Hello there, guys. Sorry for the extended wait, but being in a car crash tends to leave people a bit sore, you know what I mean? I had to take a little while to recover.
Enjoy!
Once Drake delivered another fist to Elizabeth and drove her back, he paused and watched as Michael roared past him and kneed her in the gut, sending her rearing backwards in pain.
"Shit..." She hissed. "I've never seen my armor enchants be broken through like this..."
"Guess you're just not as good at this as you thought." Michael told her. "Now come on, let's keep this going." Elizabeth sighed as she wiped at her cheek and stood up straight.
"Well, I guess I have to join everybody else then." She said. "Sorry boys, but you've had your fun. It's time this ends already." Drake watched as she raised her hands together and began to glow white. He watched as another layer of magic coated over here, but this time it caused her skin to glow brightly.
"I don't like the looks of that." He muttered in Michael's direction. "Stay alert."
"Got it." Michael replied. Drake watched as Elizabeth finished her incantation, and then returned her gaze to them.
"Well?" She asked. "What're you waiting for?"
"She's baiting us." Michael observed. "Do we take it?"
"Do we have any choice?" Drake retorted. "This entire fight has been us after her. She's not going to change it up now."
"Eyes open, then." Michael replied, tensing up. "She's pulled something else out of her pocket." Drake nodded before he rocketed towards the woman, and punched her right in the gut. He watched her reel from the blow and cough a bit as she staggered back, but she smirked at Drake.
"Ouch, nice one." She said. "Hows it feel?" Drake made a face at this, unsure as to what she meant.
Before he could voice his confusion, Drake shouted out in pain as something rock solid impacted his gut and sent him off the ground and right onto his back. He coughed up something between blood and spit and rolled around, gasping for air.
"Drake!" he heard Michael shout, ears ringing. "You okay?! What happened?!"
"S-She did something..." Drake managed, sitting up weakly and wiping at his face with his sleeve. Blood coated his arm. "What happened?"
"She didn't even move when you got hit." Michael said. Drake watched the woman regain herself, and watch them carefully.
"Anyone else?" She asked.
"You wanna have a go?" Drake asked Michael. Nodding, the blonde ran towards Elizabeth and delivered a blow to her with magic at point blank. Elizabeth blocked it with her arms, but she still slid across the ground from the power behind the blast. Watching closely, Elizabeth only stood up straight once more.
At this, a small explosion erupted around Michael, sending him careening into the air.
"What the...?" Drake muttered, watching Michael hit the ground hard and roll around in pain. "She didn't do anything..."
"I consider this my strongest enchant." Elizabeth said. Turning back to her, she seemed to be quite happy with herself despite the blood trickling from her nose. "I call it the Double Take."
"What the hell does it do?" Drake asked. Elizabeth coughed.
"It...It deals back any damage done to me to my attacker." She said, Drake's eyes widening. "The hit that send you back? The force of your own punch. The blast your friend took? The power from his own."
"Why the hell do you seem fine, then?" Michael asked weakly from behind Drake. Elizabeth smiled.
"Did you boys forget about the armor enchant?" She asked. "Your attacks still hurt all right, but the full force hit you." Drake tried to stand, but groaned as his body resisted. Had he broken something? He really hoped he hadn't. He struggled to his feet and coughed up more blood.
"Michael!" He called. "You alright?"
"Yeah." Michael replied. "I'm doing just fine over here..."
"Good." He said, staggering a bit. "Because we have a mission."
"Oh yeah?" Michael asked. "What's that." Drake wiped at his mouth again, and looked up to glare at Elizabeth.
"Take down this bitch before we kill ourselves." He heard Michael laugh from behind him.
"Seems like fun." He said. "I'll beat you to it."
Steph stumbled backwards, panting. She hadn't been able to get past Quinn's new blade, just like Terra. Quinn just watched her, obviously waiting for her to make a move.
"Getting tired?" He asked, waving the blade around. Steph neglected to answer him. She just wanted him to shut up, mostly. The more he talked, the more irritated she got. Of course she figured that was what he was going for. Rile her up so she lost focus.
"You alright, Steph?" Terra asked. She seemed to be okay, but Steph could see bruises and cuts on her arms and body.
"For the most part." She replied. "You have any ideas?" Terra remained silent at this. "Because for far I don't have much."
"Ever since you got in between him and that blade, he's been on high alert." Terra said. "But that's our way out of this. We need to get between him and the blade." Steph knew this, it was obvious. But doing that was easier said than done by a mile.
"Alright, here's the plan." Steph said, rolling her shoulders. " I'm going to try and get the blade away from him. Once you see the opening, pummel him with rock. Got it?"
"Can you handle it?" Steph watched Quinn wave the blade around at this question, swallowing hard.
"I'll manage." She said. "Let's go." Steph took off towards Quinn, electrifying herself as she made it to him. She swerved away from the swing Quinn went for and attempted to sweep his legs out from under him, but he jumped and rolled away from her. Steph sensed another swing coming, so she bent herself away from it, but she still felt her skin smoldering from the blade. Steph watched as Terra sent rock pillars at Quinn as his back was now turned to her, but Quinn turned and cleaved through them without an issue.
"Ooh, almost." Quinn said. "But not quite." Steph growled and flew at him again, sparks flying as she threw lightning at him. Many of her attacks hit the blade and deflected away, but one struck him in the midsection and caused him to jump in pain. Steph used this opportunity to get close, but Quinn had been ready and the two were now engaged in another grapple. Grunting, Steph angled the man towards Terra.
"Hit him!" She shouted. "She's open!"
"Am I?" Quinn asked. In that moment, Steph felt the weight of the struggle shift, and now she was in Terra's sights instead. She could hear Terra making frustrated sounds.
"I can't get a clear shot if you can't hold him still, Steph!" She called out. Steph grunted in frustration.
"I know that..." She hissed. Quinn laughed at this.
"What's the matter, Steph?" He asked. "Am I overpowering you? What would happen if you lost to me?"
"Not gonna happen." Steph growled. "I'm going to make sure you don't cross us ever again."
"I'm scared. Really, I am." He replied. "Listen kid, This has gone on for a while. So why don't you-!" Steph yelped in surprise as Quinn was dragged away from her. She turned just in time to see the man thrown away from her, and he landed hard.
"Bella!" Terra shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Bella panted as she raised both her hands and shot a stream of darkness at Quinn, which exploded against him.
"What does it look like I'm doing, Neekis?" She asked weakly. "I'm helping."
"Bella, you should stay out of his way." Steph said softly. "You'll end up like Damien."
"Fine!" Bella shouted, glaring at her feet. "I'll happily end up like that if I get to help my friends take down the enemy! Now shut up and help me, for God sake!"
"Winter, you were supposed to keep her away from the fight!" Steph turned to find Winter also joining them, and she seemed to be shying away from Terra.
"I tried," She said weakly. "She doesn't listen as well as you seem to think she does. Besides, I already healed her a lot. As long as she stayed away from him for the most part, she'll be okay."
"So she's screwed, then." Terra reasoned. "Got it."
"Ah, so the demon rejoins the fight." Quinn said, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Good, I'd like to actually have something productive come from this spat of ours. So, shall we have another?" Steph rolled her eyes.
"Maybe she can help us shut you the fuck up." She muttered to herself.
"Here, let me help you guys out." Winter said. At this, a mist enveloped Steph's body. Steph felt many of her wounds being soothed by the mist, and slowly she started to feel better than a moment ago.
"Don't waste too much magic healing us." Terra warned Winter. "You may need it for this guy."
"It wasn't that much healing." Winter replied as the mist dissipated. "But it was enough to keep you guys on your feet."
"Let's just hurry up and take this guy for a loop." Bella said, cracking her neck. "I'm all out of patience."
Steph agreed with her there.
As Keita reached the Christina, he realized that all the doors were shut and could only be opened from the inside. Keeping to his shadow form, he slipped inside the impossibly small cracks in between the ship and the doors and re-materialized inside.
"Jeez, that was a small opening..." He muttered to himself, stretching to regain a sense of size. Once he felt better, he made his way for the bridge of the ship, where the members of Blue Pegasus save Bella were. "Hey!" he called out, making them all jump and whirl in his direction.
"Keita?" Mami asked, looking confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Yeah, I thought you went down to assist Fairy Tail." Taro agreed. Keita nodded.
"I did," he replied. "Unfortunately, we've hit a snag. A rather large one at that."
"What's going on?" Ken asked. Keita turned to him.
"We've defeated one of the stronger hunters," he explained. "A member of The Cross. However, something happened. Her chest began to glow, or rather a necklace she had. Once it faded, she stood up as thought nothing was wrong with her. As if we'd never hit her. She was good as new."
"Damn..." Akio muttered.
"Micheal suggested we look into Archive's database for anything that might help." He continued. "Do you think you can help, Ken?" Ken nodded and cracked his hands, Archive appearing before him.
"I'll look into it." He replied. "What did you say it was? A necklace that allowed her to stand back up again?" Keita nodded.
"Yeah, that was it." He replied. Ken remained silent for a moment, and Keita watched him rapidly type away at Archive.
"I'd give him a minute." Mami said to him. "Once Ken gets looking he gets wrapped in his own world." Keita nodded and leaned against the railing in front of him. "How's it going down there?"
"Good, I hope." Keita replied. "I had to leave that hunter I mentioned to Drake and Michael, so i hope she didn't kill them or anything."
"I'm sure they're fine." Taro said. "It is Drake and Michael we're talking about." Keita knew that very well. It wasn't that he didn't have faith in them, it was that Elizabeth was too much of a variable. He should've been down there with them, not up here. But someone had to deliver the message, and he'd volunteered.
"Maybe I should get back to them," he said, standing back up straight. "They might be in trouble."
"You can go," Ken replied, coming out of his trance. "I'll use Archive to speak to everyone down there if I manage to find anything that might be of use to us." Keita nodded and turned for the door.
"Alright, I'm going to get out of here." He said. Mami followed him and did him a favor by opening the door. Once it was open Keita became a shadow once more and made his way back down for the battlefield, using his nose to direct himself back towards the fight the boys were having with Elizabeth.
He couldn't lie, he was nervous as to what would be there waiting for him.
Taro watched Mami and Keita walk off before he turned to Ken.
"What do you think it is?" He asked the man.
"If I had to bet," Ken replied as he typed away. "It's some kind of blessing. Something that protects her from defeat."
"Well whatever it is, find it quickly." Akio said. "There's no telling how tired everyone down there is." At this, Taro turned and looked out the windows towards the explosions going on below them. He could tell the fighting was intense, but who was on the side that was winning, he couldn't tell.
He hoped the others were okay.
Keita raced across the battlefield towards where he'd last seen Drake, Michael and Elizabeth, praying he found something good once he got there. Despite how much he wanted to stop, he also raced past others that had dropped down from the Christina a while ago. They'd be okay, he knew that. After all, they weren't fighting a member of The Cross. Coming out of the ground where he could smell Drake and Michael, Keita looked around in confusion.
"Drake?" He called out. "Michael? Where'd you guys go? Hello?!" A sinking feeling settled into Keita's stomach. Perhaps they couldn't hear him.
No, that couldn't be right. Drake would've heard him.
"Drake! Michael!" He shouted again. "Guys?! Fuck..." Taking a deep breath, Keita narrowed in on where their smells were strongest and started to head in that direction.
And soon, he found the problem.
Drake and Michael both lay on the ground face down, motionless.
"Shit..." Keita hissed, running to Michael and flipping him over. "Michael? Michael! Answer me you bastard, what happened?! Michael!" After a few seconds of silence, Michael's eyes began to flutter. Soon they opened, and he grimaced in pain.
"...Keita?" He asked weakly.
"Yeah, it's me." He replied. "What the hell happened here, man? Where's Elizabeth?" Michael groaned and coughed.
"She used some enchant..." He muttered. "It...Dealt back our own attacks to us. We didn't stand a chance." That did sound rather intimidating. "She said something...About helping the other members of The Cross." That didn't sound very good either.
"Well, now what?" Keita asked.
"What do you mean, you idiot?" Michael demanded. "Find her, and stop her before she gangs up on someone else. If we're having this much trouble, the others don't need two of those pricks to deal with. Or anyone not in a fight with The Cross, for that matter."
"What about you two?" Keita asked, looking over at Drake.
"We'll be fine," Michael replied, struggling to sit up. "I'll wake Drake up and make after you once we feel able."
"You sure?" When Keita asked this, Michael looked over at him. The fire present in his eyes gave Keita the answer.
"Hurry up." Michael said, making it to his feet and hobbling towards Drake. "We'll catch up." Keita stood and looked around, unsure as to where he was supposed to go. Inhaling, Keita tried to find Elizabeth's scent. He could find Drake and Michael easily enough, but amidst all the other scents of unknown and known people alike, Keita found it extremely difficult to find her.
"Do you know which way she went?" He asked Michael as his friend rolled Drake over and tried to get a response from him. "I can't find her scent."
"Uh..." Michael muttered, looking around the battlefield. "She might have gone that way. She was looking that way before I blacked out." Keita turned and followed Michael's finger, which pointed right into the heat of the conflict a fair distance away. Swallowing hard, Keita nodded.
"Alright. You get Drake back up and try to find us. I'll stop Elizabeth."
"Make sure you do." Michael replied. "And watch out for that enchant. She'll knock you out just as quickly." Nodding, Keita became a shadow and raced towards the fighting, set on finding Elizabeth and ending this stupid fight.
He just needed to not end up like Drake and Michael while at the same time hoping Ken could find a weakness to this blessing that protected the members of The Cross.
Easy.
Natsu struggled to his feet as Neptu approached him. Natsu wasn't one to go down easy but Neptu's flames ate away at Natsu way more than he had anticipated. His entire system was sore, and if he ate one too many hits he'd collapse in on himself.
"This is bad..." He muttered to himself. "Why did I get myself wrapped up in this again...?"
Natsu wasn't stupid, he knew why. He was here so Nashi wouldn't be. He didn't want his daughter facing off against this man, he'd kill her. Natsu was just lucky he'd locked away his own powers. Otherwise he felt the pain would be much worse.
"Get up." Natsu looked up to see Neptu standing in front of him, purple flames still licking round his form. "We're not done. Not yet." Natsu watched the man before he struggled to his feet. He needed to beat this guy, he had no other options.
"I'm going, I'm going." Natsu replied weakly.
"You know, something's been occurring to me, Natsu." Natsu looked up curiously to find Neptu's face solid and angry. "Why is it that a proclaimed Fire Dragon Slayer is taking so much damage from flames?"
Uh oh.
"Why is it that despite the game you talk, you've been struggling to your feet for the past twenty minutes?" Natsu had no answers for the man. "I'd like an explanation. Someone who is immune to flames should not be taking this much damage from flames."
"Who said that I'm taking damage?" Natsu asked, trying to bluff.
"Don't play stupid." Neptu shot back. "What are you hiding? And what have you neglected to mention?" Natsu wasn't going to very well tell the guy. That was the last thing he should do after how fired up Neptu had gotten talking about how demons had wronged him. Just casually mention the reason the flames hurt was because he had been brought back to life by Zeref, who had turned him into a monster to do so? Yeah, that'd go well.
"Just fight me, you loud mouth." Natsu hissed. "I'm sick and tired of having to have small talk." Neptu's expression hardened.
"Fine," Neptu replied. The man raised his hand, and flames began to circle there. It didn't look to welcoming. "How about you show me why your a Dragon Slayer, Natsu? Eat my flames and prove it to me." With this, the attack was fired. The cyclone of flames flew towards Natsu, who stood his ground and watched it.
Well, this'll hurt.
Natsu tensed and brought up his arms to defend himself, and waited for the blast to hit. It didn't. Instead, Natsu watched it explode in between the two of them.
"What the hell?" Neptu asked. "What just-?"
"Heads up!" Natsu's ears perked up at this, and soon he felt himself enveloped with flames. They weren't his own, nor were they Neptu's.
And yet, they felt oh so familiar.
Oh no...
Natsu knew he'd recognized that voice. The scent that wafted through the area. Turning, Natsu looked across the battlefield.
Nashi stood there, hand outstretched, looking concerned.
"Come on, Dad." She said. "Eat my fire, and we'll take this guy together."
Again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait. The crash and all that. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!
Chapter 259: Bad Idea