A/N: Episode 249.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO: CELESTIAL SPIRIT KING VERSUS UNDERWORLD KING

Lucy was still crying over breaking Aquarius's gate key as Hana could only give her a look of sympathy. The Celestial Spirit King and Mard Geer stared at one another. "Celestial Spirit King?" Mard Geer questioned.

"Underworld King..." The Celestial Spirit King muttered.

"What the hell is going on?! Don't cry, say something for cripes' sakes!" Jackal shouted before both him and Fenris fell to the ground as did Lucy and Hana.

"What happened?" Kyoka wondered.

"It seems this is the end of Plutogrim." Silver commented.

"What did the damn fairies do?" Tempester asked.

"It's been a long time, Celestial Spirit King." Mard Geer greeted.

"Underworld King... Mard Geer..." The Celestial Spirit King spoke.

"I never imagined someone would be able to summon you. I admit, I miscalculated." Mard Geer admitted.

"As ever, you're cradling that book. It really has been a long time." The Celestial Spirit King stated.

"This is the soul of END. This is Tartaros." Mard Geer said.

"What are you scheming, King of the Underworld?" The Celestial Spirit King questioned.

"I'm sure you can guess. We're going to resurrect END and then return to Zeref." Mard Geer answered.

"So you're just as twisted as you were back then." The Celestial Spirit King claimed. "Obsessed with a silly ambition and trying to drag this world into chaos with some foolish plan..."

"Silly? I think not. I would prefer you to say 'earnest.' Returning to serve Zeref has been the wish of Tartaros for quite some time now." Mard Geer said.

Lucy was still sobbing on the ground with Hana next to her. "For the sake of that, you harmed my old friend?" The Celestial Spirit King asked.

"That's correct." Mard Geer replied.

"For the sake of that, my old friend is crying?" The Celestial Spirit King questioned as Mard Geer narrowed his eyes.

The sky turned orange as the sun began to set. "Let's settle our longstanding differences here, Celestial Spirit King." Mard Geer said.

"I was hoping you would say that." The Celestial Spirit King replied. "Because of my old friend's resolve and our contract, I'm going to destroy her enemy!"

"Then come." Mard Geer told him.

The Celestial Spirit King gripped onto his staff as celestial light surrounded him. "I will make you pay!" He exclaimed, striking down at Mard Geer who leaps into the air and pointed his index and middle finger forward. Both of their powers soon combined.

Mard Geer flew into the air before landing on the ground. The Celestial Spirit King continued to strike him as Mard Geer dodged. "Are you going to run away, King of the Underworld?" He asked.

"You haven't changed, Celestial Spirit King. However, I'm relieved. I don't believe I will lose to you this time, either." Mard Geer claimed.

"You're the one who hasn't changed. As always, you talk a good game, even as you dance around." The Celestial Spirit King stated.

The Celestial Spirit King charged once more as Mard Geer leaped in the air. A ball of celestial light soon appeared as Mard Geer moved out of the way before thrusting two fingers forward.

"Thorns." He spoke as vines headed straight for The Celestial Spirit King, holding onto him.

"My Curse of endlessly proliferating thorns will tear you apart." Mard Geer claimed as the thorns continued attacking The Celestial Spirit King, trapping him. "You said something that offended me earlier, Celestial Spirit King. You called our ambitions silly and our plan foolish. But I would turn those words back on you. When you and your kind became 'eclipsed,' you wrecked havoc in this world and your own."

The Celestial Spirit King stayed silent. "And after all that, you take the side of the humans and challenge us? It's laughable." Mard Geer said.

"Underworld King... It is true that we started going down the wrong path for a time, but because of that, we owe a debt to our old friends, who made us come to our senses and guided us down the correct path again. I will never forget that." The Celestial Spirit King claimed. "Compared to the agony my old friends went through then, this is no more than a trifling."

"A trifling..." Mard Geer quoted.

"I will swear this vow again and again! Because of my old friend's resolve and our contract, I'm going to destroy you!" The Celestial Spirit King declared before he destroyed the thorns that held a grip on him.

"I am unscathed." Mard Geer said as The Celestial Spirit King's sword glowed once more.

"Meteor Blade!" He shouted, slamming his sword down on the ground and sending a large wave of blue light across the ground and even towards the seas.

"Impressive." Mard Geer commented. "However, Celestial Spirit King, even though you appear invincible, you have a fatal flaw."

"A flaw?" The Celestial Spirit King repeated.

"A flaw you cannot escape as long as you're a Celestial Spirit. As long as you have that weakness, Mard Geer's victory is secure." Mard Geer claimed.

Debris kept falling down as Jackal was trying to pull his tail out from under some debris. "Idiot! My tail's pinned between these boulders!" Jackal exclaimed before finally setting his tail free, causing him to get knocked back while doing so. "Ouch..."

"What the hell? What's happening outside?! And where the hell is Fenris?" Jackal questioned more to himself. He looked down, seeing Lucy and Hana. "What the hell did you do?! Bawling your eyes out... When I see somebody crying, I wanna make 'em cry even harder!"

Lucy continued sobbing. "Stupid bitch!" Jackal exclaimed.

"Crap! He's going to attack!" Hana thought in her mind, not having enough time to pull out a Celestial Spirit as yellow beams surrounded Lucy, followed by an explosion.

"Lucy-sama!" Hana shouted. However, her eyes widened upon seeing a water sphere shielding her, which also shocked Jackal.

"What?!"

Lucy opened her eyes. "A water... force field..." She muttered before the force field disappeared. "Aquarius?!"

She began to look around. "Where are you, Aquarius?!" Lucy shouted.

A blue light suddenly appeared below Lucy, engulfing her. "What the...?! What's that glow?! You still got something else up your sleeve?!" Jackal asked.

"Magic is surging into me!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Aquarius's Magic has turned into power for you, old friend." The Celestial Spirit King spoke.

"Celestial Spirit King?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Rise... old friend!" The Celestial Spirit King exclaimed.

Lucy slowly stood up. "Aquarius left Magic behind..." She thinks to herself.

"Rise, old friend!"

The glow soon disappeared from Lucy's body as she was in a new outfit. "I will!" She declared.

"May the stars guide you." The Celestial Spirit King said.

"Thank you!" Lucy yelled.

"Dammit!" Jackal shouted as Lucy closed her eyes, concentrating as she thought about Aquarius.

"You too, Aquarius... Thank you for everything."

"You haven't forgotten my Curse power, have you?!" Jackal exclaimed as both of his hands glowed yellow.

More explosions headed towards Lucy. "Die! Die! Die! I'll blow you to smithereens!" He yelled, breathing heavily. "How's that?! Bet I didn't even leave a trace of a little girl like you..."

The dust cleared, revealing the same water force field that protected Lucy before. "Huh? It can't be!" Jackal shouted.

"You were right, Aquarius." Lucy thinks to herself.

"Hey! I'm your opponent! Don't ignore me! I'm right here, dumbass!" Jackal yelled.

"I can't keep crying forever..." Lucy thought.

Jackal charged forward. "Then how about this?!" He shouted. "Explosive Spiral!"

A large explosion soon appeared, striking at Lucy. However, the water force field protected her once more. "And I can always cry later." Lucy noted as the water force field finally disappeared.

"No effect... What is she?!" Jackal wondered.

"Right now... to save my friends... I have to fight!" Lucy reminded herself as she began have a golden magical aura.

Stars across the universe,

show yourselves to me with all your brilliance!

"What's she muttering?" Jackal questioned.

Hana widened her eyes at the familiarity of the spell. "That's... the same spell she used against Flare during the first day of the Grand Magic Games!" She realized.

Tetrabiblos, I am the ruler of the stars.

My aspect is perfection.

Open thy savage gate.

"C-Crap... I don't know what she's doing, but I don't like it!" Jackal exclaimed.

88 stars of the heavens...

Stars soon appeared.

Shine on!

Lucy opened her eyes. "Urano Metria!" She called out, sending her spell straight at Jackal.

"W-Wait a second!" Jackal shouted as he flew up in the air.

The sun continued going down as Lucy started to fall towards the ground. "Lucy-sama!" Hana called out, rushing over and catching Lucy before she collapsed.

"It's okay, Lucy-sama. I got you." Hana reassured as Jackal had collapsed to the ground behind her.

Torafuzar turned around. "Jackal's Curse power vanished?" He questioned.

"The last two wizards..." Silver mumbled.

"This Magic..." Tempester trailed off.

"Celestial Spirit Magic... The girls from before..." Keyes finished.

"Jackal... There's no way you can be gone." Fenris muttered, standing up from the ground and clenching his fist.

The Celestial Spirit King and Mard Geer continued having their battle. "What's wrong, Celestial Spirit King? Your movements have suddenly become sluggish." Mard Geer taunted.

"You used up all the power, old friend?" The Celestial Spirit King questioned more to himself as Mard Geer landed on the ground.

"Celestial spirits are affected by the condition of their summoner. If the summoner exhausts her power, the Celestial Spirit will lose power, too. That, Celestial Spirit King, is your weakness. And it shall be your downfall." Mard Geer claimed as he fired at The Celestial Spirit King, who blocked his attack.

"But I will crush you first." The Celestial Spirit King said, raising his sword up. Mard Geer narrowed his eyes.

88 stars of the heavens... Shine on!

Dream of starlight...

"Galaxian Blade!" The Celestial Spirit called out as the sky opened up.

"An omni-directional attack?!" Mard Geer questioned as a bright light appeared, causing Mard Geer to shield his eyes. "Do you mean to murder your nearby summoner, as well?"

"Grin!" The Celestial Spirit King grinned, making Mard Geer widen his eyes.

"Don't tell me..."

Beams of yellow light appeared from the ground. "What is that glow?" Minerva wondered out loud.

Ezekiel slowly began to move from the red projectiles, grabbing Minerva's attention as she turned around. Ezekiel broke out of the projectiles and charged at Minerva.

"Ezekiel!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Minerva!" Ezekiel screamed out her name.

"That's it! That's what I want to see!" Minerva shouted. "My dear Ezekiel!"

Ezekiel gritted his teeth as Gray soon began to move as well.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Gajeel wondered. "Hey, Lily! Where are you?!"

"Gray-sama! Where are you?!" Juvia called out. "Juvia is right here!"

"What the...?" Elfman questioned.

"What happened?" Lisanna asked.

"Levy! Droy! Where are you?!" Jet yelled.

"R-Right here... I'm alive somehow..." Droy replied as he was on the ground.

"This is heavy... Somebody help me!" Levy sweat dropped as she was under a slab of debris.

"Hold on! I'll..."

Jet and Droy glared at one another. "I'm gonna save Levy!" Jet informed.

"Go to hell! That's my job!" Droy shot back.

"Didn't you hear her?! She called for me!"

"She did not! She said, 'Help me, Droy!'"

"Man!" Elfman ended up lifting the slab of debris off of Levy.

"Are you okay?" Lisanna asked.

"Thank you!" Levy thanked her.

"We were too late!"

"So? What the hell happened?"

"I don't really know, but it looks like we're back on the ground."

"Then that thing crashed?"

Happy was looking around. "Natsu! Where are you?!" He called out.

"Akame! Zack! Jim!" Chii shouted as she was with Happy.

"What is it? My head is heavy, for some reason..." Happy mumbled.

"Hey!"

Elfman and Lisanna turned around, seeing that Macao, Wakaba, and Romeo were rushing towards them.

"Everyone!" Romeo shouted.

"Are you guys all right?!" Macao asked.

"Do we have to run?" Wakaba complained. "So is everyone mobile again?"

"What exactly happened?" Elfman questioned.

"Is Mira-nee okay?" Romeo asked, looking at Mira.

"She's just passed out. I think she'll wake up soon." Lisanna reassured.

"All right. If you're on your feet, take care of the injured. And we still got a few people trapped in the goo, so get 'em out!" Macao instructed.

"Right!" Elfman agreed.

"Where are Natsu and Erza?" Wakaba questioned.

"Gray, Juvia, and Gajeel, too..." Levy added.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them." Droy stated.

"Well, we probably don't have to worry about them..."

"You broke Alegria?" Mard Geer asked in shock as The Celestial Spirit King began to glow yellow.

"The dazzling light of the stars has banished the incursion of darkness. And now I will entrust the task of destroying you to my old friends." He claimed.

"You..."

"What you called my weakness... It's not a weakness at all. As long as I have friends and a shared bond with them, even if I'm not here myself, I know that they will take on that will. That's no weakness. It's our greatest strength. Though to a demon who neither trusts nor loves anyone, I'm sure that's incomprehensible, King of the Underworld." The Celestial Spirit claimed.

"Old friend, there is one last thing that I am able to do, and then I will return to the Celestial Spirit World. I look forward to the next time we meet, from the bottom of my heart."

"Celestial Spirit King!" Mard Geer called out as the Celestial Spirit King vanished.

Mard Geer started turning to stone. "W-What is this? Does he intend to halt Mard Geer? Is this the last thing you could do, Celestial Spirit King?" He questioned. "Just don't forget... that this grudge... is now going to be directed... against the humans..."

Mard Geer eventually turned to stone completely.

Torafuzar was about to kill Lucy and Hana, but Gajeel came just in time and intercepted his attack, protecting them both.

"Gajeel..." Lucy muttered.

"It can't be... Only the two girls are supposed to be left..." Torafuzar claimed.

"Huh?"

"Alegria has been broken? That is unexpected." Keyes soon appeared. "Still... the fairies are fated to be annihilated!"

Water soon attacked Keyes, revealing Juvia.

"Water Nebula!"

"Juvia..." Lucy mumbled.

"Juvia won't let you lay a finger on her friends!" Juvia exclaimed.

Silver stepped forward next. "Freeze." He said.

Purple ice headed for Juvia but was quickly countered by icicles, causing it to shatter.

"I don't think so." Gray said.

"Gray..." Lucy muttered.

"He canceled out Silver's ice..." Keyes noticed as Gray's eyes widened upon seeing Silver.

"You bitch! What the hell did you do to Jackal?!" Fenris appeared behind the group as he got ready to attack Lucy and Hana.

"Azure Dragon's Withdrawl Shield!"

A wall of dark energy protected both Lucy and Hana, keeping Fenris's attack from hitting them as Zack appeared with his arm extended.

"Blood Dragon's Raging Fist!"

Akame appeared soon after, punching Fenris and sending him back towards Torafuzar, Keyes, and Silver.

"Zack-sama... Akame-sama..." Hana mumbled, glad to see her guildmates.

Tempester stepped in front of Silver and Fenris as fire appeared from his mouth.

"Fire?!" Gajeel questioned as the flames soon began to get sucked up before it hit the group.

"My flames are being sucked up?" Tempester questioned.

Natsu finished sucking up the flames. "I don't know what all went on, but you saved my ass, Lucy. I get the sense you did, anyway." He claimed.

"Not bad for a weakling." Gajeel praised.

"And now we'll take care of the rest!" Juvia added.

"You get your rest." Gray said.

"Okay..." Lucy agreed.

Akame looked back at Hana. "Hana, look after Lucy. We'll handle these bastards." He informed.

"Right, Akame-sama." Hana nodded, placing Lucy's head on her lap as Akame turned back around.

"Oh, boy. Looks like we have a lineup of tough guys." Natsu stated before pounding his fists together, flames appearing as he did so.

"I'm fired up!"

A/N: Another chapter is completed!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.