"Mikoto...wake up...Mikoto.."
Natsu's voice seemed to come from a million miles away. Mikoto tried to clear the fog in her head..but couldn't. She was exhausted, her body was too tired to do anything..her right leg was gone..and she could feel her left leg was fractured. Her arms were bleeding badly, and several of her ribs were broken. If there was any place she knew she needed to be right now...it was the ICU at the best hospital imaginable.1
Mikoto strained to open her eyes. Her lips tingled as they still remembered the sensation of Touma's farewell kiss...the first kiss her lips had ever recieved. And there she beheld a wonderous sight. The massive glowing golden gate that stood upon the small island off the shore of Fiore. Mikoto could feel Natsu still carrying her, she could hear his scarf fluttering in the wind as he brought her closer...to the beginning of the end.5
She could see the dark silhoutes of Lucy and Nicole and she could feel Elli on her chest, her warm fur providing a comfort. she had not felt in a long time.
"We're here Mikoto.." said Natsu. "We're finally here."
Mikoto knew it, the key which had suddenly turned freezing cold and burning hot at the same time was heavy as it hung around her neck.
"Natsu...you know..you guys don't have to come with me.." said Mikoto. "To die with me.."
"You're not going to talk us out of this." said Natsu. "Not now...not ever. Besides..I think you're a little too beaten up to be doing this alone right now."
Mikoto gave a sad smile. "Natsu..Lucy..Happy..Elli..there's something I didn't tell you guys..my Mom....my human mom...she's.."
"Misuzu?!" Lucy said. "What? Is she alright?"
"She's fine.." said Mikoto. "More then alright...she's pregnant."
There was a stunned silence. Then Lucy squealed out. "OH MY GOD!! You've got a sister!...AGAIN!!"6
"Congratulations!" Happy yelled out.
"Some time to be telling you eh?" Mikoto muttered. "Right when we're on the edge of world darkness standing next to a stupid gate the size of Kyoto."
"Well ya had to tell us eventually!" said Natsu with a grin.
"There's more.." Mikoto murmured as the gate grew closer. "Just in case...there's the slight chance that we do survive this...My mom...she wants Lucy to be.."
Before Mikoto could finish her sentence. there was a sharp explosion right in front of the group as she heard a voice say. "Amaterasu! 28 forms!!"1
After that all she could hear and see was panic, and blood, as the others struggled to keep her away from the foe that was apparently attacking them. Natsu dropped Mikoto on the sand as another explosion knocked him off his feet. Elli was knocked off as well and rolled into the sand unconscious.
Then Mikoto saw it...a silver chain made of magic shooting towards her..towards her heart. Time seemed to slow down, the chain seemed to take an eternity to reach her as her life began to flash before her eyes. Then.
There was a splatter of blood...but it wasn't Mikoto's blood. The purple Exceed known as Maverick stood in front of Mikoto, the chain piercing bloodily through his chest as he spread his small paws out protectively.
"MAVERICK!!!" Mikoto heard Nicole scream the name of her friend with a voice she had never heard leave her mouth. It was a scream of pain and disbelief, of utter horror, and denial.
"I'm sorry Nicole..." said Maverick as he fell to the sand. "But it looks like I won't make it to the end...after all.."
Maverick turned to look at Mikoto. "You must end this..for everyone's sake...for your sister's sake..."
Maverick then went still as Nicole fell to her knees next to his small body and hugged it close to her chest, tears of utter remorse gushing out of her eyes.
Mikoto's eyes followed the chain as it dissapeared, till it arrived at the outstretched hand of Purehito, master of Grimoire Heart.
Hade's eyepatch was gone, glaring down at the group with his glowing red demon's eye. "A pity...I seem to have aimed poorly..no matter."
"YOU!!!!" Nicole screamed as she activated her Ghost Dragon talons in a rage. "I WILL END YOU!!"1
Hades laughed. "Foolish little girl..if you really had the power to end me...we wouldn't be in this situation would we? The only one with that power..Natsu Dragneel..is currently out cold...and your other friends Lucy Heartfillia and Mikoto Misaka are too injured to fight. You are alone.."
"I'm never alone." growled Nicole as she stood up and her talons seemed to grow larger. "The souls of thousands stand behind me."
As Nicole spoke, multiple purple ghosts with twisting moaning faces flew around the island like a dark cyclone and Nicole's eyes began to gleam as her magic power rose.
"What an impressive display.." said Purehito as he took his cape and threw it aside. "But now..your destruction is all that lies before you."
"DIE!" Hades pointed two of his fingers at Nicole in a makeshift hand gun and a sharp beam of light blasted outwards.
Nicole swiped a talon at the beam and easily batted it aside, letting the beam blast straight into the sand next to her as it rebounded. "Don't you DARE underestimate me you murderer."
Hades smiled. "So you aren't just a pretty face..fine..I will destroy you with my full strength!!"
Hades thrusted a hand out and a mega huge blast of black energy shot out at Nicole and engulfed her in a huge explosion. But the energy was swept aside as a huge talon the size of a house tore out.
"DEATH BLOW OF THE GHOST DRAGON!!" Nicole's massive talons smashed against Purehito's body, causing him to fly off and slam straight into the giant golden Gate of Entry with a gong like sound.1
Purehito fell from the gate onto his knees, wiping blood from the side of his face as he turned to face Nicole who was now dashing at him with sheer hate on her face, both of her moaning and rippling talons open with malice.
"ETHEREAL LOTUS: REAPER'S DUAL DEATH!!" Nicole's talons changed into two giant scythes which she began slicing and dicing at Hades. Hades jumped back quickly dodging the scythe attacks easily as he countered with several more black energy blasts from his own hands.
Nicole sliced apart the black blasts with her scythes, and continued to scream with rage as she attacked Hades.
Finally Nicole's scythes changed back into talons and she thrust them out to either side as a massive blast of purple etherial energy exploded out from her in 360 degrees of pure malice.
Hades yelled out as he was blasted straight into the sand of the small island.
"ENOUGH!!" Hades yelled. "You need to be taught some respect GIRL!!"
Hades thrust out his hands at Nicole. "AMATERASU: 100 FORMS!!"
A multitude of purple magic circles appeared above, below and to the side of Nicole. And just as quickly, a massive explosion of purple light shook the area,
Hades walked forward to hard crater of glass that had formed from the super heated sand. In the center of the crater of sand was Nicole, her body smoking as tears in her clothing revealed bleeding scars.
"How sad." said Hades as he shook his head. "For a moment there, you actually entertained me a bit."
"I'll show you entertainment." Nicole growled. The moment she said this, Nicole's talons reformed. But then the energy went over her elbows this time, covering her entire body till she looked like she was made of the ethereal energy. Then the energy began to grow, turning into the shape of wings...a tail..a long neck..an elongated snout...becoming the size of a large house.
Then the energy peeled itself back like a second skin, revealing a dragon with dark blue scales. It's back was lined with rows of pitch black spikes all tipped with bright red points. The dragon's head had a frill of those spikes around the edge of the bottom of it's jaw all the way to it's horns on the top of it's head. A ghastly aura seemed to eminate from each and every scale on it's body.
Nicole's dragon form roared into the night as the cyclone of spirits surrounding the small island moaned in unison.
"You mastered Dragon Skin!?" Hades exclaimed. "IMPOSSIBLE!!"
Nicole roared again in response as she swung her massive tail at blinding speeds straight into Purehito, smashing him into the sand repeatidly, creating shockwaves of pure ghostly power to eminate from the area. Nicole then lashed out her claws, knocking Purehito into the air in a deadly uppercut.
Nicole opened her jaws wide, and a massive beam of ethereal energy shot out and exploded against Hades in mid air.
Suddenly the explosion broke apart as the furious Hades thrust his hands outwards and shot out more blasts of dark energy. "Don't you dare think I am so weak as to fall to you...Dragon Born.."
Hades shot down at Nicole, both his fists engulfed in black energy. He pummeled his fist straight into the chest of the great dragon and Nicole soared back rolling into the sand, her wings flapping in order to help her balance her bulky body.
Hades soared at Nicole again and brought both his hands out. "Amaterasu!! 100 forms!!"
Once more, the huge explosion of purple light engulfed Nicole. However, this time, Nicole powered through the blast and smashed her claws right into Hades's head and then smacked him again with her tail. She roared angrilly as once more Hades stood to face her.
Meanwhile, Mikoto lay on the sand watching the battle, barely registering any of it...all she could fully register was Maverick's dead body lying next to her..
Maverick is dead...
"No.." Mikoto murmured as a tear glistened on her face. "Why? Why did this have to happen..?"
"M-Mikoto.." Lucy was crawling towards Mikoto, the entire left side of her face was covered in purple bruises. "A-are you okay?"
"M-Maverick is dead."
"I know." said Lucy. "I saw.."
Mikoto reached a hand out towards Lucy and Lucy held it, the two who were as close as sisters...determined to fight together..
"Lucy.." Mikoto said. "You need to take my key.."
"Mikoto?" Lucy said, not sure that she had heard right.
"I don't know why.." said Mikoto. "But the key is telling me to let you take it...it want's you to do something..no..it wants a celestial wizard to do something..please.."
Lucy nodded and Mikoto took the black key from around her neck and pressed it into Lucy's hand.
"Mikoto.." said Lucy. "What was it..that you wanted to tell me before...? In case..we don't make it."
"My mom.." said Mikoto. "She wants you to be my sister's godmother...and she decided to name her Lucy.."
Lucy's eyes widened.."She...what?"
Mikoto smiled. "If we ever do survive this...on the off chance that you survive..and I die alone...please take care of her.."
Lucy began to cry as Mikoto fell unconscious once more, her body too exhausted to do anything else. "Yes..I will...I promise.."
Back at the battle scene...things had gotten more intense. Hade's now had multiple scars all over his body, his clothes were torn and his left arm hung limp at his side, his bones broken.
Nicole was in a terrible state as well, her scales were damaged and dented as sizzling dark blood sizzled out of gashes in her legs, the skin for her wings were shredded on the edges, and there was a large gash across her snout.
"You don't get it girl...do you?" said Hades. "I am much more powerful then I was when Natsu Dragneel defeated me. I have trained and improved...my power is great enough to earn a place among the Terrible Three of Hydra Head."
Nicole merely roared again..her wings spread out impressively as ghosts seemed to fly right out of her sizzling blood.
She flew at Hades as the dark mage did the same, they colided with each other in a powerful shockwave as Hades yelled out in rage and dark demons burst out from under the sand of the small island, formed from Hades's dark magic.
The demons began flying out of the sand and covering themselves all over the dragon's body weighing her down into the sand.
Hades walked towards Nicole his one not broken arm raised with magic power. "And now it ends.."
Before Hades could do anything however, Lucy suddenly stood between Nicole and Hades, the key to the Gate of Entry raised in her hand. "I understand now..this key..it doesn't just open the Gate of Entry..it opens another gate as well."
"Miss Heartfillia.." said Hades. "Stand aside..or I won't hesitate in destroying you."
Lucy didn't respond, she was looking at the massive indentation that was imbedded in the center of the large gate...an indentation that was in the shape of a large hand.
"I fully understand.." said Lucy. "This key isn't enough..that's why there has to be a celestial wizard.."
"I said STAND ASIDE!!" yelled Hades as magic power began shoot out from his body.
Lucy raised the black key to the sky. "Open!! Gate of the Celestial Spirit King!!"1
"BOOM!!" A massive golden light lit up the sky and the ghosts that surrounded the island. When the light cleared...a massive armored figure stood there, a giant man of incredible size, a tremendous sword the size of a sky scraper in his hands. The man had a huge mustache and glowing eyes...the Celestial Spirit King...the king of the Celestial Spirit World had arrived.3
Hades stared in shock and awe as the Celestial Spirit King turned to look at the Gate of Entry.
"So it is finally time." said the Celestial Spirit King. "As foretold..The Gate of Entry shall be opened."