Karen Vs. Draculina

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

November, x784.

Sitting in front of an apartment building on the north side of the town, Alfonzo and Mirajane were waiting for the last member of their team in Alfonzo's Escalade. Today, the day after Ur, Gray, Ultear, Natsu, and Happy left to take on the Oración Seis, Alfonzo was ready to lead his own team to deal with the two rogue scientists.

"So, do we know anything else about the forces we'll have to take on?' Mirajane asked curiously while looking over the files on Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru. "Because I doubt three guilds sending a total of seven wizards, fourof which are S-Class, would be needed for just the two of them."

"Unfortunately, we don't." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head. "We have a few names, though. But not very much is known about them."

"Well, that's better than nothing, right?" Mirajane asked, looking up from the documents in her hands.

"Yeah, I guess." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "but without any information on their combat prowess or the magic they use, we're going in almost blind."

"Well, I'm sure we could handle it." Mirajane said with a smile of her own. "I'm not trying to sound cocky, but I doubt there are many other wizards who train half as hard as we do. Especially since we got those gravity rooms to train in."

"*Sigh* You're probably right." Alfonzo replied. "Still, I don't like having so little information on a quest this important."

'On top of that, I can't tell her that I have a pretty good idea of what they are capable of based on their counterparts from the other works.' Alfonzo thought to himself.

Before Alfonzo could get too lost in his own thoughts, the person they were waiting for came out of the apartment building with her luggage in hand.

"Hey, sorry to make you wait." Marin said, dragging a rolling suitcase behind her. "I'm not late, am I?"

"No, you're a few minutes early, actually." Alfonzo replied as he stepped out of the driver's seat.

"Oh, good." Marin replied in a relieved tone.

At the same time, Alfonzo arrived in front of Marin and took her luggage from her.

"thanks, Alfonzo." Marin said with a smile.

Smiling in return, Alfonzo moved towards the back of the Escalade to put Marin's luggage in the trunk space. Meanwhile, Marin went to sit in the seat behind Mirajane, who was sitting up front for this road trip.

A few moments later, Alfonzo had closed the trunk and took his seat behind the wheel once again. Then, after everyone was ready, he started the engine and pulled away from the apartment building.

"Alright, now that we're all here, I guess I'll tell you about the people we should be careful about while we're on this quest." Alfonzo said as he drove through the streats of Magnolia. "First, from what I've gathered there should be three people with Orochimaru that we should remember. Their names are Kabuto Yakushi, Kimimaro Kaguya, and a girl named Guren. As for Kurotsuchi, we'll have to deal with his daughter/creation, Nemu Kurotsuchi."

"What do you mean, 'creation'?" Marin asked.

Not only Marin, but Mirajane was also curious about the term of address.

"Well, from what I've heard, she is an artificial human." Alfonzo replied. "But I seriously doubt that. I mean, those alchemists have been trying to make those for centuries. Yet, this crazy son of a bitch was able to do it by himself? I don't believe it."

"Then, what do you think she really is?" Mirajane asked.

"If I had to guess, she's probably a clone of Kurotsuchi." Alfonzo replied. "Probably been heavily experimented on, too."

At that moment, the Escalade left through the town gates and the trio continued their trip to the south where they would meet up with the rest of their allied guilds in Karakura Town around daybreak tomorrow.

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

At around the same time, Natsu, while carrying Wendy on his back, and Happy, who was flying alongside him, finally arrived at the temporary shelter Jura had set up. Then, as soon as they entered, Wendy hopped off Natsu's back and rushed towards Sorano to start healing her.

"How did it look in the forest?" Jura asked Natsu and Happy.

"There are dark wizards everywhere." Natsu replied. "I need to get back out there and start kicking butt."

"Did you run into any members of the Oración Seis?" Jura asked in a peaceful tone.

"Just that Brain guy." Natsu replied.

"He had Wendy heal Jellal Fernandes, too." Happy added.

"The former member and traitor of the Magic Council?" Jura asked, sounding slightly confused. "But I never heard any reports that they were working together. So, why would Brain help him?"

"Beats me." Natsu said with a shrug of his shoulders. "But I gotta pay him back for the way he hit me in that cave."

"Well, I guess you should go ahead." Jura said, shaking his head at Natsu's willingness to jump into a fight. "Once Sorano is healed, we'll get moving as well."

*Smack!*

"Got it!" Natsu shouted, smacking his right fist into his left palm. Then, he turned around and ran out of the shelter as he shouted once again. "Come on, Happy, let's go! I'm all fired up!"

"Aye, sir!" happy shouted as he flew behind Natsu.

Meanwhile, Karen, who had just taken out a group of dark wizards was about to restart her search for the members of the Oración Seis.

"At least they found that little girl." Karen mumbled to herself as she walked through the forest. "I guess that bitch will survive. I can't have her dying before I get the chance to put her in her place, after all."

Before she could get too far, however, Karen quickly turned around after hearing the sound of someone approaching through the trees. Channeling her magic power into the rings on her fingers, Karen waited for whoever it was to show themselves.

The rings Karen wears on all eight of her fingers and her thumbs are the magical items she uses to invoke her new form of magic, a form of Holder Magic known as [Ring Magic], ever since Elicia made her cancel her contracts with her Celestial Spirits.

Each of the ten rings she wears has a different type of magic imbued into them. And depending on how she circulates her magic power through them, the effects can be quite varied in application.

"Karen, I'm glad I caught up." Hibiki said as he stepped past a nearby tree. "Wendy finished healing Sorano. So, we're all on the move to find the Oración Seis. You don't mind if I team up with you, do you?"

"I'd rather you didn't." Karen said dismissively. "But I doubt you'll listen."

With that, Karen turned around and started walking further into the forest.

"I wish Elicia were here." Karen said to herself as she walked forward. "That [Thread Detection] spell of hers would come in rather handy."

"Yes, it would make finding our enemies much easier." Hibiki said as he caught up with Karen. "Then, we wouldn't have to spend so much time looking around this huge forest."

Nodding in response, Karen did not even think to look back at Hibiki. Meanwhile, Hibiki closed the distance with Karen even further. Then, just as he was about to stand shoulder to shoulder with her, a short knife fell into his hand.

"[Ring Magic: Impact Blow]." Karen chanted as the ring on her left thumb lit up.

*Bang!*

Before Hibiki could use the knife in his hand, however, Karen turned towards him swiftly and planted a fist in his abdomen, sending him flying back in the direction they came from.

"This is already the second time you're impersonating one of my guild mates." Karen said, turning to finally look at Hibiki, or rather, Draculina. "The only reason it worked the first time was because I was not expecting it. But don't think I don't know my guild mates well enough to see through you."

"Aww… That hurt." Draculina said as her disguise melted away, leaving her naked once again. "What gave me away?"

"You didn't try flirting with me even once since you appeared." Karen replied as she lifted her hands with her fists pointed at Draculina. "[Ring Magic: Lightning Storm]."

Flowing her magic through the rings on her right index and left ring fingers, Karen combined the [Twister] spell she used earlier with a [Lightning Bolt] spell. As a result, a spinning column of lightning was sent blasting towards Draculina.

Reacting quickly, Draculina pushed herself up from the ground. Then, she sprinted behind a nearby tree. Once she appeared from the other side, her appearance had changed once again. Instead of a blond girl, she was in the form of a young man with half white and half red hair with a scar over his left eye.

"[Fire Magic: Flame Wall]." Draculina chanted as she swung her left arm upward in Karen's direction.

With that motion, a wall of flames, originating at Draculina's position shout up from the ground approaching Karen at high speed.

In response, Karen slammed her right fist into the ground wither right pinky ring lighting up.

"[Ring Magic: Rock Slide]." Karen chanted.

A moment later, the earth on either side of the flame wall rose up before it fell onto the flames, smothering them before they could extend any further. Then, Karen pointed her left fist at her opponent with the ring on her index finger glowing brightly.

"[Ring Magic: Light Ray].' Karen chanted once again.

Before the spell could be fired, however, Draculina had already moved to dodge. Even though Karen's [Light Magic] spell was slower than the speed of light, it was still too fast to avoid if one were to start moving after it had been cast.

"[Ice Magic: Heaven Piercing Ice Wall]." Draculina chanted as an enormous glacier rose from around Karen.

Karen, with her right fist still in contact with the ground, raised an [Earth Magic Barrier] around her to avoid the fate of being frozen. Then, she used the [Ice Magic] ring on her left pinky to rapidly cool the air inside the barrier before she used the [Fire Magic] ring on her right ring finger to rapidly heat it.

*Boom!*

As a result, the rapid changes in air temperature caused a shockwave that blew away not only the [Earth Magic Barrier], but the entire glacier from the inside. As a result, chunks of ice were sent flying in all directions.

In response, Draculina raised a high temperature wall of flames to melt all the incoming ice projectiles. With her field of vision obstructed, however, she did not notice Karen's next move.

"[Ring Magic: High Pressure Water Cutter]." Karen chanted, pointing her right middle finger at the wall of flames in front of Draculina as she dashed forward.

A moment later, the ice shrapnel and the flame wall were cut apart by a thin stream of water before Karen charged through. Then, when she was right in front of Draculina, who was wearing a surprised expression, Karen drew back her left fist with the rings on her thumb and pinky glowing simultaneously.

"[Ring Magic: Forced Sleep]." Karen chanted as she swung her fist at Draculina's jaw.

*Bang!*

The ring on Karen's left thumb amplified the kinetic energy her strikes would generate on impact. Meanwhile, the ring on her left pinky was imbued with sleep magic. As a result of being hit by both magics simultaneously, Draculina dropped her transformation and lost consciousness before she even hit the ground after Karen's punch once again sent her flying.

Like Racer, as Draculina was losing consciousness, she remembered parts of her past. Also like Racer, Draculina, or Himiko Toga was kidnapped to become a slave in the Tower of heaven's creation. And after being captured, the only thing she ever wished for was to be someone else, someone who would not have to go through the daily torture of a slave.

A moment later, after checking behind the tree Draculina, or Himiko, had ducked behind before she transformed, Karen was standing over the naked and unconscious girl with a set of clothing in her hands.

"So, she keeps vials filled with the blood of wizards in her pockets, huh?" Karen muttered as she searched through Himiko's belongings. "Just how many people did she have to attack and/or kill to get this much blood?"

At the same time, in another part of the forest, Brain, who was walking through it leisurely, noticed that another one of his [Six Prayers Seal] marks had vanished from his face.

"Such a pity I didn't notice her when I took the first six away from the tower." Brain said to himself as he continued to walk through the forest. "I still wonder how that Hades managed to get her out of the tower. And it seems even more suspicious that he would send him to me when I lost Angel. Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. Now that she's been defeated, she's no longer my concern."