So here's chapter two. To the reviewer who pointed out the misspelling of Gray's name, I apologize. It didn't even register to me as I was typing it out. I've gone back and fixed that, along with a couple of typos and grammar issues I noticed in the first chapter upon rereading it.

I've got the first few chapters of this story pretty planned out, so hopefully I should be able to update every other week, though I make no promises, as my work schedule tends to be unforgiving when it comes to making plans. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this chapter!


Screams and shrieks sounded out into the void, echoing throughout the emptiness. A black sphere circled a swirling maelstrom of color, a massive winged figure floating in front of it, clad in shadow. It watched passively as thousands of strange vessels, of as many different shapes and designs, clashed around it, strange beams of light flashing from each one, explosions following as the beams hit their targets, the space looking like a rainbow of death as the fleets clashed.

He felt like he was being pulled toward the chaos, like a moth to a deadly, colorful flame. He floated forward, past burning, shattered hulks, wondering if he should feel fear as the battle continued to rage around him. He felt nothing, nothing but the judgmental gaze of the winged shadow, as he was brought before it and eleven red eyes appeared on what he thought was it's face as a loud, gravelly voice sounded off in his mind.

"Interloper, your presence here is a dire portent. The Time of Ending is nigh. All will be judged."

Static filled his mind, a loud shrill tone that made him clutch his head, the pain overloading all of his senses, until a familiar but distorted female voice shot through the noise.

"Natsu! Help me!"


Unknown Location

Natsu's eyes shot open as he gasped, struggling for a breath. His head was pounding, his vision was blurry, and his body felt like it had been put through a punching machine set to overdrive. He tried to sit up but couldn't. Everything hurt, a dull ache that had his nerves on fire. He was lying on something soft and vaguely slimy. As his breathing stabilized, Natsu tried to remember exactly what had happened.

Okay, so we beat that Xylophone guy and Juvia locked him up and then Gray froze him, Natsu thought as he tried to focus through the spasms of pain still wracking him, Then he broke out. We all got hit by icicle shards. Lucy… got hurt. Real bad. A mix of concern and anger welled up in him as the image of Lucy bleeding on the ground flashed in his mind. Wendy said she healed her, but she could have died… That bastard is going to pay when I find him.

Natsu was brought out of his thoughts by a several loud chittering sounds and he felt something running up and down on his leg, along with an insistent puling on his right foot. Alarmed, he summoned the strength to sit-up, grunting through the pain as he blinked away the last of the blurriness from his eyes.

He was in some sort of hallway or alleyway, cold grey concrete in front of him, what looked like green trash bins off to his immediate left. There was a light drizzle falling through a few places, the drip-drop sound echoing throughout the alley. There was some pale light coming in from both the left and the right, though most of the alleyway was only dimly-lit. It was most decidedly not the battle-scarred field by the Kannegh Forest that they had been at it just minutes ago. Natsu wasn't sure how much time had passed. That was odd, but not as odd as what was in front of him as his eyes widened.

In front of him were three small insectoid creatures, standing upright on four legs. They were about three feet tall, not much bigger than a child, and looked like the bastard lovechild of a cockroach and a grasshopper, albeit more armored, thick chitin ridges going from their heads down to the tip of the abdomen. They were a dull brown, with large heads with huge black compound eyes the size of a fist, two sets of snapping mandibles, and two long, segmented antenna that were about two feet off of their head that always seem to be twitching. The creatures had what looked like several dirty, multicolored sashes covered with pouches on them and the one furthest away had a small backpack on. They were chittering to each other as the one nearest to Natsu was trying to pull off his right sandal off, it's three-fingered hands clutched around the footwear tightly as it wiggled it out from his toes and it's antenna brushed up and down his pant leg.

"Hey! Get off me you freaks!" Natsu screamed out, his voice hoarse but loud, echoing around the alleyway. The little bug-men trying to pull off Natsu's sandal let out a chitter of alarm and ripped the shoe off, scattering back from Natsu's reach as he tried to swipe at it. The other two let out similar panicky cries and bolted down the alley, following the sandal-thief.

"Hey that's mine! Give it back!" Natsu screamed as he got up, only dimly realizing he had been lying on a pile of trash, and started after the little thieves. He almost tripped as he stumbled forward, his legs feeling like jelly but he grunted and forced himself to move forward as the bug-men disappeared into the light, chittering and clicking to themselves excitedly.

"What the hell! I'm awake for a minute and I'm already being robbed? This is ridiculous!" Natsu said to himself as he ran as fast as he could after the bugs, passing through the light, shutting his eyes momentarily as the light stung him.

He paused and rubbed his eyes, absently noting as he opened them back up that the ice shards that had been embedded in him were gone, with no trace of them ever being present. He then scanned the area to find the dirty thieving bugs only for his mouth to gape open and his eyes to widen to saucers as he took a stunned step back.

"Woah."

Before him, stretching for as far as he could see, was a massive, sprawling city, bigger than any he had ever seen. Buildings that seemed to go on forever climbed into the sky, clouds hanging just above them. There were hundreds of what looked like magicmobiles, only far sleeker and with no wheels, that were flying through the sky at a dizzying place. Natsu even spotted a few things that looked like the Blue Pegasus' airship streaking across the sky, clouds dissipating in their wake. Floating squares flashed with bizarre images and in scripts that Natsu had never even seen before. A light rain that seemed to be petering out covered the whole area in a light mist and a strange white sun hung in the sky, covered by a blanket of clouds.

The streets in front of him were even more weird. Magicmobiles, some wheeled, others floating a few feet off the ground streamed by on a pure black road, small floating signs that changed colors directing the flow of traffic. There were beings everywhere, on the streets, driving the strange machines. There were grey skinned humanoids with bulbous heads and large golden eyes wearing suits and carrying briefcases walking beside stork-looking creatures with four eyes that were eating some sort of fried animal on a stick. There was a diminutive little lizard person on the corner, dressed in black and gold garments and wearing a newsboy cap talking in what sounded like gibberish to Natsu as it waved a small rectangular object with a green light on it, pressing it sometimes and making images and text appear floating in the air in front of it as a small vaguely elephant looking creature stepped up to him and held out a similar device that the little lizard took eagerly. There were hundreds of people on the streets and dozens of different kinds, Natsu even thought he spotted a human or two among them.

Gawk later, you need to focus, he thought as he forced himself to stop drinking in the sights, now where did those thieving little bastards get off to?

He scanned quickly, sniffing the air, though the riot of new scents meant his sense of smell was going to be worthless till he adjusted to the odorous barrage. He used his eyes instead, focusing his draconic vision. He scanned the crowds, feeling the coolness of the drizzle on his skin, looking at waist height.

There, across the street, he saw the three little bug-people hurriedly walking by a large furry creature that had what looked like an ape and a bat's head mixed together that was sipping on a drink, headphones on it's large ears. Natsu grinned and narrowed his eyes.

"Found ya! Give me back my sandal you little thieves!" he yelled as he sped forward, his out burst causing some of the strange beings on the street to turn and look at him as he sped past them straight out into road, focused solely on the bugs, who had noticed his approach and started running. Natsu was forced to jump past as a floating magicmobile looking thing sped past, it's one-eyed, long-snouted driver screaming at Natsu in an alien tongue. The sound of a horn and the squealing of tires made him turn and look to the side, only to see one of the wheeled cars about to slam into him.

"Shit!" Natsu exclaimed as he jumped out of the way, getting prone as another floater zoomed over him. A loud, almost deafening crash sounded out, and he looked back over, seeing that the magicmobile that had tried to stop for him had been rear-ended by another vehicle. Both drivers, a man who looked like a yellow-skinned demon with thick black horns on his head and a red-furred weasel-looking creature were getting out of their cars, yelling incomprehensible words at Natsu, who just let off an embarrassed smile as he got up and continued his journey to the other side of the street.

"Sorry about that! I'm in a hurry!" he shouted back as he pushed his way through the crowds which had turned to see the accident and now followed him with dozens of strange eyes. There were yells and yips in about a dozen different tongues as Natsu shoved his way through the alien crowd, not caring as he homed in on the bugs who were moving across another street, their antenna twitching as their heads swiveled back every few seconds to keep an eye on him.

"Would you little bastards just stop and give my shoe back!" Natsu shouted as he jumped and slid across the hood of stopped car, the tapir-like driver looking shocked and offended as the pink haired Dragon Slayer. He could hear them chitter something back in response, though he couldn't understand a word of it, he got the feeling they were making fun of him.

"Say that again you cockroaches and I'll stomp you!" he screamed as he hit the sidewalk, now only a few strides behind the bugs, who had dropped down on all six legs, scurrying away into a large, domed complex. Natsu slid a little as he turned with them, but followed them through what looked like a market or bazaar. There were wooden and plastic stalls filled with goods that Natsu couldn't even begin to describe everywhere. along with colorful tents, many with smoke coming out of them. Strange creatures and the odd human were manning the stalls or shopping around at their leisure, until the three bugs came scuttling by, followed shortly by an increasingly irritated Natsu.

"Out of the way people!" Natsu shouted as he pushed a moist, pink, vaguely fish looking person out of the way, the alien falling to the ground and dropping it's bags in a gurgle of protest. More yells went out up ahead as the three bug-thieves resumed a quadrupedal running position, ducking under legs and tripping more than a few patrons. Chittering loudly amongst themselves as Natsu continued to gain on them, they leapt through and under a large stall with hung meats around it, manned by very large blue-furred, four-armed ape like creature with a blood-stained apron and a large cleaver, who was busy cooking a slab of meat on a small grill within the stall while chopping up another large cut. The ape let out a roar of surprised anger as the roaches knocked several of his seasonings and cutlets to the floor, only to step back as Natsu tried to dive through the stall as well, only for him to trip on a cobblestone that was slightly higher than the others around it, crashing into the wooden stall with an alarmed yelp, braking through the boards and causing the big white banner above the stall to fall directly on the grill, where it set aflame instantly.

"Ouch," Natsu groaned as he forced himself up, a bloody and cold slab of meat sliding of his bicep, before rubbing his head. He was about to stand up completely when a strong hand grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him into the air to the very angry face of the ape. Its jaw protruded out a bit, enough for Natsu to see the very large and sharp canines jutting out from it's lower jaw. Its nose was bulbous, snorting as it bored into Natsu's onyx eyes with narrowed crimson ones, it's four pairs of tube like ears twitching all over the place.

"Hey man, sorry about the stall, but I need to get my sandal back so if you could put me down?" Natsu asked, trying to sound sincere even as he turned his head to catch sight of the bug thieves racing on ahead. His head was forcefully turned back around as the ape screamed at him, jaw smacking together enough for globs of saliva to hit Natsu's face, making him wince in disgust. His ears perked up when he saw the ape's other arm, the one holding the cleaver, raised it and began to swing it at his midsection, even as the market crowd either looked on with silence or continued shopping, ignoring everything that was happening around them.

"Not today monkey man!" Natsu said as he swung his legs into the ape's stomach as hard as he could, winding the creature as it dropped both him and the cleaver, "I'd stay and beat you down, but I got thieves to catch!" With that he continued to run after the bugs, which had gotten a bit further ahead though they were slowed down trying to weave through some sort of small hovering cargo train that was making its way through the market like a caterpillar, it's robotic pilot making beeping sounds from it's oval head as it stopped at various stalls and had the merchants grab items of its hovering wagons. Seeing his chance Natsu ran as hard and fast as he could, leaping over the cargo-pillar just as the bugs had crawled up it and he landed within swiping distance of the last one.

"Gotcha now!" he yelled triumphantly, only for the bug to duck down and scurry away on all six legs, "Goddammit!" The bugs were exiting the market now and were headed for another alleyway a few feet away from this entrance to the market. Natsu growled as he picked up the pace, feeling his muscles starting to protest as he turned the corner, ignoring the stares of more weird looking creatures as he booked it down the alleyway. As he passed a dumpster, startling some sort of slimy looking animal that bolted from his sight, he could see the bugs stopping at the end of the alleyway, where it opened up into a square area surrounded by walls on the sides and a faded green building with a single gray door in the front. Aside from the door in front of him, the only other way in or out was the alleyway he had just come through. Natsu screamed and dove at the one carrying his sandal still, tackling the creature and launching it and himself into the center of dead-end with a startled chirp from it.

"I got you know you little thief!" Natsu laughed as he swiped his sandal out the diminutive creature's claws, "That ought to teach you to take things that don't belong to you!" The bug let out a screech as Natsu put his full weight on it, ignoring how the chitin ridges dug into his skin before grabbing the creature's antenna and giving a light but firm tug, causing the creature to squeal as it tried it's best to crawl out from underneath Natsu, to no avail. The other two bugs backed into the walls as Natsu let off a victorious laugh.

"Oi! Pinky! Get da fuck off Rezzit!" came a loud, smarmy voice as a figure came out of the door directly in front of Natsu. He was a human, young, probably around Natsu's age if not a bit older. His skin was brown and he was covered in crude tattoos, the most prominent one a large purple sun half visible on his chest, and several piercings, most of them easily visible in his ripped up, loose clothing, which was a barrage of ugly yellow and red with torn up and sagging jeans. He had his hands in his pockets and his bulbous nose had a ring with a chain going to a lip piercing and with jet-black hair that was shaved into a buzzcut.

His dark eyes were narrowed at Natsu as he stepped forward and three other figures emerged out of the same doorway, dressed similarly. Two of them were granite-skinned humanoids, with two large bright red fins on their otherwise bald heads and what looked like bony plates on their chins and cheeks, while the last one looked like a bluish humanoid salamander with red feathered gills lining it's neck and black stripes running across its body. They were all glaring at Natsu, who stopped pulling on the bug's antennas and glared back.

"First off, it's salmon, not pink. Second, what the hell is a Rezzit? And third, where the hell are we?" he asked sternly, getting his body ready to spring into action as he tried to ready his magic.

"Rezzit would be the Likili you're sitting on, you twat," the human spat out as his compatriots started to spread out, not coming to close to Natsu but getting into positions where they could all launch at him easily, "And the little bugger works for me. Now get off him. And what kind of fucking stupid question is that? You're in the wrong place, you daft moron."

"What did you call me asshole!?" Natsu yelled as he got up, Rezzit scurrying out from underneath of him and fleeing into the open door, past the human thug, the other two Likili joining him as the alien thugs moved closer to Natsu, ready to cut off his exit at a moment's notice. Natsu growled as his eyes darted between them, feeling both on edge and oddly comfortable. The sights he had seen on the way here confused the living hell out of him, he still had no idea where the hell he was, but a fight. Well he understood fighting.

"I called you a moron," the thug laughed before smiling evilly, "Now we can't tolerate some pink-haired bugger coming around beating on our members and crashing into our turf. It's not the Violet Suns way. So it's time to die fucker." The thug withdrew a large metal handle out of his back pocket and flipped a switch, causing a nasty, serrated metal blade to spring out of it. The knife's blade looked to be about four inches long and Natsu bristled when he saw the other three thugs pull out other weapons, the two fin-headed guys were brandishing similar looking daggers while the salamander man pulled out a wicked looking spiked metal club with electrical sparks bouncing off the metal spikes. Natsu grinned. He had fought worst odds then this a hundred times. Theses clowns didn't even make the list of dangerous fights.

"Bring it on! I'm all fired up now!" Natsu shouted as he tried to summon his magic, "Fire Dragon's-" Natsu doubled over as he vomited everywhere in a great heave, tears welling in his eyes as the thugs took a step back in disgust.

Something was wrong. His magic was going haywire. It had flooded beyond what he could control and the world was getting hazy fast as a crippling nausea, worse than any motion sickness hit him with the force a meteor. He stumbled backwards, heaving again, some blood and fire coming out with his vomit now.

"Well now dat's just bloody disgusting!" the human thug said as he covered his nose, "Not to mention embarrassing for you. Going to be bloody humiliating bleeding to death in your own puke," he laughed after that before motioning to the other thugs, "Let's gank da bastard lads!"

Oh shit, Natsu thought as he drunkenly sidestepped one of the fin-heads going in for a kidney stab, only to scream in pain as he felt a heavy, spiked object collide into his spine, sending waves of shocking pain up into his brain.

He vomited again and despite feeling like passing out, threw a punch as hard as he could into the blurry visage of the salamander man, feeling the alien's slimy skin on his knuckles as he smashed his fist straight into the one of the creature's golden eyes. The salamander let off a gurgled yell as it was knocked back, clutching its eyes as Natsu rushed past him, letting out a cry as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.

"You ain't getting away dat easy Pinky!" the human thug screamed as he withdrew his knife form Natsu's back, before snarling as the Fire Dragon Slayer shoved his way past one of the fin-heads, running down the alley as fast as he could, vomit and flames still leaking out of his mouth, "After dat little bitch!"

Natsu ran as fast he could, emerging out of the alley, trying to ignore both his nausea and the burning pain in his shoulder, desperately looking for help. There were aliens on the streets and he was attracting a lot of stares but none were moving to help him. Hearing the shouts down the alleyway as the thugs pursued him, Natsu ran, not caring about the direction.

"Help! Somebody help me!" he screamed to the crowds as he ran past, the strange beings and odd human hurriedly parting as he ran through. He could the shouts of the thugs as they shoved their way through the crowds, hungry for his blood. He tried to draw upon his magic again and immediately regretted it as vomit and flames came out, nearly catching a flying, child-sized butterfly-like creature on fire as he squealed and darted out of his way. He felt weak and extremely dizzy, the world a spinning blur of colors and shapes.

"There he is! Stop running Pinky! Face ya death like a man!" the tattooed human yelled at him as he shoved one of the big-headed gray-skinned aliens out of the way, blood-stained knife in his hand.

Shit, I need help, Natsu thought desperately, or a place to hide. I can't fight like this. I can barely stand right now. He stumbled down the street, not caring what or who he ran into, only that he made his legs pump as hard as he could. He wasn't sure how far or how long he ran for when, as he crossed streets and ducked into alleys, still not shaking the thugs, before he ran into a large circular building with an open roof and a strange, long metal ship in it, surrounded by blurry figures.

"Please help me!" Natsu choked out before collapsing on the floor, the strength leaving his legs as he hit cold concrete.

It can't end like this, he thought dejectedly, dying on a floor to a bunch of punks with knifes. I never got to tell Lucy… never got to tell her how I felt. His thought stopped cold as he heard the shuts of the thugs and he tried to get up, his arms shaking before he collapsed to the ground once more.

"There you are, ya pink-haired rat," the human thug sneered, "You're going to be a warning to all who would mess with da Violet Suns."

"I don't think so," came a deep male voice, in a tone laced with steel. Natsu brought his head up and saw that the five figures around the ship were approaching him and the lead one looked like he was a human male, probably in his late forties, black hair flecked with patches of silver. He was dressed in an ebony leather duster, with a visible holster on his hip.

"Da fuck did you say to me spacer? This is Violet Suns business. Back off," the thug said as he gripped his knife tight, the other ones letting off similar sounding agreements in alien tongues. Natsu was struggling to hold on to consciousness but he could see that the group in front of him had at least two other humans in it, another man with bright red unruly hair and woman with an eye-patch and jet-black hair done up in a pinned bun. The other two figures were aliens, one that looked like a humanoid lizard and the other a floating octopus with twelve tentacles writhing beneath it. They were all drawing what looked like guns, pointing them straight at the thugs.

"I said I don't think so. You're not killing this boy, not in my hangar. Now you and the other guttersnipe trash with you better beat it, before I get angry," the lead human man said again, hand gripping the pistol in his holster.

"I'd listen to the man little boy," the eye-patched woman said dryly, pointing a heavy looking pistol at the human thug, "Dekklin gets unpleasant when he's upset." The thugs looked hesitant as five guns were staring them down, before the human one opened his mouth again.

"We're Violet Suns, you can't tell us-" he was interrupted as the dark-haired human male drew his pistol in a blink of an eye and fired it, the snub-nosed weapon barking as the sound echoed throughout the hangar and one of the fin-heads next to the thug collapsed in a howl of agony, holding his knee as crimson liquid started to seep out of it.

"Last chance. Get the fuck out of my hangar or I'll throw your corpses out," the man said as he the pointed the pistol straight at the human thug's face, smoke still wafting out of its barrel. The thug was trembling now, as he lowered his knife and started backing away.

"Lads get Jargoth up and out of here, this ain't worth dying over," he said as the other two thugs went and lifted the howling fin-head up and started dragging him out of the hangar, before he looked down at Natsu, "You got lucky Pinky. We catch you out on the streets again, you're a fucking dead man. You hear me?"

Natsu was barely consciousness at this point, but he could hear footsteps coming near him.

"Isanada above, he looks rough. Should we help him?" a male voice asked.

"His health isn't our issue. Toss him outside and call an ambulance," a stronger voice, the leader said.

"So what, we drove off the Suns to just let him die on the street outside? Dekklin we can't do that," came the female voice along with a gurgled, wet sounding reply.

"You want to take in a stray Lynn, be my guest. But he's your responsibility and his care comes out of your funds, not the crews'," the leader replied again as Natsu closed his eyes, feeling his strength draining away.

"Understood," the woman's voice replied back coolly, "Choxin get the med-bay ready. Vern, you want to give me a hand?"

Natsu felt himself being picked up and carried as voices continued to speak around him, but soon he drifted off, thinking only of Lucy as the world went black.