//------------------------------// // The True Face Of Lullaby: Part 1 // Story: The Great And Powerful Fairy Tail // by The Corrupted Champion //------------------------------// The True Face Of Lullaby To say that Trixie was a little disturbed by Lazaro's words was a bit of an understatement. Who could this "Mutual friend" be? Could the spirit of the alicorn amulet...? No...There would need to be a physical body involved... 'Oh no...' she thought. '...Don't tell me some poor fool found it and put it on...?' "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you're not taking her!" Gray declared defiantly. "...besides..." He smirked. "I would have thought you wanted another chance to throw down...". Lazaro laughed. "Hahahahahahaha! Oh, I haven't forgotten about that little black mark you and your absent partner put on my record." Lazaro assured with a demented glee in his tone. "Do you happen to recall what I said that day?" his tone becoming a little more condescending. "...she dies first...then you will die...". In a blur of motion that Gray could barely keep track of, Lazaro was right in front of him; his blood stained-masked face mere inches away from his own. "...I'm going to make you watch..." his voice a menacing hiss. He drew one arm back. "...and then you are going to..." He slammed his open palm forward into Gray's chest. "DIE!!" "Guuaaagggghghhhh!!" Gray choked out a cry of agony as he flew backwards. "Gray!" Lucy cried after him. Erigor laughed. "It looks like you have everything in hand, then. I leave this to the rest of you, gentlemen!" he called before seemingly disappeared into thin air. One of the Eisenwald wizards, Kageyama, grinned. "We're rolling in a new era of darkness!" he declared triumphantly, then arched an eyebrow in what was probably intended to be a casual lop-sided grin, but turned out a psychotic expression that would send shivers down the spine of any normal person. "...Of course by the time it gets here, you fairies will be LONG GONE!!!" he placed his hand on the floor and familiar solid shadows arched out ahead of him towards Lucy. Th blond girl screamed as the shadows all leapt off the floor to attack her. That's when a certain pink haired teammate jumped in the way and swatted the attack away as though it were nothing. Kageyama's grin disappeared quickly, once again scowling. "Bah, you again?!" he demanded, a snarl of fury marring his features. Natsu had a grin on his face. "Eisenwald Dude! I knew I recognized your voice!" "Natsu, you're back!" Lucy cheered. Natsu's grin grew ever wider. "Oh, looks like we've got ourselves a party here, huh?" Lucy was horrified. "What?! No Natsu, these are the guys we're supposed to fight!" she cried. Natsu's smile took a feral, predatory quality as he cracked his knuckles. "...like I said...It's a party..." "Natsu, get Gray and follow after Erigor!" Erza ordered. "...Don't let him get away!" Gray was already back on his feet and engaging Lazaro. "I'm afraid I'm a little busy at the moment!" Erza glared at the horde of Eisenwald wizards with grit teeth. This was bad...she wasn't planning on Lazaro being here... he was capable of matching her at her full power, even with Natsu and Gray here, she feared they just might have bitten off more then they could chew... Trixie swung her energized staff in a wide arc in front of her, causing its stored energy to release in an explosive shock wave that almost looked like the night sky had ripped a hole across the area before them. "GRAND COMET TAIL!" she called. smirking in satisfaction as a large group of the were scattered by her spell, then turned to Natsu. "Natsu, Let's get after him!" Natsu nodded. "Right!"; and so the two of them ran for the hallway at the top of a small flight of stairs. This wasn't her plan, but Erza had no choice but to trust that Natsu and Trixie had what it would take to take Erigor out. "...Good luck..." she whispered. The Eisenwald wizard with the pharaoh style head-dress extended his arms and a plethora of black cables or ribbons shot up and latched on to the railing of that same upper level to pursue. "I got this!" he declared. "I, the great Rayule, will take them down!" Kageyama growled. "I'm not done with you yet, Bubblegum Boy!" he raved as a golden spell circle glowed under his feet, and he sank into his own shadow. Meanwhile, Lazaro had Gray on the defensive. "I need you to try and help Gray while I deal with all of them, Lucy." Erza said grimly. "What, you're going to take on practically an entire dark guild all by yourself?!" Lucy asked, unable to hide her worry. Picking up on this, many of the Eisenwald wizards began laughing. "Ha, my Mom always said never to hit a girl, but I think I can make an exception for you." one of them said with a vicious smile on his face. "Yeah, sorry ladies, but you're not gonna be near as pretty when we're done with ya!" another said while cracking his own knuckles. Erza held out her hand and a bright red spell circle flickered at her open palm in a similar fashion to what happened to Trixie's 'starfall barrage' as she called it, and an ornate long sword appeared in her hand. "If you insult the Fairy Tail guild again in my presence... I swear, none of you will live to see the sunset!" A large group of Eisenwald wizards conjured various weapons of their own. "You don't scare us!" one of them roared. "We've got tons of magic swordsmen in Eisenwald!" and several of them charged forward to attack. Erza was unfazed and seemingly made no move to attack or defend until the very last second, then, with lightning quick reflexes, she made two arching swings, sending the entire group of attackers flying and shattering their weapons. Then Erza turned her fierce gaze to the rest of the swordsmen. "Rrrrrraaaaaaaagggghhhhhhhh!!!!" She bellowed as she charged to meet the rest. Another Eisenwald wizard held out his hand and a blue spell circle flashed over it for a split second. "I'll show you!" he roared before a mass of magic energy appeared in his open hand and he threw it at Erza, several others following suit. Erza effortlessly dodged by jumping up in the air over their attacks and her sword vanished in a flash of crimson light; replaced by a spear. Lucy was completely dumbstruck. "It's a spear, now?!" she exclaimed incredulously. She continued to watch in awe as Erza wiped out wave after wave of attackers, each with a single wide sweeping attack. It wasn't long before Erza had cycled to a new weapon; this time, twin short swords. Lucy didn't have time to admire Erza's prowess farther as she remembered that she was supposed to help Gray. She looked over to see him fighting back, though she couldn't help but feel that the masked man was just toying with him. "Right...Time to get to work!" she said, drawing a gate key from the holster on her hip. "Open, Gate of the Crab: Cancer!" In a flash of pale blue light, there he was. A tall lithe man with dark red skin and large crab-leg appendages growing out of his back. He would probably be a terrifying sight if he weren't dressed like a male model... "You need me to take these dudes out, baby?" he asked, with a surprisingly gruff voice. Lucy shook her head. "Not exactly. I need you to focus on that masked guy and help Gray!" she instructed. At that moment, Cancer snapped his attention to the opponent in question, and Lazaro whipped his own gaze to meet it. "...Ah...so she's a summoner, is she...?" Lazaro mused. Scissors ready, he charged forward and assaulted Lazaro with a blinding flurry of jabs, lunges and slicing motions. Lucy was horrified to see the man dodging and blocking all of Cancer's strikes. "Wow, he's fast!" She couldn't help but be both impressed and horrified that someone was matching Cancer's agility blow for blow. Gray took a moment to catch his breath at the sudden reprieve granted by Lucy's intervention. "...Yeah...This guy's a league all his own..." He admitted through his heavy breathing. "Your spirit's pretty impressive too, but I don't know how much he'll be able to keep this up on his own..." The two of them could barely keep up with how fast the combatants were going, but they could see the battle was wearing on them. Lazaro's sleeves were shredded to tatters, and several cuts were visible on his arms that were actually drawing blood. Cancer was taking several blows as well. His once pristine blue pin-stripe shirt was now looking like it was fished out of a dumpster, with torn seams and stains from perspiration and blood starting to seep through it... The crab spirit also looked to have taken several blows to the face as one lens was cracked out of his sunglasses and finally, he sported a couple fresh bruises on his face. Meanwhile back with Erza, The red haired woman was starting to slow down. 'Gray was right...' She thought. '...I've used up too much of my magic just getting here...'... "There's still so many..." "Rrraaaaarrrggghhhh!" A sudden battle cry from her left drew her attention just in time to see her attacker when... -BLAM!!- The sound of a gunshot boomed through the room and her attacker was suddenly jarred out of mid air into a new path directly into the ground. Erza spun to see the newcomer. A young woman around her age stood with a magnum revolver held out in front of her in a gloved hand; A look of cold steel in her emerald green eyes. "...Well...looks like Y'all were right, Dusk..." she said nonchalantly, a smirk forming on her lips. She twirled her weapon on her finger and flicked her blond bangs out of her eyes. .............................................................................................................. Dusk Shianne grinned at Alexis' admission. "Told ya so!" she chirped before skillfully slipping passed them towards where a creepy looking masked guy was fighting a wierd crab man. "Heyo!" she cheered as she had slipped in between the two combatants, making them both jump back in shock. "Who the hell are you?!" the masked man hissed. "The name's Dusk Shianne of Phantom Lord." She greeted with a smirk. "...wizard, thief, and dark guild exterminator extraordinaire!" she finished with an extravagant bow before looking at who she presumed were the Crab-man's allies. "You guys look like you could use a hand, gorgeous..." She said to the hot blond chick and the equally hot shirtless guy next to her. The masked man merely glared at her for a moment before dropping into a stance once more. "...It seems that the game is no longer in my favor... this will be problematic..." Alexis sauntered over to where the small army was crowding around a red head who, if she were to hazard a guess was the famous Erza Scarlet. "...So, ya wanna fill me in on just what the hell is going on?" she asked the red haired woman while Rene elegantly strode over. "These wizards are with the dark guild Eisenwald, and they intend to wipe this town off the map with a demon flute called Lullaby..." The red haired woman explained. "...My name is Erza, by the way, you have my thanks for the assistance." Ha! knew it... Alexis turned a venomous glare to the Eisenwald wizards, and Rene flicked her hair back. "...well we can't have that now, can we?" she asked rhetorically. "Allow us to even the odds, Darling..." her sugar sweet tone was betrayed by the disdainful sneer upon her features. "...To think that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail would be working together to eliminate a dark guild..." She mused. "...The master will be surprised when we tell him about this..." "...Eyup..." Alexis nodded in affirmation. Erza was shell-shocked. these women were with Phantom Lord? She looked over them to see that the blonde had their guild mark embossed on her belt buckle while the dark haired one had it tattooed in pale blue on her upper arm. What were Phantom lord wizards doing here? Were they on a job? Wizards of their two guilds crossed paths so rarely that it would always turn heads when ever someone came back with such a story. "I'm afraid I must ask you for help with these men." Erza admitted to them. "Erigor the Reaper is here to personally oversee their mission and even Lazaro Sarabaas of Blood Diamond is backing them up." she said nodding toward the masked man, now engaged with their third member, fighting along side Gray and Lucy. "I need to catch up with Erigor so I can stop him, but I used so much energy just getting here, that I'm starting to slow down. "I have to stop him but these men are in the way..." "Well, Then we shall give you an opening, Darling..." the posche girl said with a dramatic hair flip as she adjusted her stance and took a deep breath. "CRYSTAL DRAGON ROAR!" She bellowed as a cyclone of prismatic glitter exploded from her mouth. It looked like a horizontal tornado filled crystal shards of various colors and clarities as it mowed down all the Eisenwald wizards in it's path. "Get going, we'll deal with these punks!" The blonde laughed heartily. "MAGNUM SHOT: IMPACT RICOCHET!!!". A small spell circle flashed at the muzzle of her revolver and a bright burst of magic energy shot fourth from the barrel and in mere seconds, the shot ricoche'd across ten men and they all dropped. "Thank you!" Erza called over her shoulder as she ran off for the hall. ............................................................................... Natsu and Trixie ran down the hallway, unaware that they wee being followed by a Eisenwald's shadow bending wizard, Kageyama. Trixie looked over at Natsu as they ran. "So, where do you think he's hiding?" Trixie asked as they ran. "I don't know." Natsu answered. "Normally, I'd be able to track his scent, but his wind magic makes it feel like his scent is coming from everywhere." It was a few minutes later of solid running until they came to a 'T' in the hall. "...which way...?" Trixie asked, a little unsure. The sign hanging from the ceiling marked the hall leading to the left as 'Old Line' and the one to the right was marked 'New Line'. Natsu took a moment to look down each hall from where they stood. "I think we'll have to split up." He replied thoughtfully. "You take the left hall, and I'll take the right." "Okay..." Trixie nodded and turned to look down the hall herself. She was about to start down the hall when she paused. "...Natsu..." "Hm?" He turned back to loo at her over his shoulder. "...We're fighting against a bunch of guys who want to genocide the entire city with this demon flute of theirs..." she said. "...If you find any of them, give them a thrashing." she finished with a competitive smirk. Natsu returned the gesture. "You bet. I've got a bone to pick with that shadow dude anyway." Natsu grinned. "...and if you find any, you be sure to do the same!" he declared. Trixie nodded. "Right!" she replied. They turned back to their hallways. "Happy hunting!" she called as she took off down the old line hall. "Right back at ya!" Natsu called back as he ran down the new line hall. ................................................................................... Trixie ran down the hall until she stopped at a corner in the hall way; a speaker mounted up on the ceiling. "...They're going to play it over the broadcast system...I need to find the studio..." she deduced before taking off once more. She was starting to feel the burn of exertion in her lungs when she finally found it. She took a second to catch her breath before reaching for the door knob. Locked. "Of course it's locked..." she groaned in annoyance and took a few steps back. "STARFALL BARRAGE!" she called as she held out one hand and a familiar purple and silver spell circle flashed over her palm and a barrage of magic star projectiles shot from it, effectively blasting the door down. The lights were off inside the studio. "...That's weird... there's no one here..." She wandered in to take a look around. "...But, he said in the lobby that they were going to broadcast it...didn't he?" Trixie stood for a moment more before she felt a horrified tension grip her and she dove forward; just in time it seemed, to evade an ambush from above. The sound of several swinging whips and shattering concrete behind her boomed through the room. She fumbled back to her feet to see the the Eisenwald wizard with the pharaoh style hat hanging from the ceiling above where she was just standing by black cord like things tied to each finger that writhed like tentacles. "Good guess!" he chimed. "...As you probably figured out by now, Our plan isn't quite so simple as you first thought." Trixie regained her composure and flicked a stray lock of hair out of her eyes before adjusting her hat. "...Clearly..." she answered. "...so are you going to be a good boy and tell me what the plan is..." she asked as she drew her staff back out of her belt loop and ignited her magic to restore it to its proper size. "...Or do I have to beat it out of you?" Her opponent looked at her as though her question was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. "Hahahahahahahahahaha! You dumb broad..." her eye twitched. This condescension was starting to grate at her nerves the more she'd heard it. "...You really think it'll be that easy?! Just ask and I'll tell you whatever you wanna know?! Hahahahahahahahaha!" her casual facade was starting to slip. "You have gotta be stupidest back alley slut I've ever met!" Oh...it is on, now... "...and now you're stuck here with me!" he finished with a predatory grin. "...I am the great Rayule...and I'm gonna have some fun with you little girl..." Swing after swing...His attacks were rapidly destroying the studio more and more as each impact she dodged was shattering the floor...the walls...the ceiling. He was definitely persistent, she would grant him that. Trixie wasn't sure how much longer she could stay on the defensive and make it out of this... "This is bad..." she muttered. Rayule swung again. "There's no escape from my urumi!" he bellowed as his 'urumi'...whatever that even is... began zig-zagging in the air, and becoming much harder to dodge. 'Time to improvise...' Trixie thought. "STARFALL SATELLITE!!" she called as she conjured her magic stars and did a quick pirouette, causing the stars to begin quickly revolve in orbit around her in a constant protective barrier. the urumi crashed against the stars and recoiled back to him. "What kind of magic is that?!" Rayule demanded. His anger made him swing even harder. Once...Twice... His third swing shattered her protective spell and the urumi cords wrapped around her violently, binding both arms to her sides. "I've got you now!" he roared triumphantly. A dark and familiar feeling began welling in her chest throughout their fight, but now he had her, and it was becoming all she could do to contain it. If this continued... it would come out...and that terrified her. She was hoisted up and slammed into the ceiling above her, sending a throbbing agony through her body as the back of her head crashed into the ceiling. -THUMP!! THUMP!!- The darkness in her pulsed with the impact like a heartbeat. Rayule slammed her back down to the ground, once again sending a wave of blinding pain through her. -THUMP- THUMP-...-THUMP THUMP!!- Twice, it pulsed. Trixie managed to struggle to a kneeling position. She chuckled, a lop-sided smirk on her bruising face. "What's so funny?" Rayule demanded. Trixie was silent for a brief moment further before she spoke. "...you've got it backwards..." she said softly, barely above a whisper. "Wanna run that by me again?" he taunted. "You're on your knees, defeated...where is your advantage here?" Slowly and shakily, Trixie pushed a leg up to stand. Slowly, she stood. "..." she muttered. inaudible. "What was that?" he taunted once more, a condescending grin growing on his features. Trixie returned his feral grin with one of her own. "...what i said, you lowly mongrel pup..." she growled. "...Is that you have it backwards..." her body was emanating an ominous red aura. "...It is you..." she looked up, her eyes shining a malevolent red glow. "...who is stuck here...with me.". The red aura began coursing through Rayule's urumi and the man began to find that he was loosing control of his weapons as they slowly and carefully began unwravelling from around her, and began snaking back toward him. "What?!" he shrieked. "...How are you doing that?!" He asked in panic as they coiled around him. A cruel smile spread across her face. "...magic..." she said simply. "...My magic...is superior..." she said with a frightening calm as a red spell circle flashed over her now free hand. "...This time, we play...by my rules." Rayule was suddenly feeling very afraid. Who was this woman? How was she doing this? No such magic exists; unless... is this some ancient form of lost magic? "...who are you?" he asked shakily. Trixie's hand seemed to magically phase through Rayule's chest as an identical spell circle appeared on it, and Rayule screamed in agony. Trixie waited for his screaming to quiet down to pained whimpers before she leaned forward; her lips mere inches away from his ear. "...I am the great and powerful Trixie..." she whispered. Agony quaked through Rayule's body once more. "Gyyaaaaggghhhhh!!!" he screamed as her hand pushed a little deeper then wrist deep into him. "Oh..." Trixie mused. "...I can feel your soul..." She tilted her head with a condescending smirk. "...I didn't think you had one..." Rayule struggled through a choking cough. "...What are...you doing?!" he choked. Trixie arched an eyebrow. "Imagine the body as a long bow..." she drawled. "...Your body is the shaft..." She slowly pulled her hand back, but as she pulled farther back, she drew a mass of magic out of him with it. "...and your soul is the draw string..." She pulled it out a little further. It arched out in the middle, where she held it, and curved back into his body at the top and bottom. "All I have to do is pull..." A little further... "...and...release!" As she let go, the mass of energy snapped back at him like a rubber band, sending him flying back into the P.A. Studio. Rayule crashed violently into the wall at the far side of the room and crumpled to the ground. "Hahahahahaha! That lovely little trick is called the Soul Hammer." Trixie laughed ruthlessly. "...so... have you had enough?" she asked. "...Or would you like to have your soul stretched again?" She slowly advanced on him. The borderline demonic glow in her eyes made all the more menacing as she stepped into the barely lit studio. Rayule, tangled in his own urumi, was scrambling to back away from the advancing young woman as she loomed slowly towards him like a wraith or a demon. His heart was beating a mile a minute by the time he had backed himself into the farthest corner. He had no choice... "I-it's the guild master's conference in Clover! Erigor's going to play the Lullaby at the conference hall and kill all the guild masters!" The darkness in her finally subsided and she began to feel the pain of the attacks she'd taken again. Her body was hurting all over. "Good..." Trixie said quietly. "...Now get out of my sight..." she hissed. "...If I ever see you again, I'm dragging your ass to the closest jail cell even if I have to break one of your legs to do it!". Seething at him, Eisenwald as a whole, their plan, and most of all...herself, for losing control... She turned to leave, but cast one final look over her shoulder at him. "Erigor isn't getting the same mercy... don't make me think leaving you here was a mistake, understand?" Rayule nodded in terror. "Yes! Th-thank you!" he yammered before clamoring to his feet and out of the studio. Trixie hobbled down the hall, suddenly feeling very drained. "...The rest is up to you, Natsu..." she muttered under her heavy breathing. "...I have to find Erza..." ................................................................................................................ Lazaro realized that he had been fighting a losing battle the moment all three of his opponents started attacking him at once. Gray Fullbuster had once again put a small crack in his mask. The ice wizard hadn't built a reputation for being one of Fairy Tail's more respected fighters by being a pushover, that much was certain. the boy knew how to throw a punch, and throw it hard. Then there was the interference from those wenches from Phantom Lord... They would definitely pay for their actions as well... He cursed them all as he made his retreat. Gray, Dusk, and their blond friend with the spirits were all hot on his tail as he made for the closest balcony. He smirked when he saw that Erigor's cyclone barrier wasn't up yet and he was just in the process of casting it. He just had to... He vaulted over the balcony and made it just outside the radius as the cyclone appeared, effectively locking his pursuers inside. "Erigor!" he called, gaining the wind wizard's attention. "...Hurry up and get going! Fairy Tail isn't the only guild who has arrived to stop us; It turns out Phantom Lord wants a piece of the chaos as well!" Erigor was not pleased to hear this. "What did you say?!" he growled. "A team from Phantom Lord was waiting in the wings as it were!" He called up. "Your little army has been completely decimated!" "Dammit!!" Erigor cursed before turning and zoomed away in the sky. "...Oh...this has not been a good week for me..." Lazaro groaned. ......................................about ten minutes later.............................. The Eisenwald wizard Virod was staring up at the glaring eyes of Erza. "Forget it, lady..." he grunted. "There is no breaking Erigor's sealing barrier. you and you friends are stuck here..." Erza pulled a fist back, ready to punch him for the fourth time when she heard Trixie's voice. "Erza!" she called. Erza looked around her to see Trixie on a pedway above the lobby, looking like she'd taken some serious damage. "What are you doing here?!" she barked. "Never mind that!" Trixie shot back. "We have to get to Clover!" Clover? "What, why?" she demanded. "Because, this whole thing was a ruse!" Trixie exclaimed. "Their real goal is the conference hall in Clover! They're going to play the Lullaby and kill all the guild masters!" Gray, Lucy, and the three girls from Phantom Lord gasped. "What?!" Gray asked, completely godsmacked. The others shared his sentiment as they all shared looks of shock and concern. Erza's glare intensified as she looked back to her new prisoner. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME??!!" She roared. When pitiful cowering was the only answer she received, she proceeded to fling him against a wall in frustration. "...Where is Natsu, wasn't he with you?" Lucy asked Trixie. Levitating down on her little star platform, Trixie shook her head. "...We had to split up... if I had to guess, that shadow guy is probably following him as we speak..." "Well, we have another problem." Gray interjected. "The whole place is surrounded in a sealing barrier, try to get through it, and it'll tear you to shreds..." His annoyance at their situation clear in his tone and on his face. "Well, then its a very good thing we happen to have a dispeller wizard, right here!" Alexis said heartily slapping Dusk on the back. "Uh...yeah..." The arcane thief said dismissively. "...detection spells...damn near any kind of lock, and...wait for it...DOORWAY sealing barriers...It'd take me a good while to crack something this size on my own." She gave her comrades an apologetic smile. "My magic is specialized and not meant for something like this...sorry." Trixie couldn't help but remember her time with Mist whisper, back in Neighpon. "...I think I might have a way around that..."