Alright guys. After having a discussion with a few readers, I have a question to ask. Some have said that I should try and get this story to Hiro Mashima so I can try to make it the actual next generation of Fairy Tail. Personally I feel like that's a bit much, but what do you guys think? Is it good enough?
Also, enjoy!
Good to see you guys are back on your feet," Keita said as Drake and Michael joined them.
"Are you feeling okay, nyah?" Kumi asked. Michael nodded.
"Just peachy," he replied. "Now we really don't have time to chat. What's our plan for mistress over here?"
"Kumi has her magic nullifying bonds," Keita explained to them. "If we can get Elizabeth wrapped up by the time the timer hits zero, it'll be a breeze knocking her out." Drake nodded at this. That made the most sense. Question was, however, how were they to deal with Elizabeth so that Kumi could get her tied up?
"She focuses on me, nyah." Kumi said, raising her hand. "It'll be difficult to make her shift focus without directly attacking her for real." Drake nodded and grinned.
"That's what these are for," he said, nodding to the scales on his arms. "If we're in Dragon Force, I hope we can take a few more hits than normal."
"It's our only option." Keita said as he began to glow. "We'll have to hope we can." At this, Keita too activated his Dragon Force. Drake turned to Elizabeth and eyed her as they prepared to fight.
"Stay alert, Kumi." Michael said. "If you see an opening go for it. Don't wait for any signal."
"I know the drill, nyah." Kumi replied. "Just hurry up and deal with her for me."
"With pleasure," Drake replied. With this, he flew towards her at a much quicker speed than before and drove his fist unto her stomach. He grinned as she flew backwards with a grunt of pain.
"So it seems you're magical power has somehow increased." She said. "Interesting."
"You betcha!" Michael shouted as a blast of holy light flew past Drake and connected with her. Just as it did Keita appeared out of the ground and uppercut her, sending her high into the air. Drake wasn't a fool, he saw Keita flinching in pain. He could try and use his poison to help him, but they'd need a moment for that.
And they didn't have a moment.
Not sparing any more time for the thought, Drake looked up and watched Elizabeth fight off Kumi's bonds as they attempted to wrap her up and subdue her.
"Stupid cat!" She shouted, sending off a huge blast towards Kumi. At first Drake felt worried, but turning to watch gave him a front seat to Kumi lazily dodging the attack.
"You'd better stop ogling me Drake, nyah!" he heard her shout. "Eyes on the enemy!" Drake rolled his eyes and watched as Elizabeth landed.
"You just make sure you catch her next time!" Drake shouted back. Elizabeth had been ready for him t come at her, but Drake noticed right away that because Dragon Force gave them so much more power, her armor enchants weren't helping her much.
Drake winced as a punch to Elizabeth's sides caused his side to erupt in pain. Keita swept her off her legs and Michael moved in to attack her, but he was moving quite sluggishly. Elizabeth recovered before he got to her and blasted him away, making him groan.
"What's up?" Drake asked him.
"I'm not in pain anymore," Michael replied. "But your poison's making it hard to move." Drake should have known that would happen. That was a side effect to the numbing.
"Can you keep going?" He asked as Keita kept Elizabeth busy."
"Of course," Michael replied. "Let's just make sure that twenty minute timer doesn't go to waste." Drake nodded, and the two went to rejoin Keita. Just as they did Elizabeth flew towards them. Drake flipped up and delivered a poison coated kick to Elizabeth's back, which send her rolling.
"Michael!" Keita shouted.
"Yep!" Michael shouted. "Holy Dragon Pillars!" Drake recognized the name of the attack. He watched as two pillars of light erupted out of the ground next to Elizabeth and chained up her arms, hoisting them up above her head. Elizabeth pulled at her arms, but to no avail.
"Hm, nice tactic," she said, observing the pillars.
"Oh you're too kind," Michael said. "Now please just stay that way for another, I don't know, eighteen minutes or so. Kumi!"
"I got it!" Kumi said. Drake watched as Elizabeth was wrapped around the waist by Kumi's bonds, and made a face.
"Ugh, damn it." She hissed. "This is bad."
"Well, now what?" Keita asked. "Do we take her out now, or wait?"
"Wait." Drake replied. The closer to zero she falls, the less chance she'll get picked up."
"...You figured it out?" Elizabeth asked, looking a little shocked. Drake nodded.
"You're damn right we did." Michael. "You and your group are going down." Elizabeth nodded.
"So it seems." She replied. "But are you certain that your plan will work?"
"No," Drake said. "But it's all we have."
"Fair enough," Elizabeth replied. "Just so you all know, once I'm freed I'm taking you all down. Staring with the feline fetishist."
"I'm not a feline fetishist, nyah!" Kumi objected, whacking Elizabeth on the head. "Stop calling me names!"
"Well, it's true."
"It is not!"
"Yes it is. Also, you're very predictable."
"Nyah?" Drake made a face, but he quickly looked down. His eyes widened.
"Kumi tighten the bonds!" he shouted. The warning was too late. Kumi's loosened bonds fell from Elizabeth's waist, and a blast of magic from the woman send all of them, Kumi especially, flying. Elizabeth then freed herself from the pillars, cracking her arms.
"Shit!" Keita shouted. "Drake, check on her! We can't win this without her!" Drake nodded and ran towards Kumi, who was struggling to her feet.
"You alright?" Drake asked, kneeling beside her.
"Yeah..." She replied weakly. "I'm so useless, nyah...Can't even keep her down."
"Oh stop it. She tricked you."
"And look how easy it was, nyah!" Kumi shouted, looking up at him angrily. "I'm so easily wound up. I'm sorry."
"Stop being apologetic." Drake said. "You're not useless. Right now, our entire plan hinges on you." Kumi made a face at this, so Drake continued. "If you don't get a hold of Elizabeth, there's no way We can take her out. And she'll use her magic to help the other three up. And then we lose. Kumi, right now, no one else can help us but you." Kumi watched Drake for a moment or two before she nodded, slowly getting to her feet.
"Keep her distracted, nyah." She said. "I'll tie her up so tightly she can't breath." Drake smiled.
"Can do."
"Did you honestly think that little telepathic strategy meeting would help you any?" Quinn asked as he swiped, creating a wave of red fire flying towards Steph. She dodged it and watched as Quinn swung his blade at Bella, who'd attempted to fly at him and swipe at him. "Really now, I'm not that dumb."
"Doubtful..." Steph muttered to herself as she stood up and watched the man carefully. Thanks to Ken's Archive, she had a time counting down in her head. They had about seventeen minutes to take Quin down. How they were going to do it was beyond her. So far he'd not shown enough of an opening to fully take him down, but Steph knew they had one advantage.
Quinn hadn't been beaten yet.
From the way Ken and the others worded it, The Blessing of The Cross seemed to pick up members in perfect condition. Seeing as Quinn had yet to fall during their fight, he wasn't in perfect condition. In fact despite all the trash he talked, he wasn't in a good place. He had four people to deal with at the moment, and sooner or later one of them would catch him off guard.
"Come on Steph, we don't have time to waste!" Terra shouted. Steph nodded and ran towards Quinn with the others. Terra tore up the ground and created a wave of it, tearing towards Quinn. Just as the man dodged it, Winter caught him in a current of air and spun him around viciously. Just as he started to become a blur, Bella soared in and delivered a punishing blow to his stomach, sending him into the ground and creating a crater.
It was Steph's turn.
Electrifying herself, Steph built up power as Quinn struggled to stand.
"Take this, asshole!" She shouted. "Raging Bolt!"
"Thunder!" Quinn shouted, outstretching his left hand. "Vajra!" Steph's attack went off, but at this she was blinded by light. She covered her eyes, and soon the light faded, allowing her to look up.
Quinn was now holding a spear in his right hand, which crackled with power. He grinned at Steph.
"You seem shocked," He said. "Didn't think I could create more than one weapon, did you?"
"I'll admit you caught e off guard." She said. "I assume you used that thing to absorb my attack?"
"You're damn right." He replied, twirling it around. "Fire, lightning, it's all elemental. And so are these weapons. So let's see how well you're lightning works no-!"
Quinn was cut off as a dark blast of lightning flew past Steph's head. Quinn tried to block it, but it struck him in the chest and he flew backwards away from Steph.
"Yes! Bulls eye!" Steph turned to find Rina there with a smirk on her face. "What's up, Steph?"
"Rina?" Steph asked, confused. "What're you doing here?"
"Well we all talked about taking The Cross down and now this timer in my head and well, I kinda wanted to help out. So I found you guys." Steph nodded weakly at this.
"Well, the more the merrier." Rina nodded and joined Steph as Quinn got up.
"What the hell?" He demanded, looking at Vajra. "Why didn't that get absorbed?"
"You questioning me?" Rina asked. "Let me take a guess. It's because I'm a God Slayer. And if you think that you're so holy, let me fill you in on something." She smirked at this. "I'm built to overcome holy things." Rina had a point there. Her magic was top tier lightning, so Vajra probably wasn't strong enough too take it.
"Yeah, and I'm sure beating me five on one is going to sound really good as a story later on." Quinn said with a joking smile.
"Who gives a fuck?" Terra demanded. "We aren't looking to tell a cool story, we're trying to beat you. I frankly don't give a fuck how we do it." Quinn shrugged.
"Well, if you think one more person is going to help your cause so much, than come and let's find out." The others attacked, but Rina stopped Steph.
"You stay with me," she said. Steph made a face.
"Why?" Rina grinned over at her.
"I might need a battery."
Juno kept working on Divine Territory as much as she could, but when Tristan was using it she didn't dare risk it. He already knew what she was doing by her guess, as he'd already tried to attack her. She just needed to make sure she got a hold of it before the next fifteen minutes were up.
"How's it going?" Nami asked from behind her.
"It's going,: Juno replied. "Not fast, but I'm working on it. You'd better have Graviton Strike readied up when I get this done." Nami let out a laugh.
"Don't worry, we'll get this guy. Juno hoped that was true, because at the moment they weren't in a good place. From the explosions and cursing she guessed Simon was keeping Tristan at bay, for how long though she couldn't guess.
At least fifteen minutes. At least that.
Please at least that.
Elise hoped the next fourteen minutes went smoothly, but so far they were in a bad place. She hadn't gotten close to Abigail since Gabriel had appeared, but she assumed that was sort of the point. She watched as Ultear and Reyna slid backwards away from the summoned angel like being, and grit her teeth.
"So, anyone have any ideas?" She asked.
"Not a single one," Ultear replied. "Reyna?"
"I'm drunk." Reyna replied simply. Reason enough for not having any ideas, Elise reasoned.
"Well we need to do something, or else we'll be the reason that we lose this fight." She said.
"I know," Ultear said. "But this huge angel looking thing is kinda being a problem."
"I see you are troubled." Gabriel said. "Is my strength unsettling?"
"Anyone ever tell you interrupting a conversation is rude?" Elise asked sarcastically. Gabriel made a face at this.
"Is that right? I see. Noted. Please continue." Elise made a shocked face as Abigail face palmed.
"Stop playing around, Gabriel!" She shouted. "Finish them off already!"
"Hush, mistress." Gabriel replied. "You're being rude." Elise watched this weakly, unsure as to what to do.
"So...That was odd," Reyna said.
"Agreed," Ultear said. "So, right now I'm thinking we-!"
BOOM!
Ultear was cut off as typhoons of flames, light and darkness rammed into Gabriel, forcing him backwards. Elise made a face at this as the angel regained his balance.
"You guys need some help?" Elise turned to find Kyoko standing there, smiling.
"Kyoko?" Ultear asked. "How did you find us?" Kyoko frowned.
"Really?" She asked. "I saw the gigantic white dude and figured someone might need my help."
"Ahaha," Ultear laughed weakly. "Right."
"Thanks for the backup." Elise said. "Remember the plan?"
"Take out that girl back there in the next fifteen minutes?" Kyoko asked. "Yep. Shall we get too it?" Elise nodded.
"Shouldn't waste anymore time."
As the hunter ran through the battlefield, he had to openly acknowledge the slaughters he was avoiding.
The guild that he had been issued to fight and their allies were giving them quite a trashing. He'd seen so many of his allies fall already, and at the moment he was attempting to deliver a message to Quinn of The Cross that a squadron needed backup. He had no doubt that he was probably busy, but he had no time to consider this. The others needed his help.
The hunter slowly came to a stop as a figure came into view. The figure was that of a young woman. Her clothes were tattered and she looked in bad shape, bright pink hair hanging low over her eyes as she walked. Walked was an overstatement, as she appeared to be limping forwards at a weak pace. He knew she wasn't one of them, but it was quite obvious she was in bad shape and was looking for assistance. What was he to do? Just leave her? Yes, of course. He had other things he was in the middle of doing, so he couldn't-
His thoughts were cut off as the girl came to a stop roughly thirty feet away from him. He made a face as she stood there, staring at the ground. But slowly, she raised her head to look up.
The Hunter froze in fear. Glaring at him through pink bangs were eyes glazed over with anger and a dark red color. Pure unchecked power radiated from her now. She hadn't moved her gaze from him yet, and he couldn't move his either. He didn't know what he was looking at.
And then, she began to walk towards him. He couldn't back up, he was too scared of whatever he was seeing.
"Must..." He heard her growl out, voice distorted and full of hate. "Must...Protect...Must...Her," She said, coming to a stop right in front of him. She slowly stood up straight and cracked her back. She then cracked her neck, and he watched as she breathed in slowly, before opening her dark red eyes once more. It seemed as though whatever damage he'd assumed she'd taken had just been shrugged off as if it was nothing.
"Must protect her," She hissed. "Must...Die." At this, her hand shot up and grabbed him by the neck. He let out a surprised gasp as the girl's grip on his neck strengthened, choking the life from him slowly.
"Please...Stop..." He managed to choke out. "Please..."
"Die," The girl said simply. "Die. Die! Di-!"
BOOM!
At this distance explosion, the grip on his neck loosened. Soon he collapsed to the ground, coughing and trying to get a breath in. He looked up weakly to see the girl watching the horizon. Turning around, he watched explosions of red and purple flames going off a distance away from them.
"Must protect her," The being stated. "Must die." At this, she looked down at him, making him squeak in fright. After a few seconds, a heat wave came over the area. He felt his head spinning as the head intensified, and he dropped back down and looked around weakly. His eyes fixated on the form of the woman in the distance as she walked towards the explosions.
But were those horns made of flames on her head?
"Must die." He heard it say as he began to pass out. "All die to protect her."
Almost done with the arc! Remember to tell me what you guys think! I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!
Chapter 263: Etherious Nashi Dragneel