Chapter 39: Defeat Those Who Would Harm You 1/2

Well you waited a while for this fight. I'll just let you get straight into it. Talk to you all at the bottom of the chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

Defeat Those Who Would Harm You

Jura and the others could only watch as Nirvana fired once more, Ichigo rushing to try and stop the second blast. They could already see he would be too late. It took less than a second to work out their choices. They had no way to go up, and they couldn't go to the sides even when they were at the controls. So that left one direction.

Jura stepped forward, all the others having the same idea as he cried out to them. "JUMP!"

They leaped off the ship, but the beam was still rushing towards them. They weren't going to make it in time.

And then Ichigo appeared, firing off a sudden blast of energy as he struggled to hold the power of Nirvana back. And Jura could see that he wouldn't. All they could see was a worried look in Ichigo's eyes as he looked back at them, the energy of Nirvana breaking through the Getsuga Tenshou. He could already tell that it wasn't himself that Ichigo was worried for, but for all of them instead.

They all fell out of Nirvana's line of fire, a small sound coming from Ichigo's throat as if he was trying to say something. And then the remaining energy holding Nirvana's power back shattered, the blast tearing straight into Christina and devouring Ichigo in the blast.

"ICHIGO!"

He wasn't the only one shouting. He could hear the others crying out to Ichigo too, Wendy almost in tears. She was far too young to be seeing someone die.

But he regained hope for a moment. He could still feel Ichigo's power, and it felt like even the limited amount of Magic that Ichigo had left was fighting back. But then the energy changed. Because Brain had been right when he spoke of how dark Ichigo's Magic felt when using his Bankai. But it was nothing compared to this. Even as the remains of Christina fell alongside them, everything seemed to happen in slow motion to him. And the sudden bone chilling roar seemed to last forever.

And then the energy vanished, and Ichigo was standing there. But it wasn't Ichigo too. That was him, he was sure of it, especially with the bright orange hair. But it was longer now, stretching down to his waist. His skin was bone white and his hands had claws on the end of them, the same as on his feet. The mask Ichigo had been wearing was much more menacing now, extending further around Ichigo's head with two bent horns attached to it, one on either side of the mask. And in the centre of Ichigo's chest was simply nothing. Just a blank hole where a heart should have been.

And the moment Ichigo finally stopped causing that terrifying roar, he was gone, leaving a booming sound in his wake.

It only took him a brief moment to put everything that had just happened into the back of his mind but the moment he had he could focus again. His eyes scanned the ground below, seeing the earth they were crashing towards. They wouldn't survive this if they didn't do something quickly.

All their hands were still linked however Ren suddenly released his grip and grabbed Sherry, giving a quick nod towards Jura to protect the others. He didn't waste a second, pulling Wendy further towards him which drew the others closer to his grip. Eve found his grip suddenly pulled from Lucy, a large hourglass appearing around her and Hibiki, and from the look of surprise on her face she hadn't summoned it.

That made things even easier. He held Eve and Wendy close to him, turning himself so he would take the brunt of the blow. He had a greater chance of being able to take it. Earth rose rapidly to meet them with his command, decreasing the distance they had to fall.

But as they all came to hit the raised earth, it softened, the whole group crashing into a form of liquid earth and sliding down to the ground without being able to stop. They crashed out of the slide, sprawling into the ground in unnatural positions. Jura found his face planted against a tree with his legs hanging by the branches, with Eve and Wendy still held tightly against him. Ren and Sherry were luckier with Ren's Air Magic helping to guide their descent. Still, the two of them were slumped on the ground on top of each other, both blushing heavily. Lucy and Hibiki had one of the strangest positions due to the hourglass as the cloak had somehow bounced off the ground a bit and ended up hanging from some quite strong branches.

"I am sorry, yes! Apologies for the abrupt landing Mages of the Light."

They all froze, their eyes flashing towards the newcomer who had apparently saved them. They wasted no time getting out of their awkward positions and up to face the member of Oración Seis. They would have attacked then and there if not for-

"Stop!"

That. Erza rushed into the area, positioning herself between Hoteye and the others. She held up her hand, her eyes wide, likely from what she had just seen above them.

"He's on our side," she quickly said. "There's not much time to explain but Brain knew Ichigo would block the first shot against Christina. He counted on it."

"So that's why Christina was allowed to escape," muttered Hibiki, his voice showing the weakness he was still feeling. "But-"

"GUYS!"

They all glanced to the sky, an eagle of ice flying down to them with Lyon on its back along with an injured Gray. The eagle collapsed to pieces the moment it landed and both ice mages almost collapsed to the ground. Wendy was already rushing to them the moment she saw Gray's injuries, her hands glowing with energy as Gray allowed the ice on different wounds to disappear.

Erza marched over to Gray and Lyon, kneeling by them and looking at them with concern. "Are you two alright?"

"Never mind us," said Gray. "We saw Christina get blasted out of the sky. Is everyone alright here?"

"Perfectly fine," stated Eve happily. His expression dropped as he stared back up in the sky where Ichigo had been. "Well, most of us are."

"Did you hear that roar too?" Lyon shivered. "I swear, it was the cry of a monster."

"That may be truer than you thing," said Jura seriously, glancing around the group. "The situation is far worse than before. We can't fight in this situation. Oración Seis is one thing, but this is something else. We need to evacuate to the edge of the barrier, and get as far away from Nirvana as possible."

"Hold on a second," argued Erza. "That's monster you are referring to is Ichigo. Are you saying we should abandon him?"

Jura ignored her, turning to Hoteye. "You are a member of Oración Seis. You gave Erza the information that Brain would fire to catch Ichigo in the blast, correct?"

Hoteye nodded. "Yes. We were approached by a man a few weeks back. He had a way for us to awaken Nirvana. Before, we didn't even know exactly where it was. We still had twenty possible locations to search through. But this man not only knew where it was but also how to release it. He even said that the moment we begin to move, you all would know. He said Fairy Tail would get involved no matter what, and that they key to winning was to defeat Ichigo."

"And so he told you everything."

"Yes." Hoteye glanced at Jura. "You don't seem as surprised as I would expect."

"A few things are making sense now. Did this man tell you how to use Nirvana? Did he tell you to use it against Ichigo?"

"No," muttered Hoteye, half unsure of himself. "But he also did I think. I never thought it was possibly, but I think he manipulated Brain into planning to use Nirvana on Ichigo. Subtle hints on what Ichigo could do, and how destructive his Hollow would likely be."

"And so Brain believes he can control Ichigo now that he has become nothing more than a monster with instincts." Jura scoffed. "Impossible. You can't control a Hollow. It can only be destroyed."

Everyone spun to Jura, eyes wide. "Hold on," said Hibiki, forcing himself towards Jura. "You can't mean that the only solution is to kill Ichigo."

Jura sighed sadly. "It might be. A Hollow will continue to devour things until it is destroyed."

"But Ichigo isn't a Hollow. He's a Shinigami who has just turned into one. So there still could be a chance."

"It's… It's possible. If Shinji was here he might know more."

"There is a way, yes!"

They all glanced at Hoteye, the man looking as if he had a burst of inspiration. "What is it then?"

Hoteye pointed up at Nirvana. "Those who are affected by Nirvana fall from light into darkness and those in darkness climb up into the light. However those who try hard enough can recover."

"So Ichigo could still pull himself out of this." Jura shook his head. "I don't know. That sounds more like hoping for the best."

"It'll work."

They all froze as the new appearance, Wendy snapping her eyes to the newcomer as a faint trail of Magic spread towards her. "IT'S HIM!"

Most of the Mages present didn't know exactly what Wendy meant but Hibiki and Jura did. Jura pointed towards the man, earth launching from all sides to smash against him.

The man chuckled before there was a flash of steel and the rock fell harmlessly to the ground. "Honestly, I worked so hard on that entrance and you go and attack me the moment I show up. And here I waited for just the right moment for my dramatic appearance. You lot have no manners."

They all stared at the man, barely able to be distinguished anything unique in his appearance. Most of his body was covered by a large black cloak, and a hood extended over his head to shield most of his face. They could see the faint bits of blonde hair hanging down between the man's eyes however.

As for the sword the man was holding, it was hard to tell much about it. It looked in perfect condition, and yet they all could tell that it was regularly used. The man held it in his right arm however most of the hilt was hidden by the cloak, as if afraid it would give away the wielder's identity.

"It's you," muttered Hoteye, his eyes wide with shock. "He's the man. He's the one that came to us."

Jura stared at the cloaked man intensely. "I thought so. You were watching us earlier. Why appear now?"

The cloaked man waved a hand at Jura, ignoring his question. "Anyway, what Hoteye said will work. But you can't just expect him to stay still while you talk to him. Your only chance is to beat him into the ground. Don't worry about him dying. He's hard to kill."

"That is easier said than done."

"Then fight him for long enough and I'll bring him back to normal. All you need to do is survive, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Good luck."

Jura moved to stop the man but he vanished, not a trace to even follow. In all the time the man had been there, he hadn't once seemed to emit a single bit of Magic, or at least not that he could detect. If it wasn't for Wendy, they likely wouldn't even know he had Magic.

"Who… Who was that guy?"

Jura shook his head at Lucy's question. "I'm not sure we even want to know. The plan chances very little. Erza, make sure they are all safe. Hibiki, send a message to Ichiya and Natsu the moment you get a chance."

"What about you?" asked Wendy. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to face Ichigo. Alone."

"Hold on," said Ren. "You can't do this all by yourself."

"I agree," said Lyon. "You can't expect us to abandon you and let you fight Ichigo yourself."

Jura glared at them all. "Don't have so little faith in me. In case you forgot, I am also a Wizard Saint. In the sky is where Ichigo has been at his strongest, but the ground is my domain. As long as there is earth I can reach, I won't be defeated so easily. Now go."

Jura didn't wait for their responses, already leaving and heading towards the crash site of Christina. There was something he needed before he went to face Ichigo. He needed his staff if he was going to use that Spell he had been working on. It just might make the difference between life and death.

Protector Of The Fairies

Cobra and Shinji were fighting when they heard the roar, both freezing for a moment and turning towards the source. They only got a glimpse of Ichigo as a Hollow before he vanished, appearing far below on Nirvana before firing a massive Cero across the city.

Both Shinji and Cobra instantly increased the distance between them, not risking staying too close to Nirvana in case they were noticed. Shinji swore, his eyes locked on Ichigo as he began his rampage across the city.

He knew exactly what this was. Hollowfication, but at the worst possible level. Did Nirvana do this? Did it wake up his Inner Hollow that much that it took control? It was certainly possible as his own Inner Hollow had been playing up since Nirvana had activated. Or maybe his was due to all the anger he had been feeling, and the Hollow inside him had been more than willing to take advantage of that.

The form was extremely humanoid. It meant that this wasn't just any normal Hollow form. It was a Vaste Lorde, the strongest of all Hollow forms. And things had seemed bad before.

Cobra glanced down at Ichigo too. "Damn, he's much more powerful than Brain said he would be. And he's a lot more out of control too."

Shinji's ears picked up and he turned round furiously. "You… You did this?"

"Of course. Two Nirvana shots, one direct hit, and bam! A wonderful destructive pet for Brain."

"You… You don't realise what you've unleashed."

"What-" Images flashed through Cobra's head, all from Shinji's thoughts. He saw beasts ripping through men and woman in lab coats, blasts of energy being fired to contain the creatures only for them to shrug the blasts off. All of the creatures had one thing in common. A white mask with a hole through their chest.

"Do you see," said Shinji urgently. "You think you can control a Hollow? They are more likely to devour you than listen to you."

Cobra almost gave up for a moment, believing that Shinji was right. And then he squashed the urge, choosing to believe in Brain instead. "Nice try. Now where were we?"

Shinji sighed. "I better finish up here then and hurry to Ichigo."

With a burst of Shunpo, Shinji closed the distance, swiping at Cobra's head. The man saw through the move, dodging at the last second and launching his own strike up at the Mage. Sharp claws tried to grab Shinji but Shinji vanished once again, Shunpo now being used to increase the distance.

Cobra hadn't expected this Shinigami to be so tough. He had though his poison would make short work of the man. The problem came in that the man was extremely tricky to hit. Neither of them had managed to land a proper blow, even with his ability to read his enemy's mind. Shinji had worked that out very early and he had been forced to fight against the Shinigami who suddenly was making their movements a lot more unpredictable in how they were chosen. It didn't help that he thought of them and used Shunpo to jump forward and attack, decreasing the amount of time he had to react with. It was almost as bad as trying to dodge Ichigo's attacks. Almost.

The strength the Shinigami had in the first place however had been a major problem. He had been forced to use Dragon Force at the start, relying on the tough scales to help protect him if an attack managed to break past and try and get a glancing hit. And the sharp claws certainly made him even more deadly.

It also had the benefit of making it easier to use his Poison Magic. He was the Poison Dragon Slayer after all, and all of his poisons were more deadly and in greater amounts when he used this power.

One thought was currently in Shinji's head from what he could hear. The man had gotten good at hiding the important stuff but he still couldn't hide the things he would do next. He kept hearing one word being debated about over and over. Shikai.

That was a Zanpakutou's release form if he remembered correctly. No matter what it was, it wouldn't change anything. And if it created an opening, he would be able to strike with his poison attacks. Still, it wouldn't be wise to even let Shinji get a chance to use it. Overconfidence would get you killed.

He brought his arms back, the dark red poison gathering around his hands. Cobra swung at Shinji, the poison swirling and spiralling through the air at quick speeds. Shinji kept moving, ducking and shifting past the poison blasts as he got closer. Shinji reached out with a hand as an orange hued tendril shot from it, wrapping around Cobra's waist.

With a sharp pull, Cobra was pulled through the air, heading towards Shinji's swinging blade. His arms rapidly came up in a cross shape in front of his body, twisting as much as he could to make sure his guard would be faced towards Shinji. Massive amounts of poison spread out around him, creating a large shield ahead of him. Shinji stopped his movement at the last second, redirecting the path Cobra was being pulled towards by using the Kidou to send him over him before releasing his hold on the Spell. With Cobra freed from the Kidou's power, he fell through the air unhindered.

That was Cubellios's cue to grab its falling Master, pulling him back onto its back. Shinji didn't wait for Cobra to recover, pulling an arm back as a rod of blue and white energy generated in his hand.

"Bakudou Number 62: Hyapporankan!"

The rod multiplied as it left Shinji's hand, a large number of the rods already targeting Cobra while the rest covered the area around him. Cobra could already hear what Shinji was thinking, even without his power. There was no room to dodge.

So instead Cobra swung his arm, shouting "Poison Dragon's Scales!" as he did so. From the scales on his arms shot scales made of Poison Magic, colliding with the large amount of projectiles that had intended to hit him. Cubellios flew with the attack, using it as a shield to get its master close to the Shinigami.

A Magic Seal appeared ahead of Cobra, a burst of poison swirling in front of it before being expelled forward, shaping itself into a jaw. "Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust!"

Shinji dodged to the side, the poison almost touching him as it flew past. Cobra used the moment to jump off Cubellios, appearing above Shinji with poison around his legs. He rotated as he fell downwards, kicking towards Shinji as he drew close.

"Poison Dragon's Spiral Jaw!"

Shinji's eyes widened as he saw the attack, barely managed to raise a hand in time with energy being pushed into a hastily constructed Spell.

"Hadou Number 4: Byakurai!"

The energy blasted out from Shinji's outstretched palm, colliding with the blast of poison. In that moment, Shinji released his grip on the air, letting gravity drop him down just in time to dodge the poison as it broke through his own attack.

Cobra fell with Shinji, diving at him before he could escape. He was too late as Shinji vanished with a burst of Shunpo just as his hand was about to reach him. Cubellios shot below him, catching Cobra as the Dragon Slayer landed on his friend's back.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings,-"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" shouted Cobra, Cubellios sending him up towards Shinji rapidly as swung a fist of Poison Magic at Shinji. Shinji only dodged, his focus split between the Spell's incantation and avoiding the attack, making him not risk using Shunpo.

"-ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."

Cobra swiped with his arm, firing a burst of poison scales at Shinji in an attempt to stop him before it was too late. He could hear the man's thoughts however, signalling his failure.

"Hadou Number 33: Soukatsui!"

A massive burst of energy blasted forward, exploding outwards as a wave of energy that threatened to consume Cobra completely. Cobra raised his arms in a cross guard, poison that he had used in the scales abandoned its futile attacks to break through the blast. A majority of the scales had already been destroyed as they collided with the wave and he needed to be faster.

It was just when the attack reached him that he had gained enough poison, it instantly spreading out ahead of him to shield against the attack. In the end, it wasn't enough. The attack only halted for a moment before blasting through, colliding with Cobra.

Luckily for the Dragon Slayer, his guard had weakened the attack greatly. The energy quickly vanished after impact, leaving him with only a few burns along his skin. He didn't hear anything from Shinji though, or at least not anything to do with an incoming attack. In fact, the Shinigami's mind seemed more peaceful than before, still angry but now controlled. It was scarier in a way. Before it had been vicious and expressive in Shinji's thoughts, but now it was simple and precise.

With the energy clearing, he got another look at Shinji. Barely anything seemed different, except for one primary thing. The strange eye had reverted back to its normal form.

"That's much better," said Shinji, calling over to Cobra. "Thanks for staying down for a moment. I needed that time to get this little problem of mine back under control."

Images flashed in Cobra's head, seeming very similar in style to the Hollows he had seen before in Shinji's memories. He could hear a howl of pain but it was quickly crushed, Shinji's own mind suppressing it so deep that Cobra could no longer hear it anymore.

"Now then, I'm sorry I kept you waiting here. I've been fighting a bit too brutish, and an enemy like you isn't the kind I should be crushing with brute force."

"So you won't use your Hollowfication?" asked Cobra, smugness in his voice. Instead of being surprised at Cobra knowing that, Shinji smirked.

"Of course not. Besides, I'm more of a trickster anyway."

Shinji brought up his blade in front of him, the point aimed upwards towards the sky.

"Collapse: Sakanade."

And as Shinji said the name of his Zanpakutou, Cobra could swear that the sword had turned upside down for a moment.