X784
"Natsu, get up. We're in Hargeon." A blue cat with a sack on it's back called out.
Natsu was close to puking at any moment.
"I'll never ride one of those death traps again." Natsu muttered.
"Good luck with that." A black-haired boy wearing a called out. "Don't you know trains are a vital part of everyday life."
"My name is Ash Ketchum, by the way." Ash introduced himself.
"I'm Happy and my friend lying on the floor is Natsu." Happy added. "Anyway, if the information we have is valid, we can locate Salamander somewhere in this town."
(Elsewhere in Hargeon)
A blonde-haired girl strolled through a market.
"Really? This is the only magic shop in Hargeon?" She asked.
"Yeah, most of this town's occupants are fisherman." The shop owner answered. "This shop is only for traveling mages to get anything they need."
"That's a disappointment." She sighed.
"Don't lose hope." The owner said. "There are a few things you might be interested in."
He shuffled around behind the counter and pulled something out. "This color magic is very popular with the ladies." As a demonstration, his outfit changed from yellow to purple.
"I already own that." The girl admitted. "What I'm really after are powerful gate keys."
"Gate Keys, huh? That's a rare request."
The girl spent some time and eventually spotted some gate keys. "May I have one of your gate keys."
"A Celestial Wizard? They don't pass through here often?"
"What's it cost?"
"This can be purchased for 20,000 jewel."
"What?"
"Again, it's 20,000 jewel."
She was so desperate, she got on the ground in a seductive manner.
"What's the actual price." She winked at the shop owner.
A few minutes later, she stormed off in a huff, holding the silver gate key.
"Are my looks really not worth anything." She forced herself to grin. "So much for female charm."
She then heard a crowd of fan-girls and looked down.
(Elsewhere)
Ash, Happy and Natsu got off the train.
"Aw man, I wound up riding the train twice." Natsu complained.
"Well, you should've gotten off the first time it stopped Natsu." Ash reminded him.
Natsu mumbled something about food.
"It's too bad we don't have money to buy any food." Happy said.
"Hey, Happy? The Salamander were looking for has got to be Igneel, right?"
"Aye. It has to be, because the only fire dragon I've heard of is Igneel." Happy answered.
"Just one issue with that opinion." Ash told them. "Do you seriously expect a dragon to be in the middle of a populated town."
Up ahead was the same crowd of girls.
"Salamander, you're so dreamy!" One shouted.
"Let's see if that's really him." Ash said.
The three ran towards the crowd.
A blue-haired man showed off for the women in front of him.
'What's making my heart beat so fast.' The blonde thought. 'What's gotten into me all of a sudden.'
"You ladies are all so sweet." Salamander said.
"He looked at me." The blonde gasped. Her heart was close to beating out of her chest. 'Is it cause he's a famous wizard. Is that why my heart is out of control.'
She passed by two other girls, just as Natsu began calling out, "Igneel, it's me."
The heart's in the blonde's eyes shattered as a result.
"I'm sorry, and you are?" Natsu asked.
"Who am I, I'm Salamander. I'm sure you've heard stories about me." While he was speaking, Ash, Natsu and Happy exited the crowd.
Two girls followed and began beating Natsu senseless.
"Leave him alone." Ash declared as a light yellow magic seal formed in front of him. "Light Dragon Flash."
Both girls were blinded and unable to continue their attack.
"Enough, ladies. I'm sure he didn't mean to offend anyone." Salamander replied.
The women were overjoyed with his response.
The blonde angrily glared at Salamander, who wrote on a notepad.
"Here's a autograph. Boast to your friends."
"Pass." Natsu turned him off, angering the women once again.
"I told you a dragon wouldn't show up in the middle of town, but you didn't listen." Ash scolded.
"Well, I must be going ladies, there are other matters for me to attend to." Salamander said, causing their hearts to break.
"You're already leaving." They said in unison.
Salamander snapped his finger and a column of fire carried him away. "I'll see you women at the party on my yacht later."
"Who the heck was that guy?" Natsu asked.
"He's a real creep." The blonde said.
"Something's off about him." Ash added.
"Thanks for your help." The blonde extended a hand up.
(Restaurant)
"My name's Lucy, it's nice to meet you."
Ash was taking his time with his food.
Natsu, on the other hand was scarfing it down like no tomorrow.
"Oh, uh Ash, Natsu and Happy, was it?" Lucy asked.
"Thanks. Uh, you can slow down we're not in a rush."
"Besides, you keep eating that fast you're gonna choke." Ash added, still slowly eating his food. "From what we witnessed with the crowd, Salamander probably had those women under a spell."
"Yeah, they were under a Charm Spell, which has been outlawed by the Magic Council. He went through a lot of trouble to get his hands on it." Lucy agreed with Ash's explanation.
"I totally fell victim to it, but thanks to the three of you barging when you did I was set free. I really can't thank you guys enough."
Happy and Natsu were still stuffing their faces, so Ash spoke for them. "It was no issue, Lucy."
"I know I don't look like it, but I'm a wizard as well."
"Is that right." Ash replied.
"Yeah, but I haven't joined a guild. To be considered a official wizard, you have to do that." Lucy explained.
"I also want to join a guild. After seven years of training, I feel like I'm ready for something new."
"Guilds are located all across the country, but the one I'm most eager to join is Fairy Tail. They're the most popular guild of all."
"You talk a lot." Happy said.
"Oh that's right, you guys came here looking for someone, didn't you?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, Igneel." Happy answered.
"I heard a rumor that Salamander was passing through. But he doesn't even look like a Salamander."
"No kidding, I doubt that poser can't even breathe fire like a real dragon."
"Uh, I don't understand, your friend Igneel looks like a dragon." Lucy sweat-dropped.
"He doesn't look like one, he is one." Natsu replied.
"Aye, Igneel's a real life fire dragon." Happy told her.
"Why would a fire dragon show up in the middle of town." Lucy screamed. "IT'S TOTALLY RIDICULOUS!"
"That's what I shared with them." Ash added.
Lucy soon left some money on the table. "Time for me to get going. Enjoy the rest of your lunch and maybe I'll see you around."
"She sure seemed nice. But you don't see a dragon all too often." Ash said.
He was in disbelief when Natsu and Happy got on the floor and started to bow to Lucy.
"Guys, seriously. We're in a restaurant." Ash said.
"Yeah, you're embarrassing me." Lucy agreed. "You helped me, so we're even, okay?"
"Well, I feel bad now. We weren't even trying to help her." Natsu whispered to Happy.
"We have to give her something." Happy added.
A light bulb went off in Natsu's idea. "This is for you." He handed Salamander's autograph to Lucy.
"NO WAY!" Lucy snapped.
(Magnolia Park)
Lucy sat on a bench, a magazine open on her lap.
"Oh my. Looks like the Fairy Tail guild is on the warpath once again. Demon Bandit clan wiped out with seven homes destroyed. Ha, talk about going overboard. Ah, the centerfold, Mirajane. She's so pretty. I wish I knew how to become a member. Do you have to apply or interview with them. I don't know, but I'm so going to join Fairy Tail. They're totally the coolest guild ever." Lucy squealed in delight.
"What was that? You want to join Fairy Tail." A voice asked. Salamander popped out of the bush he was hiding in.
"Salamander!?" Lucy shrieked.
"I've been looking all over for you. I am personally inviting you to the party on my boat this evening."
"That's not going to work. Your Charm Spell is useless on someone who's aware about it." Lucy pointed a finger at Salamander.
"As I expected. You were a wizard the moment I saw you." Salamander admitted. "No matter, the invitation still stands."
"Forget it, I'll be caught dead before going to any party you're hosting, creep." Lucy shot back.
"Creep." Salamander appeared insulted. "Why are you calling me that?"
"Your charm spell. Using it to make yourself popular."
"Don't be mad, my dear. It's all in good fun. I just wanted to feel like a celebrity at my own party. Can you blame me?"
"This just proves even famous wizards are big idiots." Lucy shrugged.
"Tell me, you wish to become a member of Fairy Tail, right?"
Lucy stood frozen.
"Do you know who Salamander is? One of Fairy Tail's wizards."
"Well, yeah. You're telling me you're him." Lucy said, pointing at Salamander. "You're that Salamander."
"Correct." Salamander nodded. "And if you want to join, I might be able to put in a good word for you back at the guild."
"I would love to go to your party tonight." Lucy said, love-struck.
"Wow, that was too simple." Salamander said.
"So, you really think you can get me into Fairy Tail? No kidding." Lucy asked.
"I don't see why not. But you better not tell anyone about the charm spell."
"I promise." Lucy accepted his condition.
"Good, see you tonight." Salamander snapped a finger. A red magic seal appeared to his left and he rocketed off.
"You got it, Mr. Salamander!" Lucy shouted towards him.
It then dawned on her. "He got me again, I can't believe I was charmed by him. But, I'm finally going to join Fairy Tail. I just need to keep quiet and play nice."
That evening Ash, Natsu and Happy stood in front of a stone fence overlooking Hargeon.
"That was quite a meal, eh Happy." Natsu sighed.
"Other than you stuffing yourself, yeah." Ash sweat-dropped.
"That's right, Ash. I heard you say you want to become a member of Fairy Tail." Natsu said.
"Yeah, I hope to become one of the greatest wizards Fiore has ever seen." He answered.
"Hey, look. You think that's the boat that Salamander guy's party is on."
Natsu covered his mouth with his hand. "I'm gonna hurl."
"Oh, come on. It's not like we're gonna aboard or anything." Happy brushed his complaint off. Something to the side caught his attention.
"Oh my gosh! That's Salamander's yacht, isn't it? I wish I could attend his party."
"Who's Salamander?" Another girl questioned her friend.
"Whoa, you've never heard of the guy. He's supposedly some big-shot Fairy Tail wizard."
Natsu's eyes narrowed at their revelation. "Fairy Tail."
"I can't help but feel he's using the Salamander title for something shady. Let's stop him." Ash declared. "No way this guy is a member of Fairy Tail."
"It's Lucy, right?" Salamander asked. "That's a lovely name."
"Yeah, thanks." Lucy replied.
"I'd like to toast your beauty." Salamander offered her a drink. Bubbles rose up into the air. "Now, open wide Lucy. Savor the taste of each flavorful drop as it enters your mouth."
"Creepy." Lucy exclaimed. 'I'm strong, I can get through this.'
Lucy swiped them off to the side.
"What do you think you're doing." She demanded. "I know what you're doing. You were trying to put me to sleep using magic."
"Very impressive, my dear." Salamander chuckled.
"Look, I don't want to give you the wrong idea. Yes, I really want to join Fairy Tail, but I won't date you for that to happen."
"You're quite a handful, aren't you?" Salamander asked.
A group of thugs entered the room, carrying all the other unconscious women.
"What's going on here?" Lucy asked.
"Welcome aboard my ship, and you be wise to behave yourself until we make it to Bosco." Salamander explained. "Don't make me angry."
"We're going to Bosco. You said you'd get me into Fairy Tail." Lucy shouted.
Salamander scoffed. "Forget it. That was just a excuse to get you onboard so we could make you one of our slaves."
"How could you?! You're going to kidnap all these women!"
"That's our Salamander alright." One thug said.
"We got a big haul this time." Another man added.
"Why, you!" Lucy growled and pulled out some keys, but Salamander used his magic to knock them out of her hands and placed them in his.
"These are Gate Keys." Salamander said. "So, you're a Celestial Wizard, huh? Only the contracted wizard can use these and they are of no use to me. Whoops." He threw the keys over the side of the yacht.
"You used magic to take advantage of others. You're the worst wizard alive."
Two figures crashed down from the yacht's roof.
"I knew something was rotten about you." Ash replied.
"Ash! Natsu!"
Her smile vanished when Natsu's motion sickness got the better of them.
"You are so lame!" Lucy shouted.
"Hey, what brings you here Lucy?" Happy asked from the hole in the roof.
"I was tricked on board, this guy told me I would get into Fairy Tail."
Her and the thug's attention was focused on something else.
"Wait, since when do you have wings?"
"I'll tell you later." Happy roped his tail around Lucy and flew off with her.
"Stop them! We can't have the Council finding out about this."
"Wait, what about Natsu and Ash?" Lucy asked, concerned.
"I can't carry more than one person."
"Prominence Whip!" Salamander sent several streams of fire at Happy and Lucy.
"Light Dragon Roar!" A yellow magic formed in front of Ash's chest and he pulled his head back, releasing a roar of light energy that stopped Salamander's attack.
"You're dealing with us." He informed Salamander.
"We got a problem, Lucy." Happy said. His wings vanished and the two plummeted towards the water.
(Back on the ship)
Several thugs were beating Natsu silly while Ash fought some more.
"Forget about them. Let's proceed to Bosco." Salamander ordered.
Natsu forced one thug's foot up.
"Fairy Tail guild. You're a member?" Natsu asked.
Lucy and Happy resurface. While swimming through the ocean, Lucy reclaimed her Gate Keys.
"Here we go. Open Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!" Lucy yelled, placing the key into the water and from it, a mermaid with long blue hair and a urn appeared.
Happy started drooling. "A fish."
"Not for you." Lucy replied. "It's a Celestial Wizard's power. Whenever I use these keys, I can summon spirits from the Celestial Spirit world. Listen Aquarius, I need you to get that ship out of the water." She instructed the spirit who ignored her.
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO COME FROM THE CELESTIAL SPIRIT WORLD TO HELP, NOT GIVE ME ATTITUDE!" Lucy snarled.
"I wouldn't make her any angrier, Lucy." Happy said in fear.
"Let's get something straight the next time you so much as think about dropping my key, you're dead." Aquarius said coldly.
"It won't happen again!" Lucy and Happy said in fear.
Using her urn, Aquarius sent a giant tidal wave to crash into the boat.
"Why is the sea so angry?!" Salamander panicked.
"Ah! Don't wash me away with it!?" Lucy shouted.
"What's the big deal? You think you try not to sweep me up with the ship." Lucy angrily said.
"Oh. That was a accident. I didn't mean to get the ship." Aquarius said.
"Wait, that means you were aiming for me?!" Lucy shouted.
"Don't call me for a while. I'm going on a week-long vacation with my boyfriend, and he's hot."
"Don't rub it in."
"I've got a idea, if the fish lady gives you any more trouble, you can call me to take care of her."
"I can't handle much more of this stupid cat."
"That hurt." Salamander said.
Salamander looked up and saw Ash and Natsu glaring down at him.
"Natsu! Ash!" Lucy yelled, running over to them.
"So you claim to be a member of the Fairy Tail guild?" Natsu glared.
"So what's it to you?" Salamander glared back. "Go get him, men." He ordered.
Natsu removed his robe. "Let me get a closer look at your face."
"Watch out!" Lucy shouted, concerned.
"Don't worry about him, I should've mentioned this earlier but he's a wizard too." Happy said, shocking her.
Punching the men to the side, Natsu glared at them. "My name is Natsu and I'm a Fairy Tail wizard! I've never seen you around the guild before!" He yelled, surprising everyone including Ash.
Natsu had a red symbol on his shoulder.
"You gotta be kidding me?!" Lucy shouted. "So, Natsu is a Fairy Tail wizard."
"T-that mark on his arm! This guy's the real deal, Bora!" One of Salamander's thugs said, fearfully.
"Salamander" or Bora jumped in fear after hearing that name. "Don't call me that, you fool."
"I know him, that's Bora the Prominence. Rumor has it, he was kicked out of the Titan Nose wizard guild a couple years ago for bad behavior."
"Sorry Ash, but this guy's mine. I have no idea what you're trying to do here buddy, and I don't care if you're a good guy, bad guy or what, I'm not going to let you dirty the Fairy Tail guild's name!" Natsu said, walking forward.
Bora laughed. "And what are you going to do about it? Stop me?! Prominence Typhoon!" Bora stretched his arms wide open to his sides. A magic seal appeared in front of his chest, and a spiraling column of fire is sent flying at Natsu.
"Natsu!" Ash gasped, shielding his face from the smoke.
"That's the way it goes. The bigger the talk, the weaker the man." Bora said, turning to walk away.
"Ugh, this is so gross! Are you sure you're really a fire wizard, cause those were the nastiest flames I ever tasted." Natsu said as he literally sucked the flames into his mouth.
Everyone's jaws dropped when they saw what Natsu just did. He then grinned. "Thanks for the meal, you poser."
"What's going on here!? Who is this kid?" One of Bora's thugs exclaimed.
"Fire magic doesn't work on Natsu." Happy said.
"I've never seen anything like that?" Lucy said.
"Now I've got a fire in my belly that's raging to get out." Natsu slams his fists together and a seal appears.
"Here goes! Fire Dragon Roar!" He yelled, shooting a powerful blast of fire from his mouth. There was a explosion and all of Bora's men were on the ground unconscious.
"Hey, Bora. I swear I've seen this guy before. The pink hair and the scaly looking scarf. There's no doubt about it. He's gotta be the real one."
"Salamander!?" Lucy gasped.
"I wasn't expecting that." Ash admitted.
"I hope you guys are paying attention! This is what a Fairy Tail wizard can do!" Natsu yelled, as flames covered his fists. "Here I come."
"Red Shower!" Bora quickly fired purple flames in the form of elongated circles at Natsu, but he avoided them with ease and kicked the impostor into town.
"So he eats fire and then attacks with it? But how does he do it, is it some kind of spell?" Lucy asked.
"He has Dragon lungs that allow him to breathe fire, dragon scales to help him dissolve the fire and dragon claws for attacking with fire. His brand of fire magic allows his body to take on all the qualities of a dragon. It's an ancient spell that's rarely used anymore." Happy explained.
"Seriously."
Happy nodded. "Yep. This particular magic was originally used to deal with dragons."
"Hell Prominence!" Bora fired a giant blast destroying lots of houses, but didn't damage Natsu.
"It's called Dragon Slayer magic. Igneel was the one that taught it to him." Happy said.
"So, Natsu possesses Dragon Slayer Magic as well." Ash stated.
"You're also a Dragon Slayer, Ash?" Happy asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, but not just any Dragon Slayer. I'm the Light Dragon Slayer." Ash proclaimed.
"RED SKULL!" Bora threw a giant sphere of fire at Natsu who swallowed it.
"Wow, that's quite a meal. Get ready, cause I'm roasting you like a smoked fish." Natsu grinned.
"What?!" Bora said, freaking out.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Flames surround his fist as he punched Bora, sending him flying. Ash and Lucy were stunned by that amazing power.
"Geez Natsu, everyone knows you smoke fish with smoke." Happy shrugged.
"He totally went overboard." Lucy said, looking at the damage to town.
Suddenly, they heard marching and saw the army coming towards them.
"Oh great." Ash groaned. Natsu grabbed him and Lucy.
"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" Natsu panicked, running as fast as he could.
"Hey, what the heck Natsu?!" Ash yelled, trying to be released.
"Where are you taking us?!" Lucy yells.
"Come on, you two said you want to join Fairy Tail, right?" He asked.
"Well let's go." Natsu smiled.
A smile formed on Lucy and Ash's faces.
"Okay." Lucy smiled.
"I'm ready." Ash also smiled.