So this is my first official fanfiction. I'm a big Fairy Tail fan and this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I don't have a beta reader, so I apologize up front for any spelling or grammar errors that snuck past my proofreading. This first chapter is set up for the real meat of the story. I hope you enjoy it and please leave me a review if you have any advice or merely a kind word to say. Hell thanks for just taking the time to read my first chapter.
A note, I've only watched the anime for Fairy Tail and I'm a dub only watcher (blasphemy I know). There won't be any references to nakama or honorifics, about the only thing that has surivived that transition is Juvia's third person speech pattern which I found interesting enough to use.
For reference this story takes place after the Grand Magic Games.
- TheSilverDragoon94
"Hurry up guys! They're getting away!" Natsu yelled as he ran full force up the hill, a feral grin on his face as his legs pumped ferociously, his fellow guildmates lagging behind him.
"We are hurrying flamer!" Gray screamed back, "We're literally five feet behind you!"
"Well move faster snowman!" Natus yelled back as he crested the hill, the late summer breeze rippled through his hair and vest, as he took the briefest of moments to fixate on his targets. There down below, fifty feet ahead, were five figures beating a hasty retreat across a grassy field towards the Kannegh Forest, probably hoping to lose the Fairy Tail members in the ancient, thick forest.
Natsu's focus drifted as he saw the familiar winged shadow of Happy fly over him, the little blue Exceed smiling down at him. Behind him, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, and Carla, the regular members of his team were just about to reach his position, along with a few other Fairy Tail members who had been brought along for the job.
They had been hired by the Magic Council to hunt down a Xovier, Xenton, Xylophone? Natsu couldn't remember the man's name, but he was some dark wizard and a nasty one to boot. He had hurt a lot of people in the past and he ran a nameless dark guild that was researching forbidden magic. The reward for his capture was unbelievably high, eight million Jewels to be exact. But he wasn't a pushover apparently and his hideout in the Kannegh Hills was well warded. So Erza had brought Levy along for help in disabling any magic traps and barriers, along with asking Gajeel and Juvia to tag along for some extra muscle. Natsu and Gray had protested on the last two respectively, but Natsu wouldn't lie, they had come in handy clearing out the hideout.
"Happy, pick me up! Let's get these clowns!"
"Aye sir!" Happy replied as he swooped down and picked up his lifelong friend and surrogate father.
"Natsu! Stick with the group! It's to dangerous to take these ones on our own alone!" Erza called out, trying to reign in her impulsive teammate, but it fell on deaf ears. Natsu and Happy were already airborne and picking up speed, about to dive bomb the dark wizards below.
I swear if we don't all die today, I'm going to beat some discipline into him, Erza thought irritably as they started running downhill.
"He sure is extra eager today, isn't he," Lucy panted out next to Erza, "I haven't seen him this hyper since the Grand Magic Games!"
"It's goddamned annoying," Gray replied back as they tried to their best to reach the dark wizards up ahead before the Dragon Slayer could dive bomb into them on his own, "These guys aren't slouches. They're strong and they fight smart. As strong as he thinks he is, there's five against one there."
Lucy was about to agree with him before they all heard the tell-tale yell of Natsu's catch phrase and a cloud of dust appeared up ahead. A collective groan went up from all of the Team Natsu members as they double-timed it.
Couldn't he just stick to the plan for once! Lucy cried to herself internally.
"I'm all fired up now!" came the loud battle cry of Fairy Tail's Fire Dragon Slayer as he dropped from the sky in front of the dark wizards, before letting off a Fire Dragon's Roar directly into their center. Apparently expecting this, Natus snarled as they five black-clad dark mages either flipped out of the way or in the case of the blond man in the center, just summoned a magical barrier and ran through his flame like it was nothing. Natsu immediately launched himself at the blond mage, throwing a punch straight towards his face, only for the evil wizard to flow like water around it, before holding out his hand and pressing it to Natsu's side.
"Knock-Back Effect", was all the man whispered before a wave of pure white energy exploded out of his palm, blowing Natsu into the air. He landed with a hard thud onto his back, his teeth rattling from the impact.
"Natsu! Are you okay!?" Happy called out from above, worry heavy in his voice.
"Yeah I'm fine!" Natsu called back as he got up, grunting as the pain in his back and head started to fade, "But this asshole ain't going to be for much longer!"
By this time the blond man had stopped running as a whip of pure pressurized water slammed into the ground in front of him, throwing up clumps of dirt and grass, giving him pause. Natsu's eyes scanned back as he caught the familiar sight of Juvia off to the right of the dark mage, determination on her pale face as she readied another Water Cane. The sound of more magical attacks going off told him his guildmates had caught up and engaged the other dark mages, but Natsu was focused on the leader.
"Natsu, Juvia will keep him from fleeing, Natsu needs to finish him!" Juvia called out as another Water Cane struck the earth where the dark mage had been but a second before, the man leaping backwards with unnatural speed, his head darting from the water mage back to Natsu as he channeled magic to his hands.
"Thanks Juvia, I owe you one!" Natsu replied back with a grin as flames engulfed his fists and he launched himself towards the man. Much to Natsu's growing annoyance, the blond man dodged both of his attacks before letting of another of those pure white blasts. Natsu snarled as he weaved between the blasts, jumping and launching himself into a fiery kick towards the man before swearing as the man dashed forward, his magic propelling him faster than even Natsu's draconic eyesight could follow. With a snarl, Natsu followed, fully intent on beating the man senseless for dragging out this chase.
All around him Team Natsu was engaged. Erza and Gray were corralling two of the other dark mages, with Gray's ice walls penning them in like rats as Erza closed the distance, blades at the ready in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. A series of flashy explosions told Natsu that Lucy had brought Loki out, while Gajeel already had one mage down and was working on another. That made Natsu's blood boil to see one of his archrivals besting him already and he let off a Fire Dragon's Roar, hoping to singe the blond man's back. The dark mage flipped over the fiery blast as it scorched the earth where he had previously stood, the magical flames trying to lick at his face and feet, before turning back to Natsu and sending off three pale white balls of energy from his outstretched hand. Natsu managed to dodge two of them but the last one blew him off of his feet.
Dammit, I knew they said this guy was good, but I can't even land a hit on this asshole, Natsu thought as he slammed his fit into the earth, Time to get serious.
"Alright Xylophone or whatever your stupid name is, I'm done playing around. I'm all fired up!" Natsu screamed as he charged at the man, who looked more resigned than anything.
"His name's Xavier dumbass! Gods man did you even pay attention during the Council meeting?!" Gajeel yelled over as an Iron Dragon Club finished off his last opponent, Levy's Solid Script magic immediately binding him as Wendy came to tend to the defeated and unconscious mage's wounds.
Natsu didn't even register Gajeel's words as he met Xavier, throwing punch after flame-coated punch, but not a single one landed on the man, as the dark mage flowed around Natsu's fists like liquid. Natsu growled, a deep sound that welled up from his core, as Xavier used his strange magic to dash out of Natsu's reach, dodging an attempted clubbing from Gajeel in the process, looking to head back the way he had originally fled from before running straight into a Solid Script Barrier. Natsu grinned, as the dark mage turned back, seeing that his allies had been dispatched by the other Fairy Tail members.
"Xavier Darkathus!" Erza yelled with authority as she flew down in front of Natsu and Gajeel, "By order of the Magic Council, I am placing you under arrest for your crimes of researching into and performing forbidden magic! I am giving you one chance to come peacefully! If you refuse, we will take you in by force!"
"Titania, I must say I'm not surprised that the Council sent its favorite attack dogs after me but Fairy Tail has exceeded my expectations. You truly deserve your reputations," Xavier said with a surprising warmth to his voice, though his face looked tired, sweat beading on his forehead, "But I'll have to respectfully refuse your offer. I am innocent of any wrongdoing, the Council's charges against me are false. I will not be a casualty of injustice because those on the Council wish to silence any threat to their power."
"Yeah, I'm sure you're innocent buddy, that's what they all say," Gray sneered contemplatively, ice already forming in his hands, "And I'm sure all those people you've hurt just had unfortunate accidents. Guys like you make me sick."
"I've hurt no one and neither have the men and women under my command. It's another lie that the Council added to my wanted poster, another charge to lay on me. I am not a monster and I have harmed no one," Xavier said with steel in his voice.
"Oh, so you're saying that the Council just faked the photos of the villages you destroyed, the people you've slaughtered? I don't think so," Lucy said as she pointed an accusing finger at the man, "I don't buy it."
"What if he's telling the truth though?" Wendy piped up, not liking the idea of them attacking a potentially innocent man, "Maybe we should hear him out? There's two sides to every story after all."
"Don't be ridiculous child! This man is cornered, and he knows it. He's just trying to save his own skin," Carla spoke haughtily while hovering just above Wendy, "If he was truly innocent he would come with us to make his case to the Council."
"Not to mention he wouldn't have had his goons attack us either," Lucy replied, crossing her arms underneath her chest, "Not exactly a good indicator of you being the good guy when your throwing the first punch.
"Oh what the hell are we waiting for!" Natsu interjected, "Just let me kick this guy's ass!"
"I guess that makes sense," Wendy agreed, doubt still in her voice. Xavier's words came across with such sincerity to her, but she got ready all the same, trusting her teammates knew best. Xavier sighed, exhaustion heavy in his features as he wiped away the sweat on his forehead.
"I see your minds are already set on my innocence. Very well. I will not go quietly towards my doom Fairy Tail. Do your worst," Xavier said with resignation, before launching two of his knock-back spells, one heading toward Natsu and Gajeel, the other toward Erza. Erza sliced the pale explosive ball in half, while the two Dragon Slayers darted forward as Xavier put his hands to the ground and his whole body glowed white for the briefest of movements before a large white shockwave shot all from his location with the speed of a run-away train. Natsu barely had time to jump before he sped past him, caching Gajeel as he was mid-jump, exploding in an effect similar to his other attacks, sending the Iron Dragon Slayer flying. Cries of distress from behind made Natsu turn his head to see Wendy, Levy, Carla, Gray, and Lucy also unable to get over the wave quick enough, small explosion spewing the mages all over the blasted grassland. Only Erza, who had remained airborne and Juvia, who had managed to time her leap just right, managed to avoid the blast.
"Gray, my darling are you okay?!" Juvia screamed out in distress as Gray landed face-first into the dirt, groaning as he picked himself up, spiting out dust and rocks.
"Yeah, just peachy, help out instead of worrying about me!" he yelled back as he got up and made an Ice Spear, ready to launch it as soon as he got a clear opening.
"You'll pay for that!" Erza shouted as she launched volleys of swords at Xavier while Natsu began spitting out Fire Dragon's Roars at the renegade wizard, but the man's speed was enough to rival Jellal's or Jet's. In short order, he had outpaced Natsu, deftly twisting and spinning to avoid being impaled on one of Erza's swords, before jumping over a just now recovering Gajeel, planting a palm on him and forcing the Iron Dragon Slayer back to the ground with another blast.
"Juvia, lock him down!" Erza shouted as she descended to the ground, reequipping into her Flight Armor, hoping to use the skimpy armor's speed increase to catch up to her target.
"Right, Juvia is on it! Water Lock!" Juvia screamed, hoping that she had judged Xavier's movements enough to capture him in her spell. The world seemed to slow to a crawl to her as the man twisted out of the way of another one of Natsu's fiery blasts before she summoned the water directly to the left of him. She cheered when Xavier ran smack into the water ball as he dodged another flame blast, slowing down enough for a now recovered Gray to hurl his Ice Spear into the aqua orb, freezing it solid.
"Hey I think we got him!" Lucy said as she sent Loki back to the Celestial Spirit realm, "Way to go Juvia and Gray!" Juvia's cheeks turned a light pink color as Grey nodded.
"That was pretty awesome Juvia, I wasn't sure if we ever could pin that guy down," Gray complimented his teammate, before immediately regretting it as the blue haired water mage let out a high-pitched squeal and all but tackled him, nuzzling her face into his bare chest.
"Oh my beloved Gray, I have pleased you! This is an excellent day! An amazing day!"
"Yeah, yeah it's great. Can you get off of me?" Gray said, voice laden with irritation as he pushed his stalker off of him. Juvia's face fell at that and she quietly stepped away from her crush, looking down at the ground.
"What the hell!? It's over already?!" Natsu yelled as Happy came down and landed on his head, "I wanted to kick his ass!"
"So did I," Gajeel coughed as he got up form the ground, a bit winded from Xavier's attack.
"It doesn't matter, he's caught," Erza said with a bit of pride in her team as she walked up to the frozen orb, the dark mage frozen in he center, still in mid-run, "Levy, get a Script Lock on this, just in case. Then we'll pack these criminals up and collect our reward form the Council.
"On it!" Levy said as she ran up to the iced over ball, "I say we all go out and celebrate after this! Hit up some restaurant in the capital, maybe go dancing and to karaoke!"
"Oh no to that last one! I don't want to hear metalhead over screeching like a dumb parrot while I'm trying to enjoy a good meal!" Natsu said as he pointed a finger accusingly at Gajeel, much to the anger of the Iron Dragon Slayer and the not-so-silent agreement of most of the group.
"You wanna go Salamander?! I'll kick your ass up and down this field numbnuts!" Gajeel screamed back, a vein popping out of his head. The other Fairy Tail members let out a collective groan, tired enough from the actual fight to deal with another pointless spat, as Natsu just grinned and beckoned Gajeel forward.
"Come get me then lugnut!"
Before Gajeel could even take a step forward, there was a cry from Levy as Xavier's frozen prison turned bright white, brighter than the sun, causing the assembled wizards to shield their eyes, before the ice-covered Water Lock exploded.
Natsu let out a cry of surprise as he was blown off his feet before shielding his face as shards of ice flew by at a dangerous speed, yelping out in pain as several embedded themselves in his arms and his torso. Happy tried in vain to hold on to his hair, but the force was to much and the little blue Exceed shrieked as he was blown away from Natsu, crashing into Gajeel's long ebony hair and holding on for dear life.
"Damn that hurts," Natsu groaned as he lowered his arms to survey the damage, grimly noting that there were trickles of blood coming out from where the shards at pierced him. The air was filled with a thick mist, but he could pick out two more forms off to his right that were starting to get up. They looked female and Natsu's nose picked up a familiar scent, one mixed with blood.
'Lucy!" he got up, wincing as he realized that a shard had gone right through his right calve, but gritted his teeth and blocked it out, running over to Lucy's prone form. The blonde was on her side facing away from Natsu, but he could a large piece of ice stuck into her side, blood starting to leak down and pool around her. Feeling his blood go cold, Natsu turned her face towards him, to be met with tear-streaked brown eyes.
"Natsu, get Wendy. Please," came Lucy's plea, her voice soft and weak as she reached a hand out and put it on Natsu's wrist. Natsu felt tears well up in his eyes, but blinked them away.
"Hold on Luce! You're going to be okay!" Natsu said loudly, more panic then he would have liked present in his voice, before yelling as loud as he could, "Wendy! Lucy's hurt real bad! We need help over here!"
Cries of pain went up and Natsu saw that Gray and Erza were also living pincushions, though nowhere near as bad as Lucy. Gajeel had also taken quite a few icicles, though he and Happy seemed okay as they rushed past him, moving like a cheetah. Natsu saw why. Levy, who had been right at the orb, had received the worst of it, more ice shards than flesh and she wasn't moving. Natsu screamed out for Wendy again, gripping Lucy's hand as she started to drift in and out of consciousness.
"Status report!" Erza called out, using her sword to help herself up, "Whose injured?"
"Lucy's hurt!"
"Levy's not breathing!"
"Juvia is fine! Where is Wendy?"
"I'm okay!" came Wendy's reply, "But Carla's hurt! And I can't see anybody through the mist!"
"Wait! There in the center!" came Gray's voice, "Is that?"
Natsu looked in the center as the mist started to dissipate and he felt angry flames rising up inside of him as he looked to Xavier standing in the center where his prison had formerly been. He was soaking wet, staring at his hands before turning and surveying the carnage before his gaze fell on Juvia.
"You there, water mage," he said calmly, as Juvia's eyes widened, "I must say not many could have caught me like you did. Not without sensory enhancing magic. Which I don't sense from you. That is very interesting, it seems like there is more to you than appears."
"Ju-Juvia doesn't know what you're talking about!" Juvia stammered out as she readied a Water Slicer, worried as she started to realize the man didn't have a scratch on him. Xavier ignored her, turning to Erza instead.
"That was an impressive attempt Titania, but like I told you before, I'm not going to the Council. I do apologize for the harm I've caused you," his gaze went to Levy and Lucy, "If you end this engagement I will do my best to heal your wounded, but I will be taking my subordinates and I will be walking free. That is my final offer Titania. Choose wisely."
"Erza don't listen to him," Gray warned as he got into a fighting stance, "He's a dark wizard. The second we stand down, we're done. Get Wendy to heal Levy and Lucy and let's finish this."
"Shut up Gray!" Gajeel snapped back, "If he can heal, let him. Levy's not going to last much longer!"
"And you believe he's going to keep that promise? Fat chance of that!" Gray said as he launched a spear at Xavier, who shot a knock-back spell at it, destroying it.
"Wendy, help Levy and Lucy! Everyone else, bring him down!" Erza screamed as she charged at Xavier.
"Fucking hell," Gajeel sighed before joining them.
Natsu looked down at Lucy, who had slipped into unconsciousness, squeezing her hand as he saw Wendy rushing over to Levy, with a wounded Carla holding on to her back.
"I'll be right back Luce. Just hang on till Wendy gets over here."
Natsu set her hand down before walking slowly over to the growing battle at the center, watching as Erza and Gajeel went berserk in the melee, a flurry of limbs and blades, while Gray and Juvia hung back, taking potshots when opportunities presented themselves. Xavier was currently dodging or blocking every attack, but Natsu could tell that his movements were getting slower, more sluggish. He was getting worn down. Time to finish this.
Letting out a primal roar, Natsu charged directly in to the melee and caught Xavier off-guard, throwing all of his power into a punch directly to the man's face. He was launched backwards into the air, where three Water Slicers hit him in perfect unison, before an Iron Dragon Club slammed into the man's back. Xavier let out a cry of anguish as he fell back down to the earth, where Natsu and Gajeel, overflowing with rage pounced on him immediately. Natsu could feel bones cracking beneath him and it made him happy. This man needed to pay for what he did to Lucy.
"Natsu! Gajeel! That's enough!" Erza's voice startled them both long enough for her to grab them and pull them away from the bleeding and broken dark mage, "The Council wanted him alive. Now get him bound and get him ready to be handed off to the Rune Knights. Wendy, how's Levy and Lucy doing?"
"Okay, I stopped the bleeding and got the shards out of both, but I'm really tired. I might lie down for a bit," came Wendy's exhausted reply. Erza didn't respond, instead staring into Xavier's pale blue eyes, as the man looked up at her while Natsu and Gajeel were busy holding him down while Juvia brought over some rope.
"I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life Xavier Darkathus. You were a worthy opponent, but you are finished. Fairy Tail's light will always triumph over the darkness," Erza said passionately as she ripped out a tiny ice shard still stuck in her arm, sword raised in the air, before lowering it as Xavier started to laugh, wriggling like a worm beneath Natsu and Gajeel's weight as he chuckled.
"I like the speech, I really do," Xavier said in between bouts of laughter as the members of Fairy Tail glared at him, "I have a soft spot for heroic speeches, the passion, the imagery, the self-righteous conviction. It's very stirring to the spirits and you are right. I am finished. But so are you."
Xavier's eyes glowed an intense blue and pure white aura surrounded him as the sky above turned form blue to black almost instantaneously, thunder cracking like cannon blasts. Juvia yelped as a blast of lightning hit the ground a few feet away from her.
"What's happening?" Gray yelled out as the ground started to shake as Erza, realizing what was about to happen, screamed to Natsu and Gajeel.
"Knock him out now!"
"Dimensional Rift."
A rift tore itself open in the sky, swirling vortex of grey and violet, a sound like the chorus of the dammed howling from it, filling the air with unearthly shrieking. Natsu let go of Xavier as the man started to float upwards and them gravity reversed itself for Natsu too.
"Shit!" he yelled as he tried to grab on to the grass, to no avail.
"Natsu! I can't fly away!" Happy screamed as he flapped his wings as hard as he could
"Happy! Hold on little buddy!" Natsu yelled as he tried his best to grab the little Exceed but the pull from the rift was too strong. Happy's little paws just barely missed Natsu's hands before being sucked up into the rift, screaming Natsu's name. Natsu himself wasn't far behind Happy and neither were his guildmates. Xavier had already disappeared and the other Fairy Tail mages were already entering the rift, screaming as they were swallowed up. Natsu heard his name being called when he was just about to enter the rift, a desperate cry for help.
"Natsu!"
Lucy's voice was the last thing he heard before he entered the howling vortex and the world became a thrashing mess of grey, violet, and the echoes of his friends' screams.