123Hey guys ! I know it has been a while, but I had a hard time writing. It's not that I don't want to write fic anymore, it is more because of the context. Maybe you don't know it, but we're currently facing a virus named Covid-19 which forced a lot of people to work from home, and I'm one of those person. Some might think that working or even studying from home is the greatest thing ever, they are wrong. Before being confined (I'm french in case you forgot), I worked at my enterprise HQ and came back home between 12 and 14 to eat, which gave me time to properly write. But now that I'm working from home, I'm basically 24/7 on my computer and it's starting to take its toll on me and my motivation to do anything and that include writing fics, sadly. So it might take me a lot of time to write a chapter, but unless I personally tell you otherwise, I am NOT giving up that fic so don't worry, the update will come, just not as fast as you might like, sorry.
Anyway, on with the 56th chapter. Enjoy !
Chapter 56 : The soul of the pen. The desire of the panther. The birth of a dragon.
After splitting up with their friends, Lucy, Alzack, Bisca and their Riders comrades weren't the only one that ended up facing some problem. In another part of the underground base, Team Shadow Gear, running side by side with Gajeel and Panther, and alongside a few Kamen Riders, Necrom, Birth and OOO, without Ankh who was with someone else for now, were looking for their missing friends in this dangerous territory filled with enemies.
- "It's really starting to get annoying !" Stated Jet as he kicked a few soldiers away with the help of his magic. "How many of them are in there ?!"
- "I don't know, and it doesn't really matter !" Answered Eiji, using his Latorata Combo, rushing and clawing at his opponents, helped by Droy's plant who either grabbed or at least hindered Shocker's movement. "We've got to find the other and put an end to their plan !"
- "I agree, but it's going to take forever if they keep coming at us like that !" Answered Levy, her magic materializing a large LEAD word that squashed the soldiers in front of them.
- "It doesn't matter as long as we reach them !" Said Alain, punching back a few soldiers. "They can protect themselves for the moment, we just have to find where they are hiding."
- "And the best way to do that is to see the place those dumbass are defending !" Stated Gajeel, grinning like a madman as he plowed through the soldiers alongside Lily and Akira.
- "Then we're on the right track !" Stated Akira, looking at a door heavily guarded by snipers and other shooters. "There has to be something behind that door. We have to reach it !"
The others nodded and in a matter of a few minutes, they reached the aforementioned door, immediately opening it to enter the room it was hiding. The all ended up in a large room that was filled with large glass container with pipes coming out of them and slithering across the wall and roof to finally disappear in a hole in the middle of it. On the other side of the room was another door, probably leading deeper in the base, but it was eerily silent, and that unnerved the Riders and mages a lot.
- "It's too calm. I don't like this." Said Eiji, looking all around, on his guard in case something suddenly tried to attack them. And he was soon proved right.
- "There are there." Stated Gajeel, his enhanced hearing catching some noises coming their way. And a few seconds later, they were faced by a new platoon, this time made of Gamma Commando and Yummies, led by two massive creatures.
The first was of average size, with blue hair standing in some kind of spikes with strands on both side of its face and a yellowish shredded ribbon holding them up and red eyes shaped to look like some kind of glasses. It was wearing a dress-like rust colored armor, its fingers looking like claws shaped like fountain pens with tubes connecting those tips to some kind of ink pot on the arms.
The other one was much more massive and feral looking. Completely black, it had heavy and well-defined muscles and thick black fur all over his body, mainly on the upper body. It had a mainly feline appearance, with sharps claws and fangs and a long tail and it was holding onto a massive jagged sword.
- "Well. Looks like we found ourselves some new Another Mages." Stated Droy. "And they both look pretty familiar, too."
- "Yeah. Those are Levy's and Panther's Another." Realized Jet.
- "It can't be Another Levy's." Stated Gajeel, looking very serious and catching everyone's attention. "It is way too tall to be Shrimp's… AAAAAHH !" While Gajeel hopped into place, holding the foot Levy had crushed with LEAD, Alain seemed confused.
- "But why does that Another Panther have a weapon ? You don't have one on you."
- "Not right now, but I used too." Explained Panther as he glared at his evil twin. "It must have been made with whatever they got on me back in Edolas."
- "Anyway… We'll hold the small fry for you." Said Birth as he, Eiji and Alain took a step forward. "We're leaving your doppelgangers to you."
The Riders did just that, running at the Shockers soldiers while leaving the mages to deal with the two Anothers. Gajeel immediately ran at the two, arm transformed into a large sword which he swung at Another Panther who countered with his own sword, both blades clashing with sparks flying all around as both metal weapon grinded against each other. After a few swings, Gajeel, with a smirk glued to his face, blocked the opponent's weapon, opened his mouth and began to munch on it. However, his confident look was replaced by confusion as he realized that he couldn't eat it, something he wasn't expecting. This moment of confusion gave Another Panther a counter-attack opportunity, kicking Gajeel's guts, forcing him back before slamming his blade into the iron dragon, sending him crashing in the wall. With Gajeel's down for now, Lily transformed into his human form and ran at his doppelganger, dodging the massive sword it was swinging around to get closer and throw punches, the first few hitting home before the twin began to dodge expertedly the assault. Panther prided himself in his overall physical abilities, which he proved back in Edolas by fighting mano a mano with Gajeel, but he had to admit that this twisted version of himself was starting to prove that it was better than him on this point. Another Panther was taking the upper hand, hit after hit, much to Panther frustration.
IRON DRAGON'S CLUB !
Just then, a large pillar made of iron shot out of nowhere, well almost nowhere, hitting Another Panther straight in the jaw, which sent him flying backward and away from Panther who could take a small break as Gajeel, a frown on his face, walked up to him, now covered in iron scales.
- "As if I'm gonna let that shit beat me up that easily." He groaned, eyes locked on their opponent who was already back on his feet, barely grazed by the attack. "Tch. That's one tough bastard."
- "I should feel happy that a monster born from my own power is that strong, but it doesn't feel right." Added Panther while taking a fighting stance, ready to pounce. "Let's get rid of that thing."
While the 2 on 1 fight between Dragon Slayer, Exceed and Another was a slightly uneven fight, the one opposing Team Shadow Gear to the Another of one of their member wasn't any better.
FALCON HEAVENWARD !
Jet, using his speed, dashed at Another Levy, hoping to knock it out or at least annoy it long enough for his friends and teammates to do something, but he was quickly stopped by a massive and sturdy WALL that suddenly appeared in front of him, the sprinter slamming into the word at full speed which stunned him a bit. Because yes, just like Another Lucy could use a dark and twisted version of the blonde magic, this one could also use the same Solid Script Magic as Levy, but with a simple but pretty annoying twist that came from its strange fingers.
KNUCKLE PLANT !
Droy threw his seed on to the ground and then used his magic to grow them into his famous fist shaped vines, heading to pummel the monster in front of him. But the monster, using his quill finger, wrote many BLADE which he then sent at the plant, the words cutting through the plants easily, making their way to slice Droy in pieces, which would have happened if it wasn't for Levy.
SOLID SCRIPT : WALL !
A massive WALL Appeared in front of Droy, the BLADE sticking to it like darts to a target, but it wasn't over just yet as Levy as something else planned.
SOLID SCRIPT : SMOKE !
The word was thrown at Another Levy who tried to swat it away, only for the word to 'explode' into a massive smokescreen that blinded the monster which gave the rest of Team Shadow Gear the perfect opportunity to counter-attack. Droy summoned another batch of vines that slithered their way to the smoke before wrapping around the monster who of course tried to fight against it, battling to free itself, but it wasn't fast enough to succeed.
FALCON HEAVENWARD !
Jet, jumping on the opportunity, used his speed to do what he wanted to the first time, throwing an highspeed kick at the monster's head who was thrown backward, flying and rolling on the ground on at least 20 meters before coming to a stop. However, this had been less painful that it looked, the Another already back on its feet and glaring at the mages who stood side by side, glaring back at it.
- "It seems like it didn't hurt that much." Said Jet.
- "He's tougher than he look for sure. But it's not just a matter of strength and stamina." Added Droy. "If it is like the ones we fought outside, then it has to be destroyed by Levy and no one else."
- "You're probably right." Agreed Levy, squinting her eyes as she glared at her twin. "Then let's find a way to…"
Before she could finish her sentence, a ROCKET shot toward them, slamming into Jet before he or his friends could react, taking him for a ride and slamming him into a wall. And as if this wasn't enough already, the ROCKET was followed by a GLUE that splattered on Jet before he could get up, sticking him to the ground and preventing him from doing so.
- "JET !" Shouted Droy, seeing his best friend completely stuck before turning to the one responsible for the attack. "You bastard !" He then threw some seeds to the ground but the ground suddenly froze around the seeds due to the FROST the Another Levy had wrote. Frozen, the seeds couldn't be used and the Another used that to make BOMB literally rain down on Droy, smoke surrounding him as he got pummeled and when the smoke cleared, the mage was on the ground, clearly not in the best of shape.
- "DROY ! JET !" Levy then realized she was all alone to face her evil twin who stood there, the two of them glaring at each other, as if waiting the other to make the first move. And the Another was the one who did it, writing and sending a new volley of BOMB at Levy who tried to dodge, conjuring WALLS to try and limit the damages she knew she couldn't completely avoid. If she wanted to win, she had to find a solution, and quick.
In the meantime, the three Riders were taking care of an ever growing quantity of enemies that kept coming in successive waves, the three warriors successfully keeping them at bay. Necrom, with the power of Sanzo, was slashing at his opponents with his glowing Gokourin. Birth and OOO, side by side, were punching their opponents away, the first using his CLAWs like Drill and Shovel Arm, the second in the heavy punching Sagohzo. If the soldiers they were fighting weren't a lot of troubles, though they were annoying, it still let them have the opportunity to check on their mages friends who were in a bigger pinch than they were.
- "Looks like they are in a tight spot." Said Alain as he looked at the two group of mages who were struggling against their opponents. Gajeel and Panther were still going at it against Another Panther, though they were little by little getting dominated while Levy, left alone by Jet and Droy who had been incapacitated by her evil Twin, struggled to stay in the fight, dodging or defending herself without having a single moment to attack.
- "They need some help." Stated Eiji. "Those things are still Hybrid in a way, so they need to use Hybrid powers to defeat them, just like Jet and Droy when they faced their Another."
- "You're right, Eiji." Agreed Akira as he grabbed a handful of Cell Medal. "Both of you go give them a hand, I'll take care of those guys."
BREAST CANNON !
Both OOO and Necrom agreed as they left Birth alone with the Shocker army he blew away with the large cannon, giving the other the opportunity to go help their friends a little bit. And they needed the extra hand.
- "GAAGH ! / HYAAAH ! / URGH !"
At more or less the same time, both fight took a turn for the worst. After spending long minutes trying to find an opening to attack, Levy's stamina began to run out and this made her miss a step, her sudden lack of balance immediately exploited by Another Levy, one of his exploding words finally reaching its target, sending the blue haired girl crying in pain as she rolled to the ground. And at the same time, Gajeel and Panther had launched yet another assault on Another Panther who, suddenly making his sword grow in size, swatted the two of them away in one hit, the edge of the massive weapon slicing into the feline skin while it managed to break Gajeel's iron scales, the two of them being sent back at the same time as Levy, the three of them all landing close to each other's under Droy and Jet's fearful gazes.
- "LEVY ! PANTHER ! GAJEEL !" They both shouted in fear, worried for the dear friend and partner, the Exceed and even the Iron Dragon Slayer as the three of them struggled to get up as the monsters were approaching them. The fake Panther rose his weapon, ready to strike while the fake Levy wrote a SWORD to slice the original with it. And just when they were about to strike.
SCANNING CHARGE !
DAI TENGAN ! SANZO ! OMEGA ULORD !
OOO, still in Sagohzo Combo, suddenly fell from the sky and landed in front of Another Panther, three silvery rings appearing on the ground and shrinking on Another Panther's legs, locking him into place before slowly dragging him toward the rider who welcomed him with his fists and horn, all striking at the same time. As for Levy, she was saved by Necrom who came flying on the Gokourin, Gan Gun Catcher in hand which he then used to attack Another Levy in a bright green flash, assisted by soul representation of Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. The two Another were then sent flying backward, away from their target, thus giving them a moment to get up, helped by the Riders.
- "Are you guys alright ?" Asked Eiji as he helped Gajeel and Panther.
- "It could be better, I guess." Said Panther.
- "I'll be much better once we got rid of that damned thing." Seethed Gajeel, glaring at the monster who was starting to get up too.
- "And we're here to help." Added Alain.
- "How so ?" Asked Levy, breathless but interested nonetheless.
- "With this." Eiji then pulled out a full set of yellow Core Medals. "I'm pretty sure you know what to do with this, right ?" And that being said he threw them at Panther who caught them with a nod before looking at the Medals. After a few seconds, the medals shone and changed, now mainly black with yellow lines, showing the same medals, except for Lion who was now showing another feline who looked just as feral. "This should help you take care of your evil twin."
- "But what about Shrimp ?" Asked Gajeel, glancing at a pouting Levy, annoyed by the nickname. "What do you have in store for her ?"
- "Well, I don't really thought about it." Admitted Alain. "But I'm sure we can find someth…" Before he could finish his sentence, he was cut by an Eyecon who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, floating in front of the white Rider and the bookworm, the eye shining on both of them. Shielding their eyes, the two stayed unmoving a few seconds before finally opening their eyes, realizing they now stood in a library of some kind.
- "Where are we ?" Asked Levy, her eyes glued to the many books that were on the shelves around them.
- "We're inside an Eyecon." Explained Alain. "And judging by the look of it, it's…"
- "Our Eyecon, of course !"
Both of them turned around and ended up facing not one but two men, clad in black with a white parka who had pen on their shoulders. They also were faceless, except for a pair of eyes, blue for one and orange for the other.
- "Who… Who are you ?" Asked Levy, feeling uneasy at being face to face with such strange people.
- "Those are the Grimm Brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm." Introduced Alain. "Heroic soul of the Grimm Eyecon."
- "Wait, there can be more than one soul in those Eyecons ?!" Levy was shocked. After seeing Takeru fight so many times, she deduced that there was only one soul by Eyecon.
- "Usually, there is just one soul by Eyecon. But we are the exception to this rule." Explained Jacod, the blue eyed one.
- "No need to lose time with those kind of explanation, brother." Said Wilhelm, the orange eyed one. "We're here to land a hand to our blue haired friend !"
- "Eh ?! Me ? But…"
- "I can understand that it can be a bit too much to handle, but you're in quite a situation, right ?" Asked Jacob. "Besides, you did grabbed our attention."
- "Really ?" Levy had a hard time believing it. "But we just met."
- "Not really." Corrected Jacob. "We've been with Takeru ever since he came to this world and we've quickly took notice of you. You're a lot like us in a way. Just like Wilhelm, you like to have fun whenever you can with your friends…"
- "And just like Jacob, you're a sharp mind, who know when it is time to be serious." Added Wilhelm. "And besides, you love books ! You're the perfect match for us !"
- "What does me loving books have to do with all of this ?"
- "It's because of what they are known for." Explained Alain with a smirk. "The Grimm Brothers are authors who wrote among the most popular folk tales of our world. Their stories lived through the centuries up to our time." This made Levy's eyes widen as she realized she was currently talking to legendary authors from another world. "I think they are right : you are basically made to work together."
- "So if you want, our power is yours…" Began Jacob.
- "…And the three of us together…" Completed Wilhelm as he and his brother fused together, now being one man with green eyes and a voice that was a mix of their two voices.
- "…We'll show them the power of our words !" Levy stood there, looking at them, or rather him, in shock before grinning, looking at the ghost with a confident nod.
- "Yes ! Let's do this !"
And with that, a light shone and enveloped the two humans as they got sent back to the outside world, Levy now clutching a blue and orange Eyecon. She turned her head to look at Panther and nod at him, the Exceed returning the nod as they both took a few steps forward, a OOO Driver appearing on him as a white Mega Ulorder with some blue patch lined in orange appeared on Levy's wrist.
STANDBY ! YES MA'AM ! LOADING !
While Levy inserted and triggered the transformation sequence, the Exceed inserted the Medals into the Driver and grabbed the scanner after tilting it.
- "HENSHIN !"
PANTHER ! TORA ! CHEETAH ! PA-PA-PA-PAN-TORA; PA-PA-PAN-TORA-TA !
TENGAN ! MCGARDEN ! MEGA ULORD ! FIGHTING WORDS !
Suddenly, two Riders stood where Panther and Levy. The first was now wearing the same kind of armor as OOO in LaToRaTa Combo but here the part that were usually yellow were now black and the different shades of yellow, which were replaced by a single shade, were only present to mark the limit of the part that were normally colored. He also wore an helm of some kind, like the one he wore back in Edolas but black with yellow plume, completed with a blue vizor reminiscing of the blue eyes of LaToRaTah Combo. As for Levy, she had the same white armor as Necrom, with light blue replacing the lime green. Above this, she was wearing a light blue and white parka with orange lining and four fountain pen tips on her shoulders, two on each side surrounding ink pot, the hood pulled back to show the white and blue glasses with fountain pen tip shaped frame.
The two Another glared and growled at their counterpart, not liking what they were seeing as the two mages turned Riders, after checking themselves out, got ready for the second round.
- "Let's see what this can do." Said Panther as he got into a stance, letting the power run through his legs before shooting forward, his body a blur that took everyone by surprise, including another Panther who received a highspeed punch to the face, the monster being sent flying backward, and crashing into a wall that broke down around him. He quickly got back up and ran at his opponent who was waiting for him. The two met with such force it sent a shockwave that blew away all the rubbles born from the fighting that happened until now, forcing Gajeel, who was grinning like a mad man, to protect himself as the two 'twins' fought with everything they got. At some point, the Another decided to bring his sword out, swinging it a few times at Panther who smirked, dodging the blows and summoning the power of his arms, deploying long curved claws that he used not only to counter the sword but to also slice at his opponent, forcing him to take a few steps back and take off. Because yes, being Another Panther, the monster also had the power to grow wings to fly out of the way. The creature may have tried to get a few moment to catch his breath, but Panther too had a few aces up his sleeves.
- "I won't let you get away !" Shouted Panther as he summoned his last power, the only one that was truly different compared to OOO feline combo. His helm and the upper part of the symbol on his chest shone, sending the energy to his back which allowed him to deploy his wings, now mainly black with bits of yellow here and there. He used them to shot from the ground with the power of a ground-to-air missile, throwing a powerful punch in his twin's guts, which sent him crashing into the roof, with Panther hovering just under him, looking at the monster, who was still moving and trying to pull himself out of the roof, with a grin on his face. "You still have the strength to fight ? No problem. Come and get it."
While Panther was busy taking care of his twin, Levy was facing her own opponent, with Droy and Jet looking at her in hope.
- "Levy ! You look amazing !" Said Jet.
- "Go and show them the power of Shadow Gear !" Added Droy.
- "Yeah ! As Natsu would say, I'm burning up !" Shouted Levy confidently, feeling the power of her partners filling her body. Looking up at her Another, she saw that it had just written a BOMB that was already coming at her and before she had time to react, it was already on her. The explosion engulfed her and for a split second, Droy and Jet feared the worst, but they had no reason to. When the smoke cleared, they realized she had been saved by the pen on her shoulder who had wrote a dome of SHIELD all around her without the girl noticing it. Glancing at her shoulder, she saw small version of Jacob and Wilhelm nodding at her, making her smile before looking back at her Another. "Allow me to correct that." The four pen then began to move on their own, hovering next to her like some kind of tentacles. "WE are burning up !"
Another Levy snarled after seeing this, hurling words at Levy who countered with her own words, matching her twins writing speed thanks to the pen the Grimm Brothers controlled, the pen also stopping the words that managed to pass through, allowing Levy to approach her opponent. When she was close enough, the two stopped using words for a moment, switching to a more classical fight, throwing punches and kicks around, the two heavenly matched despite the physical boost granted by Levy's Rider form. However, after a few minutes of fighting, Another Levy came up with a plan. The monsters lowered its defense to lure Levy into a trap, using the fact that she had lowered her defenses to use a GLUE on her feet to prevent her from moving and a SHACKLES to lock her hands together. Levy, taken by surprised, then looked to the sides as she just realized she was now surrounded by two huge BOMB, ready to slam into her, and those weren't the kind of words the brothers could easily counter. But instead, they did something completely different that took both Levy and her twin by surprise. Two of the pen shot outwards and stuck themselves into the words and literally absorbed them, the ink flowing through the tube connecting the pen to the ink pot where the words were stored. Then, a pen slashed at the Another, forcing it to take a few steps back while one of the ink pot shone and a little bit of ink flowed down the pipe to another pen who then shot one of the BOMB they had absorbed, the word exploding as it came in contact with the monster which got sent flying. The pen then absorbed the GLUE and the SHACKLES, freeing Levy who got ready for the next part. After a small telepathic talk with Jacob and Wilhelm, she decided to act, sending a large BIND at her evil twin, successfully trapping its arm and legs, thus preventing it from writing anything nor flee, but also at Another Panther, who had yet to find a way to beat his original, said original looking surprised to see the words wrapping around his evil twin and thus making him turn his head to Levy who smiled at him.
- "Our friends need our help. We have to finish things here quickly to go and help them."
- "Yeah, you're right." Smirked Panther as he turned to his opponent, grabbing his scanner. "Then lets finish it !"
- "Yeah !" Answered Levy as she pressed a button on her Mega Ulorder
SCANNING CHARGE !
DAI TENGAN ! MCGARDEN ! OMEGA ULORD !
On Panther's side, once the Scanning Charge had been initiated, he had crouched down a bit and shot at his opponent with Cheetah's speed, passing through a first ring before landing an upward kick at his opponent as he reached him, sending him to the sky, where Panther followed him with his wings, passing through another ring as he hit him and send him away a bit more, Panther still rising until finally stopping neat the roof of the room they were in, one last ring appearing between him and his opponent as his claws detached from his arm to combine and form some sort of sword he held in his hand as he dived at Another Panther, the sword glowing and growing as he passed by the last ring before unleashing the accumulated power in one powerful strike that made the creature explode in midair.
On Levy's side, as soon as she had pressed the button on the Mega Ulorder, she began to float and rise high into the air, two of the pen on her shoulder writing many letters that aligned between Levy and her evil twin which was grabbed by the two last pen, holding the monster into place in mid-air. Once the letters were into place, Levy dived at them, one leg stretched forward, the letters combining on her foot as she collected them. First a R, then an I, then a D, E, R, K, I, C and K. Once Rider Kick had been written on her foot, it was glowing with power that allowed her to kick through her evil twin, passing through its chest as it exploded in mid-air.
When the two Rider turned mages landed, the only thing that was left of their opponent was the human who had been used as a base for them and the pieces of the now shattered Ridewatch that contained their magic. After this had been taken care of, Levy used her power to free Jet before turning off the transformation along with Panther and giving the Eyecon and Medals back to their rightful owner who were smiling underneath their helmet.
- "That was really impressive." Congratulated Alain.
- "He's right, the two of you really are some fighters." Added Eiji.
- "Oh, thanks. But I don't know if it was that impressive…" Said Levy modestly, which triggered Jet and Droy.
- "You kidding right !? This was awesome !" Said Jet, outraged Levy could be thinking otherwise.
- "He's right ! You really showed that thing what it meant to be a Fairy Tail member !" Added Droy.
- "I have to say you impressed me, shrimp." Admitted Gajeel with a grin, making Levy blush as the Slayer turned to look at his Exceed. "And you were truly awesome there, Lily ! Exactly what I was expecting from my partner !"
- "Thanks, Gajeel, but now is not really the time for congratulations."
- "He's right." Agreed Akira. "We still have to find our comrades before it's too late. Let's go." And with that, the group exited the room, running along the hallway, looking for their lost Riders friends, hoping they wouldn't be too late to help and save them. But luckily, they quickly found one. Even if the way they found him wasn't exactly the one they were expecting. Using Gajeel's hearing, they followed some noises that had led them to another room which they entered after getting themselves ready for whatever was on the other side. And when they entered, they immediately noticed three thing. The first was the massive reactor-like machinery in the middle of the room which seemed to be sending energy to another place. The second was a large group of Shocker Soldier waiting, lined up on both side of the reactor. And the third was a red Rider that was being hurled through the air, landing a few feet away from them, the Rider immediately identified thank to the tire that was wrapped around his left shoulder.
- "SHINNOSUKE !" Shouted the group as they ran toward their friend who simply turned his head to look at them, surprised to see them all here.
- "Guys ? What are you doing here !?" Asked Belt-san whose voice was coming from… Shinnosuke's head, surprising the mages.
- "EH !? Why is Belt-san…"
- "When in Type Tridoron, Shinnosuke and I basically fuse, my consciousness joining his in the same body." Explained Belt-san as he slowly got back up. "But you didn't answered my question."
- "We received a message from one of Gentaro's Foodroid back at the guild." Explained Levy. "It showed Gentaro fighting against a fake Lucy."
- "They told Tsukasa and we deduced those were some sort of Another Rider but for mages." Added Eiji which made Drive nod before his eyes, who were red, turned yellow before answering in Shinnosuke's voice.
- "I see. I'm glad to see you. And looks like I wasn't the only one dealing with a strangely familiar monster." As he said that, he nodded toward a monster that was standing near the generator. It was a dark creature that looked like some kind of hybrid human-dragon covered in armor, with a squarish head covered by long and wild black hair with spikes above his eyes, along the nose, chin and forearms. It was wearing white pants and nothing on top, metallic wings on his back and long spikes tails. His hands and feet were sharps claws and his red eyes shone dangerously as his grinned madly, showing pointy teeth, grin that matched one of the mage as he realized who they had in front of them.
- "Gihihihi… Looks like it's my turn." Laughed Gajeel, looking at the monster which looked like a mix between him and Metalicana before rushing at it, imitated by his evil twin, the two quickly beginning to exchange a few blows while the others looked at the scene.
- "It must be pretty strong if you had such a hard time against it." Commented Jet, which made Shinnosuke grimaced a bit.
- "Well, it is strong. But it wasn't the only thing that was problematic here."
And as soon as he said that, something came out of nowhere and slammed into Gajeel, sending him crashing into a few crates stored in a corner. The group then looked at the one responsible for the assault and noticed that if this was an Another, they had no idea which one. It was mechanical, mainly red in color and covered in black pipes that run down his legs and arms, all connected to some sort of engine that was sticking out of his chest and back with a single green eye.
- "What the fuck is that ?" Wondered Droy, looking at the creature that looked more like a machine than anything else. "Whose Another is this ?"
- "I don't think it is one of those Another, Droy." Corrected Levy, which Shinnosuke confirmed.
- "She's right. This is a Roidmude. But this one is a bit special." Explained Shinnosuke.
- "And what's so special about it ?" Just as Jet asked that question, a magic circle appeared under the Roidmude legs which was followed by a sudden dash from the machine which crossed the distance between the mages and himself, kicking each and every one of them before they had the time to react, sending them all to the ground.
- "Did it just used magic ?!"
- "I'm afraid it did." Said Belt-san, confirming Panther's fears. "It looks like this Roidmude copied the ability of a mage using the same kind of speed magic as Jet."
- "Tch, talk about a fucking pain in the ass." Growled Gajeel as he got up, turning his eyes back to his evil twin. "I'm going to go and face myself. You take care of the mechanical fucker."
- "Alright. Hey, Jet ! " Eiji shouted, grabbing the speedster attention. "If this thing want to play fast, we'll show it that it's not the only one whose fast here." As he said that, the Rider pulled the set of yellow medals as Jet nodded, taking place by the Rider side.
LION ! TORA ! CHEETAH ! LA-TAH LA-TAH, LA-TORA~TAR !
As Eiji changed into his feline themed armor, he and Jet dashed at the Roidmude, leaving Levy, Droy, Panther, Birth and Necrom to take care of the shocker Soldier that stood in the room. The two speedsters began their fight with the Roidmude, the three of them evenly matched in term of speed, which means that, having the numeric superiority, Jet and Eiji were in a better situation than their opponent, but that sadly wouldn't last. Because the Roidmude still had access to his main power.
*Dooooow* Suddenly, everything became slower around the Roidmude. Eiji and Jet could feel their body being suddenly much more heavier, slowed down by the Donyori the Roidmude just used. But unlike usual Donyori that affected large area, this Donyori only had effect on Jet and Eiji, the others continuing their fight without any slowing down. With his opponents slowed down, the Roidmude had no problem fighting them, each and every one of its attacks to fast for his enemies to be countered. However, in the middle of the pummeling, Jet and Droy suddenly began to move faster, successfully dodging a blow as Shinnosuke suddenly appeared in front of them, punching the Roidmude away.
- "Shinnosuke ! Did you did that to us ?" Asked Eiji.
- "Not really, it was those guys." As he said that, Jet and OOO noticed small bike the size of Shift Cars on their shoulders.
- "What are those ?" Wondered Jet. "I didn't know you had bike themed Shift Cars."
- "Those are Signal Bike, used by my friend and partner go, aka Kamen Rider Mach. He couldn't come to this world but he lend them to me just in case." Explained Shinnosuke. "With them, the Donyori shouldn't have that much effect on you."
- "You mean we'll be slowed down, but not as much." Resumed Eiji. "I thought those were supposed to make you immune to the Donyori ?"
- "It is the case normally, but this Roidmude's Donyori is much stronger than a normal one. I guess it reduced the area of effect to increase the effect." Said Belt-san. "Even in Type Tridoron we can feel it a little bit. And if you combine that to his magic that boost his speed, it makes a truly dangerous combination."
- "I guess it's better than nothing." Said Alain. "Let's see what we can do to take down that thing."
While Shinnosuke and everyone else were busy dealing with the Roidmude, Gajeel was also dealing with his own opponent. Needless to say, fighting against himself was a strange experience for the Iron Dragon Slayer. His opponent using the exact same kind of magic as his, the fight quickly became dull and annoying for Gajeel.
IRON DRAGON'S ROAR !
Gajeel breathed in and unleashed the swirling blast of iron at his evil who, much to his annoyance, did the exact same thing, both attack cancelling each other in a strong shockwave that almost made them fly. Seeing that this wasn't working, Gajeel covered his body with iron scales and rushed at his opponent, throwing punches and kicks. But Gajeel quickly realized that this fight might be harder than what he first though. At some point, he managed to land a powerful right hook at his opponent's face, making him lose his balance but soon after that, he was too punched on the face by his evil twin and what happened next to him by surprise.
*CRACK* A crack suddenly appeared on his iron skin across his right eye, taking him by surprise. They were supposed to have the same kind of magic but the Another seemed to possess a stronger iron than Gajeel's which could quickly become a pain. And the better defense wasn't the only thing this stronger iron offered the Another. As he was starting to feel tired, Gajeel knew he needed to eat something. And when his opponent changed his arm into a jagged sword, Gajeel instinctively did the same but as the two weapons clashed, the Another one slowly chipping through his own, he realized something. If this guy was using the same kind of magic as him, the iron should be different enough for him to eat, which meant that his opponent would be his dinner. Grinning like a child, Gajeel changed his other hand into a claw to grab the word and immediately bite onto it. But much to his shock, he almost broke his teeth on the sword, which made him take a step back.
"What the fuck ?! How the hell is that thing so hard !?" Wondered Gajeel who failed to avoid his twin jumping on him and… biting onto his sword and taking a big chunk out of it. "What !? Let me go, you ass !" Gajeel managed to get away from his evil twin who was gulping down his iron, his muscles bulking up. "This is getting really unfair." As the Another was slowly making its way to him, Gajeel was saved by a volley of bullets that forced the Another back as Birth came to stand by Gajeel.
- "Looks like this one is a tough one, huh ?" Asked Akira to Gajeel.
- "You're god damn right." Seethed Gajeel as he got up. "This guy is going to be one hell of a challenge. But I won't be killed by a fucking clone. I'll show him that the original is always better."
Despite those good thoughts, the situation wasn't looking good for neither group. The magic-enhanced Roidmude was way too fast for Levy, Droy and Necrom and if Jet and Eiji managed to defend themselves pretty well, their opponent was still too fast for them to deal real damages to the robotic monster. The one who was carrying the group was none other than Shinnosuke whose speed allowed him to protect the other from suffering too much, but since he was too busy protecting them, he was slowly tiring himself out and had yet to deal some real damages to his opponent. As for the Another Gajeel, things weren't that much better. Birth and Panther both tried to fight against that creature but failed to deal some real damages, as Gajeel was supposed to be the one to deal with it, the problem being that Gajeel was starting to feel more and more tired as the fight continued. They all needed to find a way to turn the tables around or they might not survive this fight.
"This is starting to get really dangerous and annoying." Though Shinnosuke as he glared at the Roidmude. "If only I were even a tad bit faster, I could…" Then it dawned on him as suddenly as a stack of brick falling on his head. If speed was what he lacked, then he knew exactly who to turn to for that. He powered down, the Tridoron reappearing next to him as he turn to the other speedster in the room.
- "JET ! USE THIS !" The Tridoron Shift Car shot out of his hand and straight at Jet who caught it in midair, looking firstly at Shinnosuke then back at the car before nodding.
- "Alright, let's finish this."
- "And I won't let you do it alone." Said Shinnosuke as he grabbed the Shift Deadheat Car. "We'll take that thing for a ride with both of us."
Jet let his magic fill the Shift Car which quickly changed a bit, enough for the hood to look like a jet as wings appeared on the side of the Shift Car and a red Drive Driver with a jet wings appeared on his waist.
START YOUR ENGINE !
FIRE ALL ENGINE !
- "HENSHIN !"
DRIVE : TYPE DEAD HEAT !
DRIVE : TYPE TRIDORON JET !
While Shinnosuke was standing in his classic Dead Heat Type, Jet was clad in a new version of the Tridoron Type. It was still red with white accent but looked like it was made after a fighting jet than a car. The wheels on his feet were still here even though they looked more like the one plane used for their landing, his eyes protected by a yellow vizor included in a cockpit shaped helmet. The tire had been replaced by some kind of landing runway with a red jet on the bottom of it near the waist and he had jet engines on his back, shoulder and feet.
- "Oh, a jet aircraft themed Drive ?" Noticed Belt-san. "Well, why not."
- "I think it's pretty cool." Added Shinnosuke as Jet looked at himself with a grin.
- "Now that is nice !" He then looked at the Roidmude and took a stance, ready to go. "Let's see what this beauty can do !"
- "Looks like they decided to bring out the big guns." Said Akira as he threw a quick glance at their friends fight.
- "It's all nice and all, but if someone could give us a hand dealing with that thing, that would be great !" Said Panther, too busy fighting off Another Gajeel with his partner to look at the others.
- "But I think this is exactly what we need." Said Akira as he fired some shots at the monster, forcing him back and giving some time to him and the others to talk about his plan. "It's an Another so we need Gajeel to take care of him and I think I know exactly what you need to do that." He then powered down and handed his Birth Driver to Gajeel who took it with a curious look in his eyes. "This will give you the boost you need."
- "Seriously ?" Asked Gajeel with some incredulity. "But what are you going to do, then ? Stand on the side and watch us ?"
- "Not at all, I have a spare one." He added as he pulled another Birth Driver out of nowhere. "This should be enough to take care of the small fry while you handle the big one."
- "Well, if you're so sure about that." Gajeel's grin was back as he pulled the Driver on his waist, which change so the sphere and coin slot looked like a dragon head, taking a few Medals from Akira, medals whose side changed to be the Fairy Tail emblem on one side and a representation of Metalicana on the other side, the dragon head on the Driver munching on the coin as he turned the nob.
- "HENSHIN !"
While Akira was now wearing the alternative form of Birth with the red lines, Gajeel was wearing a whole new version of said armor. It had the same color pattern as Birth, without the dark green part. The spheres on the armor were still there, but not exactly on the same place. The one on the left pectoral was now right in the middle on the chest, the one on the arm were now on the back of the hands. Some were also on the shoulder blades and lower back. As for the helmet, it looked like Metalicana's head with an opening in the mouth to show Gajeel's grinning face.
- "Gihihihi ! Now that's what I'm talking about ! Now let's take care of that shit !"
First, let's look at the fight Roidmude vs Jet. Thanks to his new armor, the mage was now as fast as the Roidmude he was facing, making the fight much more easier for him. But it didn't stopped here. Thanks to the jet engine on his armor, his speed was helping him overpowering his opponent who had literally no time to even dodge the blows that came at him at a speed he couldn't even follow. At some point though, he managed to use his Donyori to slow Jet down, not enough to make him harmless, but slow enough to dodge his attack. The fight was starting to become a bit more even, but they had forgotten that Jet was more of a mage than a Rider, which was proven by the magic circle that suddenly appeared on his engines.
FALCON JET RUSH !
Shot forward by the engines on his back, Jet landed a kick on the Roidmude that sent the mechanical beast flying to the other side of the room where he broke down the wall as it caved down on him, immobilizing him long enough for Jet to finish it all, pulling on his Brace three times.
J-J-JET ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE ! TRIDORON JET !
Plane's wings appeared on Jet's arms as all of his engine began to growl, building up the power they unleashed at once, Jet shooting like a missile at the Roidmude, breaking the sound barrier as it did. Reaching the Roidmude, he rammed onto him, sending him high in the air before flying in circle around it so fast he became a blurry ring from which planes made of reddish energy shot out to hit the monster repeatedly and after a few seconds, Jet stopped circling his opponent, flew high above him and came down, leg stretched forward, kicking right through the monster which exploded soon after, scrap metal raining down around Jet as he landed, his friends cheering for him. But they didn't cheered for long as they knew another fight was currently happening.
On the other side of the room, Gajeel was currently facing his Another and with the help of Birth power, he was having a much better time than before and it was showing a lot. His punches were much stronger, almost leaving dent into the metallic skin on the human-dragon monster. And when the latter changed his arm back into a sword, Gajeel countered with a surprise. He took a Medal he then inserted into the Driver, the dragon head eating the medal.
IRON SWORD !
A magic circle appeared on Gajeel's arm as the orb on it shone, transforming into his sword which clashed against the other. But unlike the first times, things were different as the sword that got damaged after a few swings was the Another one, each impact slowly cutting through the metal. After a few more swings, Gajeel's sword cut right through the other, also slicing his metallic skin and making him take a few steps back as Gajeel, grinning like a madman, inserted another medal in the slot of his Driver.
IRON CLUB !
On his other arm, the sphere opened with a magic circle and a large pole of metal appeared, stretching all the way to the other side of the room, taking the Another on the way and slamming him into the wall in the process. When the Another got back up, pushing the rubbles off him, he roared in fury as large rusted wings appeared on his back and taking off to the sky while sending a flurry of metallic spikes at his opponents. But the Another wasn't the only one with a trick in his sleeve.
IRON WINGS !
The spheres on his shoulder blades opened and a pair of metallic wings appeared on his back, wings he then used to pursue his opponent in the air, both twins exchanging blows for a few minutes, minutes during which Gajeel was quickly taking the upper hand.
IRON TAIL !
In a quick motion, Gajeel had grown a tail he then used like a whip, the metallic appendage slamming onto the Another which got sent crashing onto the ground. Gajeel landed right after him, standing not far from him, ready to finish it all.
- "Hey, Gajeel !" Came Akira's voice, grabbing the slayer attention. "Insert as many medal you want in the Driver ! I feel like you'll like it a lot !"
- "Alright ! Let's see…" He inserted medal after medal inside the Driver, turning the nob once for each.
WINGS ! TAIL ! CLAWS ! SWORD ! CLUB ! HEAD ! IRON DRAGON BIRTHDAY !
This time, all of the sphere activated at the same time, covering Gajeel in magic circle as his whole body got covered in weapons. He had the sword on one arm, a club on the other, massive claws on his feet, a tail on his lower back, a pair of wings and a dragon head sticking out of his chest, looking like Metalicana's head. With his new upgrades, Gajeel began to pummel his evil twin who couldn't do anything but suffer, the hits breaking down the iron that made up the monster skin as he was forced back with each blow. And as much as Gajeel wanted to have fun, he also knew that he had to finish this.
IRON CELL BURST !
Firstly, Gajeel used his pole to slam his opponent on a wall, the iron melting to wrap around the Another, locking him into place as the dragon head on Gajeel's torso opened, revealing a cannon that began to gather energy as Gajeel inhaled deeply before he and the cannon unleashed two Iron Dragon's Roar that merged together, forming a dragon head shaped iron blast that came for the Another, opening its gigantic maw and closing it down on the blocked Another, creating a massive explosion coming from the blast and from the explosion of the Another who finally disappeared, leaving a poor unconscious mage behind, Gajeel grinning as he powered down, almost disappointed to let it go.
- "Wow ! That was one hell of a boost !"
- "Isn't it ?" Said Akira as he took back the Driver and cells he gave to Gajeel. "That was impressive, I have to say."
- "You were impressive, Gajeel !" Cheered Levy before turning to Jet. "And you too, Jet !"
- "It's true, but as much as I would like to let you all congratulate each other for those fights, we still have a reactor to destroy." Reminded Shinnosuke.
- "He's right. We still don't know why they need those, but it probably is for something big judging by the size of it and the energy its generating."
- "Alright, then. Let's get rid of that thing and go find the other." But as soon as they began to destroy the reactor, a old man in a dark room, looking at them via security camera and smirking at them.
- "Come on and do as you please, Fairy Tail and Kamen Riders. It is alas already to late for you all and you'll soon realize it the hard way."
Ok, here it is. I hoped you liked it despite the delay. If you liked it or if you got any remark, leave a review or a PM ! See ya !
Next time : Battle of Mount Katalto, part three. Juvia on the front line. The mage of the frozen infinity.
