Lucy took a deep breath, finally returning Taurus and Gemini back to the Spirit World where they belonged, along with Loke who saw himself out shortly after. An elated sigh escaped her lips and she stood up with a grin, resting her hands on her key ring. "Finally…They're back. I'm so happy!" She could hardly contain her joy; it was enough to make her forget all about her severe injuries that were rather life threatening.
"I've never seen her so happy…" Juvia couldn't help but smile at Lucy's happiness, slowly clasping her hands together.
"I'm glad she's happy…and I'm especially impressed that she's bouncing around with such injuries…" Aira spoke quietly, but she reminded Lucy about her pain.
"Eh…?" Lucy blinked a few times before it all came back to her. The severe pain of her injuries took over and she collapsed onto her side, nearly passing out, but her smile remained. "O-Ouch…I almost forgot I could've died…haha…"
"Lucy-chan, you need to take it easy for a bit…" Aira said while crouching down, using her healing magic to heal the serious injuries on Lucy as best she could, doing the same thing for Juvia shortly after. "There…now we should be able to fight again if there's a need to. But don't push yourself too hard, my magic never fully recovered after the fight with Aiden."
"I think we'll be fine…" Juvia said with a nod. "I just hope the others are faring well…especially Gray-sama..."
.
.
"…" Luke stopped walking once again, but Selene stopped along with him. "You sensed it too, huh?"
"Mhm," Selene nodded, but the Fairy Tail wizards in the group had no idea what they were talking about.
"What are you two going on about?" Carla asked in a semi annoyed tone because they had to stop again.
"Just feeling like something great happened, but we missed it," Luke replied with a slight shrug. "But as long as it's been taken care of, I think we'll be fine."
"Are we done stopping now?" Carla asked.
"Geez, you're a snippy one, aren't you?" Luke scoffed somewhat. "I still dislike talking cats."
"I apologize for Carla…" Wendy said with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of her head. "But she's right, we need to keep moving." Wendy then turned to Warren. "Can you reach anyone yet, Warren-san?"
"Not yet…" Warren replied with a sigh. "This place may be too large…my telepathy only covers a skim radius so I can't reach too far…"
"So you're basically useless…?" Luke stated bluntly, causing everyone to turn at him.
"Luke…!" Selene thwacked Luke on the back of his head, glaring at him. She then whispered. "You think those things, don't say them…"
"Ouch…" Luke grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. "Whatever…Anyway, let's keep moving. We're spending a lot of time doing absolutely nothing," He said while taking the lead once again.
"He's a little rude, isn't he…?" Wendy said with a small frown.
"Sometimes…but don't let it bother you. He's just not afraid to say what he wants when it comes to your guild and its mages…" Selene replied with a small shrug.
"Speaking of our mages…" Carla trailed off while looking into the distance of the corridor. "I wonder how everyone else is doing right now…"
.
.
Knightwalker found a corridor to rest in. She was beaten pretty badly by all those monsters. Even though she and Erza managed to come out on top, it was a difficult fight. She leaned against the wall and sat down, taking a chance to catch her breath. She was huffing and puffing heavily. "And to think, that damned scientist wanted to focus his attention on Fairy Tail as opposed to this group."
"He's a fool, through and through." Future Rogue said while appearing from the shadows, arms crossed. "I told you that you'd find something worth your while here. Did you get all that aggression out of your system?"
"What do you want?" Knightwalker looked towards Future Rogue with a hint of a scowl. "Did you only bring me here because you knew Erza would be there? I'm growing tired of people attempting to use me as they see fit!" If she wasn't so exhausted, she'd take her spear to Future Rogue's throat. But the man from the future responded with a shrug.
"If not for you, I doubt Erza would've come out of that alive." Future Rogue responded.
"So were you using me to save her?" Knightwalker kept her scowl.
To that, Future Rogue shook his head. "Oddly enough, the things I am experiencing right now, in this moment, are different than what I remember. This is likely due to the fact that the timeline was already changed to a degree, when the Eclipse Gate was closed...and yet, I know how this all ends. Acnologia will bring ruin to this land in just a few years..."
"I don't care about any of that. Is there a spot in your future where I go back to Edolas?" Knightwalker asked.
Future Rogue paused for a moment, before looking back at his shadow. Compared to Knightwalker's, his Shadow was simply pitch black, where hers was slightly faded. No matter the lighting, his shadow would forever be stained in a pitch black darkness. He then looked to Knightwalker and shook his head. "My answer is no. As long as I exist within Rogue, the future is already set in stone. Although...there is a part of me that doesn't want the future I've already lived through to pass. I cannot deny the possibility, but from what I already know...you never return home."
"Tch." Knightwalker sucked her teeth. The musings of this man from this world's future were irritating her. "I don't care about your future. My future is my own, and it won't be tied down by anything."
Future Rogue turned his back. "Spoken like a true Erza. We were brought here by a selfish man's ambition, but we are far from obligated to follow his plans. Especially since they all fell to ruin rather spectacularly."
"And where exactly are you going?" Knightwalker asked.
"The man known as King...I know him." Future Rogue stated. "And he knows me. We both know one important thing as well: his plan has one fatal flaw, and he hasn't the slightest idea it's invaded his very own home."
.
.
"Looks like we lucked out!" Royal exclaimed as he and Levy somehow managed to wander in the kitchen. Yes, Dealer had a kitchen. They all had to eat amidst their evil plotting and scheming. The drunk of White Eclipse went to the fridge immediately, scavenging around for something.
"E-etto…" Levy looked around nervously, obviously feeling very uncomfortable. "I don't think you should be raiding their fridge in a time like this…"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Royal replied, picking out a beer from the fridge with a large grin. "Ah, there it is! There's never a wrong time for a drink!" He didn't care who it belonged to, he popped the lid open and took a swig, letting out a content sigh after. "Ah…."
"Did you drag me all this way so you could raid their fridge for a drink…?!" Levy huffed, eyes narrowing into a glare towards Jack Royal. "You're worse than Cana…"
"You're too high strung," Royal just shrugged at Levy's small complaint, cheeks already painted pink from the alcohol consumption. He went back in the fridge and pulled out another beer, holding it out to Levy. "Take a drink and relax! Being so uptight won't help when the fighting starts for us."
"No thank you…" Levy turned away from the sight of beer, remembering the last time she consumed the beverage and the outcome of that. "My being drunk won't help me in battle. I need to calculate everything I can as quickly as possible."
"I guess that's where we're different," Royal shrugged, taking another swig from the bottle in his hand. "Being drunk is how I fight!"
"Mhm…" Levy just nodded. Jack Royal of White Eclipse was admittedly one of the last people she'd like to be with. At least she was familiar with a drunken Cana; but this man was a different story.
"My, my…we invite guests in our house and the first thing they do is head for our fridge…" Daigo sighed as he stepped into the kitchen, causing Levy and Royal to go on guard.
"Hey…he's that Daigo…" Levy told Royal, who nodded in agreement.
"Yes, that's correct," Daigo said with a nod. Levy and Jack were both ready to fight, but Daigo held a hand up to stop them. "Wait a moment…I do not wish to have physical confrontation with you two."
"No fighting?" Levy raised a brow, smelling a trap.
"Are you drunk?" Royal asked. They intruded on the enemy base and this guy didn't want to fight?
"No, no…I just thought I'd take a different spin on this little confrontation," Daigo said while snapping his fingers, creating a spinning wheel right beside him. "How about we play a little game? If you win, I'll let you in on a little Dealer secret. If you lose…well, I won't hesitate to bring Joker's presence here. And he despises the kitchen."
That gave Levy a cold sweat. They could probably beat Daigo in a straight fight, but that wasn't what he was aiming for. And the last thing Levy wanted was to deal with Joker... "Eh...I guess we don't have a choice…" Levy sighed and looked to Royal, who just gave a shrug while chugging down some more alcohol. "What's this game?"
Daigo snapped his fingers. Causing a few segments to appear on the wheel; on the segments were Ws. "This is the Wheel of Misfortune!"
"Sounds like a game show gone wrong…" Royal commented with a hiccup, swaying from side to side somewhat.
Daigo cleared his throat and began to explain the rules. "Here are the rules: A person will spin the wheel! It's as simple as that. What happens when the wheel is spun? You'll find out. A player who gets 3 Ws any time wins! Anything else that happens…happens."
"That's kinda vague…" Levy said with a narrow glare, eying the blank wheel with suspicion.
"Why don't you go first so you can see for yourself?" Daigo said with a chuckle, stepping aside so Levy could spin the wheel.
"I really don't trust this…" Levy walked over to the wheel, examining every inch of the exterior. "Three Ws, huh? Well…if I spin the wheel with this much force…" She then gave the wheel a moderate spin, watching intently. Eventually, the wheel landed on a W space. "Ha!" And then it quickly shifted one more, showing a bolt of lightning right under Lucy's image. "Nani!?"
"OOOH! So close!" Daigo chuckled at Levy's misfortunate spin. "But, it looks like a bolt of lightning will be striking your dear friend from above!"
"What!?" Levy looked at Daigo with a shocked expression. It was then that a lacrima screen appeared, showing Lucy, Aira, and Juvia.
.
.
"WAH!?" Lucy jumped back just in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the bolt of lightning that threatened to smite her. When something came from the sky so suddenly, it made her look around, but see nothing. "Why is it always lightning..?!"
"What was that!?" Aira asked, immediately getting into a stance. "Are we under attack again!?"
"Keep your eyes peeled…!" Juvia warned.
.
.
"Whoa…" Royal blinked a few times in surprise. "Just what kinda magic is that wheel made out of, anyway?"
"You can't break it if that's what you're wondering," Daigo replied with a smug grin. "You just have to play the games, and hope that you don't end up with terrible misfortune…!"
"Your wheel is rigged!" Levy huffed. "It totally landed on that W!"
"You must not know how to play the game then, dearie…" Daigo laughed at Levy's outburst. "Allow me…" Daigo then took his turn, spinning the wheel with as much force as Levy did. The arrow didn't land on a W, but another space. This one was revealed to be a muscle sign with Club Strong's face on it. "Look at that! My comrade Club Strong gets a buff in strength! I wonder how that will play out…" He then turned his head to the lacrima screen that changed to Club Strong's battle.
.
.
"Man, what's with this guy…?!" Gajeel grunted, wiping away some blood from his mouth. "We keep hitting him and he just keeps getting back up…"
"I didn't realize Strong had gotten so bulky…" Ace scoffed, keeping his stance firm. Whatever training Strong was up to, it was certainly paying off.
"At this rate, he may outlast us..." Patherlily was very aware of this possibilty, and so were the others. Strong wasn't just strong, but he was extremely durable as well!
"Ace, maybe you should rest for a bit…" Happy suggested, worried about Ace's condition, but Ace didn't seem worried.
"The lovely clerics managed to suppress that for a while, so I'll be fine," Ace replied.
"Come on!" Strong said, waving his club around. "I'm not even warmed up yet!"
"I'll shut you up…!" Natsu roared while rushing forward, his elbow covered in flames. "Fire Dragon's Elbow!" The flames bursting from his elbow granted him a huge boost in speed, slamming right into Strong's abdomen.
"Gah…!" Strong stumbled back a step from the blow, gripping his chest with a heavy exhale. "How annoying…" He then raised his club up, a white light surrounding his body after. "Whoa…I feel like I can take down 10 buildings!" He then swung his club down at the ground, a shockwave literally ripping the floor apart as it traveled towards his opponents, also causing the ground to quake violently.
"What the…!?" Gajeel's eyes widened at the powerful shockwave.
"Where'd that power come from..?!" Ace asked while taking into the air with his wings out. "What's going on here…!?"
"Move outta the way…!" Takeru grunted. Unfortunately for the Dragon Slayers, the quaking ground did remind them of motion sickness. As such, their faces paled. "Urk, damn...not now!"
"With a second wind, Strong winds up...and swings for a HOME RUN! STRONG CYCLONE!" Strong began to spin around with his club extended. Due to his sudden increase in strength, Natsu, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Happy, and Takeru were all slammed directly in separate directions, crashing into the nearby walls and dealing heavy damage to all of them as a result. Ace was able to block the hit, but even he was sent flying from Strong's power.
"Gah!" Ace grunted, grimacing from the impact. "What the hell..."
"D-Damn..." Natsu had one eye shut, feeling his body sore all over from just that one hit. He looked at the others, realizing they weren't in any better shape than he was. Strong hit HARD.
"Ahahaha!" Strong placed his hands on his hips, laughing boisterously at the outcome; watching everyone struggle to recover from his attack. "I got a hit on Ace, too!? Oh I'm feeling GOOD today!" Numerous plants then began to crawl up from the floor, the sharpened vines pointing outward towards those who opposed Strong. "Wanna keep this going!? I sure do!"
"Tch..." Ace grit his teeth. He wasn't sure what was happening with Strong, but it was nothing good either.
.
.
"You can't be serious…!" Levy huffed in disbelief at what the Wheel of Misfortune was capable of.
"But it's true, my dear!" Daigo replied with a wide grin. "You're just very unlucky today!"
"Let me give it a spin…" Royal hiccupped and walked over to the wheel, but Levy stopped him. "Eh?"
"You're too drunk to even walk straight," Levy objected. "I'll take care of this!"
"Well…" Royal was about to say something rather snarky, but he was cut off when Daigo began to speak.
"Now, now!" Daigo said while clapping his hands. "Let's not be so rude to the lady. If she wants to go again, she can go again!"
"Hmph!" Levy walked to the wheel again, giving it another spin, this time calculating enough force to make sure to avoid striking Lucy with lightning again. The wheel spun until it landed on another segment, this time with Levy's face on it, and a symbol of fire. "Nani…? What's that supposed to mean…!?"
"Are you sure you don't know?" Daigo asked in a coy manner.
"I don't…!" Levy shouted in annoyance.
"Liar, liar…Pants on…FIRE!" The dealer mage suddenly shouted.
"Huh…?" Levy blinked, and then suddenly her rear caught on fire. "W-WAH!?" She comically began to run around the kitchen in a comically manner. "Hot, hot, hot!"
"HAHAHA…!" Daigo burst into laughter at Levy's predicament. "Hey, you have a hot ass…! HAHAHA!"
"Oi…Kids these days…" Royal chuckled before taking a sip of the beer in his hand.
"Solid Script: Water…!" Levy wrote in a panic, allowing the words Water to form and splash onto her rear, cooling the fire. Her dress had a large burn mark on it and she winced when rubbing her behind. "Ow…" She then shot a glare towards Jack Royal, who shrugged nonchalantly. "Thanks for the help…!"
"I offered, but you denied it," Royal replied with a slight grin. He made sure Levy felt the karma in that statement before returning to the alcohol in his hands.
She then turned to the wheel again, letting out a slight hiss. "This is going to be more trouble than I thought…" She admitted to herself. She he had to play the game, but so far she was doing terrible at it. This game affected everyone within Dealer's Hideout, so there was much more at stake when she remembered that.
"Tick, tock…" Daigo said while pointing to the nearby clock. "Don't forget King gave Fiore a deadline. You'll never get anywhere if you can't even play a simple game…"
.
.
"It seems almost everything is in place…" King said while shuffling his deck of cards.
"How so…?" Heartless asked while crossing her arms. "Everything is already in place, is it not?"
"Not yet," King replied. "There's been a particular thing I've been keeping my eyes on recently. It appeared to be inactive for 7 years, but I believe I've been able to find a way to make it active again."
"What is it…?" Joker asked, now interested himself about the subject.
"Tell me…have you ever heard of the weapon, Nirvana?" King asked.
"That…?!" Heartless seemed genuinely surprised at what King said. "But King…It's been destroyed…Fairy Tail, Cait Shelter, Blue Pegasus, and Lamia Scale destroyed it when they fought the Oracion Seis…"
"While that may be true…" King said with a sly grin forming. "When you have as much magic as I do in your possession, anything is possible. Why do you think Spade is the only one missing? I personally sent him out to retrieve it."
"But how…" Heartless started, but she shook her head. "You really do have this all planned out, don't you…?"
"But of course, my dear…" King said with a growing grin. "When you take over the world, you must have a plan and backup plan in case the first catches a hitch. In fact, Spade should be returning any moment now…"
.
.
"So, how are you all holding up?" Jenny asked via lacrima screen to Blue Pegasus, who hovered above the skies .
"We're doing fine," Hibiki replied. "Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, Twilight Zone and Ace are all inside Dealer's Hideout. It's only a matter of time before they bring this absurd plot to an end…"
"Though, I am a little worried since we're just sitting out here…" Eve admitted while rubbing the back of his head. "It's a wonder how many traps they could be walking into right now…"
"They'll be fine…" Ren said with a firm nod. "The top three strongest guilds in Fiore taking on one guild? There's no way they can lose."
"Especially with my honey there, men!" Ichiya chimed in.
"Meanwhile, everyone over here is panicking about Crocus. The Princess, King, and civilians are okay, but the city aside from the castle is in ruins." Jenny sighed, rubbing the back of head. "It's a hassle…"
"Once Dealer is defeated, I'm sure the city will be rebuilt…" Hibiki reassured his love interest.
"I hope so…" Jenny sighed before squinting. "Hey, hey…what's that behind you…?"
"Behind us…?" Ren turned around, eyes widening as he spotted something eerily familiar off in the distance. "N-No way…that shouldn't be possible…!"
"What the…?!" Ichiya's eyes widened as well. "M-Men…! We have a situation on our hands…!"
Spade stood at the top of the walking Nirvana, laughing manically to himself. "Oh, King! I found the thing you were looking for! It's pretty old and looks like its seen better days, but I managed to fix it up a bit for ya, just like you asked!"
.
.
"Excellent work, Spade…Ho ho ho!" King let out his signature laugh. "Now, there's one more thing I need you to do with this before we actually get started. Have you started the startup sequence to fire it?"
"He really did it…" Cana's jaw dropped. She thought King was spouting nothing but hot air the entire time, but she was shocked to know that King actually had as much power as he claimed. That was a really bad sign.
"Did you really doubt King?" Joker asked Cana in a bit of a condescending tone, given her helpless situation. Cana gave no vocal reply, but she did sneer at Joker, which was a good enough response for him.
"Of course!" Spade replied. "It's taking a while to warm up since it's been asleep for so long, but the six magic units that power this thing are looking good as new!"
"Excellent." The grin on King's face widened. "I already have a target for you in mind. I'm sure you wish to test your new toy out and its varying properties."
"You know me too well…!" Spade was overjoyed that King trusted him enough to deal with such a large scale weapon of destruction. "So, may I ask what I'm going to be firing this thing at first!? Magnolia? Magic Council? White Eclipse? Twilight Zone!?" He couldn't contain his excitement.
"Spade, you are aware of how powerful Nirvana is, correct?" King asked, making sure that Spade understood the weight King entrusted to him.
"Of course. I did my research. Cait Shelter thought it wouldn't be used again after they mysteriously vanished…but they didn't know about the genius of Dealer!" Spade replied, which was a long winded was of saying he understood. "So, tell me my target, King, if you please."
"Very well…" King nodded, shuffling his deck for a second before placing it down. "Your target is this very base."
.
.
Ren: "Should we be considered that this giant weapon is up and moving again…?"
Evanee: "I think the obvious answer to that is yes. Why are you flapping your gums instead of working that ship? Get us on there."
Rylo: "Someone's gotta take care of it, so it might as well be Twilight Zone, am I right?"
Flynn: "That's right! We'll take care of it before it causes any harm! Let's goooo!"
Next time: Nirvana Reborn!
