Thanks to Wendy, the other dragon slayers who were adverse to traveling by vehicle, were able to manage thanks to her Troia spell. They hadn't built up an immunity to it. "Hold up!" Sting exclaimed while staring up at the sky where Dealer's ship was just before the runic wall. The ship Sabertooth and Lamia Scale were on halted and everyone stared at Sting. "Something's not right up there, why did they stop…?"
"Look…!" Yukino pointed at Nasir, who was just a few feet away from the ship. "Do you think that one has anything to do about it?"
"If memory serves…" Rufus began. "I believe that is the one known as Nasir…his description matches what Erza told us."
"He's just sitting there…menacingly…" Rogue remarked before glancing towards Sting. "Shall we take him out?"
Sting shook his head. "Not yet…"
"What is going on up there…" Minerva muttered while folding her arms under her chest.
"It looks like he's talking to them…can you hear anything?" Lector asked Sting.
"Sounds like…one of the Fairy Tail mages left behind might be in trouble…"
"What are we sitting around for?" Lyon questioned. "We can support them now if we hurry and dock at the location."
"Wait…hold on…!" Sting's eyes widened as he caught what was about to happen next. "Lyon's right, we gotta move!"
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"That's…That's Mira's blood…" Natsu growled, veins starting to appear on his fist.
"I thought you said you covered her!?" Lucy turned to Mii, giving the red headed female a glare.
"I-I did, I swear!" Mii's voice rose as she defended herself. Usually she wouldn't be trusted…but the way her voice suddenly rose suggested she was telling the truth after all. "She kept moving so it wasn't easy, but I swear I bought her some time to leave!"
"Ah, you brought the Chosen back with you. How nice of you…" Nasir chuckled.
"Where's Laxus!?" Freed shouted while taking a grip on his blade, ready to use it if necessary.
"The one who kept throwing lightning at us?" Nasir questioned with a tilt of his head. "Hm…not sure what happened to that one. He vanished in a flash of light, but he couldn't have gotten far. But he did get farther than that white haired she-devil…"
Lisanna's eyes widened, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes as her hands were placed over her mouth. "M-Mira-nee…"
"You…" Natsu's glare turned into the death stare the longer he looked at Nasir.
"And just what do you think you can do about it, boy?" Nasir's expression darkened, yellow eyes staring directly into Natsu's soul as he awaited an answer. "You have victories over us because we held back for Fate's sake…but now fate no longer requires us to hold back our might…do you really wish to test a dragon, Son of Igneel…"
That was it. Natsu could take no more of this. In one second he literally lunged from the ship with flames flaring around his body dangerously. "YOU BASTARD!" Natsu screamed while slamming his elbow into Nasir's face, the two of them beginning an immediate descend toward the isle's jungle.
"N-NATSU!?" Lucy shrieked as Natsu dove at Nasir.
"D-Don't be so rash!" Hisui exclaimed but considering who she was talking to it went in one ear and out the other.
"NATSU WAIT!" Happy shouted and went to jump after Natsu, flying down immediately after him.
"DAMNED IDIOT!" Gray shouted before turning to Ace. "Let's get this thing moving. That fiery bastard just doesn't know when to cool down!"
"Roger…" Ace nodded and the ship continued forward, but once it was within the island's airspace, Nasir's soldiers appeared (humanized form); using the winds he created to ride the wind. "Whoa, where the heck did these guys come from!?"
"These guys again…?" Evergreen let an annoyed sigh pass her lips.
"Wendy, we need you!" Erza exclaimed.
Wendy was watching over the infected Cynthia, shaking her head at everyone's requests. "I-I can't…Cynthia's burning up and her temperature isn't going down even with Diamond's help…!" Just then, a large gust of wind shook the ship; Wendy wrapped her arms around Cynthia, ignoring the powerful burning sensation emanating off the sick girl just to ensure she wouldn't be thrown around. "She's not waking up either…!"
"Guess we gotta do it ourselves…" Gray understood Wendy's situation.
"Get these things away from the ship so I can land it…!" Spade told everyone.
"Easy." Jack spoke with confidence while leaping off the ship, a yellow light enveloping his body as he entered his Corvus armor. Raven-like wings flapped once before taking off with Wicked Flames in both hands. "Wicked Blaze!" Throwing his hands down, the two purple embers flew off before exploding in a violet blaze at the wind soldiers. The blaze lasted for a few seconds before being snuffed out by the wind current. "Wha…the wind sucked away my fire!?"
"I don't think they have any intentions of letting us have a safe landing…" Cana spoke while pulling out a few cards.
"That's too bad…" Erza remarked while entering her Heaven's Wheel armor. "This isn't about what they want. This about what we came here to do." About 100 swords formed around the ship in a circle, pointing outwards towards the soldiers. "If they aren't going to give us a way through, then we will MAKE a way through. Mira, Laxus…wait for us just a little longer!"
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"W-What's that…?" Jenny asked while pointing off the starboard bow; the orange streak rapidly approaching the island in a downward motion.
"That looks a little too familiar…" Hibiki remarked. "Wait a moment…you don't think it could be…"
"Don't tell me that pink-headed bastard got riled up…" Waiston grunted.
"Somehow I expected that hot headed dragon slayer to screw up the surprise…" Jaxon spoke with a slight sigh.
"It's not so much a surprise when they were waiting for them…" Reve remarked. "Either way, their attention isn't on us yet. Let's hurry and land this thing so we can get our own back."
"Shouldn't we help them…?" Aira asked while pointing in Fairy Tail's direction.
"They'll be fine, let's hurry," Reve immediately responded. "Ichiya."
"MEEEEN! Onward!" Ichiya commanded.
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"GUWAAAAAH!" Natsu roared as he slammed Nasir down into the forest ground, a fiery explosion occurring that destroyed some trees in the area. Afterwards, Natsu jumped back as Nasir stood up. "You bastard!"
"That was an impressive blow…" Nasir spoke while dusting himself off. Honestly, that hurt like hell. The son of Igneel was insane! "What do you intend to do in this fight? That Mirajane is…"
"I don't know what's one hundred times worse than death…" Natsu cut Nasir off as the fiery aura around his body only intensified. "BUT I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL IT!" The salamander lunged forward once again with his arm cocked back, flames wrapped around his fist. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"
"Hmph…" Nasir shook his head at Natsu's exclamation before wind surrounded his own hand. "Sky Claw!" Nasir threw his hand forward just as Natsu aimed his punch, the two colliding before an explosion occurred, creating a cloud of smoke.
Natsu didn't let up even as the smoke formed. Flames wrapped around his feet and he jumped forward, aiming an upside down kick towards Nasir's head. "TALONS!" Nasir brought his arm up to block the hit, a small crater forming under his feet from the force of impact. Natsu didn't so much as grin even though Nasir was right where he wanted him. One inhale was taken before a massive funnel of flames consumed the wind dragon, causing him to slide back a few yards with burns all along his body.
"Heh…" Nasir merely chuckled before turning and sprinting away into the depths of the jungle.
"HEY!" Natsu growled, immediately chasing after Nasir with Happy now right behind him. "Happy! Let's get that bastard before he gets away!"
"A-Aye sir!"
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"It looks like we're above a few ships…" Brax said while pointing below. "What should we do?"
"Leave this to me…" Xen said with a sly grin. "I've always been fascinated by the technology of other countries, so this'll be fun…"
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"I think that's all of them…" Erza said with a few pants. "Is everyone okay…?"
"Man, that day's only just started and everyone's trying to get rid of us…" Jack sighed.
"Cynthia's cooled down a bit…" Wendy let out a sigh of relief. She'd forgotten all about her burns now knowing Cynthia was okay.
"I don't think we're out of the woods yet…" Gajeel could sense a foul stench in the air. Just then, Xen landed in the middle of the ship, two fingers placed on his forehead. "The hell!?"
"So, this must be the ship…" Xen spoke with a soft chuckle.
"What are you…" Mii began, but it was too late since Gray and Gajeel both went on the offensive.
"Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel thrusted his arm forward, morphing it into an iron pole that rushed towards Xen at high speeds.
"Ha!" Xen raised his right arm, creating a spiked shield made of modified ice along the limb. This large shield was more than effective in blocking Gajeel's strike, a chilling sensation running down the spine of the iron slayer. "Pathetic…"
"T-The hell?" Gajeel grit his teeth before pulling his arm back.
"Ice?" Gray smirked. "My element let me handle this…" Gray sprinted forward, fist in his palm as a chilling wind wrapped around his body. "Ice Make…"
"Too slow!" Xen swiped his hand; in a bright white flash Gray was enveloped within a sphere of ice that completely froze HIM solid. Before anyone could react, Xen sped forward and smashed his spiked shield into the frozen Gray, causing double the damage and sent him tumbling along the ship heavily damaged.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia hurried towards the injured Gray's side.
"So…this is the extent of Seven's technology, I see…" Xen sighed.
"The hell is that supposed to mean!?" Ace said while shifting into a stance, requipping his standard Acid Ace armor. "You wanna get off the ship, or am I gonna have to throw you overboard!?"
"I'm afraid it's too late for that…" Xen replied while shaking his head. "Within the few seconds I've been on this little airship I've already discovered all of its weaknesses after merely scanning it…"
"We've no time for your games!" Erza closed the distance between herself and Xen with the use of her Flight Armor while drawing back the mace that belonged to her Purgatory armor. Leaping into the air, Erza used her momentum to slam her mace down on Xen, but he brought his shield up to protect against the blow. The shield remained undamaged while the resulting shockwave threw the ship off course.
"Erza!" Heartless shouted while clinging to the railing. "Don't do that! This ship wasn't made for a battle ON BOARD!"
"Tch…" Erza leapt away, surprised that Xen held no damage on him. "Who are you!?"
"You may call me Xen…" Xen introduced himself with a small grin. "But you've no time to worry about that…because I've already frozen this ship's engine." After he spoke, the ship rapidly began to descend towards the isle at a pace they couldn't control.
"Diamond, do something about this!" Strong ordered, but Diamond was on the other side.
"I-I'm trying…!" Diamond exclaimed, but the ship was falling too fast to remedy the situation.
"Adieu." Xen chuckled before a magic seal appeared around his body, warping him away from the soon to crash ship.
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"H-Hey…!" Orga pointed towards the falling Dealer ship. "What happened up there? Why are they going down!?"
"We better go help them, and fast…" Chelia had concern in her voice. "I have a bad feeling…"
"It's a shame you won't be doing anything of the sort…" A pillar of flames suddenly appeared on the on ship of Sabertooth and Lamia Scale, causing them to get into a battle ready position. Brax appeared, arms extended as wheels of flame wrapped about his hands to form two spiked chakrams colored red and sliver. "Sorry, but we've got our own business to take care of on that isle, and having more people just cramps my style…"
"A fire mage…?" Lyon immediately had a grin on his face. "Easy…Ice Make: Dragonfly!" Lyon placed his fist in his palm, throwing his hand forward to send a plethora of dragonflies towards Brax.
"I ain't your average fire mage…" Brax chuckled before throwing a singular chakram forward, a vicious trail of fire following the weapon as it cut through the dragonflies and nearly hit everyone on the ship, causing them to back away. "Name's Brax…Got it memorized…?" Shortly after, a massive wall of flame appeared in the center of the ship, nearly splitting it in half.
"S-Sting-sama…!" Yukino cried out while trying to keep her balance.
"Bastard…" Sting narrowed his eyes at Brax as the ship began sinking to the water. They were so close to the shore too… "Lector! Get Yukino to safety!"
"Frosch…" Rogue merely uttered the Exceed's name.
"Fro thinks so too!" Ah, the famous one-liner, but Frosch did understand what Rogue was asking. Get everyone to the shore as quickly as possible while the Twin Dragons dealt with Brax.
Even as the ship was falling apart, there was enough room for Sting and Rogue to combat Brax. "You two think you can take me on?" Brax questioned with a slight jokester look.
"You're gonna go down along with this ship…" Sting said with his eyes narrowing to a glare. Without another wasted second, the White Dragon lunged forward with holy light forming around his fists. "Iron Fist…of the White Dragon!"
Alongside Sting was Rogue, shadows engulfing his hand before thrusting it forward. "Shadow Dragon's Claw!" The Twin Dragons attacked Brax simultaneously, but he blocked both of their attacks with his Chakrams; even so, they continued the offensive, shifting their momentum to their legs where they aimed another round of attacks in unison, but Brax blocked this as well with a cocky grin plastered on his face. "That was cute, but now it's my turn!" Spreading his arms apart, a line of flames began to trail around his position in a circle. "BURN BABY!" Suddenly, a giant column of flame exploded from around his person, spreading out to incinerate the rest of the ship while blowing Sting and Rogue away into the water.
"Sting-sama! Rogue-sama!" Yukino called out to the struggling swimming dragons. After the column of fire, Brax vanished.
"I got them…" Minerva extended her hand, creating two orbs of Territory around Sting and Rogue, quickly warping them to the land. "Are you two…okay?" Minerva asked the Twin Dragons.
"Ugh…" Sting groaned while rubbing the back of his head. "Who was that guy…?"
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"Senpai!" Ren shouted towards Ichiya, noticing the other ships beginning to go down. "Something's happening to the others!"
"Someone's attacking." Reve stated. Just then, Lex landed on the ship, his pure might causing Christine to shake violently and nearly threw it off course.
"Get him off the ship!" Jenny shouted.
"Already on it!" Cygnus grinned as his cheeks inflated. "Gravity God's Bellow!" His mouth opened, unleashing a funnel of gravity towards Lex. To his surprise, the bellow merely bounced off the aura Lex had around his being. "What the…!?"
"RAH!" Lex raised his fist into the air, bringing it down quickly into the ship's floorboard. The power behind the punch was enough to immediately send the Christine in a state where it helpless began to fall to the ground. Afterwards Lex just vanished in a flash of light.
"We're gonna crash!" Eve shouted in worry while trying to recalibrate the engines to soften the landing, but the engine was busted from Lex's single punch.
"MEN!" Ichiya kept his calm composure, having the upmost faith in his crew. "Stabilize our altitude so we can soften the landing! Everyone else, brace for impact, MEEEEEN!"
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"Whoa!" Blues peered up at the airships going down, and the ship sailing in the ocean going down as well. So far, the ship containing Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus was the only one still sailing! "The hell is going on up there?!" He turned to the others, though there was no answer.
"It looks like another part has decided to join the fray…" That was the only answer Kagura could give and she wasn't wrong about it.
"Whatever it is, it's not lookin' too wild right now!" Bacchus spoke with a frown on his lips. "Whoever these wise guys think they are, I'll show 'em a thing or two!"
"Is that right…?" Lucius' voice echoed throughout the ship as rose petals began to circle around the transportation. Soon, the pink haired male appeared with a sly grin tugging his lips. "You'd love to show us a thing or two?"
"Who the hell is this guy!?" Melody Sliver questioned while sliding into the maker stance.
"You have three seconds to tell us your name and your goals." Kagura's tone grew threatening as she increased the grip on her sword's handle. She was prepared to strike at any second if Lucius' answer was one she didn't care to hear.
"You may call me Lucius…" He replied with a slight hair flip. "As for my goals? I'm afraid I can't tell you that yet…" And right as he finished, Kagura sped forward aiming to slash her sheathed blade at his chest, but Lucius was fast so he evaded with elegance, sliding back a few feet while dusting off his white robe. "My, you're an impatient one, aren't you?" The pink haired male then snapped his fingers, creating a void in the middle of the ship. "Perhaps it would do you best to learn some manners while sinking to the bottom of the sea." The void began to tear the ship apart piece by piece at an alarming rate.
"Damn…!" Kagura grit her teeth before glancing back to the others.
"Kagura-chan…!" Miliiana whined.
"Have fun." Lucius winked before he took vanished in a flash of light.
"Leaving us to deal with water?!" Blues shouted with a wide grin before turning towards his friend and brother, Kuro Chi. "Leave this to the Dragon God Duo, eh?"
"Right…!" Kuro responded with a sheepish nod.
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Dhegensea sat on his throne, aware of everything that was going on around the isle's shores. A sly grin began to stretch along his lips while his head rested on his fist. "So, the humans have returned, have they? Fate said they would…now it's time to set the plan in motion. They won't be escaping a second time."
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Next Time: Crash Landing