"W-Where did this power come from…" Sting thought to himself as he glanced at the new Rouge; the Rouge who had been taken over by his Shadow. Sting decided that it was time to pull out all the stops if he wanted to defeat Rogue; though he wasn't aware it was Rogue's Shadow he was now facing. Gathering energy in his palm, Sting thrusted his arm forward, unleashing a destructive blast of light towards Rouge, utterly ripping through the floor and whatever was underneath the floor as it raced towards Shadow.
"Pathetic…" Shadow scoffed as he formed a sphere of shadows in his hands. "Shadow Nova!" It was an exact replica of Sting's ultimate attack, only it was composed of shadows instead of light; just like its holy counterpart, the Nova ripped through everything it traveled, even the air itself, and clashed with the Holy Nova. Seconds passed before the two attacks entered a stalemate, and it was clear neither attack was going to make it through the other, so Shadow Rogue decided to do something about it. He used his speed as a shadow to appear behind Sting, throwing a Shadow Dragon's Slash at his back; the sudden attack caught Sting off guard, sending him into the two blasts which exploded violently, blowing off a section of the castle. When the smoke cleared, Sting was lying on his stomach, barely conscious from the move.
"Y-You win…" Sting mumbled as the runes went down and he exited his Dragon Force.
"Oh…I'm not done yet…" shadow grinned, picking Sting up by the color of his shirt. "I'm nowhere near finished yet, Sting. Rogue doesn't have the power to save Yukino from Tartaros…that's why I'm going to take some of yours…"
"…!" Sting's eyes widened, but his sight was blurry. "R-Rogue…?!"
"I'm not Rogue…I'm his Shadow that took over his body…" With a grin, Shadow pulled his hand back, preparing to impale Sting, so he could become the White Shadow Dragon just like his future counterpart. "And your power is now mine…" Shadow threw his hand forward, but before he could, a foot slammed into his face, causing him to stumble back, clearly caught off guard. "Who…!?"
"You Shadows are really annoying…" An injured Takeru said while rolling his shoulders. Always trying to take over our bodies and shit…"
.
.
The two "males" stood across from each other; Adam and Mithril, two dragons, two brothers on opposite sides. "It's been quite some time, brother…" Mithril said with a smirk. "You know, I beat the Earth Dragon not too long ago…she's lucky she's alive, but you won't be as lucky to have the same fate…"
Adam cracked his knuckles, glaring at his brother with oval shaped, dragon eyes. "I won't have the same fate as her, because on my dragon's pride, I will defeat you," Adam stated, and after he did, a magic seal appeared above him. His body began to enlarge ten times its size, perhaps more. His arms and legs turned into blue dragon arms and legs, large claws protruding from his feet and hands, his chest bulked up immensely, and his face changed; it was almost like a takeover spell, but more of a transformation. As Adam transformed, he broke a large portion of the castle just form his size, and he let out the ear shattering dragon roar. Mithril had followed during Adam's transformation, only he turned into a red dragon; the two roars shook the entire country of Fiore, and the mere pressure of them shook the castle violently, more so than an earthquake, even breaking some of the foundation. Adam coated his tail in ice, swinging it forward immediately, striking Mithril's side, causing the lightning dragon to move to that direction forcefully. With a roar, Mithril allowed red lightning to spark around his wings, and he flapped them forward, sending a ruthless gust of wind mixed with red lightning to smash into Adam, causing the dragon to slide back. Adam covered his body in ice to protect himself, managing to do away with most of the damage.
Mithril then covered his own tail in red lightning, swinging it towards Adam, slamming into Adam's side, which caused a roar of pain to escape Adam. Mithril then charged towards Adam with his wings open, and Adam quickly followed suit, the two dragons crashing into each other.
.
.
"Are those DRAGONS?!" Gray asked, utterly shocked at the scene of Adam vs. Mithril.
"Hm…Looks like Adam and his brother are having a little family reunion…" Ur stated as she watched the two dragons go at it. "That's going to be too close of a battle…"
"Who brought that dragon here in the first place…!?" Lyon asked, his eyes also wide.
"That's Adamantine…" Ultear stated. "White Eclipse's Ice Dragon…"
"Well, while this is a nice little deviation from our fight…" Ur slid into the Ice Make stance once again, taking aim at the three wizards before her. "Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" Ur formed a large ice cannon in her hands, wasting no time in launching the frozen blast in their direction, the recoil from the shot sending her back nearly a yard away.
"Huh…shit!" Gray exclaimed as the blast made contact, creating an icy explosion around he, Lyon, and Ultear.
.
.
"It seems Mithril is finally fighting…" Daityas stood up, picking up a book, and placed it into his pocket. "That means it's almost time then. Shame, I was hoping someone here would prove to be a decent challenge…"
.
.
With her trusted blade, Claymore, equipped, Skye aimed a downward slice at Rugal, but the dimensional mage, but Rugal brought up his Katana, blocking the slash with ease, forcing Skye to jump back. After that, Erza came in with dual blades, aiming multiple slashes at Rugal. Rugal was only able to block a few slashes, and he was left open for a vertical slice from Erza, but a portal opened up, and Erza slashed that, but the attack went into a different dimension. "What…?" Erza was caught off guard from the portal, leaving her open for a few seconds, which Rugal used to land a roundhouse to her side, sending her away a few feet.
"What is this guy…?" Skye asked as she backed up next to Erza.
"He has a tricky magic…" Erza replied.
"I've scouted you two…" Rugal replied while holding his katana up. "You two are very strong fighters…but I'm sure you two are aware of the fact that if even an earth shattering attack cannot hit, it's basically useless. Tell me, how do you plan to defeat me if you cannot hit me?"
A glow appeared around Erza's body, entering her Flight Armor; she was planning to use speed to catch Rugal off guard. With her swords in hand, she made use of her armor's speed and dashed forward at blinding speed. Skye followed up by requipping into two blades, light in weight, which increased her agility, and she followed Erza's lead. "Now!" Erza shouted as she swung her blades quickly at Rugal in time with Skye, leaving Rugal with little time to dodge.
"Interesting…by using their speed they plan to overpower me quickly…" Rugal thought to himself as he used his katana to block a few slashes, swayed away from the others, and used his portals to avoid the rest. Rugal's reflexes were keen as he scouted his opponent's, basing his movements on the idea of his opponent's strategies. Unfortunately for him, one of Erza's slashes got by him, and landed on his side, creating a gash, but Rugal could handle it. Rugal then formed a portal behind him, stepping into it; once he did so, the portal vanished just as Skye and Erza slashed.
"Where'd he go…?" Skye asked as she looked around, keeping her guard up.
"He's around here somewhere…" Erza replied.
"You look everywhere, but your blindside will always fail you…" Rugal said quietly as he appeared from a portal to both females blindsides. He then swung his katana, creating wind slash that struck both Skye and Erza in the stomach, creating a gash, along with them rolling across the floor as a result. Rugal then landed on the ground, smirking slightly. "Do you ladies wish to give up? I will make sure your death isn't painful…"
"We're not giving up!" Skye replied to Rugal, fighting through the pain as she stood up. "We have guild mates to rescue!"
"And you have to pay for destroying our guild…" Erza said as another heavenly glow appeared around her, this time entering her Black Wing armor.
"Is that so?" Rugal just smirked, a large portal appearing on the floor; this portal sucked in all three combatants, bringing them into an entirely different dimension. "This is my dimension," Rugal explained as his muscles began to bulk up, giving him a power increase. "I doubt you can defeat me in my world…"
"We'll see about that…" Erza shot back as she gripped her sword.
.
.
"Look out!" Lucy exclaimed as she shoved Yukino out of the way of Taurus' incoming axe, which split the ground in half once it hit. "This isn't good…Gemini was the only key I had left on me…"
"Pisces can't hold out for much longer either..." Yukino grit her teeth as she spoke. "Because of my fight with Tobias my magic power is starting to run low…I don't know how much longer I can keep Pisces here..." Yukino continued as she nudged her head to the two twin fish on standby. The moment Pisces faded was the moment the two of them lost, and everyone knew it. Pisces was the sole factor keeping Lucy and Yukino in this fight...
"If I could get my spirits back…" Lucy began.
"You're not getting them back!" Ruika replied.
"Loke, Taurus, listen to me!" Lucy cried out once again, trying to reach the heart of her spirits. Lucy knew their minds her under control, but she had faith that their hearts were still in the right place. "I know you can hear my voice! Don't use your minds, use your hearts!"
"You're really annoying, you know that..?" Ruika groaned, snapping her fingers in frustration. "Taurus, get rid of her!"
"Lucy-sama…!" Yukino started to move forward, but Lucy shook her head as she spread her arms out, truly believing she could rescue her spirits. "Ah...!"
"I can do this…" Lucy replied as she gave a look of determination at the incoming Taurus. "Taurus, this is just like seven years ago…you were under someone else's control, but you managed to break out of it. Listen to my voice! Remember everything we've been through!"
Taurus ignored Lucy's plea, raising his axe high, but he froze for literally a split second, regaining some form of rational thought. "Huh…?"
"It's working!" Yukino's face lit up with hope, but after she spoke, Taurus quickly finished his attack, swinging the axe down at Lucy, who barely managed to dodge. But the impact from his axe created a shockwave that knocked both Lucy and Yukino backwards, not doing any favors for their already terrible conditions. "Ngh...!"
"Aggh..." Lucy groaned.
"No it isn't," Ruika replied. (That was too close…this fight is dragging on for too long…) "Taurus, Leo, finish her off now!"
Taurus nodded, raising his axe as he stood over Lucy as Loke prepared a Regulas impact just in case Yukino decided to intervene. "T-TAURUS, LOKE!" Lucy screamed. After Lucy screamed, Taurus and Loke froze this time, much to her surprise. "H-Huh…?"
"They stopped…" Yukino stated quietly.
"What's going on! I said finish them!" Ruika yelled, her frustration beginning to boil over.
"They aren't moving…as long as I have them under my control…" Sherry said as she leaned against the doorway of the library, struggling to keep the two spirits under control. "Lucy…you better do something before I lose control of them…!"
"Sherry…!" Lucy's eyes widened in surprise from seeing the doll mage. "B-But I heard Lamia Scale was…!"
"No time to think about that…!" Sherry replied.
"R-Right…!" Lucy turned to the two spirits. "Taurus, Loke, you two are my friends, remember?! I wouldn't have gotten where I am today without you two! I need you two now more than ever, so please, come back to me!"
"...Lucy..." Loke managed a sad smile.
"Sorry..." Taurus mooed sadly.
"That won't…" Ruika started, but to her surprise, Lucy's words actually made their way through the hearts of the spirits, causing them to lower their offense and return to the spirit world. "WHAT!?"
"Nice…" Sherry grinned tiredly before she collapsed to the ground.
"…Doesn't matter!" Ruika said as glared at the two celestial mages. "I still have your keys, and I can summon as many as I want!" The last part was a bluff, but it was one Yukino and Lucy believed, since they were on the losing end of this battle. "Now, I know the spirit who would be perfect for this!"
Before Ruika could grab another one of Lucy's keys, a blue blur flew past her hip, snagging Lucy's key ring off. "I got your keys!" Happy grinned while holding Lucy's keys over his head.
"Happy!" Lucy grinned, never happier to see the blue cat she normally found annoying.
"What the…Where did that furball…!?" Ruika started, eyes wide as Happy snatched Lucy's keys off her hip.
"Catch!" Happy threw the key ring over to Lucy, who caught it with around her pointing finger, spinning it around with joy.
"Pisces!" Yukino exclaimed as she pointed her arm forward. The two fish immediately charged forward, racing at full speed towards the off guard Ruika.
"Gate of the-!" Ruika started as she tried to use of her keys, but it was too late; the two fish slammed into her, the force of the two fists sent her flying back, creating a smoke cloud.
"Did we get her…" Lucy asked as she peered into the smoke.
"Yes, yes, excellent work!" Hyde said as he had a semi-conscious Ruika over his shoulder. "Excellent ladies, I'm proud of you for following your roles to the end!" It was just in the nick of time, because Sherry ended up passing out.
"It's that guy again…" Yukino said as she got on guard once again.
"You two performed wonderfully!" Hyde clapped a few times, his words actually having meaning behind them. "I knew I could count on you two to make this script go well!"
"Put….me….down…." Ruika mumbled.
Ignore Ruika, Hyde turned, pointing to the door. "Lamia Scale survived. I thought I would have to intervene, but it appears they are more resilient than I expected! However, your roles in this play aren't over yet. You still have one little thing you have to do!"
"This guy is weirding me out…" Yukino said as a sweat drop appeared on the side of her head.
"I don't like him…" Said Happy.
"Everything is just about done, the curtain is falling, and the grand finale is approaching. I hope you two have been practicing." Hyde tipped his hat at the two ladies before vanishing.
"That…that was…" Lucy just brought a hand up to her head as she sighed, but her smile returned once she saw her keys. "But…I got them back…finally…Let's help Sherry and find the others…"
.
.
Both fighters were moderately injured, but with her hate for Jellal driving her to continue, Kagura swung her blade towards the heavenly mage. Though Jellal jumped to the side, avoiding the hit, Archenemy left a brutal shockwave after the slash that uprooted the floor, and caught Jellal, causing him to tumble away before catching himself. "This is Kagura…" Jellal thought to himself as he quickly regained his balance, placing his hands in front of him as a golden magic circle appeared in front of him, unleashing multiple beams of light towards Kagura. "But why do I feel only anger coming from her…?"
At the incoming beams of light, Kagura used her gravity change to decrease the amount of gravity around her, allowing her to jump high into the air (almost reaching the ceiling which she was mindful of) and come down with her sword once again, swinging it downward at Jellal once again. "Jellal…I'll kill you…!"
"Meteor…!" Jellal hastily exclaimed, a heavenly light appearing around his body which allowed him to dodge the downward slash. Though Kagura missed, her slash nearly created a fissure in the ground, much to Jellal's surprise. "That sword is dangerous…Why do you harbor such hate for me?" Jellal asked.
"You really don't know, do you?" Kagura asked as he gripped her sword once again, keeping a firm grip on it. "Seven years ago…"
"Seven years ago…?" Jellal cocked a brow, still not getting it.
"Simon…" Kagura said in almost a whisper.
Jellal's eyes widened as he put the pieces together. "Now I know what this is about…" Jellal replied calmly. "You're Simon's…"
"You killed him," Kagura replied as her anger began to boil over once again. "And this is my chance for revenge…" Kagura jumped forward once again, her blade drawn back.
"She really means to kill me!" Jellal realized. But, at the same time...this was just karma coming to catch up to him. It was only a matter of time until his sins caught up to him, and this was that moment.
.
.
Luke charged forward with a fist coated in lightning and flames, swinging first at his mother, Diana. Diana easily dodged the hit by swaying her body to the left, grabbing onto Luke's wrist after with a smirk. "Too slow." She then pulled her own fist back, throwing it at Luke's face, but the copy mage managed to dodge by leaning his head back, just narrowly avoiding the punch.
(Maybe I'm not as screwed as I thought…" Luke though as he felt a small rush of confidence enter his body. He reared back his other hand, only to stop when Blake grabbed it. (Shit, never mind…)
While Luke was in shock about Blake, Diana slammed her knee into his chest, causing Luke to double over. Blake then took over as he slammed his leg into Luke's side, causing Luke to tumble across the floor. "Is that it, son?" Blake asked with a sarcastic disappointed expression.
"Just…warming up…" Luke said as he stood up slowly, shaking off the impacts. "Zap," Luke snapped his fingers, creating a large magic seal under the feet of both Diana and Blake.
"Nope," Diana merely grinned, using her teleportation magic to teleport away from the circle, and Blake followed suit, just barely avoiding the electrical discharge the circle unleashed. Diana appeared in front of Luke, her fist already moving towards the copy mage's nose.
"Gah!" Luke swayed to the left, narrowly avoiding the punch. He then noticed Blake coming in for another kick, so he ducked, just avoiding that one as well. Luke suddenly found himself on the defensive, moving his body as best he could to evade the incoming combo. Unfortunately for Luke, he made one miss step, throwing off the rhythm he had going. Blake and Diana both landed simultaneous punches on the copy mage, strong enough to send him into the nearest wall, groaning. "Ugh…" Luke slowly stood up, feeling quite disoriented from the attack, but he kept going. "Dazzling Blaze…" Luke formed two spheres of fire and lightning over his head, merging them together into a large sphere. "Of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Luke then hurled the sphere forward, cracking the ground it traveled over.
"Allow me…" Blake said as he stepped forward, placing his hand out. "White God's Shine." From the palm of his hand, a white sphere shot out, turning into a blast type attack. The blast easily cut through Luke's Blaze and raced towards him.
"Shit…!" Luke yelped, rolling off to the side just in time to avoid the attack, panting heavily. "D-Dammit…" This wasn't good. Outnumbered and outmatched. At this rate, he wasn't going to win at all. What was he going to do about this situation...?
"We're just warming up~" Diana said with a sadistic smirk.
.
.
Cynthia, Wendy, and Meredy slid to a stop in a corridor/room-like area; on the other side of the room was a trapped Aira, who was banging on the set of runes keeping her captive until she noticed the three mages on the other side. "Aira!" Cynthia shouted with glee. "We finally found someone! Now, let's hurry back to Cyg!"
"She's one of the mages that was kidnapped from White Eclipse, right…?" Meredy asked Wendy.
"Hai…" Wendy replied with a nod. "…Something doesn't feel right about this though…"
"Iron Fist of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia exclaimed as she slammed a heated fist into the runes, only to literally fly back after hitting them, landing on her back. "Gah?!"
"It appears there's a particular set of runes here…" Meredy said while walking over to the runes, placing a hand on them, but they were backwards, so she couldn't read them. "Eh…?"
"It says when the mage guarding this area falls the runes will open," Aira nodded, able to read the runes from the other side.
"Whoever wrote these runes did a really sloppy job…" Cynthia said as she stood up, shaking her head. "This is a bit of a pain though…"
"I wonder who the mage is around here…" Wendy said while turning around to the entrance, only for her eyes to widen once spotting the person at the entrance.
"…Who is that?" Cynthia blinked a few times.
"It's Black Wind…" Aira replied. "That mysterious masked villain who's been destroying small towns around Fiore lately…"
"Black Wind…doesn't sound very friendly…" Cynthia said as she slid into an offensive stance. "I'm guessing we're gonna have to take you down…Or you could make it easier on yourself and just give up…" Wind shook her head a few times before walking forward, now a few feet away from the trio of girls.
Wendy sniffed the air a few times as Wind's scent invaded her nose. Her eyes now widened in horror as she captured the scent fully. "N-N-No…that's not possible…" Wendy barely managed to say, taking a step back from shock.
"Y-You smell it too…?" Cynthia also took a step back as she gazed at Wind, not believing what she smelt.
"What's wrong…?" Meredy asked, completely confused by the attitudes of Wendy and Cynthia.
"There's no use fooling the nose of a dragon slayer, I suppose…" Wind said as she began to take off her mask.
"That voice…!" Wendy gasped.
"It can't be…" Aira whispered to herself, watching as the scene unfolded.
It was exactly what the two girls feared; once Black Wind took off her mask, it was all made clear. The female before them was a familiar one; Chelia Blendy. "IS THIS A JOKE!?" Cynthia shouted towards Chelia, completely enraged now.
"It doesn't look like one…" Meredy said while taking a step back for distance.
Black wind began to surround Chelia's body as she looked at the three girls with an almost emotionless stare, but her face had a serious expression which told all. "…"
"What's going on…?" Wendy asked with a slight whimper, but she then forced herself to gain a serious expression along with Meredy and Cynthia.
"I am the Black Wind…" Chelia began as the winds around her body began to pick up violently. "It is my mission to eradicate you intruders…and I always follow my mission through. The Black Wind howls…"