• Published 7th Jan 2021
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Spike the Fairy - PonyJoel

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Spike vs Ophiuchus

Spike flies around the Astral Spirytus, looking for the Snake Charmer's Zodiac doorway. He sees on the lacrima vision Wendy defeating Aquarius with the help from Natsu.

"Nice work, Wendy. Two down, eleven to go," Spike finds the doorway and enters.

"Does that mean Natsu defeated Leo the Lion already?"

"I don't think so. It would have shown on the lacrima vision. Maybe something got in the way and disrupted their battle. I don't know. This place is weird."

The doorway leads into a light pink circular cave. Spike walks down in hopes of locating the Snake Charmer. Twenty minutes later, the Snake Charmer makes an appearance. Apparently, the Snake Charmer's altered appearance is a blonde woman with blue eyes wearing a nurse's uniform, holding a gigantic syringe.

"So, someone remembered there was a Thirteenth Zodiac?" Ophiuchus said.

"It came to me. The main twelve Zodiacs were preoccupied with the ritual while you were nowhere. It didn't take long for me to figure out that there are Thirteen Zodiacs in all behind Liberum."

"Very naughty dragon. I'm going to enjoy choking the lights out of you," Ophiuchus powers up.

"I always wonder what snakes taste like," Spike powers up.

"Right after I give you a thorough examination," Ophiuchus spawns a pen and clipboard and shoots paper slicers.

Spike crosses his arms, generating a Sparkling Green Metallic Flame Shield. The paper slicers cause many cracks on the shield. "Phew phew," Spike mimics his claws like guns and shoots Sparkling Green Bullets at Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus spawns a gigantic metal tongue depressor to deflect the bullets. "Now say ah!" Ophiuchus tries to jam the tongue depressor into Spike's mouth.

"Roooooooooooaaar!" Spike breathes his Sparkling Green Flames at Ophiuchus when he opens his mouth.

Ophiuchus ducks and writes on her clipboard. She conjures many bandages which cover Spike's mouth. "Be still! Hahahahahaha!" Ophiuchus writes stethoscopes to appear and binds Spike. Spike struggles a bit; his eyes turn orange. "Oh my, you need laser eye surgery," Ophiuchus writes a surgery table to strap Spike it.

Fairy Rage takes control while his body blazes in orange flames. He removes the bandages from his mouth. "Lady, you made me mad."

"Great, I have a straightjacket to take you to a ward," Ophiuchus writes one to appear. It tries to hug Spike.

"Inferno Rage Blast!" Fairy Rage creates a Sparkling Orange energy beam from his claw. The beam evaporates the straightjacket.

"Take this! You need your medicine!" Ophiuchus shoots liquid explosives from her syringe.

Fairy Rage flies and dodges each attack and punches Ophiuchus in the face. Ophiuchus hurls a little and calls for her storage robots. Three of them appear next to them, each containing different medical tools for pain and torment.

"What the hell?" Fairy Rage looks at the robots with medical tools.

"You haven't seen hell yet. You can go there after your lobotomy!" Ophiuchus starts losing herself. She has a sadistic mindset, and Fairy Rage has been neglecting the punishments Ophiuchus wants to unleash to satisfy her needs.

"That can be rearranged." Fairy Rage claps his claws and conjures a Sparkling Orange Metallic Sword. "Better yet, I'll put your brain in a jar so other doctors can study a Celestial Spirit's brain."

"I'll kill you!" Ophiuchus commands her robots to rip Spike's body apart, piece by piece.

"Rage Flame Sword Slicer!" Fairy Rage slashes his sword. Sparkling Orange Flame slicers destroy the robots. That's when Ophiuchus jams the tongue depressors into Spike's mouth. He gags.

"Gotcha," Ophiuchus slams Spike's body on the ground hard and pins him. "Time for your surgery," Ophiuchus pulls out her surgical saw. "Let's try lobotomy," Ophiuchus sinisterly laughs.

Fairy Rage uses his tail to grab Ophiuchus and throws her off of him. Fairy Rage gets up and takes the surgical saw. "Mind if I borrowed this?"

Ophiuchus grabs her ocarina. "By all means," She smirks sinisterly.

"Something is going to happen. I don't know what."

Ophiuchus starts playing her ocarina. The surgical saw comes out of Spike's claw and tries to slice his arm off. He dodges the attacks.

"I get it now. Ophiuchus has control over everything when she plays her ocarina."

"Dance for me, my monkey," Ophiuchus laughs and continues to play her ocarina. Many surgical knives appear and try to stab Spike.

Fairy Rage flies and gets some cuts from the knives. "Damn it!"

"Teleport her ocarina away." Spike said to Fairy Rage mentally.

"Easier said than done, Spike." Fairy Rage continues to dodge the flurry of surgical knives aimed directly at him.

"Look at you, all scraped up. I wonder what dragon blood tastes like," Ophiuchus licks her lips.

"Here! Have a taste!" Fairy Rage flies at Ophiuchus. "Lightning Inferno Flame!" Fairy Rage's claw is ablaze in Sparkling Orange Lightning Flames. Ophiuchus plays her ocarina. "Demolition Fist!" Instead of Fairy Rage punching Ophiuchus, the ocarina she plays causes Fairy Rage to punch himself. "Goddamn it!" The force of the punch causes Fairy Rage to land on the ground hard.

"This is my domain, baby dragon. With this ocarina, I control everything. Including your magic," Ophiuchus victoriously laughs.

"Is that so?" Spike turns around; his eyes are a blend of orange and green. His Fairy Tail Emblem on his chest doesn't change.

"Your eyes changed again?" Ophiuchus is now confused.

"Fairy Rage and Spike. Working together in this fight."

Ophiuchus smiles. "You poor pathetic fool. As I said, this is my domain. I am in control of everything!"

"Oh, yea!?" Natsu arrives with Happy, Carla, and Wendy. "We're about to take control of you!"

"Spike! Are you alright?" Wendy asks Spike.

"What are you doing down here?" Carla asks Spike.

"Fighting Ophiuchus the Snake Charmer. The Thirteenth Zodiac."

"Whoa!? There's a Thirteenth Zodiac?" Happy is appalled. He didn't know about the Thirteenth Zodiac Spirit.

"I've been battling her for a while now. I know she's up to something. I'm going to finish her before anything else happens."

"It's not over yet," Ophiuchus responds to Spike's statement.

"It is, for now, Ophiuchus," Leo the Lion makes his appearance.

"It's him," Happy said.

"About time you showed up," Natsu is itching to continue his fight with Leo the Lion.

"The ceremony is almost ready to begin. It won't be necessary to keep them occupied for any longer."

"Occupied?" Spike and Fairy Rage are confused with that statement. They wonder what Leo's planning.

"You may go now, Ophiuchus," Leo commands.

"I understand, Sir. I take my leave," Ophiuchus teleports.

"They're really about to start it?" Wendy can't believe the Liberum is still underway despite the other Zodiacs facing defeat in their battles.

"I got some bad news for you. All your cronies are getting kicked back into the Celestial World one-by-one as we speak," Carla proclaims.

"And, you can't hold your ceremony without them!" Happy declares.

Leo the Lion starts laughing victorious. "The power of darkness knows no bounds, and it's giving us another chance to perform the Liberum! We will not give up our dream, and we will not rest until we obtain true and absolute freedom!" The caves start cracking and breaking up during Leo's speech. "Although we face setbacks along the way, our hearts are unwavering. We will cast off the shackles humanity has placed upon us!"

The cave shatters. Spike, Natsu, Wendy, Carla, and Happy are now outside. They're on a spiky mountain rock floating island. Wendy's sense of smell is going off the charts. Natsu is tired of Leo running away from a fight.

"Ophiuchus! The time has come to reveal your true form!" Leo commands while holding the Celestial Globe.

The island starts shaking. Ophiuchus' true form is a giant black snake with red underside spikes extending out from the side. She has red horns on the top of the snakehead, which connects with a gold ring that houses a floating orb at the center; her lower jaw is golden in color. The upper body of her humanoid form, is merged with the face area of the snake.

"This Snake Charmer is absolutely the vital part of the Zodiac. So my true form is every bit majestic as that would entail. In fact, the very place known as the Astral Spirytus is fully contained in my body. Everything that's transpired so far has been inside of my body. You coming here was by design. A trap to lure you in. As I told that baby dragon, this is my domain!"

"And now, we can perform the Liberum which will free us from the human world once and for all. There is nothing you can do to stop us!" Leo declares.

"Oh, Celestial Spirit King. I will not fail you," Ophiuchus states.

"You will fail him. You will fail the Liberum Ritual. Spike wants!" Spike increases his size into a full dragon.

"Hey! You didn't tell me the dragon can do that!" Ophiuchus yells angrily at Leo the Lion.

"Without Ophiuchus, you have no way of performing the Liberum Ritual!" Spike tackles Ophiuchus.

"No!" Leo underestimates Spike.

"Natsu! Leo is all yours!"

"You got it, Spike. Time to seal your gate, Loke!" Natsu powers up. "Wendy, Happy, Carla! Grab the Globe while I'll deal with this poser!"

"On it, Natsu!" Wendy replies. Carla grabs her and takes off with Happy.

"You insolent fool!" Leo goes after Wendy, Carla, and Happy.

"You're fighting me! Fire Dragon Brilliant Flames!" Natsu unleashes a fiery explosion on Leo the Lion.

"Come, meet your demise, human!" Leo takes his fury at Natsu.

Spike pins Ophiuchus to the ground and punches the head of it. She tries playing her ocarina when she notices Spike not using any magic.

"We're not going to use our magic against you since you have that ocarina!"

Ophiuchus wraps her body around Spike and squeezes tightly. "I will squeeze the life out of you," Ophiuchus tightens her hold on Spike. Spike uses his fire breath to teleport himself out of the tight squeeze. "WHAT?!" Ophiuchus looks around to see where Spike went. "You copycat! Show yourself!" Ophiuchus demands while getting back up.

Spike is above Ophiuchus, picking up speed as he dives. "Lightning Inferno Flame!" Spike conjures his lightning flames. "Meteor Rain!" Sparkling Orange-Green Lightning Flame Orbs descend upon Ophiuchus.

"Aaaaaaah!" Ophiuchus couldn't counter the attack as many orbs explode around her. She's taken a lot of blows from the attack.

"No! Ophiuchus!" Leo sees the carnage upon Ophiuchus. "I'm going to slay that freaking dragon!"

"You're going have to go through me first! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu blindsides Leo when his focus is on Spike. Leo gets back up. "Fire Dragon Wing Attack!"

"Not this time!" Leo conjures his dark flames to disperse Natsu's flames.

"What!?" Natsu is puzzled when his attack did no damage.

"Your flames are no match for my flames of darkness. The darkness will snuff out the light!" Leo shoots darkness flares from his hands at Natsu.

Natsu dodges the attack and goes straight at Leo. "Fire Dragon Roooooar!" Natsu unleashes his fire breath at Leo.

"Darkness Flames Roooooooar!" Leo the Lion copies Natsu's attack and unleashes his dark flames breath to disperse Natsu's flames. Natsu feels the full force of Leo's flames and collides into a mountain.

Wendy, Happy, and Carla are having a rough time trying to nab the Celestial Globe hovering in the sky, it has a defense mechanism and shoots magic torrents at anything drawing near to its presence. Happy, Wendy, and Carla do get hit a few times, but they continue their best effort on getting close to the globe.

"Ophiuchus! Get up!" Leo commands Ophiuchus, but she doesn't respond. Leo sees Spike stomping on Ophiuchus hard after his attack. "Nooooooo!"

"You're finished!" Spike grabs and throws Ophiuchus away from the mountains.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Leo watches Ophiuchus fall. He needs Ophiuchus to complete the Liberum Ritual.

"This fight is over!" Natsu launches himself into the air.

"It is not! Nothing will stop us from achieving true freedom! Purge of Darkness!" Leo releases a stream of dark flames from his palm and directs it at Natsu.

"Get in my belly!" Natsu consumes Leo's flames. "OH YEAH! NOW I GOT A FIRE IN MY BELLY!"

"Impossible!" Leo didn't take any countermeasures of Natsu eating his flames.

"Black Fire Dragon Mode!" Natsu powers up, combining his magic with Leo's.

"Say what?!" Leo steps back now that he's at a disadvantage.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Black Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu swipes his arms in a circular fashion consisting of his flames and dark flames from Leo, creating a powerful and highly destructive torrent of flames that bombarded Leo. Leo gets hurled into a mountain. The impact from the flames and colliding into the mountain knocked Leo the Lion out. "Time to go back," Natsu uses the closure key to send Leo back to the Celestial Spirit World.

"You did it, Natsu!" Wendy is happy that Natsu finally defeated Leo.

"He was pretty distracted when Spike fought Ophiuchus," Natsu said.

"Speaking of Spike, where is he?" Happy asks.

"Over here," Spike reverts to his size and lands next to his friends. His eyes turn back to jade. "Fighting Ophiuchus was hard, but I took her out."

"Unfortunately, there's no closure key for her. We can only hope she's out of the way long enough for us to obtain the Celestial Globe."

"We have problems with that, Spike. The globe is above and has a powerful defense sequence. We can't get closer," Carla explains.

"Hey, look," Happy sees Leo the Lion's Zodiac light up in the skies.

"What is that?" Natsu asks.

"The Zodiacs that are defeated and sent back. The only ones missing are the Maiden and the Balance," Spike said after counting the Zodiacs in the sky.

"Hey, wait! Why is the Liberum still active?" Happy asks, still looking at the Celestial Globe.

"We took out Ophiuchus. She shouldn't be recovering that quickly unless..?" Spike starts remembering what Ophiuchus said before tackling her.

"Ophiuchus may have recovered quicker and is performing using the ocarina."

"Indeed I am," Ophiuchus returns to the battlefield and starts singing an incantation for the Liberum ritual.

"Oh c'mon!" Spike is not one to complain, but he didn't anticipate the durability of an altered Zodiac Spirit.

"This is payback, you son-of-a-bitch!" Ophiuchus stops singing and shoots an energy blast from its serpent's mouth at Spike, Happy, Carla, Wendy, and Natsu.

Spike crosses his arms, creating a Sparkling Green Metallic Shield, shielding the attack. "Damn, she's stronger than before."

"She's serious. She's not messing around anymore."

"The time is now. I can feel it. You won't be waiting long, my king!" Ophiuchus announces. She continues the incantation for Liberum.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Happy turns to Natsu, who is feeling and looking blue."

"No.., I feel weak..," Natsu is having a hard time moving.

"You ate Loke's flames, right?" Fairy Rage asks Natsu.

"Yea. They weren't that bad..," Natsu is feeling woozy a bit.

"It could be poisoning. Like the time Spike ate Hades' Abyss Magic and felt like crap."

"Oh boy," Natsu is sweating like crazy.

"Hold on, does that mean Natsu will have a second soul in him?" Happy asks Spike.

"Not likely. Darkness from a Celestial Spirit is different than Hades' magic. I was born from the ashes of Hades' magic that remained inside of Spike before he flushed it out. I believe darkness and Dragon Slayer Magic don't mix well, and Natsu's immune systems are taking a long time to dispose of it."

"What Fairy Rage says," Spike said. He couldn't come up with a better answer.

"Damn.., that means I can't fight at full strength until I get rid of it," Natsu hates the feeling surging through his body.

"What do we do now?" Happy asks.

"Spike and I defeated Ophiuchus once. We can do it again. Ready, Spike!"

"Ready!" Spike takes flight and goes straight at Ophiuchus.

"Take this!" Ophiuchus shoots an energy blast from its serpent's mouth at Spike.

Spike uses his fire breath to teleport the attack away; it hits a mountain far away from his friends. Spike increases his size into a full dragon once more.

"Carla, we should help Spike," Wendy turns to Carla.

"Right," Carla nods and picks up Wendy. She takes off.

"Natsu, take cover," Wendy powers up while Carla is flying.

"Happy, let's go," Natsu wants to fight as well.

"I'm not sure, Natsu," Happy is worried about Natsu.

"Wendy! Try to destroy the Globe again. I can handle Ophiuchus," Spike said.

Wendy wholeheartedly wants to fight with Spike against the Snake Charmer but she knows her priorities. To try and stop the Celestial Globe from completing the ritual. "Alright, Spike. After all of this, I want a day where it's only the two of us!"

"Granted!" Spike shouts.

Carla flies Wendy to the Globe. Hopefully this attempt will work.

Ophiuchus uses her serpent's tail to swat Spike. She slivers after Spike.

"She's stronger than before. Ophiuchus must have held back a bit during our first encounter."

"Like she was testing the waters and how much force she needs to knock us down."

"You're mine Fairy Dragon!" Ophiuchus charges her energy blast.

"Fairy Dragon! Ice Paladin Strike!" Spike lifts his claws and produces ice missiles from the air. They're Sparkling Green with flames inside.

Ophiuchus sinisterly laughs and directs her target at Natsu. She shoots an energy beam blast directly at him.

"Natsu!" Spike couldn't intercede in the attack on time.

"No!" Wendy and Carla cry out. The two get hit by the Celestial Globe's defense mechanism.

Ophiuchus' attack is deflected. "But how?" Ophiuchus is stunned to see the person who deflected her attack.

"Perfect timing, man," Natsu said to Arcadios.

"How did you end up in a dire situation?" Arcadios turns to Natsu.

"It's something you'll disagree with me," Natsu chuckles a bit. "Heads up!" Natsu warns Arcadios.

Arcadios sees Wendy and Carla falling, he jumps and catches the two. "Gotcha."

"Thanks," Wendy graciously said.

"Getting to that Globe is harder than it looks," Carla said.

"Natsu," Princess Hisui arrives. She turns to see Ophiuchus in her true form. "Whoa..," Princess Hisui is lost for words.

"Princess, this must be Ophiuchus, the Snake Charmer Spirit," Arcadios said.

"I didn't think she'd be that large..," Princess Hisui gazes at Ophiuchus and the rest of her serpent body.

"Greetings, Princess," Ophiuchus smirks. "I'm afraid you're too late. No one can stop me now," She goes back to singing her incantation.

Spike is conjuring hundreds of missiles while Ophiuchus' attention is focused on Princess Hisui. Princess Hisui figures out what the incantation Ophiuchus is singing translates.

"That incantation.., she's saying.., All for the King of Stars."

"Well played, Princess. Now, tell everyone what it means," Ophiuchus says.

"The King you're referring to must be the Celestial Spirit King. If all has been for the King's sake, the Spirits haven't been acting for themselves. There's something more at play here. They're being manipulated. Is the Celestial Spirit King behind this or not?"

"Of course he is," Ophiuchus answers.

"You know, I always wanted to go toe-to-toe with Ole Nosehairs," Natsu's hand is engulfed in fire. "But I didn't have a decent excuse until right now."

Ophiuchus laughs. "How can you defeat my King when you're about to lose to me. I am Ophiuchus the Snake Charmer. Chosen guardian of the Celestial Spirit King. I am the Thirteen Zodiac. The Deadly Shadow of my liege!" Ophiuchus uses the Celestial Globe to reveal to everyone her divine power. Twelve Crystal Dimension appears, showing that there are two Zodiacs still in the fight while she remains. Virgo has Lucy contained in her whip while Yukino is fleeing from Libra.

"Lucy's in trouble!" Natsu exclaims.

"Yukino is too," Wendy said.

"Surely there is something we can do to help," Carla says.

"But, they're essentially trapped in alternate dimensions," Princess Hisui says.

"Screw this!" Natsu springs into action, wanting to help Lucy and Yukino as well as taking down the Celestial Spirit King.

"I warned you not to interfere. Now you'll pay the price!" Ophiuchus proclaims.

"Launch!" Spike and Fairy Rage command in unison.

"Huh?" Ophiuchus turns to see hundreds of ice missiles coming right at her. Many missiles explode on contact around her body. Ophiuchus screams in agony from the assault.

Natsu stops his attack to see where the missile strikes are coming from.

"Where did those missiles come from?" Arcadios looks around the area.

"Up there!" Happy points to Spike, where he is unleashing a swarm of missile strikes at Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus grabs her ocarina and plays it. She causes some missiles to redirect at Spike's friends.

"Take cover!" Arcadios shoves the others for their protection. The missile explodes all around the area.

"Graaaaah!" Ophiuchus goes after Spike.

Spike claps his claws and conjures a Sparkling Orange-Green Metallic Sword. "Flame Sword Slicer!" Spike and Fairy Rage slash their sword, Sparkling Orange- Green Flame slicers are heading towards Ophiuchus.

"That won't work on me!" Ophiuchus plays her ocarina to redirect the attack at him.

Spike flies at Ophiuchus and reverts to his size once more. He takes the ocarina away from Ophiuchus.

"No! Give that back!" Ophiuchus demands.

Spike uses his fire breath to teleport the ocarina away. "You won't be playing that instrument anymore. It's beyond the reaches of the Astral Spirytus."

"You bastard!" Ophiuchus tries to summon it, and she can't. "Where is it?!" Ophiuchus is livid.

"Why would I tell you. You won't be using my magic to harm my friends."

"Thanks, Spike!" Natsu goes on the attack to strike Ophiuchus. He sees a brighter spot on the chest of the serpent and decides to strike there. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu lands a punch on Ophiuchus serpent's chest. She is a bit stunned by the attack and wails in agony.

The Crystal Dimensions are now merging, sending Ophiuchus into complete chaos. Virgo and Libra are suffering a bit from the disorder of Celestial Spirit power and Liberum.

"You worm.., how dare you throw off my creations into chaos," Ophiuchus said.

"Hey!" Spike and Fairy Rage grab Ophiuchus' attention. She turns to him. "Eyes on us!" Spike and Fairy Rage conjures a fireball from their claws, generating a ton of magic power.

"What are you doing!?" Ophiuchus is getting nervous.

"Ending this fight!" Spike and Fairy Rage said in unison while their fireball continues to grow bigger and bigger.

While Ophiuchus is focused on Spike's fireball, Natsu powers up, knowing what he needs to do. Natsu powers up, and his flames skyrockets.

"Lucy! Yukino! Ground support is on its way!" Natsu uses the flames and creates flame hands to compress the Crystal Dimensions into a singularity dimension.

Ophiuchus turns to Natsu after hearing the commotion. "A mere human has this much power!"

"Oh, I'm more than just human! I'm a Dragon Slayer!" Natsu roars and combines the crystals into one.

"Look! Yukino and Lucy are together against Virgo and Libra!" Happy points at the single crystal, viewing what's going on."

"Inferno Exploding Heat Wave!" Spike and Fairy Rage press the fireball with their claws creating a heat cannon at Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus tries shooting her energy blast at the heat cannon, but the combined power of Spike and Fairy Rage proved to be too much for Ophiuchus to handle. Her body is engulfed in flames as the flames explode on her.

Spike increases his size once more and grabs Ophiuchus. "This time, stay down!" Spike and Fairy Rage throw Ophiuchus into the vast space of the Astral Spirytus. Ophiuchus screams while she free falls from the floating mountains.

"Yea! That's how it's done!" Happy celebrates.

"Wow, that was awesome," Princess Hisui is glad to see Spike the Fairy in action like that. A dragon with good intentions.

Spike reverts to his size and takes a breather. "Man, I need a break."

"Well done, Fairy Dragon. You subdued the Snake Charmer," Arcadios said.

In the skies, two more Zodiac Spirits appear. The Maiden and the Balance. Moments later, Lucy and Yukino appear in front of everyone. Wendy and Princess Hisui help them up.

"We made it?" Yukino asks Princess Hisui.

"You can thank Natsu for combining the Celestial realms into one," Happy answers.

"Which allowed you to join forces with Yukino and defeat the Zodiacs," Wendy said.

"It was incredible. And, Fairy Dragon took out the Thirteenth Zodiac," Princess Hisui said.

"Whoa, you took at Ophiuchus, Spike?" Yukino turns to him.

"Twice, I won both fights with the help from Fairy Rage."

"Man, after combining the realms like that, I feel much better!" Natsu feels great.

"Turns out you flushed out the remains of Leo's dark flames."

"So, what now since the Zodiacs are back in the Celestial Spirit World, Princess Hisui?" Lucy turns to the Princess.

"I'll tell you," Ophiuchus returns while she laughs victoriously.

"How many times do we have to beat you down!?" Fairy Rage is losing his temper.

"Thanks to you, all of you.., everything is going according to plan," Ophiuchus smiles. "Shutting all those gates would have been quite a challenge. Thank goodness I had you. You returned all twelve Zodiac Spirits to the Celestial Spirit King's grasp!"

"Say what!?" Spike, Natsu, and Happy are appalled.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asks Ophiuchus.

"Are you saying that the Celestial Spirit King planned the Zodiac to be defeated?" Princess Hisui asks Ophiuchus.

"He's the one that stands to gain, but the plan itself was mine," Ophiuchus smirks. "The most difficult part was finding a way to keep the Zodiac Spirits from leaving the Celestial Plain. So, I fabricated a ritual, Liberum, knowing they would try to perform it, and you would stop them by sealing their gates."

"So the Spirits never had a chance at freedom, and the whole reason that they were fighting was just one big lie?" Wendy asks.

"They were tricked into the whole thing as were we," Carla said.

"The Celestial Globe serves as a conduit. It channels power from the constellations of the Zodiacs for my King, the ritual was set up to perform the sole purpose to grant him the Zodiac's strength. It's called the Liberum Verus. The problem with Liberum Verus is it can only sacrifice spirits in the Celestial Plain," Ophiuchus explains.

"Sacrifice? But why?" Princess Hisui demands an answer from Ophiuchus.

"Becoming an Eclipse Spirit did endow Celestial Spirit King who was already the strongest being in his world with power greater he had ever known, but it also gave him an appetite to match. Fearful of his mighty hunger, the Zodiacs Spirits attempted to flee the Celestial World. They strove to be free of him. But, their Celestial bodies pulled them back to the stars. To resist is to suffer, and to give in was to die. The setup was perfect with the false hope of Liberum, I sent them and you too to work on granting my King power he craves."

"The Celestial King was that effected?" Yukino, like everyone else, is stunned to hear the news and reasoning behind the whole Liberum ritual.

"We thought we were fighting to protect the spirits. Instead, we wind up putting them in harm's way..," Lucy said in distraught.

"To think we've been banishing them to the very place that they were so desperately struggling to escape..," Princess Hisui is saddened with the revelation. "A world ruled by a power-crazed monster!"

"How awful," Wendy imagines the scenario.

"This feels like the situation with Future Rogue. Getting tricked into doing the right thing."

"Definitely," Spike agrees with Fairy Rage's statement.

"I can't believe this crap!" Natsu said.

"That isn't the worst of it. If the demented Celestial King goes unchecked, if his rampage can't be stopped, the Celestial Spirit World will collapse in on itself."

"You mean the whole damn place!" Natsu can't believe what Princess Hisui said. Everyone else around gasps in horror.

"Indeed. Princess Hisui's prediction may come to pass," Ophiuchus victoriously laughs.

"Hey! If the Celestial World goes, so does you!" Happy reminds Ophiuchus of her place as a Zodiac Spirit.

"If it's what my liege wants, then I'll cease to exist with pleasure!"

"You're willing to die just to give him more power?" Lucy is perplexed by Ophiuchus' claim.

"That's freaking crazy!" Happy exclaims.

Ophiuchus continues with the ritual as a loud growl is heard throughout the realm. Everyone becomes worried about the menacing growl. Ophiuchus continues to laugh and produce as much power as she can to offer to the Celestial Spirit King.

"Enough of your noise! Spike, let's bring Ophiuchus down for good this time! Everyone else, take out that Globe!" Natsu shouts.

"Right!" Spike powers up.

Wendy, Carla, Lucy, Yukino, Princess Hisui, and Arcadios go after the Celestial Globe. Happy grabs Natsu and takes off. Spike flaps his wings and takes off as well.

"Without that ocarina, you have no chance of manipulating our combined magic power!" Fairy Rage proclaims.

"I can still kill you and prevent the two of you from interfering with the Celestial King's work!" Ophiuchus shoots energy beams left and right at Natsu and Spike in the air.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu ignites his foot on fire to kick Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus extends her arm to grab Natsu and throws him at Spike with immense strength. Spike uses his fire breath to teleport Natsu and Happy.

"Where did he go!?" Ophiuchus looks around.

"Where he needs to be!" Spike shouts.

"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu lights his entire body ablaze and headbutts Ophiuchus' serpent's body at high speed.

"You bastard!" Ophiuchus feels the full force from the attack.

"Explosion Cataclysm!" Sparkling Green Explosions hits Ophiuchus below her serpent's body. Ophiuchus screams in pain; she doesn't have an answer to stopping that attack.

"Spike! Use that spell again!" Natsu sees how difficult Ophiuchus is reacting to the spell.

"Explosion Cataclysm!" Spike uses the spell again. Once again, the explosions are wearing Ophiuchus down.

"Happy, fly as high and as fast as you can!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy complies and soars in the air as fast as he can.

"Flaming Arrows!" Spike's claw is in a C formation and shoots Sparkling Green Arrows from his fingertips at Ophiuchus. He flies around her like an annoying mosquito.

Ophiuchus extends her arm in hopes of trying to grab Spike. She waited a few moments and grabs his throat. "Gotcha!" Spike chokes a bit from the grapple. Ophiuchus pulls him close to her. "I'm going to snap your neck, killing you in the process.

"Now, Happy!" Natsu shouts.

"Aye!" Happy releases Natsu from being high above Ophiuchus.

"Lightning Flame Dragon Mode!" Natsu's body is ablaze in lightning and fire. "Lightning Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu engulfs his left hand in lightning and his right hand in flames and, after bringing the two together, generates a large, destructive, sparking blast at Ophiuchus.

Ophiuchus feels burnt and electrocuted at the same time. She releases her grip on Spike's throat. Then she hears Spike consuming the lightning flame energy around him.

"My turn! Lightning Inferno Flame!" Spike soars high in the sky. "Demolition Blast!" Spike unleashes a Sparkling Green Lightning Flame blast at Ophiuchus.

"Spike! Let's finish this!" Natsu said. "Happy, I need a lift!"

"Aye, Sir!" Happy grabs Natsu to fly with Spike.

"Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu conjures his breath attack.

"Lightning Inferno Flame!" Spike conjures his breath attack.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!" Spike and Natsu combine their breath attack in a unison raid like they did seven years ago against Master Hades. Ophiuchus tries to defend herself, but the unison raid is overwhelming. Ophiuchus falls over.

Spike and Natsu pant heavily after the combined breath attack. Spike, Natsu, and Happy see Lucy, Yukino, and Princess Hisui performing a spell that destroyed the Celestial Spirit Globe from completing the Liberum Verus ritual.

"Look!" Happy points at Ophiuchus; she's disappearing. Then the Zodiacs in the sky disappear.

"The destruction of the globe may have sent her back to the Celestial Spirit World..," Spike said, still panting from the fight.

"Agreed. I'm glad that part is over. Ophiuchus kept on coming back."

"Thanks for the help, Natsu."

"Anytime," Natsu high five Spike.

"Let's go check on our friends," Spike descends.

"Aye," Happy follows Spike and lets go of Natsu once they reach the ground.

"Princess, are you alright?" Arcadios checks on Princess Hisui.

"Yea," Princess Hisui nods. She, like Lucy and Yukino, is bruised from the spell they performed and their clothes are tattered.

"We did it! We save them!" Yukino cheers.

"Now Loke and the Spirits will go back to normal," Natsu said.

"Since when does anything turned out to be that simple?" Carla asks, spoiling Natsu's mood.

"Wendy, Lucy, are you two alright?" Spike asks the two.

"I'm fine, Spike," Wendy smiles.

"Same with me. I'm glad that Ophiuchus is dealt with and the Globe destroyed," Lucy replies.

"Man, I need a nap. Fighting Ophiuchus four times really did a number on me," Spike sits on the ground.

"Here," Wendy starts healing Spike.

Spike is feeling better than before. "Thanks, Wendy."

"You're welcome, Spike," Wendy smiles.

The mountains start crumbling all around them. Gray, Erza, Juvia, Elfman, Mirajane, Gajeel, Panther Lily, Cana, and Levy arrive at the scenery.

"Yo, what's the deal? Did we stop the ritual?" Gray asks his friends.

"Geez, it's about time you showed up," Natsu said.

"I've been here from the start! You know it, magma breath!" Gray retorts.

"You're all okay," Lucy sees her friends well.

"Oh, yea!" Levy replies.

"So, did the oversize python turned tail or what?" Gray asks.

"Happy and I stepped in after Spike took on Ophiuchus and defeated her twice. Spike and I delivered the final blow on the lizard."

"Wait, Spike took on the Snake Charmer?" Erza is in shock.

"Fairy Rage and I fought her three times on our own before Natsu came into the fray and helped me finish her off. Ophiuchus was indeed a tough opponent, Sis."

"Spike, mind lending me some iron?" Gajeel asks.

Spike crosses his arms and conjures a sparkling metallic shield. He tosses it to Gajeel. "Enjoy."

"Thanks, bro," Gajeel takes a bite out of the shield.

"There are no Zodiacs around to try and kill us," Panther Lily said.

"Good, take it as a good sign," Gajeel said while enjoying his meal.

"Yes, we shut all their gates, so there's no need to worry," Yukino said.

"Maybe. There's no sign that we turned them back to normal, though," Lucy is having doubts.

"Hey, keep your chin up; we'll figure out a way to help them," Natsu encouragingly says, hoping it'll put a smile on Lucy's face.

"That's right, it'll be okay, somehow," Happy said.

"Why don't you take this opportunity to compare notes and make a plan," Carla suggests.

"And I can heal everybody, so we'll be ready," Wendy states.

"Woah, I'm sensing something intensifying."

"I feel it too," The mountains everyone is standing on start illuminating blue lights. The loud menacing growls return as the mountains are breaking apart. Spike sees his friends panicking a bit from the growl.

"Spike! Increase your size so we can ride on you," Erza commands.

"On it, Sis. Spike wa-" Spike is interrupted by Horologium's appearance.

"Wait, don't go. The ritual was completed a few moments ago. Ms.Lucy, I urge you, if you don't do something, the Celestial Spirit World will vanish forever. Take these," Horologium's door opens, revealing all sorts of Celestial Garments. "There's something else, I know Spike doesn't wear clothes, but he won't be needing a garment. An actual dragon's lifespan will not be affected by our laws in the Celestial Spirit World."

"No way! Spike gets to stay in the nude!" Natsu is in shock.

"Crux did his research. He told me that Spike will be fine in our world," Horologium said.

Spike watches his friends getting dressed and pumped up to go into the Celestial Spirit World to save every Celestial Spirit. Erza is getting ready to make her statement.

"Just remember, even if we return to this world a hundred years from now. As long as we're with our friends, there's nothing to fear."

"Friends and family to go around," Spike said.

"I'll be happy in a hundred years either direction as long as my love-sickle is beside me," Juvia said.

"We already lost seven years together, so what's another century or two?" Levy is not bothered by the time regulations in the Celestial Spirit World.

"I don't care what year it is. Just give me some iron to chew and a world to rampage in," Gajeel said.

"Truth," Panther Lily concurs.

"Lisanna will understand why we're doing this," Mirajane said.

"Of course she will. She's our sister!" Elfman proclaims. "Not to mention she's pretty manly herself."

"I can never tell if you're joking or not," Cana said.

"The Celestial Spirit King will soon absorb the Astral Spirytus. This will be a bumpy ride," Horologium warns his friends. "It'll allow me to enter the Celestial Spirit World. Make sure each of you except for Spike are wearing the proper garments."

"Let's go! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu shouts.

Horologium sends his friends into the Celestial Spirit World. He hopes that they can defeat the Celestial Spirit King and save the Celestial Spirit World.

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