"Three of them remain…" Aiden said while watching from his spot in the lab. "Everything is just about ready. There's no way the plan can fail. I must admit, Hyde, you've done an excellent job with this scheme. It matters not if they manage to win or lose against our stronger; all that matters it the end result…" The scientist then chuckled, ignoring the burning sensation in his cheek from Natsu's blow earlier. "Foolish wizards…the end is coming, and yet you've hardly clued in on the beginning. Oh, how the mighty will fall…"
.
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Gildarts merely took a step forward with a serious look on his face. "So, Gareth, was it? Tell us, what's going on around here?"
"Do you really want to know?" Gareth asked with a monotonous voice. "If you really wish to be aware of what's truly going on, you're going to have to beat me with my body still intact."
"In other words…" Gildarts started.
"If we defeat him without destroying the body he'll tell us everything he knows. Personally, I think it's a stupid idea. I never hold back on my opponents." Sidney replied.
"I don't even know what holding back means…" Gildarts commented, the slightest of smirks forming on his face. "Sorry, but I guess we'll be doing things the old fashioned way."
"The only way to do things." Sidney stated. "Considering the current conditions, I'll allow the weaker of us move first." Arms crossed, he just stared at Gareth, waiting for the robot to make am move.
"Very well. Consider this the beginning to your end." And with that, the machine was off, darting towards Gildarts first. He threw a punch towards Gildarts, but the Fairy Tail ace easily blocked the strike by bringing up his bandaged forearm, not even budging an inch from what a normal mage would consider a harsh blow. "What?"
"Come now…" Gildarts said while pushing his forearm forward, causing Gareth to stagger back. "I thought we were only a difficulty of 2? Perhaps you really are broken…and I'm not really one for fixing things. But I do have the tendency to break things…" He then drew his arm back, throwing it towards Gareth's chest. The blow was so strong the machine flew back with a grunt.
And in a puff of smoke, Sidney appeared behind Gareth with his leg drawn back. Once the machine was within range, Sidney threw his leg forward, slamming it into Gareth's back, causing it to flew and hit the wall, sparks flying erratically from his body. "…"
"I will not accept this!" Gareth shouted, though the tone was now annoyed and agitated aside from the usual monotone. Two large magic seals appeared in front of Sidney and Gildarts, immediately unleashing large beams of magic upon the aces, shooting out a fair distance. When the beams died down, neither ace had a scratch on them. "What!?"
"Honestly, I feel like you weren't made very well…" Gildarts said while rolling his shoulders. "This isn't even close to a pre warm up…"
"Do not mock me!" Gareth shouted, preparing yet another magic seal in front of him, unleashing a wide ranged magic beam towards Gildarts.
"Alright, guess it's time to wrap this up…" Gildarts said while pointing his hand forward, unleashing a white net of Disassembly magic towards the incoming beam. The white net wrapped around the beam of magic and reduced it to nothing, causing Gareth's eyes widen. The white net continued on its way, now wrapping around Gareth, dissembling him rather quickly, pieces of him remaining on the floor.
"Pathetic…" Sidney scoffed, arms crossed. "I hardly used any magic…" It was then that a beeping sound filled the area, causing the brows of both mages to raise. "That noise…"
"It's gonna blow…!" Gildarts shouted, and a large explosion visible from outside occurred.
.
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Back in Augria's room, the force of the previous explosion nearly knocked everyone off their feet. The group of wizards were all somewhat damaged from Augria's constant assaults and the spikes on the wall, but they all managed to do some damage to the general himself as well. "You're all not bad, but it's clear how this battle is going to end." Augria stated with a large smirk.
"Yeah, with you lying on the ground," A somewhat bruised Laxus retorted; and just after that, he conjured up a bolt of light right above Augria, striking down the general with ease, but he held his ground despite the powerful shock. "Oi!" Laxus commanded, waiting for the others to follow up.
"Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray exclaimed, throwing his hands forward to release enlarged lances of ice to strike Augria from all sides.
"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Takeru exclaimed whilst unleashing a torrent of shadows towards the general.
"Shadow Sphere!" Said Taya, releasing a sphere of shadows that merged with Takeru's roar; these three attacks struck dead on, causing Augria to roll back into the spiked wall, now stuck there.
"Not bad, not bad…" Jack Royal said with a slight smirk. He raised his foot, a magic seal appearing. "We wouldn't want ya getting out of that, now would we?" He then stomped on the ground, creating a few pillars of earth that shot up from the floor and wrapped around Aurgria's wheels to hold him in place. "Your charge can't be unstoppable if you can't even stop."
"Look at them go…!" Warren said with amazement.
"Not bad at all…" Magnus gave a nod of approval. "Who will wrap this up?"
"Man!" Elfman exclaimed, entering his Beast Soul takeover. With incredible speed, he lunged forward and slugged his immense fist into Augria's face, crushing the spiked wall behind him. Elfman jumped back, growling towards the general. "Is that it?"
"Heh…" Augria looked rather defeated at the moment, but he still had a smirk on his face. "You just don't learn, do you? It doesn't matter if you beat me or not…even if I go down…" A bright light started to form around Augria's body as the room began to shake violently.
"What's he doing now…!?" Taya asked while keeping her guard up.
"He's gonna self-destruct…!" Gray shouted, immediately throwing his arms forward. "Ice Make!"
"Too late!" Was the last thing Augria said before lighting up in a massive explosion that took out another section of the lab.
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Jellal and Kung Fu Kid were locked in high speed close combat. Even with Meteor activated, Jellal found it a little difficult to keep up with Kid's high speed. "Just what are you?" Jellal asked while exchanging blows with the takeover mage, some landing while most managed to miss.
"Kung Fu Kid 2.0," Kid replied in a monotonous tone, completely focusing on the battle. He aimed a spinning roundhouse towards Jellal's head, but the bluenette managed to dodge with some ease.
Jellal jumped back, pointing his hands forward as a magic seal adorned with a star in the middle appeared before him. "Heavenly arrows!" He called out the name of the attack, shooting out a plethora of yellow beams towards Kid. Much to Jellal's surprise, his opponent was even more nimble than he originally thought. Kid executed a series of skilled flips, evading each and every beam fired, though one managed to clip his leg, it didn't bother him. "This is going to be a tough one…" Jellal thought to himself before flying into the air, now thinking of how to combat this foe. "Hyde sure knows how to make them…" He muttered.
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"Still no sign of anyone…" Shadowlore complained while the group walked down a corridor, which soon came to a split path.
"This place is like a maze…" Cynthia groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"I want to say go left…" Wendy pointed to the left.
"I say right," Alex narrowed her eyes and pointed right.
"Straight!" Natsu exclaimed.
"I don't think it works that way…" Shadowlore sighed. "Geez, how the hell are we supposed to get through…?"
It was then that the lab rumbled, due to the force of the two explosions going on. "What was that…!?" Wendy asked, looking around frantically.
"It sounded like an explosion…or two…or maybe a really big one?" Cynthia suggested with a shrug. "Either way…I hope everyone is doing alright. I'm starting to get very worried about them…"
"They'll be fine," Natsu stated. "As long as we're all together we can't be defeated, and I won't go down until we take down Aiden. I promise."
"Right…" Cynthia nodded. It was then a particular scent entered her nose. "Huh…that can't be right?"
"I smell it too…" Wendy nodded.
"Me three…" Alex added.
"I don't smell anything…" Shadowlore scoffed. "Must be nothing. My sense of smell should be on par with…" And before he finished, Plue walked down the left corridor, trembling as he always did. "….What the hell is that thing?"
"PLUE!?" Natsu, Cynthia, and Wendy exclaimed.
"What are you doing here!? Where's Lucy!?" Natsu asked the small spirit.
"Pun pun…" Plue replied, pointing down the left corridor. "Pun pun!"
"Got it!" Natsu nodded, immediately running down the left corridor.
"Hey, wait up!" Cynthia scooped Plue into her arms and ran off, Wendy and Alex following right behind her.
"Wait a second!?" Shadowlore said while flailing behind the group, trying to catch up with them. "You actually understand what that thing is saying?!"
"No but we're just following Natsu-san!" Wendy shouted back.
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"Yes, yes…everything is going according to the script, I love it…" Hyde nodded to himself with a grin, then looked over at the bound Lucy. "Don't worry, you'll be getting your part soon enough."
"My part in kicking your butt…!" Lucy shouted while trying to struggle free once again, but as before, it was futile. "Ugh…"
"Now, now…." Hyde said while waving a dismissive hand. "Don't fret, all the pieces are nearly in place."
"What do you even need me for!?" Lucy asked.
"Insurance," Hyde replied. "Just in case there's a little snag in the final production, we'll need a little someone, like yourself, as insurance so things don't get too out of hand, understand?"
"Just wait until Natsu gets here!" Lucy responded.
"Natsu? Pfft…" The Dark Phantom chuckled almost hysterically. "There's no way he'll find you here! We've separated you all in a certain way for a reason. He may have escaped death by the hands of Yeti Blizzard, but the chances of him finding his way to you are slim to none."
Lucy lowered her head, not because Hyde was right, but to hide the small smirk on her lips. "That's just the thing…" She replied, now looking up with Hyde with a particular fire in her eyes. "It doesn't matter what you think will happen! I know one thing for sure…whenever I need him he'll be there to help me! NATSU!" And right on cue, the wall gave out in a fiery explosion, and Natsu slid from the wall, glaring towards Hyde. "AH!"
"WHAT!?" Hyde's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Natsu, Cynthia, Wendy, Alex, and Shadowlore. "HOW!?" He then noticed Plue in Cynthia's arms, causing his teeth to grit in an agitated fashion. "That little!"
"I knew you'd show up!" Lucy said with a bright smile.
"Hyde…." Natsu glared towards the Dark Phantom.
"I thought he was dead…! Or something of the sort…" Cynthia growled towards Hyde, protectively standing in front of Wendy, not wanting a repeat of their last encounter with Hyde.
"Every person needs a break, don't they?" Hyde replied with a subtle shrug. "But don't call me Hyde anymore. Because soon, I'm going to be the greatest script writer in the history of Fiore! I am Dark Phantom R!"
"What's the R stand for?" Alex questioned briefly.
"Reborn!" Hyde exclaimed.
"I don't care what it stands for!" Natsu roared while flames flared around his body angrily. "We beat you once and we'll damn sure do it again!" He then rushed forward with a fist pulled back. "Iron Fist of the-"
"I don't think so!" Hyde said while pointing his cane at Lucy, causing Natsu to skid to a halt. "Actors like you shouldn't do anything unless their told…Now that I have your attention, I believe we have just about everything ready to begin…"
"Begin what!?" Wendy asked.
Hyde grinned at Wendy's question; it was one he was hoping for. "I was hoping you'd ask that…Cynthia, Wendy, I'm going to need your assistance for what's about to happen."
"Like heck!" Cynthia shouted.
"Oh, you don't have a choice!" Hyde responded while pointing at Lucy. "You wouldn't want her to get hurt, would you…?"
"Don't listen to him, I'll be fine!" Lucy replied.
"Lucy-san…" Wendy looked to Lucy, then looked at Hyde.
"Ready or not!" Hyde said while levitating into the air, a wide grin on his face. "It's time to begin The Ultimate Show!"
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Hyde: "Finally, all the preparations are complete! It's time to begin the ultimate show!"
Natsu: "Oi! Who gave you the right to the outro!? We're gonna kick your ass!"
Hyde: "Try as you might. It's already too late!"
Cynthia: "We'll see about that Hyde! It's time for payback!"
Next time: The Ultimate Show!