From Six to Zero

Right after Midnight's defeat, Natsu's screaming could be heard from below the King's Summit. He was running to attack Brain's sentient staff. But it bent itself, allowing him to avoid Natsu's punch. He then slapped Natsu on his back and sent him rolling towards a wall.
"Natsu! Great." Gray groaned as he got ready to attack.
Happy was pointing at Natsu with a very serious expression. "Look at him tumble Lucy!"
Lucy, who wanted to laugh, had her hand over her mouth. "Well, I don't think that's the main point here…"
Ping who was standing beside them sighed. "I thought you were going to say something serious for a second there…" she ran into the battle and unsheathed one of her blades she was attempting to cut the staff in two but somehow if was flying over and around her strikes. "Stay still you little-" she was struck right in the back, forcing her to the ground.
Gray was charging towards it. "Ice-Make…" he couldn't finish his spell however because he was struck in the gut by the skull of the staff.
Natsu quickly caught the back of the staff. "Caught ya!" Natsu said and he was fuming from the earlier bruise he got from rolling on the ground.
Toph smirked "Hold him down Natsu, I've got-" she couldn't finish her plan because she was struck in the head by the moving staff; soon he stretched to hit Gray who was close by too.
"This is completely ridiculous!" Toph exclaimed but the stick struck her in the gut this time as Natsu was struggling to keep his hold on it.
"Stop moving around!" Natsu yelled.
Suddenly Natsu, Gray and Toph's faces came together. "Hold it down properly, you dolt!" Gray growled.
"Try dodging it instead, you jerk!" Natsu snarled.
"You try dodging when you can't see, dumbass!" Toph angrily said.
Soon the three of them were fighting in a dust cloud and the staff looked to be egging them on.
Lucy, Aang, Ping, Sokka and Happy could only watch in slight disbelief as Toph, Natsu and Gray were locked into a fight with each other. Lucy only let out a single groan.
"Hey, uh are they always like this?" Ping asked Aang.
"Oh yeah, all the time." Aang admitted with a large sweat drop falling down his face.
"This battle isn't pretty." Happy said, with a similar sweat drop falling from his face too.
The staff suddenly stared menacingly at the others, frightening both Lucy and Ping. "Here we go again! The usual…" Lucy said while she tried to feign a smile.
"The usual over self-consciousness?" Happy comically asked, this question quickly irked Lucy.
"NO!" Lucy angrily yelled. "The usual 'It's such trouble being so cute!'" Lucy was surrounded by sparkles and she tried to make herself look like the damsel in distress.
Sokka snorted a laugh in the background. "Looks like Lucy broke!" Happy exclaimed to Aang, Ping and Sokka.
"Um and Lucy…?" Ping asked, trying to figure out if this is a thing she did often.
"Way more times than you'd think…" Aang said while he let out a sigh.
The staff looked disappointed. "Oh, it's just a kid. Such a disappointment…"
"A KID!?" Lucy screamed in shock.
This distraction allowed Natsu, Gray and Toph to charge to the staff. "Now!" Gray exclaimed. The three were confident that they were finally going to land a hit.
At the same time, Sokka, Aang and Ping charged forward too. "We've got you now!" Sokka exclaimed. But the stick shot into the air and all six of them comically crashed into each other.
"Watch where you're going!" Sokka exclaimed.
"You watch where you're going, Ponytail!" Gray exclaimed.
The staff was floating above them. "You brats." The orb in his skull mouth shone blue and he shot out blue electrical pulses to the group.
"Oh no!" Lucy yelled.
"This guy is actually strong!" Happy observed.
"What's wrong? Is all you got your youth? Youth alone isn't going to beat me!" he quickly avoided a lightning strike and it was seen that Aang had fired by redirecting the lightning from his earlier attack.
"Funny you say that, since I'm technically over one hundred years old." Aang quipped with a smirk.
"Damn you, you young'ns always showin' off your young selves, you!" the staff said, he turned away from the group for some reason.
"I think he might be self-conscious about his age." Lucy said.
"Aye…" Happy agreed.
The staff suddenly looked to them, his serious expression returning. "You want some more, huh?" Sokka said.
"Right on the mark!" Lucy said, still referencing the staff frustration at being old.
"No, I think it's something else…" Happy said, a drop of sweat was falling from the back of his head. Within the staff's orb, he sees the defeated bodies of Racer, Angel, Hoteye, Cobra, and Midnight. When he saw Midnight's body, Jellal, Erza and Zuko could be seen walking from him. Finally he saw Brain's body.
"N-no… Impossible! All six… All Six Generals are wiped out!" Another stripe faded from Brain's face.
The staff is so shocked that the orb in his mouth fell to the ground and cracked because his mouth was agape for so long.
"No, this is bad! Very bad!"
"Maybe for you, stick!" Toph said.
"Wait; if all the six generals are defeated… then that's good right?" Ping asked.
"Of course it's good!" Sokka exclaimed. "It means we won, the Oracion Seis is done for."
"No…No… you have no idea what you have just done!" The staff continued. "He is coming."
"He?" Lucy repeated.
"What is he talking about?" Gray asked.
"There's someone else?" Happy said shrugging his shoulders. "Don't tell me the eighth?"
Back with Brain, all the remaining lines on his body let out bright yellow pulses before light began shooting out from the lines on his body. When the light faded, the ground around Brain started to shake. His eyes opened and his sclera had turned red and his skin became a pale white.
The staff was shaking, which confused the others. 
"Hey, what are you talking about?" Aang asked, but he received no answer from the staff.
"He's juicing like crazy!" Happy said.
"You mean sweat." Lucy said, correcting Happy.
"Like it matters!" Toph yelled. "Hey, stick! Tell us what's going on, or I'll snap your body in two!"
"Brain…" he muttered.
"Huh?" Gray questioned.
"If you're talking about him, The old man and Toph beat him." Natsu said.
"No… you're wrong. Brain has another personality…" the staff replied.
"Um… I'm not following…" Ping said.
"There is the front face, codenamed Brain, who holds so much knowledge. On the surface he is a calm and calculating individual. However, there is the back face, codenamed Zero, who is one of pure malice and loves nothing but destruction." He explained.
"Loves destruction?" Lucy said.
"I don't like the sound of that." Aang added.
"Big deal!" Toph said. "Do you know how many guys we've fought that 'love destruction'. We'll beat this Zero guy, no sweat."
The staff quickly corrected her. "NO! You are gravely mistaken! Due to his overwhelming, evil magical powers, Brain sealed that existence away himself with six keys."
"Wait… those keys are… the Oracion Seis…" Gray realized.
"So that's why he's named Zero." Sokka said. "Seis means six, and since we defeated them, there is nothing left, that's why he's named Zero."
"Exactly, and when the Six Generals fall, and their Body Link magic is broken, the personality of Zero will be reborn once again…"
"So that's why they fought so hard, because it was a way to keep Zero from waking up." Aang realized.
"This sounds like fun!" Natsu said.
"You didn't hear a thing he just said, did you?" Ping asked.
Toph's eye shrank slightly. "Guys someone's coming! He's like Brain, but it feels different…"
"Same here…" Ping said. "It feels like Brain, but a lot more… twisted."
Suddenly, someone busts into the room through a wall and the staff is screaming in sheer terror. As the figure comes closer, the staff quickly bows down to him. "W-welcome back, Master Zero!"
"Master?" Lucy questioned.
Zero looked down to the staff. "Klodoa, it seems things have gotten quite interesting. Even that Midnight was beaten?"
Klodoa the staff quickly looked up at Brain and was sweating rapidly. "I-I apologize, master!"
"Although, it sure has been a while, to have this feeling… To have this body… This voice!" Zero raised his hand. "This magic! It all brings me back." He clenched his fist and sparks of black, red lightning was surrounding his arm. When he looked to the group, his eyes locked on Aang. "Hmm. A young boy with arrow tattoos, you wouldn't happen to be the Avatar I've heard so much about, would you?"
"You're right, I am the Avatar!" Aang sternly said.
"I must confess I'm rather excited. It's not too often one comes face to face with a god."
"Why do all of you people say that?" Aang asked. "I know you just want to use me for your own sick gain! It's not going to happen!"
"You misunderstand. Brain was the one who wanted to control you. As for me…" A wicked smile appeared on Zero's face. "I want to see your broken and mutilated body stained across the ground!"
The whole group was freaked out by what he just said. 
"T-that's disgusting!" Ping said before she unsheathed both her blades.
"Stand back Klodoa." Zero said as he removed Brain's cloak, revealing his pale body. Klodoa moved as far as he could from Zero. Bright green magic suddenly surged around Zero's body and the top half of his clothes changed to that of an actual war general. "You little brats." Aang, Natsu, Gray and Toph glared at him while Lucy, Sokka, Ping and Happy were terrified, though they did their best to hide it. Ping and Lucy were trying to keep strong faces, but both of them were shivering. "You sure made a mess out of my guild. As its master, I will make you pay for that."
"He's… the guildmaster of Oracion Seis?" Lucy said while still shivering. Zero's body was surrounded by a green outline and the whole ground was shaking. "The ground is shaking from his magic power?"
"Gettin' fired up, Natsu?" Gray asked with a smirk.
Natsu only smirked back. "I've never felt magic power this nasty!"
"It makes it all the more satisfying when we beat him!" Toph said.
"That's right. I'll start by erasing this baldy who hurt this body's Brain!" Zero charged up a green ball of energy and a black and purple magic circle appeared in front of him. He fired the attack which split into smaller but powerful green energy blasts. Jura was primed to take the attack but suddenly Toph was in front of him and she raised rows of walls that blocked Zero's attack, similar to Jura's Rock Iron Wall.
"Talk about cowardly!" Toph said as she kept the walls up, some of the walls were breaking down. Toph then made an earth wave on both her feet and was charging towards Zero. "I kick Brain's ass already bub! I can easily kick yours too!" Zero stepped on the ground and the ground underneath Toph exploded, stopping her attack. She hit the ground hard and she was lifted up from her hair.
"Don't be so confident little girl. I am far stronger than that weakling Brain!" he threw her at the walls she created earlier and after she hit the wall hard and fell to the floor.
Gray stood in front of her and was going to defend her. Zero shot another blast towards Toph and Gray. Toph put up a wall but it wasn't enough, and Gray made large ice shards in front of the rock wall. However the blast tore right through the rock and ice walls engulfing both Toph, Gray and Jura, sending the both of them flying.
"Old man!" Natsu yelled.
"Toph!" Lucy yelled in similar worry.
"Gray too." Sokka said.
"I don't care whether it is a child or old man. As long as it has form, it's just as fun to destroy!" Zero said.
Natsu leaped up and engulfed his right fist in flames he shot forward and his attack was blocked by a black and purple seal that Zero put up. "Why you!" Zero then put his finger on Natsu's stomach and he was suddenly shot up to the ceiling.
Suddenly a swarm of Pings were about to leap on Zero and he engulfed himself in green energy, created a shock-wave that made all the shadow Pings fade. From his blind spot, he heard footsteps and he shot a beam and it only made the clone fade. The real Ping leaped in from the ceiling and the edge of her blade was shining blue. Zero knocked her away and she slid on her feet, she quickly got back up and generated four illusion blades that were colored bright yellow. She charged forward to Zero and she was trying to slice him but Zero looked to be blocking each of the blades with his arms, though they caused tears to his uniform, he didn't mind in the slightest. He palmed her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her before he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.
"So you are that girl that was effected by Nirvana…" Ping continued to glared at him before his grip tightened, she let out a loud scream, which meant that she had lost the last of her breath. "Good, bad… it doesn't matter to me. Only destruction matters." He threw Ping to a wall where she had hit it so hard that cracks in the wall were being made, her swords fell to the ground as she lost consciousness.
A bright yellow beam was heading for Zero but he shot a green wave of energy that cut through it. Sokka who fired the beam from his sword was forced to the wall and he landed on his stomach. "That's it… I'm out…"
Aang glared at Zero. "That's it!" his arrows tattoos were glowing and he shot forward to Zero. His arms were covered in iron scales and the two engaged in a fist fight, Aang tried to throw cracked surfaces of the rock floor to Zero but he just blocked them and he grabbed Aang's right arm and started to crush it. When he screamed out in pain, the arrows quickly faded and Zero grabbed Aang by his chest and with green energy on the underside of his hand he bashed Aang into the ground. And the impact even made a small hole that Aang lay in. The Avatar was knocked unconscious from this attack
Zero chuckled to himself. "Pity, I had hoped to face you when you we're at your prime, Avatar." He was about to finish off Aang with a large green energy orb. "But we don't always get what we want."
"LEAVE HIM!" Zero heard.
He looked to the direction of Lucy and Happy who were the only ones left, both of them looked terrified. Happy was shaking on Lucy's leg. The words came out of Lucy's mouth.
"Oh, no!" Happpy yelled.
But Lucy on the other hand immediately fell silent right after she had saved Aang, but now Zero's attention was on her. "W-what'll we do… My body's frozen stiff…" Zero smirked and he started to walk towards her. Lucy had tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm scared…" Zero aimed his fist before he opened it into a palm and made a tremendous shock wave that blew Lucy and Happy. Both of them were instantly knocked out.
Without any real effort, Zero had defeated the group. Klodoa wanting to be spared from the same fate quickly decided to suck up to Zero. "Impressive, Mater Zero! Excellent work as always! Defeating these annoying brats like they were nothing!"
"But they still live…"
"Huh!?"
He looked down at his fallen adversaries, particularly Aang. "You're still alive, aren't you?" a dark green aura was surrounding him. "Stand up. YOU STILL HAVE FORM!" he psychotically yelled.
----Nirvana continued its march toward Cait Shelter. Zuko, Erza and Jellal continued walking through the ancient city. Jellal stops walking to nurse a pain on his arm. "Does it hurt?" Erza asked.
"No, I'm fine…" Jellal assured.
"You don't look very fine." Zuko said.
"I apologize…" Erza said, confusing both Jellal and Zuko. "I was in too much of a hurry to stop Nirvana. That wound… And the fact you'd used up nearly all your magic power… You were barely even able to stand, weren't you, Jellal?"
"No, it's okay. It doesn't change the fact that it was I who undid the seal on Nirvana. I have to do my part to destroy it."
"How long?" She muttered. Zuko and Jellal looked at her curiously. "How long must I continue to fight the unending wrongs in this world."
Zuko puts his hand on her shoulder. "By not doing it alone." Right as soon as he said this, a smile formed on Erza's face.
----Wendy, Katara and Carla had continued to through the city, searching for Jellal. Katara suddenly clutched her chest and she fell to her knees. She then saw a vision of Aang fighting a green dressed figure and it looked like he lost. This split second vision ended and Katara stood back up, but there was an aching pain in her chest, more specifically her heart.
"Katara, are you okay?" Wendy asked.
"I'm f-fine… I thought I saw something… but my heart… it hurts for some reason…"
"It's probably nothing." Carla said. Wendy suddenly looks to one of the many empty buildings. "What is it, Wendy?"
"I thought I heard something."
However inside the building was Dark Ping, as she had been following them for some time. "They'll lead me to the Avatar… Eventually, and when they do. He shall finally have his reckoning."
"Sheesh… how will we find anyone in this large city?" Carla asked.
Wendy dejectedly sat by a building. "What'll we do? It's no use… No matter how much we look, we won't find him!" Wendy sounded as if she was going to cry.
"Wendy…" Katara worriedly said.
"You getting weak-knees isn't going to help." Carla sternly said. "At this rate, Cait Shelter will be…"
"I know that!" Wendy said raising her voice. "I know, but what should I do?" she then hugged her knees.
"Well sitting here crying about it isn't going to do anything." Katara said.
"You should decide on one thing!" Carla said. Wendy started to listen. "Do you want to see Jellal? Do you want him to stop this thing?" Carla then pointed her paw to her. "If you chase two rabbits at once, you won't catch either!"
"You're right… Right now, we have to stop Nirvana!" Wendy said.
Carla nodded and Katara offered her hand to help Wendy up. "Just focus on one thing, and whatever it is don't lose sight of it." Katara said.
Wendy took her hand and got back up to her feet. "Right! Nirvana, it has to be stopped!"
Dark Ping continued to watch them. "About time they got moving. That stupid kid's moment was making me sick!"
----As Nirvana closed in on Cait Shelter, Zero and Klodoa were standing on the King's Summit and Klodoa was laughing. "I can see it! I can see it, Master Zero! Thank you for waiting! I can see it! There it is! I can see Cait Shelter!" he said in an over-excited tone. "That is the guild of the race that had sealed Nirvana for an eternity!" Klodoa was pointing the end of his stick body to Cait Shelter. "All we have to do is destroy them and then Nirvana can never be sealed again!" he continued to talk as he tried to hype up Zero. "Then we will conquer the world of the Avatar! Alrighty then!"
"This is stupid." Zero said with a bored expression. Klodoa was shocked as he turned to him. "...you heard me, Klodoa." He suddenly fries Klodoa's staff body with a green energy beam and the skull falls to his side.
"W-what, Master Zer-?" he isn't able to ask his question because Zero stomped on the skull, shattering to pieces, killing Klodoa.
"Destruction! All I want to do is destroy! Anything and everything! This will be my first shot! There's no reason. Until it no longer has a form left to destroy!"
----Minutes later after Wendy realized what she had to so, she and Katara continued running through the ancient city while Carla flew beside them. "That's him." Carla said.
"Jellal!" Wendy happily yelled.
"Wendy," Erza said seeing the trio.
"Katara too." Zuko said.
"You're safe? I'm glad."
"Where are the others…?" Zuko asked.
"They are trying to stop Nirvana right now." Katara answered.
"Jellal…" Wendy approached him with a smile but a thick water whip stood in her way.
"So you dare show your face, after everything you've done?" Katara said glaring at him.
"I-I don't understand…" Jellal said not remembering her.
"Then how about I make you!" Katara shot a jet of water to Jellal but a jet of fire quickly stopped the attack. "Zuko? What are you doing!?"
"Listen, Jellal has amnesia, he can barely remember anything."
Wendy looked concerned as she looked to Jellal. "Jellal… is this true…?"
"Who are you?" he replied.
"So it is true… He really did forget…" Wendy glumly thought.
"His memories are all jumbled up right now. He doesn't seem to remember about you, or me." Erza said.
Katara made her water return to her water skins. "Maybe that's true… but that still doesn't excuse him for everything that he has done."
"We can focus on that later…" Carla said. "Right now our main problem is trying to find a way to stop Nirvana."
"Fine, but after we are done… you are going to have a lot to answer for, Jellal."
"Did we know each other?" Jellal asked Wendy and Katara.
"I prefer not to think about it." Katara said folding her arms.
Carla immediately drew attention to the true situation. "Please don't tell me you've also forgotten how to stop Nirvana…!?"
"W-well…" there was a brief silence as Jellal tried to explain.
"Well what?" Katara rushed.
"A self-destruct magic circle will no longer work. I cannot think of any other way, I am sorry."
"Self-destruct magic circle?"
"It's a long story, trust me." Zuko said.
Carla then glared at him. 
"WHAT!? Then, what is going to happen to our guild?!" She asked in a panicked tone. "It's right ahead. If we don't stop it soon, then…"
"We already know… One of the Oracion Seis told us everything. Apparently the members are descendants of the ones who originally sealed Nirvana." Zuko explained.
"They intend to destroy Cait Shelter so Nirvana can never be sealed again." Erza said. Both she and Zuko had felt an uneasy feeling. "Zuko did you feel that?"
"Yes, it feels like someone is watching us."
"Wendy, didn't you say you heard something earlier?" Katara asked.
"I-I did, but I thought that was just me."
In the shadows behind a building that wasn't too far from them. Dark Ping continued to hide herself. "Jellal and Zuko… I still have unfinished business with them!" She made a purple, illusion katana but thinks better of it and makes it fade away. "No, killing them now would be non-beneficial if they don't lead me to the Avatar. Once they regroup, I'll kill every single one of them in a single stroke."
The giant city then starts to shake after it had stopped moving. A large hole in front of Nirvana was creating a purple swirl in front of it. It looked to be charging to unleash a tremendous blast. The cannon and Nirvana was aimed directly at Cait Shelter.
…
The members of Cait Shelter were huddled up with their old guild master and he was the only one who didn't seem to be afraid. "What are you so afraid of? This is our fate. Nabula. Punishment for our great sin!"
…
Zero was inside a lacrima chamber and he was laughing manically. "Everyone should just be DESTROYED!" He laughed as Nirvana continued to charge up.
…
'No information on Cait Shelter.' Ash thought to himself as he used Hibiki's Archive magic to find anything he could on Wendy's guild, but came up empty.
...
Erza, Zuko, Wendy, Katara, Jellal and Carla had looked off of the edge Nirvana to see its first target. "That's…"
"Cait Shelter!" Wendy cried.
"Are we too late?" Katara asked.
"Don't tell me… this light… this magic… Nirvana is going to fire!?" Erza questioned.
Wendy and Carla were horrified as the guild they had called home was about to destroyed, right in front of them.
"Oh no…" Carla said and she covered her eyes.
Wendy looked on the verge of tears. "No… STOP IT!" she cried out.
Nirvana fired its black and purple beam towards Cait Shelter, Zero was laughing from within the Lacrima chamber. The massive beam got closer and closer...
But from the sky a sharp projectile had hit one of Nirvana's legs and the beam veered upwards, just above the Cait Shelter guild.
"WHAT!?" Zero exclaimed.
After it missed many blue, magical projectiles were being shot down at Nirvana. The whole city began to topple to one side.
Wendy was about to lose her balance but Erza quickly caught her. Jellal and Zuko hung on but Jellal started to roll away after letting go. He was about to fall off the edge but a water whip caught him and he was being pulled by his stomach. "We're not done with you; you don't get to go that easily!" Katara exclaimed while she held onto Zuko's hand while he was holding onto a building.
Zero meanwhile was surprised at the outcome. 
"Nirvana's leg… Who could have done this!" He started looking around.
Dark Ping meanwhile remained hidden. "So the plot thickens… but that doesn't change my goal." She then looked up, seeing a figure high above the ancient city.
Erza, Zuko, Jellal, Wendy, Katara and Carla regrouped and also saw what was floating above them. What it was, was the powerful weapon under the ownership of Blue Pegasus. The magical bomber, Christina.
"Is that…?" Zuko started
"The magical bomber, Christina." Erza finished while she smiled.
"Is it on our side?" Jellal asked.
"Yes, but I thought it was shot down." Katara said. "How did…"
It wasn't too long before they all heard a ringing in their ears. "Can you hear me?" A familiar voice said. "Somebody… Anybody, respond!" From inside Christina, Hibiki was trying to link with everyone on Nirvana with a magical communication network. "Please, somebody respond!"
"Is that Hibiki?" Erza asked.
"Yes we're down here, we're mostly alright…" Katara said.
Hibiki saw the chibi-like faces of Erza, Katara, Wendy, Zuko and Carla. "Ah, I hear you Erza, and I see Katara, Zuko and Wendy are with you."
"By the way, I'm safe as well…" Ichiya said over the link as he was somewhere in the city.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about you." Zuko casually said.
"Meeen…"
Dark Ping was also in the link but she chose not to reveal herself, she used her shadow magic to mask her presence.
"So what happened?" Katara asked. "How did you get Christina back in the air?"
"We managed... somehow…" Hibiki said. The large airship had several holes in it, and smoke was trailing from some of those holes. "We're just a temporary alliance, so team work is all the more important. Lyon is using his Creation magic to replace the wing that was destroyed from their attack."
Lyon had created a makeshift wing that he was keeping together with his ice magic. 
"This is tough." He said.
"The hull that was split into pieces is being held together by Sherry's Doll Magic and Ren's Air Magic." Both of them were standing at the edge of the bow, using their magic to keep the hull together. Sherry complained about trying to keep the ship together and Ren simply tried to act cool about it. "The attack you saw before was Eve's Snow Magic."
"You guys…" Carla said as she was grateful to them for saving her and Wendy's guild.
"I fused together the magic bombs that Christina had on board," Eve said. "… but all we could take out was one leg…" Eve was struggling to stay conscious because he had used up so much magical power. "It's just that sturdy… and now… my…magic power is…" Eve soon collapsed. Ren and Sherry were struggling to keep the hull together and a crack was seen in one of the ice shards that Lyon put together to form the ice wing.
"We have to hold out longer!" He said while growling slightly due to his fatigue.
From the ground, they saw the magical bomber was lowering in altitude. Wendy was tearing up but they were tears of joy. "Thank you… Thank you, everyone."
Hibiki chuckled slightly. "As you can hear, we're reaching the limit of our magic power. We can't attack from the ship any longer. And I don't know for how much longer we will stay in the air." All those below were very concerned as they stared at the ship. "Don't worry about us. Just listen to this, before it's too late. It took a long time, but I finally found it inside the Archive! The way to stop Nirvana!" Everyone who heard this was shocked. Even Dark Ping who was listening in on this was quite shocked.
"Really?" Erza asked.
"Okay, well at least we have something to go on." Zuko said.
Hibiki started to explain his plan. "Nirvana has six leg-looking things, right? They're actually more like pipes that suck up magic energy from the earth itself. The lacrima that regulate that absorption are located where the 6 legs join the main body."
Zuko looked to be thinking. "So let me guess, we have to destroy those six lacrima, right?"
"Yes, but they have to be destroyed at the same time. If not, the other lacrima will regenerate the one that was destroyed."
"Destroying six lacrima in different places simultaneously?" Erza questioned. "But how?"
"We can do it if I coordinate the timing… But I don't think I can keep up the telepathy up that long." Before long, progress bars appeared above everyone who was in the link. Even one appeared over Dark Ping, funnily enough. "I've uploaded the timing to your brains."
The progress bars one everyone had completed simultaneously. 
"Huh, 20 minutes?" Wendy said.
"Nirvana is almost ready to fire again."
"Six Lacrima…" Erza said
"At the same time…" Zuko continued.
"I just know you all can do it!" Hibiki was fighting his own magic power fatigue as he struggled to keep the link alive "I believe in you!"
"Impossible!" they all heard, but this wasn't anyone they were familiar with.
"Who's that!?" Lyon asked.
"That sounds like…" Katara started.
"The one called Brain." Wendy finished.
"He's jacked my telepathy?" Hibiki said.
Dark Ping continued to listen in. "Ugh, what now!?"
"I am Zero!" he introduced. "Zero… The Master of Oracion Seis!" He said controlling the telepathy link.
"He's the master?" Zuko asked.
"First, let me praise you. I never thought there would be someone who could use Archive like Brain."
"I see. So he knew about Nirvana because of his Archive…" Hibiki thought.
"LISTEN WELL, wizards of the light! Starting now, I will destroy EVERYTHING! As a start, seven of your friends!"
"Meaning." Ryu demanded.
"N-no way, he couldn't have…" Katara said.
"A Dragon Slayer…, the self-proclaimed Greatest Earthbender, an Ice Creation Wizard… a female swordswoman, some pony-tailed idiot, and a Celestial Wizard, Haha, even the Avatar himself has fallen! Oh, and a cat too."
"Natsu and the others!" Hibiki yelled.
"No, he's got to be lying!" Wendy cried.
Katara thought back to the moment where she had a pain in her chest, she realized that it was at that same time that Aang was taken down. For some reason, she could feel his defeat. "N-no… that feeling I had earlier… I can't explain it but I saw it, even for a brief second. Aang was beaten… By him!"
Dark Ping continued to listen. "Well this guy just made my job easier. But why tell them this?"
Zero had a confident grin on his face as he continued to speak. "I believe you said something about destroying the lacrima at the same time? Right now, I am standing in front of one of those six lacrima!" Everyone except for Dark Ping had a concerned if not serious look on their faces. "As long as I am here, destroying all same time is impossible! Now, I direct this next message to two particular people: Fire Prince Zuko and the Avatar's little Waterbending girlfriend…" Katara and Zuko's eyes shrank as he was talking to them personally. "I want you two to know, that after I have completely obliterated this world, I have the intention of traveling to your world and destroying that as well! Fire Nation, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, it doesn't matter; every single man, woman and child will fall before my wrath!" He darkly said. Zero immediately cut the link and Hibiki could feel a shock going through his head.
"Zero cut off his transmission." Hibiki said.
Erza angrily punched her fist into her hand.
"H-he… he's a monster…" Katara said.
"So in order to destroy the lacrima, we have to beat Zero to do it." Zuko said with an angered expression.
"It seems then we have no choice but to split up and each head to a different place." Jellal said. "The chances of encountering Zero are 1 in 6. And what's more, unless it's you, Erza, there's no chance of winning against him."
"But that's the problem, we don't know where he is waiting... Plus Zero would slow us down, so one of us would need to beat him fast enough." Zuko said.
Carla was starting to wave her arms in panic. "He is right, even with the people we have, we couldn't possibly destroy them on our own as the same time! Plus what if it isn't Erza that meets Zero, what then?"
Wendy soon came to a stark realization. "I-I can't…" She turned to face the others. "I can't use any magic to destroy the lacrima. I'm sorry!" she apologetically bowed to the others.
"We'll need all the help we can get." Erza said. "Is there no one else that can move?" Erza asked looking up at Christina.
"My honey…" she heard through the telepathy. "Am I not still here? Although I am tied up…" wavy tears fell from his eyes and down through his cheeks as he was still tied up and he lay somewhere in the city.
"I didn't need to hear that…" Katara said. "But even so… that only makes five of us…"
Hibiki suddenly fell back. "Uh-oh! My magic power is… My telepathy is going to run out…"
"We just need one more! Someone answer me!" Erza yelled, hoping someone else would help them.
Dark Ping smiled at their hopeless situation. "Maybe I should just kill one of them now, just to make their situation even worse." She spitefully thought.
Wendy pointed to the sky. "Look! Christina is…" they all saw that Christina was falling from the sky.
"It's losing altitude." Carla noted.
The ice wing shattered. Lyon collapsed as he had no more magical power to hold it together. Sherry was next to suffer from fatigue as she fell to her back as well, leaving only Ren to hold together what is left of the hull. Lyon decided to use the telepathy to reach Gray. As futile as it seemed, he knew that they needed one more person to fight in order for Hibiki's plan to work.
"Gray… Stand up… You are a proud disciple of Ur, you aren't going to lose to the likes of them, are you!?"
Ren was holding Sherry up after she collapsed. "Lucy… I really hate you… Just 'cause you're a little cute, you think you're all that. But even though you're stupid and clumsy and a weakling… how can I hate you if you die?" tears were welling up in Sherry's eyes. "It wouldn't feel right… So answer me!"
Christina was getting closer and closer to the ground and it was out of view from those on the ground. Wendy quickly closed her eyes. "Natsu… please…"
"He-cat…" Carla muttered looking to the ground.
Zuko clenched his fist. "It's not going to end, not like this! I know you wouldn't let it, Toph. And Sokka, even though you're annoying at times, we could really use your help…"
Erza looked at Zuko and she shared similar wishes for her friends.
Katara looked up to the sky and she had her hands clasped together in front of her chest. "Aang, since coming to this world, you've only grown stronger, yet you are still the same person that I have cherished…" tears could be seen falling from her eyes. "I'm not ready to lose you… I never will be because… I love you, Aang!"
The knocked out body of Aang started to move slightly and his arrow tattoos were pulsing before they settled on their usual bright white glow.
From where Katara, Wendy and the others were standing, they heard a loud bang and saw a bright light shooting into the air, but that wasn't just any light. That was the light of the Avatar.
Aang got to his knees before he stood up fully, ignoring the pain. His arrows continued to shine, illuminating the area around him. The glow around his eyes faded and his real eyes could be seen
Natsu was slowly moving his body and recognized the light Aang was emitting and when he got up to one knee he was breathing heavily before he punched the ground as hard as he could.
Lucy and Gray heard the ground being punched and they both tried getting up, fighting the pain that was coursing through their bodies.
Same with Sokka and Toph, they both struggled to rise up as well. Slight movement was seen from Ping's finger tips as she tried to reach for one of her swords. Even Happy started to move slightly.
The light that Aang produced had faded and remained on his knees and started panting. Lucy tried standing up but she collapsed to a nearby broken down boulder. Gray slowly rose to his knees as well.
Toph managed to stand on one foot while her right hand was planted on the ground. Sokka held himself up with his sword until he was slowly rising to his feet.
Ping reached for her sword and she tightly gripped it before she slowly rose up. Happy, looked to be standing on his two paws but was looking down as he was shivering.
As Christina was heading for inevitable impact with the ground, Hibiki did his best to keep the telepathy going. 
"Can you hear our voices?" Hibiki said.
All of them were panting heavily and finally they all heard: "We…can… hear… you…" Natsu was the first to respond.
"We… heard... the plan... too…" Aang panted. Katara smiled when she heard him.
"We'll destroy… all… six lacrima… at… once." Gray said. A satisfied smirk was made by Lyon.
Lucy who was leaning on the wall was next. "And... a lucky one gets to fight Zero on the way, right?"
Toph weakly chuckled. "And… you can bet… it's going to be me…"
Happy who was trying his best to stand tall reminded them of the situation. "There's only 18 minutes left… We have to hurry; we're going to protect Carla and Wendy's guild!"
Sokka was wobbling to his feet. "Then why are we… just standing around here? We've got… a job to do…" Sokka then smirked. "No one beats Fairy Tail."
Hibiki was still keeping the communication going. "My telepathy is going to run out soon. You should have a map in your brains that I sent you. I numbered each of the lacrima." He said. "Decide on which one of you goes…" Christina began breaking down as it got close to the ground.
Natsu took a whiff of the air and he looked to Aang with a serious expression, with no need to exchange any words, the Avatar nodded in reply. "ONE!" they both said, immediately stating that they will take lacrima 1.
"TWO!" Gray and Toph yelled.
"I'll go to Three; I just hope Zero is not there." Lucy said while sweating nervously.
"If he is, you're going to need some help!" Sokka said.
"Then I'll take Four!" Ping said as she got to her knees. "Even though I don't have any friends with me… I'll still fight! We haven't been together for long, but I've decided that all of you are now my friends!"
"Ping…" Lucy said while smiling.
"I will head to four as well." Ichiya said over the link. "It would be rude of me to leave such a lovely lady alone. Plus my parfum tells me that it is the closest one to me." He said.
"Uh… have we met creepy voice person?" Ping asked. "Alright we'll meet there!"
Toph smirked. "Remind me to pound you when this is over, meathead!"
"I'll take five." Erza said.
"And so will I," Katara said.
"Erza! You doing okay?" Natsu said.
"Yeah… Thanks to her…" Erza said looking at Wendy.
"Katara, I'm glad you're okay." Aang said.
"Of course I am, I'm not reckless as you and Natsu, remember." She replied while smiling.
Jellal was next. "Then I'll…" but Zuko placed his arm in front of him, cutting him off.
"I'll take six." Zuko said to Jellal.
"Who was that just now?" Natsu asked.
"I swear I've heard that voice before…" Aang stated.
Zuko whispered to Jellal. "Aang and Natsu don't know about your situation and think you're an enemy. Just be quiet and help us." Jellal nodded in understanding.
Christina crashed into the forest below. 
"Hey!" Natsu yelled.
"You all heard that, right?" Sokka asked.
"The telepathy cut off…" Gray realized.
"Hibiki was at his limit…" Lucy said.
Toph started to stretch. "Well he gave us a window, so let's jump through it before Zero has a chance to fire that thing again!"
Back with Erza's group, they heard Christina crashed and they all bowed their heads hoping for the best.
"That makes 12." Carla said. "Two per lacrima, We have to hurry!"
Happy looked at the others, still maintaining his serious expression. "It sounds like we have enough people. Let's go! Whoever runs into Zero is responsible for defeating him! Everyone has their own place, and their own partners, after that there will be no backup!"
Ping giggled at Happy's words. "I never thought a cute cat like you would be serious… but, he's right… there is no turning back, this is the plan so we must stick with it!" she grabbed her other sword and placed both of them in her sheaths. "I'm heading to lacrima 4 to meet that mysterious stranger… oh and if something happens, like if I die or I turn evil again… I want you guys to know-"
"That's not going to happen!" Lucy exclaimed. "You are one of us now, Ping…"
"No one is dying today, so you better make sure you come back to us when all this is done!" Toph said.
Ping was blushing and her eyes became watery. "Thank you everyone… I must go!" she started to follow the map in her head to reach lacrima 4, her walk had a slight limp but she managed to keep moving. "Fairy Tail… I cannot fail them, especially not now… I will get to that lacrima, and destroy it!"
…
Dark Ping was still hiding as she had heard everything from Hibiki's telepathy link. "I'm glad that feely fest is over… This is perfect; I can just go to Lacrima 1 and take out both Natsu and the Avatar… Now it's time I made my move."
"Your name is Ping, isn't it?" she heard in her mind, she immediately knew that Zero linked with her mind. "I have a proposition for you."
"What makes you think I'll listen to anything you have to say?" Dark Ping asked.
Zero chuckled from behind the mind link. "Let's both be honest. You hate me and I have the intention of destroying your precious Fire Nation, so it is rather obvious you and I will fight, But we both share a common enemy, don't we?"
"What is your point?"
"The Avatar will likely come to face me, and will probably bring a friend along. I propose a temporary truce. First, you and I will slaughter the Avatar and whoever was unfortunate enough to accompany him. Once that is settled, you and I will be free to kill each other without any interruptions. So what do you say, my dear? Do we have a deal?"
Dark Ping started to smile maliciously. "Yes." She melted into the shadows around her and she started making her way to lacrima 1.
----Some time passed and Natsu and Aang both found themselves entering lacrima chamber 1. They were both panting as they arrived there, and they both saw Zero waiting for them, he smirked when he saw his two opponents. "You were right… He is here." Aang said.
"Yeah…" Natsu replied. "My nose doesn't lie."
"Heh, welcome; Dragon Slayer, and Avatar, It seems you two are harder to kill than I thought."
"If you really knew us, you'd know we wouldn't go down so easily." Aang said. "This time…" a hemisphere of wind was surrounding Aang. "I'm ready for you."
Natsu's senses quickly pick up something and he grabs on Aang and pulled him closer to him. A split second later a phantom blade impaled the ground Aang was standing on. Aang was panting after he saw that. "W-what was that…?"
They both saw Dark Ping landing next to Zero. "That was me… Avatar!" Dark Ping smirked at the two.
"I don't believe it!?" Aang exclaimed. "You double crossed us!?"
"You're going to pay for that, I'm going to beat you even harder than last time!" Natsu growled.
Zero chuckled. "This Ping isn't the one you know. This one was a clone of the original and Brain turned her into a dark twin of the original."
"Shut up with that original crap, after I kill her, I will be the one and only." Dark Ping said.
Zero looked to his temporary partner. "Take your pick, my dear. The Avatar or the Dragon Slayer?"
Dark Ping looked to Aang. "My target is the Avatar… however…" suddenly there was an explosion of dark energy around her, her veins were pumping some purple liquid, her hands and feet were turning black and her hair was standing up on end. "I have unfinished business with you, Natsu Dragneel!" her eyes then turned purple.
----"Natsu and Aang are at number 1." Saying this was Erza as her group had yet to split up. "Natsu has a good nose, and Aang probably went with him."
"T-then let's go and give them some back-up!" Wendy exclaimed. "If we all fight together…"
"You shouldn't underestimate them." Katara said. "Sure those two may be very different, but when they fight together, nothing can beat them. If we just let them do their thing, then we'll be fine."
Erza started to walk off. "Nat…su...? A…ang…?" Jellal said as he remembered hearing those names before.
"Anyway, we should head to our respective locations. I am five, Zuko, Jellal you are six."
"Got it." Zuko said
Jellal was suddenly holding his head. Erza gasped. "Jellal?"
"No… it's nothing…" he said.
Katara looked at him suspiciously as he led the way to lacrima 6. Zuko started following him. "Zuko… you better watch him… I still don't trust him." Katara thought.
Jellal continued walking and he held his head again. "Avatar Aang! Natsu Dragneel…!" He angrily remembered as he continued to walk with Zuko.
----Aang was trying to hit Zero with air blasts but Zero was effortlessly dodging the attacks. Aang then stepped hard on the ground and sent a wave of earth to Zero that ended in sharp shards stretching out from the ground, but Zero flew away from them.
"It's really a shame. If you we're at physical peak, this would have been a much more interesting fight." Zero said. Aang growled and he threw his fists to the ground making a massive earth wave shoot towards Zero, under the earth wave an explosion of fire then engulfed Zero. There was a massive smoke cloud and Zero simply stood there unaffected. "Hehe, you moved better than last time." Zero stretched out his left arm and a green energy was being generated from his fingertips. "Dark Capriccio!" he shot a green beam with orange, red swirls around it. It dug into the wall behind Aang. The avatar was running from the beam and he stopped. "Don't think I'm on the same level as Brain." He aimed is pointing fingers to Aang. Aang thanks to his seismic sense could feel where the beam was going to come from.
He then smirked. "You shouldn't underestimate me too…" he easily dodged the Dark Capriccio beam that shot out from under the ground. He boosted his speed with his air bending and his arrows glowed before iron shards covered his arms. "Iron Dragon's Bullet Punch!" he was throwing lightning quick punches and even Zero was struggling to avoid them, since Aang was reducing his wind resistance with each punch.
Zero managed to grab one of his fists and he used his free hand to control the Dark Capriccio beam which crashed into Aang. He wasn't expecting that attack and he was being hit side to side by the snaking dark Capriccio beam. "Don't toy with me, child! I will break you before you even use your full power!" Zero yelled.
At the same time, Dark Ping was chasing after Natsu who was avoiding her Graviton attacks and he jumped over her and his right fist ignited as he went for Zero. "OH NO, You will not ignore me!" she extended her shadow and a shadowy hand grabbed Natsu's leg and the extended shadow dragged Natsu back to Dark Ping. She generated two phantom katana blades. "Killing you will be satisfying!"
"I don't have time to deal with you!" Natsu exclaimed. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he let the shadow drag him towards her and both his fist and her phantom blade clashed. "You're a distraction! I have to help Aang!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Dark Ping's own shadow grew exponentially, so much so that it slightly freaked Natsu out. "You call me a mere distraction?! You will pay for that!" she made the blade on her left hand disappear and a red orb with shadows surrounding it, generated above her hand. "You dare… underestimate me… I am much stronger without me weaker half holding me back! And you'll be the first to see. Piercing Graviton!" a black and purple magic circle appeared in front of her and she shot the small energy orb to Natsu and it actually pierced right through his shoulder like a bullet. Natsu screamed in pain. "Aw, what's wrong. Did that hurt? That is how my pride as a Fire Nation soldier feels every time I lose to you Fairy Tail fools!" She began to chuckle as more Piercing Graviton orbs generated in front of her. "Make no mistake; I will savor this, every pained remark, every pained scream. I will make you suffer, Natsu Dragneel!"
Aang meanwhile was continuing to dodge the Dark Capriccio snake and he decided that he had enough. His hand was engulfed in a bright blue glow. "Ice Make: Geyser Wall!" he threw his arm down on the ground, a very large tower of ice crystals formed in front of Aang, the large tower managed to block the Dark Capriccio, though this made the ice crystals shatter. Aang was panting after blocking the attack.
"You're able to stop piercing magic… Interesting, I shouldn't expect less from the mighty Avatar." Aang heard Natsu scream as a flurry of very fast Piercing Graviton beams shot right through him, leaving holes all over his shirt.
"NATSU!" Aang exclaimed.
Natsu was still standing but his panting grew louder as he was in extreme pain. Dark Ping was smiling evilly. "Oh, you poor thing… I overdid it didn't I? Well I'll put you out of your misery… And you will remember who did this to yo-" Dark Ping was suddenly shocked when a fireball shot into Natsu and he flew onto his back. "Who did that!?" Dark Ping snarled. Both Aang and Natsu were shocked to see that it was Jellal, and he has his usual evil smile on his face. Dark Ping was furious. "You again?"
Natsu glared at him as he slid on his fingers. 
"Jellal!" He growled.
Zero smiled evilly. "Did your memories return?" He asked.
Aang stood in front of Natsu while both he and Natsu gave death glares to him. Jellal returned their glares with a confident evil smile, indicating that he had gotten his memories back and was ready to help Zero.
"Whatever!" Dark Ping said. "My revenge on you can wait…" her phantom blade re-appeared. "I am going to end this!" She sprinted to both Natsu and Aang, ready to kill them both to finally get her revenge and complete her mission.