"So we're lookin' for a lost little brother, huh?" Gray asked once again while walking down a corridor with Waiston and Draco.
"Are you deaf? That's exactly what we're doing," Waiston said with a sigh. "Fairies these days…"
"You want another ass whoopin'?!" Gray asked, getting in Waiston's face.
"You can't handle the new and improved Waiston! Outta my face, scrub!" Waiston snarled with a confident grin.
"I didn't think it was possible for two popsicles like you to get fired up…" Draco said, amusing himself with the slight oxymoron. "Either way, you can settle your differences after we beat Dealer. Though, it's already obvious who's going to win," the blaze mage spoke while slyly nudging Waiston, causing the ice dragon's smirk to widen.
"Tch," Gray scoffed, turning his back to keep walking forward. Suddenly his shirt just went missing.
"…What happened to your shirt…!?" Draco asked, eyes widen at the sorcery he failed to witness.
"Eh?" Gray blinked, looking down at his now exposed bandaged chest. "Wha…!?"
"Seriously, that's getting old now…" Waiston said with a groan. Gray opened his mouth to speak, but Waiston quickly hushed him. "Wait…hold on…you guys hear that…?" The three fell silent. It was sobbing of some kind. "It's coming from that direction." Quietly, the tri advanced forward, entering the holding cell area.
"It's coming from over there…" Draco pointed to the cell across the hallway. It was hard to make out, but it looked like a little boy, who did bear some resemblance to Spade Magnes.
"That might be him…!" Gray exclaimed quietly. "Hey, kid, stop crying. We're going to save you."
"Huh…?" Spark turned around, eyes wide at the mages. "Y…You guys are the good guys right…?"
"That's right, we're gonna stop Dealer, but we were asked to get you out so your older brother won't be so crazy," Gray explained with a nod and a soft smile. "Just leave it to us."
"Alright, let's go…!" Spark's eyes then widened as he remembered something. "Wait! The big scary bad guy!"
"The what…?" Gray tilted his head, but his instincts reacted before he actually saw it. He back flipped as a sharp pair of claws struck the ground before him. Once landing he spotted the assailant. A humanoid-wolf, colored blue with a bushy tail, sharp claws, and red eyes. Not on all fours like Shadowlore was in his form. "What the hell!?"
"Wolf Woods…" The wolf replied with a snarl. He then slashed the air in front of him, sending razor sharp beams in the shape of his claws towards the trio.
"And here I was thinking we'd be missing out on the action!" Waiston grinned, stomping on the ground. This caused a glacier to pop up in front of the trio, shielding them from the attack. He then leapt atop the glacier with his cheeks puffed out. "Ice Dragon's Roar!" Waiston threw his head forward, unleashing the sharp vortex of ice towards Woods. But, to his surprise, Woods was gone in an instant, appearing in front of Waiston with a claw reared back. "No way!" Before Waiston could react, he was slashed down to the ground, rolling away a few feet.
Woods then landed between Draco and Gray, who both swung at him, only he moved and the two mages hit each other. "Oi, watch it!" Gray shouted with a comical tick mark on his head. "Your aim is just as bad as Natsu's!"
"Maybe if you weren't in the way…!" Draco replied, clenching his fist in anger. But before the argument could proceed further, Woods appeared between them both again and spun around with its sharp claws, knocking both mages away with ease. "Oof!"
"Gah!" Gray caught himself, sliding across the floor on his feet. "Enough of this!" He placed his fist into his palm, throwing his hands forward as a blue magic seal appeared. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" From the seal, a plethora of enlarged ice lances shot out, all aimed towards Woods, but the wolf's superior speed allowed him to evade them all. "Tch…!"
"(S)no(w) worries!" Waiston shouted as he inhaled Gray's ice lances, using them to fuel himself. "I got this!" With the power boost from Gray's ice, Waiston allowed his own to cover his fist and he lunged towards Wolf Woods, throwing a fast flurry of punches towards him. However, only a few just barely managed to scrape by. "Hold still!" But, Waiston was slapped away by a backhanded claw strike. "Agh!"
"I got this…" Draco said as Waiston was smacked away, pointing his fingers in a gun-like fashion as the tip of his index finger was covered in white flames. "Ardent Ray!" He then fired off the powerful beam of Blaze Magic towards Wolf Woods.
"You won't strike me…" Woods snarled and prepared to move, only to slip and fall on his rear. "Huh!?"
"Ice Make: Floor!" Gray exclaimed after he casted the spell. Woods slipped on the ice, now left open. The Ardent Ray raced towards the beast and exploded in a brilliant white flame.
.
.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" Exclaimed Laxus as he unleashed a potent beam of lightning from his mouth to a group of security robots; the roar exploded, knocking away the robots with relative ease. "I guess we got stuck with the trash clean up…" He grunted, looking over to Lisanna and Elfman. "How're you two holdin' up. Good I hope."
Elfman was in his Lizardman Takeover while Lisanna was in her Tigress takeover. Elfman was having no trouble taking and giving hits, though he was worried about Lisanna, yet he had no reason to be. The youngest Strauss sibling was holding her own quite well. "We're holding up just fine!" Elfman replied, slugging a few robots away with ease.
"This is nothing!" Lisanna responded while nimbly leaping from one robot to the other, swiftly taking each one out with a few claw strikes before moving onto the other. "I just hope Mira-nee is okay…" Shortly after that, an explosion came from the nearest wall. Cygnus walked from the hole in the wall, scouting out what was around. "Eh!?"
"Ah, some action!" Cygnus grinned, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Reve, Taya, this is where the action is at!" Cygnus' loud voice drew in Reve and Taya, both of whom seem excited to get in on the action.
"Finally…I was starting get a little bored wandering round here…" Reve said while requipping a pistol into his hand, taking aim at a few security robots who were approaching down the hallway. "Bang." Signature word spoken, Reve released a few rounds at the incoming mechs, head shotting them to take them out in one shot. "Heh."
"Don't take all the fun for yourself, gun slinger." Taya said while drawing forth a vector, grabbing a few mechs and crushing them within her grip, a pleased grin on her face.
"Great, just who I wanted to see…" Laxus let out a slightly annoyed sigh at the appearance of the Eclipse mages.
"Sorry for stealing your spotlight…" Cygnus said as a group of machines began to surround him. He moved his hands down, creating a magic seal above him. The gravity intensified and the robots were crushed into the ground; shortly after, Cygnus brought out Rebellion, swinging it in a circular motion. The blade caused an explosion of gravity magic that crushed the robots into pieces. "But it was really ours to begin with in the first place. We ARE the strongest guild in Fiore, after all. You're just the help."
"You wanna say that again!?" Elfman got in Cygnus' face, not at all phased by the fact Cygnus crushed the mechs with ease.
"You want another beat down, Lizard breath!?" Cygnus asked with a cocky grin. It took Lisanna to push the two males away from each other, though the difference in physiques made that quite difficult for her.
"C-Come on now, you two! We shouldn't be fighting! Not right now, anyway!" Lisanna pleaded for them both to set aside their differences for the time being.
"She's right…" Laxus scoffed, but he had to take the helm as the responsible one around. "We'll crush you next Games."
"Big talk…" Taya said with a slight scoff of her own.
"Ugh…" Lisanna sighed, dropping her head in a comical manner.
.
.
"Ugh…" Strong groaned, slowly coming to while rubbing his head.
"He's finally coming to," Pantherlily pointed out, using the telepathic channel Warren still had up to contact Diamond. "Now's your chance to speak to him."
"Thanks," Diamond replied before practically yelling at Strong. "Strong, you idiot!"
Strong jumped up, startled by the voice in his head. "D-Diamond!? Where the hell are you? Get out of my head!"
"Oh for the love of…" One could hear the face palm Diamond did, along with the extremely exasperated sigh. "Strong, listen to me…Dealer isn't for us. We can't stay around anymore. The three who just kicked my ass gave me another chance to set things straight, and I want to make sure that you and Spade get that very same chance."
"Diamond…" Strong paused for a moment before nodding. "Alright, I hear ya loud and clear. I dunno where Spade is right now…but he certainly needs to hear this too. I assume we're to lead these guys to the front door of the throne room?"
"Exactly," Diamond replied. "I'm sure their friends will catch up quickly. See you there."
"Alright!" Strong stood up, acting as though he didn't get his butt handed to him a few moments ago. "Follow me, small fries! We're heading right to the throne room!"
"Finally!" Natsu pounded his fists together, a wide grin appearing on his lips. "Finally! You hear that King, we're coming for you!"
"I wouldn't shout that…" Strong said while waving his hands. "King has ears all across this place. I almost ate his pie once and wooo booooy he almost had my head from across the base, lemme tell ya…"
"This guy really is an idiot…" Takeru shrugged.
"Club Strong for you…" Ace said while letting out a slight laugh. "But it's good to see that Diamond was able to convince you…now all that's needed is to convince Spade and we'll be alright…"
"...So, why did you join Dealer in the first place?" Happy asked.
"...Well, simple. King asked me to." Strong replied. "I'm a nature lover. I love Mother Nature. As a plant, I do what I can to keep this planet green. But one day, a few years ago, King approached me. He showed me an image of a horrid future. He said that in..." Strong started to count on his fingers. "Let's see...carry the one...from this current year, about six years from now, the world would be in ruin unless I helped him."
"Six years...from now?" Natsu blinked slowly. That timeframe was...oddly specific...
"Yeah. A few years ago, he told me that the year x798 would be a terrible year. Of course, I wanted to help him stop that! Although...in the end, he never really told me what his plans were. Until just a few hours ago." Strong admitted. "I was following blindly for hope of a better future, but I have no idea if what King plans to do is better or worse for the world now..."
.
.
"And here we are…" Diamond said, leading Luke, Wendy, Carla, Selene, and Warren into the large room just before the throne room. The doors to the throne room were closed tight, and several symbols (Heart, Spade, Diamond etc.) were dimmed out on the door. The room was also connected to several other corridors.
"Man, we're not even at the throne room itself but King sure loves to show off, huh?" Luke questioned while looking around the room.
"He really does have a bigger ego than Reve…" Selene commented with a slight snicker.
"His ego is pretty big now that I think about it…" Diamond giggled somewhat at the thought.
"Oi…!" Lucy shouted from a corridor, walking into the room with Juvia and Aira. "You guys made it!"
"Lucy-san, Juvia-san, Aira-san!" Wendy happily clasped her hands together. "You're all okay!"
"You all look like you got hit by a truck, though…" Luke commented on their injuries. His eyes then wandered to Lucy's as it was only covered by bandages. "Uhm…"
"Perv!" Aira thwacked Luke on the back of the head (though the force sent him into the floor), giving a disapproving huff after.
"But I didn't…" Luke groaned.
"I'm glad to see that you're all okay," Erza spoke with a soft smile as she walked in alone.
"Erza!" The Fairy Females (and Warren) shouted.
"What happened to you?" Carla asked, examining the bruises on Erza's skin.
"I was dropped down near the bottom of this place…I had to face off against 200 monsters stronger than the ones in the Games a few years ago. But I wasn't alone, I had a little help."
"Where is this help?" Warren inquired while looking around.
"Huh?" Erza looked behind her, noticing that Knightwalker was no longer there. "I guess she left when I wasn't paying attention. No matter…I'm assuming that up ahead is the throne room."
"You'd be correct," Diamond nodded to Erza, nervously rubbing her arm. "I hope your friends hurry up…"
"Are you afraid?" Erza asked with a serious tone.
"Afraid…?" Diamond mulled the word over for a bit before nodding slowly. "Yeah…I'm scared out of my skirt right now. Standing up against King isn't something I thought I'd be doing so soon…I feel like such a traitor, turning to the enemy in the middle of his grand scheme…but it's the right thing to do…you're gonna stop him, right…?"
"That's what we came here to do!" Juvia nodded, though she couldn't help but give Diamond the side eye. "Although…Juvia hasn't forgotten how Diamond treated her upon their first meeting…"
"I…I apologize for that…" Diamond sighed, looking away. She knew full well a simple apology wasn't going to fix anything. "To tell you the truth, it's not exactly King I'm afraid of. It's Joker..."
"Joker..." Erza looked towards Diamond.
"...If I'm going to be honest, King himself? In terms of strength, anyone in this room could take him on. He'd put up a fight, but I'm sure you'd win in the end. But Joker is a different beast..." Diamond admitted. "The moment you stand against King, Joker will makes sure you regret it." And with everything that's happened the past, she was right to fear him.
"We're hereeee!" Cynthia hopped forward with Zalen by her side. She then proceeded to tackle hug Wendy, nuzzling her friend in a comical manner. "You're safe!"
"So are you!" Wendy grinned happily.
"And what were you two doing?" Selene asked Zalen with an arched brow.
"We were looking around for clues on what made this base so big," Zalen said.
"And you found…?" Selene continued to question.
"Absolutely nothing!" Cynthia sung for no real reason.
"There's just a lot of empty space." Zalen reported, adjusting his glasses. "We even found an elevator that lead to lower level within the base, but...we couldn't access it without some sort of key. So that was a dead end. Also, do you people clean this place!? I felt so disgusting having to wander in places that had so much dust!"
"Well, there's no real reason why this place has such excessive amounts of space…" Diamond chimed in. "King just likes to make a statement…" Slowly but surely, the others began to flood into the room; Strong, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, Ace, Pantherlily, Takeru, Laxus, Lisanna, Elfman, Reve, Royal, Levy, Gray, Waiston, Draco, Spark, and Taya.
"Whoa, hey…is this everyone…?" Levy asked while peering around.
"I think so…" Aira replied. Her eyes then set on Spark, who she found to be absolutely adorable. "Oh! Are you Spade's brother!?"
"Yeah, that's me!" Spark nodded with a grin. "The two ice guys and the weird fire guy saved me…"
"Whaddya mean weird?!" Draco shouted with a comical tick mark on his face.
"We're missing a few…" Reve said after doing a head count.
"That would be Twilight Zone, Blue Pegasus, Kairi, and Chelia," Ace confirmed. "They're coming back from Nirvana via airship…"
"Wait, huh!?" Wendy's eyes widened from the mention of Nirvana. "But I thought…!"
"They took care of it," Ace nodded, now turning to the door. "And now it's our turn to take care of what's beyond that door. Diamond, Strong."
"Hey, has anyone heard from Cana…?" Lucy asked with a worried expression. Everyone shook their head, which made the sinking feeling in her gut grow.
"I'm sure she's fine, Lu-chan! After all, she packed that Fairy Glitter with her thanks to the First, right?" Levy reassured Lucy with a smile.
"I guess so…" Lucy nodded slowly, but she still wasn't fully convinced of Cana's safety.
"We're going," Diamond and Strong both nodded, and when they took a step forward the ground began to shake. "Huh?!"
"What now!?" Cygnus asked while turning his head to the platform in the middle that began to open.
"Kid, get outta here!" Gajeel shouted towards Spark, who nodded and hid in a corridor. The platform moved to the side, and it revealed a large device with several holes on it. Spade was standing on the top of this machine, glaring down to the mages below. "Well look who decided to join us…"
"Spade?!" Ace, Diamond, and Strong exclaimed in unison.
"Sorry, but I cannot allow you to go any further…" Spade declared.
"And how do you plan on stopping us, tough guy?" Laxus asked while rolling his neck, sparks beginning to fly from his body.
"Wait a second…isn't that…" Diamond began, and Spade nodded.
"That's right…this is the Magic Depletion Device!" Spade grinned. "By using this, I'll drain all the magic from your bodies so you won't be able to take another step!"
"Are you insane?!" Ace asked. "That'll affect you too!"
"I have no choice but!" Spade justified his actions.
"No, wait, Spade listen!" Strong tried to object, but Spade shook his head.
"You know I care for you both, but there's something even greater I have to protect…" Spade sighed.
"Stop him!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Not so fast…!" Reve used his Quick Draw technique, aiming a pistol shot right for Spade's shoulder. But before it reached Spade already pressed the button and a red light covered the entire room. The bullet dispersed and the mages soon began to feel weak, Spade himself included, and even Spark who was about to rush into the room. "W-What the…!?"
"G-Gah…!?" Natsu growled, struggling to keep on his feet. "What the hell is goin' on…!? It feels like my magic is being drained…"
"No…it's being depleted…" Diamond choked out. Her form was starting to fuzz, which Wendy and Cynthia found relatively disturbing. "D-Dammit…"
"D-Diamond-san…!?" Wendy's eyes widened.
"W-What the heck is going on with you…!?" Cynthia blurted the question out, wincing as she tried to stay on both feet.
"I can't be killed physically…but if my magic is sapped I'll…" Diamond began.
"You're killing your own comrade! Knock this off!" Levy pleaded, though Spade gave no response. Though whether it was because he didn't want to or couldn't was unknown.
"D-Dammit!" Natsu roared, managing to stand up. "We've come too far to get shut down now!" He then puffed his cheeks out, unleashing a funnel of fire towards The Magic Depletion Device. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Though before the roar actually reached, it just dispersed. "Guh?!"
"No way…!" Elfman watched in horror as no magic could reach Spade or the device.
"B-Bro…!" Spark quietly called out, but Spade couldn't hear him. Even if he could, it was far too late not to stop it.
"This can't be…where it ends…" Lucy shut her eyes, feeling her magic all but gone.
"So you actually brought that infernal device, did you…? Tch, that's something that doesn't belong here and you know that. But it's a good thing I've finally found it…that means you're not too far off. But we can't have this thing operating, now can we…?" Suddenly, a shadow katana with amazing speed managed to make it through the anti-magic field and struck the Device, causing it to stop and short circuit.
"W-What…!?" Spade's eyes widened as everyone stood up, as if their magic wasn't depleted. "But how…!?" The machine then exploded, sending Spade rocketing to the ground, right in front of Spark. "Ugh…"
"Big Bro…you really gotta not…" Spark said with a childish smile. Spade froze for a few seconds before leaping up and hugging his younger brother.
"You're alright…!?" Spade choked, holding back the tears. "But…"
"Those guys saved me! They aren't bad, you know…" Spark replied with a grin.
"Geez, that was too close…" Royal said while rubbing his forehead.
"A shadow katana…?" Taya caught onto it before it vanished.
"Hey, nice shot Tak!" Cygnus said, patting Takeru on the back with a grin.
"Nice…shot…?" Takeru asked with a puzzled expression before mumbling to himself. "That wasn't me, though…"
"YOU IDIOT!" Diamond screeched at Spade, causing him to jump. "You could've killed me! You almost did!"
"Er…" Spade shamefully rubbed the back of his head, letting out a defeated sigh. "I guess a little sorry won't patch this up, huh…?"
"Not at all, Mr.!" Diamond huffed, turning her back and walked to the doors before the throne room. "Anyway…now that that's over…the door's the only thing that stands between us and King. Are you all ready?"
"Spark, you stay out of trouble," Spade said, and Spark nodded to show he understood.
"Born ready!" Natsu grinned. Though, before anyone could actually make a move, a horde of security robots swarmed in from all sides, causing just about everyone to freak out.
Daigo walked forward, though his attire was different. He was wearing a black suit, and he stood in front of the group of mages with a sly grin while fixing the tie. "Sorry to interrupt, but it would be a shame if I let you walk into King's private room so easily…"
"I guess we'd be asking too much for a walk in visit…" Laxus said while cracking his knuckles.
"I hope you're not running on fumes yet, White Eclipse," Reve said while requipping two assault rifles, grinning somewhat at the mass horde before them all.
"Hell no!" Luke replied with a wide grin. "I'm itching for some more action!"
"There's always something…" Gajeel groaned.
Diamond, Spade, and Strong nodded to each other. They placed their hands on the door while everyone was preoccupied and their respective symbols began to glow before the door opened. They snuck in while everyone was preoccupied with fighting the security swarm, though Ace was the only one to notice. Yet he couldn't do anything since he was busy fighting.
.
.
"What exactly is our plan here...?" Spade asked while standing at the door with Strong and Diamond.
"We can't keep doing this. If we're going to to do this...we have to take down Joker." Diamond said firmly. The fact she uttered those words at all made the eyes of the other two widen.
"What!?" Strong gasped. "Fightin' Joker? But you know that's like...impossible, right? He's stronger than all of us combined..."
"Does that mean we have to quit!?" Diamond said earnestly. When she said it like that, Spade and Strong looked at each other. "Just look at Fairy Tail and the other guilds here. Even when a threat was before them, they kept fighting, impossible odds or not. I don't want to be the kind of person that doesn't try. What about you two!?"
"...I can't afford to be that person either." Spade said while clenching his hand into a fist. "Not with Spark free."
"...If we're all in this, I'll give it my best shot." Strong said with a slow nod. "But...how are we going to fight Joker? He won't even take us seriously..."
"Exactly." Diamond said while raising a finger, grinning towards her comrades. "Joker always seems to fight according to the strength of his opponent."
"Of course." Spade understood the train of thought. "Joker would never fight us at his strongest. We're not worth his time like that. He always makes it a point that he punishes us with little effort...we'll be fighting him at his weakest."
"But he's still strong as hell..." Strong grumbled.
"I have a plan." Diamond looked at the two of them. "But in order for this to work...you guys have to trust me..."
.
.
"There's quite the ruckus going on outside…" King said with a slight laugh. "That must mean they're close by."
"Of course they are!" Cana exclaimed. Even if she was still bound, that wasn't going to stop her from mouthing off. King just elected to ignore her.
"Should I take action?" Joker asked.
"Not yet," King replied. "Things are going to get interesting soon enough." And right on cue came Diamond, Strong, and Spade. "Oh…look who's arrived. Care to explain?"
"We quit," Diamond huffed, staring King directly in the eyes. The only one who seemed to be somewhat surprised by this news was Heartless.
"I'm sorry, come again?" King leaned his head forward, holding back what looked like a smirk. He was giving them the chance to repeat themselves, or even back away if they were so spineless. Granted, it didn't matter to him.
"We ain't workin' for ya anymore, King!" Strong proudly exclaimed.
"That's right…you've got nothing over us anymore!" Spade shouted.
"Ho…Ho ho ho!" King merely erupted in a mocking laughter. "You…You really think that matters right now!? I always knew you three would defect eventually. Look at Jack and Tia. Once conversing with those insolent Fairies they swapped sides rather quickly! This is precisely why I destroyed Little Queen. I knew their toxic ideals would fester and weaken you. I have no need for pawns who do not follow orders."
"Y-You knew…" Diamond's eyes widened in fear; if she had any color to her face it certainly would've drained by now.
"You shouldn't have said that…" Heartless mumbled under her breath.
"And you know what the price for insubordination is, right?" King asked with a sinister grin.
"Allow me…" Joker said with a malicious glow in his eyes, beginning to step forward.
.
.
"It's like there's no end to these things!" Cynthia complained, smashing robot after robot.
"They really broke out all the stops this time!" Cygnus said while letting out a chuckle. "Surely this can't be something you can't handle!"
"Oh, shut up, you!" Cynthia growled.
"I just want King!" Natsu snarled, beating down a robot with his fiery punches every few seconds. He then noticed Ace sneaking into the throne room…alone. "Hey!" Natsu snatched Happy then make a break for the throne room after Ace.
"H-Hey! Natsu, wait up!" Lucy comically ran after Natsu, only to be chased by Wendy, Carla, Cynthia, Gray, and Erza. The door then shut behind them, and the other mages didn't notice this fact quite yet.
"Oi!" Natsu shouted towards Ace. "Where the hell do you think you're going all by yourself!"
"I guess you caught me red handed…" Ace shrugged, entering his Black Battalion Armor. "I'm going to face King."
"You can't control that armor, can you!?" Erza asked in the most serious tone possible. "Joker controlled you last time in it…!"
"That was then, and this is now…" Ace laughed and turned his back, snapping his fingers. Before the group could react, Stealth Lasers shot them from behind, temporarily knocking them out.
"H-Hey, what's the big idea?!" Happy exclaimed in a rage.
"What are you doing, trying to be the hero or something!?" Carla asked while looking over Wendy and Cynthia.
"Happy, Carla." Ace began with his own serious tone. "Tell them this: If things get to rough, turn back immediately." After that, Ace began to walk up the long stairway.
.
.
"Agh!" Diamond rolled across the floor, heavily bruised along with Spade and Strong. They were on right side of the room, and none of them managed to make a scratch on Joker yet. "Even after all this time…can't make a damn mark on you…"
"Unlike those other times, you won't be walking out of this one alive," Joker spoke in his usual tone, taking a step towards the injured trio. But Diamond was determined. She couldn't die the way Joker attacked her after all this time, so she had no reason to stop. "You're…protecting those two? …How disgusting."
"Say what you want…" Diamond winced, looking over her shoulder at Spade and Strong. "They're…my friends. And I've seen how far a true friend would go for someone…"
"D-Diamond…" Spade and Strong were speechless, while King just made a gagging noise in mockery of how Diamond changed.
"So come on, Joker!" Diamond challenged Joker, taking another step forward. There was an odd fire in her eyes. "Hit me with your worst! Nothing you can do will kill me!"
"I'll make you wish you were dead." Joker replied bluntly, raising his hand up. "I never liked you three anyway." Joker raised his fist up, prepared to drive it into Diamond's fist. But then, a blue seal appeared on his fist, and another on the floor directly beneath him. This was Spade's Magnetism at work, forcing Joker's fist into the ground to keep him stuck. "Still awake?"
"You can't knock me out that easily anymore!" Spade said with a strained grin, blood dripping down his forehead. "Diamond, now!"
"HAAAAH!" Diamond spread her arms apart, covering the entire room in a strong blizzard that obscured sight. She, Strong, and Spade all faded from sight.
"It's so cold!" Cana complained.
In the midst of the snowstorm, Diamond and Spade launched several attacks at Joker. Ice and electric attacks bombarded Joker from multiple angles, but he didn't bother defending them. The damage was minor in his eyes, and he wasn't focused on them whatsoever. After a few seconds, the attacks stopped. He stood back up, his glasses scanning the area. He saw three dots relative to his position; one glowing brightly with magic power, while the other two weren't as strong. One was medium size, and the other was tiny. "I see what's going on here. They think I don't know they've been training in secret, and they believe their hastily made plan will catch me off guard. Their best shot attempting to win is a direct hit with Strong...but his magic power is low, and I can see his movements. He's the dot approaching me now...while Diamond has the highest magic power. The other is Spade. So they think they can obscure my sight and hit me with a sneak attack? How foolish."
As Joker thought to himself, the dot with the lowest magic power was rapidly approaching him. Joker planned to end this charade right here and now, and turned, slamming his fist into the one that attempted to sneak up on him. "Your plan was idiotic from the start! Did you truly believe you could trick me!?" As the snowstorm began to fade...
Diamond stood in front of Joker, his fist wedged into her stomach. She coughed, but grinned. "...You were saying?"
Joker's eyes immediately went wide. The one with the lowest magic was Diamond!? "What...!?"
"Unfortunately for you...we know exactly how your trick works. You were right about how we planned to win, but you forget...!" Diamond said as diamonds and ice encased Joker's feet, preventing him from trying to make an escape. "You're not fighting against three individuals right now! You're fighting against a team! STRONG!"
And it was here that the crux of their plan was revealed. The high magic power Joker picked up, was indeed from Strong, but it was his club instead. His club was infused with ice, water, wind, and electricity from Diamond and Spade. Strong took one step forward, rearing this mighty weapon back, as it was the culmination of their efforts to reform and do better. "ACE OF SPADES!" Before Joker had a chance to react, Strong slammed the unison raid of a club directly into Joker's chest, where a resounding shockwave boomed outward, shaking King's throne room as a result. Joker attempted to hold his ground, but he was caught by surprise, and simply couldn't hold on. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Strong let out a powerful roar, and Joker was sent flying into the nearest wall with a mighty crash.
"DIAMOND DUST!"
"ZAP CANNON!"
Before Joker could even have a chance to recover from Strong's mighty impact, Diamond and Spade followed this up immediately. Diamond released a frigid blast of cold air and diamonds at Joker, while Spade released gigantic sphere of electricity upon him. These two attacks exploded upon collision with Joker, and when the dust cleared, he was shown to have more damage on his body than before, and he was slumped against the wall.
"Holy shit!" Cana's eyes were wide at the trio's efforts.
"...!" Heartless's expression even shifted to surprise.
"JOKER!" King snarled at this sloppy display from his strongest man, leaning over in his throne. "What do you think you're doing!? Stop messing around with this defective trash and eliminate them!"
"..." Joker said nothing, but he was fuming. The damage he sustained from these three...it was very real. And it hurt. How dare they. He looked at the trio before him, glaring. The audacity they had to injure him.
"You look mad..." Diamond said with a dry laugh, before collapsing onto the ground from the punch she took.
Spade also collapsed, simply due to the damage he had sustained. "What's the matter, Joker...?"
"Did that one hurt...?" Strong coughed as he too fell to the floor.
"You didn't really think that would be enough to defeat me, did you?" Joker said while approaching the downed trio. Cana was actually starting to worry for their safety now.
"...We were hopeful..." Diamond said while looking up at Joker. "After all...this was the first time...weak trash us was able to hurt you." She said that with an annoying smile. Joker had enough.
"JOKER!" Ace exclaimed from overhead. Joker turned quickly, his arm clashing with Ace's sword. A powerful shockwave boomed out, forcing the two aces to slid a few feet apart from each other. Ace charged in again, aiming a flurry of slashes towards Joker while Joker countered blades of his own, much similar to Ace's. "I see you've learned some new tricks; I wonder where you got those from!"
"Adaptability is the most important part of any survival," Joker replied plainly, though there was a slight smirk on his face. He and Ace leapt away from each other again.
"Ace!" King laughed, clapping his hands joyfully, though he was being sarcastic in the action. "How wonderful it is of you to join us! It's been so long since I've seen you!"
"Ace!?" Cana was wiggling in her restraints. "Where are the others!?"
"What are you doing alone, you idiot!?" Strong ironically asked.
"All I have to do is get past Joker, then King is history," Ace replied in a serious tone. "I've already brought them into enough danger."
"A foolish move…" Joker sighed. "However, it is you who will pay the consequence…not I…"
"I wonder about that. You look like you just took a beating before I got here." Ace said with a confident smirk. He had no idea what went on in this room since they got here, but Joker's injuries from Cana's Fairy Glitter, and now the defective trio, proved to be a ray of hope in the dark tunnel of Red Joker's might. "This is where it ends Joker!" Ace yelled, spreading out the wings on his back. "Wing Blade!" He then charged towards Joker, letting out a battle cry, all while Joker stood stationary.
.
.
"That jerk…" Cynthia groaned as she made her way to her feet, holding her head in slight dizziness.
"How could he do that?!" Lucy questioned. "I thought we were all going together!"
"Bastard…" Natsu cursed under his breath, though he realized he'd done the exact same thing to Gray once before. So he somewhat understood why Ace did what he did.
"Is everyone okay…?" Wendy asked.
"I've been worse," Gray replied.
"As have I," Erza nodded.
"Ace left a message for you…" Happy piped up.
"He said if it gets too much, turn back," Carla conveyed the message, but it was already clear to her what they were going to do.
"Like hell!" Natsu pounded his fists together. "We've come too far to turn back now! I can smell Ace and the others just ahead…" And after he said that, a large explosion occurred from the top of the stairway.
"That didn't sound good…" Gray narrowed his eyes.
"Let's go." Erza commanded, and everyone followed. When they reached the top, they were shocked to see Ace down to a knee in his regular armor, panting heavily. "No way…!"
"Ace!" Wendy gasped.
"Oh…you guys woke up faster than I thought…"Ace let out a weak chuckle, though it pained him to do so. "Even with Black Battalion, I wasn't able to beat him…"
"Oh! So glad you could join us, Fairy Tail!" King let out an honest laugh now, giving the group his most serious look. Though, he was looking down at them from his throne. "I can see you're still nothing but the insects you were months ago. How fitting…"
"So, you're King…" Natsu lit his right hand in flames, glaring to both Joker and King. "I've been waiting to meet you so I could punch you!"
"Heartless…" Erza muttered to the pinkette standing beside King in his throne.
"I've finally found you…" A voice said from the shadows. Everyone looked around until Future Rogue rose up from the middle of the room, arms crossed with a smirk.
"It's the future weirdo!" Cynthia exclaimed, eyes widening as the vision of the future she was shown came to mind again. She glanced at Wendy before turning her attention back to Future Rogue.
"You…" King scowled at Future Rogue.
"You two know each other…!?" Ace spoke in a surprised tone.
"Of course…" Future Rogue nodded. "Jigan King…I see you haven't changed a bit. You see…King comes from the same timeline as I...and I see you brought quite a few things with you, as well…"
"He's from the future!?" Lucy and Gray shouted.
"That explains why there was no information on you…!" Ace came to the realization. "Because they don't exist yet…!"
"Just like before, you're trying to control Acnologia and become the Dragon King. He went back in time to have an easier time, but just like the future, he's bluffing." Future Rogue explained, causing King to scowl.
"He's bluffing…?" Spade raised a confused brow. "But how…"
"Of course I'm from the future!" King exclaimed with a rage filled expression. How dare this whelp show up now of all times. "But, I'm smarter than you, Rogue! Coming back seven years was a fool's errand. Did you really think that would be enough time to prepare against that monster?! Those seven dragons you called upon would fall to him in no time."
Future Rogue snarled at King's words. "Is that what you think?"
"It's what I know!" King slammed his hands on his throne arm. "That is why I worked smarter to prepare for the day of destruction! Whereas you went back seven years, I went back even further! I used that decrepit gate to propel myself to a time where those that could kill Acnologia were still fledglings! I knew I needed power, and I knew exactly where to find it. That is why I recruited Spade, so he could build Joker's prototype! This is why I recruited Ace, Tia, Jack, Heartless, and those useless defects over there! Little Queen was such an unfortunate failure, but as it turns out, Joker is the only thing I need to defeat Acnologia! Gathering as much magic as possible for 14 years, all to be able to control the harbinger of destruction. I am so close to my goal! He will submit to me and me alone!"
At the mention of Little Queen, Heartless let out a quiet sigh.
"Even with all this magic he has under his belt…there's no way in hell that he'd be able to control any dragon…least of all Acnologia." Future Rogue explained, and King remained silent. "He's still lacking the most important key element; Dragon Manipulation Magic, and I'm the only one who wields it. There can only be one Dragon King, and if you want this magic you'll have to pry if off my cold dead carcass…" After speaking, Future Rogue dipped into the shadows once again. It was almost as if he came here purely to taunt King.
"Joker!" King shouted in almost a rage. "Capture and kill him!"
"As you wish, King…" Joker then began to rush forward to snag Future Rogue before he could fully delve into the Shadows, but he was intercepted by Natsu.
"You're not getting away that easily!" Natsu roared, throwing a fiery fist towards Joker's cheek, but Joker managed to block and jumped back. "We aren't letting you run away this time!"
"That's right!" Cynthia shouted, standing her ground beside Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Gray, and Erza. "This time, it's just you and us!"
"Heh…" Joker merely let out a slight scoff. "You really think you can defeat me…? This will be the third time I've crushed you under my boot, Natsu Dragneel, how does that make you feel?" Natsu could only scowl at Joker's statement.
"Are they about to throw down…!?" Diamond fell to her knees, panting heavily. "There's no way…"
"Oh, it looks like we've got a good show going on!" King watched intently, snapping his fingers. "If you all manage to defeat Joker somehow, I'll even reward you with a little prize." And from above attached to a rope was a heavily injured Cana, barely breathing. Between the time it took for Ace to fall to Joker, and the group waking up...they did this to Cana.
"C-CANA!" Lucy nearly shrieked.
"She refused to talk…" Joker merely shrugged, though this only angered the Fairy Tail mages.
"You…" Natsu growled threateningly towards Joker. He began to shake from anger; all of Joker's actions were impossible to stop, and Natsu wasn't going to have it anymore.
"Joker…I believe it's time to…let loose." King demanded.
"As you wish…" Joker nodded slowly. A blazing dark red aura began to spike from Joker's body, shaking the foundation of the entire building. There was a bright flash of light, and when it died down Joker's appearance changed. Red and gray plated armor covered his body from head to toe; his jaw thickened, gloves changed into a black color. His visors seemed to merge with his eyes, and there were two small tower-like structures on his shoulders. The spike in power was incredible; the red aura remained around his body as an overpowering presence. Everyone's eyes widened (aside from King and Heartless). "Dread Joker: Red Riot ONLINE!"
"W-What the hell is that!?" Gray asked, a little bit of fear in his voice.
"T-That rise in power…" Spade tripped over his words. They knew Joker was strong, but never this strong. The fact they managed to wound him at all felt like a miracle, since they were preying on his weakness and not his strength.
"Dammit…I was hoping I could stop him before this happened…"Ace cursed under his breath.
"You knew about this?!" Cynthia shouted.
"Why do you think I said Joker wasn't something you could handle!" Ace snapped back. He tried to move but he really was in no condition to do anything.
"That wasn't human…" Carla fearfully spoke out, gulping after.
"You haven't caught onto it yet?!" King let out a loud laugh. "Of course Joker isn't human! He's a lacrima!"
"A walking lacrima?!" Lucy gasped. "But how?!"
"Were you not listening?" King laughed. "Joker is a lacrima from the future. I built him with the intent of him always being stronger than the foe he was facing. No matter what the odds, he would always be stronger. And to think this is merely a prototype…but considering how well he's done, I would say he is a finished product! This is how Acnologia will fall by human hands!"
"That's why he doesn't have a scent…" Wendy figured it out, but this information was too late now.
"And to think…I was only at 50% this entire time…" Joker let out a sinister chuckle at the group's facial expression. "What's the matter…? Has my overwhelming power frozen you Fairies in fear?"
"I don't care how strong you THINK you are!" Natsu replied, taking a step forward, flames covering his entire body. "You've made a lot of people suffer, and that's enough of a reason to bring you down! In the name of Fairy Tail, we'll TAKE YOU DOWN!"
"That's right!" Lucy pulled out her whip, getting into a battle ready stance. "We're not backing down now!"
"When we get back, we're going to write that you picked a fight with Fairy Tail…" Erza then requipped one of her largest swords, giving Joker and King the death glare. "On your gravestone."
"Heh…" Joker let out a stifled chuckle. "You honestly think you have a chance against me? It doesn't matter how many of you there are…I'll always be stronger. It's a monster eat monster world, and when the bottom of the food chain rises up, it's up to the ones at the top to put them back in their place. So Fairy Tail…COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Natsu lunged forward, rearing his fiery fist back.
.
.
Natsu: "JOKER! This is where we finish this!"
Joker: "By all means, you can try all you want! But you'll never win!"
Happy: "I'm worried, Joker is pretty tough…"
Carla: "We just have to believe in them…"
Lucy: "We didn't come this far for nothing!"
Gray: "We're not letting you stomp on us again!"
Wendy: "So prepare yourself, Joker!"
Cynthia: "Because we're going to take you down!"
Erza: "In the name of Fairy Tail!"
Natsu: "Everyone, let's go!"
Next time: Dread Joker!