Stealthily, Simon climbed up the stairs, approaching the unconscious Erza while steering clear of the fight between Natsu and Jellal; however, to call it a fight would be an arrogant claim. Natsu was barely managing to keep up with Jellal anymore; he was almost entirely on the defensive, practically acting as his punching bag. It wasn't because Natsu had grown weak; no, it was Jellal who had stopped holding back.
"Hah, c'mon, is this all a dragon slayer amounts to? I'm quite disappointed." Jellal, smirking, charges at Natsu, kicking his crossed arms, flinging him into the wall before following up with several rays of light, slamming into his body, injuring him. "Tsk, arrogant bastard." Pushing himself out of the small dent his body made, Natsu landed on the ground and opened his mouth. "Fire Dragon Roar!"
While the two were currently preoccupied, Simon lifted Erza into his lap, causing her eyes to flutter as she slowly regained consciousness. "S-Simon?" "Haa, Erza, you're okay." Smiling in relief, Simon brushed aside Erza's hair and propped her up against the wall, while she looked at him in confusion. However, her confusion was short-lived as the sound of intense combat drew her attention, where she witnessed the scene of Natsu being brutally punched by Jellal, his attacks sounding akin to cannon fire.
"N-Natsu." "Erza, stay down, you're too injured." Despite Simon's words, Erza refused to remain down, not when her family was fighting for her sake. However, just when she managed to stand up, the sounds of combat had damped, leaving them in silence, except for the sound of footsteps approaching them.
"Well, well, well, trying to steal my sacrifice while I'm busy?" Simon and Erza both snapped their gaze at Jellal, their hearts sinking when they saw him dragging an unresponsive Natsu by his ankle like a sack of potatoes. "Natsu!" Gritting her teeth, Erza lunged at the smirking Jella, who yawned and casually tossed Natsu into the distance before grabbing Erza's face in a claw grip and violently slamming her into the ground, creating a spider-web crack at the point of collision.
"Relax, I didn't kill him… Not yet, at least." Sadistically smiling at Erza, who gritted her teeth while clutching his arm, Simon, using this chance, sneak attacked Jellal, slamming his clutched fists down onto his head, though before he could make contact, he suddenly stopped and began coughing blood. "S-SIMON!"
Jellal finally shifted his gaze and glanced at Simon, whom he had stabbed in the stomach with his arm; removing his arm, revealing the ghost-like appendage that covered it, a rather large gaping hole appeared over his stomach. "E-Erza." Rapidly losing strength, Simon grabbed his stomach and looked at Erza before collapsing onto his back while his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"Hahahaha! Hilarious! You've been planning to betray me for years, yet all you amounted to was this!? Hahaha!" Jellal's roar of laughter infuriated Erza, who punched his face, prompting him to slam her head back into the ground, causing her vision to swim. "Y-YOU BASTARD, JELLAL!" Tears streamed down Erza's face as she glared at Jellal, who just continued to laugh.
However, Jellal's joyful laughter was interrupted when intense heat and incredibly potent magic power filled the room. "ROAARR!" The roar, one sounding more dragon than human, garnered their attention as they looked at Natsu, who was eating a chunk of lacrima, consuming the ethernano within it, refueling himself with an overwhelming amount of magic power as well as poisoning him.
"Heh, he must've gone crazy, he's going to kill himself." "N-Natsu!" An even louder draconic roar drowned out their voices while flames erupted from Natsu, forming the rough shape of a dragon while his body slowly transformed. Reddish scales grew over Natsu's skin, his canines grew bigger, sharper, deadlier and the same with his fingernails, which mimicked mini-claws; his eyes turned vertical slit with a faint flame wisp dancing within them.
Erza, watching Natsu enter Dragon Force for the first time, just looked on in amazement and confusion. 'Natsu, h-he can win now.' As if reading her thoughts, Natsu lunged at Jellal, who sported a rather serious expression. "Fire Dragons' iron fist!" Like a flaming meteor, Natsu slammed his fist into Jella's guard, causing a fiery explosion to erupt as he was flung back.
Landing where Jellal previously stood, Natsu glanced at Erza before shifting his gaze to Simon; approaching him, he placed his hand above the gaping hole, which had created a puddle of blood, and burned it shut, cauterizing his wound. Given the severity of his wound, it did nothing, but Natsu wouldn't give up if there were even a tiny chance of his survival.
"Tch, fiery punk, let's see how long this state of yours lasts for!" Gritting his teeth, Jella glared at Natsu while his magic power surged as he cast spells, though Natsu wasn't the same person as before; what followed next was a complete switch of places. Natsu, with his magic power and physique having been vastly strengthened thanks to his transformation, completely overpowered Jallel, forcing him to defend.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" "Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Natsu was an unrelenting force of fiery nature, and Jellal was but a small boat, barely able to withstand the sheer destructive power Natsu continuously released without a care in the world. As for Erza, she was holding Simon while watching everything with a gaze of amazement, her tears nowhere to be seen.
"Urgh, damn brat!" Natsu dodged Jellal's desperate attack before he violently dug his fist into Jellal's stomach, flinging him into the wall. Jellal, seemingly defeated, Natsu's Dragon Force began to recede, causing him to drop to his knees while coughing blood. "N-Natsu!"
"H-Heh, I won!" Flashing Erza a smirk, Natsu stood up with a grunt as he approached her, causing her to sigh in relief, only for her eyes to widen in horror. Scrambling to her feet, she lunged at Natsu, who just happened to look behind him, his vision blinded by a ray of light, though thanks to Erza knocking him out of the way, he managed to survive.
"Tsk, I admit, that was impressive, Natsu." "W-What!? D-Didn't I defeat you!?" "How!?" Natsu and Erza, shocked into disbelief, looked at Siegrain, who was approaching the unconscious Jellal, only for her eyes to widen. "T-Thought Projection?" "Bingo. Knew you were a smart girl, Erza." Smirking, Siegrain glanced at Erza while his figure began to fade, returning to Jellal, whose body began to visibly heal rapidly.
After a few moments, Jellal opened his eyes and pushed himself out of the hole his body had made; he was still injured, but all his severe injuries had healed. However, the most noticeable change was the magic power he was releasing, which was roughly double what it was before.
"Ah, that feels much better, now, time to finish thin–" Stretching his shoulders a bit, Jellal glanced at the duo while casually approaching them, only for him to be interrupted as the ground suddenly began shaking, followed by an explosion occurring directly underneath him as a brownish figure landed on the ground.
"Man, that shit took forever."
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Cooper POV
As I smashed through the ceiling of the eighth floor, I landed on the floor, only to glance at my foot, where I saw the remains of a drop of water. 'It's not raining, how did water get there?' Looking at my foot, this time, I saw a drop of water fall from my chin onto my foot, causing me to frown as I touched my face, only to feel water.
"Tears? Am I crying?" I was indeed crying; I could feel a steady stream of tears leaking from my right eye, which confused the hell out of me; I wasn't sad, happy, or even angry enough to cry, nor did I have something in my eye. "Also, why am I only crying out of my. Right. Eye… Erza." I shared half of my right eye with Erza; maybe if she were crying, there would be some connection that would make my eye cry as well.
It was a weird logic that didn't make much sense, but I've experienced more bizarre things, though it really worried me; ever since Erza joined Fairy Tail, she hadn't ever cried, and if she happened to cry now. "Tch, I'm killing whoever made her cry!" With rage burning within my heart, I leaped through the ninth ceiling, punching my way through every preceding ceiling, until I reached the three-hundredth ceiling, where I sensed the strongest magic power in the tower.
Smashing through the ceiling, I landed on the ground, wiping my hands while observing the surroundings. "Man, that shit took forever." Muttering under my breath, I quickly found Erza and Natsu; they were both injured, but seeing them alive caused me to involuntarily sigh in relief, though when I saw tear streaks on Erza's cheek, that burning rage returned, yet it was even more intense than before.
'First, they made Erza cry, and then they beat up Natsu!? I'll rip that fucker in half!' "COME OUT FUCKER! How dare you harm my family!"
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Cooper! He's arrived! 😆😆😆