Disclaimer: I do not own and/or claim to own any recognizable and/or licensed material appearing in this work of fiction in any way, shape, and/or form. I am not attempting to and/or making a profit from this work of fiction in any way, shape, and/or form. Any recognizable and/or licensed material appearing in this work of fiction in any way, shape, and/or form belongs to their respective owners to the fullest extent to the law of the area.
AN: Okay, note here, I wrote this over a few months, constantly adding bits and pieces to it after a large amount of time where I was planning out the entire story, something I'm nearly finished with at the time of this posting. But, just to let you know, I am not going to make this a) a harem b) a NatsuxErza (in a way) c) a NatsuxLucy or d) follow cannon very closely, elements would be there but there will still be a presence there of several things. Also, I won't immediately reveal things in this story, you'll have to take a wait and see how it unfolds stance on it. So, that's about it, enjoy the first chapter of my new story: Son of Igneel Book 1: Power.
So this was it? The strongest guild (legal that is) in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail is filled with nothing but a fools who didn't know how to use their power. How can this many people be so pathetic? It should be impossible but Fairy Tail had managed it, they had turned people to be feared into people to be mocked! How could they even live with themselves! They were the strongest! They had power! Respect! And the fools always tossed it away with their actions, they ignored their power!
But, in the end, what they did with their power didn't concern him. What mattered was that they had something or, more specifically, someone he wanted. And he would get them, especially with how the fools not in the Guild were off fighting with Phantom Lord, some Guild War between the two. He supposed he was lucky through, the strongest were already out battling against Phantom Lord in the battle, a battle he had a feeling he knew who started it. The two Guild Masters had a rocky relationship in the beginning but that had changed over time, something he and all of Magnolia took note of when the two declared war on each other.
"LEVY!"
"You're alright!"
The few members of Fairy Tail still at the guild hall were grouped around a pair of blue haired girls, the members participating in a group hug as one of the two were finally up and about again.
"Thank you Wendy! Thank you so much!" Jet and Droy pulled the blushing girl away from the group, wide smiles on both their faces as each pulled her into a hug before Droy and Jet both turned serious.
"If you ever need anything Wendy, don't hesitate to ask." Jet's words were met with a nod from Droy.
"We owe you a lot for helping Wendy and us after those Phantom jerks jumped us." Droy's eyes hardened as he remembered the attack, Jet the same before the doors opened, getting their attention. A pink haired man walked in through them, dressed in a red coat that covered his body, his black eyes sweeping around the guild hall before he let out a low whistle.
"Damn, I heard this place was impressive but I never thought it would look like this." the man was right, Fairy Tail, being the strongest guild in Magnolia, had the greatest paying missions and it showed, their guild hall was massive, decorated, and, most importantly of all, nothing short of a few apocalypses would leave a scratch on the building after the guild got into one fight too many and the Master, the Wizard Saint Makarov Dreyar, then greatly reinforced the building, a worthwhile investment in the end as repair bills fell quickly.
"Hey, who are you!" Gray stood up from his seat on the bar, setting down his drink, along with his white and blue jacket, as he spotted the pink haired man look around the guild hall.
"No one important if you haven't heard of me." the pink haired man looked around, seemingly not bothering to pay attention to one of Fairy Tail's rising Mages. "Sit down stripper."
"What did y-WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!" Gray seemed to just recognize he was only in his boxers, diving over the counter while the barmaid, Lisanna Strauss merely sighed as she handed him a stack of clothes.
"Gray, please work on that more. I'm glad you've stopped stripping everywhere but here at this point but it's still annoying to see you in your underwear all the time." Lisanna turned her attention to the pink haired man as Gray quickly put on a spare set of clothes she kept behind the bar. It was a minor surprise to her when she found him walking through the guild hall still, still looking around and a slight look of awe on his face.
'I know I've seen him before, but where?' Lisanna shook away those thoughts, instead focusing on the fact that he seemed to not be part of a guild. 'He must want to join Fairy Tail.'
"Hey, do you want to join Fairy Tail?" Lisanna asked, a smile on her face only for it to drop when the man glared at her, his eyes like a burning fire as the youngest Strauss took several steps back in shock at the sheer hate in the man's eyes, stopping after a few steps but instead of calling out again she went over to Cana, lifting another barrel of beer on her shoulders when she saw the one next to the Card Mage was nearly drained.
'A no would have been fine. Jackass.'
"You. What's your name?" the man stopped in front of Wendy, Jet giving him a minor glare he didn't bother to acknowledge, his attention was focused slowly on the suddenly nervous blue haired girl in front of him.
"Wendy Marvell, what's yours?" Wendy seemed to have gotten over her initial nervousness when the pink haired man walked up to her, a small smile on her face as she asked her question, causing the man to grin for some reason.
"Salamander."
"W-" Wendy was silenced by a knee to the stomach, knocking the wind out of the Sky Dragon Slayer as the pink haired man grabbed her by the back of her shirt and threw her behind him, right into an infuriated Jet and Droy, Droy quickly catching Wendy and setting her done as both Mages prepared to confront the pink haired man in front of them.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jet demanded only for the Mage in front of him to laugh as he seemed to write the two off as unimportant, The two charged him then and were defeated by the pink haired Mage, done effortlessly by the Mage in front of them. Reacting faster than the two Mages thought he could, he grabbed Droy's arm as he reached into the bag at his side and threw him onto a table before Jet found himself thrown onto Droy when Salamander grabbed him despite his run at him and used his own momentum against him.
"What are you doing you bastard!" Gray vaulted over the bar, his rage growing but not blinding him as he ran forward, stopping to crouch down and check on Wendy, Jet, and Droy even as Macao stepped forward along with Cana standing up from her bar stool.
"I don't want any of you." Salamander pointed towards Wendy, a sneer on his face. "I don't have time to deal with any of you pathetic Fairies except for this wanna be Dragon you've got here."
"Who are you calling pathetic you little-ARGH!" Gray, in his anger, forgot about his injuries, something caused by an early battle in the guild war Fairy Tail had entered with Phantom Lord. "Dammit." Gray panted for breath even as Macao stepped forward, standing in front of the younger Mage with a frown on his face.
"Salamander...the Fire Mage said to be a demon? Is it really you...pinkie?" Macao chuckled at the suddenly infuriated look on Salamander's face.
"What did you just call me?" Salamander's voice was a growl, flames actually coming out of his mouth as he spoke as his black slit pupils locked with Macao's, the older Mage simply letting out another chuckle.
"I called you," Macao dodged the pink haired man's enraged blow, a mindless punch, responding with his own, a solid one to the gut with enough force to lift the pink haired man off of the ground. "Pinkie."
"You..." Salamander's endurance seemed not to be understated in the stories told about him as he barely reacted to the fist lodged in his stomach and instead threw a punch, one that was stopped easily, Macao catching it with his palm as Macao's free hand was drawn back, a small Magic Circle appearing above his palm, rapidly rotating and shining for a moment before slowing down and stopping. Salamander's attempts to pull his fist free were pointless as Macao tightened his grip as he grinned.
"Purple Flare."
A powerful but focused blast of purple fire threw the pink haired Mage upwards, his back slamming into the ceiling and finding himself trapped in it as the purple fire consuming him seemed to flow as it shifted into chains that bound him to the ceiling. He was lucky Macao was feeling merciful at the moment as the chains weren't burning him at the moment, at best there was only a minor discomfort around the chains.
"Sure that will work Macao, that's a Fire Mage you've got trapped up there." Macao's long time friend, Wakaba, walked up to him, checking on a groaning Gray, the Mage struggling to get to his feet as blood leaked onto the ground despite the bandages wrapped securely around his chest while blood dyed the other bandages around his left arm red. "Stay on the ground kid, you've reopened you're wounds now."
"I don't think we're dealing with a Fire Mage Wakabe, he may be something else, something like a Dragon Slayer." Macao's words were met with a sigh from Wakabe, the older Mage greatly wishing that was not the case.
"I really hope you're wrong Macao." Wakabe whispered to his long time friend as he helped Gray up, passing him off to Jet and Droy as a glare from Macao sent the two younger Mages off with Gray. "Stay with the others you three, this is probably going to get messy."
"Let's deal with this mess than, Wakabe." Macao let his Magic Power course through him, Wakabe doing the same and the air seemed to grow denser because of it.
"I still hope you're wrong about him."
"Believe me, I hope so too."
"Well, I never thought I had such a great legend from those scared idiots." the words came from above, both stunned Mages looking up and spotting the pink haired Mage above them. "Are you really that afraid of this type of power?"
The Fire Mage trapped above them chuckled once he saw their stunned looks even if it ended up drawing a glare from both older Mages before they noticed something, the chains were gone, he was holding onto the ceiling by one hand grasping a beam as a Magic Circle briefly hovered above the other before it faded, the last wisps of Purple Flare, Macao's Magic, vanishing into it.
"Get ready Fairies!" Salamander let himself fall, flames gathering around his arms as he fell, the flames taking on the appearance of wings as the Fire Mage held his arms out behind his back. "I'm going to fry you!"
"Karyu (Fire Dragon's)..."
"No, impossible!" Macao looked at the Mage in shock, quickly preparing for another use of his Purple Flare Magic as Wakaba let out a deep exhale, Magic Power pouring through the pipe in his mouth and smoke filling one side of the room, separating the two older Mages and Salamander from the rest of the guild as it formed a solid wall that would be hard for even someone like Laxus, a S-Class Mage with immense destructive ability, to get through.
"..NO YOKUGEKI! (Wing Attack)"
Salamander's flame covered arms were met by Macao, a massive blast of purple fire throwing the younger Mage back as Macao winced, glancing down at his arm as he saw it was slightly burnt as well as the numerous pieces of wood ending up lodged in them from the brief clash destroying both the tables and the chairs around them. They were quickly removed absentmindedly, at best they were a minor annoyance to the Mage as he focused his attention solely on Salamander.
"Salamander's pretty strong then, huh Macao?" Wakabe's words were spoken with a small grin, something Macao mirrored as Purple Flare engulfed his slightly burned arm, the magic fire dissipating a moment later and showing it was healed.
"You could say." Macao rubbed his now healed arm, a grin on his face before his Purple Flare Magic engulfed most of his left arm.
"Think we can still do this right then, Macao?" Wakaba shifted into a fighting stance, another wave of Magic Power through his pipe and he now held both a large broadsword and a short dagger in his hands, Macao letting out a brief chuckle as he rose his weapons, the broadsword in front while the shorter dagger was behind it.
"Damn right we can, we're not that old." Macao suddenly blitzed forward, turning into a blur as Salamander grinned as fires ignited on both his fists.
"Karyu no (Fire Dragon's)..." Salamander dodged Macao as he appeared behind him, taking a swing at him with his flame covered left arm and a slicing wave of fire launching from the arch of his swing. Macao dodged the slicing wave with ease but was unprepared for Salamander to vanish from the spot in front of him and suddenly appear above him, too close to do anything but brace for impact as a fist rocketed towards his face."..Tekken (Iron Fist)!"
Salamander's blow connected, a blast of fire slamming into Macao the moment the Fire Mage's fist connected but the older Mage only grinned as he remained where he stood even as the ground beneath him was destroyed by flames, the same flames struggling to rip through the thin layer of Purple Flare Magic surrounding his body as his right hand shot forward, grabbing onto the front of Salamander's crimson coat as Wakabe appeared behind him, both of his Smoke Magic weapons raised in the air.
"Say goodbye kid!" Wakabe swung down, Salamander's face taking on a look of panic before an explosion of flames consumed him as he unleashed his Magic Power across his body, throwing back both Macao and Wakabe but both older Mages quickly recovered, both coming to a stop in a crouch, Purple Flare dissipating as it had shielded Macao while armor made of smoke covering Wakabe showed cracks on it before a wave of Magic Power repaired it.
"Huh, this kid is way more impressive than I thought." Wakabe rolled his shoulders, tightening his grip on his Smoke Magic weapons before locking eyes with Macao and nodding as he crouched slightly, Macao taking two or so steps back as he gathered his Magic Power for his next attack, requiring minor setup to avoid simply incinerating Salamander instead of simply stopping him.
"Smoke Jet!"
A Magic Circle appeared beneath Wakabe's feet before a focused blast of his Smoke Magic sent him rocketing forward on a jet of smoke from his feet, Salamander grinning as he brought his other fist back, it still covered in fire.
"Karyu no Tekken (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)!" Salamander's flaming blow was met by Wakabe's knife, the flat of the blade stopping the blow as Wakabe then slashed with his sword, missing as Salamander threw himself back even as a Magic Circle appeared in front of him as he knocked his fists together. Flames raced down his arms from his hands seconds later, Salamander grinning as he threw his arms out at his side as he shot forward.
"Karyu..."
"Smoke Jet!" a twin set of Magic Circles appeared at Wakabe's feet, sending him forward as a blur that slammed into Salamander, the smoke blade through shattered against Salamander, not even striking through the coat as instead a massive cloud of smoke consumed the two Mages.
"Purple Flare!" Macao held both hands out in front of him horizontally, the ends of his palms touching as a small Magic Circle appeared above his hands and rapidly grew until it was slightly larger than his two hands together and several fireballs made of Purple Flare flew from the Magic Circle as Wakabe darted out the side of the smokescreen.
With little difficulty, Salamander joined him with his arms still covered by fires that suddenly turned blinding as a large Magic Circle appeared beneath Salamander's feet.
"Karyu no Kagizume (Fire Dragon's Claw)!" Salamander shot into the air where he flipped himself around, diving down head first towards Macao and Wakabe with a grin as his entire body seemed to become engulfed in red hot flames as sped towards the ground, looking very much like a dragon covered in flames racing towards the ground.
"Karyu no Kenkaku (Fire Dragon's Sword Horn)!" Salamander slammed into Wakabe, changing his target at the last moment and the Mage let out a shout as he let his Magic Power out, actually stopping Salmander before he spun and threw him towards the wall.
"Smoke Jet!" Wakabe called out as he shot after Salamander just as Macao vanished from where he was standing a few meters behind Wakabe.
"Karyu no Kagizume (Fire Dragon's Claw)!" a jet of flames from Salamander's feet threw the pink haired Mage high up into the air, dodging Macao as he appeared behind him, his Purple Flare fueled kick missing even as Wakabe adjusted his aim towards the ceiling with another Smoke Jet. The Fire Mage currently above the two Fairy Tail members grinned a she saw this, fire engulfing one hand as he pulled it back even as Wakabe let another wave of Magic Power fuel his Smoke Magic, it erupting from his pipe even as Salamander rebounded off the ceiling.
"Karyu no Tekken (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)!"
"Smoke Break!"
An explosion of fire consumed Wakabe before a sphere of smoke threw it all away even as Wakabe was now weaponless even as the smoke pouring out of his pipe would very soon change that. Not willing to give the Mage time to regroup, Macao appeared behind the airborne Fire Mage, a platform of smoke from Wakabe giving him footing as he brought his two Purple Flare covered hands together, a rapidly building orb of purple flames suddenly pushing them apart. Salamander cursed when he saw this, quickly turning around even as he released his Magic Power, a large Magic Circle appearing in front of him but something Macao didn't let stay for long. He threw the orb of Purple Flare forward and it shattered the Magic Circle, catching the pink haired Mage unprepared and sending him slamming towards the ground, the sphere dragging him down as Macao let his Magic Power build before diving down after him.
"Wakabe!" Macao called out to his long time partner, the Mage already set as smoke covered him in armor, rapidly condensing until the normally pink smoke was now pitch black as an equally dark blade appeared in his hands, a jagged broadsword he held in in two hands.
"On it!" Wakabe tensed, crouching slightly before twin Magic Circles appeared at his feet. "Smoke Jet!"
The older Mage shot towards the falling Salamander, struggling to free himself from the sphere of Purple Flare sending him towards Macao as similar Magic Circles to the one he had used at his feet appeared all along his arms as they released bursts of dark black smoke in time to Wakabe's movements, the reason for them immediate as Wakabe struggled to move his arms, the blade in his hands that heavy that he needed to amplify his strength with his Magic.
"Karyu (Fire Dragon's)..." Salamander took in a deep breath as he brought his hands up to his mouth, as if he was playing a trumpet, as a large Magic Circle briefly shielded his body from the Purple Flare sphere still pushing him towards Wakabe. "NO HOKO (Roar)!"
A blast of fire, no, a roaring inferno of flames blasted from between Salamander's hands and ripped through the sphere of Purple Flare weighing him down, continuing forward to blast into Macao, ripping through the two shields of Purple Flare he threw up in response and sending him slamming through tables and chairs before finally slamming against the wall far behind him. Wakabe was no better, Salamander turning to him and, while the roar of flames had ended, a wave of Magic Power blasting out of the Mage as he threw his arms out at his side, spinning as a torrent of flames engulfed him for a moment.
"Karyu no Koen (Fire Dragon's Brillant Flame)!" Salamander called out as the flames seemed to almost throw themselves into his right hand as he pulled it back before he threw it forward, unleashing a massive blast of flames as a Magic Circle appeared in front of the sphere, taking it in and unleashing a torrent of flames on Wakabe, hoping to kill the brown haired Mage in front of him with the attack with the amount of power he was throwing into the attack.
"Smoke Break!" Wakabe filled his armor with Magic Power to the breaking point before it did break, shattering in a massive sphere of smoke, battering away the flames and letting a quick Smoke Jet send him out of harm ways even if the sword still weighed him down. That was quickly remedied as it seemed to climb up his arms, creating a new set of armor that was a light gray and looked as hard as steel even as the blade seemed lighter, Wakabe easily spinning it in one hand as a dagger appeared in the other.
"Impressive." Salamander landed on the floor, chuckling as he spotted Wakabe unharmed on the floor. "I guess some Fairies do have some power, even if you do waste it."
"I wouldn't talk much kid." Wakabe's grin went unseen by the Fire Mage, the angered form of Macao as he pulled himself out of the rubble pinning him down since Salamander's roaring attack unknown to the pink haired man. "You're about to be in a whole new world of hurt."
"What a-"
"Purple Flare!" Macao held one hand out, completely enshrouded in dark purple flames and a truly massive jet of purple flames engulfed the entirety of the room in front of him, Wakabe only escaping the blast by way of several rapid Smoke Jet spells, stacking on top of each other and giving him enough speed to escape incineration.
Macao held the spell for several moments, nothing but the roar of the flames audible before he let out an annoyed "tsk" and let his hand dropped, the fires immediately ceasing as he instead rose his other hand, palm towards the flames as a rotating Magic Circle rapidly grew as it hovered just above his hand.
"Purple Flare: Vacuum."
The rapidly spreading fires were drawn into the Mage's palm, specifically the Magic Circle above it and in a moment the room was free of flames.
"Huh, I haven't seen you use that since our mission after the S-Class trials a few years ago." Wakabe landed next to his partner, his Smoke Magic fading as the smoke broke up and was absorbed into his pipe, the Mage storing it for now.
"The kid pissed me off...that Magic is never good." Macao let his hand drop, the Magic Circle gone as he spotted the collapsed form of Salamander amidst the blackened room, covered in ash and unmoving. "Turns out he wasn't what I thought he was."
"Doesn't mean you had to kill him, we've got to clean this all up now before Master Makarov gets back." Wakabe let out a sigh through his pipe as he observed the damage before a dozen or so hands made of pink smoke flew out of it. "I guess I'll deal with most of it while you get rid of the body."
"Really now?" at the unexpected voice, both Wakabe and Macao turned to see Salamander moving, an impossible feat after the attack he just endured.
"What the-" Macao was cut off as Salamander struggled to his feet, panting as he let out a wince, showing he didn't escape unharmed.
"Karyu no Totsuga! (Fire Dragon's Fang Thrust)" Salamander's Magic Power flared up for a moment as flames roared into existence across his body before charging off as they took the shape of a dragon head that shot through the air, roaring as it slammed into the two surprised Mages, too fast for either to put up any defense when they had thought he was dead.
"So he is a Dragon Slayer then?" Macao recovered quickly, landing on his feet after the dragon head exploded once it slammed into the two of them, sending both of the two flying and debris everywhere. "Only a Fire Dragon Slayer could handle my attack like that, that legendary durability seems like an understatement now, right Wakabe?"
"I hate it when you're right." Wakabe groaned as he dragged himself up, the flames more damaging to someone not a Fire Mage, he was close to one but still couldn't handle flames like that without damage, something Macao could do in his sleep at this point. "Why couldn't you be wrong for once?"
"I wish I was Wakabe, you have no idea how much I wished I was." Macao allowed his Purple Flare Magic to cover both hands as he suddenly blitzed Salamander, the Mage easily dodging his multitude of high speed blows. The Mage didn't keep up his attack long, leaping back after a few moments and letting out an annoyed grunt as Wakabe raced past him, Magic Circles hovering above each knuckle of his fist as he drew it back.
"Smoke..."
"Alright, let's see who hits harder!" Salamander's grin was bloodthirsty as he allowed flames to ignite across his entire right arm before they quickly moved around his fist, covering it in flames as he tensed before launching himself forward.
"Karyu no...(Fire Dragon's)" the fires seemed to grow larger, turning into a blaze that threatened to leap away and consume the guild hall, something highly unlikely after the reinforcements Makarov put it through, as Wakabe had a grin himself, not able to deny that the fight was becoming exciting as it seemed Salamander lived up to his name, an inhuman force of destruction, something he was somewhat glad to face despite the circumstances, his "job" was quite boring, something like this rarely happened and he planned to draw it out as much as he could before ending Salamander.
"TEKKEN! (Iron Fist)"
"Bullet!"
Five spiraling bullets of smoke erupted from the Magic Circles on Wakabe's fist, matched by the raging inferno Salamander had unleashed from his own blow, neither attack winning until with a slight tightening of his fist the older Mage had slammed the five smoke bullets together, turning them into one large attack, more like a drill as it ripped through Salamander's attack in moments and would have probably ripped off his arm if he hadn't dodged it, the attack slamming into the wall behind him and leaving a small hole in it.
'Damn, I might have put more power than I wanted to in that attack.' Wakabe uncurled his hand, grinning despite the potential damage it could have done to the guild hall. 'I better watch myself with my next one.'
"Smoke Jet!" Wakabe's shout sent him shooting forward, a Magic Circle under his left foot responsible for such a thing as light gray smoke billowed out of it as Salamander let fires engulf his arms, charging towards Wakabe, his black eyes focused on the Mage in front of him as he suddenly vanished.
"Karyu no Yokugeki! (Fire Dragon's Wing Attack)" Salamander appeared above Wakabe, his flame covered arms crashing into his back and the explosive blast coming after it drove him into the ground, something Salamander was glad for as he was already in the air, two spheres of fire already in his hands as he held his arms out at his side.
"Karyu no Koen! (Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame)" the two spheres of fire, both easily the size of Salamander's entire body, rocketed down towards Wakabe, the Mage quick to recover from his impromptu meeting with the ground and letting out a shout as he released his Magic Power, smoke leaking out of his body and quickly forming into armor, moments before the attack would have slammed into him and most likely leave him out of the fight.
"Purple Flare!" Macao threw a sphere of Purple Flare upwards, striking Salamander in the chest and sending him sailing across the room, crashing into the ground and the Fire Mage cursed as he struggled back to his feet, purple wisps of flames coming off of his body as he let his Magic Power out, smothering the majority of the fires.
"Switch?" Macao chuckled as Wakabe merely waved his hand at him, laying back down on the floor as he let out a sigh.
"Switch." Wakabe closed his eyes, intending to fall asleep it looked like as Macao let out another chuckle as Purple Flare covered both his hands as he vanished, disappearing in a burst of speed as he appeared behind Salamander.
"Karyu no Tekken! (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)" his fellow Fire Mage was ready for him it seemed, striking at him with several blows, his fist covered in his fire even as Macao easily dodged them all, weaving side to side to do so while he built up his own power, his Purple Flare condensing until dark purple spheres covered both his fists.
"Purple Flare:..." Macao dodged Salamander's final blow it seemed as he whispered the words, the Fire Mage quickly pulling his fist back as he brought one hand up to his mouth as a small Magic Circle appeared in front of his mouth, slightly bigger than his hand as he made it as if he was holding trumpet in one hand.
"Karyu no Hoko! (Fire Dragon's Roar)" Salamander unleashed his roar with a smirk, something that was quickly replaced by an expression of pain as Macao slammed one Magic covered hand into his mouth, easily ripping through the flames spewing from it.
"BLAST STRIKE!" a narrow purple beam of flames completely engulfed Salamander's head, sending him rocketing back even as his hands flew to his burning face, the Fire Mage desperately covering his face with his hands, trying to snuff out the flames as he let his Magic Power flood his hands, blazing hot flames filling them as he did his best to stop the fire doing its best to burn his face.
"Purple Flare!" Macao threw his hand forward, unleashing a wave of purple flames that slammed into Salamander and sent him crashing into the wall before he let out a roar, the Fire Mage letting out a scream of both pain and frustration as flames covered his hands as he charged forward with his legendary anger seemingly coming to the forefront, Salamander losing it as he blindly charged Macao, almost at the other end of the guild hall, in front of Wakabe's barrier.
"Kagizume (Claw)!" a blast of flames from Salamander's feet sent him rocketing forward, something that Macao was prepared for as he jumped to avoid Salamander's flame covered fist.
"KOEN (Brilliant Flame)!" Salamander slammed his flame covered hands together as he spun in midair so his back was too the ground and a large sphere of flames launched from his hands and headed towards Macao, the Mage letting his Purple Flare cover one hand as he brought it down, actually chopping through he blazing hot flames of Salamander with some of his own, ripping through them with a thin wave of Purple Flare launched from his swing.
"Enchu (Flame Elbow)!" Salamander was suddenly in front of him and a blast of flames from his elbow threw his fist forward, slamming into Macao and throwing the Fairy Tail Mage back and into the ceiling where Salamander slammed his foot into him a she took in a deep breath.
"Karyu no Hoko! (Fire Dragon's Roar)!" a massive torrent of flames slammed into Macao as Salamander unleashed the flames filling his mouth, Macao bringing his Purple Flare covered hand forward and slamming it into Salamander's stomach, throwing him back and sending him crashing into one of the tables still whole.
Macao dropped back to the ground moments behind Salamander, letting out a minor grunt as he realized Salamander did more damage than he at first thought, his landing made him wince before his Purple Flare Magic washed over him, helping to numb the pain as he threw himself forward towards Salamander as he stood to his feet, the flames of Purple Flare covering his entire arm as he pulled it back, something Salamander mimicked as he brought his own arm back.
"Gekitetsu (Firing Hammer)!"
"Purple Flare!"
Salamander and Macao's fist slammed together, a veritable inferno of both blazing orange and red flames as well as purple flames consuming both for several moments before Salamander was thrown out of the inferno, slamming into Wakabe's smoke barrier and sliding to the floor as his breath came in pants, the Mage struggling to even pull his head up as he held his severely burned arm with his other hand. The Mage had seen better days after his clash with Macao. Everything hurt at the moment and he seemed to have used everything he had in his last attack, something Macao countered with some ease it seemed like as the Mage still didn't seem to have used all of his power against Salamander.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me at this point." Salamander groaned as he did his best to attempt to stand, mindful of his ruined arm as he kept it cradled against his chest as the other was covered once again in his blazing hot flames.
"Huh, you're stronger than I thought." Macao let out a chuckle of his own before Salamander suddenly disappeared.
"Saiga (Crushing Fang)!" Salamander swiped his flame covered hand at Macao, a thin stream of flames following his swing and something Macao knocked aside with his bare hand before he grabbed Salamander's face and let Purple Flare engulf his hand.
"I suggest you quit kid, I don't want to have to kill you." Macao's words were seemingly ignored by Salamander as he grabbed Macao's arm with his single usable hand.
"Karyu no Uroko (Fire Dragon's Scales)!" Salamander's body was seemingly enshrouded within blazing embers, something that forced Macao to release him as the Fire Mage let out a shout of pain as he held his burning hands away from himself, letting Purple Flare engulf it entirely before he charged Salamander.
"Purple Flare!" Macao appeared in front of him, throwing his palm forward and unleashing a massive blast of purple flames on a grinning Salamander.
'What the-SHIT!' Macao leapt away just as Salamander seemed to eat the fires sent towards him, his body visibly changing as all of his fatigue left him if a minor shiver of revulsion cross his face before he seemed to get over it and drop into a crouch.
"Thanks for the meal old man." Salamander grinned as he allowed fires to engulf his entire body. "I've been in need for a snake for a while now, no matter how horrible your fires taste." Salamander didn't say another word, charging forward and Macao cursed as he found himself on the defensive, dodging Salamander's destructive blows before eventually returning one of his own, something Salamander shrugged off with ease.
Macao second and third blow were the same before the Fire Mage responded with several rapid punches of his own, Macao dodging them before returning a dozen or so of his own in a barrage of punches and kicks he hoped would at least move Salamander back, no such luck as Salamander's Magic Power suddenly flared as his flames grew in size for a moment.
"Karyuken (Fire Dragon Sword)." Salamander let the flames covering his arms spread as he continued to dodge Macao's blows, a burst of flames briefly obscuring him from view before it faded, the Mage now holding a blade of pure flames in his hands, something Macao froze at before grinning as he clapped his Purple Flare covered hands together and a Magic Circle flashed into existence between them, rapidly spinning while shrinking and expanding as he slowly began drawing them apart, a dark purple blade slowly appearing between his hands as the two, not one as initially believed, Magic Circles on his palms were drawn apart, and the sword was covered in the purple flames of his Magic.
"That's some pretty versatile Magic you got there kid." Macao held the dark purple blade in his hands, looking very much like a falchion, before the blue haired Mage switched it to right hand and held the blade in front of him, letting out a sigh as the other was filled with a sphere of Purple Flare as he pulled it to his side. "Mind telling me how you learned it?"
Salamander grinned at his words, a bloodthirsty grin as he slashed his blade of flames out to the side, a thin wave of flames moving down the arc of the swing. He didn't say a word as he vanished, Macao letting out a hiss of pain as a burning hot blade sliced across his back faster than he could move and flames were already spreading, only a quick use of Purple Flare: Vacuum stopping it before another cut opened down his left arm and he let out a hiss as he quickly shed his long jacket.
"Okay, you're better than I thought kid." Macao slightly tensed as Magic Power began rolling off of him, Purple Flare spreading from his left hand and engulfing his body, Salamander's next lightning quick strike repulsed as he instead was thrown back by a blast of purple flames. Macao wasted little time then, throwing the sphere of Purple Flare in his left hand forward before outracing it as he caught up to Mage in an instant.
"Purple Flare: Dark Blast."
Salamander couldn't help it, he let out a scream as he was consumed in a blast of Purple Flare Magic as Macao cut him across the chest, throwing him back faster before Macao was behind him, cutting him again, this time down his back, and sending him straight towards the sphere of Purple Flare he originally fired with another blast. He never stood a chance of avoiding it, Salamander seemingly recognizing this as a Magic Circle appeared at the tip of his blade.
"Karyu no Uroko! (Fire Dragon's Scale)" bullets of fire ripped through the air, slamming into the sphere and detonating it preemptively, something the pink haired Mage was clearly glad for, something that didn't last long.
As if in imitation of his surprise attack from earlier, the flames of the detonated sphere quickly shaped themselves into the head of a dragon before roaring as it's blazing purple eyes locked onto Natsu. It didn't take a moment longer to charge, something Salamander was at least able to prepare for as he gathered his Magic Power, taking in a deep breath as he brought his hands up to his mouth, a similar look from when he unleashed his roar.
"Smoke Jet!"
It seemed that the dragon head was a cover, Wakabe burst out of it as he punched through it and slammed a fist into Salamander's gut, the Mage stopped midair as he struggled to take in air.
"Smoke Break." Wakabe's face didn't show anything as Salamander screamed as he was sent hurtling back, a blast of smoke responsible for it as he noticed the lights behind him too late.
"Purple Flare." Macao Requiped his rarely used blade, turning away as Salamander slammed into the three spheres of Purple Flare floating in the air. A massive blast of purple flames erupted from them, consuming Salamander as he found himself trapped in the middle of it, Wakabe's Smoke Break still powering him back and keeping him trapped in the middle.
Wakabe appeared next to Macao, neither wanting to watch the demise of Salamander as Wakabe instead focused on breaking down the Smoke Magic keeping up the barrier separating the two from the other members of Fairy Tail.
"I guess Makarov was right in making us Fairy Tail's "Doormen", huh Wakabe?"
"Yeah, doesn't strike terror in your heart through."
"It's not supposed to Wakabe, we're supposed to "watch the door", remember?"
"Good point."
The heat behind them faded, letting them know it was safe to turn around and they were slightly surprised to see Salamander's dark red coat had survived the blast, in tatters but it was still there...and the inside was covered in Magic Circles, it seemed designed to take an attack like Macao and Wakabe's last move.
"He's still-"
"Alive." Salamander's voice interrupted Macao's annoyed voice, the Mage amused as he dropped down in front of the Mages, picking up his coat and putting it back on. "I came very, very prepared for this fight."
"Doesn't change the fact that we'll kill you." the two let their Magic Power loose, showing the ocean of power both possessed as S-Class Mage and as Fairy Tail's "Doormen", the two Mages responsible for overseeing the guild when the Master was away, a system that allowed Fairy Tail to remain as the strongest guild in Fiore ever since it took the title, as Wakabe glared at a smirking Salamander. "We're S-Class Mages against some punk kid who doesn't know when to give up and die."
"And you talk too much." Salamander suddenly vanished, appearing behind the two and dropping a canister on the ground.
"Smoke-" Wakabe's attack was interrupted as a cloud of putrid purple gas filled his vision, something he involuntarily inhaled even as Macao made an attempt to escape but felt a burning across his body.
"KARYU TOTSUGA (Fire Dragon's Fang Thrust)!" a flaming dragon head slammed into him seconds later as Salamander appeared above Wakabe as he leapt out of the cloud of rapidly thinning smoke. "KARYU NO TEKKEN (Fire Dragon's Iron Fist)!"
"GAH!" Wakabe had no time to defend himself, his vision was blurred from the gas he inhaled and the blast from the flaming blow threw him back into the crowd as a Magic Circle appeared beneath Salamander's feet as Macao let his Purple Flare Magic engulf his hands as he threw them out behind him, a large Magic Circle forming in front of him.
"Karyu no Kagizume (Fire Dragon's Claw)." a blast of flame from the Magic Circle threw Salamander towards Macao as he threw his hands forward, clapping them together as the Magic Circle in front of him narrowed.
"Purple Flare!"
"Karyu no Hoko! (Fire Dragon's Roar)" Salamander held his hands in front of his lips as if he was holding a trumpet, unleashing a massive wave of fire from a Magic Circle appearing in front of his hands. It easily ripped through the wave of Purple Flare Macao launched towards him and the two S-Class Mages were forced to avoid the attack by jumping away, right into Salamander's next attack.
"Karyu no Totsuga! (Fire Dragon's Fang Thrust)" a Magic Circle appeared in front of Salamander for a moment before it vanished as flames covered his arm as he drew it back as he charged the airborne Macao, the flames taking the form of a dragon head covering his arm, roaring as he threw his fist forward, slamming it into Macao and a burst of flames threw the Mage back, a dragon head roaring as it pushed him back until he was painfully slammed against a wall.
"You s-" Wakabe couldn't finish as Salamander was suddenly in front of him, simply slapping him and sending him sprawling to the floor.
"Huh, I should have expected this from people like you." Salamander chuckled to himself as flames once again ignited across his body before traveling down to his hands, twin balls of flames filling them seconds later as the Fire Mage looked down at the shaking Wakabe. "I would stop struggling if I were you, that wasn't a drug I got you with, it's poison."
"Thanks for the info pinkie."
Magic Power suddenly surged form Wakabe as he surged to his feet, a bullet of smoke launching towards the Fire Mage who knocked it aside as he vanished from Wakabe's sight and appear behind him, one hand grabbing him by his brown hair, currently in disarray and hanging down to his shoulders instead of up in his usual style, and wrenched his head back to expose his neck.
"Karyuken (Fire Dragon Sword)." from the sphere of flames Salamander held in his hands quickly took on the shape of a sword, making the Mage grin as he pressed the scorching hot blade against Wakabe's neck. "Prepare to die."
"PURPLE FLARE!" similar to earlier in the battle, a massive blast of purple flames suddenly engulfed Salamander throwing him away from Wakabe as a panting Macao collapsed to his knees, utterly exhausted form his final attack on Salamander.
"MACAO!" Wakabe rushed over to his friend, even as Salamander made another attempt to attack him, only stopped by a sudden wall of Purple Flare from Macao.
Despite it, Salamander grinned as he landed in the rafters seconds later, having to leap to safety to escape the Purple Flare Magic Macao used even as both Fairy Tail members wobbled, struggling to remain standing.
"This kid is good." Wakabe's words were slightly slurred but were met with a nod from Macao, both beginning to pump more power through themselves in preparations for a harder battle now that Salamander had handicapped them. "He got us with something strong, he called it a type of poison."
"Probably something based off of Magic Power, probably stronger the more power you have." Macao let Purple Flare fill his hands, struggling to keep the Magic up with the poison coursing through him but his face held a grin for some reason. "Guess we get a challenge finally."
"Great." Wakabe was less enthusiastic than Macao, instead focused on pumping Magic Power into his pipe and letting smoke billow out in waves, filling the area around him in a dense cloud. "I'm taking a different approach I guess."
Above them, Salamander let out a low growl as he pressed a hand to his side, snuffing out the still remaining Purple Flare on his coat as he wondered how much longer the fight would go after he drugged the two. Hopefully all he had to do now was wait it out and the two Mages in front of him would drop, either unconscious or dead.
It seemed neither were willing to go down without a fight through as both vanished from his sight, appearing on either side of him, a sphere of smoke spinning above Wakabe's fist and Purple Flare enshrouding Macao's fist.
"Purple Flare!"
"Smoke Bullet!"
Both fist were caught by Salamander's own flame covered hands, the blast of purple flames tossed away by a blast of flames as those around Salamander's other hand intensified, keeping back Wakabe's Smoke Bullet as it attempted to fire away from his fist. The Fire Mage grinned at the two Mages in his grip, chuckling at the strain the two were under as their power seemed to only drain faster from their attacks, the two quickly wising up to the fact and leaping away to opposite sides of Salamander.
'Damn,' Macao held back a wince as he clutched at his chest, struggling to stay up on shaking legs as he felt his already depleted Magic Power draining faster than he thought. ', Salamander's smarter than I gave him credit for.'
'We may not actually be able to beat him like this.'
On the other side of the barrier of Wakabe's Smoke Magic, the few Fairy Tail members left in the guild hall were in awe at the raw power they were feeling rolling off of the two normally laid back and joking Mages, two no one had suspected to be S-Class Mages Makarov kept on hand at the guild.
"I knew those guys were strong but I never expected something like that." Jet's voice was nearly a whisper, Droy nodding along with him as both were shocked at the level of power the two were putting out every moment and the destructive spells both were throwing out as easy as breathing, easily keeping up with the fabled Salamander, a Mage renown for his destructive capabilities and his massive Magic Power, said to be enough to one day overtake someone like the Fairy Queen Erza Scarlet, a S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail said to be close to the power of one of the Ten Wizard Saints, some of the strongest in the entire world.
"Of course those two are strong." Levy kept her eyes focused on Salamander, or at least his increasing Magic Power, even as she spoke, her eyes narrowing behind the special glasses she had put on the observe the battle, something that didn't go unnoticed by her guild mates. "Master Makarov left them in the guild despite being uninjured because he trusts the two of them to keep everyone in it safe."
"Wha-what's happening?" Gray struggled to even sit up, his reopened wounds making many things impossible even as Wendy tried to heal him to no avail, the younger Mage was exhausted from healing Wendy, Droy, and Jet from earlier in the day along with the numerous injuries guild members had suffered during Phantom Lord's initial attack on Fairy Tail.
"Something bad." Levy's words couldn't have come at a better time as Wakabe's Smoke Magic barrier shattered in front of them when his flaming form was sent blasting through it.
"You know, that was pretty good for two old geezers." Salamander's voice followed by footsteps came through the rapidly dissipating smoke, Macao's bleeding and burnt form held in his hands. "Too bad they were so stupid."
"Why you bas-ARGH!" Gray's attempt to sit up failed as he collapsed in agony, his wounds getting worse from his efforts.
"Stay down Gray, I'll handle him." Lisanna stepped forward, Magic Power briefly shielding her from view before it faded away to show the Strauss changed, her hands changed to a pair of claws not out of place on a lion with her feet undertaking a similar change. Black and orange strips wrapped around her wrist and a small portion of her arms along with the same on her ankles and partly up her legs.
"Alright, let's see what you've got Strauss." Salamander spoke with a grin as he pulled Macao up, using him as a shield even as his left arm was engulfed in flames.
"Put him down." Lisanna stalked forward, Salamander's grin widening as she showed no signs of stopping.
"Yes, yes, that's good. Very good." Salamander leapt back, taking Macao with him before flames ignited along the arm holding the older Mage up, the flames slowly moving down towards his hand even as his grin grew as Lisanna gave chase, crouching for a moment before pouncing, disappearing from sight and appearing above him on the rafters. "That uncaring, that power, it all fits!"
"What are you talking about?" Lisanna felt it was a good idea to talk to Salamander, she was still weak from Phantom Lord's initial attack on Fairy Tail, she had been one of the main fighter and it showed even now, she felt exhausted, thus the reason for her rather low level Take Over, a rather basic Animal Soul: Cat.
"That power you have, you know how to us it, how it makes you stronger, better than everyone else!" Salamander's grip tightened on Macao's neck as with his free hand he swiped towards Lisanna, a wave of fire racing up towards the Strauss which she easily dodged, leaping to another rafter to do so. "You don't care for this weak piece of trash! You don't care what I do to him!"
"You're insane!" Lisanna attacked from above, her claws taking on a glow as she pushed her Magic into them, slashing forward to unleash five thin lines of energy forward, something Salamander used Macao to block before Lisanna was suddenly in front of her own attack, grabbing onto Macao with one arm as the other threw Salamander back with a Magic powered blow.
Lisanna appeared next to the group of Fairy Tail Mages, Macao in tow, as Droy threw a few seeds onto the ground and a wall of vines grew in front of them, completely separating them from Salamander as he recovered from Lisanna's surprise strike and rushed the wall of vines, fires igniting all around him.
"I'm not sure that's going to hold, he can use fire." Lisanna's statement was met by a small laugh from Droy, a wave of heat washing over them as he did so.
"Those plants thrive in fire." Droy threw another set of seeds down, these not sprouting immediately and instead seemed to burrow into the vines there.
"Knuckle Sprout." Droy whispered and with a pulse of Magic an almost wall of fists burst out of sudden rapid growing buds on the plants. Salamander easily dodged them through drawing closer and closer to the wall of vines quickly and easily, something no one expected as he simply punched through the wall of vines, chuckling as he ripped his way inside with ease.
"Nice try Fairy but that isn't going to stop me." Salamander's grin widened as he took in the paltry resistance in front of him, all of the Mages exhausted as the drugged Wakabe attempted to stand up from behind them only to scream as a blazing red scale Salamander planted on him erupted, flames consuming him in the blast and sending him collapsing to the floor, his body finally giving in to the drug and the damage Salamander had gleefully inflicted on him and his partner. Macao was no better, completely beaten and he stood no chance of getting up anytime soon, something Salamander made sure of when he brought the poison that had laid the two S-Class Mages out.
"Now, either give me the Dragon Slayer or I'll just take her." Salamander didn't make another move, actually stopping as he let a smirk cross his face as he held his hand out, meeting Wendy's eye. "Do you really want me to keep hurting your friends, little Wendy?"
"What makes sure you keep your promise?" the blue haired girl was understandably frightened, this was Salamander, a Mage that was said to rival some of Fairy Tail's top members if all the stories were to be believed. But despite her fear she locked eyes with Salamander, her words making him grin as the Sky Dragon Slayer stepped forward. "What stops you from doing something else to my friends you demon!"
"Nothing." Salamander's smirk widened as Wendy's anger grew, exactly what he wanted as he allowed flames to ignite across his body as he didn't hide his intent. "But if you don't do what I say I'm going to kill everyone here."
"Then kill us!" Gray snapped at Salamander, struggling to sit up as he pushed away a worried Levy, slowly getting to his feet as he gestured towards the blue Fairy Tail mark on his chest. "You see this mark Salamander, this mark makes everyone here family and family never lets someone fight alone!"
"Family? What use is family compared to power." Salamander shrugged as he spoke his words, seemingly coming to a decision as he reigned in his Magic Power, canceling his attack. "Power I guess I won't be getting, at least not at this moment."
Salamander turned away from the Fairy Tail members, chuckling as he heard them sigh in relief.
"I guess I'll leave you losers alone for now." Salamander rose a hand up in goodbye, not bothering to turn to back to the Fairy Tail members. "If I was telling the truth."
"Everyone, get down!" Wendy caught Salamander's words with her enhanced hearing, panicked as flames ignited across his arm as he turned around, a grin not out of place on a sadist coming across his face as Gray threw himself in front of his guild mates.
"Ice Ma-ARGH" Gray nearly fell as he was sure now that he had reopened all of his wounds, unable to finish his spell as Salamander grinned as the flames along his arm intensified.
"Karyu no Koen! (Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame)" as Salamander called out his attack, Gray seemed to pull through his agony, struggling as he let his Magic Power flare and a shape took hold in his mind.
"Ice Make: SHIELD!"
A Magic Circle appeared above Salamander's hand as he threw it back, the Magic Circle rapidly spinning before flames spewed out of it, akin to a flamethrower but with far more intensity as Gray slammed an open hand down on his fist, his Magic Power taking shape as he unleashed it. In moments a thick blue dome covered the Fairy Tail members, completely cutting them off from the rest of the guild hall while Salamander's attack slammed into it not a moment after it fully encased them. The attack did nothing against the dome, hardly cracking it as a panting Gray feel backwards onto the floor, struggling to take in air as he did his best to protect his family.
"Gray! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Wendy grabbed Gray, dragging him back as Salamander's attack washed over them, bathing the inside of the dome in the light of his flames as despite his weakened state, Gray managed to put enough Magic Power into the shield to stop Salamander's attack. "Why di-"
"I won't let someone like Salamander take you Wendy!" Gray ignored his exhaustion as he sat up, wincing as he felt the bandages around his chest warm. "I won't let anyone take you or anyone else for that matter as long as I can fight! I will never lose someone again!"
"Ah, how touching." the flames around them suddenly vanished, Salamander's silhouette visible outside the Ice Make Spell as his mocking tone reached them. "I really hate touching moments like these."
Flames ignited around the Fire Mage's fist as he pulled it back, Gray struggling to his feet when he saw it and stumbling over to the closest part of the dome, right in front of Salamander.
"What the hell is wrong with you!" Gray pressed both hands against the dome, almost collapsing against it as he began pushing more power into it, preparing it for another attack. "Why do you want Wendy so bad!"
"Power."
Salamander didn't bother with any other words, slamming his blazing fist into the ice dome, cracks spreading from it even if they rapidly filled as Gray did his best to keep the shield up despite his exhaustion and the growing amount of blood on the ground beneath his feet. Salamander simply pulled back his fist and struck again before striking the shield again, and again, and again, Gray's strain to keep it up growing with each blow, showing the shield was something the Fairy Tail Mage couldn't keep up for long.
"Give up you moron!" Salamander snapped as he allowed flames to fill his other hand as he jumped into the air. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE IF YOU KEEP THIS UP!"
"THEN KILL ME!" Gray screamed at Salamander as he pushed everything he had into the nearly shattered shield.
"GLADLY!" Salamander let the flames in his arms spread up his arms until it looked as if they were covered in a blazing inferno.
"KARYU NO YO-" Salamander was cut off as he felt a massive fist slam into him, throwing him against the Ice-Make: Shield Spell and he found his body plowing through it, slamming into the ground in front of a suddenly elated Wendy.
"Master Makarov!" the blue haired girl was glad to see the Master of Fairy Tail finally back, a little worse for wear, he was missing his white coat for one, but he looked otherwise unharmed except for a few scratches. Behind him was the rest of Fairy Tail, all of them a little banged up and looking around in shock at the wrecked guild hall, everything but the walls were destroyed.
"THE BAR!" Cana cried out as she collapsed against the ruins of the bar, nearly breaking into tears as she thought of every drink wasted, every drink she couldn't have after they won the Guild War between Phantom Lord.
"Macao...Wakabe..." Makarov looked past Wendy, taking in the collapsed forms of Fairy Tail's "Doormen" before he slowly walked forward.
"Dammit." Salamander struggled to move, let alone get up, after Makarov's single blow, the Fire Mage struggling to even breath as he felt a simple fraction of the raw power the Master of Fairy Tail held, the power a Wizard Saint had at their disposal. It was nothing like he thought possible.
'A human is this powerful? How? Only that bastard of a father of mine could ever do something like this to me!' Salamander forced his arms beneath him, slowly pushing himself up just as a pair of armored feet stopped in front of him.
"Salamander, the Dark Mage said to be a Dragon Slayer of immense power? This is it?" a gauntleted hand grabbed the back of his red coat, pulling him up as the figure crouched down, revealing the unforgettable red hair of Erza Scarlet, one of Fairy Tail's S-Class Mages, one of several currently surrounding him.
"Just great, more Fairies to deal with." Salamander barely held back a growl as he let himself fall out of his coat and on to the ground, slowly bringing himself up on his knees even as his body protested against such an action, the pain coursing through him screaming at him to stay down. "Like I didn't already have enough to deal with."
"I'm going to enjoy this." Scarlet tossed away his coat, hitting her gauntleted fist against her palm, not bothering with a weapon against the nearly defeated Salamander.
She was right as Salamander could hardly pull himself up or do anything to avoid the vicious hook from Erza, knocking him back to the floor and making the Dark Mage once again have to struggle off of the floor only to be floored by Erza's armored foot crashing into his chest with force comparable to a train, knocking him onto his back. Scarlet was far from done through, hardly starting in her opinion as she stepped over Salamander and wrenched him up by his pink hair, her knee solidly connecting with his face and sending him back onto the ground, his hands clutching at his face before Erza grabbed them both and pulled him up to his feet.
"This will hurt." Erza's words were an understatement as she headbutted Salamander before her knee crashed into his stomach, still holding his hands in her own as another headbutt forced Salamander to his knees, the Fire Mage's head rolling back and forth as he staggered on the edge of a painful consciousness or a painless darkness.
Erza turned away from Salamander's face, instead looking towards his right arm, the one she held up out to his side, merely looking at it before her leg slammed into it, Salamander suddenly thrown off of the edge back as his dazed eyes were brought back by the pain Erza's armored foot brought. Turning back to face him, Salamander began to understand why so many people liked to have a healthy fear of the scarlet haired woman in front of him as cold emotionless eyes locked with his own.
"Good, I want you awake for this." Erza slowly brought her leg back up, pressing it solidly into Salamander's shoulder, the same one she had just kicked to assure herself he would stay conscious for her next action. "I'm going to dislocate your shoulder now."
"Yo-ARGH!" Salamander let out another scream of pain, this one brought on by Scarlet fulfilling her threat, his arm now hanging loosely in her grasp as his body convulsed as she tightened her grip on his hands, preventing him from drawing them in and making him let out another scream when she pulled on his right arm.
"Scarlet, why the hell are you drawing his out." Laxus Dreyar, a tall blonde haired man with a lightning bolt scar going across his eye stood behind Erza, not appreciating what she was doing at this point. He was fine with making Salamander suffer as he had a feeling he was responsible for the guild war they had just been in or at least he had some knowledge about it, but this was taking it too far. She was torturing the Mage at this point, he had already suffered enough for his attack on Fairy Tail after the Master had hit him in truth. "Just throw him out already, we don't need to spend even more time cleaning up then we have to, I want to at least get drunk tonight."
"Quiet, he deserves to be punished for attacking Fairy Tail, for what he did to Gray, for everything he tried to do since coming here." Erza was entirely too calm as she spoke as she turned to Laxus, dropping Salamander and letting him fall to the ground where his usable hand grabbed at his dislocated shoulder.
"He's already been punished, now you're just a sadist Scarlet." Laxus's words seemed to have no effect on Erza as she turned back to Salamander, just as flames ignited around his usable hand.
"Saiga (Crushing Fang)!" a large stream of fire hit Erza as Salamander swung his hand roughly in her direction before he returned his hand to his shoulder and flames engulfed his entire arm as he pushed it back into place with only a grit of his teeth showing any signs of his pain.
'It looks like it finally activated, I must have reached my limit sooner than I thought with Scarlet.' Salamander had expected something like that to happen the moment the guild had returned and he had failed to confront Wendy so he had prepared himself, activating her symbol on his arm just in time it seems like if it finally kicked on, enough for him to at least get the sadist known as Erza Scarlet away from him.
"You are going to pay for that Salamander." Erza was unharmed by the flames Salamander had sent at her, the Fire Mage for some reason grinning as he slowly rose back to his feet, struggling to remain on them for only a moment before he straightened and rose to his full height.
"You want to know something Scarlet?" Salamander chuckled as the S-Class Mage stopped, merely raising an eyebrow at him.
"What?" Scarlet decided she could allow him a few words before she would begin his punishment for attacking Fairy Tail in earnest, several ideas already in mind as she looked at the exhausted Dark Mage.
"Dragons always fight the best when down." Salamander let a grin cover his face as he allowed his fires to consume him, engulfing himself in an inferno as he burned through his Magic Power astoundingly quickly even as he felt the familiar burning ripple over his skin as he felt himself change, his Magic Power engulfing him in a blazing inferno he was familiar with after all this time.
"Take-Over: Dragon Soul!"
Power washed over the surprised occupants of the room as Salamander was engulfed in flames, completely covered in them before they seemed to shatter as he threw himself out of them, his entire body changed.
His pink hair had spiked up entirely, looking like jagged spikes sat atop his head instead of hair. Dark red scale covered his entire exposed body, going up and down his arms and his exposed torso, his upper clothing now missing revealing his heavily toned physique. Along with the scales, black vein like markings ran up and down his body, stopping at the top of his neck as his sharpened canines peeked over his lips as his sharpened black pupils seemed crazed. His hands had morphed into powerful claws and fire seemed to roll off of him in waves. In summary, he looked very much like a humanoid dragon, simply lacking a tail and wings.
"KARYU NO TEKKEN!" flames engulfed his claws as he balled his hands into fists, slamming them into a shocked Erza, the S-Class Mage not at all expecting the sheer power behind the flaming hot blow, the flames threatening to rip through her signature armor as she was thrown back by the explosive blast behind the blow even as Salamander crouched and shot after her like a bullet.
"KENKAKU (Sword Horn!" Salamander rammed into the still airborne Erza and another blast of fire threw her back, this time sending her slamming into a wall as the guild members present prepared to attack him as it seemed he had brought down Erza.
"NO!" Erza's shout, more like a roar, froze all of the guild members in place as the enraged scarlet haired woman brandished her sword. "He's mine!"
A red topped silver streak was the only thing Salamander saw next before a spray of blood erupted from his back, making the Dark Mage let out a cry of pain as he looked behind him, seeing the large cut going down his back as he did his best not to aggravate it as he turned around to face Scarlet, the S-Class Mage vanishing and appearing in front of him, her broadsword in hand but her armored foot connected squarely with his stomach, making Salamander let out a grunt even if he wrapped one hand around her foot, holding it back when she tried to pull it back. It was pointless as Salamander pulled his arm back, the scales on his arm seemingly growing darker and taking on an ember like appearance as his clawed hand tightened into a fist.
"Gekitetsu (Firing Hammer)!" Salamander threw his fist forward, solidly connecting with Erza's chestplate and throwing her back in the resulting focused blast of flames. The S-Class Mage slammed into the wall behind her as Salamander let out a sigh of relief before he turned around, his black dragon like eyes focusing on Wendy's. Growling when he realized he was still bleeding, scales seemed to grow over the wound before a light could be seen from beneath them, Salamander's face contorting in pain for a moment as he was forced to cauterize the wound Erza had given him but once it was over with he rose one clawed hand and pointed at Wendy, a dark grin turning his lips up. "You're next Marvell."
"Like hell!" Gray put himself in front of Wendy, something that wasn't the wisest decision as Salamander charged forward, flames rolling off of his body in waves as the scales across his body began to glow red hot as his Magic Power filled them as flames.
"Out of my way you idiot!" Salamander's left hand was engulfed in flames before he threw it forward. "Totsuga (Fang Thrust)!" A roaring dragon head made of flames slammed into Gray, throwing the weak and injured Ice-Make Mage back and something that made his guild mates respond several Magic Spells being thrown at Salamander and something a wall of flames in front of him stopped with some difficulty.
"Take-Over: Sa-" a white haired woman dressed like a goth began to speak but stopped when a blur streaked towards Salamander.
"ARGH!" Salamander let out a scream of pain as he doubled over, clutching at his stomach where a sword was now embedded in it, an enraged scarlet head woman in front of him holding the hilt before she wrenched it out, making Salamander let out another scream before she kicked him to the floor.
Erza didn't spare the fallen Salamander another glance, rushing towards the downed Ice-Make Mage he had just attacked as a petrified Wendy remained where she was, frozen in shock at the brief glimpse of Salamander she had before Gray was in front of her, stopping Salamander from attacking her.
'Salamander...' Wendy remained frozen, not even shaking as she looked towards Salamander, the Dark Mage collapsed on the ground, struggling to sit up as the scales adorning his body crossed over his most recent wound, the space between the scales letting tongues of flames out as Salamander was forced to yet again cauterize his wounds from Erza. 'Why are you doing this?'
"Gray!" Erza knelt next to Gray, looking over the bleeding Ice-Make Mage who had thankfully finally passed out after everything he had put his strained and exhausted body through ever since Salamander had arrived at the guild hall. As Scarlet took in his injured form, a dark look crossed her face, one she directed at the Dark Mage struggling to hold himself up on his arms. "Salamander..." Scarlet's voice was a growl as she slowly stood back to her feet, facing Salamander with a cold rage burning in her eyes, something that made him shake himself free of his sudden fear.
"Just give up already Fairy, just give me Marvell and I'll be done here, she won't even be hurt too bad." Salamander's confidence seemed to be back as a suddenly emotionless Erza simply stopped in front of him, not saying a word. "Tch, your funeral than Scarlet. And here I thought I could respect you. Turns out you're like every other Fairy here, too concerned with all that comrades nonsense you and your guild talk about to understand what really matters, the only thing that should matter."
"You hurt him." Erza calmly spoke those three words, something that made Salamander raise where his eyebrows used to be, now only scales were there.
"I've heart a lot of idiots like this, I think I even killed a few a while back." Salamander was either confident he could take Erza now or he was delirious, either one of the two and something that wouldn't matter soon.
"Requip." Erza once again spoke calmly as she was consumed in a flash of light and moments later she landed in front of Salamander, the Dark Mage crouching where he had launched his attack from, growling as flames flashed off his body.
When the light died down moments later she was clad in a somewhat revealing black armor that included large pauldrons at her shoulders along with plates at her thighs, both emblazoned with grey crosses along with numerous black plates of armor going down her sides and covering her arms and legs in a similar style. Her midriff was kept bare along with her waist, showing the black briefs she wore underneath along with silver necklace or more closer to being choker around her neck, red gems wrapping around it. The thing that set it apart from her normal armor through were the black and grey dragon like wings coming out of the plates of armor across her back. Fully functional it seemed if her flapping them were any indication of their potential.
"Black Wing Armor." Erza's hands were briefly filled with the same light that covered her before she held two swords in her hands, an extended crossguard emblazoned with the same grey cross across the armor she wore.
Now dressed far more appropriately for battle in her Black Wing Armor, Scarlet allowed some of the rage in her to show as she began glaring at Salamander as she tightly gripped her blades in her hands. Salamander seemed unconcerned with her through, more focused over her shoulders, at Wendy. Such a thing lead to Scarlet attacking first and with force, charging forward with her swords at her side, shooting across the distance between the two of them with her wings.
"Yoku (Wing)."
In a sudden inferno around him, Salamander burst out of them with a single addition to his body, a pair of wings now extended from his back, the same dark red as the scales across his body but the membrane between them were a somewhat dark tan. With his new wings, Salamander flew to the top of the guild hall, keeping his distance from Erza as he brought his hands out to his side, flames quickly surging down his arms and forming into twin spheres of flames, both massive and growing before Salamander threw them forward.
Erza, who was charging upwards to Salamander, hardly spared the spheres of flames a glance, bringing her swords together and with little issues she cut one sphere apart while avoiding the other with ease.
"Rasengaku (Spiral Jaw)!" Salamander dive bombed Erza, the flames of the sphere she had cut apart suddenly swarming him before engulfing him in a quickly growing inferno that focused at his fist as he pulled it back, looking very much like a drill covered in razor sharp blade and something he intended to put through Scarlet's skull, something stopped as the Fairy Queen brought up her swords, blocking Salamander's fist and with it the drill as he threw it forward long enough for the two to pass each other and Salamander to slam his attack into the ground.
At least that was her hope as it seemed Salamander had much more maneuverability than she thought a he threw out his wings, coming to a abrupt and jolting stop to most, before turning to the side briefly before a single flap of his wings sent him shooting back up, actually passing Erza with his sudden speed before he turned and his fist slammed into her stomach. Erza was then engulfed in a veritable inferno as she was sent like a bullet towards the ground, slamming into it and actually cratering the durable floor below her as she let out a groan, dazed from the blow, at least for the moment. Salamander was glad to capitalize on it as he dive bombed her again, snapping his wings back and they folded seamlessly down his back.
"Kagizume (Claw)!" Salamander shot towards the ground faster as a jet of flames erupted from his feet, sending him slamming into Scarlet as his body ignited in flames, causing what amounted to a volcanic eruption of pure flames to consume them both.
With a grunt, Erza kicked Salamander away as she staggered to her and stumbled out of the inferno around her, the Fire Mage catching himself in the air with his wings and chuckling as he saw Scarlet stagger as she exited the inferno, clearly taking more damage than she thought as she almost collapsed to the floor if she hadn't caught herself. Simply gripping her blades tighter because of such a thing, Erza was a red topped black blur as she unfurled the wings of her armor to charge Salamander. The Fire Mage was ready for her it seemed as he was gone from where he had caught himself after being kicked by Erza, chuckling as he covered himself in his wings and broke through the windows in front of him, his laughter growing when Erza followed him seconds later, a blind fury in her eyes at his laughter.
'Salamander...' Erza quickly reigned in her anger, instead focusing all of her attention on catching up with Salamander, putting more of her Magic Power into the wings of the Black Wing Armor. It didn't seem to help through, he kept a nearly constant lead on her it seemed, something the S-Class Mage simply couldn't close. 'How is he staying ahead of me?'
Erza pushed herself harder, a plan quickly coming to mind as she stopped, throwing her wings out to the full length and stopping as she instead held her hands out in front of her, her swords pressed together in both her hands.
"Requip."
In a flash of light that blinded Salamander as he turned around, a spear was suddenly thrown towards Salamander, something that bounced harmlessly off of his scales and something that made Erza's eyes widen in shock before a flash of light covered the spear and it vanished as a pair of axes appeared in her hand, the shafts emblazoned with the same cross as the ones adorning her armor on either side of the blades. Even as she charged forward, clashing with Salamander as his arms were engulfed in flames, Erza's mind wandered.
'It doesn't make sense.' Erza dodged a wild claw swipe from Salamander before doing her best to remove his arm with one of her axes as the other aimed for his wings. 'That was far from my strongest spear but it wasn't weak by any means, I cut him with a sword about just as powerful before. What could have done something like that?' Salamander's wings hit his back with an audible smack as he dropped down in the air, a mere moment before he would have had to choose between an arm and a wing. 'How could it not have pierced him and, as impossible as it seems, just bounce off his scales?' Salamander took in a deep break before unleashing a stream of flames at the higher Erza, the S-Class Mage easily dodging it with a single flap of her wings, shooting backwards as Salamander shot forward, erupting from the flames he had just unleashed and charging Erza, a majority of the flames quickly wrapping around itself into a sphere in each hand as he threw his arms back. 'How could he do it?'
"Koen (Brilliant Flame)!" Salamander threw his arms forward, slamming the spheres together as he came to a sudden stop. The flames didn't fire off immediately through, they simply stayed in front of Salamander before he ripped his hands apart, the flames ripping apart and shooting forward in what amounted to a storm of fireballs coming towards Erza.
"Requip!" Erza called out as the air around her was filled with light before a rain of swords intercepted the fireballs, explosions of flames following each collision as Erza threw herself higher into the air, hoping to avoid the potential smokescreen the attack could provide even as she spotted each of her swords racing to the ground, the fireballs doing little damage to them.
'So it was a smokescreen then, it had to have been one if my swords, all pretty weak compared to even my standard one, are still around after intercepting them.' Erza looked around, searching for a suddenly absent Salamander, the Fire Mage must have planned it to be a smokescreen and expected Erza to counter it. 'Now, what did he want it for?'
Elsewhere, far below Erza and behind the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Salamander collapsed onto his back, panting for breath as he rested for just a moment from the S-Class Mage he now found himself fighting despite his best efforts towards avoiding such a thing. Now, finding himself struggling to stay in his Dragon Soul Take Over the more time he spent battling Scarlet, the more time he felt he didn't have concerning getting Wendy. He needed to finish this fight quickly and before anything else could go wrong. He either needed to get Marvell or simply run and try again another time, perhaps go after Phantom Lord's undoubtedly wounded Iron Dragon Slayer? No, that would destroy his plans to teach that Second Generation one a lesson in respect and for that he needed Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer Magic, something that would help him take down both him and later the Iron Dragon Slayer as well, both a bit too much for him at the moment with their Magic a bit too hard to overcome without something extra on his side.
'I need to deal with this now or else I'll never get to Marvell in time, it looks like I'm going to have to end this quickly with one move but what? Ah! That could work. Hopefully it either kills her or I can just escape in the fallout.' Salamander, having come to a decision, rose off of his back and pushed himself to his feet. With a powerful flap of his wings he shot into the air, dodging Scarlet's axes as she threw them before a broadsword was now gripped in her hands as she shot down towards him, intending to skewer him on the large blade nearly as long as she was tall and about her size as well. 'Only one shot or I'm done for.'
"Tekken (Iron Fist)!" Salamander slammed his blazing fist into the steel of the blade, unleashing an inferno before the sword disappeared and Scarlet once again held the pair of swords she originally attacked him with after changing into the armor. Attacking him with several rapid attack proved futile through, Salamander managed to avoid any serious wounds from her attack before he threw himself back with a flap of his wings as flames ignited across his body before her shot into the air, Erza letting out a grunt of annoyance as she followed him with several powerful flaps of the Black Wing Armor's wings. She quickly caught up with him and reached up to grab his foot and pull him down onto her sword if Salamander hadn't twisted around in midair, the moment before she grabbed him, as the blazing fire around him grew into an inferno of flames.
"Karyu no Kenkaku (Fire Dragon's Sword Horn)!" Salamander slammed into Erza, the S-Class Mage trying to hold back her scream but failing as she was engulfed in an inferno as Salamander slammed into her as she instinctively threw her arms up, the fires spinning around him much like a drill would, drilling into her armor with ease.
They spiraled down towards the top of the guild hall, actually slamming through the durable roof and plowing through level after level of the building, Salamander driving Erza through the building as he added more and more power to the flames engulfing him, strengthening them more and more as he did his best to bring down the S-Class Mage with what would be the last attack of his battle with her.
At the ground level, in front of the gathered guild, the two finally stopped as they landed in the crater caused by Salamander's earlier attack, a explosion of flames engulfing them as Salamander let his control over the flames go and let them consume both himself and Scarlet. The out of control flames quickly burned in an inferno to hot to approach but out of the raging flames, Salamander stumbled out, his scales like the glowing embers marking a recent fire covering his skin as he looked down at the blood pooling at his feet on the floor, due to the fact that Erza had put both of her swords through his stomach when he hit her, actually breaking the blades but he had repaid her in earnest by mostly destroying her Black Wing Armor from his attack.
A moment later, Erza followed after him, even as Salamander ripped the blades out of his stomach, flames engulfing him moments later. A light engulfed Scarlet and a fresh set of her standard armor appeared, Scarlet glaring at Salamander as she struggled to walk towards him. As she did so, the remnants of the purple fire that had engulfed her the moment she had fallen to the first floor of the guild disappeared, the Mage responsible collapsing back onto his back, his Magic Power now almost entirely gone but glad he could use it to protect part of his family.
"Surrender and I might consider letting the Magic Council imprison you." Erza's words were met with a mirthless laugh from Salamander before he doubled over, screaming as Makarov pulled his extended arm away from his back, a golden Fairy Tail mark on it glowing as the Dark Mage fell to his knees as a shocked Erza turned to Makarov.
"Master...I-"
"No you didn't." Makarov interrupted Erza, looking down at Salamander as he curled into himself, his screams ending as the golden Fairy Tail mark on his back stopped glowing just as he returned to normal. "We had no idea he had access to Take-Over Magic, he could have seriously injured you if we weren't careful."
"The old man has a point Scarlet." Laxus walked up to Erza, pushing his headphones down to his neck as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "And, besides, what's a loser like Salamander going to do to someone as powerful as us, well it would really be me but you get my point right?"
"But he needs to be punished." Erza looked towards Makarov, the leader of Fairy Tail slowly shaking his head as he snapped his fingers, the golden mark disappearing and Salamander was consumed by flames a moment later, his clothing returning. His dark red coat looking slightly damage, along with his black sleeveless shirt, and somewhat baggy black pants.
"I...I...I..." Salamander stared ahead, his eyes wide but unfocused as he rocked on his side, struggling to keep himself together it seemed as he did his best to keep himself from screaming out in pain at the burning agony he was experiencing even with the mark gone. His Magic had not reacted well to the mark and even now painful aftershocks rocked his body.
"Are you ready to leave yet child?" Makarov looked down at Salamander, the Dark Mage not answering him, instead he remained on the ground, unable to process the fact that he had lost in the end, everything he had done was for nothing if he was so easily defeated by Fairy Tail's pathetic Master.
"So, this was Salamander?" Alzack, one of Fairy Tail's sharpshooters, looked at the Dark Mage, collapsed on the floor after just a single spell from Master Makarov. He was...somewhat pathetic to them as it seemed that he was seemingly all talk, nothing more. "It's kid of disappointing to be honest."
"Can you really blame him for it through?" Bisca, Fairy Tail's other sharpshooter and his wife, asked him. "He managed to take down Macao and Wakabe, pretty impressive even if they're drugged."
"Good point." Alzack seemed to consent to her point, not speaking any more as Salamander seemed to snap out of whatever state he was in, freezing in place as he let out a low growl.
"I failed." Salamander whispered, his anger rapidly growing as he rolled over onto his back, ignoring the Fairy Tail Mages suddenly tensed and alert all around him. "I failed. I thought I had the perfect chance, a Guild War between the two strongest Guilds in Fiore and I failed."
"Damn, those two are probably going to be anger at me for wasting all their effort and now I've got to deal with her too?"
Salamander moved his arm, yet again ignoring the people around him, and brought out a necklace he wore, a single crystal at the end of it, the crystal clear and colorless as Salamander let out a chuckle.
"She is going to be so pissed at me."
Flames consumed his body seconds later but they weren't his own, they were a dark blue that seemed to actually burn away his body, leaving absolutely nothing behind. Yet, even as this happened, Salamander had his eyes on Wendy, simply looking at her as the blue flames eventually consumed everything but his head.
"We're not finished yet Marvell, I will get what I want from you, believe that."
With those parting words, a terrified Wendy in his wake, Salamander vanished from sight, gone from Fairy Tail.
At least for now.
'Salamander, I feel this isn't the last we'll see of you. For your sake, I pray you don't anger my children, it will only end badly for someone of your caliber. I don't believe your father would want to see you dead in this pursuit of yours.'
AN: Well, how was it? Good? Bad? Needs work? Whatever you've got to say, say it.
Peace.
