To Each Their Own Battle

The rumblings of the upper floors could be heard down below as Erza's squad continued to clash with the members of Oracion Seis. Even among the fierce fighting on the bottom of the tower between Oracion Seis' allied guilds and Fairy Tail, they could all feel the force of the upper level battles.
"They must really be going at it up there." Macao commented standing back to back with Wakaba as they continued to fight off enemies.
"Yeah, I hope they're alright." Wakaba added summoning a smoke fist to take down an enemy.
"They're fine." Elfman interjected joining the pair as they stared off another wave of enemies. His magical energy began to swell.
FULL BODY TAKEOVER: BEAST SOUL
In a flash Elfman's body had turned into the massive and imposing frame of the Beast. He began swatting dark wizards left and right as they ran in fear. "We just gotta be real men and hold the fort till they get back." He roared as he mowed down enemies.
WATER SLICER
Juvia sent the scythe shaped water at frightening speed through crowds of assembled enemies thinning their ranks with each successive hit, but they kept on coming. I hope Gray and the others are alright. She thought to herself as she briefly looked concerned at the shaking ceiling and dodging enemy attacks.
…
"Lying down on the job Titania?!" Cardinal yelled as he came crashing down from the ceiling fist first at a downed Erza.
Erza placed her hands on the ground next to her head and pushed, flipping her body backwards to avoid the attack. She slid a fair distance and stuck her sword in the ground to stop her momentum. She looked up panting at Cardinal whose face was painted with a confident smirk.
'What's wrong with you Titania? You're way slower than before, don't tell me you've put on weight." He mocked as he rushed again.
Erza dodged his jabs and managed to discourage him and him jumping back by swinging her sword towards his stomach. Erza knew that Cardinal was right, she had gotten a bit sluggish much to her annoyance.
She felt the blood flow from the cut under her eye as it dripped onto the ground below. I don't have time to waste. I have to regroup with Natsu & the others.
"Don't tell me you're tired already? We haven't got to the fun part yet." Cardinal grinned and pulled back his left arm, his fingers glowing bright red. Erza felt the gravity shift slightly and her eyes narrowed in anticipation for the attack. What is this?
CRUSH TALON
Cardinal cried out, suddenly swinging his arm forward. Erza saw what looked like a bird's claws racing towards her, crushing the air in its path.
She strafed towards the wall on her left and watched the claw crash into the wall previously behind her, slowly compressing the stone until a giant hole appeared, flooding with the rays of the shining sun.
Cardinal shook his hand back and forth to get the feeling back in it, he then brought it to his face and blew air into his palm. "You like that?" he asked a still astounded Erza as he clenched his fist. "It's a new technique I learned. Pretty effective but it hurts like hell after I use it." He noticed the shocked look on Erza's face. "What's wrong? Did I scare ya? I'm surprised you dodged. The gravity increases the closer it gets to its target, so I thought you wouldn't be able to move." He pointed out.
Erza clenched her Blackwing sword tightly as she looked at the hole in the wall. If that had hit me head on I would have died for sure. She then noticed that Cardinal was wrapping his hand with a piece of his shirt.
It seems the attack takes a toll on him so he can only use it a certain number of times, and it takes a bit of time to prepare. She regained her bearings and stood straight up, exchanging her sword for her black wing axes.
Cardinal dashed towards her. "You think I'm gonna give you time to attack you're dead wrong Titania!"
Erza threw her axes at Cardinal. The white haired wizard smirking as he shifted gravity so that axes fell heavily to the ground. He continued racing forward, "You have to do better than tha-"
Suddenly Erza was right in front of his face, her right arm pulled back.
"When did you-"
BAM!
Erza's fist collided with astonishing impact sending Cardinal flying to the wall behind him. He slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He felt the blood flowing from his now broken nose and looked in front of himself. Again Erza was standing before him, having once again requipped. She was wearing a red and yellow hakama, her breasts wrapped with what appeared to be bandages and her long red hair was now tied in a ponytail.
She summoned twin katana's and gave Cardinal an apathetic look devoid of any sympathy or mercy. "I apologize, but I no longer have time to play with you."
…
SKY DRAGON ROAR
Wendy attacked with all her might but no matter how hard she tried the giant in front of her didn't budge.
"You might as well be using a hair dryer as your attack." said Angel with a mocking laugh still sitting on her bed with her legs crossed, jostling a few golden colored coins in her hand.
Nothing's working. Wendy thought as she floated back down to the ground. She looked up and locked eyes with a giant man shaped figure. It had a full beard and wings protruding from its back, a toga covering its body as it sported a giant golden hammer in one of its four arms. Wendy then looked back at Angel and saw the woman gleefully flipping coins in the air. I think I figured it out.
"This is fight is so easy I should be offended." Angel mocked, "You really are out of your depth here little girl. You should have let blondie stay, she would have put up more of fight." Angel began to laugh.
Suddenly Wendy was descending upon Angel from the air, a gust of wind emanating from the bent fingers of her raised right hand, striking downward.
SKY DRAGON CRUSHING FANG
Angel slid against the floor narrowly escaping the attack. Still clutching her coins tightly in her hand, she watched her bed fall to pieces from Wendy's strike.
Wendy jumped back, narrowly escaping a downward hammer strike from the still imposing giant.
When did she- Angel had little time to think as torrent of wind headed her way.
"PROTECT ME!" She cried shrilly causing the giant angel to place its hand between Angel and the whirlwind, the young woman covering her eyes from the debris flying her way.
Angel's eyes widened again when a chill flew up her spine, she turned around and saw Wendy, the young girl giving her a determined look.
"I'm sorry but I have to end this quickly so I can join my friends."
…
Natsu and the others looked at the stage in the third floor room as the lights suddenly went out. A lone spotlight shone on the empty stage as a figure approached the light from the right of the stage.
Upon the illuminated stage stood a man no older than 30, he was built like an ox, a fur coat draped over his broad shoulders. Above his right eye was a cross shaped scar, the top of which was covered by the bangs of his steel gray hair. He wore a white shirt with a v-collar under the coat, and the group could see the Oracion Seis mark on his left pectoral.
His arms were crossed across his chest and nearly every muscle from his biceps was visible. Aura's eyes slowly began to widen as she recognized the man. "Romero?"
"Romero?" Gray asked in confirmation, "The guy we fought in Lumina?" He turned his attention back to the stage, "When did he join Oracion Seis?"
"I don't like this." Lucy said nervously.
"Looks like another obstacle to me." Gajeel commented.
Natsu on the other hand looked lost. "Who is this guy again?"
Everyone sweat dropped.
"I know you're bad at names Natsu but come on." Lucy said. "He was the head of the Nightshade guild? The guys who kidnapped you? The guys we ran out of Lumina?" Lucy tried to jog the dragon slayer's memory.
Natsu slammed his palm into his open hand with eyes wide open in realization. "Oh yeah! Now I remember. What's he doing here?"
"Well I'm supposed to stop you from reaching the top of the tower but I could care less about that." Romero said. "I just want her." He raised his finger, pointing it at Aura. "The rest of you can get lost."
Aura returned his point with a defiant glare.
"What do you want with her?" Lucy asked, "We're the ones who drove you guys out of town and destroyed your guild hall."
"Guild halls are just buildings, they can be rebuilt and we could always take over another town. We may be a lot of things in Nightshade: thieves, liars, killers, but at the end of the day we still have a code. You remember what is it is right? Arana?"
"You live in the shadows, you die in the light." Aura answered.
"What's that mean?" Gray asked.
"Essentially it means we don't tolerate traitors in our guild. Leaving without the Master's say so is punishable by death, but you know that already don't you Arana?" Romero said with a sly smirk.
"What does he mean by that Aura?" Lucy asked more scared than curious.
"He just wants me, so the rest of you keep going." Aura answered ignoring Lucy's question.
"She's right let's go." Gray said motioning towards the door on the far left wall. Natsu, Lucy, Gray, & Gajeel began to head towards the door but Lucy looked back concerned. Be careful.
Aura jumped onto a slot machine and pushed off towards the stage, coming down with a hard kick from the air which caused the stage to buckle from the pressure. Even when only using a third of her power Aura managed to cause a good amount of damage.
Natsu and the others felt the shockwave and ran faster towards the door. "Wait up guys!" Lucy yelled lagging behind.
"You know I always wanted to fight you." Romero said with a smirk from under Aura's leg, having used his forearm to block the kick. He swiped upward as Aura jumped into a purple magic circle above her, appearing on a slot machine seconds later.
"I see you've gotten better. Before you could barely keep up with me."
Aura smirked and ducked towards a surprised Romero, clenching her fist and striking his chin with a hard uppercut, pulling the force back just enough so he wouldn't fall unconscious.
Romero stepped back and rubbed his chin as blood dripped from his mouth.
"That's one of the things I couldn't stand about you, boss" Aura said mockingly. "You talk too much."
Romero rushed Aura and the two clashed, their back and forth blows creating shockwaves on the floor, overturning slot machines and game tables. The dust began to settles as Lucy looked on in fear at the fierce battle from one of the overturned machines.
"Why do I always end up in situations like this?" Lucy whined as she rubbed the bump at the top of her head.
…
The remaining wizards ascended the stairs to the next room. "Whew that was a close one." Natsu said relieved as they stopped to catch their breaths.
"Yeah, we barely made it out. Aura could have at least waited until we were gone to attack. Is everyone alright?" Gray asked looking around.
"I'm fine." Natsu said.
"Me too." Gajeel added.
"What about you Lucy?" Gray asked but received no answer. "Lucy? Are you-" He turned his head and his eyes widened. "Guys, I think we lost Lucy."
"What?!" Natsu shouted.
"That dumb girl would get lost." Gajeel said as he shook his head.
"I think she's on the last floor." Gray said.
"Then she's fine." Natsu said turning his attention back to the top of the stairs. "Aura won't let anything happen to her. Let's go."
The three made it to the next door and opened it, revealing a room similar to the first floor, except that the ground was misshapen with odd bumps and protrusions coming up from it.
"Someone's interior decorating sucks." Gray commented touching one of the bumps as the trio walked through the room.
"I wonder what weirdo we're gonna be fighting this time." Gajeel commented.
"Yeah I-GAH!" Natsu yelled in pain as a force slung him into one of the protrusions.
"Natsu! UGH!" another hit sent Gray in a different direction.
Gajeel's hand transformed into a club in an attempt to preempt the attack, but he too was knocked into the wall by the unknown force.
"What the hell was that-AAH!" Gray once again felt the force hit him in the stomach.
"Gray! Ugh!" Natsu flew towards the door the group emerged from.
"I've had enough of this crap." Gajeel puffed out his cheeks and his magic energy began to swell.
IRON DRAGON'S ROAR
The gust of iron infused air shredded all of the bumps and protrusions coming up from the ground, eliminating any hiding areas their unknown assailant could use.
"Now you have nowhere to hide you bastard." Gajeel said with a smirk.
"Man you guys are slow." A voice echoed through the room.
"I know that voice." Gray said as he stood back up. "Come out Racer!" Gray called out as Natsu walked up to him.
"Nice to see you still remember me Ice Wizard." The voice called again as a slender man walked from behind one of the few remaining protrusions. Sure enough it was Racer, the self-proclaimed fastest wizard alive. "I'm sort of surprised you guys made it this far."
"You want a rematch?" Gray said cracking his knuckles.
"As much as I would love that, my job is to make sure none of you make it to the top floor." Racer replied.
"Well we can't waste time on you." Natsu dashed towards the door but was quickly struck by a kick that sent him flying back.
"Natsu!" Gray yelled.
"You guys are too slow to get past me." Racer said cracking his knuckles, "This is the end of the line for you." He raced towards Gray at a quickened pace.
ICE MAKE FLOOR
Gray placed his hands on the ground as the floor turned to ice. He had hoped to trip the speedster and allow a window of escape but that hope was quickly dashed when metal blades appeared under Racer's shoes.
"What the?" Gray said dodging a kick but another one sent him sliding back on his own ice.
"That's one down!" Racer yelled as he swung his leg at a downed Gray.
IRON DRAGON CLUB
An iron club caught Racer off guard, striking his ribs and sending him the wall. Gray followed the club as it retracted and saw Gajeel.
"Take Salamander and go, I'll handle this guy."
Gray nodded and ran to Natsu, slinging the dizzy Dragon Slayer's arm over his shoulder. They ran to the door but Racer was hot on their heels.
"I told you, you're too slow!" He reached but was soon discouraged when iron needles flew his direction. He managed to dodge but Natsu & Gray were already gone.
He turned his attention towards Gajeel who was clenching his fist. "And I told you that you're mine."
…
Gray crashed through the next door and laid Natsu against the wall. "Wake up idiot!" he slapped Natsu across the face.
"What the hell was that for? You wanna fight frost breath? Wait, where are we?" Natsu said turning his attention from Gray to the empty room they were in. "What happened to that Racer guy?"
"Gajeel's taking care of him."
Natsu stood up and looked around once again. "The place is empty."
Gray stood up next to him, "Well we know someone's here, the question is who."
"I knew you'd make it here Salamander." A disembodied called out from the shadows. "The Ice wizard not so much."
"Mind saying that to my face jerk?" Gray said irritated as he and Natsu stood back to back to prepare for an attack.
A purple snake slithered from shadows of the corner of the west wall, a man in a white coat stepping in rhythm with it. Natsu recognized the duo anywhere.
"I was hoping that the other two Dragon Slayer's would have come up here as well, them or Titania; but I guess I can settle for a rematch."
"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm gonna fight you." Gray said stepping forward. "No need for Natsu to waste his time beating you to a pulp."
Cobra smirked, "You've got quite the mouth on you snow cone. You might wanna be careful."
"Or what?" Gray said defiantly, "You gonna sic your pet garden snake at me?"
Cubellios hissed but Cobra quelled her rage by patting her head. "You know, I think Cubellios could use a nice frozen dinner."
"Gray, be careful he's-"
"I know, he's the poison Dragon Slayer. Just get to the top floor already, you're just gonna get in my way." Gray smirked still staring at Cobra.
Natsu grinned and ran towards the door, "You better not lose streaker."
"I've been beating up Dragon Slayer's since I was a kid, this guy's nothing."
Natsu soon left them and entered the door.
"I don't know how you expect Salamander to beat Midnight when he reaches the top floor." Cobra scoffed.
"So that's whose leading you rejects, but I wouldn't worry about Natsu. You should be focusing on me for right now." Gray pulled back his hands as they began to mist over.
Cobra grinned and let his hands fall to his side as his hands began to glow deep purple.
…
Natsu reached the top of the last flight of stairs and was slightly surprised to see a door much bigger than the previous ones in his path. Getting over his awe he threw a hard flame fist at the door, burning it to ashes.
He stepped into the room and was shocked at his discovery. Inside, between the two opposite facing couches and the luxurious carpet stood a giant lacrima. Although it was in the back it took up more than a third of the rooms total area. Natsu's eyes trailed down and saw a man suspended inside the giant crystal, his arms spread out to his sides as if he had been crucified.
"So you're the one who made it to the top of the tower? I can't say I'm all that surprised." A voice called, catching Natsu's attention.
A man appeared next to Natsu, causing the Dragon Slayer to jump back in surprise.
The mysterious figure turned to Natsu. "Who are you?" Natsu asked much to the man's annoyance.
"I knew you were dense, but this is ridiculous. I'm Midnight of Oracion Seis, Brain was my father."
Natsu squinted his eyes, trying to remember his new opponent. "Oh yeah! You're they guy that was sleeping on that flying carpet. So you're the one leading Oracion Seis?"
"Yes I am. I took my father's position after you and your allied guilds wrongfully opposed us."
"You tried to destroy Wendy's guild using Nirvana!" Natsu protested.
"Even so I will carry on his mission to vanquish all light in the world, using him!" He pointed at the man in the lacrima.
"Is that him?" Natsu questioned.
"Yes it is. That is Draven, the legendary dark wizard whose power rivals that of Zeref. With his power, Oracion Seis will usher in a new age of darkness!"
Natsu dashed forward, his fist colliding with Midnight's palm and causing the ground under them to crack. "I'm not gonna let that happen."
Midnight smiled maniacally, "I will enjoy watching you try."