighting some of the truly powerful mages out there."
John shrugged. "I may very well be. But I see no shame in that. Still, if you want to see what sort of magic I use, how about I give you a sample?"
Preparing for his counter attack as she jumped onto a new platform, she could hear a strange sound emit below her feet. Quickly glazing down, she noticed a magic symbol appear before it shot out. Sparks of white electricity erupted from the ground and shocked her body, sporadically moved around her body, causing her to spasm as she screamed in pain.
"Gyyyaaaaaaaahhhhh!" She screamed as the eclectic current continued to run through her body, the shinigami panting and breathing as she tried to recompose herself. "This power… is it… some sort of… lightning magic?" she gasped, just barely able to turn her neck where John was.
He shook his head. "Not quite. My power is a bit more unique than that. It's called Trap magic. I'm able to create all sorts of magic circles that have different effects, each with a different corresponding trap," John said casually before he grinned. "Though the manner of how I can use them is situational. Just like the Jutsu Shiki set throughout the town, I have to place them before they can be used. That's why I mostly focus my time and efforts into the technology I've created. So I can use my trap magic more beneficially against my opponents."
"So that's why I almost fell into that hole earlier." Rukia surmised.
"Indeed. That was my doing. Now where were we? Oh yes, your inevitable defeat!"
The gunman fired a gunshot to the side of Rukia's torso, causing her to scream out in pain once more. Soon the Trap Magic circle that bound her dissipated, causing her to fall to the ground, panting with breath. Once again glazing at where she was shot, Rukia noticed that she still hadn't seemed to have taken any real injury. Moreover…it felt like she was getting weaker and weaker by the second. "Wh-what on earth is..."
"Did you really think I was shooting you with regular magical bullets?" John asked as he held his gun out in front of himself and held the open palm of his other hand over the cylinder. The gunbarrel glowed then, filling with magical energy that seemed to come from John's body as if it were smoke. "I wouldn't even consider using something so crude. It's not because I'm some chivalrous man who doesn't kill or anything like that. I'm a pragmatist. These bullets instead are meant to create holes in your body's Ethernano network, causing it to leak out over time. It doesn't matter how strong the wizard is, without their magic, they're all completely powerless before me."
Rukia tried her best to move, the paralysis of the shock slowly wearing off, but the gravity of the machine was still weighing down on her, the force allowing her to just barely move. She focused every bit of strength she could into moving the hand that wasn't holding her zanpakutō, praying that the gunman wouldn't notice. "That…doesn't mean much when they don't hurt your opponent aside from the pain."
He looked at her with a sneer as he continued to speak. "True, it may not be as deadly but I would need to put even more magical energy into my gun in order to make the bullets actually pierce into my opponent. And I'd rather not use more than I might need for later. Quality over quantity, after all."
"You talk way too much." Rukia responded bluntly. Her words earned a glare from John but his expression quickly turned into one of fear when seeing two of her fingertips pointed at him as electricity gathered around them. "Hadō#4, Byakurai!"
The kidō spell released lightning from Rukia's fingers, shooting out and blasting John through his shin. The lightning seared his skin and pierced through his leg muscles, causing him to lose his balance on the column and fall to the ground. Grunting in pain, the man managed to remain calm in spite of his injuries as he landed on the lower level of his floating platform.
"Not a bad attempt, but nearly good enough." John said as he limped forward and tried his best to find Rukia. He noticed Rukia leap from the platform she was on, her movement slowed from the intense gravity, her sword poised to strike. The engineer smirked, and simply pressed onto the ring on right pinky finger, intensifying the gravity where she stood before one of the column from the platform dislodged itself from the arena before it swung at Rukia, hitting her and sending her rolling across the floor of the platform she was on.
"Oh, did I forget to mention I can control every part of my arena, along with the gravity with these rings on my fingers? How rude of me." He said as he filled his gun with more of his magic before he took aim at her once more.
The bullets came rushing towards Rukia, the shinigami grimacing before she let out a shout and began to try to deflect the attacks as best she could, her zanpakuto cleaving through each of the bullets just in the nick of time. Once she had cut through the lot of them, she began to run forward, only for her to step on yet another of John's trap magical circles, this time the circle firing out several fire balls, each of them hitting Rukia as she screamed in pain as she rolled across the floor.
"That was a 'flame volley' trap," John said to her almost as if delighted to inform her. "Not enough to scorch you to death it seems, though as you can see, it's still deadly nonetheless. Of course most traps tend to be deadly, don't they? I wonder how long you'll last before one of my traps finally does you in?"
Slowly getting up to her feet, Rukia tried to catch her breath before she noticed she had fallen onto yet another trap circle. Rukia jumped back just in time, as several vines shot out of the magic circle and towards her. She hacked away at them with her zanpakutō but behind her, another platform began to react towards her presence, this time the gravity forcing her to be pulled towards it. She landed on her feet, only to quickly side step from a gray magical circle as a massive blade shot out from it.
Damn it! Everywhere I go, I'm getting caught up in something! He's rigged this whole area in an attempt to work at his advantage!
One hit. All she needed to win this battle was one solid with Sode no Shirayuki and she could properly end this. All she had to do was just get close to him!
As a platform slowly lifted John upwards, the rings on his hands began to glow once more. More hexagonal shapes of hard-light emerged in front of him as very small steps he moved across, getting closer to Rukia. As far as he was concerned this battle was as good as over. Most mages couldn't stand after being shot by so many of his bullets. She had to be running out of magic now, he was sure of it. Still, better to be safe than sorry, he took aim at her one more time. "Well, it's been a good little hunt, but I think it's time I put an end to this."
He fired his gun, the twin bullets hitting Rukia right in the back, forcing her to stumble forward, teetering on the edge of her platform. Just as she was at the edge, John pressed into the ring on his leech finger and the platform Rukia was one began to shrink before she finally lost her palance, hurting towards the park.
However, much to his surprise…Rukia simply stopped mid air, before she looked up towards him.
"What!? You can fly?" He asked before he fired several bullets towards Rukia, creating more makeshift light platforms as he approached her.
"Not exactly." Rukia answered "But I don't feel the need to answer you! Bakudō #39, Enkōsen!"
With her zanpakutō held horizontally in front of herself a dull yellow energy taking the form of a large spinning disk of condensed magic energy emerged in front of herself, the bullets reflecting off of the makeshift shield almost harmlessly. In her free hand, she aimed her palm to the ground and shouted another kidō spell. "Bakudō #21, Sekienton!" Her free hand glowed red before red smoke burst forth, covering almost the entire park in smoke, hiding Rukia from sight. John tried to find her as best as he could, but the smoke was everywhere, his fight fully obscured. "Do you really think this little trick is going to stop me?" Don't be ridiculous." He muttered.
Soon enough the smoke faded…yet Rukia was nowhere to be seen. His eyes narrowed as he looked about, trying to find the shinigami. "Blast it, where did she run off to?" He asked as he continued to walk around on his hard light steps as he briskly walked around the air. "She couldn't have left the park, Freed's runes haven't been deactivated, yet. So she has to be here, somewhere."
"Hadō #31. Shakkahō!"
Jumping up from behind him, the shinigami having used an imperfected Bakudo 26, Kyokkō to hide herself, Rukia fired the ball of fire at him with her left hand. shooting at Watts right in the back and knocking him down to the ground. He cried out in pain as he felt his back burn from the strike, quickly taking off his own coat to prevent the flames from spreading. He glanced upwards towards Rukia, the shinigami giving him a confident smirk. "So are you ready to finally surrender now?" She asked coly.
"Not quite."
A violet colored magic circle emerged all around John's back and glowed brightly before releasing a bursting pillar of magic energy towards Rukia. The attack was too fast for her to dodge without flashstep, nailing her right in the chest and sending her flying back towards the platform until her back slammed onto one of it's many column.
Pressing his index finger, Johan made one of the platforms lower to the ground, only so he could simply walk onto it and allow it to raise him high above the sky once more, placing him on the same platform to where Rukia was, the shinigami panting heavily from exhaustion. "You put a trap symbol on yourself? You can do that?" Rukia asked.
John nodded as he began to recharge his weapon once more. "Indeed. The placement of my traps isn't just limited to non-living matter," John said as the last slot of his cylinders filled. "That was a counter trap. Whenever somebody attempts to attack me in the spot where I've placed it, whether they use a weapon, ammunition or even some other sort of magic attack, it sends back a burst of magical energy with as much power as I was dealt. It's risky though since I admit I don't have much stamina. But given your current condition, it looks like you don't have much left, yourself."
As much as she didn't want to admit it, Rukia knew he was right. That last hit was pushing her to her limits after all of the hits she had endured up to this point. Whether or not there was still any remaining trap magic remaining on the platform was almost irrelevant, running around to avoid them was simply taking too much out of her. I can't afford to waste any more time. I need to find an opening. If I can catch him off guard, just once, then I might be able to end this quickly. But how-?
Her eyes glanced upward as she noticed one of the platforms above John, the very same one that affected her gravitation before. The holes from some of John's earlier shots were also there. Slowly, a thought began to form on the back of her head. Wait a moment…Maybe…
She got up to her feet, just narrowly avoiding two more shots fired at her as she began to run up the next platform.
John smirked as he watched her run. "Oh please, do you really think you can escape from me after all those hits? Just be smart and give up already." He declared as he slowly followed after her, shooting at her with little care in the world, each shot managing to graze her sides, weakinging her even further.
Still she continued onward, rushing toward her destination. Finally she arrived at the same platform where she had been struck by the trap magic, landing where it had been. Her eyes scanned the area, wondering if she would have to dodge the same trap yet again, yet…nothing happened.
Rukia smiled. I knew it. They may be magic, but they still function like ordinary traps! The shinigami took off into a sprint, with John stepping onto her column as he began to shoot at her once more. They can only go off once. That's why he's so desperate to end things as soon as possible. So if I can just remember which ones I've already set off before…
"You can't run forever," John said as he rubbed his thumb to the side of his gun's handle, flipping over a circular cover that showed three different buttons, respectively colored red, light blue and yellow. "If you're hoping to wear me out before yourself, you're wasting your time." He declared.
Holding the red button, he pulled the trigger. Two bullets were fired off, each one transforming into fireballs. They hurtled toward Rukia as she went into her own jump, but she spun around mid air and held out her zanpakutō. "Hadō #58, Tenran!" Her weapon levitated in front of her before she hit the bottom end of the handle, causing it to spin like a fan, conjuring up a widening tornado-like blast from her spinning zanpaktou.
John crossed his arms, feeling the wind push him back in the air. With the gale of wind simply being too strong for him to power through, he tucked and rolled back along the aerial float.
Just what I was waiting for! Rukia thought as she immediately opened her free hand and prepared her counterattack. "Bakudō #62, Hyapporankan!"
A blue-white glowing rod of energy generated in her hand before she threw it at John before it multiplied into one hundred more rods of light. All of them swarmed John and try as he might, there were simply too many to avoid, and he was pinned to one of the many support columns of his makeshift arena.
"Argh! I can't move!" John said in annoyance, trying but failing to even clench his fingers. "Don't think this is over!"
Rukia didn't bother to retort as she stood across from him before she aimed her free hand at him before she began to chant. As she did, sparks of electricity started forming into a sphere at her palm. "Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring-"
John was wide eyed, having a bad feeling at what was happening. I don't know what she's up to, but it's probably not good for my health! he thought as he doubled his efforts to free himself. However, the binding spell was simply too strong. "Rgh! Come on! Move! Damn it all, move!"
"...Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle! Hadō #63, Raikōhō!"
Her incantation finished, the blast soon fired from her palm, with the electricity generated into an orb of yellow lightning larger than even herself, before it blasted out as a massive bolt of lightning.
"No, no, damn it!" He cursed. Despite his best efforts, John could do nothing as the blast hit him dead on, destroying the entirety of the aerial platform, the attack so large that it could be seen throughout all of Magnolia.
With her attack fully finished, Rukia made her way towards the ground as bits and pieces of John's invention crashed to the ground. She could see the man out of the corner of her eye, groaning in pain as he lay on his side. However, much to her shock, he slowly got up to his feet.
He looked like a complete mess, his entire body full of burns and bruises. He panted and wheezed before he slowly slowly raised up his gun, his other arm hanging limp as if it had lost all muscle strength.
"Damn…you…" He cursed before he snarled. "Damn you! Do you know how long it took me to create that! I was going to revolutionize the wizarding world with that technology! Floating cities, a way to immobilize and weaken the forces from other continents, my inventions would have brought Isghar into a brand new age of glory!"
"Is that why you've done all of this?" Rukia asked coldly.
"I don't expect you to understand!" John yelled at her. "The Magic Council thought that my ideas were too expensive for the proper funding, but I know the truth! I know that if they were just bright enough to give me the necessary funds, then I could take all of Ishgar and make it into the budding civilization that it was always meant to be! That's why when Embrella destroys the Magic council then I'll take over and-"
"I've heard enough."
Before John knew what had happened, Rukia had dashed towards John and slammed her sheathed blade onto his head. The engineer let out a silent gasp of pain, stepping back several feet until he fell onto his back, unconscious.
Finally certain she defeated her opponent, Rukia sighed with relief as Freed's runes around the park vanished and so did the semi transparent wall they created. "That was….more difficult than expected." Rukia remarked before she weakly walked over to one of the park benches, the shinigami promptly sitting down on it.
Well, that's one down. Rukia thought as she looked over towards the frozen dark mage. I'll need to get back into the fight soon enough, but for right now…I need to rest to recuperate as much of my reiatsu as I can.
After all, if she wanted to be of any help for the battles to come…She'd need to be at full strength.
"Are you absolutely certain about this?" Ulquiorra asked Mirajane as the waitress began to make her way towards the front door of the guild hall.
"Yes. I can't just stand by and watch from inside of here anymore," Mirajane answered. "Elfman's probably been really hurt after his fight with Evergreen, and I need to go make sure he's doing alright. At the very least I can bring him back to the guildhall so he gets some proper treatment."
"Even though you could end up dragged into the fighting?" The arrancar inquired. "Since you are a member of this guild, if you were to end up in one of Freed's traps, then you would be forced to fight, and in your current condition, your odds of victory are next to zero."
"I know there's a heavy risk involved," Mirajane admitted as she stopped just short of the exit. "And I know that I can't hope to win any battles as I am now. But I refuse to just watch as my brother lay's injured out there. I may not be good for much anymore, but I can at least do this much."
"Is that what your heart tells you to do?" The arrancar asked.
Mirajane nodded. "Yes. I've already lost one sibling, so I want to do whatever I can for Elfman. I know he's always trying to protect me after everything that's happened, but I've always wished I could do the same for him. I'm his big sister after all."
"Then I wish you a safe journey."
Mirajane smiled at Ulquiorra's words before she then left the guild, the white haired women running as fast as she could down the street's of Magnolia.
Ulquiorra stared at her retreating form as long as he could till she was finally out of sight, the arrancar turning around before he began to walk back towards Levy, his close friend having a bunch of books and tomes lying about as she tried to decipher Freed's runes. "Have you made any progress about this barrier yet?" Ulquiorra asked.
Levy shook her head. "No, not yet. I'm terribly sorry, but Freed's ability with words and runes is on a completely different level than mine. It's far more complex and can even utilize multiple languages for its make-up. The really hard part is translating and isolating the most important parts. I'm afraid this is going to take some time."
"I see. How unfortunate." The arrancar replied as he looked out towards the front door's of the guild once more.
"You're really worried about Mira, aren't you?"
Ulquiorra glanced down, taking note of the look of concern Levy was giving him. "And what gives you that impression?"
"Well, you've certainly interacted with her more than almost anyone else in the guild besides me ever since we returned," Levy answered. "Not to mention the fact that you seemed to be pretty worried as she left the guild. Well, as worried as I've ever seen you anyways." She then got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I need a bit of a mental break. Jewel for your thoughts?"
The arrancar simply stared back at her before he responded. "She…reminds me of the woman that Lord Aizen had me abduct. At least to some extent."
"You mean Orihime?" Levy responded. The former Espada had told her the truth about his past once the fiasco after the Tower of Heaven had ended, the arrancar not wanting to withhold anymore information. While somewhat perturbed by this revelation at first, Levy knew from all their time together that he was genuine in his willingness to change.
"Yes. That woman always found something to be hopeful about despite her captivity and powerlessness. I could never fully understand it," The arrancar answered her. "The only times I saw her truly upset was when her own friends were in great peril…much like Miss Strauss."
He then glanced out towards the exit. "Perhaps my concern stems from my desire to see Miss Inoue once again. To…thank her for helping me start out on my journey to discover more about the Heart. But I also believe it's because I wish to see if Miss Strauss can eventually one day overcome the pain of her own heart. To see if she can become the mage that she once was."
"So it's a combination of nostalgia and curiosity?" Levy asked.
"Perhapes." Ulquiorra answered as he narrowed his eyes at the rest of Magnolia. Or perhaps it's something else entirely.
"Come on, come on, where is she!?"
Lucy meanwhile, wasn't exactly having the best of luck. The minute she had been informed of Wendy's kidnapping she had been somewhat on edge. Sure, she may not have had as much as a…violent reaction as Bambietta would have had, but Wendy was still someone who had been living under her own roof for well over half a year now. A close bond had formed, with the blonde doing what she could to support the dragon slayer whenever she could. Honesty, she saw her more like a little sister than anything else.
That wasn't even taking into consideration that the Sky Dragon Slayer was an absolute necessity to help Master Makarov completely recover from his recent heart problem. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the guild would be like without the old man.
It was for that reason she was running as fast as she could, desperately trying to find her, but so far she had been out of luck. Magnolia wasn't exactly a small town afterall. Eventually, Lucy had made it to the town square as she ran down the first flight of stairs. Just as she made it to the final step, the runes of Freed's magic emerged behind her. Lucy turned around, gasping in fright. "Oh no, not now!"
"Finally! A little fairy has fluttered my way!"
Lucy turned to the direction of the voice. Before her stood a man with dark brown hair tied up into a ponytail, yellow eyes, and most bizarrely of all, a long scorpion-like tail behind his back! His clothes consisted of a white sleeveless jacket and pants, along with some bracers on his arms. He also had various scars on his exposed chest, the manic man slowly licking his lips as he approached her and let out an unsettling chuckle.
Quickly, the man began to move about, gesturing his arms and body like he was in a theater, as if he were reciting a poem. "A very beautiful fairy, too. Such lovely locks of blonde hair, like golden fleece. A pair of pretty brown eyes, like smoky quartz crystals. And that fair complexion on your stunning figure…"
Everything about this man was setting off alarm bells for the Celestial Mage, the blonde taking an instinctive step back before she gulped. Ok, I've met some weirdo's in my time in Fairy Tail, but this guy takes the cake!" She took another step back, reaching for her Celestial Keys with a slow, steady move of her hand just as the man's face twisted into an ecstatic and terrifying grin.
"I wanna see it all covered in blood! To make you scream in agony as I poke a bunch of holes into your smooth looking skin! And I'll be able to do that, now that you've set foot into the square! Your fate has been sealed, little lady!"He leaped from the ground, landing in a squat just a few feet away from the Blonde as he slowly began to circle around Lucy, almost as if he were a malicious predator who had found his intended prey.
"You're insane!" Lucy said with disgust. "Who are you, anyway?"
The man rolled his eyes, irritated by Lucy's sudden spunk as he spoke in a rather annoyed tone of voice.. "Well if you must know, the name's Joshua. But it doesn't really matter who I am. Because I'm here to finish you off," His crazed behavior came back as he hunched over where he stood, his large scorpion tail on display. The bracers on his arms changed, turning into weapons as folded blades emerged at the sides, forming into pincer-like claws. "And even if these runes didn't keep us from leaving this place until one of us was defeated, I'd have no intention of running away. Nor would I allow you to run for your life."
Granted, Emberella wanted as many Fairy Tail mages alive for herself as possible but…certainly one sacrifice for Lord Zeref wouldn't hurt. Yes, this would be nothing more than an unfortunate 'accident', a fight that had gone just a little too far.
"Oh yeah? Well I'm not running, either!" Lucy declared as she pulled out one of her keys. "You may be creepy as hell, but you don't scare me! I'll fight you with everything I have!"
Joshua gazed at her before he slowly inhaled through his nose before he exhaled out his mouth, giving as wide a grin as he could, before he spoke a single word as eerily as possible. "Good."
(Song of choice: Phenomena, Bleach OST)
In a blurring flash, Joshua emerged right behind Lucy with one of his bladed gauntlets drawn back as he readied to punch. Lucy turned around just in time to see him and ducked before jumping back. The blonde was forced to sidestep as she moved backwards as Joshua continued to slash at Lucy with his Blades. Fortunately, Lucy had managed so far to not get hit but she knew she couldn't keep this up for much longer.
No good! I can't open up a gate like this! I got to get some distance between myself and this freak before-Gah!
Joshua had managed to land a powerful kick on Lucy's stomach, sending her flying above the ground before she rolled onto one of Magnolia's many rooftops. Groaning in pain, she got up to her knees only to notice Joshua leaping at her with both of his claws fists aimed towards her. She rolled out of the way before she got up to her feet and finally drew out one of her keys.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
Bursting out of the ground, Taurus emerged with a mighty 'moo' as his battle cry. Turning around he grinned at Lucy, hearts filling in his eyes. "Miss. Lucy, you're looking as good as ever. Yeah, your body always gets me in the 'moooood' if ya know what I mean?"
"Not now!" Lucy immediately replied with an annoyed frown and deep blush. Boy am I glad Bambi isn't here to see this. It had been one thing when her girlfriend had seen the bull's perverted antic's before they were dating but now? She didn't want to think about how she'd react.
Joshua raised an eyebrow as he watched the exchange between Lucy and Taurus before cackling in hysterics. "And that's one of the so-called zodiac spirits!? What an absolute joke!" he cried out, holding his gut before he managed to calm himself. "Oh well. I'll just have to hack him up, too. Then when I'm done, you'll both be a couple of meat pies."
"What?" Taurus replied with a mixture of shock and anger, turning to Joshua with a glare. "You're gonna try and do something like that to Miss. Lucy?" The spirit gripped his ax tightly in both hands, bovine spirit scowling. "Not while I'm around, you're not. I'll turn YOU into a meat pie, you scrawny bug!"
Taurus rushed towards Joshua and swung his ax vigorously, never slowing down or relaxing his posture for even a moment. Joshua ducked, dodged, weaved, dipped and leaned back every way possible as he was attacked. "However, after a few more strikes, Joshua's tail struck out, blocking Taurus's weapon, keeping it at bay with little effort.
"But how?! You're strong enough to block even Taurus' strength?!" Lucy exclaimed.
Joshua chuckled. "That's because of the magic I use, Manticore soul. Well, partially anyways."
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Partially?" She asked, the mention of the creature he took over sending a slight shiver down her spine. Manticore's were incredibly powerful creatures, usually reserved for S class jobs. If he had the full power of one of those…
The psychotic man grinned. "I was a deplorable criminal back in the day. I made all kinds of sacrifices to Lord Zeref. Eventually the magic council had enough of my tributes and I was sentenced to life imprisonment. But eventually, I was approached by the former head of the Bureau of Magical Development, and he had a special offer for me. I could spend the rest of my life in a cage…or I could partake in his experiment regarding takeovers."
"Former head of the Bureau of Magical Development…Do you mean Brain!?" Lucy exclaimed. She had read all about the terrible crimes that had been committed during his time as head of the department, mostly human experimentation.. Oh great, to think I have to deal with that guy's leftovers! Lucy bemoaned.
"The very same," Joshua answered as he leered at Lucy. "The experiment was supposed to bypass the process of dominating the soul of the takeover and simply allow the user all of its power. The experiment was successful…A bit too successful." His tail twitched about as he grinned. "My dear tail here is always now a permanent part of my body. I can't turn it off, no matter how hard I try. Now I'm stuck like this, for the rest of my life. But in all honesty, I rather like having this form all the time. It's so useful. Now the rest of my body possesses a portion of the strength of a manticore, and it's more than enough to rip you apart!" ."
The madman then deflected Tarus's ax upwards, and before he could have a chance to properly defend, Joshua stuck his tail into the spirit's pectoral. Taurus yelled in pain as he was stung and tried to grab Joshua with one of his hands but the madman simply jumped back before he landed on his hand, the tail slowly lowering him to the ground before he grinned.
Taurus wobbled as he held a hand over his recent wound, the spirit wheezing heavily before he began to kneel on one knee as he used his ax to support his body.
"Oh no, Taurus! Are you okay?" Lucy asked in concern.
Taurus panted heavily, choking between his wheezing breaths. "No… I'm sorry Ms. Lucy, but I think he injected something into me… I'm feeling really sick right now…"
"But of course" Joshua exclaimed with a fit of laughter. "I said my Take Over magic is 'Manticore Soul' didn't I? Obviously I used poison from my scorptian tail! You're not so much of a muscle head that you don't have any brains at all, are you?"
Despite her worry, Lucy knew there wasn't anything she could truly do to help Taurus at the moment. Without Wendy, there was simply no way to cure him of poison. She knew what she had to do. "Taurus! You need to go back to the Celestial World! I don't want to see you suffer anymore!"
"B-but Miss Lucy-" The spirit tried to retort, but before he could speak any further, he felt his grip on his ax slip entirely before he collapsed to the floor.
"Taurus, please!" Lucy demanded.
"Okay…" Taurus said, looking weaker and more in pain. "I'm really sorry, Ms. Lucy. Hopefully I can be more helpful next time…"
He vanished in the twinkling lights before Lucy reached for her skirt and used another one of her Celestial Keys. "Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
The neighing shout of Sagittarius came at the same time he emerged, saluting to Lucy. "Tallyho, Ms. Lucy! How might I assist you, today?"
"See that cackling creep over there?" Lucy said as she pointed at Joshua. "Use those arrows of yours and pin him down! Make sure he doesn't get anywhere near you or me, he's got some seriously strong poison!"
"As you command, my lady! Consider it done!" Sagittarius said as he readied his bow before firing the first shot.
Joshua evaded the first arrow but as soon as he had, his eyes shot wide open as a volley of arrows made his way towards him. Rather than run away, Joshua ran up th the nearest building before he used the momentum of his speed to run across the walls as Sagittarius continued to let loose with his arrows. However, as Joshua leapt up into the air, a set of gun barrels emerged from underneath his braces He fired a barrage of bullets as the spirit began to reload, forcing Lucy and Sagittarius to separate to avoid being shot. Seeing that the pair was distracted, Joshua smirked before he ran to another corner behind a nearby building.
"Hey, get back here! After him Sagittarius!" Lucy commanded.
"Yes, my lady! He won't get away from me!"
Moving as a team, they followed after Joshua, but just as they turned around the corner there was no one to be found, much to their surprise. It's…like he disappeared? But where could he have gone? Lucy wondered. However as her eyes looked around, Lucy noticed an unusually large hole in the ground. Quickly realizing what had happened, she turned around to Sagittarius. "It's a trap! We gotta get out of here, now!"
But it was too late, as Joshua burst out the ground behind Sagittarius, laughing with wicked glee before he spun around midair and repeatedly struck at the spirit in the back with his claw blades. The spirit fell to the ground, his torn clothing revealing that his back was littered with all sorts of cuts.
Lucy gasped as she looked over her Celestial Spirit, her eyes watering with tears. "No, Sagittarius!" She cried out as Joshua began to laugh. She couldn't stand to see her spirits injured like this! It wasn't right!
"He really… wounded me…" Sagittarius barley through his grunts of pain. "I'm sorry Miss. Lucy, but I won't be of much use to you in my current condition."
Sagittarius faded away the same way as Taurus did, as Josuha smirked as he slowly made his approach before he reloaded his weapons. "It's really amazing what one can do with only a portion of a Manticore's strength. Digging through the ground with my speed and strength is no problem. So try all you like, but there's nothing you can do to save you now. Even range isn't going to help you against me."
Lucy grimaced before taking out another Celestial Key. "Then how about somebody fast, strong and also able to burrow just like you? Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
Joshua stopped as Virgo emerged, the pink haired young woman standing at attention before turning to Lucy with a bow. "Hello, Princess. Have you come to punish me?" she asked.
Joshua stared for just a moment before he let out a roar of laugther, all the while with Lucy blushing red as a tomato before she shook her head. "No, no, no! Just fight him alright!? Just be careful, he's some nasty poison and he can burrow underground just like you! Beat him into submission before he can do that to you!"
"Telling her that won't help!" Joshua remarked once he stopped laughing before he pointed both of his arms at Virgo before he fired off a volley of bullets. However, just as the bullets were released, Virgo had turned around, the chains on her wrists extending out before they began spinning rapidly, deflecting each and every shot, surprising Joshua. "What!?"
"As you command, Mistress." Virgo said formally before she dashed above the ground. Before he even knew what happened, Virgo had delivered a powerful punch across his jaw, forcing him to spin diagonally in a whirl. Just as he was knocked to the ground, Virgo dug underground and quickly emerged before she kicked him up in the air before she leapt up and delivered a chop to the back of his neck, sending him to the ground. However before he could hit the ground again, Virgo grabbed Joshua and threw him out into the middle of the town square, her chains lasing out and wrapping it around his ankle.
Joshua snarled and prepared to aim his weapons at her once more, but before he could, he was slammed to the ground. He groaned in pain as he tried to wobbly get up to his feet, only for Virgo to lift him up with her chain and threw him to the ground yet again, the pink haired spirit repeating the process multiple times, as he was continuously lifted up and over herself to slam against the ground.
Eventually he was able to use one of his claw blades to cut at the chains, the scorpion tailed man crashing to the ground. Shaking his head from the disorientation as he got up to his feet, he noticed Virgo had dug yet another tunnel. He snarled. "Alright, that tears it! I'm going to end this nonsense!"
Then to Lucy's surprise Joshua simply closed his eyes and began to breathe softly. The blonde couldn't help but tilt her head in confusion. I don't get it, why is he just standing there? He's gotta know Virgo's on her way! Something was going on, and she didn't like it.
Suddenly, Joshua's eyes shot open as he grinned, jumping out into the air right just before Virgo emerged beneath him. Realizing that she had missed her target, Virgo tried to dig another tunnel, but it was too late, as his tail lashed out and jabbed into her waist.
"Virgo, no!" Lucy cried out worry as she ran over to her, the blonde trying to hold up her spirit as her knees began to buckle. "Come on Virgo, stay with me!" Lucy begged.
"I'm…sorry Princess…but…I…can't." Virgo weakly muttered before she too vanished in a flourish of sparking lights.
"Ahahahahaha!" Joshua laughed as he watched the spirit fade away. "Three times in a row, and they all fell! These spirits don't seem all that helpful. Are they as weak as you are?" Joshua asked mockingly as he slowly approached Lucy.
Lucy gulped as she felt a shiver run down her spine, before she reached for her whip. Things weren't looking good for her now, and she knew it. Oh why did I have to leave Gonzales at home!? Lucy berated herself. She hadn't even considered bringing her old doll with her to the contest, and she was simply too worried about Wendy to even consider stopping at her house. Now it seemed as if that mistake was going to cost her dearly.
Joshua continued to chuckle as he gave Lucy a sadistic grin, his gauntlets aiming at the blonde. Just as she gasped in fear, he opened fire, the bullets rushing towards Lucy at great speed. Knowing that there was nothing she could do, Lucy simply closed her eyes and braced for the impact.
However, just as the bullets were about to hit her, she felt herself being lifted off the ground, the bullets soaring past as she was taken away.
"It's strange, isn't it?" Her rescuer announced as Lucy began to open her eyes as he continued to speak. "For some reason, I have no problem traveling between our worlds without you even having to summon me. That means the wall between humans and spirits is no more. Together, you and I have broken it down. And it's all thanks to the power of love."
The moment she did, she gasped, recognizing the one who saved her. It was Loke! Or more specifically, Leo the Lion, leader of the celestial spirits! He no longer looked like he did in his time in Fairy Tail though. His hair seemed longer and spiky, and now wore a dark suit, pants, and a white shirt with a plain red tie.
Quickly heading his words, Lucy began to blush as she was set back at her feet. "Power of love? Oh come on. Don't joke around like that. But I appreciate you coming in to help. So thanks, Loke."
"Hey! What the Hell?! Nobody is supposed to be able to enter or exit this place once the runes have been set up!" Joshua shouted, stomping one of his feet irritably. "Did that Green Haired loser's magic wear off?!"
"No, "I'm a Celestial spirit, too. But Lucy didn't need to call me. That's just how strong the bond I have with her is."
Joshua just rolled his eyes. Just how long was it going to take for him to sacrifice this blonde! "Oh, what. You're here to participate in the little battle for your guild, too?"
"Listen up. I don't care about your battle, Laxus or any of that nonsense. The only reason I'm here is to protect Lucy. I'm not gonna let you hurt her. Understand?" Loke demanded as he raised up his fists.
Though still irate, Joshua still managed to give off his malicious smile and shrugged. "Fine. I'll just have to kill you both. More painful screams means more fun for me."
"Stand back. I'll handle this." Loke said with a protective arm out, gesturing for Lucy to keep her distance from Joshua.
However, Lucy shook her head before she drew her whip, ready to use it as she smiled at her newest spirit. "Not gonna happen. Any decent Celestial wizard treats her spirits as partners. Not as shields."
Loke smiled back, silently giving his appreciation before he glared at Joshua. "Alright then. I'll do what I can to create an opening for you then. As soon as I give the single, go on in and hit him with your best shot."
Song of choice: Shishi no Hoshi Rei, Fairy Tail OST
Lucy nodded, and with her approval, Loke took off in a dash. Like the last two spirits he did battle with, Joshua unleashed a volley of bullet's towards Loke, but Loke leapt up into the air before delivering a kick. Joshua leapt back to avoid the attack and tried to lash out with his claws, the spirit moving his head to the left to evade the oncoming strike before he gave Joshua a light enhanced punch to the stomach, causing the take over mage to roll across the ground.
"Tch, it's not over yet!" Joshua declared as he burrowed underground. Loke closed his eyes as he tried to detect where the madman would strike next,jumping backwards as Joshua popped up from the ground before he fired off more bullets from his guns. Loke performed a backflip to avoid the bullets, but Joshua had already closed the distance, nearly striking Loke with his left claw blade. However, as Loke avoided the attack, he jammed his knee into Josuha's stomach, forcing him to cough up bile before he delivered a powerful punch across the face, forcing him to roll across the ground.
Joshua groaned before he got up, aiming his gun to prepare to unleash another volley, but Loke was already preparing for his next move. The leader of the Zodiac spirits placed his left hand next to his face before his entire body began to glow as a massive magic circle appeared beneath him.
"Lion Brilliance!"
A magnificent and brilliant light shone then, making it all but impossible for anyone nearby to see what was going on. The take over mage covered his eyes, the light too intense despite his take over.
"Gah, I can't see!" Joshua screamed before Loke delivered a spinning kick, the take over mage just barely dodging underneath the strike as he struck out with his tail. However, before the tail could hit Loke with its deadly stinger, the spirit had grabbed the appendage before it could strike and tossed Joshua into the air before he used his tail to latch onto a nearby tear branch, hanging off of it like a monkey.
He sneered at Loke. "Well, well, well. You're actually not half bad. Looks like I'll be able to get some fun out of this after all. But it'll only be a matter of time before you and that girl suffer in the most-"
"Quit your blubbering and come down here already," Loke interrupted Joshua, the Leader of the Zodiac keys, narrowing his eyes as he adjusted his glasses. "My master has a lot more important things to do than waste her time on someone like you."
Joshua narrowed his eyes as he prepared his claws. "Fine, be a party pooper. We'll see if you still have that same attitude after I slice you up!" Using his tail for extra momentum, Joshua sprang off from the tree branch before he tried to strike at Loke. Again and again the spirit managed to dodge and weave through the attacks, seeming to avoid the attacks with little ease, but as thing's seemed to be going his way, Joshua had unexpectedly fired off a round from his gun barrels as he attempted a punch, the bullet hitting Loke right in the stomach before Joshua followed up with several strikes from his claw blades, each strike slashing into Loke's stomach. "See, this is what happens when you don't take me seriously!"
Despite his recent injuries, Loke went on the offensive, hitting Joshua with a left hook. His feet skidding against the ground, Joshua leaped over the punch before he lashed out with his tail, Loke moved to the side to avoid the attack before he attempted to punch Joshua in the face once more, only for the mage to duck underneath the strike.
"Come on now, you'll have to do better than that!" Joshua declared as he unleashed a volley of bullets point blank. Loke performed a series of backflips, doing his best to avoid the attacks, but just as he landed on his feet, Joshua had dashed forward and gave Loke yet another nasty slash across the stomach.
"Well well well, you're certainly lasting a lot longer than those other spirits." Joshua commented as he slowly licked at one of his arm blades. "But the moment I hit you with some of my nasty poison, it's game over!"
"You think so huh?" Loke said before he smirked. "That's funny, because I was thinking the same about you. I've got a special surprise just for you."
"Oh? A surprise? Why don't you let me in on your little secret?" Josuha asked.
Loke simply smirked. "If you did that then it wouldn't be a secret for much longer now would it?"
Joshua sneered. "Oh I'm going to enjoy slicing you up." He pointed his arms at Loke once again, preparing to unleash his next attack…only he'd never get the chance.
"Lucy Kick!"
Before he even knew what happened, Lucy had jumped down from a nearby tree and slammed her foot down on the back of his head, forcing Joshua's face to hit the ground. He groggily tried to get back up to his feet, but Lucy had taken out her whip and began to lash out at him with it repeatedly. Grunting out in pain, he snarled at Lucy. "You little wench! Do you really think something like this will-"
However before he had the time to do anything, Loke had already delivered a punch across Joshua's face, sending him flying and crashing through a nearby rooftop. The spirit looked over to Lucy and smirked. "Great job creating an opening for me Lucy. I wasn't exactly sure what you had in mind once you got up that tree, but I figured you had something in mind."
Lucy smiled. "Yeah well, I might not be able to hit all that hard without Gonzales around, but I figured I could at least give you an opening. Still, you were pretty great out there."
Loke smirked. "Not as great as you were Lucy. Say, once this is over, how's about you and I go get something to drink. My treat."
Lucy couldn't help but blush before she turned away immediately. "H-hey, you can cut out the act. I've got a girlfriend, you know?"
Loke chuckled. "Oh come on, I doubt Bambi would get that upset if I just took you out for a drink. I'm just-" However, before Loke finished speaking, the spirit's eyes widened considerably before he pushed Lucy away. "Look out!"
Just as Lucy had been pushed out of the way, Joshua had burst from where she had once been, his tail striking where she had once been, hitting the celestial spirit right in the chest with his tail, injecting his poison right into Loke.
Joshua smirked as he looked down at the spirit as he slowly retracted his tail before he cackled like a madman. "AHAHAHAHA! How utterly predictable! I knew the moment I attacked your master you'd end up prioritizing her safety over your own! But once you're out of the picture she'll be easy pickings for me!"
Loke weakly tried to get to his feet, the effects of the poison already making themselves apparent as he struggled to breathe. Josha went in for slash with his left claw, with Loke barely moving out of the way of the attack just in time and tried to deliver a series of punches, only for Joshua to dodge and weave through each one before he ducked underneath one last attack before he thrust his right blade into Loke's shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.
"What's wrong? You've gotten an awful lot slower than before!" Joshua mocked him. "Is my poison too much for you to bear? Well is it?" He twisted the blade in Loke's shoulder, forcing him to cry out in pain. "Well there's an easy way for you to get rid of that pain. All you have to do is just go home and leave the girl to me!"
"That's…not gonna…happen!" Loke weakly retorted. "Lucy's the reason I'm still alive…I don't care what kind of pain you're going to put me through. I won't let you touch her!"
Joshua couldn't help but let out a cackle as he prepared his tail to impale Loke. "Oh well aren't you just the perfect gentleman!? How's about I give you a reward!"
But just as his tail was about to strike Loke, he felt his limb being forced back against his will as he felt something wrap around it. He turned around, only to see the one responsible was none other than Lucy Heartfilia, her whip having wrapped around his tail. "You!?"
"Get him now Loke!" Lucy demanded as she continued to hold his tail back. "Now's your chance!"
"O Regulus... Grant me your strength!"
Joshua turned around to face Loke, the celestial spirit raising up his left hand as a golden magical circle formed in front of him. Joshua could already feel the magical power coming off from the spirit, and he felt a shiver travel down his spin before he tried to strike out at him with one of his claws out of fear as he let out a fearful cry!
"Regulus Impact!"
A lion's head made of light shot forth from the magical circle, hitting Josuha dead on and blasting out across the entire city block before the attack finally subsided. As the dust cleared, Joshua lay in a heap in a pile of rubble, his body unmoving as his eyes were completely whitened out.
Lucy let out a sigh of relief, as she looked over towards Loke, the spirit panting and wheezing. "Loke…I can't begin to thank you enough for coming to help. If you hadn't then I might have…"
Loke shook his head before he gave her a weak smile. "Don't even mention it, Lucy. Like I told that slimeball, you're the reason I'm even alive at all. I'll be there for you anytime that you need me."
Lucy couldn't help but smile at his words. "Aw, thanks. But I think it's about time I sent you back. You're too hurt to keep on going."
Loke grimaced as he felt the poison continuing to spread throughout his body "Yeah, I think you're right. I want to stay here longer and help, really I do, but…I don't think my body can handle much more than this."
"Don't worry about a thing. I've gotten a new power since our trip to Akane Resort and it packs a pretty mean punch. After this nonsense I think I'm going to stop home and make sure I get what I need. I'm going to need it."
Loke gave her one last look before he gave her one last smile. "I wish you the best Lucy, I really do. Good luck." His body then faded as the spirit made his way back to the Celestial Spirit realm, as Lucy stared up right into the sky, her eyes looking at the dreaded Thunder Palace.
The blonde clenched at her fists before she began to make her way towards her home. This fight has gone on for long enough! Fairy Tail's supposed to be like a family, we shouldn't be fighting each other like this! I promise, once we save Wendy, I'm going to make sure you'll pay for this Laxus!
She had no delusions about her chance in defeating the Lightning mage in a fight, even with her fullbring, but Lucy found that she didn't care. He had taken what was supposed to be a special day and turned it into a living nightmare! She may not have been able to contribute much during the battle with Phantom Lord, but she refused to just watch on the sidelines a second time!
This time, this time she would fight right till the bitter end!
Groggily, Joshua had managed to get up his feet, the takeover mage panting with exhaustion as he glared where he had just been moment's ago. He grit his teeth before he took a weak step forward, his fists clenched. "That…Stupid…Girl!" He weakly growled as he took another step. As he was right now, fighting Lucy again was all but impossible. That last attack had done enough damage that she could probably beat him even without her spirits now. Still, as far as he was concerned, it didn't matter.
"This isn't over, you hear me?" He growled. I'm going to go find one of our curse potions to get myself back to full health and when I do, I'll make sure to peel away your skin slowly and painfully as possible!"
"Well that's not very nice."
His eyes shot wide open before he weakly turned around to the sound of the feminine voice. Behind him was a woman who wore a white trench coat and black leggings with blue eyes, and long black hair with two strands sticking up like antenne. She gave Joshua a small frown as she stepped forward.
"Lucy's very important to me and Bambi after all, so I can't just let you take her out. Oh well, I guess it'll be up to little old me to put an end to this."
Joshua sneered as he looked at the bizarre woman. "Oh, you're a friend of that blonde?" He asked as he slowly licked his lips.
The woman nodded before she smiled. "Oh yeah, absolute besties! I need her to help me patch things up with Bambi after all! Though I may have to be a little bit…forceful about it to get her to go along with it."
Joshua chuckled. "Oh, so you need her to patch up a friendship of yours? Well that's too bad. Because after all-" His tail lashed out and before the woman could even hope to dodge, his tail went right through her stomach and out of her back, her blood splattering on his face. "You'll never have the chance to see either of them ever again!"
Then, something strange happened, something that he would have never expected in a million years…She smiled.
"Oh well, I guess this will be a lot easier than I thought it would be!" She said cheerfully, talking as if the tail sticking out of her back didn't even happen. "Thank you so much for volunteering!"
While absolutely befuddled by his latest victim's actions, Josuha still chuckled. "Volunteer? What on earth are you even-" His eyes suddenly shot open as he felt a tight grip around his neck. His eyes shot downward, only to find that it was his own left hand that was currently strangling himself. "W-what on earth is…What did you do to me!?" He demanded.
"Oh, You got my blood on you silly." the woman said as she slowly approached him, the woman formed a small knife seemingly out of nowhere as she continued. "Not enough to fully zombify you, but that's ok…I'll fix that soon enough."
Joshua struggled to move his body in any way as best he could as the woman approached, her small smile growing larger and larger with each step before she finally stopped in front of him, her knife stopping just a few inches away from his chest. His breath became erratic as his eyes shot all around him, trying to think of something, anything that could get him out of this mess. But try as he might, it was all for naught. Never before had he ever felt so helpless.
And so he screamed, right before Giselle Gewelle went to work.
Oh…goodie. She's here. Well, I suppose in a roundabout sense, it actually is, given how she's helping Lucy in her own special way. Sorry Joshua, you got the short end of the stick.
Anyways, we're moving right along with the 'small fry' fights and making our way towards more bigger and epic clashes. What do I have in mind, exactly? Well, I'd rather leave that as a surprise.
Anyways, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, both on this, and Redemption V. Enjoy!
MPFs
John: 1320
Rukia (Base): 1475
Lucy: 900
Joshua: 2600
Loke/Leo: 3000
