Ruika was watching the events transpiring between Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and Dealer through her magical eye, all from the comfort of her own seat. Maggie, Ur, and Kiora gathered around the celestial mage to see what was going on. "This is priceless!"
"What's going on…?" Ur asked in an obviously curious tone.
"White Eclipse, Twilight Zone, and Fairy Tail got themselves caught by some no name guild!" Ruika said in a mocking tone.
Cynthia, having overheard the conversation, brought her current play date with Sora to a halt. "Wait, what?! They've been kidnapped?!"
"Oi, mind your own business ya little runt…" Maggie said while waving Cynthia off, now turning her attention back to Ruika. "What's goin' on with those blokes?"
"They're just battling it out now…" Ruika replied. "It's priceless because the so called strongest guilds in Fiore ended up getting caught in such a predictable trap…"
Cynthia turned to Sora, bowing apologetically. "Sorry Sora, but I have to go and save my family now!"
"Cynthia has to go so soon…?" Sora tilted her head, a slight frown appearing on her features before replacing with a smile. "That's okay! Sora had fun with Cynthia!"
"We'll have to do this again sometime!" Cynthia nodded, finding herself bowing to the females of Tartaros for their surprising hospitality (aka not harming her in anyway) and quickly made her way out of Tartaros Castle.
"…She doesn't even fucking know where she's going, does she?" Kiora asked while sharpening her scythe, an indifferent expression taking over her face.
"Nope." Ruika replied.
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Natsu continued his rampage through the interior of the card. If anyone knew him, they'd know being sneaky was not in his forte. He was basically just looking for someone to come and approach him. "OI OI! SOMEONE GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME ALREADY! YOU WANNA BE SNEAKY AND ATTACK WHEN WE'RE DOWN BUT DON'T WANNA FACE US WHEN WE'RE STANDING!? COWARDS!" Natsu wasn't exactly sure if anyone could hear him, but he was going to make damn sure someone would. Since he was going more off of instinct than anything else, the scent he picked up seemed unfamiliar. He grinned. Finally, he'd get the chance to show these bastards what happens when they messed with his guild. The person was around the corner, he could sense it. With flames around his fist, he lunged from the corner, shouting. "I GOT YOU!" Natsu swung his fist, landing a hit on whoever it was around the corner, but the person hit him at the same time, causing Natsu to stumble back. "Gah!? Gray!?"
"Agh!? Natsu!?" A now shirtless Gray was just as surprised to see Natsu as Natsu was to see him. However, the two were immediately forehead to forehead, glaring at each other. "What are you doing getting in my way!?"
"You got in my way ice breath!" Natsu replied as he shot a glare into Gray's eyes.
"You got in MY way, squinty-eyes!" Gray shot back before pulling back, grumbling as he realized that this wasn't the time for another argument between he and Natsu.
"Oi! I'm trying to find at least one of those bastards so I can pay them back!" Natsu shouted, turning around and walked off in the direction opposite of Gray.
"You can count me in on that too!" Gray replied, now walking on Natsu's side.
"Gray-Sama…!" Juvia shouted, panting from exhaustion. She watched as Natsu and Gray walked off, but she assumed they were now out of ear shot since they didn't hear her. "Juvia must catch up to Gray-Sama…"
"I don't think you'll be doing that anytime soon…" A voice said as their neared Juvia.
"Wha-?" Juvia immediately turned around, a look of shock appearing on her face. She was unable to react as ice appeared around her person, freezing her over. Not only this, but diamonds appeared around the ice to ensure immobility. Juvia, now trapped in a diamond ice structure, fell on the ground with a thud.
"Hehe…Don't' even try escaping…I know you can melt ice, which is why I used diamonds as a precaution." Diamond snickered as she lifted the captured Juvia over her shoulders. "Ugh…She's heavy…Now, I have an ice boy and a dragon slayer to freeze over…" Diamond then began to hum a tune to herself as she followed the path Natsu and Gray took.
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Laxus and Taranis stood up slowly, the two slayers covered in bruises and cuts after Magnes' last attack. "Can't use electricity on this guy…? How annoyin'…"
"I don't know any other element but…" Taranis said while scowling at Magnes.
"If you two wanna give up now and go back into your cells like good mages, I'll be all fine with that. It's only going to go downhill from here." Magnes said while rolling his neck, his confidence leading into his bluff. "That was only the warm up; I'll gladly show you two what I can do when I get serious."
"Get serious…?" A smirk soon appeared on Laxus' lips. "You don't know who I am, do you?" As Laxus asked this, he stood up straight, rolling his neck and shoulders, getting out any stiffness that happened to remain in them. His ego was showing once again, and he was planning to show Spade why Laxus was an S class mage of Fairy Tail. "Let me tell you something, Magnet Man…" As Laxus spoke, sparks began to dance around his body, which slowly began to bulk up in size. "I'm the strongest S class wizard in Fairy Tail…Fairy Tail happens to be my family, and you made enemies of Fairy Tail with this little stunt you pulled…" Laxus' pupils completely vanished by this point, his upper body so bulked his shirt ripped off, scales appearing on his newly revealed arms; Laxus entered Dragon Force. "And I crush my family's enemies…"
Taranis eyes widened as he watched Laxus' transformation. "Whoa…." He was speechless, never had he actually seen such a transformation, even when Evanee was formally a dragon slayer, he never got that far against her. He shook himself out of his amazement and shifted his glare back at Magnes, black sparks erupting around his person.
A sweat drop appeared on Magnes' head as he watched Laxus enter Dragon Force, and Taranis' sudden burst of power. "O-Oh…? You won't beat me just because you have a little boost in power!"
Wordlessly, Laxus activated his Lightning Body. With his increased speed, he appeared behind Spade, his fist raised together high above his head, his fingers interlocked with electricity dangerously sparking around them. "Jaw of the Lightning Dragon!" Laxus slammed his fists into Spade's head, the downward force so powerful Spade bounced and flew forward, right towards Taranis.
Taranis pulled his fist back as Spade unwillingly flew towards him. As soon as Spade was in arms reach, Taranis swung his lightning coated fist into Spade's jaw, the impact sending him flying backwards, leaving the Dealer mage in between the two lightning slayers. "Kehehe, what's wrong?" Taranis said with a taunting tone, now feeling his second wind come back to him. There was no way he'd let Laxus show him up. "I thought you were getting serious!"
"T-Tch…this isn't even close to over…" Spade replied as he shook of what he could of the impacts from Laxus and Taranis. His head hurt to say the least, but he had bigger things to worry about. Spade extended his arms to his sides, pointing them at Laxus and Taranis; this created a blue magic circle on Taranis' chest, and a red magic seal to form on Laxus' chest. The blue seal changed into a minus sign, while the red seal changed into a plus sign. "Opposites attract…" Spade smirked and immediately rolled out of the way; the two signs reacted to each other, forcing Laxus and Taranis to fly forward until the slammed into each other, struck together for a few moments before they stood back up, brushing off the attack as if nothing happened.
"That it…?" Laxus brushed his shoulders off, a large, fangy smirk appearing on his lips. "And to think you talked a big game…"
"This can't be..." Spade grit his teeth.
"That all you got?" Taranis asked while cracking his neck.
"You'll see!" Spade spread his arms apart, a blue and red magnetic field covering the entire area. With the switch in magnetic pulls, Laxus and Taranis were completely unable to move the way they wanted. "Target locked! Firing, GIGA MISSILE!" A large blue and red magic circle appeared in front of Spade, shooting towards Taranis. He used his magnet pull to draw Taranis and the missile closer together.
"Shit!" Taranis knew exactly what was happening, but he had no control over it. He tried to move his body away, but it was too late. The missile exploded against Taranis within seconds. The Lightning devil slayer was thrown backwards into the wall, his eyes pure white to signify his KO.
"Haha!" Spade laughed, feeling much more confident now that he actually managed to take one of them out.
"I don't see why you're laughing." Laxus refused to yield. "All you did was get rid of one of us. You still got me to deal with." He clenched his hand into a fist, releasing an electric discharge that completely shattered the magnetic field Spade created.
"T-This isn't possible…!" Spade's eyes widened; why weren't his attacks having any effect?! Laxus placed one hand at his side, gathering an immense amount of electricity. He smirked towards Spade, and in the next instant, with use of his superior speed, he appeared at Spade's chest, slamming his lightning infused palm into the battery pack. "Y-You idiot!" Spade merely grinned as the battery began to absorb the electricity Laxus was putting into it. "You're just charging me up again!"
"Think again." Laxus merely replied as his grip suddenly tightened.
"E-Eh…?" Spade looked at his battery pack, his eyes now widening from shock (no pun intended) once again. The pack was fully charged, but Laxus continued to input electricity. "N-No! Stop! You're gonna make it overload!"
"Oh really…?" Laxus chuckled slightly, a near sadistic chuckle at that.
"NO!" Spade cried out, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. His battery pack exploded from the overload; Spade was sent flying back, hitting the ground on his back. He winced as there was now a gaping hole in his chest. He looked up, but that was all he had time to do. Laxus came down with electric axe kick, the impact causing a tremor that shook the floating card as a whole. Spade was defeated after such a blow.
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King watched the battle between Spade, Laxus, and Taranis intently. He nodded slowly as Spade was defeated, a slight smirk curling onto his lips. Though he was upset that Spade failed to win, he was more pleased with the fact things weren't as one sided as he originally thought they would be. "Ho ho ho…Interesting…Heartless…oh yes, that's right…I keep forgetting…" King shook his head, grabbing a nearby lacrima. "I'll keep this information down for later…"
.
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Strength. Erza pretty much had Club Strong figured out by this point in their battle. Club Strong had immense physical prowess, which in turn added to his amazing speed, agility, reflex, and even his stature. However, Erza noticed one thing; Strong's lack of magical attacks. This led her to believe that Strong's only real magic was the use of his club, and everything else was just his pure strength. With this in mind, Erza came up with multiple strategies to defeat Strong, and with her armors, these plans would certainly be possible. "Kanso!" The scarlet haired knight exclaimed as a heavenly light surrounded her body, now entering her Flame Empress Armor.
"You're getting kinda annoying now…" Strong let out a heavy sigh as he gripped his club once again. "I'll be sure to end this quickly now…" With that thought, Strong ran forward, his club raised high above his head. He swung his club down towards Erza, who merely dodged by jumping into the air. Strong's swing caused the ground to crater and a small shockwave to follow; Erza avoided the strike altogether. "E-Eh!?"
"I've learned how you fight…" Erza replied as she performed a flip in the air, her sword catching fire. Before Strong could react, Erza landed a flaming slash across the chest of the gargantuan male, burning through his clothes with ease and his skin. Strong let out a yelp of pain as he staggered back, holding his chest. Erza landed on her feet into an offensive position, but there was balance mixed in in case she had to perform a sudden defensive maneuver.
"Y-You little…" Strong groaned before regaining his composure, a sly smirk forming on his lips. "That's fine…it's nothing I can't heal off…"
"Heal off…?" Erza raised a brow at the last two words, beginning to wonder if she was wrong about her assumptions around Strong. Strong's cheeks puffed out, similar to how a dragon slayer would unleash their roar. But instead of letting out a roar, Strong spit out several large walnut seeds that tumbled towards Erza in a Vulcan style fashion. "W-What!?" Erza went on guard, bringing her sword up. She dashed forward, slicing through the first walnut seed, then the second, then the third. The fourth almost made contact with her, but she rolled to the side to avoid it. Unfortunately for Erza, the fifth seed caught her after she rolled; the seed split open and vines shot out, wrapping around Erza and constricted her movement. A red flash appeared around Erza and the vines, resulting in Erza immediately letting out a pained shriek as the vines sapped her vitality, giving it all back to Strong. The gash on Strong's chest from moments ago vanished instantly, leaving Strong with a grin. The vines faded, and Erza fell to her knees, panting heavily as she processed what just happened.
"Ahhh…" Strong now released a content sigh. "Good as new…That was my Drain Seed attack, how'd you like it?"
"T-Tch…" Erza slowly stood up, obviously feeling drained from the attack, but she still stood her ground.
"You know…" Strong flexed his muscles as he spoke. "I'm feeling so energized, I can do…THIS!" Strong ran forward, his speed so great it was almost as if he teleported, club raised high above his head.
"!" Erza gasped at the speed, having no time to actually dodge, so she went to the next best thing. Another light surrounded her body and she appeared in her Adamantine Armor, which was able to withstand the powerful swing, though the ground under Erza cratered. What happened next was what shocked Erza; Strong continued to swing his club, over and over, showing no signs of fatigue. Each hit slammed against Erza's armor, and the ground continued to crater under Titania's feet.
"I can do this all day!" Strong exclaimed, and it didn't seem like an exaggeration either.
"Ugh…" Erza groaned to herself, feeling her armor starting to crack under the seemingly nonstop strikes Strong was delivering. She didn't have much time before she was left defenseless, so she had to act quickly. Her armor continued to crack before there cracks all over the armor. One swing finished off the famous defensive armor, and hit Erza, no noise coming from the scarlet knight after impact.
"Heh…" Strong gave off a smirk. "Titania, down…" Seconds passed before Strong felt his club move, and it wasn't on his own accord. "H-Huh?!" Erza raised the club over her head, now in her Giant's Armor, the perfect armor to match Strong's physical strength. Strong was taken aback by Erza's newfound strength. "O-Oi! You think you can match me in a contest of strength!?"
"Let's find out!" Erza replied as she now gripped Strong's club, lifting the large male up by it.
"W-Whoa!?" Strong's eyes widened, he was beating beaten in a contest of strength already!? Erza began to spin around, taking Strong with her. Every complete rotation was faster than the last until Erza released her grip, sending Strong flying into the nearest wall; a large dent forming after Strong hit it. "GAH!" Strong pulled himself from the wall, charging towards Erza once again. "You just got lucky! Strong Swing!"
"This isn't luck," Erza merely replied as she now had her momentum back. As Strong swung, she brought up a singular arm, catching the club in one hand, though the force did cause the floor around her feet to cave in somewhat, but she was fine. Erza's grip tightened on the platinum club, causing it to crack. "This is the strength of a Fairy Tail wizard." With that final line, Erza's crushing grip completely shattered the club, leaving Strong speechless. Erza drew her fist back and slammed it into jaw of Club Strong, sending the brute flying into the nearest wall, only to fall on the ground on his stomach after, X's in his eyes to signify his defeat. "That's only a fraction of the pain you deserve…" Erza stated as she requipped back into her Heartz Kruz armor, and turned her back, starting to walk off.
Strong gave a small, inaudible cough. He looked up; noticing Erza was walking away as if she won. "Not so fast…" Strong held his hand up, creating another platinum club in his hands. He drew his arm back, and threw it forward towards Scarlet. "This isn't over yet!"
"Huh…?" Erza turned at the voice, her eyes widening as the club was flying towards her. She would've braced for impact, but the club stopped just a few inches before her. "…?"
"You should be on your guard more; otherwise idiots like him are going to take you out…" Tayakata said while using a vector to grip the club.
"Tayakata…" Erza raised a brow before turning back at Strong, who had the color drained from his face.
"Oh no…." Strong whimpered.
Tayakata cracked her neck, a sadistic vintage appearing on her features. "Now then…" Using her vector, she slammed the club Strong attempted to use on him, over and over. She needed to get her anger out for what happened, and this was certainly the best way for her to do it. Though, she was probably enjoying it more (than she should have) as her anger began to diminish. With one final swing on Strong's head, she was done. Strong was certainly KO'ed by this point. "That was nice…" Tayakata dropped the club and turned on her heel, walking off with Erza now.
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"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy called out as she aimed an upside down kick (her leg covered in blue wind of course) towards Daigo's head, but the male dodged it by sliding to the side, and Wendy hit the ground.
"Too slow, darling…" Daigo replied while fixing his suit.
Cana swung a set of three cards once again, sending three ice lances towards Daigo once again. "Ice Lance!"
"You know that doesn't work…" Daigo said as he started to wave his hand to activate his Time Ark magic, but Lucy wrapped her whip around his arm before he could. "What?!"
Not so fast!" Lucy exclaimed with a grin.
"Agh!" Daigo grunted as the three ice lances landed, causing him to slide back a foot. "Not bad, ladies…" Daigo gave a head nod of respect before gripping the arm that Lucy had her whip wrapped around. "But not good, either…" With a tug, Daigo pulled Lucy over to him, his other fist pulled back.
"Wah…!" Lucy yelped as she was pulled forward, only for the wind to be knocked out of her by Daigo's next strike, a powerful punch to her stomach which sent her flying back, rolling across the floor with her whip at her side. "Ugh…"
"Lucy-san…!" Wendy turned to see if Lucy was alright, and it seemed as though she was. Wendy jumped into the air, her arms by her sides. "Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!" Wendy swiped her arms forward, unleashing a blue hurricane of wind towards Daigo.
"Barrier!" Daigo exclaimed once again, creating a powerful barrier around his person that shielded him from the attack.
"This is getting us nowhere…" Cana groaned while preparing another set of cards.
"We have to hit him fast…" Lucy said as she slowly brought herself to her feet.
"Arms, Armor, and Vernier!" Wendy yelled out, using her support magic to boost the stats of herself, Cana, and Lucy.
"Stat enhancers…?" Daigo raised a brow. "Interesting…"
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee!" Lucy began as she quickly whipped out one of her most trusted keys. "Loke!" A golden shine appeared on the tip of the key, and Loke appeared, fixing the cuffs on his wrist.
"You called, Lucy?" Loke asked in a serious tone.
"Yeah! You know what to do, Loke!" Lucy exclaimed as she pointed towards Daigo.
"Of course…" Loke grinned, always enjoying beating up those who brought harm to his owner and love interest. Loke ran up to Daigo, activating his Regulas. "Regulas…"
"That's not going to work…!" Daigo started as he drew his fist back, preparing to clash with Loke's by throwing his prematurely.
Loke saw this coming, and ducked down, avoiding Daigo's fist while his own fist was now wrapped in a bright light. "Impact!" Loke landed a roaring uppercut on Daigo's chin, causing him to stagger back, now off balance. Loke jumped back to Lucy's side after.
"He's ours now!" Cana shouted with a grin as she threw a card down onto the floor. "Jolt of Fate!" From the sky (or ceiling at least) a powerful bolt of electricity brought itself down on Daigo, shocking the male vigorously, keeping him locked in place.
"Finish him off, Wendy!" Lucy shouted.
"Right!" Wendy nodded now turning to Daigo. Her cheeks puffed out as a light blue and red magic seal appeared before her mouth. "Roar of the Omega Flame Sky Dragon!" Wendy threw her head forward, unleashing a mixture of blue winds and omega flames towards the paralyzed Daigo.
"Noooo!" Daigo barely managed to say before the roar slammed into his person, sending him flying into the generator he fixed, which ended up destroyed again. A large explosion took place, signifying the generator was totaled.
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King was shuffling around the main room until a particular alarm went off, though it was cut off by a two second black out thanks to the generators destruction. It caught his attention quickly, so he looked around at the many monitors to see what was happening. "That alarm…is that magic somewhere in this place…? Ho ho ho…"
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"We beat him!" Wendy jumped for joy.
"Thanks for your help, Loke," Lucy smiled and gave a nod to Loke, forcing a gate closure to not waste anymore magic and before he could hit on her again.
"N-Not bad…ladies…" Daigo said as he sat up in the remains of the generator. "You have beaten me…so I will tell you about Heartless like I promised."
"You don't need to do that…but whatever…" Cana merely shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms.
"Heartless is an S class mage here, if you weren't aware. She is a very peculiar person…do you know why?" Daigo asked the rhetorical question purposely. "I'll tell you…years ago she made a deal with the devil himself. She exchanged her heart – not her soul – but her actual heart in exchange for particular magic…enchantment, actually."
"Wait!" Wendy blurted out. "Are you saying she really has no heart?! How is that possible…!?"
"When you make a deal with Satan, anything is possible, dear." Daigo then continued. "But, she betrayed Satan, a foolish mistake indeed. She is now King's right hand man…"
"This enchantment…" Lucy's eyes shifted to a serious stare. "Tell me more about it…"
"Control. Heartless uses cards that can control the minds of those weaker than her." Dagio explained. "And once they fall under her control, there is no getting those people back., for they lose their hearts…"
"Liar!" Lucy immediately responded. "I WILL get Taurus and Gemini back! I love my spirits and I refuse to let them fall to the hands of some demon!"
Daigo merely shook his head, a slight smile on his face as his body began to vanish. "You may be able to love something with no heart…but something with no heart cannot love you back…" With that, Daigo's body completely vanished, leaving the three females standing there.
"Come on…we have to go find the others…" Cana said while placing a hand on Lucy's shoulder in a comforting fashion.
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Luke kept watch over Heather, hoping nothing bad would happen to her in the long run. After a few minutes, her screaming died down. "Heather…are you okay…?" Luke asked.
Heather remained silent. Her eyes opened, but they were no longer teal, they were read. The Heart symbol now engraved on her chest and head. Poison covered her fist and she immediately slammed it into Luke's face, causing the copycat to stagger back. "I'm doing better than okay…" a sadist persona now took over Heather as she stood up, grinning towards Luke.
"Agh…!" Luke shook his face, unable to feel it due to the poison. "H-Hey!? Heather…?! What's gotten into you…!?"
Heather cracked her knuckles and her neck, a purple aura floating around her body. "I am now a member of Dealer…and it is my job to dispose of any intruders. Starting with you."
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Kairi and Clover caught up with Heartless in a generator room, the second one to be precise. "It appears we've cornered her…" Clover said while glancing at Heartless, who hand her back turned to the two.
"Tell us where the others are." Kairi demanded.
Heartless sighed, pulling out two cards from her dress pocket; a card with a flame symbol on it and a card with a thunderbolt on it. "It's time for you two to prove your worth…" Heartless turned and threw cards on the floor. From the flame card, Taurus Fire rose up, giving off a loud moo, and from the lightning card, Gemini Spark Red and Blue appeared side by side.
"W-What the hell are those things?!" Kairi's eyes widened as she took a step back.
"Take care of those two." Heartless nodded, and vanished in a vortex of, well, hearts.
"Oh, finally, some entertainment!" Gemini Spark R grinned.
"MOO!" Taurus Fire exclaimed while looking at Kairi, his body literally flaring up even higher while hearts appeared in his eyes. "What a nice body…!"
"W-What?!" Kairi took another step back, now feeling uncomfortable.
"I can't hurt such a nice body!" Taurus Fire shouted.
"Yeesh…" Gemini Spark B sighed before pointing at Clover. "Then take him!"
"What?" Taurus Fire glanced at Clover…more so his red hair. His eyes turned a blazing red before charging towards the elemental make mage, who was clearly caught off guard.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Clover flailed his arms in a comical fashion, but that didn't stop Taurus Fire from ramming into him.
"Looks like we get the pretty lady!" Gemini Spark R and B said in unison, pointing their connected arms towards Kairi. "Gemini Thunder!"