Facin' Off

'Brianna's still injured, and there's absolutely no cover here.' Nicholas thought as served his surroundings. His hands began to gather sand and a magic seal appeared in front of him. "Sand Whirlwind!" He brought his hands together in a clapping motion. Sand flew at hundreds of miles at the hunters, obscuring their vision. When it finally died down, they looked at the cave, only to find it empty.
"Dammit, not again!" Suishou shouted in anger.
"Don't worry." He turned to Natsu, who was sniffing the air. "I got their scent. This way!" He yelled as he ran into the cave, lighting his fist on fire for light. "Lets go." Erza ordered and the rest followed into the cave, catching up to Natsu.
As they ran deeper into the cave, they eventually came to a wall of stone. "Not this time!" Natsu yelled. "Lucy!" "Right." She pulled out one of her keys.
"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull. Taurus!" A golden seal appeared from the ground and from it, Taurus rose, axe in its holder.
"Taurus, take that wall down!" "No prooooblem!" The spirit grabbed his axe and swung it at the wall, crushing it into tiny pieces. From the large hole created, the group could see the criminals running in a clearing.
"You ain't goin anywhere! Ice-Make Floor!" Gray shouted as he brought his hands to ground, freezing it. He channeled more of his magic, causing it to snake its way to the two criminals. When it caught up to them, they slipped and slid into nearby trees.
"Aw, come on!" Nicholas shouted as he struggled to his feet. Erza requiped a sword into her hand and pointed it at him. "Surrender!"
"Not a chance!" Nicholas said as he dropped into a fighting stance. "Come on, I'll take all of you on at once."
"Not alone, you won't." He turned to see Brianna on her feet, next to him. "I told you, me running wasn't gonna happen." She said with a smirk. He nodded, knowing this wasn't the time or place to argue. They turned and faced their pursuers.
"I'm fired up now!" Natsu said as he lit his fists on fire. "You must really be stupid." Gray added. "Its eight on two." "I admire your bravery, but that's all." Erza said as she requipped a second sword.
"Uh, where the heck did you get eight?" Nicholas asked.
"Hello, I'm here!" Lucy screamed, waving her fists in the air.
"Me two!" Happy mimicked Lucy as best he could.
"Okaay." Nicholas said confused at the sight before him.
'Even if it was six on two, they still out numbered us. Both of us are badly injured, and I know that medicine hasn't kicked in yet. No choice then.' He looked at Brianna who nodded in approval. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out two silver keys.
"Gate keys?" Lucy was shocked that any spirit would make a contract with a known criminal. She looked at the keys. The first came to a sharp point, it's bow was a circle and it's crest was a yellow heart with a line through it, but instead of a point, it came to a circle. The other key had nine long teeth on its blade. It's bow was shaped like a snakes head. In its crest area was a symbol in black. A circle that feed down into an almost strait S. Crossing over at the curves where two more of the same S like lines.
Nicholas waved the first key before bringing it to the ground. "Open, Gate of the Wasp Constellation. Vespa!"
A light blue seal appeared from the ground. Suddenly, a ball of light shot from it into the air. As it landed in front of him, the light began to take a humanoid form. When it finally faded, the group saw the Celestial Spirit. It was man wearing a yellow and black fighter pilots jacket, black leather pants and combat boots. From his back came six clear wings. His hair was yellow with black highlights and he had two antennas sticking out of his head. His eyes where covered by a pair of bug-eyed goggles and his mouth by a respirator which seemed to move. In his hands was a striped shotgun with what appeared to be a stinger sticking out.
"You summon me, Mazzzter?" Vespa asked.
"I did, but we're not ready to fight them yet. We need one more to even the odds." He then brought his second key to the ground. "Open, Gate of the Sea Monster. Hydra!"
"He can summon two at once?!" Erza asked surprised. The only other Celestial Spirit wizard she had seen was Lucy, and she could only bring out one at a time.
Another light blue seal appeared. This time, the ground began to shake. From the seal, a crack in the ground appeared and from that crack came a large amount of steam, all concentrated in height like a mountain. Suddenly, a large claw emerged from the crack, pulling a hulking frame from the crevice. From an apparent stump on its body rose nine heads, each with glowing red eyes. A deep growl came from the closest head. Almost everyone in the hunter group was shaking in fear. Everyone but Natsu and Erza.
But, as the smoke faded, they soon realized that their fears where misplaced. Instead of the gigantic beast they were expecting, what they got was something else. It was another man, this one in blue jeans, a white shirt and shoes. Strapped to his back was a large metal backpack with four holes on the top and two slots on each side. (Think piggy bank coin slots). His hair was purple with white and blue streaks and his face was covered by a mask that looked a green snake head.
"So, we gotta fight?" Hydra asked Nicholas. "Yeah, now the odds are evened." His contractor responded. "Alright, here's the plan. Vespa, take the blonde and the cat."
"Roger." Vespa took off and flew straight at the group.
"Waaaaaaahhh! Happy!" Lucy screamed at the cat, who then picked her up and flew with her.
"Flying won't save you from my stingerzzzzz." Vespa then began to fire his stingers from his gun.
"Hydra, the knight and the spirit." Nicholas ordered.
"Right." Hydra launched himself at Erza and Taurus. Both swung their weapons, but Hydra ducked them both and kicked Erza in the breast plate, sending her reeling.
"Lucky shot." Erza said as she Requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and charged at the spirit.
"Brianna, think you can handle Suishou and a stripper?" The man asked.
"You know it." She ran at her two opponents.
"Sorry, but I ain't goin' easy on you even if you are a girl." Gray said as he threw his jacket off.
"Wouldn't want it any other way." She said with smile.
"So, that leaves me with the demon, and pinky." Nicholas looked at the two remaining opponents.
"Get ready, punk. Cause I'm all fired up now." Natsu brought his fist into his palm.
"Your reign of terror ends today." Astoroth's wings grew out and he took to the air.
Natsu launched forward, his fist cocked back, ready to strike. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" He lit his fist on fire and swung, only for Nicholas to duck and deliver an uppercut to the jaw.
"Try this!" Astoroth shouted from above. "Evil Burst Stream!" He gathered black energy in his hands before bringing his hands out and a beam of darkness shot at Nicholas, who jumped to the side to avoid it.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu shot flames out of his mouth, aimed at Nicholas, who brought his arms up to try and block the attack. Behind him, Astoroth was charging a huge orb of black energy.
"Hellfire Blast!" Astoroth threw the orb at Nicholas, who heard the spell and rolled out of the way. The two attacks hit, resulting in a huge explosion. Somehow, Nicholas ended up behind Natsu. He then roundhouse kicked the pinkette, sending him reeling.
Natsu turned around, flames rolling of him. "Now your starting to piss me off!"
"Happy, keep going!" Lucy screamed as he flew around, trying to avoid all of Vespas stinger shots. "Aye!"
Erza, now in her Heaven's Wheel armor, flew above Hydra as Taurus held his attention. She flew behind the former for a sneak attack. "Blumenblatt!" She launched forward and swung the two swords in her hands.
Clank!
Her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Two robotic tendrils, one from each side of the pack, ending in robot snake heads, had shot out and caught her swords.
"Nice try." Hydra sneered at her. The heads of the tendrils flung Erza by her swords into Taurus, who caught her. "Let's kick things up a bit." The two looked at Hydra as six more tendrils emerged from the pack. As they watched this sight, Erza Requipped into her Black Wing Armor, sword at the ready.
"Ice-Make: Hammer!" Gray shouted as a magic seal appeared in front of his closed fist. Above Brianna, a hammer of ice fell, aimed at her.
At the same time to the left, Suishou had his own seal in front of him. "Raw Diamond Storm!"
From the seal, thousands of shards of diamond shot out at high speeds. When the two attacks hit their target, they kicked up dust, obscuring the vision of the two. When it faded, they couldn't find any trace of the criminal.
"Where'd she go?" Gray asked, readying his next spell.
"Up here!" A voice rang out from above them. They looked up and saw a very different person flying in the air.
Her head was covered by a plume of black and white feathers and her nose hooked downwards over her mouth. From her back, two wings flapped in the air, keeping her aloft. Her body was covered by a piece brown armor that seemed to grow out of her skin. Her hands were replaced by three brown talons. Her groin area was covered by an orange bikini bottom with a blue gem in the center. From the back of her waist came more feathers, looking like a skirt. Her legs curved outwards like a birds and her feet were now four talons and a smaller one from the heels. Around her wrists and ankles were metal bands.
"The hell kinda magic is this?" Gray asked staring at the bird-woman above him.
"It's a form of Take-Over." Suishou explained, causing Gray to turn to him. "Its called Mythic Soul."
"This is my Harpy form." Brianna said above them. "Good luck trying to hit me now."
"We'll see about that!" Gray shouted as another seal appeared in front of him. "Ice-Make: Lance!" Dozens of frozen lances shot out, aimed at Brianna. However, she effortlessly dodged all of them before diving at Suishou.
"Take this! Talon Dive!" As she dove hands first, her talons glowed a bright light, before she spun like a drill.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray cast his spell. Creating a flower like shield from his ice, he stopped the attack inches before she could hit Suishou. "Ice-Make: Prison!" Before she could react, Gray trapped her in an ice cage.
"Not bad." Brianna said floating inside her new home. "Not many people have managed to catch me. So, why don't we change things up?" She landed and began charging her magic.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu charged at Nicholas with his body ablaze. Just as he was about to hit the criminal, Nicholas preformed a drop-toe hold, causing Natsu to trip and crash into a tree.
At this time, Astoroth slammed his hands into the ground, creating a dark purple seal. "Yokai Pulse!" A dark wave flew over the ground, causing the ground to crack and rise. Nicholas, however, dodged this by jumping. Astoroth flew towards him, dark energy gathering in his hands.
"Shadow Claw!" As he cast his latest spell, his claws grew longer and were now glowing black.
He swung his claws like a madman, hoping to hit his target. Unfortunately, not a single slash hit, as Nicholas easily dodged each one.
"Uh-oh." Happy said, before he slowly starting to fall out of the sky.
"Happy, what are you doing?!" Lucy screamed as they crashed into the ground. As she rolled onto her side, she saw the reason Happy had crashed. Sticking out of his back was a black stinger.
"Calm down." She turned to see Vespa landing, as a new stinger appeared in his gun. "Itzzzz not deadly. It just keeps wizzzzardzzzz from uzzzzzing their magic." He then took aim at Lucy, who had backed up against a rock in a panic.
"Moon Flash!" Erza swung her sword in a cross pattern, while at the same time, Taurus swung his axe. Both attacks hit their mark, cutting off the side heads of the pack. Both smirked at the duel accomplishment but that soon faded as four new heads emerged from the pack.
Hydra just smiled as the new tendrils hydraulics warmed up. "That almost hurt." He said, ready to use his parts. "Eat THIS!" His tendrils shot forward, mouths opened.
Erza jumped out of the way, while Taurus blocked with his axe. Four of the limbs opened their mouths, and fire shot out, all aimed at Erza. Thinking quickly, she Requipped into her Flame Empress Armor. This significantly reduced the damage caused by the flames.
As she landed, Hydra had a smile on his face . "So, you have that kinda armor, do ya? Great. This means I don't have to hold back!" The tendrils returned to his side, flames spewing out of their mouths.
"Take-Over!" Brianna shouted as a magic seal materialized beneath her. As she glowed, Gray and Suishou shielded their eyes to avoid being blinded. They heard the sound of Gray's cage break apart. As the light faded, they looked at her new form.
Her new attire had similar theme: gold. Her breasts were covered by a bikini made of overlapping golden scales. Her hair flowed freely, restricted only by a golden band from which hung a small sapphire. Around her neck was a necklace with a ruby hanging from it. Both arms had a gold band on them.
But what stood out most was what was replaced on her body. From her shoulders down, her skin turned a light brown. Her forearms had grown in width, before ending in two pincers. Her legs where replaced by a scorpions body, brown on top with a purple underbelly. Her new tail ended in a round stinger with a black tip.
"Scorpion-Man!" Brianna shouted as she moved her eight legs forward, heading straight for her opponents.
Gray thought quickly and brought his hands together. "Ice-Make: Battle Axe!" As the frozen weapon was about connect, Brianna swiped her right pincer, causing it to shatter.
"Try again." She said before bringing her tail back. The stinger began glow in a dark red aura before it was engulfed by a similar colored fire. "Stinger Storm!" The tail then launched forward rapidly, sending outlines of her tail flying at her opposition.
Natsu popped up out of the ground before launching himself at Nicholas. "Fire Dragon Talon!" Wrapping his foot in fire, he tried to kick Nicholas. Unfortunately, Nicholas had just dodged one of Astoroths swipes so the attack hit him, launching the demon.
Before Natsu could react, Nicholas had used a leg sweep, knocking Natsu off his feet. The criminal then grabbed Natsu by his vest and threw him to Astoroth.
"Natsu, we can't keep this up." Astoroth said as he rose to his feet. "We have to start working together. It's the only way."
Natsu nodded as the two launched at Nicholas.
"Get away!" Lucy screamed as she took out her whip and swung it at Vespa. The whip wrapped around the spirit, immobilizing him.
"Let me go!" Vespa shouted as he wriggled about, trying to free himself. He was so busy trying to free himself, he failed to notice Lucy running right at him.
"Lucy Kick!" She brought her foot up to his face, making direct contact. The force of impact broke his goggles and knocked off his respirator.
"That's it. I'm done." He said as he began to toppled over. As he fell to the ground, his body began to fade. Just before hitting the ground, he had completely returned to the Spirit World.
Celebrating her victory in her head, she ran over to Happy. Once over to the cat, she saw the stinger in his back fade away. As the cat brought himself to his feet, he turned to Lucy, both with smiles on their face.
Hydra's robo heads shot flames at both Erza and Taurus, fully intent on turning them to ash. When they struck the targets, the combined heat and pressure created an explosion. As Hydra smiled at his work, he noticed a shadow moving through the smoke.
Taurus launched forward, his axe ready to swing. Behind him, Erza was moving in an intricate style, his flames dancing around her blade.
"This ends now!" Erza declared as she raised her sword and the flames flew off it. When they hit Taurus's axe, they wrapped around the blade. The now flaming blade hit Hydra, breaking the both the tendrils and the pack. As he fell to the ground, he returned to the Spirit World.
Taurus was panting as his body began to return to the same place as the other two spirits. Erza walked beside the large spirit. "Thank you for your help." Just before completely fading, Taurus gave a small smile.
"Get behind me, Gray!" Suishou shouted as a seal appeared before him. "Reflection!" The seal turned into a circular crystal and absorbed the attack. It glowed and then fired the attack back at Brianna, who covered herself to avoid damage.
"Now!" Gray knew what to do and brought his hands to the ground. "Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!" Underneath Brianna, a tower of ice shot up, immobilizing her within it. As it shot up, Suishou jumped into the air.
"Jade Slicer!" From a seal, five green scythes shot out and sliced the part where Brianna was held. The jade went right through the ice, and Brianna fell to the ground. Before she could change her form, Gray had used his Ice-Make: Hammer directly above her. When the hammer hit the ground, Brianna was under it. When the weapon shattered, they saw her on the ground, defeated and her form returned to normal.
"Brianna!" Nicholas shouted to his injured comrade, causing him to lose focus on his opponents. Both Natsu and Astoroth decided to take advantage of this situation and prepared two more attacks.
"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu wrapped his fists in long whips of fire before swinging them at the distracted criminal. The whips hit their mark, causing Nicholas to fly into the air.
In the air, Astoroth was gather more dark energy in his hands. "Time to end this! Spirit Destroyer!" He brought his hands forward, creating a seal. From its center, a beam of black light shot out, surrounded by swirling rays of purple. The energy hit Nicholas square in the chest, launching him down to the ground.
He hit the ground with such force that he carved a trench with his body. He would have gone for miles if he hadn't crashed into a tree.
The enemy defeated, the groups gathered near Nicholas's body. "Well, that's done." Natsu said with a grin.
Erza turned to Suishou and Astoroth. "I don't see why you needed us. They weren't even that powerful." She raised her sword and pointed its tip at the prone criminal. "Especially this one."
Before anyone else could say anything else, they heard rubble moving. Turning to face the noise, they saw Nicholas rise out of the trench, his head down and a chunk of rock in his right hand.
"So, you wanna see real power?" He asked rhetorically. He then threw the rock high into the air. Their eyes were glued to the stone and as it came back down, it looked as if it would hit the thrower in the head. Inches before that happened however, Nicholas shot his head up.
CRUNCH!
The group stared wide-eyed at the sight before them. Nicholas was eating earth. Earth. Natsu was taking it the worse. He knew what it meant when someone was eating an element. "He's a Dragon Slayer." Natsu said in disbelief.
"N-no way." Lucy could barely speak, she was so stunned.
Erza was not happy. She turned to the employers in anger. "Why didn't you tell us about this?!" She asked with hatred in her voice.
Suishou raised his hands in defense. "We can't tell you anything we don't know ourselves. This is something new."
"Big surprise." They turned to see Nicholas drop another chunk of stone into his mouth. After swallowing it, a grin graced his face. He brought his hands to his mouth and a seal appeared before him. It was identical to Natsu's, but it was brown in color.
"Earth Dragon Roar!" From his mouth, a storm of earth shards and sand shot out at the group. The force behind it spread them apart in the open field. They covered themselves to avoid any major damage, but still received some scrapes and marks.
"Not bad." Nicholas said after seeing them still standing. "But now it's time to get serious." A seal appeared beneath him, glowing in a brown aura. "Earth Dragon Scales!" The seal grew brighter as his body was covered in brown scales.
Gray had had enough and brought his hands together as cold air escaped them. "Ice-Make: Battle Axe!" The frozen weapon launched at Nicholas at high speed.
Instead of panicking, however, Nicholas ran straight at it. Only feet away, he dug his right foot into the ground before pulling it out, revealing it to be coated in stone. "Earth Dragon Talon!" He performed a 540 kick, launching himself over the blade. His right foot struck Gray on the side of the head, forcing him to the ground.
Erza saw this and was infuriated. "Requip! Heaven's Wheel!" Once in her new armor, she summoned dozens of swords which quickly surrounded Nicholas. "Strike him down!" With those three words, the swords flew towards him, but he just stood there.
One by one, the blades struck Nicholas, but all just bounced of his scales. "Nice try, but an Earth Dragons scales are hardened by thousands of pounds of tectonic pressure. Nothing can crack them." He said as the blades repeatedly struck him.
The blades finally stopped flying, revealing many of them chipped and broken.
Erza charged forward, channeling her magic power into her her swords. "Trinity Sword!" She swung her swords in a delta formation, creating an arrow of energy. The arrow flew towards Nicholas.
Due to her angle of attack, she couldn't see a magic seal appear beneath his feet. Before the attack could strike him, he disappeared into the ground, causing the energy to hit the tree behind him.
"Where is he?" She asked aloud while looking around her.
"Earth Dragon Quake!" His voice came from nowhere. Instantly, from beneath her, Nicholas popped up, delivering a surprise uppercut to her jaw with a stone enhanced fist. His surprise attack launched Erza in to the air, and Nicholas jumped after her.
"Try this! Earth Dragon Cavern Crusher!" He shouted as he brought his fists together. His hands began to glow in a brown aura, before they became incased in a chunk of stone. He then slammed them down onto her chest, sending her crashing to the ground. She laid on the ground, her armor cracked and her swords broken.
When Nicholas landed, he saw Lucy messing with her keys, trying to get one of her spirits out. Finding the one she wanted, she pulled off her ring. "Open, Gate of th-"
"Earth Dragon Pillar!" His right arm turned into brown column of stone. It shot forward and hit Lucy in the stomach, forcing her into a tree.
"Lucy!" Natsu screamed as he watched the blonde received the hit. He turned Nicholas as his arm pillar retracted and returned to normal. Behind him, Suishou and Astoroth rose to their feet.
"Try this!" Astoroth took to the air and prepared his Spirit Destroyer spell. Nicholas saw this and countered.
"Earth Dragon Chain!" He swung his arm and instantly, it turned into a stone chain. The chain wrapped around Astoroth, destroying his spell. With a sharp pull, Nicholas sent the demon crashing into his partner, knocking them both out.
"And suddenly, there were two dragons." Nicholas said as he turned to Natsu.
"So, you're a dragon slayer too, huh?" Natsu asked as his flames licked around his body.
"That's right." Nicholas answered as his own body began to glow in a brown aura.
"Tell me, did your dragon disappear on July 7th seven years ago?"
"I don't have to tell you anything. Especially if your aligned with those two." Stones began rise of the ground due to the power Nicholas was displaying.
"Oh, yeah?" Natsu said as he dropped into a fighting stance. "How bout if I beat ya, you tell me what I wanna know?"
Nicholas just laughed at the bravado he was seeing. "If you beat me." The stones fell to the ground as he dropped into the same stance as Natsu.
"Natsu." Erza groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach. "Be careful."
"Fire Dragon-"
"Earth Dragon-"
"Roar!"
"Roar!"
Both launched the same attack at the same time. The two roars collide with each other, resulting in a massive explosion of flame and stone. The two slayers then launched at each other, their fists pulled back.
"Fire Dragon-"
"Earth Dragon-"
"Iron Fist!" Natsu's fist was wrapped in a flaming blaze as he aimed for Nicholas' head.
"Diamond Fist!" Nicholas' fist glowed in a bright brown aura, before becoming incased in the precious stone.
Both fists struck their intended targets, but when Natsu tried to hit him again, his eyes caught something. As Nicholas swung his left arm, Natsu preformed a back flip to put some distance between the two. When he landed, he saw what had tried to hit him.
Nicholas' hand had been replaced by a chunk of stone, perfectly square. From it's back came a small spike. "That's a nasty lookin' toy you got there."
Nicholas grit his teeth at the idea of his weapon being a toy. "This ain't no toy. It's the Earth Dragon War Hammer. Anything struck by this bad boy will shatter into hundreds of pieces. I've always wondered what would happen if I struck someone with this. Wanna be my guinea pig?"
"No thanks, I like being in one piece." Natsu answered as he cracked his knuckles, knowing that this will be a close range fight.
Nicholas launched forward, raising his hammer to swing. Natsu jumped out of the way and the hammer struck the ground. The force from the swing created a small crater in the ground. Nicholas pulled it out of the ground and swung again and again, each time missing as Natsu dodged each it.
Natsu finally found an opening and he took it. "Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu struck with a flaming roundhouse kick to the head, sending Nicholas reeling.
"Happy!" Natsu called to his best friend over. The cat flew over and picked Natsu up into the air.
As Nicholas shock his head, clearing the cobwebs, he saw Natsu flying in the air. "Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu cast his spell as Happy flew him around in a circle. These actions created a column of fire that engulfed Nicholas.
"Did we get him?" Happy asked being unable to see. As the smoke cleared, it revealed that Nicholas was gone.
"Crap!" Natsu remembered what happened with Erza. "I hope were safe in the air."
"That ain't gonna work!" Nicholas screamed from the ground as he used his Pillar spell to rise to the same height as Natsu. He jumped from the Pillars at them, raising his right arm.
"Earth Dragon Morningstar!" His right arm once again turned into stone chain links. He swung it around his head for a few seconds before he aimed it at Natsu. As it shot forward, the end link became circular boulder with spikes.
Natsu had Happy dodge it, and Nicholas had more Pillars shot out of his feet into the ground. Happy flew Natsu closer to the criminal, allowing him to use his Iron Fist and Talon. Nicholas changed the height of his pillars, allowing him to avoid the attacks.
This pattern was repeated several times, Nicholas swinging and Natsu dodging, Natsu throwing punches and Nicholas dodging.
Natsu had had enough of this and cocked his head back. "Fire Dragon Roar!" Flames shot straight towards Nicholas. He stood on his Pillars and swung his Morningstar into the blazing torrent. The weapon went straight through flames, showing that the wizard and cat had moved.
'He used the flames to cover his movements.' Nicholas thought as he looked around for his opponents. He felt his weight shift and looked down, and his eyes went wide.
Natsu was melting his stone with his bare-hands. His hands went straight through the Pillars, causing them to fall down. Nicholas lost his balance and fell off. Happy flew up past him and dropped Natsu.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu lit his body ablaze and crashed into Nicholas mid-free fall, forcing them both to the ground. They crashed into ground, creating a large crater. Natsu used Nicholas as a cushion, protecting himself from most of the damage.
The others were stirred by the noise of the impact. They looked over to Natsu, who was standing on top of Nicholas, his weapons destroyed on impact. They tried to stand up, but their injuries were too painful. Nastu walked off Nicholas' back and began headed over to help his friends up. As he reached the craters edge, he heard the one sound he didn't want to hear.
CRUNCH!
He turned around to see Nicholas stuffing his face with the cracked rock from the crater. He rose to his feet, more stone in his hands even though he was still chewing.
"Hey, man! You can't be eating right now!" Natsu screamed.
"And why the hell not?" Nicholas asked as he placed more stone in his mouth. He swallowed his 'meal' and smiled at his opponent. "Now I'm ready to rock and roll!"
"Don't go changing my catchphrase!" Natsu shouted.
Nicholas shot forward and punched Natsu in the gut before raising his foot in a roundhouse kick. "Earth Dragon Talon!" His foot wrapped in stone as he struck Natsu's left temple.
Disoriented, Natsu tried to counter, but Nicholas easily dodged his attack. "My souls burning up. What about you?" He asked when in earshot. He grabbed Natsu's face and slammed it into the ground.
"Come on, where's all that determination from before?" Nicholas asked as he used his Pillar to drag Natsu through the dirt. The other gritted their teeth as they watched the fire wizard become a make-shift plow.
"I'm disappointed in you, Salamander." Nicholas said he retracted his arm. "When I first caught your scent, I thought you would put up a challenge. But so far, you and your friends have been nothing but pathetic." He turned on his heels and began to walk out of the crater. "We're done here."
"Wait." Nicholas stopped his stride and looked over his shoulder to see Natsu struggling to stand. "We're not done here yet."
"You can barely stand." Nicholas said continuing his walk. "Face it, Salamander. It's over. You've lost."
"I didn't think you were a coward as well."
Nicholas once again stopped. He turned around and had a death glare in his eyes. "What was that?!"
Gray had regained consciousness and pushed himself up on his knees. He rolled over to Erza who had been observing the situation. "Erza, he's used to much of his magic power. Any ideas on how we can get him some fire?"
"My- My Flame Empress Armor. But I'm low on magic power myself." She said panting. "If you four can distract him long enough, I can give use the last of my magic to Requip into it."
Gray nodded and willed himself to his feet and looked around. Suishou and Astoroth were helping each other up and Lucy was using a tree to support herself. He looked back down at Erza, who was focusing her magic power.
"I'm a coward, am I?" Nicholas asked. "You know, I was goin' easy on you since we share the same magic. But now, you've really screwed the pooch." He launched forward as he activated his War Hammer and swung it.
"Ice-Make: Shield!" Gray cast his spell and created the flower-shaped shield, protecting Natsu at the last possible second. The force behind the hammer shattered the shield into little ice shards.
"Come on, flame head." Gray said as he walked over to Natsu. "You really think I'd let you take out another dragon slayer on your own again?"
Natsu smirked at his friends bravado and they both turned to face the opposing dragon slayer. "Come on, stripper. Let's get this punk." Both took off running at Nicholas.
"Ice-Make: Sword!" Gray crafted a sword and swung it at Nicholas, who blocked it with his Hammer.
"Not bad." Nicholas said as they pushed their weapons against each others, trying to gain footing. "Not many can make a weapon to stand up to my Hammer." He looked out the corner of his eye and raised his left arm.
"Earth Dragon Chains!" His chain arm shot out and wrapped around Natsu. With a flick of his wrist, he launched Natsu over Gray into a tree. This distracted Gray, letting Nicholas kick him in the gut, sending him reeling.
He clutched his gut as Suishou and Astoroth walked up next to him. "We need to hold him off for a little bit." Gray explained. "Erza has a plan to take this guy down for good." Both nodded as all three prepared spells.
"Ice-Make: Arrows!" Crafting a bow of ice, Gray then launched thousands of frozen arrows at Nicholas.
"Sapphire Wave!" From his seal, Suishou released multiple solid waves of the blue gem.
"Evil Burst Stream!" Astoroth launched a beam of black energy straight forward.
The three attacks merged and a massive amount of power was all concentrated on Nicholas. Nicholas just shock his head in disappointment as the attack grew closer.
"When are you people gonna learn?" He said as a seal appeared beneath him. "No matter how strong your attack is, I will always dodge it." He then sank into the ground, just missing the attack.
"Oh, by the way Gray." He said from beneath the soil. "You really need to work on your volume. You don't want your enemies knowing you plan, do you?"
Grays eyes went wide. "Crap! Erza!"
"I'm on it!" He looked over to see Lucy leaning against a tree, gold key in her hand. "Open, Gate of The Maiden, Virgo!" The maid spirit appeared before them. "Listen, there's a bad guy digging underground. I need you to force him out."
"Understood, Princess." Virgo then disappeared into the ground.
'Where is she?' Nicholas thought as he tunneled through the earth. 'If I can sense her magic power, than their plan goes kaput.' He was broken out his thoughts when he was struck in the face by someone's feet. He looked to see a pink haired girl in a maids outfit.
"I'm sorry." Virgo said. "My master has ordered me to punish you, so I will."
"Sorry, lady, but you just messed up big time. See, I'm the master of the earth, not you!" The two began an underground fight, as if they were swimming in the water.
Above ground, Erza had focused the last of her magic. "Requip!" She swapped into her Flame Empress Armor and summoned fire to its blade. Natsu pushed himself up against a tree, and when he saw Erza in the armor, he knew what the plan was.
'Damn it. She's stronger than she looks.' Nicholas told himself as the two continued the battle. Whenever she struck him, his scales cracked a little. 'Thats never happened before, I can't keep taking her hits.' Both combatants used their chains to try and immobilize each other, only for the chains to get tangled together.
Virgo seized this opportunity and activated her Diver spell, dragging Nicholas behind her. When she reached the surface, she whipped her chains and untangled them simultaneously throwing him into the air.
"Astoroth, a little air support!" Suishou shouted at his partner. Quickly, the demon flew his teammate into the air and quickly caught up with the airborne criminal. Once the same height two seals entered Suishou's hands.
"Opal Mace!" From his right hand, a flanged mace made of the orange gem appeared, ready to swing. "Amethyst Sword!" In his left hand, a purple gem cutlass materialized. He swung the sword at Nicholas' neck before crashing his mace on top of his head, sending him falling to the ground.
"Natsu!" Erza shouted as she launched the fire from her blade at him. Quickly ingesting the fiery snack, he wiped his mouth before ruining at the falling foe. Once in front of him, he cocked his fist back as it was set ablaze.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Quickly, his fists were wrapped balls of fire before he unleashed a barrage of punches at Nicholas. The combined heat and force of the spell destroyed Nicholas' scales before Natsu ended it with a flaming haymaker. This sent the criminal crashing through multiple trees, before he laid prone against one, Brianna nearby.
The fight finally over, the wizards panted before celebrating their victory. Erza gave a small smile, Natsu and Gray high-fived each other, and Virgo was asking Lucy for punishment.
"It's not over yet." The group turned to Suishou, confusion in their eyes. "We need to make sure they never harm anyone again."
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