"Do you see this?!" A loud voice boomed in the room, obviously enraged. "Angel Takeover?! This is an insult!"
"Lucifer, calm down!" A female voice pleaded somewhat.
"Indeed, you need to relax," The gruff voice from before ordered. "While this is a farce in in itself, it isn't our job to attack based on magic. We are watching the progress of the darkness over the country of Fiore. It is reaching unacceptable levels at the moment…"
"Tch, I cannot believe this…" Lucifer grunted, highly annoyed. "Working with a demon to top it off…This is unacceptable…"
"You may get your chance soon," The gruff voice continued. "For not, let us watch how these guilds deal with Tartaros…"
.
.
"Why are we just standing here…I want to fight!" Romeo shouted as purple fire flared on his hands.
"You'd just get in the way, kid," Jack said while rolling his eyes. "This is a fight for the big boys."
"They attacked our home! Destroyed it…!" Romeo replied to Jack, glaring at the currently sober drunk.
"So a small child is going to do what?" Jack continued, obviously pushing Romeo's buttons, but he was doing so for a reason.
"Well…Cynthia got to go!" Romeo replied.
"That's because she's at least S class strength," Jaxon replied. "You've seen her power."
"I've felt it too…" Alex gave a nervous laugh while rubbing the back of her head. "I just hope nothing happens while she's over there…"
"She'll be fine," Makarov nodded. "As long as she stays in control…"
"That's what worries me…" Alex mumbled.
"Makarov," Calium began, looking towards the other master with a serious look. "You feel that, right?"
"I do…" Makarov said while walking next to Calium, looking to the entrance of the town.
"Oi…what's going on?" Nami asked.
"You brats might want to stand back," Makarov ordered even though it sounded like a suggestion.
"Now," Calium added on.
"You heard them," Jack said while taking a few steps back.
"He's here," Makarov said with a serious tone.
After Makarov spoke, Hades literally appeared, his arms crossed. "Makarov and brats…"
"This guy again…" Lisanna took a step back from the appearance of Hades.
"Tobias was correct…it seems as though there are some leftovers that need to be dealt with…" Hades scoffed.
"Oi, who's the old fart?" Daryan asked while sitting up.
"Second Master of Fairy Tail…" Makarov replied to Daryan, his gaze never leaving Hades.
"It's time to get serious," Calium said as he placed his staff on the ground, he and Makrov's magic energy beginning to release, shaking the entire town.
"Uh-oh…the old man's serious this time…" Jack took another step back. "I suggest we not be here…"
.
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"Water Slicer!" Juvia exclaimed as she swiped her hand, sending multiple blades of water-like scythes hurtling towards Ur.
"Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" Gray yelled as he performed the Ice Make spell, sending multiple large ice lances towards Ur.
"Ice Make: Rose Blade!" Ur shouted, creating a finely shaped ice blade that resembled a rose. She swung the blade just as the two attacks came in towards her, easily deflecting them with one swing.
"No way…" Juvia's eyes widened at Ur's skill and power. "She took them out in one shot…all of it."
"Is that all you have to offer, Gray?" Ur asked with a taunting tone.
"This woman…" Gray grit his teeth before rushing forward, placing his fist in his other palm once more. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!" After Gray shouted this, an ice blade resembling the legendary blade Excalibur appeared in his hands. Without hesitation, he swung the blade at Ur, but she easily managed to block it by bringing her own rose blade up. "Tch…"
"You're going to have to do a lot better than that…" Ur smirked arrogantly before pushing Gray away, though this led into Juvia's next attack.
"Water Cane!" The water mage exclaimed, her arm extended into a whip of water with great flexibility. Juvia swung her water whip at Ur repeatedly, but to Juvia's surprise, Ur was quite agile, performing a series of flips and acrobatic-like moves to avoid her attack.
"I don't believe this…" Gray groaned as Juvia stopped attacking, realizing she wasn't going to hit Ur at this rate.
"Have you been slacking?" Ur asked as she leaned against her rose blade. "You're serious, I can tell, but you're not getting anywhere with moves like that. Or perhaps you just can't find it in yourself to attack the woman who raised you~?"
"That isn't going to work here…" Gray said while standing upright, a serious expression now engraved on his face as he glared at Ur. "It doesn't matter if you're a man, a woman, a child, or even my own goddamn teacher…You hurt my family, and I don't go easy on anyone who hurts my family." Gray gripped the frozen Excalibur blade tightly. "And I'll be damned if I let my own teacher contradict my creed."
"Oh?" Ur gave a slight look of interest, somewhat impressed with Gray. "Looks like you've really grown. Cute, but let's see if you can put those words into action, hm?"
"Juvia will fight by Gray-sama…" Juvia repeated, once again sliding into a battle ready stance.
"I hope you two enjoyed the little warmup, because things are about to get cold…" As Ur spoke, a blue magic circle appeared under her feet, causing the temperature in the area to lower. "It's a good thing I didn't teach you everything…" Ur grinned as she looked at the two mages, placing both of her hands forward. "Ice Make: Blizzard!" The magic circle from Ur's feet moved to her hands, unleashing a relentless, sharp blizzard to Gray and Juvia, nearly sending them flying away from the force.
"G-Gah…What the…?" Gray shouted in surprise, barely managing to hold his ground from the vicious wind the blizzard caused, but he couldn't do anything about the literal sharp cold that was cutting both him and Juvia.
"This is what happens when you don't listen to me, Gray," Ur said with a slight smirk. "Bad things usually happen to those you care about when you don't listen, isn't that right~?"
.
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"Iron Fist!" Cynthia started as dark red flames engulfed her hand. She was gunning straight for Bluenote, but the gravity mage saw her coming, so he held his hand out.
A purple magic circle appeared in front of Bluenote's hand. "Push…" After Bluenote said this, a powerful force of gravity shot out from the circle, shooting Cynthia into the nearest wall.
"GAH…" Cynthia groaned as she comically slid down the wall, shaking off the impact. "This guy is tough…"
"I got a plan," Cygnus stated as poison started to cover his body. "Poison drive!"
"Ah! I get it! Wear him down with the poison!" Cynthia grinned before standing up.
"It's a good plan, but you have to reach me in order for it to work…" Bluenote replied. "And with your skill, you can't fly high enough."
"Wanna bet?!" Cynthia charged once again, but her flames were now around her feet, boosting her speed. The little dragon slayer flipped, now swinging both of her feet down at Bluenote in an axe-kick like motion. "Twin Talons!"
"Patheic…" Bluenote said as he brought his arm up, blocking the hit with ease, though he could feel the burns and the force of Cynthia's attack.
"Pefect!" Cygnus grinned, now running forward as black poison swirled around his mouth. "Poison God's Bellow!" Cygnus opened his mouth, unleashing a vortex of poison; the poison itself wasn't very strong physically, but its corrosion was unmatched.
Bluenote didn't even move his hand this time; a purple magic circle appeared over Cynthia, changing her gravity to where she would be stuck on the ceiling, which collapsed shortly after, protecting Bluenote from the poisoned bellow. The castle's material wasn't anything special, so the poison corroded through most of it. Cynthia managed to escape the rubble in time to avoid being poisoned. "G-Gah…!" Cynthia panted, starting to get annoyed. "This gravity is really annoying…Why don't you do something!"
"I hate to admit it…" Cygnus started as he stared at Bluenote. "But this guy may be better than me when it comes to gravity…"
"Well…if that's the case…" Cynthia took a step forward, but a purple magic circle forced her and Cygnus to the ground. "GAH! Cut that out!"
"Fall…" Was the only thing Bluenote had to say. Cynthia growled loudly before lifting her head up, only for it to crash through the floor.
"Damn, even she's having a hard time…" Cygnus thought to himself.
"Roar of the Omega Fire Dragon!" Cynthia shouted; seconds later, red flames erupted from the ground, breaking it apart as a result. The "eruption" caught Bluenote off guard, so he was noticeably charred from the attack once Cynthia pulled her head back up. "Cygnus!"
"Already on it!" Cygnus shouted as a clone of him completely composed of poison appeared before him. "Let's go!" Cygnus and his clone ran side by side, both forming orbs of poison around their fist. "Gravity God's Poisoned Smash!" Cygnus and his clone jumped simultaneously, slamming their gravity and poison infused fists into Bluenote's face, sending the gravity mage back a few feet. "He didn't even stagger…"
"Is that all you have to offer…" Bluenote asked, shaking off the impact just a little bit. He could feel the poison running through his system, but he had no worries. He felt as though he could handle Cygnus and Cynthia before the poison got to him first.
.
.
"Watch it!" Gajeel shouted as Kain slammed a palm into the floor, easily shattering it with his immense strength, but Luke and Gajeel managed to avoid the attack by jumping in different directions. "Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel used this opportunity to extend his arm into an iron pole, striking Kain directly in the stomach, causing the large male to stagger back from the hit.
"Talons of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Luke exclaimed as he drew his leg back, allowing fire and lightning to surround it; he aimed a powerful roundhouse at the back of Kain's head, landing a direct hit, but Kain didn't move, instead, he grabbed Luke's leg. "…Shit." And before Luke could do anything else, Kain slammed Luke into the ground, then drew his leg back.
"Roar of the Iron Dragon!" Gajeel roared as he sent his iron roar towards Kain.
"Huh?" Kain turned, just in time to shift his attack from Luke to Gajeel, throwing his leg forward as he sent the roar back at Gajeel. "Don't feed me something so disgusting!"
"What the?!" Gajeel's eyes widened slightly as he crossed his arms, taking his own roar full force. The impact caused a miniature explosion, but Gajeel held strong. "Damn, this guy really is annoying…"
"But he's pretty stupid!" Luke said as he sprang up, his body coated in lightning and flames, head butting Kain's chin, causing the heavy male to stumble back. "Ice Make: Super Freeze Arrow!" Luke pulled his arm back, creating an ice bow and arrow in his hands; without delay, he fired the bow, sending the arrow hurtling towards Kain. The arrow scored a direct hit, creating a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Kain was still standing; he just had steel covering his body now.
"That was close…!" Kain said while letting out a sigh of relief.
"Dammit!" Luke stomped his foot on the ground in aggravation. "What the hell is with this guy!"
"…I'm getting kinda hungry…" Gajeel said while glancing at the steel on Kain's body, a hungry grin appearing on his face after three seconds.
"…That's cannibalism," Luke replied, already knowing that Gajeel was thinking.
"I don't really care right now," Gajeel replied as his hungry grin grew. "Gieheh…"
"…Why are you looking at me like that…" Kain said while taking a few steps back, somewhat afraid of Gajeel.
"Chow time!" Gajeel roared as he jumped forward, his mouth open as he prepared to bite down on Kain.
.
.
Yukino tumbled across the floor, her outfit heavily charred from Tobias' Spiral Flare attack. "A-Ah…" Yukino cried out. When she looked over, she saw her key ring just within reach, but her body hurt too much to move just yet.
"Y-Yukino…!" Lucy weakly cried out, now in a state of horror.
"Tch…" Tobias dusted himself off, somewhat damaged from his battle with Yukino. "That was more annoying than challenging…"
"L-Leave her alone…" Lucy whimpered.
"I was going to, but she decided to be smart…" Tobias said as a slight smirk formed on his face, taking a few steps towards the downed celestial mage.
"U-Urk…" Yukino reached out to grab her key ring, but just before she could reach it, Tobias stomped his foot on her hand, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Yukino…!" Lucy's eyes widened, and she immediately tried to push her exhausted body up, only to fail.
"L-Lucy…" Yukino said weakly. "S-Sorry…"
"Save your sentimental shit for later!" Tobias yelled. He then held his hand out, but before anything else happened, a slicing motion stopped him; a large cut appeared on his side, causing his eyes to widen. He took a few steps back before falling to a knee while holding his side. "Who?!"
"Tobias, Tobias…." Hyde spoke while shaking his head, deeply disappointed in the elemental mage.
"H-Hyde…!?" Tobias growled.
"W-Who is that guy…?" Lucy asked.
"Tobias, I've reread your script, and I realized that my statement earlier was a giant lie," Hyde stated to Tobias.
"What the hell do you mean by that…?!" Tobias yelled.
"The script you've written is nothing more than mere garbage, and I'm ashamed in myself for saying that it also held a candle to my own," Hyde replied. "So, because of the way your script is written, I've decided an expert script writer like myself should make some changes to it."
"You can't change the plan…Dait wouldn't be very happy with you…" Tobias replied as a slow smirk appeared on his face.
"Oh, I'm not worried about him," Hyde replied with his own smirk. "You see, my script doesn't include Daityas, so that means I, the script writer, will not be written out of it as easily as you think."
"Alright you little shit…" Tobias started as he began to stand up.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Hyde shook his head, swinging his leg into Tobias' temple, knocking him out. "The script doesn't call for you to do anything else yet!"
"He beat him…" Yukino mumbled to Lucy as she sat up, grabbing her key ring.
"Oh, I wouldn't keep my guard down if I were you," Hyde said as he turned to the two celestial mages, causing their beaten bodies to tense up.
"But, you two actually have rather important roles in this new script, see?" Hyde chuckled slightly before removing his top hat, holding it forward. "And for that, I will make sure this script goes as written." From the top hat, two cliché looking phantoms shot out towards the two girls. At first, the two girls let out as loud a scream as they could, but then they realized the two phantoms weren't hurting them; they were actually healing them. After a few seconds, the phantoms vanished, and Lucy and Yukino looked as though they had never been hurt at all.
"N-No way…" Lucy examined her now fully healed body, her eyes wide in surprise. "No way…!" Lucy then stood up, rather amazed. "It's like my body wasn't even tortured…!"
"I don't even feel the burns from Tobias' attack…" Yukino said, obviously amazed along with Lucy.
"Ah, ladies, ladies…" Hyde gave a slight bow, chuckling. "Don't be so thankful just yet…I am the writer, after all. And I will do anything I need to make sure this play goes perfectly. For now, your roles are simple, yet important at the same time."
"Who are you…?" Lucy asked as she eyed Hyde curiously, yet carefully at the same time.
"I am Hyde, but, you can also refer to me as the Dark Phantom," Hyde chuckled once again, turning around, placing his top hat on once again. "For now, I bid you adieu, ladies." With that, Hyde vanished.
"I don't think we should feel comfortable around that guy…" Lucy said as she walked over to Yukino.
"I agree…." Yukino replied with a nod.
"Huh…" Lucy looked around before noticing a gold glimmer out of the corner of her eye. "What's…?" Lucy walked over to the sight of the light, crouching down, her eyes wide. "T-This is…!"
"What is it, Lucy?" Yukino asked.
"One of my keys…!" Lucy let out a sigh of relief. "Gemini…"
.
.
"Foilum Sica!" Azuma shouted as he swiped his hand, sending a funnel of razor sharp leaves in Mirajane and Kairi's direction. Kairi and Mirajane both jumped to the side, but the leaves just barely managed to cut their sides. Kairi conjured up a gold magic circle in the air, which quickly released condensed spheres of light magic, looking identical to meteors, which all aimed down towards Azuma.
"Tree Shield!" Azuma exclaimed, bringing his hand up. In doing so, roots appeared from the floor, protecting Azuma from the meteors. Within seconds, Mirajane flew in with her leg drawn back, swinging it upward for a hit on Azuma's jaw, but Azuma brought his own leg up, clashing with Mirajane's. Just like on Tenoru seven years ago, the two seemed relatively even as a shockwave boomed out from the collision of their legs. Mirajane jumped back, now letting Kairi take over, but before they could, Azuma brought forth tree roots to wrap around Kairi and Mirajane; small lights trailed up the roots before exploding violently, the force sending Mirajane and Kairi flying back.
"Dammit…I forgot how this one was…" Kairi groaned somewhat before another magic seal appeared above her body; her appearance changed as she entered her Angel Soul: Uriel. After her transformation, she held her hands out, shooting out a concentrated beam of light towards Azuma. "Light Beam!"
"Tch…" Azuma jumped to the side, allowing the light beam to crash into the wall. Due to Kairi's increase in power, the Light Beam shattered the wall into pieces. Azuma held his hand out once again, pointing it at Kairi. "Bleve!" Just before the explosion occurred, Mirajane flew in as fast as she could, slamming her heel into Azuma's side; this caused Azuma's hand to point to the floor, which resulted in a powerful explosion that destroyed most of it. Mirajane continued her momentum with an elbow to Azuma's face, a kick to his midsection, and she ended it off with a haymaker to his jaw, causing him to fly back, but he caught himself with the assistance of some tree roots. This only caused Azuma to grin, however. "Strong…perfect…I see you've gotten even stronger since last time…"
.
.
Wind was the only one who wasn't at her assigned post. For some reason, she just couldn't find herself to be. "Ugh…They're all here…It's too crowded…"
"Having some troubles, are we?" Hyde said as he suddenly appeared next to Wind, nearly giving the masked girl a heart attack.
"W-Who are you…?" Wind asked as she slid into a defensive stance should Hyde attack.
"I'm here to help you. The script I've written can't have a wishy-washy character…those characters are always the worse, and never do anything that benefits anyone," Hyde replied.
"I'm not wishy-washy…" Wind replied, her eyes narrowing at Hyde from beneath her mask.
"Then why aren't you at your post? The script demands you be there." Hyde asked while raising a brow, though Wind couldn't find a response to the inquiry.
"Ah, I get it now…" Hyde chuckled darkly, putting the pieces in his head together silently. "I see what's causing this…doubt. I can fix that for you, and leave you with the path you've chosen."
"Really…" Wind looked up at Hyde, his words appealing to her.
"The Black Wind should be howling, not cowering," Hyde replied. Hyde then pointed his hand out, his palm open. A black magic circle appeared on his palm which shot out pitch black darkness, darker than the shadows itself, at Wind. When it connected with wind, black sparks began to dance wildly around her body, and she kept herself from screaming in pain. "You, Black Wind, are a powerful mage. A mage must not let their mind be filled with doubt. That makes them weaker. You've chosen this path, and now you must stick with it until the very end! Harbor your darkness, harbor your hatred, and howl!" Hyde shouted while Black Wind let out a shriek of pain. A bright flash of light filled the room, and when it died down, a black aura was radiating from Wind's body. "Hm…are you going to go back to your post now…?" Without a word, Wind nodded slowly, and began to walk off. "Kehehe…" Hyde chuckled once again, pleased with his work. "The script is going perfectly…"
.
.
Selene and Wendy walked into an open room, similar to the ones the others were fighting in, but oddly enough, there was no one there. The girls used their heightened sense of smell to see if anyone was hiding, but there was no scent to be found either. "There's no one here..."
"I can't smell anyone..." Wendy stated as she looked around. "But I see a rune barrier up ahead..." Wendy walked up the runes in front of the door, beginning to read them aloud. "When all the creatures fall this door will open...?"
"Creatures...?" Selene blinked a few times. "I don't see any creatures."
"The original runes had it so those two would fight each other..." Hyde thought to himself as he watched the two females from the shadows. "But, I cannot have those two fight until one drops...that wouldn't match with the script at all...so instead..." Hyde snapped his fingers, causing a black magic circle to appear in the center of the room, catching the two female's attention.
"Hey, what's that...!?" Selene shouted.
"A magic circle...?" Wendy replied, but she was confused as to why it was there. From the magic circle, an assortment of ghostly type creatures began to rise.
"I think this is what the runes were talking about..." Selene said as diamonds covered her entire body.
"The Diamond Shadow Dragon slayer and the Omega Flame Sky dragon slayer..." Hyde thought to himself. "Your power intrigues this script...and your roles are to not disappoint..."
.
.
"I don't fucking believe this…" Zancrow grumbled as he was forced to carry Melanie and Tsami into a separate dungeon. "Next time I see Tobias I'll burn him alive for wasting my time!"
"Zancrow, calm down," Jikan said with a slightly irritated sigh. "Tobias said once you place these two away you can do whatever you like in the castle.
"Yeah, yeah…" Zancrow merely shrugged Jikan off. "Why are you here anyway, I can handle this."
"Did you forget how that greenette froze you in time?" Jikan asked.
"…What happened?" Zancrow just blinked a few times.
"Never mind…just keep going…" Jikan replied. "We're almost there."
Just behind Jikan and Zancrow, a hidden Rylo stalked the two, his Thief Magic allowing him to blend in with the surrounding area. "Not if I have anything to say about it…"
Just behind the hidden Rylo, Hyde watched this scene. He could easily spot Rylo, but he wasn't planning on attacking the Twilight Zone S class just yet. "Hm…" Hyde tapped his chin a few times, debating on Rylo's importance in his script. "Let's see…from what he's planning…it doesn't seem that his role in this script will be too major…but keeping an eye on him would be for the best. Can't have anyone trying to ruin my script now can I?
.
.
Daityas sat on his throne in the castle, holding a particular vase in his hands as he watched the battles within the castle, a slight sigh escaping his lips, thoroughly disappointed with the fight the legal mages were putting up. "When…When will a real challenge come…"