Chapter 51 - The Final Bet

Fairy Tail: Paths of the Soul

A gust of wind flowed over the rooftop of the prison, scattering the loose dust and ash of the cabin over the street. Rift surveyed the area with his hands in his pockets; he was grinning, but his furrowed brow told them that he wasn't happy.

Zeke was the first to recover from the shock, and he was almost crying with joy. "H-how did you find us?"

"Well, you know, I've had a lot of time on my hands." Rift said with a shrug, his brow relaxing when he looked at them. "Plus, this is the only building with lightning coming off the roof. So, I figured it was a safe bet that Axel was around here somewhere." Zeke dropped back onto his behind, leaning against Amber's leg, while Rift pointed at the roof's other occupant. "Who's he?"

"Ah..." Django stood up straight, and it appeared that, for once, he didn't know what to say. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Django Ful-."

"I don't care what your name is." Rift interrupted, pointing to the cut up and bloodied Amber. "You do that to her?"

Django seemed taken aback. After being in control of the situation for the entire night, Rift's cavalier attitude seemed to be making it hard for him to articulate himself. "Well, yes. I'm not proud of it, but business is business, after all." Django paused, but after Rift didn't respond, he smiled at him. "I wouldn't take it personally."

"You kidnapped my team." Rift stood between Axel and Amber, finally taking his hands out of his pockets to crack his knuckles. "I take that pretty damn personally."

"R-Rift, wait..." Amber reached out to him, trying to warn him about Django's Card Magic, but then she thought about Shelly and couldn't formulate a thought. "Shelly, she... She's somewhere in-."

"Don't worry, I know." He said with another grin. "She'll be fine. Trust me." Amber couldn't respond: debating weather to ask how he knew, or of he knew where she was. She was stunned by what he did next however. The triangular sunglasses that seemed to never leave Rift's face where removed and hung on the collar of his shirt, behind which sat a pair of deep green eyes. Amber couldn't fathom why she felt at ease, but that was exactly what she felt when Rift took another aggressive step forward. "Your time's up, asshole!" He yelled across the roof at Django, slamming his fist into the palm of his hand. "You're under arrest!"

Jak slowly rose to his feet, having just knocked Oran back across the room with a devastating punch from his reptilian fist. Shelly held her breath, the fight had to be over, right? There was no way Oran would be getting up after taking a hit like that. If he did, she wasn't sure she wanted to see what it would take to bring him down for good.

Sure enough, Oran slowly rose from the ruble, shaking the dust from his massive blue arms. He braced himself against the wall, looking dizzy, and bared his teeth at Jak. "Hell... That one fuckin' hurt." A thick wad of blood spilled from between his teeth when he spoke, but it didn't even look like he noticed. "Guess you want the little mouse all to yourself, huh?"

Shelly shuddered at the thought. The fact that Oran kept treating her like a plaything put a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and her leg still hurt so bad that she wanted to scream. She dared not make a noise though, fearing that either Oran would come at her again, or Jak would be distracted.

All the same, Jak remained still. The low growl of his breath was the only noise he made, which seemed to get on Oran's nerves. "Man, c'mon. Say somethin'." Jak continued to ignore him, which only intensified his irritation. "Talk, you freak!" Working himself into a frenzy, Oran dug his claws into the floor. "Fine, guess I'll just put you down like a god damn dog!"

Oran flew forwards, but Jak was ready. He caught Oran's shoulders before his horns could reach him, and he threw his knee up into Oran's chest. Stunned, Oran pushed Jak away and lunged at him again.

Jak stepped back out of the way, leaving Oran to crash into the wall of the pub. Debris rained from the ceiling, and Oral lashed out with his claws. This time he hit the mark, swiping Jak across the face with his hand. Quick to recover, Jak threw a wide punch, which Oran ducked to avoid. Already crouched, Oran prepared to lunge at Jak again, only to be knocked aside when Jak's tail slapped him across the face.

The two of them where thrown into a daze again, taking a moment in the carnage to catch their breath before resuming. Suddenly, Oran blindly swung his arm back at Jak, who caught it by the wrist with his gapping maw. A sickening crunch echoed out as Jak's jaws shot closed, causing Oran to instantly howl in pain. He kicked about to get free, however this seemed to only further the damage Jak's teeth where inflicting. Jak grabbed one of Orans horns with one hand and his shoulder with the other, all the while with blood spraying out from his mouth each time he exhaled.

Desperate to escape, Oran swung blindly and punched Jak in the stomach with his free arm. The blow was enough to make Jak loosen his vice like bite, and Oran was able to slip away. He held his shredded wrist with his other hand Instead of counterattacking, seemingly losing focus on the battle for the pain he was in. Before he could fully recuperate, Jak took hold of his neck and threw him against the nearest wall. Oran was slow to respond, giving Jak all the time he needed to bury his jagged teeth into Oran's collarbone. A pained howl echoed throughout the entire hideout, and a spray of blood shot up the wall.

Oran fought back as hard as he could, kicking against Jak's leathery stomach over and over. Nothing seemed to work, until he threw an uppercut with his good arm that landed in Jak's throat. Jak chocked for air, releasing his death grip on Oran's shoulder and stumbled back a step. Quick to follow up, Oran threw a powerful sweeping punch that knocked Jak back another step. Blood flew off Jak's long teeth in reaction to the strike, splattering all across the walls of the pub.

Both combatants seemed frozen in place, apart from the blood that still dripped onto the floor, but Jak suddenly spun back and lunged at Oran with his teeth again, this time aiming for his neck. Oran, acting on desperation, undid his Take Over form and changed back to a human, dropping out of the way just in time to dodge Jak's deadly maw. Jak buried his head in the wall, bringing down it and much of the ceiling above him in a thick cloud of dust. There was no movement as the debris settled, leaving Shelly to both hope and dread what the outcome was.

She gasped as Oran stumbled out of the smoke first, seemingly in shock. He held his damaged shoulder with his good arm and blood soon began dripping onto the ground where he stood. Just as he seemed to come to his senses, as a massive silhouette appeared in the smoke.

Oran had just enough time to turn around as Jak burst through the dust, swatting him aside with a swing of his mighty tail. He flew clear across the room, crashing through a wall on the opposite end and disappearing from sight again. Spitting out a few large chunks of stone, Jak shook the dust off his broad solders and unleashed another monstrous roar before charging at the spot Oren had landed.

"Jak, don't!" Shelly screamed, not wanting to see any more bloodshed. Jak slid to a halt, stopping his massive frame in an impressively short time. His scaly head swung back to look at her, teeth still dripping with blood, and Shelly felt herself freeze up the instant she looked into Jak's yellow reptilian eyes. It took a moment, but she finally worked up the courage to turn around and face the monster before her. "He's had enough. The fight's over."

Jak took half a step back to look at Oran, now lying unconscious amongst the rubble of the wall he had landed on. Shelly thought he was about to dive at Oran again, rip him to pieces right in front of her, but Jak just kept staring down at his defeated opponent. He sniffed twice, a pair of shallow grunts that made Shelly flinch, then he turned away from his fallen opponent and began walking towards her while wiping the blood from his mouth. "Yeah, sure kid." Shelly breathed a huge sigh of relief, and again as Jak shrunk down to his far less intimidating human form to kneel next to Geno. "So uh, he going to be ok?"

The relief Shelly felt was indescribable. Finally, her racing heart began to slow and she was able to think straight, despite the still stinging stab wound on her leg. "Yep. He'll be fine."

"Are ya' sure?" He asked, rubbing his knuckles. "That guy hits kinda' hard."

Shelly found herself giggling a little. After the brawl she had just witnessed, hearing Jak say that was amusing to her. "Geno is tougher than that. He'll be back on his feet in no time." She found his concern a little strange. Despite how he looked, Jak must've also been hurting after a fight like that. There was no fathomable way he wasn't. Still, she was trying to sound upbeat. "Just you watch."

Geno hiccuped, but didn't awaken. His next breath sounded a bit like a snore, which seemed to make Jak more accepting of her answer. "If you say so." He shifted his attention to her, and the small pool of blood that had formed under her leg. "How about you kid? He had a pretty good run at ya' before I showed up."

"I'm ok too." Shelly spoke without thinking, but with Jak staring at her leg she figured it was pointless to put on a brave face. She wiped a pained tear from her eye, tucking the knee of her good leg in against her chest. "Well, a little sore. But I'll be alright."

Smiling, Jak pushed off his knees and looked around the room again. It was in shambles, looking like someone had fed all the furniture into a wood chipper. "You need a bandage." Shelly giggled again. Odds where, she'd need more than one. A flutter on the wall where Oran had landed caught her attention however. Someone in a white cloak was looking at him, and slowly shifted their attention to them.

Suddenly, the doors at both ends of the pub flew open. Jak spun around and growled, hunching over like he was about to go on the attack again. Shelly leaped forwards however, grabbing him around the waist. "Jak, wait!" She cried. "They're not-."

"We are the Magic Council!" One of the robed figures shouted, holding up a staff with the Council symbol on the end. "Members of Bloody Smile, you're all under arrest!"

Silence followed after Rift's declaration. Django seemed stunned, a brazen threat like that must've been a new experience to him. "Under arrest, am I?" He said slowly, his shocked expression slowly warping into a grin. "That's quite the bold assessment. I assume you think you'll have better odds of defeating me than these two?"

"In the state you're in now? Hell ya!" Rift said, crossing his arms. Django grinned at the challenge, but Rift kept going before he could get a word in. "And even if I can't, the battalion of Council goons who followed me here will definitely be able to finish the job."

Django froze. "The Council?"

Axel seemed to share Django's sentiment. "The Magic Council is here? Now?"

Chuckling, Rift raised an eyebrow to look at him, "What, you don't remember? When I left camp, it was to call the Council to take the train robbers away. But it turns out some dumbass had already busted them out, so after I made the call we came out looking for you guys." Axel, Amber, and Zeke all shared a glance; that already felt like a lifetime ago. Regardless, Rift continued with his explanation, shifting his attention back to Django. "Either you guys are real ballsy, or just plain old stupid."

Throughout the explanation, Django crossed his arms and began thoughtfully rubbing his chin. He seemed to be considering his options. "I think your bluffing." He said shortly. "The council can't have made it here from all the way across the country already."

"Think so?" Rift smirked, nodding his head towards the sky. "Then explain that."

Everyone looked skyward, through Django was the last. To their surprise, silently hovering in the air above them where three large, black shapes. One bigger than the others. The clouds parted, and in the light of the full moon they came to recognize them as a trio of airships. The largest one sat stationary in the air, while the two smaller craft slowly flew in a wide circle around the area of the prison. A trio of floodlights flashed to life, illuminating the rooftop in blinding light.

"Attention dark-mages!" A voice echoed over an intercom. "Your complex is surrounded, surrender now and you will not be harmed."

Shielding his eyes from the bright light, Django seemed far less composed now. "Dammit..."

"Council's flagship, The Megalodon." Rift explained, seemingly enjoying Django's reaction. "They launched that thing the second I told them my guys where in trouble. Flew all the way out here just to hut you down your dumb ass."

Still looking around, Django seemed to be gathering his options. Between the council ships hovering overhead, the seven story drop off the building on all sides, and Rift standing in the way of the only exit off the roof, Django broke out in a sweat. "Looks like you have me down to the last card." Gone was the confidence in his voice. "But I still like my odds better than yours."

Rift's grin disappeared; he and the others where all stunned that Django thought he could still get away. "You seriously think you're going to be getting off this rooftop? Really?"

"There's a chance." He mused, carrying a rather lofty tone in his voice. "And for a gambler like myself, a chance is all I need to-."

"Ok, dude." Rift interrupted him, sounding annoyed now. "I get the whole gambler shtick is kind of your thing and all. But knock it off, you sound like a tool."

Django's brow furrowed, anger showing plain on his face. "What?"

"You sound like an idiot!" Rift shouted, grinning again.

Django flicked his wrist, and a card appeared between his fingers. He looked furious now, even more than when Amber had stabbed him after turning down his offer. "I'm warning you. Do not agitate me."

"Ah. You see that would be intimidating if, well... If you were intimidating." Rift uncrossed his arms and placed his knuckles of one hand against the palm of another. "But hey, you want to get off this roof in a body bag? I can live with that."

Watching the two of them, Amber didn't know what to think. Django seemed to be on the verge of lashing out, and yet Rift didn't seem like he had a care in the world. If this was really their showdown, then she wished they'd get it over with already. Getting Django angry would just make things worse for them.

"Amber?" She jumped slightly, finding Axel was crouching down next to her. "Let me see your hand."

Lost in the moment, Amber had forgotten how wounded she was. She lifted her hand, which left behind a large bloody spot on the chest of her shirt, and looked at the deep slice in her palm. Between that and the slash through her guild mark on the back of her hand, she was amazed she could still move her fingers at all.

Axel held her wrist, clasping her hand in both of his. It hurt more than anything, but she didn't want him to let go of her. Just feeling another person was enough to calm her racing heart, and as such she finally sorted through her thoughts. "We need to help him." She mumbled, trying to get up.

Axel planted a hand on her shoulder, which was enough to stop her cold. "Don't worry, just leave it to him."

Mirroring his point, Armeria lay across Amber's lap. She'd completely regenerated by now, but her body was still covered in cracks. "You need to rest."

"But we-." Amber stuttered.

"Wait..." Zeke took hold of her other arm, but rather than looking concerned like Axel or Armeria, he appeared confused. "That's right, you've never seen Rift fight before. Have you, Amber?" Axel did a double take, but both he and Zeke smirked when Amber shook her head. "Don't worry, Rift is an S-Class mage. He's way stronger than that other guy."

Despite his confidence, Amber was still unsure. "How do you know?"

Zeke jumped back, finally returning to his usual cheery self. "Remember that thief we fought back in the capital? The one who used Molding Magic to make stuff out of wood?" Amber nodded slightly. "Well, Rift uses Molding Magic too. But his element is..." He paused a moment, turning back to the imminent showdown with a big grin. "Way cooler."

"I'm waitin', asshole!" Rift shouted, growing impatient. "Keep stalling for too long, and the Council is just going to blow this place to hell with us in it. So quit while your still standing or make a damn move already!"

Snorting in disapproval, Django held up his card and began charging an attack. "Fine, you asked for it. This is my final gambit, prick!" He drew his arm back, the card glowing brighter than any of his previous attempts. "Ace-."

Rift drew back his fist and placed his palm against his knuckles. "Iron-Make: Longsword!"

"High!" With a flash of light, Django lobbed his card like a dart. Rift extended his hand and threw a punch, and a trio of metal blades extended from between his knuckles.

The exchange barely lasted a second. The blades kept growing, reaching farther and farther across the almost twenty-foot gap between the two mages in an instant. The card Django had thrown was divided cleanly in half by Rift's center blade, sending the two halves to slice through the metal door of the stairway behind them. Django immediately went on the defensive, bringing his hands up to shield himself, but he was far too late. One blade sliced across his hip, another stabbed into his thigh, and the last, the one that had sliced through his card, impaled the dark mages hand.

"Agggh!" Django screamed, both in pain and in surprise. The blades didn't stop there however, they continued to grow, bending and eventually breaking off as Django stumbled back. He frantically examined his hand, thrown into a frenzy. "What the hell are-!?"

He looked up just as Rift's shadow loomed over him, standing in the same pose as before with his hand clasped around his wrist. "Iron-Make!"

Django reached out to stop him. "Wait, I-!"

A giant, metal gantlet formed over Rift's forearm, which closed into a fist. "Impact!"

Django caught a sweeping right hook square on the jaw, knocking him right off his feet. He was almost completely upside-down before landing on the back of his neck, crumpling down into an unconscious heap a second later.

Rift shook the gauntlet away, sending small metal components scattering around the two of them "Well..." He grinned back at the others, wiping his hands. "Another happy ending, right?"

"You did it!" Zeke cheered, tears of joy in his eyes. "You did it! You did it! You really beat him!"

"Was there ever any doubt?" He crossed his arms and grinned confidently. "C'mon, I can take assholes like this in my sleep." Even though he'd been bragging, Amber instantly believed him. She'd remembered questioning why he was the leader before, but seeing him slice through Django's cards like they where nothing made a pretty compelling argument. Just as she finished that thought, she found him staring at her through his triangular shades again. "Man, you guys seriously need a doctor."

Amber nodded slightly, but instantly had another thought come to mind. "Wait... Shelly..."

"Shelly!" Zeke repeated in earnest. "We need to find her, and Geno too. If the council is going to blow up the building then-."

"Woah woah... Say what?" Rift looked confused, which stunned them all. "We already caught the bad guys, why would they start shooting at..." He paused a moment, glancing back at the unconscious Django. "Ooooh... Yeah, I made that part up."

The looks he got from the four of them where priceless. Even the usually expressionless Armeria seemed stunned. "What!?" They shouted in unison.

"Yeah... I was just trying to get him to do something." Rift shrugged, chuckling at their expressions. "Give me an excuse to waist his ass for messing with my team."

After the whole night of running, hiding, fighting, fearing for their safety, that one little jump in her heart wore Amber out completely. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Rift nodded, and his cavalier attitude began to annoy her again. "C'mon, think about it. Secure and sweep, that's their style. If the Council knocked a single brick out of place with you guys still inside, Jaina would raise a shit storm so big it'd cost people their careers."

Hearing her name, it finally sunk in for them all that the ordeal was over. It wasn't the council airships looming overhead, or Rift’s arrival, or even seeing Django on the ground defeated. One mention of Jaina made it all hit home. They'd made it. "Jaina knows?" Amber asked suddenly.

"And she's on her way here right now." Rift nodded, shifting his attention to Axel. "Jon too, and the guild master." Thinking about it for a moment, Rift began nervously scratching the back of his head. "And... I'm probably in some seriously deep doo-doo for leaving you guys alone like that..." Zeke began to giggle, while Axel and Amber smiled at one another. Rift slid his hands into his pockets, and flashed them another grin fill of sharpened teeth. "But whatever, cross that bridge when we get to it. You guys took on a dark guild and totally kicked ass." He patted them both on the shoulder, then scratched Zeke's ears. "And now, we all get to go home."

Next Chapter – Red Eyes