Zero

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Worth Woodsea.

November, x784.

Shortly before Ur and Ultear arrived outside the palace where Nirvana's control room was housed, Jellal, having regained his memories after Nirvana's second stage was activated, made his way into the control room without being stopped by Midnight at the palace gates.

"You've come." Brain said as he was attuning Nirvana to his magic power signature. "That woman, Junko Enoshima was correct. You really were the key to finding this ancient weapon."

Though he did not respond, Jellal continued approaching Brain.

'That woman, Junko…" Jellal thought to himself while gritting his teeth secretly. 'She had been controlling me for years. And the things she made me do… Not only to those who stayed in the tower, but even to Erza, who she made me force to leave alone. If I ever find her, I'll make her pay.'

"Now that Nirvana is in my hands, this world will be mine to control." Brain said with a content smile on his face. "And you don't have to worry, Jellal. I will carve out a little piece of the world for you to rule as you see---"

Before Brain could finish, however, Jellal was covered in a cloak of yellow [Starlight Magic].

"[Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor]." Jellal chanted as he lunged at Brain with reckless abandon.

*Bang!*

"Urgh!" Brain grunted as Jellal's magic imbued fist landed on his chest and blew him away into the wall behind him.

*Bang!*

Both fortunately and unfortunately for Brain, the walls, floors, and ceiling of the control room were heavily reinforced, seeing how important this room was to Nirvana's operations. Fortunate because no part of the room was damaged despite the heavy impact he made when crashing against the wall. And unfortunate because the impact he felt was intensified due to the wall not giving in the slightest.

"What do you think you are doing, Jellal?" Brain asked angrily as he picked himself up from the floor. "Do you intend to take Nirvana for yourself? If so, you've sorely underestimated me. [Dark Capriccio]."

With that chant, Brain raised Klodoa in his hands. Then, he fired a beam of [Darkness Magic] in Jellal's direction.

Reacting quickly, Jellal, with the use of his [Heavenly Body Magic], dodged to the ride and quickly flew around the room's perimeter. Then, with his right fist extended, he landed another punch on Brain, this time to his left jaw.

*Bang!*

Like with the last punch Jellal landed, Brain was sent flying. However, as he was not caught off guard like last time, he managed to right himself in mid-air, once again extending Klodoa in Jellal's direction as he landed on the floor.

"[Dark Rondo]." Brain chanted as a number of horror-stricken faces manifested around Klodoa's head.

Instead of firing the manifested faces as a single condensed attack, Brain allowed them to fire individually as they spread around the room.

Jellal, on the other hand, used his high speed movement to dodge between the incoming attacks. And for those he could not dodge, he destroyed them with his fists and feet.

Then, once Jellal was within striking range again, he landed a strong punch to Brain's abdomen. Then, before Brain could be sent flying again, he threw an uppercut that launched Brain into the air.

Before Brain could hit the ceiling, however, Jellal sped past him before smashing both of his fists into Brain's back, sending him hurdling back towards the floor.

*Bang!*

Before Brain could recover, Jellal rocketed back towards the ground.

"I'm no longer under that woman's control." Jellal said, speaking for the first time since entering the control room, other than chanting his spells, that is. "That woman used me to complete the Tower of Heaven. Somehow, when I was at my lowest, she possessed me… made me do things that I would never do. She made me stay in that god forsaken tower despite wanting nothing more than to leave and see it collapse into the sea before she took control."

In the next instant, Jellal slammed his right fist into Brain's abdomen once again. Then, while floating above him, Jellal, with his magic empowering his fists, rained down a flurry of punches. As a result, Brain continuously coughed up blood.

After a few minutes, Brain finally lost consciousness due to the overwhelming amount of damage he took. At the same time, one of the two remaining [Six Prayers Seal] marks on his face vanished. Unfortunately, Jellal had not noticed that Brain had lost consciousness due to his overwhelming rage at the situation he ended up in.

A few moments earlier, Ultear and Midnight's battle began outside the palace. Taking advantage of the fact that Midnight had been knocked away from the palace's front entrance, Ur dashed through the gates and entered the palace interior.

Once inside, Ur spread her [Magic Power Detection] in an attempt to find Brain. Luckily, finding him was not difficult as he was currently engaged in battle at the moment. Unfortunately, having never met Jellal before, Ur was unfamiliar with the magic power signature that he gave off.

"That's not anyone from the Oración Seis." Ur said as she started sprinting towards Brain's magic power signature. "It's not anyone from the alliance, either. Then, who the hell is that son of a bitch fighting against? Never mind, it doesn't matter. But Brain better not lose before I get the chance to kick his ass."

With that, Ur ran through the palace's hallways. And as she did she got more and more concerned. Though the reason was not what one would expect. She was not worried about the person who was currently engaging Brain in battle. Instead, she was worried because Brain's magic power was dropping drastically.

"Damn it, that bastard is losing." Ur muttered as she continued to run. "He can't lose until I get there."

Picking up the pace, after another minute or so, Ur arrived at the entrance to the control room. And what she saw both surprised and exasperated her. The surprise was due to the person that was currently waling on Brain's unconscious body.

'That blue hair… that tattoo on his face…' Ur muttered internally as she made her casting gesture. 'That's definitely Jellal Fernandes. But why is he beating the hell out of Brain like that? Either way, I better stop him before he kills my pray.'

"[Ice-Make: Rose Garden]." Ur chanted as she pushed her hands forward.

Meanwhile, Jellal, having lost himself in his emotions, finally snapped back to reality as his instincts warned him of danger.

In the next instant, from around Brain and below Jellal, several ice roses grew from the floor. While some grew around Brain, their stems fastening him to the floor, the rest grew towards Jellal in an attempt to confine him as well.

Luckily, Jellal had regained his state of mind just as the spell was cast. So, with his speed, he had no issue evading the ice roses that tried to bind him. A moment later, he landed on the floor outside of the range of Ur's spell while looking at the ice wizard warily.

"Why do you stop me, Ur Milkovich?" Jellal asked, prepared to defend himself should she attack again.

"I can't' have you killing him." Ur said, pointing at Brain, who was now wrapped up snuggly by the roses and their stems. "Although I'm not happy that I wasn't the one who got to beat him into unconsciousness, I'd still rather not fail this quest…"

With that, Ur came to a stop and started scratching the side of her head.

"Wait, now that I think about it, didn't the quest say dead or alive?" Ur asked herself unsurely. "Damn it, I can't remember. Either way, if that asshole is gonna die, it's gonna be by my hands."

Meanwhile, Jellal could only look at Ur skeptically.

'What kind of grudge does this woman have with Brain.?' Jellal asked himself, still not dropping his guard. 'Either way, I really don't want to tangle with this woman if I can avoid it.'

"Whatever." Ur said, shrugging her shoulders uncaringly. Then, she turned her attention back to Jellal. "Anyway, are you gonna make me beat you up, too? Or will you come quietly?"

In response, Jellal raised his eyebrows. However, he did not speak.

"Don't look at me like that." Ur said with a wry smile. "After everything you did, there's no way that you would be free to roam around, right?"

With that, Jellal's raised eyebrows furrowed. However, he did not make a move to attack Ur. Instead, his [Starlight Magic] cloak dissipated.

"*Sigh* I have no intention of trying to escape." Jellal said. "I know have to answer for my crimes. That's the only way I can atone."

At the same time, outside of the palace, Ultear had just landed the blow that rendered Midnight, or rather Macbeth, unconscious. As a result, the last of Brain's [Six Payers Seal] marks faded from his face. Then, he opened his eyes.

*Boom!*

With the last seal disappearing, Brain's magic power sky rocketed to a level well above his previous peak. At the same time, the whites of his eyes turned a crimson red color. On top of that, his clothes were transformed into a green military style uniform and his wavy silver hair flowed down from a center part.

With is transformation complete, Brain easily broke free from Ur's [Rose Garden]. Then, without a word, he pointed his right hand at Jellal. After gathering [Darkness Magic] on his hand for less than a second, he fired his [Dark Capriccio] spell without the use of his staff, Klodoa.

*Boom!*

"Argh!" Jellal screamed as he was hit by the spell before he could react and thrown into the wall behind him.

Unlike earlier, when Brain was slammed into the wall, Jellal punched a hole straight through it due to the power of Brain's spell.

"Oh, so you're finally awake." Klodoa said, floating up from the floor on its own. "I guess that means even that brat, Midnight, was defeated."

"It's about time." Brain said as he stretched and cracked his neck. "That incompetent fool would have lost control of Nirvana if it weren't for me."

"Good, you're not done yet." Ur said with a grin. "I was looking forward to getting revenge for what you put my daughter through."

"Hmm…" Brain hummed as he turned his attention to Ur. "Oh, I think I recognize you. "You're that foolish woman that entrusted her sick daughter to my weak other half, aren't you? What was your name again?"

"It was Ur Milkovich." Klodoa replied.

"That's right, Ur Milkovich." Brain said with a nod. "Still, I don't like the tone you're taking with me. And you're gonna pay for that with your life."

"It's not like you wouldn't have killed her even if she had been polite." Klodoa said.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Brain said with a manic smile. "Oh, and just so you don't misunderstand that it was Brain who killed you, I'll tell you that my name is Zero. Now that you know, remember it, as you die. [Scream]."

Just like he had done when casting [Dark Capriccio] against Jellal, Zero, Brain's alter ego, raised his hand in Ur's direction. At the same time, Ur performed her casting gesture and pushed her hands forward.

"[Ice-Make: Rho Aias]." Ur chanted.

Before Brain's [Scream] spell could arrive, a shield in the shape of a rose made from purple ice bloomed in front of Ur's outstretched hands. Then, as soon as the first finished, a second, then a third, Until seven shields blossomed in front of her.

*Crash!* *Crash!* *Crash!*

Just as the last of the shields formed, the [Scream] spell impacted the one furthest from Ur. Then, it proceeded to crash threw it and the two behind it. However, when it reached the fourth shield, it was stopped in its tracks.

Seeing the outcome of his attack, Zero raised his eyebrows in surprise. A moment later, however, he was forced to dodge as the fourth rose shield closed around hi spell and trapped the magic inside its pedals. Then, Ur dispelled the other three shields before kicking the remaining rose bud in Zero's direction.

*Boom~~~!*

Easily dodging the incoming projectile, Zero was caught off guard by the explosion from behind. Looking back, he saw that yet another hole had been blown into the control room's walls.

"Oh, you may provide me more entertainment than I thought you would." Zero said with a manic smile on his face. "Very good, don't disappoint me."

"[Ice-Make: Ice Volcano]." Ur chanted as she slammed her palms on the floor.

A moment later, Zero could feel the floor beneath him starting to gather magic power. Before the spell could fully be cast, however, he chanted his own spell.

"[Dark Gravity]." Zero chanted casually.

In the next instant, the gravitational force in the room increased to twenty times the normal gravity.

Expecting whatever effects Ur's spell had to simply lay on the floor harmlessly, Zero was completely caught off guard when a mountain made of ice spewing sharp ice shards rose from beneath him.

"Hmph!" Ur snorted in disdain. "About twenty times the normal gravity, right? Child's play."

As a matter of fact, the gravity rooms in Fairy Tail's guild hall were capable of raising the gravity up to 250 G. And all of the guild's S-Class wizards wee capable of withstanding at least 100 G, with the stronger ones such as Alfonzo, Laxus, and Ur able to withstand at least 120 G.

Meanwhile, Zero was smashed into the ceiling of the control room without resistance. On top of that, he was cut all over by the ice shards that bombarded him. As a result, his military uniform was shredded while his body was covered in his own blood.

A few moments later, Ur's spell ended and Zero was finally allowed to fall from the ceiling. Unfortunately for him, Ur was not quite done.

"[Ice-Make: Rose Whips]." Ur said, spreading her hands to each side as she finished her casting gesture.

A moment later, a pair of 20" (approx. 6 m) long spiked whips made of purple ice with a rose blooming at the end of each handle appeared in Ur's hands. Then, she dashed forward, attacking Zero relentlessly with a graceful flurry of whip strikes.

"[Dance of the Blooming Ice Roses]." Ur chanted softly as he attack ended.

Meanwhile, Klodoa, seeing how easily zero was defeated, began slowly levitating towards one of the holes in the control room's walls. Just as it reached the outside, yet before it could escape, it was flash frozen before falling to the ground.

*Shatter!*

Hearing the sound of the creepy talking skull staff shattering on the ground, Ur pulled a pair of anti-magic cuffs from her jacket and slapped them on the beaten and bloodied Brain/Zero.