"What on Earthland is going on up there?!" Erza asked at the sound of rumbling overhead. She looked up at the partially destroyed ceiling, eyes widening at the sight of the Omega Fire Cannon MK II. She could hear the screams of Wendy and Cynthia overhead, causing her expression to darken. "How dare he…?! He won't get away with this…"
"You can hardly move…" Gaia pointed out. "How do you plan on getting all the way back up there?"
"As long as I can move I can still fight…" Erza replied.
"That doesn't answer my question, Fairy Queen!" Gaia said with a bit of an annoyed tone, only to wince shortly after. "Ugh…damn robotic dragon…"
"You can hardly move…" Erza commented. "At this rate, we'll never make it up there in time…" But, as luck would have it, Ace came in with the cavalry of Blue Pegasus and Chelia, dealing with the situation over head with what seemed like ease. "Ace…? What timing…" Erza let out a relieved sigh, now taking the time to relax. She was certain that victory was coming for them. "Never have I been gladder to see that ship…"
"Is that my honey I see!?" Ichiya said while peering down below from the ship at the front of the lab. Among all the rubble and destruction, he saw both Erza and Gaia, but only focused on Erza. "It's her, and she's all safe and sound! MEN~"
"…I could do without him, though…" Erza said with an exasperated sigh.
"I never knew you had a fanboy, that's pretty cute," Gaia said with a pained chuckle. "You should honor the leader of the rescue with a kiss~" She teased.
"No!" Erza immediately shouted, shivering uncomfortably at the thought. At the same time, Knightwalker reappeared behind the two, spear pointed as she slowly approached them, slowly moving in for the double kill. "That's the worst thing in the world!"
"You words say one thing, but your eyes say another~ Men~" Ichiya cooed as he began to sparkle. It was then that his eyes laid on Knightwalker, though he saw something completely different than what she was actually doing. "TWO HONEYS!? THIS IS HEAVEN!" Ichiya shouted in utter bliss, falling over onto the ship.
"There he goes…" Ren said while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Two?" Erza raised a brow and suddenly turned around, eyes widening as she just narrowly avoided a strike from Knightwalker, even while supporting Gaia. "Knightwalker!"
"Damn troll…" Knightwalker grunted in annoyance at Ichiya.
"Now, now…" Ichiya said while hopping back up, jumping down below sparkling as usual. He approached the two Erza's with his suave smile, striking a post after. "There's enough parfarm of love to go around, honeys~" And just like that, Ichiya managed to make both Erza Scarlet and Erza Knightwalker turn blue in the face and shiver in a comedic manner.
"NO!" And in unison, the two Erzas punted Ichiya back onto the Christina, both panting heavily after.
"You know it's bad when you get rejected by two versions of the same person…" Gaia chuckled a bit at what transpired before turning to Knightwalker, giving a serious glare. "Now…just because I'm injured doesn't mean I won't bite you in half, human. You'd best back off…"
"I don't fear you, dragon," Knightwalker said while taking a brash step forward, glaring directly into Gaia's reptilian eyes. She wasn't afraid per se, but she didn't want to take any chances with the Calvary that just arrived. She took a step back, letting out a scoff. "This operation has been a bust anyway."
"Well, you can just sit back and watch this production go up in flames, then!" Gaia exclaimed with a wide grin.
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"What are you guys even doing here anyway…" Cynthia asked Chelia and Ace while slowly trying to stand up.
"I started to get a little worried about you guys…" Chelia admitted with a sheepish smile.
"She asked Blue Pegasus and myself if we could play backup for you guys," Ace explained. "I brought Lisanna and Levy because they wanted to help in some way, too. Didn't think we'd arrive in a situation like this."
"You guys showed up at the right time…" Wendy said with a soft smile, now looking over to the battlefield. "Aiden got away, though…We'll never catch him at this rate."
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," Ace said with a sly grin. "He shouldn't be getting too far.
"Meteor Storm!" Apollo Flame exclaimed, bringing his arm down, Multiple magic seals appeared in the sky and began to rain down meteors upon the large group of mages.
"Child's play!" Reve shouted, requipping two pistols in his hands. With his Precision Eyes active, he began to shoot down the meteors with impressively accurate shots, not even allowing a single one to get past his sights. "Didn't even break a sweat."
"You've got to be kidding me…" Apollo growled while taking a step back, a sweat drop appearing on his forehead. "Let's see how you handle this one, then!" Apollo swiped his hand across his chest, creating a multitude of flaming tornadoes that spiraled towards everyone.
"Oh, I got this one!" Aira said with a joyous smile. She threw her hands forward, creating a spiraling tornado that contracted in reverse. The tornado sucked in the flames, rendering them completely useless.
"That's a new one…" Cygnus said with an obviously impressed look.
"Illusion Fire!" Aira exclaimed cheerfully.
"What is that woman…!?" Apollo grit his teeth, but the others around him were laughing.
"You're losing your touch, Sun God…" Hollow said whilst shaking his head. "I may be on a backup generator, but even I can do better than that…"
"Then let's see you do it!" Apollo shouted angrily towards Hollow.
"Observe…" Hollow said while levitating forward, a large bazooka forming on his torso, sparking with lightning. "Thunder Bazooka!" Hollow exclaimed, unleashing a powerful burst of lightning towards the group of mages. As the lightning traveled, it diverted off into another direction, causing Hollow to turn his head. "What?!"
The lightning funneled itself into Laxus' mouth, who gulped it all down after. "Bland taste." Laxus stated, making a disgusted look after.
"I-Impossible…" Hollow said while floating back. "What are these people!?"
"Let me show you how it's done!" Yeti Blizzard said while taking a proud step forward. "You amateurs are about to get blown away!" He then stepped on the ground, sending a massive avalanche towards the group of mages.
"And this!" Brachio said while unleashing a torrent of water from his mouth, sending it right alongside the avalanche.
"And lastly, this!" Terra Condor added on with a barrage of bird-like missiles.
"I'll take this one," Selene said as if what was coming was nothing more than a mere warmup. She placed her hands on the ground, a turquoise magic seal appearing before everyone. A large wall of diamonds appeared before the group, which easily shrugged off the attacks thrown at it. Not even a single scratch after everything. Hyde's minions were slowly beginning to lose their confidence and composure.
"Idiots!" General Augria shouted in irritation towards his group. His wheels began to rev, and he charged towards the Diamond Wall at full speed. "Let me show you how it's done! The Unstoppable Charge will destroy everything in its path!" And when Augria slammed into the Diamond wall, he stopped, completely stuck. "….."
"Well, it looks like you guys aren't as tough as you thought you were, huh?" Zalen said while adjusting his glasses. "From upgrades to downgrades…"
"How the mighty have fallen…" Jaxon said while shaking his head.
"Looks like they're gonna clean up just fine…." Ace said with a slight grin.
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Aiden ran into his person area within the lab, panting heavily at the events that transpired. "Curses!" He cursed, slamming his fist against the wall angrily. "My plan is falling apart once again! I can't believe this is happening…" He groaned, but then he suddenly realized something. "No! This isn't over just yet!" He then made way to his special computer, beginning to input a few codes, and just as he hit the button to enter the codes, he felt two powerful presences behind him. He turned slowly, spotting a very powerful pair of Gildarts and Sidney, both standing behind him with their arms crossed.
"What'cha doin'?" Gildarts asked while tapping his foot on the ground, causing the structure to tremble violently because this IS Gildarts we're talking about here.
"W-Where did you two come from!? I thought Gareth…!?" Aiden stammered, taking a step back, only to corner himself. "G-Gah!?"
"A malfunction from a little toy isn't enough to even make a scratch on me," Sidney stated while taking a step forward, causing Aiden to panic.
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Blows were exchanged between Draco and Kid. Though Draco was slowly gaining the upper hand in the exchange due to the immense amount of heat his white flames gave off, burning Kid every time upon collision. Draco grinned, knowing that he was on the winning edge of the battle. "What's the matter? Have you reached your boiling point?" Draco asked in a cocky manner. Kid let out a grunt of frustration and aimed a quick axe kick towards Draco's head, but the blaze mage easily dodged and returned the favor with a roaring uppercut that struck Kid's chin, sending him staggering back, panting heavily.
"Wow, look at him go…" Meredy said with slight surprise at Draco's fighting style. "And here I was worried that we might have to step in and help him…"
"He's quite an exceptional fighter…" Ultear admitted with a nod. "His magic is unique…I've never seen anything quite like it…"
"Blaze magic…" Meredy whispered under her breath.
Kid preformed a backflip, aiming another kick towards Draco; this one landed on Draco's chest, causing him to stagger back. The goat used this opportunity to flip up, landing a powerful kick upon Draco's face, knocking over the blaze mage easily. To finish the combo, a third flip was added, Kid aiming his foot towards Draco's face to crush it.
"Heh…" Draco grunted while hitting the ground, looking up to see Kid going for the finishing blow. Suddenly, a high pressure of white flames unleashed from his body, completely blowing away Kid, causing the goat to stagger back and hit the floor, panting heavily from the amount of burns his body received.
"Ladies?" Draco asked while standing up, dusting himself off. "How do you like your goat?" As he asked, he made a finger fun, gathering an immense amount of white flames on his fingertip. "Personally, I preferred them roasted over an open fire." Once the magic was fully charged on his finger, he gave Kid an almost devilish smirk. "Ardent Ray." HE "clicked" the trigger, unleashing a small pellet of white flames towards Kid, only his small pellet expanded into an enormous arrow of white flames, colliding with Kid in a massive explosion of white fire. When the explosion died down, Kid laid on the ground KO'ed, burnt to a crisp. "Roasted." Draco said while blowing on his finger.
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"Sagittarius!" Lucy shouted while pointing her finger forward, commanding the archer to unleash his arrows upon Hyde.
"As you wish, moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius exclaimed while readying his bow and arrows in an instant, unleashing an impressive high speed volley of arrows towards Hyde.
"That won't be enough to stop me!" Hyde said while twirling his cane around, using that to easily deflect the arrows away from himself, but he was surprised to see that Sagittarius was not letting up on the assault. "Try as you might…you won't get through me!"
"Then I'll just get behind you!" Natsu said while sprinting behind Hyde while he was preoccupied with the arrows. With his fist ablaze, Natsu lunged forward and struck Hyde's backside, landing a direct hit. Hyde let out a yelp and he was left to deal with the remaining arrows the horsemen shot out at him, causing him to let out another yelp of pain. "We aren't done yet!" Natsu said while aiming another punch, but Hyde turned around so Salamander's fist phased right through him.
"Do you honestly think that will be enough to defeat me!? Dark Phantom Reborn!?" Hyde stated cockily, now preparing to send Natsu away with a Phantom Slash, but…
"Ice Make: Grappling Hook!" Shouted the ice maker. Gray fired off a grappling hook of ice that clung to Hyde's back, pulling the Phantom out of his transparent state. "You're not fooling us this time!"
"Gah!?" Hyde grunted, attempting to pry himself from Gray's grip, but to no avail. "Release me!" Takeru dipped into the shadows, appearing in front of Hyde's face with his cheeks inflated. Without a word, he opened his mouth and unleashed a Shadow Dragon's Roar point blank in Hyde's face. The blast was nearly enough to send Hyde flying, but due to Gray's grip he wasn't going anywhere.
"Not a chance!" Gray shouted while looking over to Juvia and Gajeel. "Finish him off!"
"Right!" Juvia nodded, conjuring up a large column of water above her head. "Water Nebula!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, unleashing the large column of water that brought Hyde under, causing him to flail about.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel shouted while throwing his head forward, unleashing a funnel of iron shrapnel that consumed Hyde as well, causing him to fly forcefully out of Gray's grip.
"HYDE! THIS IS WHERE YOU DISAPPEAR!" Natsu roared while lunging forward, a flaming fist reared back. When he swung it forward, he slammed it into Hyde's nose, a powerful shockwave booming out as a result. Hyde let out a scream of pain as he flew through the walls, all the way back to where everyone else was fighting currently.
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"Nice job everyone…" Ace said with a nod of approval, looking over the defeated Apollo Flame, Yeti Blizzard, Terra Condor, Hollow, General Augria, and Brachio Wave.
"Solid Script: Rope!" Levy called out the name of her spell while writing it in the air. A thick rope wrapped around Hyde's actors, leaving them motionless and constricted. "There, that should hold them!"
"Looks like we win!" Cynthia said while hopping up, punching the air a few times victoriously.
"Wait…" Laxus said while bringing a hand up. A second after that, Hyde and Aiden flew in from opposite sides, slamming into each other's' backs violently, both hitting the floor and crumpling up. "NOW we win."
"Pretty brittle for someone who exercises that mouth of theirs…" Gildarts said while rubbing his arm. "Felt good to punch the living hell out of him, though."
"Is he still conscious?" Wendy asked. "Are both of them still conscious?"
"Ugh…" Aiden groaned, shakily placing his hands on the ground to push himself up.
"Oh? He's still awake…" Suddenly, a dark glare crossed Cynthia's normally innocent expression. A red aura expelled from her body while she took a step towards the downed Aiden. "I'm going to make you pay for everything you've done to me, my family, and everyone else I care about." Cynthia raised her foot up, allowing blazing dark red flames to surround it. She aimed her foot for Aiden's skull. "I'm going….TO KILL YOU!"
"CYNTHIA WAIT!" Wendy pleaded, stopping Cynthia from committing murder right there on the spot.
"Why should I!?" Cynthia shouted, flailing to escape Wendy's grip. "He needs to pay for what he's done! He took me away from you! He tried to kill you! He killed my mother! I'm not going to let him get away with this!"
"Whoa, whoa!" Lucy said while running in with the rest of the group who defeated Hyde. "What's going on here…!?"
"LET ME GO!" Cynthia demanded, allowing her flames to flare to force Wendy to release, but Wendy just consumed Cynthia's fire, trying everything she could to make sure Cynthia wouldn't commit an act she would regret later. "Grah!"
"I've never seen this side of Cynthia before…" Mirajane whispered, feeling a little nervous about the little girl's condition. Though it was understandable, it still frightened her that Cynthia kept so much emotion pent up within her.
"Cynthia, it won't…!" Alex started, but by this point Aiden and Hyde stood up, causing everyone to go on guard.
"Bickering amongst yourselves while you had the chance to finish us…" Aiden said while dusting himself off. He gave Cynthia and Wendy a smirk, which only caused the little girl to go even more berserk, practically screaming.
"WENDY! LET ME GO HE NEEDS TO PAY!" Cynthia shouted at the top of her lungs.
"I told you this wasn't over yet!" Aiden shouted.
"You may have ruined the Ultimate Show…but now it's time for the Final Act!" Hyde shouted, and before anyone could make the charge to either, they both vanished in a flash of light, only leaving the KO'ed minions there.
"Where'd he go…?" Cynthia immediately calmed down now that Aiden was out of her sights, though Wendy kept a grip on her just in case.
"She calmed down…?" Waiston asked with a curious brow. "That was quick…talk about mood swings…"
"That was odd…" Jellal mumbled under his breath. Seconds later, the building began to rumble violently. "H-Huh!?"
"What's going on now!?" Alex asked while looking around.
"I dunno…" Natsu said with a groan, immediately crumpling to his knees on the floor, blue in the face with most other dragon slayers. "But whatever it is sucks…!"
"It's coming from outside," Taya said with a serious nod. "Perhaps it's best we go there…"
.
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"What now…!?" Gaia asked while turning around, the vibrations of the building catch her attention. The Artificial Dragon's eyes began to glow as it came online again. "What? No way!" Gaia growled.
"It's coming back online…?" Knightwalker asked with a surprised tone. Suddenly, the dragon began moving on its own and walked outside, prompting the three females to follow after it.
Aiden placed himself within the broken center of the AD, manually controlling it with an insane grin. Once everyone arrived outside, he let out a maniacal laugh. "Welcome, one and all!"
"He put himself into that thing!?" Zalen asked with an astonished tone.
"So that's what he was doing…" Gildarts grumbled to himself.
"Whoa, whoa…did we miss something?" Draco asked while walking out with Ultear and Meredy.
"Draco, when did you get here?" Reve asked with a curious brow.
"I got bored!" Draco replied with a causal grin, now turning his attention to Aiden with in the AD. "People these days are pretty crazy, huh…?"
"No kidding…" Cana said with the roll of her eyes. "I'm getting tired of this guy thinking he can waltz in on us thinking he can take us down!"
"Jellal?!" Erza's eyes widened at the bluenette. "Why are you here?"
"We thought you could use a few more hands," Jellal replied. "And it looks like I wasn't wrong about that."
"Oh, no no…" Hyde said while wagging his finger. "This final act has only a limited cast…I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you extras to stay put and wait your turn."
"Wait, what?" Shadowlore blinked.
Hyde snapped his fingers, creating a magic barrier around everyone but Cynthia. "There we go! Nothing goes in, and nothing comes out!" Hyde exclaimed with a grin.
"What the…!?" Ace reached out to touch the magic barrier, immediately pulling his hand back from the small shock if gave him. "Tch…!"
"Cynthia…!" Chelia, Wendy, and Carla called out.
"What's the meaning of this, Hyde?!" Knightwalker growled with anger while beating on the magic barrier with her spear, but to no avail.
"You've outlived your usefulness, Knightwalker," Aiden said in a blunt tone. "I only really needed you around so you could distract Erza from pulling off anything unsightly to our plans; and though you did your job well, you did it poorly at the same time. Even after everything we've done to make you stronger than Erza you still failed to surpass par. Needless to say, we don't need you anymore. We'll send you packing back to Edolas as soon as we're done here."
"YOU!" Knightwalker screamed in frustration, now beating her spear in a blind fury.
"Now then…" Aiden said while turning to Cynthia within the dragon, grinning towards her. "It's just you and me now, Cynthia. You wanted to dispose of me, correct? Well, now's your chance. If you end up losing, however…you can join your friends up in the skies above…the golden grasslands, I believe they call it."
"I don't have a good feeling about this…" Lucy admitted while clutching a hand close to her chest. "Cynthia, be careful!"
"I'll be fine," Cynthia replied to Lucy while dark red flames flared around her body. "I'll break that little toy of yours, then you!" Cynthia shouted towards Aiden, rushing forward with a powerful sprint. When she was close to the dragon, she leapt up and slammed her fist into the head of the machine, only for her fire to fizzle out. It had no effect. "Nani…!?"
"Oh, silly me!" Aiden said while smacking Cynthia away with the large arm of the dragon. Cynthia hit the ground and rolled across it for a few seconds before springing back up. "I forgot to mention…Omega Fire doesn't affect this machine in any way, shape or form."
"Dirty bastard…" Natsu growled before looking up at Blue Pegasus' ship. Christina, just hovering there. "OI! Blue Pegasus!"
"I've never seen anything like this…" Hibiki said while scrolling through the archives of known technology. "It's like its completely advanced material."
"We better do something, to help, and quickly…" Ren pointed out the fight below.
"We shoot it! That couldn't hurt, right?" Eve suggested.
"MEN!" Ichiya exclaimed, pointing down towards Aiden. "All cannons, fire!" And on command, multiple oval blasts of magic were released down to Aiden below, though, this only caused Hyde to chuckle.
"Foolish…" Was the only thing Hyde had to say. The blasts struck the Artificial Dragon, but there was no effect on it either.
"No way…!" Ren's eyes widened at the dragon's state even after the bombardment.
"I see what's being done here…" Sidney started, causing everyone to look at him. "He's just going to toy with her. There's absolutely nothing she can do. Once he's done with her, he's going to kill her. Once that happens, he's going to let us out and give us a shot at him. When Cynthia dies, I'll be the one to rid this world of him once and for all."
"S-Sidney…" Cygnus was a little taken aback at how blunt Sidney was at this subject.
"She won't die!" Wendy protested. "I don't believe it!"
"She's outmatched." Sidney replied to Wendy with a sharp tone of voice. "Are you going to cling to false hope, or are you going to look at reality?"
"I can hear you, you know…" Cynthia said with an annoyed groan. She pushed off Sidney's negative comments and returned her focus to Aiden, charging once again. This time, she jumped up, allowing her flame covered leg to aim a blow at the dragon's chest, specifically where Aiden was, but before she could land the kick the other arm of the dragon slammed her down into the ground, leaving a crater. "Ugh…" Cynthia groaned. She was dazed, but she brought herself up back to her feet slowly, swaying somewhat.
"Don't tell me you're getting tired already?!" Aiden shouted with a grin, resting the dragon's palm on the ground. Suddenly, a potent bolt of lightning struck up, blowing Cynthia into the air with a yelp of pain. Before Cynthia could ever recover, the large tail slammed her back down to the ground, creating yet another crater.
"I don't think I can watch this anymore…" Lucy said while turning away, refusing to watch Cynthia get beat down like this.
"DAMMIT!" Natsu shouted, attempting to break down the barrier blocking them off from Cynthia, but it was no use, they were trapped.
Another pained yelp escaped Cynthia as she flew into the magic barrier, landing on the ground on her stomach. She was hardly moving and her body was covered in heavy bruise marks, cuts, and other markings. "Ugh…" She groaned softly, clenching her fist while picking up some dirt, slowly bringing herself to her hands and knees.
"I don't think fighting is an option here, Cynthia," Ace said with a stern look. "Fall back, we'll get out of this and be fine."
"It's not safe, Cynthia!" Levy added on.
Cynthia shook her head slowly, bringing herself back up to her feet despite the heavy damage she's taken. "No…I can't run away from my past anymore." Her hands balled into tight fists. "I can't…My past has brought you all so much trouble, and I haven't been able to keep it away from you. The Magic Council…Fiore's End…Hyde's earlier plan…and now this…? You guys keep shoving my past away, and I appreciate it…but this time…I can't let you do that this time. This is something I have to do on my own. I have to overcome my past once and for all."
"You can't overcome anything when you're dead!" Gaia shouted, voice filled with concern. "Dammit…if I didn't waste all of my magic destroying that thing the first time!"
Once again, Cynthia shook her head slowly, a small smile crossing her lips. "I'll be fine…you guys are right behind me. I won't let anything happen to any of you." And with that, Cynthia ran forward for another charge, only for it to end the same way every time. Brutally smashed into the ground by an arm or the tail, an ear piercing scream of pain escaping Cynthia with every hit. Wendy began to tear up slightly, shaking her head repeatedly. She didn't want to accept what was going to happen.
"Not again…not again…" Wendy whimpered. "Please…not again…!"
"Once again, fire!" Ichiya ordered; his tone more serious this time. Christina fired off more shots towards the Artificial Dragon, but as before, there was no effect.
"I'm getting tired of you…" Aiden pointed the dragon's head to the sky, mouth opened as a large sum of magic began to accumulate in the dragon's mouth. "I'll shoot you down again, and this time, you'll stay down!"
"Now's my chance!" Cynthia thought to herself, rushing forward yet again with another leap, this time aiming head first for the AD's head. "Sword Horn!" She slammed into the dragon's forehead with her own, but Aiden shrugged her off and unleashed a large beam of magic that clipped Christina of one of its wings, sending it hurtling to the ground. "Gwah…!" Cynthia grunted as she hit the ground, but she was immediately picked up by both hands of the robotic dragon, both using their full force to squeeze the life out of her. "Agh…!"
"I've had fun playing this little game, but I believe it's time for things to end now!" Aiden said while grinning, increasing the pressure on Cynthia.
"CUT IT OUT!" Lisanna shouted while shaking her fists.
"THIS ISN'T MANLY!" Elfman growled. "We have to do something!"
"We sit and watch," Sidney replied, not feeling an ounce of sympathy for Cynthia.
"UI, can't you do something about this…!?" Meredy pleaded, but Ultear just sighed heavily in return.
"I-it hurts…!" Cynthia whined, trying desperately to break free of Aiden's grip, but to no avail. Everything was going white for her. "I-….I'm sorry…I couldn't….keep my…promise…"
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It was all white; Cynthia could barely see a thing. She felt her own presence, but that was just about it. "Where am I…? Oh yeah…that's right…I lost…"
Shortly after that, the spirit of Vanessa appeared in front of Cynthia, arms crossed while giving a frown. "Are you giving up that easily…?"
"Mommy…!" Cynthia's eyes widened at her mother's sudden appearance. She looked down shamefully. "I…I can't do anything…Everything I do is useless!"
"You can't give up that easily, Cynthia. It doesn't suit you," Vanessa replied.
"But…" Cynthia tripped over her words. She couldn't look her mother in the eye and say these things. "I can't win…It's impossible."
"Don't you hear them…" Vanessa asked, gesturing to the voices of those wishing for Cynthia's wellbeing. "All of their voices?"
"I…" Cynthia started.
"You know…ever since the beginning, they've always believed in you, and they'll continue to believe until the very end. Especially her," Vanessa said with a soft smile. "Now…are you going to let their cries go unanswered? What are you fighting for, Cynthia?"
"I'm…" Cynthia began, blinking a few times as she thought it over. Slowly, she lifted her head up, a fire in her eyes as she looked directly into her mother's blue irises. "Those people who believe in me…I'm going to protect them!"
And upon hearing that, Vanessa's smile widened. "That's what I wanted to hear…" She nodded slowly, crouching down and placed her hand on Cynthia's chest. "That's all I needed to hear, too. Don't give up on them, because they'll never give up on you." A magic seal appeared on Cynthia's chest, causing her body to glow a vibrant blue color. "Now…kick his ass for me, okay sweetie?"
"M-My body…!" Cynthia gasped.
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The ground trembled violently, the expulsion of magic coming from Cynthia's body shocking everyone. Aiden's eyes widened as his grip on Cynthia started to wane. "Wh-what!? What's happening?! Where is this power coming from?! You shouldn't have anything left!"
"What's going on?!" Hyde asked with widened eyes. "This shouldn't be happening!"
"I'll…." Cynthia began, gritting her teeth her red aura appeared around her body, a brown one soon appearing and mixing in. "I'll protect them…!"
"Gnnnnk!" Aiden grunted, trying his hardest to keep his grip on Cynthia.
"JUST….YOU….WATCH…MEEEE!" Cynthia screamed, the ground now quivering tremendously as her aura began to grow even larger.
"I-Impossible…!" Was the only word that crossed Aiden's mind.
"RAAAAAHHH!" Cynthia let out a roar so loud it rivaled a dragon's, a bright light soon enveloping the area. When it faded, she was standing a few yards away from Aiden, panting heavily with her appearance drastically changed. Earthen scales appeared around her ankles and her wrists. Small dragon-like wings of earth protruded from her back, the outline of her hair had a brown color to it, and her eyes changed from the usual sky blue to a dark brown color. She panted heavily, but her expression remained stern.
"N-No way…" Ace said with an astonished look.
"Her power resonated with the Earth Gem she ate…!" Gaia explained. "But how…!?"
"The Omega Earth Flame Dragon…" Wendy said with widened eyes, yet there couldn't be a bigger smile on her face.
"Whooa!" Aiden and Hyde exclaimed in shocked unison.
"This is just what I needed…" Cynthia finally spoke up, directing her gaze to Aiden. "With this…I can beat you."
"…Interesting…" Aiden said while trying to play off his shock. It was then that he noticed the fire in Cynthia's eyes; it was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. Furthermore, he saw Vanessa for a split second next to Cynthia, causing his eyes to widen. "W-What…?"
"This time…" Cynthia said as her aura exploded from around her, clenching her hands into tight fists. "I WON'T LOSE!"