Fairy Tail: New Era
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Hello everyone! I don't think many liked my OC's and I'm sorry if you hate them. But that doesn't mean I will change the characters or stop this fanficiton! ;P Anyways, so much has happened with the manga that I can't even write it all down here! As for the anime...IDK why they had to have another filler arc in the first place. I can't wait to see how they animate the entire Tartarus arc, since the Sun Village arc has started a few weeks ago.
Romeo gritted his teeth in great anger, the fire on his fists were burning stronger than before. "Bastard..." Shinji gripped the handle of his sword tighter, for the lad was growing more nervous and he grew more sweaty...sweaty from this abnormally intense heat from the glowing magic circle beneath them! Romeo then lunged for Shaw. He was stopped midway when the magic circle that covered a wide area of the cobblestone road shone at a greater intensity than before, marking the activation of the spell Shaw prepared. "I hope you enjoy being burned to death! Inferno!"
A grand column of scorching flames ascended from the circle, enveloping Romeo and Shinji into its burning abyss.
Chapter 3- Voice In the Fire
Shaw jeered at the two mages who fell for his simple trap, "I highly doubt that I could activate this spell successfully. But, because those two are so stupid, they easily fell for it! Haha to think that-*cough* Cra-*cough*," due to applying a lot of magic power in the previous spell, the bandit had strained himself to some extent. Eventually, the series of hacking ceased, ad the latter stretched his arms before turning around and stepping away. Only after a few steps, he abruptly halted, "Tsk, what a shame...To think that some of these mages are actually from the kingdom's strongest guild." the crook snickered once more at the intense, scorching column that engulfed Romeo and Shinji that ascended into the clouds above.
Yet, with closer inspection, the intensity of the inferno had subsided. At the base of the brilliant pillar, the flames were encircling something. Shaw gaped at this unanticipated outcome, "But how?"
Responding to him was a voice in the fire, "Easy. Nobody, ever, gets away with sullying Fairy Tail's name!"
Straightaway, the flaring base, where the flames are strongest, was extinguished. In the absence of its base, the column crumbled, into wisps that drifted off in the air. Romeo and Shinji stood there, seared with burns, sweat, and slightly tattered clothes. Romeo's hands were emblazoned with red-hot flamed hands, burning with greater vigor than before.
Shaw trembled, "How...oh how...why even?"
Romeo stepped forward, with an angered expression on his face, "I have to admit, your trick was praiseworthy. But I'm also a Fire Mage, so I was able to lessen the impact of your spell by using a skill Totomaru-sensei taught me, and Natsu-nii helped me perfect: pyrokinesis. While, we were stuck in your fire, I managed to absorb most of the power of the base flames into my hands. Right now, my hands are scorched to the bone, but this pain doesn't matter because I've burnt myself a lot when I was practicing this magic at a young age," he shifted his eyes to Shinji, "Are you okay?"
"Thank you, Romeo, for your concern. I owe you big time for saving me there. Now, I'll return the favor."
"Requip! Fire Lord Armor!" Shinji's figure glowed. Once the shining has diminished, Shinji was donned in a red, fireproof half-zip turtleneck which was adorned in a armor shaped like a black flame that cascaded from his shoulders, partially parting around his chest, and ending their trail at his mid-abdomen. Protecting Shinji's now blue jeans, a cuisse, poleyn, greave and sabaton were a lustrous silicon. (Author's note: Sorry if I'm speaking something that seems like an entirely different language to you, but these are armor parts that protect the legs-feet) The shoulder guards shared the same coloration as the grieves. Sheltering Shinji's arms lay a silicon-colored counter, vambrace, and the gauntlets. The joints between the sections of the fingers were distinguished with the rubrous emblazonment. Shinji opened the palm of his black-gloved hand, causing a katana to fill in the vacancy. The sword's grip was ebony. In contrast, the pommel and blade were more vibrant auric shade. Near the guard, the blade was more blood orange, but the shade brightened up as it got closer to the point. (Author note: Was that a satisfying description? FYI, I will not do these descriptions every time Shinji requips, only once per newly introduced armor.) Shinji tightened his grasp around the handle and pointed the tip of his blade at Shaw, "Now, we strike back."
Meanwhile, a section of Oshibana was in a mildly disturbed state, most of the people didn't know what was going on. Townsfolk conversed deeply about the suspicious characters who were fighting and the loud explosion at the Flower Bank, but they were too confused to comprehend what was really happening.
It was turmoil at Flower Bank, people were injured: employees and customers alike. The area where the bandits entered, the left side of the entrance hall was gone, only a pile of rubble lay in the building, cascading most of the floor in dust and debris. The two soldiers, once stationed at the entrance, were providing medical attention for the injured and comforting teary-eyed customers who lost their money from the heist.
Out of place in this stressed atmosphere, two girls suddenly appeared, as if two beautiful flowers fully blossomed out of mid-air. The two girls appeared around their teenage years, one has pink hair and the other has blue hair, and it seems that the blue haired girl is holding...a cat? All the panicky people stopped and stared at the two girls and cat who randomly popped out of nowhere-the once stressful atmosphere morphed into an incredibly awkward and Aria sweatdropped in humiliation.
Aria apologetically bowed to Wendy. Her cherry locks cascaded down with her head, covering her nervous expression. "I'm sorry Wendy-san, about Carla"
"Don't worry Aria-san," Wendy amicably reassured her. Aria raised her head, and mumbled, "Thank you."
Wendy gently placed her hands onto the pinkette's shoulders. Aria raised her head, looking into Wendy's brown eyes, "Right now, our first priority is to clues that can help us find the third thief. So, while I'm healing Carla, you can go search for evidence."
Aria sighed, and plucked Wendy's hand off of her shoulder, "But what could we possibly find that could help us find this last crook? What if he's already escaped-"
"Who knows how much sadder these people will be if we just let the bandit flee with all their cash. It wouldn't be fair if we didn't do anything about it even though it's in our power to stop it. Aria-san, we need to quickly search the area to find something that could give us a clue." Wendy stared into Aria's crimson eyes, conveying her resolve.
"So she does have spunk after all..." Aria sighed,"Fine...You are quite the persistent type."
The Sky Dragon Slayer radiantly smiled,"Thank you Aria-san!"
"You know, you don't need to address me with the additional honorifics." the pinkette blushed a tinge of pink.
"Then...what should I address you by?" the blunette replied.
"Just Aria."
"Okay Aria-sa-oh! I mean Aria. Sorry."
Aria tried to stifle back a giggle. Wendy, being herself, giggled along with her new friend. Amid this moment of developing friendship, Carla washaving another premonition in her unconsciousness. "Such a mess. The robbers seemed to have entered the bank though the wall." She noticed that the majority of the debris was charred and blackened,"Likely the wall was blown up by the pyromancer. And then, when those two made their entrance it would be likely that the shooter had immobilized the customers and employees by holding someone at gun point...but then who was the third person...At that moment she had another psychic vision, the white exceed's widened: a passage led to the bank vaults and some employees were unlocking the vault. To their surprise, they found that all the stored money was gone-it all went down a giant hole which replaced the vault floor."
Quickly, Carla shot up and back into consciousness with a huge gasp, noticing Wendy was healing her. At the moment of her arisal, Wendy let out a shrill squeak.
"Carla, don't scare me like that!"
"I had a vision! We need to hurry towards the bank vaults, the third vault!"
This time Aria turned around, "Wendy, what happened?" she next noticed Carla was up and fine; her concerned expression became relieved, "Oh Carla, we were wor-"
"No time for explanations!"
The three dashed towards the vaults and saw some employees bickering and crowding around the door, "The other vaults have been completely robbed-everything on those floors have been stolen."
"Hopefully this room hasn't been wiped clean of our customers' property."
Carla frowned, "We're late."
"I could teleport you guys there..." Aria suggested.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier? This is urgent you know!" Carla scolded.
The pinkette grabbed Wendy's hand and Carla latched onto her shoulder, "Everyone aboard?"
"Just send us there already!" Carla yelled.
Sweatdropping, the pinkette conducted a countdown for her fellow passengers,"Ready, Set, Go!"
Once again, they vanished mid-air. The following second they found themselves inside the dimly lit corridors of the bank vault. In multiple aisles, lockers which contained valuables and money were organized by the customers' names in alphabetical order. The ceiling consisted of surveillance lacrimas and flurescent lamps which hung off black cords. The floor was still there.
"Thank goodness we arrived before the floor crumbled." Carla sighed in relief.
"The floor was gone in your vision?" spoke a surprised Wendy.
"Indeed it was. Fortunately, Aria's teleportation enabled us to get here before the third assailant...struck...come to think of it what were the other two doing in the first place blowing up the bank?"
Aria gulped, "No way. Could it be that the other two were distracting everyone?"
"Yes. In the meantime the third robber had wiped the vaults clean of money. All we need to do now is wait for it to strike"
On cue, they heard a low, masculine laugh in the dark,"Well done mages and talking cat, you caught me red-handed."
"Show yourself!" Carla growled.
Wendy and Aria positioned themselves into combat stance. Wendy used her dragon-hearing ability to locate her enemy, but could not hear anything except a small rumbling from beneath the floor. Her eyes widened as she had just realized her adversary's whereabouts. The rumbling soon resounded through the bank ruins. Consequently, cracks began to appear on the floor. Carla clung closer to Wendy, fur jutting outwards, "Wendy...I don't like the sound of this..."
At that moment the cracks suddenly widened, and the third enemy leaped out of the crevice, straight towards Wendy. Aria, perceptive as she was, planted her palm onto Wendy's back and straightaway the bluenette disappeared. Aria took the spare moment to speculate her opponent's appearance as a precautionary measure. Their foe was a tan-skinned, gray-eyed man who wore a plain, white T-Shirt, gray cargo pants, brown boots, and black-lather combat gloves. His beard was mostly shaved. His hair was pitch-black with a streak of white-almost like a badger. Wendy, with Carla grasped onto her, appeared behind their attacker about a millisecond later. At first, she was momentarily startled, but accepted what happened and commenced fighting, "Sky Dragon's Roar!"
Their unfortunate adversary, who had no limbs on the floor in the preceding seconds, was sent sprawling across the room, loudly crashing through the vault doors, and entering the bank ruins in a cloud of dust. Upon hearing the noisy ruckus, employees and citizens evaded as quickly as possible. Wendy, Aria, and Carla rushed into the scene. When the dust cleared away, they saw their opponent, covered partially in dust, standing before them with a menacing smile on his face, "I don't particularly enjoy fighting ladies but, just so you can remember the man who will send you to your graves, the name's Badger." The black-leather combat sprouted three, sharp metal-attachments (one could say "claws").
Badger lunged forward with ferocious velocity, extending his claws towards the three. Both girls ducked on time. But, their foe was not finished yet. Using the momentum he gained from his previous attack, Badger touched the ground with a flat palm "Rock Spires!". An Earth Magic circle briefly appeared on the floor. Aria and Wendy perceived that this was a dangerous sign and were about to take evasive measures. Nevertheless, large, rock spears surged from the gravel. Carla steered clear from the sharp points of the structures. Aria elegantly maneuvered herself around the spires with, using her Teleportation Magic, creating afterimages of herself, "Mirage Dance!"
"Such grace. Such dexterity," Carla soliloquized as she had just placed Wendy back on the ground.
"Aria is amazing." Wendy's eyes glimmered, "But I need to fight too."
Badger couldn't tell which Aria was going to strike him,"Which one is the real one? They all have the same expression on their faces. They all move pretty much at the same speed..." His glance kept shifting as each afterimage neared him, until the real one teleported in front of him and executed an extra swift roundhouse kick to his chest. Staggering back, he activated another spell, " Oh you'll pay for that. Earth Shaker!"
Badger, retracting the claws of one of his gloves, pounded the ground, creating a wave of dirt which bounded towards the three. Wendy stepped forward, next to Aria. "I'll help you out now."
Aria, slightly stunned, was about to interject, but couldn't bring herself to do so.
The young Dragon Slayer concentrated and enabled the forces of the wind to gather in her palms. Nearby air was condensed and sucked into two shimmering orbs of wind which expanded and rotated at an increasing pace. The dirt-wave, too, was expanding and, in fact, almost towered above them.
Carla was growing slightly nervous, "Wendy...if your going to take action...take it now!"
"This is a new one, so I'm not holding back!" she crossed her hands and spread them back out, releasing an array of large, spherical projectiles, " Sky Dragon's Scales!"
Upon contacting the rapid-moving wind-scales, the dirt-wave broke up and dispersed like mist. The dust cleared, revealing a hole in the ground. "Drat!" Aria cursed, "He got away!"
"Rather conclusive, aren't we!" a voice reverberated from underground.
The three were shocked, but then Carla noticed something rumbling between the girls, "Wendy! Aria! Between you!"
Instantly, a new hole was created between Aria and Wendy, and Badger leaped out of it, savage and dirt-covered. He quickly followed up with a powerful kick onto the first opponents in sight-Wendy and Carla.
"Gah!" Wendy and Carla were sent propelling towards one of the still-standing bank-walls. Midstream through the trip, Carla lost her grip on Wendy and thus the bluenette crashed into the once-standing wall while Carla skidded a little over the gravel.
"This guy...is really strong, we might need help!" Aria gaped at how this man concealed his true fighting strength, or perhaps he was just going easy on them because they are girls. The crook turned towards Aria and rapid charged at her on all fours as if he were some kind of rabid animal. "Wendy is hurt right now. At the very most I need to stall him..." she narrowed her blood-red eyes at the fiend she was facing off against, " But I shouldn't burden Wendy in the state that she is in."
Aria clenched her fists conjured an array of crystal daggers from her bare palms and teleported them directly towards Badger in various directions. Instinctively, he burrowed multiple holes using his magic in order to avoid the shiny projectiles. Soon, he would leap out from hiding and continue to make his way towards her. Since her enemy was advancing into close range, Aria conjured another crystal dagger and teleported towards him. Immediately, Badger made for a swipe, but Aria parried his claws away with her rapid swordplay. They kept slashing at one another and blocking their opponent's blades, the clear clanging of their weapons rung through the ruins. Badger grew a little impatient with the current state of affairs and initiated another spell, "Rock Spires!"
Again, sharp pinnacles of rock ascended from the dirt. Aria was almost impaled by them, but instead latched onto one of them by sinking the tip of her crystal dagger into it's hard surface. Upon the spell's completion, she sprung off of the spires, using them as ramps, and projected more afterimages of herself, "Illusory Waltz!"
These illusions moved in various patterns and methods. Some copies lunged at Badger while others would fake it and withdraw to invoke his curiosity. The real Aria made sure to be apart of the group that faked and withdrew to evade injury. The copies which Badger clashed weapons with him were his main concern, "Goddammit!" he mentally cursed as he brawled the Aria-copies,"There are too many of them for me to cope with. I f this keeps up, I am guaranteed that I will be struck." He slashed through two of the illusions, which faded into nothingness.
The crook smirked, "That's more like it."
Three other afterimages advanced on his left and right; two on his left and one to the right. Again, he clawed the first Aria to the left and the only one to the right. However, the third Aria inflicted a wide slash upon his right arm but he could turn to intercept her assault. He stabbed through this fake Aria's chest, which vanished in the same way as her predecessors. He smirked once again,"Now if only real people could just go poof and disappear without a trace when they die."
Out of nowhere, Aria teleported midair in front of him, her figure gradually descending. "Miss me?"
He could not reply in time because the real Aria delivered a strong kick to his left jaw. As he shuffled backwards, the teleporter, feet on ground, incorporated a roundhouse kick to his stomach sending him further back.
She disappeared. Suddenly, appearing farther from his left she threw two crystalline daggers at her target. He parried them away-one deflected to his right and one to his left spinning like wind-mills. But a second after he deflected them, Aria snapped her fingers, "Petal Burst."
The two knives shifted color, from metallic blue to a shimmering lavender to magenta to a fiery red. Noticing the change in the crystals' properties, Badger summoned forth a large Earth Magic circle,"Rock Wall"
Two rugged, tall stone slabs rose form the earth. Subsequently, the the sharp-point of the knives sunk onto the rigid surface and exploded, shattering the walls. Dust and rock fragments crumbled as the slabs collapsed. Out of the dust clouds, Badger darted in Aria's direction, raising his fist. His hand began to glow; the debris in the area gathered around his right arm, creating an enlarged version of his hand, "Ground Break!"
"Even though he was able to set up a shield, how can he recover so quickly?" Aria was perplexed for a moment, but snapped out of it,"I need to teleport now!"
She tried, though expecting to be behind her target, found herself still in the same place. "Why can't I teleport myself out of here!" the pinkette contemplated, she then felt a tight grip at her feet, looking down she saw what prevented her escape-her legs were tightly gripped by two small rock fists which were connected to the ground. She glared back at her opponent, his right hand, fortified by clumps of rock and dirt. His left hand was occupied with a separate, smaller magic circle," The second magic circle must be operating the hands restricting me teleportation capabilities. I need to eradicate them." On instinct, she created two crystal thorns from her palms and directed them at those pesky hands which prevented her escape. The spikes extended from her palms and pierced the rock hands, breaking them. Looking back up she learned that she was too late. Badger was only a yard in front of her and he was going to crush her with his rock-enforced fist, "It's no use girl! You're going to get grounded first!"
"Not if I can help it!" a familiar voice resonated. That voice belonged to a bruised-covered Wendy, who stood upright. Carla stood beside her blue-haired nakama. Wendy gathered the power of the wind in her hands and released the magic with a motion, "Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!"
The spiral winds reached the fight-scene. By protocol, Aria teleported away. But Badger could not flee because the gauntlet, which armored his right arm, burdened him due to its heavy weight. He held his right arm out in front in order to block Wendy's attack, and was pushed away a little. Though, Aria noticed that the wind was weathering at the rock gauntlet's structure, weakening its durability. "Ok," she took a small breathe, "I need to end this now while he is busy with Wendy-san. And I have just the right technique to do it."
She positioned both her hands in front of her and channeled her magic power through them, generating an almost innumerable amount of crystal knives. Using her Teleportation Magic, she transported them to Badger's location, where they appeared, arranged in a circle formation. When Badger was pushed into the circle, the knives began to fluoresce. Thereafter, a magenta-reddish magic circle was formed around the knife-circle's area. Aria clenched her left fist, trying to concentrate even more magic power into this decisive blow "Delicate flowers which bloom most graciously in spring, your petals shall be carried by the tranquil breeze. Petal Storm!"A storm of sparkling, crystalline petals ascended from the magic circle, enveloping a near-defenseless thug in their dance. Badger was shot into midair upon the spell's commencement and was buffeted and scratched by the pirouetting swarm of glass-like petals. Due to the almost endless assault of numerous petals, Badger's shout-outs in pain were muffled.
Alas, the petals finally ascended into the clear, blue sky, like a flock of angels returning to heaven. Badger landed on the ground with an audible thud. His body was almost entirely battered with small cuts and dirt, excluding the gash on his right arm. But he since he lay on the floor on his stomach, Aria was guaranteed he wouldn't pinkette then shifted her gaze to Wendy, who was slightly covered in bruises. "Wendy-san, are you okay?"
Limping towards her new friend, Wendy smiled,"Mhm, I've been in worse shape before." At that she laughed. Aria joined in too. Carla sighed, "Jeez, what a bother."
"Aria, what I'm really curious about is that magic you know."
"You mean the Teleportation?"
"No, the other one. The one with the crystals."
"Well, on the contrary, I don't know much about that magic,"she sighs, "It seems rather rare. Most the enemies I have fought are surprised by this magic since there seems to be multiple properties in those crystals."
"Is it like Molding Magic?"
"It's possible. But, I highly doubt it. Like I said, there are many properties in those crystals that I can manipulate. Just like Molding Magic, I can generate crystalline structures in different forms. But, I can also create magic circles by arranging them in certain formations or detonate them."
From Badger, they heard a sudden cackling, all three mages turned to him"*sighs-I guess you trounced me pretty good there." he mumbled, he snickered a little at Aria, who looked down on him, restraining from glaring, "But, you don't know where the lockers and valuables which fell down those previous holes went."
"Where could they have gone?" Wendy pondered.
Carla glared daggers at the criminal, who kept snickering at them, despite his incapacitated state.
"I suggest you tell you tell us," Aria summoned an array of glass-like knives which floated above his head, "Or perhaps I'll have to consider alternatives..." Badger was soon sweating streams, realizing he was pushed into a corner, one which he could never escape from. "D-Damn you...fine..I'll speak."
"Good,"with a devilish glint in her eyes, she lowered the knives an inch above his body,"Now, please tell us. If you even try to stall, I might lose my grasp on the knives. "
Wendy sorta shuddered, "Aria sure can be scary when she wants to..."
Now, Badger spilled the beans ASAP, "The lockers containing the valuables went down those holes."
"NO SHIT, SHERLOCK!" Carla snarled at him, a vein on her forehead was throbbing madly. In her irritation, she grabbed the nearest and largest piece of rubble she could find and dropped it on his skull, rendering him unconscious.
"Wow Carla, "Wendy chided her Exceed pal in a mildly sarcastic jesting manner, "And you tell me not to curse nor behave ever so rashly..." The bluenette folded her arms and scoffed at Carla in a manner resembling how the prim Exceed scoffed at Romeo and her. Carla, hiding her self-shame, proceeded, acting like she did not hear Wendy's remarks. But Aria and Wendy could clearly see a slight shade of pink on her cheeks.
"Wendy, Carla, I'll check the holes to see if the lockers are down there. Please keep an eye on this guy until I return."
"I'll make sure of it." Wendy replied.
Aria teleported. A few minutes later a bunch of lockers randomly appeared in midair and fell hard onto the ground, stacking up. Another minute passed, then a rather tired-looking Aria returned. Throughout the time it took for Aria to transport the lockers back to the surface, Carla and Wendy stood at watch. Carla was stationed right next to Badger's face, so that whenever he woke up, she'd knock him out with a new rock. "...There were a lot of lockers..." the pinkette lightly panted. Using a violet band, she secured her hair into a ponytail.
"There, much better," she looked at Wendy and Carla," We should find the guys, they might be waiting for us."
"You're right. But what about this guy, " the bluenette pointed at an unconscious Badger.
"No need to worry over that, I'll simply carry him."
Aria interjected, "Wait, but shouldn't I just teleport us all there?"
"I advise you do not," Carla responded, "One. The exercise is good for all of us. Two. You have already consumed a fair amount of you magic power from fighting and teleporting those lockers here,"addressing the lockers installed another issue into her mind, "By the way, what should we do with the lockers?"
"Um, we should just leave them there." Wendy spoke up,"I think it's more important if we try to find the others."
"Agreed," Aria stated.
Carla sighed, "Well if the majority of the census reports affirmative, I guess there is nothing in my power that I can do to persuade you all otherwise."
With an affirmative nod from each mage, Wendy, Aria, and Carla (dragging Badger as she flies beside her allies) left the dusty bank ruins to find their friends. Entering from their hiding, the innocents (employees and townsfolk alike) immediately lunged for their lockers. The first one to reach them was the tiny, bald bank manager of Oshibana's Flower Bank who wore a gray blazer with a gray tie, streaming with grateful tears towards the Fairy Tail mages' successful efforts in preventing his clients' money from ending up into the hands of mischievous folk and squeezing the lockers in his attempt to bear hug it.
"I haven't the slightest clue on how I could ever repay them." the old man thought.
(Picking up from where Romeo and Shinji were left off...or as Happy used to say 'And then...')
Covered in mild burns, Romeo and Shinji advanced towards their adversary-a slightly shocked pyro-thief. Shaw's trump card clearly didn't work, given that one of his opponents is a skilled Fire Mage too. But, the crook still had tricks up his sleeve. "Homing Wisps!" the scrawny thug conjured ten small fireballs which streaked towards Romeo and Shinji. Trying to avoid those flames, Romeo sprinted straight in Shaw's direction, while escaping the wisps. "Dammit, these flames are too persistent. If this keeps up, I won't be able to land a punch on this bastard."
Interrupting his train of thought, two wisps appeared in front of him as he ran his way towards the intended target. Romeo's feet skidded on the cobblestone road as he tried to stop himself. The other three wisps, which tailgated him from behind caught up to him and detonated, pushing him forward into the remaining two wisps. Knowing what would happen if he allowed this to happen, Romeo emblazoned his hands with blue flames and extinguished the frontal wisps. The young Fire mage staggered forward. Regaining his balance, he looked up to find he was surrounded by even more of those annoying, huntsmen-like flames. Shocked, the latter pondered "Crap! Where did they come from?"
Shaw sneered at Romeo's perplexed expression, "These flames aren't called "homing' for a reason now, aren't they?"
Romeo gritted his teeth, "When I get out of this, I will burn you."
"We'll see about that," the criminal further jested. The, with a snap of his fingers, the fireballs which outnumbered Romeo zipped towards him. The poor young mage did not have much time to react, thus the wisps burst upon contacting him-letting out a loud boom. "Aggggggh!"
Shaw let out his signature cackle, "Man, this is rich. Flame-boy thinks he can burn me! Ha! Well you're the one who's getting burned!"
A split second after the last syllable the thief uttered, a sharp, vermillion-tipped sword was pointed at Shaw's neck. The one holding the blade with only his left hand was none other than Shinji, glaring into his soul with icy sapphire eyes, "Never forget to keep an eye on all of your opponents. Your boasting and constant trash-talk will lead to your downfall." The swordsman then delivered a power-packed punch onto Shaw's chest. This sent him flying over a house,"Gah!"
Romeo recovered his former stature and approached Shinji, "Thanks Shinji."
The raven-haired knight grinned at Romeo, delighted to know that he wasn't badly harmed, "Your burns don't seem severe, even though you got directly hit by those exploding flames. I guess fire-resistance must be a standard forte in Fire Mages..."
Romeo smiled, lighting his fists on fire, "You bet it is."
An irritated voice reverberated from behind the house capturing Romeo's and Shinji's attention,"Hey! What the hell do you two think you're doing, forgetting that I'm still here?"
Shaw accelerated through the walls, emitting flames from his legs as if they were a singular jet-pack . Entering the scene with a bang, he rushed straight into the two younger mages, who moved out of the way in the nick of time. "Damn, he's fast..." Romeo muttered.
The opposing pyromancer zipped straight past them, towards the wall of another building. But, the expert Fire Mage manipulated his flames to steer him up along the structure and headed for his prosecutors. Posterior to the change of course, the flames streaming from Shaw's feet began to flare up, "Time to kick it up a notch!" A Fire Magic circle appeared at his feet, following with flames gushing out of his legs; like an overflowing river, "Boost Flare!"
The thief advanced onto his adversaries with a new speed that excelled his previous paces. He zoomed right between the two mages and sent a flame-imbued kick onto Shinji. The swordsman blocked the strike with the flat part of his blade, but hot fire was cascading onto his armor. Shinji partially shut his eyes since the smoke produced from the flames would sting them,"This guy is overusing his magic power, all I need to do is endure this."
Learning that a single kick was futile, Shaw set his left hand on fire and delivered a fiery fist onto Shinji's chest plate. The blow dragged Shinji back a fair distance, "Ghh..."
Maintaining his posture, the armor-clad knight brandished his sword and charged towards his opponent. Shinji attempted to slash diagonally across the enemy-pyromancer's stomach, but Shaw was too quick; the river of flames were practically flooding out from his entire legs. The knight swung his blade at his enemy with great precision. If Shaw had not raised his speed with his spell, the sword mage would have landed those attacks. Still, Shinji did not waver. On the contrary, Shaw was sweating. Impatiently, Shaw took matters into his own hands, "Tedious bastard, aren't ya. Well, cut the crap!" The pyromancer zipped up to Shinji, who suddenly donned a grin on his face. Slightly disturbed in thought, Shaw still advanced, blazing his fists for the occasion. Shinji stood there stagnant.
"You must really want the beating, huh?" the Fire Mage belittled.
Shinji sighed, "And crooks like you will never learn..."
The swordsman ducked down and Romeo leaped up from behind him with tightened fists, "Eat this!"
Romeo directly punched Shaw in the jaw with his bare knuckles. Shinji followed up by forcefully jabbing Shaw in the gut with the butt of his sword. Lurching back through midair, Shaw touched his bruised jaw. His eyes flared up, "Why youuuuu!" He charged at Romeo, but Romeo evaded the attack. Soon Romeo and Shinji had to avoid Shaw's full onslaught: left, right, at the diagonals, dead center, from above. The two mages were very focused but they made sure to station near each other.
In between Shaw's swipes, the two mages conversed of a strategy, whilst keeping their eyes laid upon their adversary. Romeo stiffened his knuckles, "This guy is too fast for us. Is there a way we could even land a hit on him? I'm not sure if luring him down here will convince him."
Shinji remembered the flames flooding from Shaw's legs, "Nope, he probably won't fall for the same trick again. But, I have an idea."
Though very concentrated on his opponent who was nearing towards them, Romeo was mentally relieved. "What's the plan?"
"Somehow, we have to use your blue flames to contact his normal ones. That will hopefully stop the flame flow. With that, we'll have a chance to knock him out."
"Somehow..." Romeo sweatdropped.
"Well that's as far as I could get, but if one things for sure..." Shinji lightly punched Romeo's shoulder "It's up to you to end this."
Shaw was diagonally descending upon them. "Don't worry Shinji, "Romeo smiled and stepped forward, "I have just the right trick up my sleeve."
The Fairy Tail mage set his fists ablaze with purple fire. He conjured a purple magic circle above him and Shinji. "Purple Net: Protective Formation!"
Lines of purple flames rose out of the magic circle and wove themselves, around Romeo and Shinji, into a hemisphere in a spliced purple-fire pattern. Shaw, who didn't see that coming, couldn't stop, because he couldn't control the flames that spurt out form his legs, "Ahhh crap!"
The opposing Fire Mage crashed into the net, and was tangled in sticky, purple flames. Shaw was slowed down, granting Romeo the opportunity. "Now Romeo!" Shinji yelled.
"Bring it!" the Fairy Tail mage grinned. He generated blue fire between his hands and hurled them at Shaw. The tangled crook was soon swept away by a frigid wave of azure flames, putting out his fire and Romeo's purple flames. "Finish him off!" the fire mage hollered to Shinji.
"On it!" Shinji obeyed. Though his armor cluttered as he advanced, the knight sprinted with ease. The red blade, firmly grasped in his hands, began to burn with intense scarlet flames. Nearing the target, the swordsman raised his blade and brandished it, sending an arc of fire that morphed into a fiery phoenix in the vicinity of his opponent.
"Vermillion Talon!"
Just when Shaw thought he had enough fire for the day, he was lacerated across his legs by a sharp, fiery blade. "Gah! Goddammit!"
The opposing fire mage dropped onto the ground, the moment Shinji's sword hacked his legs, leaving a minor gash across the two. "Ack..." the crook winced shakily, "Damn you all..." He conjured a fireball and threw it directly at Shinji, but the knight was too quick and obliterated it with a motion of his hand.
Shaw gritted his teeth. Shin looked down on him, "This armor has fire resistance. Fire-based attacks and spells will have a reduced affect. More importantly..." the freelance mage held the tip of his sword at Shaw's neck. glaring into his soul with icy blue eyes, the swordsman asked,"What do you intend to do with that bank money your gang stole?"
Shaw gulped. Sweat was literally streaming down his forehead. "These kids are scary as hell!"
~One interrogation later~ ^_^
Romeo and Shinji stood before an unconscious Shaw. Romeo whistled, "Dang, you sure can be scary when you want to be. I didn't think you'd knock him out after he explained himself... You remind me of Erza-nee from the guild..."
"It couldn't be helped. Instead of using their magic to get an honest fortune, these people use it to steal and cause riots...What a waste of magic..." Shinji then sweatdropped, "Worst of all, they planned on spending their "fortune" at some clubs in Bosco. That is, when they arrive."
"True, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a bunch of creeps steal money so that they could drain it all on something so pointless...and so perverted...,"Romeo sighed, "On a brighter note, let's find the girls and maybe get out of here-"
"Romeo-san!" a familiar voice resonated from afar.
Romeo and Shinji shifted their glances in the direction of the voice. Romeo sighed in relief and ran towards his partner, "Wendy! Glad you're okay."
"Romeo-san, you're covered in burns! I need to heal you!"
"Woah! Calm down, I'm fine." changing the subject matter ,"By the way, where are Carla and Aria?"
"Oh, they're not too behind."
"What are they doing?" Shinji interrupted.
"Dragging along the other criminals...I'm sorry we took so long to find you guys. Aria insisted we take a detour to pick up the other bandit...Apparently, he was still petrified in Aria's magic."
Not far behind, Carla was flying, carrying an unconscious Badger by his shoulders. Aria, on the other hand, had more difficulty dragging along a frozen Ed, "Nuh...*huff *huff this thing is heavy."
On instinct, Shinji rushed to his panting companion. "Mind if I lend you a hand?" the raven-haired wonder extended a hand towards Aria. Accepting his hand, the pinkette blushed,"Uh-um-sure...thank you, Shin-kun."
Romeo, Wendy, and Carla stared at the scene. The three began to ponder a bit
"Above all times, now is not the chance for a romance scene" Carla mentally scolded the two.
"They are sooo cute together! I totally ship! Oh no-I sound like Mira! Is that a good thing? I don't know.I wonder, will there be someone I could share moments like those with?'' the curious, adolescent Dragon Slayer turned her head to Romeo, who coincidentally gave her a glance. Abruptly, the Fire Mage shifted his gaze away from Wendy, his cheeks tinted with red. Wendy also turned her head away, with a similar coloration on her cheeks. His eyes then fell upon the two criminals who lay on the ground, unconscious.
Romeo broke the silence, "Hey.."
Everyone's heads jerked in Romeo's direction. The teen wizard continued, "We need to figure out what we are going to do with these guys..."
"Should we bring them to the Council?" Wendy asked.
"Era is far distance off...In additon to the time it took to deal with these brutes, it will consume plenty more to get to Era to place these people under custody and receive the request money..." the white Exceed responded.
Aria drooped down a little, "I'm sorry guys...If only I could improve my teleportation abilities, this problem could be terminated in a pinch..."
Shinji placed a hand on her shoulder and consoled her, "It's not your fault. You don't need to hold yourself responsible." The pinkette smiled back at her friend.
Romeo sighed and put his hands at the back of his head, "Man, this will be a huge burden..."
"I believe I can take that burden off of your hands." a foreign voice spoke up.
The four mages (plus flying cat) shifted their glances side to side in curiosity, yet they found nothing.
"Down here." On cue, the mages looked down and found a small, portly, bald man in gray business attire. His hairless scalp gave a sudden sheen when all five mages spotted him. "Woah, so there are more people like Master Makarov after all!" Romeo internally noted.
"I would like to thank you wizards for stopping those thieves from stealing all the money in my bank. As a token of appreciation, I would like to present you with this." the tiny man rummaged into the inside of his gray blazer and pulled out a large envelope, "Here is the reward for the job you wizards took...or at least what I could muster..."
Romeo raised his brow at that last statement, "What do mean by that?"
The tiny man nervously laughed,"Well, one could say my customers aren't happen with the current state of the bank and all this business about the money getting stolen...heh...heh...heh...so they all demanded to withdraw all their money and create accounts in other banks. I tell you, it was dreadful...*sigh* and to think that robbers would resort to such extremes just to take back what they stole...One more thing, I personally will make sure that these buffoons will end up behind bars by tonight, so allow me to take them off your hands." with that he was about to turn around to leave.
"Before you go," Romeo stopped him, "please take back your money."
The manager turned around and Romeo walked up to him holding out the envelope. "There's no point in giving us money when you'll need it for reconstruction." the Fire Mage smiled.
"But you youngsters worked hard to get the reward. But I couldn't even supply you with he said amount..."
This time Wendy stepped forward,"If we took the money from you when you needed it more than us, it just wouldn't sit with our guild. We'd disgrace our morals if we did so. So please, accept it..."
Romeo then placed the envelope into the man's blazer pocket and backed away. "Look mister, we need to get to our guild or else they'll worry about us. So, keep the money!'
The man was about the object, but he just smiled, "You whippersnappers are quite persistent...ahh, it reminds me of my youthful days...well then, I too need to take my leave, " he formally bows to them, "I am grateful for your self-less efforts young mages. I hope you all can help me again one day in the near future." with that, he turned and firmly walked away, dragging the three unconscious thieves by their collars.
"Wow, you Fairy Tail mages are so cool!" Aria squealed with sparkles in her eyes.
"They aren't the top guild in the country for nothing," Shinji shrugged.
"By the way," Romeo barged in, "what will you two do after this?"
"I'm also curious." Wendy looked at the two freelance mages.
Upon being asked the question, Shinji and Aria exchanged glances and shrugged, "I don't know!"
"What were you doing before we met at the Flower Bank?" Carla interrogated.
"Aria and I were traveling around the country and training." Shinji answered.
"Wait? Is that it?" Romeo interjected.
"Well, occasionally we ran into a few problems in certain cities: robberies, vandalism, monsters, and the list could just go on," Aria proceeded," But, what worries me is the amount of incidents we had to deal with involving dark guilds."
"Dark Guilds?" the three Fairy Tail mages gasped.
"Affirmative." Shinji confirmed," Dark guilds randomly raid small villages in attempt to steal their resources or to gain control of the village. I've seen it a few times and it wasn't pretty. Even with the Baram Alliance terminated, the dark guilds have gone out of control. They attack without caution..."
"How come word hasn't gotten to the light guilds?' Carla asked.
"The dark guilds only struck in areas that don't have a guild residing there. Luckily we were there to help, right Shin-kun?" the pinkette tilted her head at Shinji, who nodded with a grin.
Suddenly an idea struck Romeo,"Would you guys like to join a guild?"
"We never thought about it." Shinji stated.
"But I guess it would be nice to settle down somewhere for once..." Aria muttered.
Romeo smirked,"Maybe you guys should join Fairy Tail."
At that, all eyes were instantly on Romeo. The Fire Mage nervously held up his hands in surrender,"What? Did I say something bad?"
"No, Romeo-san, that's a great idea!" Wendy praised her comrade with a gleam in her eyes, turning to the other two, with a more calm expression "But, you don't have to, unless you want to..."
Suddenly grabbing Aria by the waist, Shinji spoke up, "First, we're going to discuss matters before we decide. Right Aria?"
The flustered pinkette gave an embarassed nod, her cheeks were stained with a rosy pink.
(aside, with Romeo, Wendy, and Carla listening)
"Personally, I have my doubts about joining the guild, "Shinji explained, "Things are going to be completely different for us once we become guild mages, and you know that too."
"Of course I do. But Shin-kun, this is Fairy Tail asking us to join them, as in Fairy Tail, Fiore's number one guild! Like who in their right minds would turn down that offer?"
"Sure they may be as strong as they say, but I've heard that they're rowdy, wild, and even get in trouble with the Magic Council..."
"You're only saying those things because you don't want to let go of our freelance lifestyle, don't you?" the pinkette leaned in, closing the distance between the two mages' faces,"Yet, you always told me that we should settle down one day during our travels. And a guild is a perfect place! We can stay in a house nearby the guild headquarters, go on job requests, and make new friends!" she then clutched his face with her palms, her face an inch apart from his, she whispered,"we can finally leave the past behind and move forward."
Finished with her persuasive speech, she noticed Romeo, Wendy, and Carla were staring at her and Shinji dumbfounded. With a slight blush on her cheeks, she backed away from Shinji, who also sported the same rosy tint on his. "So, have you decided?" Romeo broke the ice.
Aria giggled a little, "How could we refuse?"
"Is that a yes?" Wendy asked.
"Mhm" Aria confirmed with a smile on her face.
Carla analyzed Shinji's small grin. She noticed he may have been against the decision, but agreed to join for Aria's sake. "Perhaps I should investigate these two peculiar characters. But, I am reassured that they aren't bad people..."
~Magnolia. On the way to Fairy Tail.~
Alas, the sun was on the verge of setting, painting the horizon with fading hues of orange and carmine. The streetlights were turned on in preparation for nightfall. They provided little lambency in presence of the descending sun. Few people roamed the cobblestone and concrete streets of Magnolia at this time, for they were busy indulging in life's pleasures, chugging shots in the bars and restaurants. Shop-owners began to close down their stores after finishing another day of work. Luckily, they did not face the same dilemma as other business owners...but the pieces would be picked up, sooner or later.
And so, the group of adolescent wizards and cat walked along the cobblestone pavement, alongside the canal, towards the guild.
Romeo stretched his arms up and let out a yawn, "Man, what a long day!"
Wendy and Aria giggled. Shinji folded his arms and grinned. Carla just gave her typical "humph" and stared off into the glistening waters of the canal, which reflected the sky's canvas during the setting sun. Upon arriving at Magnolia, Romeo and Wendy found out they had time to spare before returning to the guild. The two took this as an opportunity to give their would-be comrades a tour of the town which they have grown familiar with.
"Magnolia is such a pretty place, Wendy-san! They have so many shops and restaurants!" Aria's eyes sparkled as she daydreamed of dining in some of Magnolia's fanciest cuisines and shopping until she dropped, "We should go to some of these places together!"
Carla plainly sighed, "For now, you'll have to put the luxuries on hold until you have purchased to your own place."
A lightbulb radiantly glowed above Wendy's head, "Hey! Maybe I can introduce you to Fairy Hills tomorrow!"
"Fairy Hills?"
"Its a dormitory for the female members of Fairy Tail." Carla stated.
"How come they don't have a boys dormitory?"
"Good question...I'm not sure."
Romeo and Shinji sweatdropped, "Now that's just sexist..."
"Think about it this way," the white Exceed said, " If Natsu and Gray were put put in a dorm together, the dorm wouldn't even last a night."
Off in the distance, stood the grand Fairy Tail headquarters building. The sun setting in the horizon looked like a golden aureole around the headquarters from the mages' perspective. Shinji and Aria gazed at the majestic building, wide-eyed, "Wooaaah..."
Wendy nudged Romeo, "Hey Romeo-san, doesn't this feel nostalgic?"
Romeo smiled, remembering the day he and Wendy became a team,"Sort of."
Wendy puffed her cheeks and glowered at her fellow mage. "What do you mean by sort of?" she questioned in a chastising manner.
This caused him to become rather nervous. "O-of course I remember that day. Wasn't it the day we became a tea and stuff?"
The Sky Maiden giggled and gave the Fire mage a friendly punch on his shoulder, "Romeo-san, for a moment, I thought you were just being dull. But maybe I'm being a little harsh."
"Ouch. Looks like you're not the nice little girl everyone in the guild makes you out to be." Romeo retaliated, teasingly.
The two laughed, enjoying their quality time. Shinji, Aria, and Carla just stood there, sweatdropping.
"It seems they have some history together..." Aria fangirled. Her glittering, blood-red eyes were attentively glued onto those two.
Carla sighed,"I'm glad Wendy is making more friends around her age. Yet, I feel somewhat worried about what is yet to come..."
"Do you see what might happen in the near future?" a curious Shinji asked.
"Nope. As much as I'd love to know what will happen, it won't as exciting when those future events occur in the present. What about you, Shinji?" Carla shifted the interrogation onto Shinji, "Do you feel at ease, joining Fairy Tail?"
Shinji stared at the orange sky above, trying to configure his thoughts and feelings regarding this fate changing course. "I admit, I am worried." Shinji muttered, "But, I'm not alone." He shifted his gaze at Aria, who just joined Wendy and Romeo's conversation. Romeo and Wendy were telling her a funny story about one of the previous quests they took. When Romeo told them the hilarious part, both Wendy and Aria broke out into laughter.
"Don't worry, she'll fit in fine with the guild. What about you?" the white exceed asked.
"Me?" Shinji questioned.
"Yes, what about you?" Carla repeated.
"Well, if Aria's happy, then I'm fine." the Sword mage responded.
"The prosperity of one is not always the prosperity of others."
"But-"
"No buts, you're still young, you also need to enjoy your youth while it still lasts."
"But you're young too."
"That's beside the point."
From afar, the three teenage mages were waving from the headquarters to the slackers.
"Oiiiiii! Shinji! Carla! C'mon!"
"Shinji-san! Carla! We're here!"
"Shin-kun! Carla-san!"
Shinji and Carla simultaneously sighed, "So they didn't forget about us after all."
Carla then spread her wings out and glided in the direction of the building. Pausing midway, she turned to Shinji, she spoke with a sincere demeanor "You know. I had my doubts about joining the guild at first too. I was only concerned with Wendy. But when I realized that the guild's mages are devoted to their nakama, regardless of the amount of time they spent in the guild, I-I grew fond of it. As of then, I began to cherish the time I spend in this guild. I hope that you can that within yourself as well. Now, let's get going, we can't keep them waiting."
With that speech aside, the Exceed flew off towards the three waiting wizards. Shinji was awestruck, "To think the highlight of my day would be getting lectured by a cat...go figure. Despite the way things were, I do hope our lives will be brighter with the choice we made. I do hope we can put the past behind us..." The youthful knight walked towards his friends, whom were beckoning for him to come over.
Valiantly stepping towards his destination, the armor-less knight's firm, serious frame softened into a more relaxed, upbeat tone. Shinji gleefully smirked, "...And maybe we can start with a little change of scenery."
Hi all! I'm sorry for making you wait! I have become more busy than I initially anticipated. Ugh...But, that won't stop me from typing this fanfic! I will fight on for your sake! Special thanks to:
Aquacharles- I'm glad you like my OC's and story. BTW, Aria's magic is not even Molding Magic or so I've planned. I got something somewhat original.
RainbowFire03- I see you're quite the Rowen supporter. :3 I pray one day they'll be canon.
Guest(s)- To all the Guests. I don't want to make Romeo a Dragon Slayer because there are already four of them in Fairy Tail. But (#SPOILERALERT#) I do plan to have a return to Sun Village arc with Romeo, Aria, and Shinji.
Anyways, please notify me if there are any grammar errors and feel free to give me feedback.