Chapter 22: Mouth Hakobe Part 2
Beta read by Shigiya
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-Mount Hakobe-
To say that it was cold would be an understatement. The temperature at the top of Mount Hakobe, where Broly and the rest had been dropped off, was low enough that their breathing fogged up almost instantly when exhaled. Some felt their hands go numb, their bodies shivering from the thunder which blanketed their vision with a white screen of snow and ice.
It was like being inside a refrigerator... No, even worse than that! This was like being forced inside a freezer and left there for years. A few members of the group even started having doubts if Macao could have survived such an unforgiving climate. The blizzard just kept getting stronger with each passing hour and not long after, it would become impossible for them to continue their search
"Yikes..." Wakaba said as he walked through the thick layer of snow. His mood having dropped quite a bit as the cold wind kept extinguishing his cigar. Thankfully through sheer stubbornness and the use of his own magic, it managed to stay lit despite the environment.
The snowfield went up all the way to his knees, making the simple task of walking rather difficult.
Wakaba wasn't wearing any real winter clothing; instead, he wore a regular floral pattern shirt with red pants that was not meant for such weather. Fortunately, the cold didn't bother him that much, his smoke magic covered his body, shielding him from the elements to some extent.
Looking behind him, he saw the others following suit.
"Macao, where are you!? Did you get eaten by a Vulcan!?" Natsu shouted out, gazing around wildly in search of his guild member. The boy was unaffected by the harsh climate more than Wakaba, given he was a fire Dragon Slayer—it wasn't that surprising.
"Stop shouting! You'll cause an avalanche and get us all killed!" Lucy scolded the young boy, moving around with that green oversized coat that covered her body, making the girl look like a child wearing her parent's clothes.
She was walking closely to Broly, the latter wearing even less clothing than Natsu!
Somehow, only wearing a pair of shorts, exposing his toned chest and arms. His muscular physique easily rivaled the likes of Elfman and Laxus. What caught his attention was the many scars from past wounds... some even looked lethal. He didn't know the man's past, but he did feel pity for the fella for what he had to go through.
"Come on, don't tell me you're afraid of a little snow?" Natsu said, huffing at Lucy's remarks.
"I'm not scared, I just think we should find shelter soon!" she retorted back, a comment that made Wakaba sigh. It was practically guaranteed for there to be no shelter or signs of human habitations. Even looking last the climate, one couldn't live here due to the Vulcan population, the only trace of human settlement being at the foot of the mountain rather than all the way up here.
"Why? We can handle this!" Natsu replied, a confident grin spreading across his face. "Macao! Romeo brought back a girl into your house!" The boy continued to shout but to no avail.
"You know what, it'll be best if we split up," Wakaba suggested. "I'll go with Elfman, Natsu with Happy and you two newbies can team up together, I guess." To be honest, even he was beginning to get worried for his friend's wellbeing. He knew Macao could handle a couple of Vulcans with little to no problem, but he feared for the worst if none of them could find a trace of him. The man didn't even bother to try and team up with Lucy as his mind was too preoccupied.
"Yosha!" Elfman shouted out loud, "Let's find our friend Macao, like men!"
"Count on us," Broly said, giving the man a nod before walking away to the other side with Lucy who was still clutching his coat as if her life depended on it.
"I should ha-have brought a sweater... I can feel my eyebrows fr-freezing up and my skin will dry up in n-no time." She said, still shivering despite the warm coat she was given, "Maybe I can try and summon Horologium."
Lucy was more concerned about the cold than anything else. She looked as if she were already feeling the effects of the cold, her entire body shivering. Of course, a part of her also worried about Macao, given they were from the same guild, the responsibility of saving him applied equally on her head just like anyone else.
"I can drop you off at Magnolia," he suggested, knowing that a trip back and forth wouldn't take that long.
To be fair, the offer was quite tempting and sounded like music to her ears. But she resisted the urge to agree, not wanting to disappoint Mirajane and Broly from unable to handle her first unofficial guild quest. Plus the image of the little boy crying for his father's return still remained quite fresh on her mind, strengthening her resolve to push forward.
Lucy shook her head, "W-We promised Romeo to get his f-father back... I will manage!" She gathered her wits and walked in front, shouting Macao's name. But just before she could go on any further, Broly saw a shadow move at the corner of his eyes.
Fwish!
Fwish!
It moved fast, jumping from stone to stone using the blizzard and snowy mountain to blend in with the environment. It was big, moving faster than the Gorians he dealt with before. But instead of surprise, the Saiyan started to salivate, thinking about how long it has been since he tasted his favorite meal.
In the blink of an eye, a white Vulcan with blue spots jumped over a few meters in the air, landing on the ground with its tail raised straight up, blocking their path.
"Hehehe, beautiful girl mine!" It said perversely, licking its lips as it lustfully stared at Lucy. That stare made the girl extremely disgusted, but then again, it was stated that these creatures were related to Gorians... So it was just as perverted.
"Holy—!" Lucy yelled out, her voice echoing all around the mountain.
Broly reacted immediately, firing a single Ki blast in the creature's direction. The beast spotted the attack coming its way, having a large mocking grin form on his face as the energy attack looked smaller than its fist. The attack flew right above Lucy and headed straight for the Vulcan.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Man too slow!" The monster shouted, taking a step to its right and barely missing the Ki blast which now was about to impact part of the mountain.
But the Vulcan's grin soon froze as it suddenly felt a strong shockwave impact it from behind, nearly sending it flying from the generated force. It almost sounded as if a giant lightning bolt struck near their location.
Crash!
A loud explosion shook the ground, blowing debris and dust everywhere. The loud shockwave was enough to cause an avalanche below where Lucy and Broly stood.
The Vulcan slowly turned its head, looking behind its back and coming to face a scene that nearly launched its soul out of the boy.
"Wha... Wha... Wha..." Its jaw fell to the floor.
There was a large hole in the middle of the mountain, going a few dozen meters deep and having blown all of the surrounding snow away. The Vulcan recalled how close that glowing attack came to hitting its face. If that were to happen... A frightening chill spread all over its furry body.
The monster took a few steps backward to recuperate its composure, brushing off the snow particles from his fur and looking back to find Broly.
Suddenly, a dark shadow blocked the light behind him, releasing a menacing aura to that of a famished predator ready for its meal. The Vulcan saw Broly looking at it not with fear like every other human, but starry-eyed and with a salivating mouth. One he saw often from its brethrens when finding a tasty meal.
"You look delicious," Broly commented, making Lucy facepalm herself.
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"WAAAAAHHHHH, die human!"
Enraged, the Vulcan in a flight-or-fight response immediately went for Broly's throat. Forgetting about Lucy and prioritizing its own survival rather than lust. It charged at Broly while unleashing a series of punches and claw slashes aimed to connect with the man's head.
"Hng!" Broly swung his arm, catching the Vulcan's fist in midair. The Saiyan then instantly countered with a punch of his own, launching the enemy into the mountain, creating another hole.
"Woooooo! Hurt! Human hurt me!" The Vulcan bellowed, charging at Broly once again, no longer thinking rationally and letting its rage take over. Letting its feral nature take over, showing bloodhot eyes and the desire to kill its opponent more than anything.
"Hah!" Broly swung his leg upwards, kicking the monster in the gut, sending it flying high into the air. The monster cried and screamed as its body soared past the clouds, unable to control its body.
He wasn't done, it flew upwards, catching up to the now scared creature and punching it in the face. The force alone made the Vulcan crash further into the ground till it crashed into an underground cave.
Landing beside the monster who somehow was still conscious, though now filled with bruises and bumps.
"Haaaa... " Broly sighed, he barely used any Ki and strength for this fight. He didn't like violence in general, but lately... He has been getting these urges growing from the deepest part of his being. To add more strength to each of his punches, to add a slight bit more energy in his Ki attacks, and so on. Like a small voice inside his head telling him to let go, stop holding back for just a second — he ignored it.
It started happening when he left his back in the forest, and Broly didn't know how to deal with it. There was no one he knew who could spar with him to satisfy his Saiyan urges, to calm the warrior spirit inside of him he never thought he had. At first, he did worry that it was the Great Ape inside of him taking control, his Wrath state which was beginning to escape his control.
Nevertheless, he remembered one specific thing about his people's traits from Paragus.
'Saiyans are a warrior race, fighting and killing are in our blood—especially yours.'
He couldn't help but sigh again.
"I just don't have anyone to confront in order to let loose even for a bit." He said to himself, pilling up some rocks and some dried branches for a fire. "I wonder if there is someone in Fairy Tail who can help me out..." The chances were low, but he still held hope.
Lucy came rushing into the icy cave, panting heavily as she then witnessed him setting up a campsite with the Vulcan having little strength to resist and tied to a large stick to be cooked soon.
"Are you serious!?" She screamed. "Now of all times?" She was aware of Broly's eating habits and love for food. But why did it have to be in the middle of a blizzard on top of a freaking mountain!?
"Ah, I got hungry..." He said embarrassingly, laughing awkwardly at her glare. "Come on, it will only take a few minutes and we never tried Vulcan meat back in the forest, maybe this one tastes better as it was stronger than what I expected." The monster did put up a good fight for him, by itself it could have easily taken down three Gorians without issue. A rare feat if strength that made him curious over the taste of such a beast.
"Don't eat it! That's gross! I know you're hungry, but you can't just eat it like that!" She said lamely, somewhat feeling pity for the perverted ape-like creature.
"I know, but I really want to try it, okay?" He replied nonchalantly, placing his hand on his stomach, trying to calm down his hunger. "Besides, I bet you're hungry as well. We haven't eaten anything since the train ride from Hargeon."
Brrrr
At the worst possible moment, her stomach decided to betray her.
"Ughh, why now of all places?" She complained, not wanting to admit that she was indeed starving. Her mouth began to water at the thought of something to chew on. But that idea soon died down when she saw what he was about to roast... Yeah, she could never get over the fact of how these monsters looked. Even back in the forest, her appetite for Gorians never really grew despite trying it on more than one occasion.
"Me too!" He said cheerfully, starting a small fire which slowly began burning the kindles and then the wood.
Step!
Step!
Step!
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps sounded from the outside and both saw none other than Wakaba and Elfman who came running inside the cave. The older man had a smoke coat around his body with Elfman looking ready to use his magic. Stopped in their tracks when they saw the sight of Broly sitting beside a small fire with a tied-up Vulcan in the middle ready to be roasted any second and a tired Lucy.
"Well call me a monkey's uncle, what the heck are you two doing with that poor beast!?"
"Sending it to the afterlife." Lucy said with a deadpan.
"Eating it." The Saiyan spoke nonchalantly, "join us!"
Wakaba visibly cringed, "No thanks, I've already eaten." He said, never expecting to see anyone in his life wanting to eat a Vulcan. "And I'm not gonna eat any Vulcan meat anytime soon... Unless it's prepared by Mira-chan!"
"Hmmm, Nee-san makes the world's best dishes!" Elfman exclaimed, misunderstanding the man's words and declining. "Maybe later..."
Broly shrugged, "Suit yourself."
Wakaba went closer to the Vulcan "Still, I can't believe you're willing to eat that thing. Like look at its ugly mug, even Natsu wouldn't eat that if I were to give it to him for free!"
"I used to eat many different kinds of monsters, many of them looked like giant insects. So when I had a taste of these monsters, the taste was like night and day." He said while reminiscing about the past.
"Just where the heck did you grow up, kid?" Wakaba asked, curious and disturbed that this man had to eat these kinds of creatures that could possible taste worse than these big hairy gorillas.
"By the way, do you think Natsu found Macao by now?" Lucy asked taking neck to Wakaba as they watched the Saiyan continue his preparation.
Wakaba took a long puff of smoke, deep in thought. "Hard to tell, missy. We found little to nothing, aside from a few wandering Vulcans and other monsters." He gazed at the monster in front of him, who was in the middle of trying to blow away the flames with its breath. "But I can't help but feel like we're forgetting something extremely important…"
"Same," Elfman joined in. "I remember Levy talking about Vulcans not that long ago."
"Oh yeah, she was teaching lil Romeo about the different types of creatures in cold environments like these."
"Yeah… she said something important about the Vulcans though. I was too drunk to remember anything."
As they were trying to remember, the Vulcan was having a crisis of its own.
The flames were too hot for the beast, and for the Vulcan, the final straw was seeing Broly take out two huge cleavers from his bag and seeing its face reflecting on the metal just broke it—making the monster finally lose consciousness.
Ahhhhhhh…
"Eh, what's happening?" Broly asked, seeing the white smoke coming from the Vulcan. "The fire isn't even ready…"
It was then that Wakaba remembered Levy's exact words.
'... Ah, the Vulcans are considered to be extremely dangerous due to their takeover magic, which is similar to Mira-chan and Elfman. So when they beat a mage they consider to be powerful or surprise attack them, there is a possibility for them to take over their body. So that's why you must never hunt these things all by yourself, always have someone to watch your back.'
As soon as those came back to him, his eyes widened in horror, Wakaba's cigar falling to the ground as gazed at the white Vulcan with purple spots. The giant form of the ape which soon shrunk and vanished leaving behind a beaten man with hair like that of Romeo and a tall white coat.
"It's Macao!" Elfman shouted, jumping in surprise at the sudden apperance.
"Wha-What!? That giant monkey was a Fairy Tail wizard!?"
"Oh shit, someone, quickly put out the flames!"
All the ruckus and screaming was forcing Macao to slowly woke up. "Mmmn… is that you, Enno…?" he said in his haze, struggling to open his eyes.
"The flame is making him delusional! He thinks his wife's back!" Wakaba shouted.
Feeling the heat the of the flames to close for comfort finally brought him back to his senses. "Uh… where… where am—HOT! IT'S BURNS!" He screamed, his coat having caught on fire.
"I got you!" Wakaba exhaled a large wave of white smoke which turned into a giant hand that picked his friend up from the fire.
"Drop him here!" Elfman showed a large patch of snow, where Macao was dropped in to kill the fire.
Everyone sighed in relief, they were just about to cook a person alive.
"Hugh, my head… those damn Vulcans…" the blue-haired groaned in pain. He opened his eyes only to see his long-time friend squatting next to him with a big grin on his face.
"I saved your life there, buddy. You owe me a lifetime's worth of free beer."
"Go jump off a bridge." Even in his weakened state, there was no way he would buy this bastard free anything!
"Then you won't get in my way when flirting with Mira-chan, and you'll stop flirting with her as well."
"..."
Macao went silent.
"So?"
He sighed, "Fine, I'll pay for your freaking booze, just help me out here."
With a large victorious grin, Wakaba gave his friend a hand before hugging the man. The latter just grinned and returned one as well.
"Glad you're safe, buddy. Little Romeo would have been devastated that if dad left him like his mother."
"Ha! Like I'll leave him anytime soon. His father is a strong wizard, I'll tell him how I managed to kill 20 Vulcans all by myself!"
His claim shocked both Elfman and Wakaba. One of these monsters was hard enough, but 20? Now that was an impressive feat of strength. Lucy applauded as well, catching Macao's attention who didn't notice her before.
"Hey there beautiful, you're a new wizard I see." He glanced at the Fairy Tail mark on her hand and did the same with Broly. "Man, you're a scary dude. Even though I was mostly unconscious the entire time, I still felt everything from the pain and terror the beast felt. I'll have nightmares about getting cooked alive for the next few days."
"Hehehe," Broly laughed embarrassingly. "Sorry about that, I was hungry and didn't know that you were inside. I would have held back more."
"You call that holding back!? There is literally a hole at the top of the mountain!"
Everyone laughed, Elfman was impressed with Broly's strength and proposed an arm wrestling match in the future. Even Macao joined their conversation and they chatted for a bit more, the man had a few broken ribs and fractured bones all over his body from getting absolutely destroyed by the Saiyan.
"Hugh, let's go back… I don't want to stay here for another hour, ever."
"Alright, now we just need to find Natsu." Broly said.
Rumble!
Out of nowhere, the ground started to shake as they made their way down the path. Everyone thought that it was another avalanche but saw nothing of that sort.
"Eh, w-where is this earthquake coming from?" Lucy asked, terrified of the sudden quake. "Wait, what's that!?"
In the distance, a small cloud of smoke rose above the ground. The more they looked the more ashen their faces became. In the middle of it, was none other than Natsu and Happy running away, the former's face soon turned into pure joy as he saw Macao.
"Macao! You're alright!"
Everyone was speechless when they saw a literal army of angry Vulcans chasing the boy and cat duo. It looked like a small army of Vulcans, each one of them more pissed off than the last, and causing a mini earthquake the closer they got.
"Forget about me, what did you do!?" Macao shouted.
"Oh, I found a nest filled with these things and burned it!" Natsu said casually, not seeming bothered by the amount that was chasing him. "One of them saw my face and called the others to chase me down."
"You idiot!"
Hastily, they all started retreating from the place, running as fast as they could from the incoming danger. Lucy was fiddling with her keys as she hoped to get Taurus to help out or distract the horde long enough for them to escape.
"Girl!"
"Woman!"
"Sexy girl!"
"Why is it always me!?" Lucy screamed at her misfortune.
The horde started running faster as they saw Lucy, getting even more crazed and ravenous.
Everyone ran away to the opposite side—except Broly.
"O-Oi! Don't stay behind, strength magic won't help you take care of this many Vulcans!" Macao saw the Saiyan's action and tried to dissuade him without any success. Broly just smiled and gave a quick thumbs-up.
"Wow, you're seriously going to fight them?" Natsu said as he stopped near the man, wanting to have a piece of the action if Broly were to stay behind. "Hahahahaha! This is going to be fun! I'll have your back, and you can have mine!"
Unfortunately for Natsu, he wasn't going to make this a long fight.
'Finally, I can let myself lose a bit more.' Joy and elation rose from his very being. His elation turned into pure excitement as he felt the building Ki inside of him grow excited as well, almost as if they shared the same desire.
Broly's fist shined a beautiful emerald glow escaping through his fingers. Every single of his muscles bulged, veins popped out of his arm and the very air vibrated from the sheer amount of power concentrated in a single point. A high-pitched sound rang out as his fists as it started to glow brighter than the sun itself.
"E-Eh, Na-Natsu, I think we should run away." Happy said, his instincts screaming at the cat to fly away as far as possible.
"You kidding, this looks awesome!" Natsu on the other hand was feeling the complete opposite of his partner. His excitement climbed from the amount of power he was feeling just from standing close to the Saiyan. He felt something inside of him spark at the sight of Broly's strength "Show us what you got!"
'Here we go.' Broly thought to himself, letting his body move as he willed it to do so.
"Haah!"
A gigantic burst of Ki shot out of his hands, firing a green beam toward the horde of Vulcans. The monsters didn't have to react, and even if they realized the danger—it wasn't like any of them was capable of escaping the attack itself.
Boom!
"Waaahhh!" The group had to brace themselves from flying off from the strong wind generated.
The blast covered the whole area in seconds, growing as far as encompassing the entire top of the mountain, dying the very sky bright green and releasing a shockwave so strong that it could even be heard all the way in Magnolia. When it died down, all that was left were piles of dust, ashes... And a completely flat plateau in front of them where there once used to be Mount Hakobe's top.
Everyone was frozen like a statue, even Lucy was in the middle of summoning Capricorn. Their jaws touched the floor, and Natsu was the only one with stars in his eyes, admiring the power that he had showed off. Happy meanwhile had already fainted with foam coming out of his mouth.
Broly realized the damage he had done, he only wanted to create a small explosion... Guess he got a bit too into it. "Ah, sorry." The man said to the others, scratching the back of his head.
"..."
They were all speechless.
{Break}
-Magnolia-
Near the entrance of the town, a single figure walked through the streets, making everyone who stood in their way jump away from her path as if she was some sort of demon. In fact, she resembled anything but a demon. Her hair shone a bright crimson color, and her skin was flawless to the eyes of many.
But it was difficult to notice those things with the armour covering her body and not to mention the giant horn which was at least ten times her size which she casually carried on her shoulders like it weighed nothing.
One of the people amongst the crowd, Max, recognised the woman returning to their town. His heart dropped, dread crawling up his very soul. "I-It c-can't be, she's back sooner than expected!"
He ran as fast as he could towards the guild, wasting no time kicking the doors open and coming to meet a chaotic scene of people drinking, dancing, and fighting. Taking a deep breath, he shouted.
"Erza is back!"
"..."
All sound suddenly vanished, everyone, becoming frozen in their seats and soon, getting the same expression as Max.
"And she's near the entrance!"
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Now, true chaos ensued as all guild members started running all over the place in sheer panic. No one knew what to do.
"Q-quick, clean up the floor, put the chairs and tables back into place, and get into position!" Makarov shouted out orders which everyone followed dutifully. "Come on, move faster you dolts!"
"Fufufufu, they always get like this when she returns." Mirajane giggled at their actions. "If only they could behave like this every day, then I would have far less cleanup to do." She said with a sigh, grateful for Erza's early return.
Levy agreed, "By the way, where is Gray?"
"Probably went into hiding. He's the one who's in trouble as Natsu for the first time didn't destroy anything during his search for Igneel—unlike Gray who froze an entire hot spring just yesterday."
Rumble…
An earthquake followed the moment Mira said that, it died down soon after so she ignored it.
"W-What was that?" The blue haired wizard asked.
"Probably nothing."
While they were casually talking to each other, Max was getting increasingly more worried and stressed.
"You guys are too slow! She'll be here any secon—tap." The rest of his phrase died in his throat as an armored hand clamped around his shoulders. Making the man nearly faint right on the spot.
A feminine voice came from behind.
"What is all of this commotion about?"
Every single pair of eyes focused on the door, where they saw one of their strongest wizards finally come back from their quest.
Erza Scarlet had finally returned to Fairy Tail
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The next 5 chapters of Snafu, Harry Potter and my 3 other Fate fics (Fate Coiling Sword with 3 chapters, A Fake Familiar Reborn with 3 chapters and To love a sword having 4 chapters) are already available on my P@treon. With 4 more Broly chapters at /NimtheWriter. Also, I post monthly commissioned arts on each story, already posted a few on an Archer's Promise, Broly and Snafu.