Ch 10: When It All Comes Crashing Down
A few minutes later:
"You don't need to worry, you can consider it as good as done." stated Natsu with a crazed grin now coming across his face.
"Are you sure, I don't think I'll be able to stop them from using it." came the voice from the communication lacrima that was in Natsu's hand.
"I've already told you that it honestly doesn't matter to me and that I'll be bringing you back his head within the next few days depending on how long it takes for me to walk there from here." he replied as he got up and started to do a few little stretches.
"For the last time I don't want you to kill him unless there isn't any other way." shouted the voice making Natsu plug one of his ears and glare that the device.
"Geez you don't need to yell old timer I'm not going deaf, for now at least." he stated in an irritated tone as he hung up the call since he honestly didn't need to hear any more for him to finally get involved in this little fiasco taking place around him.
So with a his crazed grin once again coming back to his face he picked up his coat and stopped to get a good sense of what was currently happening on the floors above and below him at the moment. Frankly he was actually impressed with how well she was doing above him but that was still with him not being able to go at full power since he was still wrapping things up with the Council. As for the level below him he was frankly a little surprised with how that one looked to be playing out, but after considering the two opponents it was pretty obvious which one was going to win.
"I should probably head down there first and make sure they get out of here in case I royally screw this up." he said to himself with a little chuckle since he really doubted that something like that was going to happen.
With Juvia and the rest of her group:
"I do have to admit that you being able to turn your body into water is quite the nifty trick when facing someone like me who mainly uses physical attacks." said Ikaruga as she dodged Juvia's Water Cane that cracked a few of the boards on the bridge.
"Juvia wasn't a member of Phantom's Element Four for nothing." replied Juvia with a look of annoyance on her face since neither of them had been able to land any good attacks on each other. There were a few times when she thought her attack was about to hit the swordswoman only to be extremely disappointed when the attack was cut in half.
"I can clearly see that but what really intrigues me is why you're so instant on figuring out my relationship to Salamander." she said with her usual smirk while trying to come up with a new strategy for this water mage.
"Because Juvia and Natsu-sama are destined to be together and Juvia won't let anyone get in her way." answered Juvia as she glared at her, extremely pissed off about that constant smirk of hers.
"Does Salamander know this?" she asked and instantly saw Juvia's face become a little flustered.
"Y-yes of course Natsu-sama knows this." stuttered out Juvia not liking the look that Ikaruga was now giving her.
"Why has half of their conversation been about Salamander?" asked Sho now being just able to move slightly.
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Millianna with a bright smile only for the all of the guys to give her a blank look. "They both obviously love him and are now fighting for him." she explained after smacking herself in the face at their stupidity.
"I don't know if I should envy Salamander for that or if I should feel sorry that he clearly has two crazy chicks after him if Millianna is correct about this." said Wally as he noticed that the two had stopped fighting and were now once again talking about Natsu.
"I for one know that I don't envy him at all." stated Gray in a quiet voice since he really didn't want the two to realize that they were talking about them right now.
"He clearly doesn't since you got extremely nervous when giving that answer my dear." responded Ikaruga in an amused tone and almost laughed at the poor girl.
"Now that Juvia has answered your question you have to answer hers." she stated while glaring at the woman.
"You really do have a one tracked mind don't you Juvia? Well if you must know Salamander and I are just partners as of now but I do intend to make it a little more than that shortly. Because after sleeping with him last night I know that he's probably the only man that can actually make me feel that way ever again." replied Ikaruga with a confident grin spread across her red lips as Juvia had her head down.
"You're lying, Natsu-sama would never sleep with a woman like you." she said in a low voice that Ikaruga could barely hear.
"Oh but we did, granted it was just sleeping since you're probably assuming that we had sex. But don't think that's not because he didn't want to or anything, actually he almost took me in some random back ally." said Ikaruga with her grin only growing. Until she had to move her head to the side and watched as a few of her pink strands of hair fell to the ground thanks to the attack that was just a few centimeters away for taking her head off.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT LOVE RIVAL!" screamed Juvia as she sent blade after blade of water at the swordswoman. But this time sending them from all angles at her opponent because of the raw emotions she was feeling at the moment, which was mainly hatred.
The rest of them watched in shock as Juvia started to overpower Ikaruga and was actually starting to land a few attacks every once and a while. But due to her skill Ikaruga was just barely getting hit by them and was only getting slight cuts from the countless water blades flying at her.
"She lost it." stuttered Sho as he watched the two women ferociously going at it.
"I don't think she's handling the idea of Natsu being with a different woman than her very well." stated Gray with a slight smirk as he watched Juvia focus all of her rage and anger at the woman before her.
"I'm just glad she's on our side." said Millianna with a bright smile. Only to jump back when a shot went off and Ikaruga screamed out in pain as the shot tore through her calf. They all looked over at Wally in shock at him apparently joining back in on the fight.
"What the hell are you all looking at me like that for? If you couldn't tell Water Lady is running out of her magic fast and if we don't bring down Ikaruga now then we're all as good as dead." replied Wally only giving them a glance as he went back to taking shots at Ikaruga who was now remarkable dodging his attacks as well. Sometimes even using them to block an attack of Juvia that would have otherwise hit her, showing all of them how skilled she actually was.
"ICE-MAKE: ARROWS!" shouted Gray as he too joined in on the untied attack against their deadly opponent.
"He does have a point." stated Sho as he started to throw a few cards in as well. Each time hissing out in pain because of his previous injuries that he sustained from her earlier but decided that he wasn't going to let that stop him from helping out.
"I should have finished you all off when I had the chance." hissed Ikaruga as she was actually being pushed back because of their constant assault on her.
"That probably would have been the smarter choice." said Simon as he stood back and watched the fight.
"Aren't you or the other girl going to join in? Because if you don't, I don't think you're friends are going to last much longer." she said while doing a hand spring that got her out of the way of the three guys attacks flying at her. But wasn't enough to get out of the way of Juvia's that was redirected at her, forcing Ikaruga to start hacking it apart piece by piece.
"Some of us need to save our magic in case we have to still face Salamander." he replied with a blank expression.
"There is no way that you'll be able to get past him." she laughed back at him.
"ICE-MAKE: FLOOR!" shouted Gray as the whole bridge was then covered in a thick layer of ice as she was still in the air from dodging a few other attacks. Seeing this they all thought that it was now going to be their win easily but they were soon going to realize that you don't become the leader of Trinity Raven for nothing.
Because instead of having a concerned look on her face like they thought she would, Ikaruga actually once again have the same smirk that she had during almost all of the battle. Rather than landing on the floor and falling to the ground like most people would do in her position she stuck her sword into it. And with this new anchor she increased her momentum with a quick spin around it and launched herself at an un-expecting Juvia using the ice to her advantage.
The next second she was right in front of Simon with a murderous grin spread across her face as she was ready to end him. But to her shock something prevented her from going that last few inches she needed to finish him off, and when she looked back she was met with the sight of a struggling Millianna keeping her back with her stupid tubes. Tubes that Ikaruga knew were already preventing her from using her magic to enhance her sword and overall fighting abilities.
"Looks like your luck has finally run out Lady." said Wally as he shot the sword out of her hand and causing her to scream out in pain.
"This is for what you did earlier!" shouted Sho as he threw two handfuls of cards that she couldn't dodge this time getting her to scream out in pain again.
"Shit why aren't you going down, ICE-MAKE: LANCE!" shouted Gray who honestly didn't want to attack the now defenseless lady but knew he had to because of how deadly she was.
"WATER NEBULA!"shouted Juvia as two waves of water blasted up from underneath Ikaruga knocking her out of Millianna's binding and into the air. Where the two streams of water continued to crash into the pink haired swordswoman as they spun her around as she let out a final scream of pain before she came crashing back down to the ground. Clearly no longer being able to get back up, much less being able to start fighting with them again.
"Is she done?" asked a now panting Millianna, who wasn't ready to have to stop Ikaruga from using so much magic even after all of the fighting she had already done.
"God I sure hope so since I was pretty much spent after that first owl guy." stated Gray as he froze a few more of his new wounds that needed to be sealed.
"I'm not going to take any chances." replied Wally as he started to walk over to her with a slight limp.
"Wally what are you doing?" asked Simon with a good idea of what he was about to do.
"Finishing it." he replied as his arm once again turned back into a gun as he pointed it at her forehead. But before he could pull the trigger he noticed and was surprised to see not a single ounce of fear in her eyes and all he could see was what he could only describe as complete acceptance of her fate.
"Wally don't do it!" begged Millianna who was done with the pointless killing that seemed to come with this tower.
"I have to Millianna." he replied only to collapse to his knee because of an overwhelming magic pressure flaring up to only disappear the next second.
"You do that then there is nothing that will stop me from slowly burning you until there is absolutely nothing left of you." said Natsu as he slowly started to walk towards them, instantly getting rid of all the ice around him and actually causing the water to start bubbling.
"Salamander!" he stated in shock as he instantly pulled away from Ikaruga.
"Natsu-sama?" asked Juvia as she barely could stay awake thanks to magic exhaustion that she was now suffering from.
"Hello again Juvia, you were quite impressive today." said Natsu now with a slight smile.
"Thank you Natsu-sama." she replied back tiredly, clearly fighting off passing out right now just so she could be with him.
"Just stating the truth and it looks like you could really use some rest right now." he stated as he caught her when she staggered a little bit.
"But Juvia just wanted to see you Natsu-sama." she stated with a weak smile.
"You did that Juvia so now you need to get some sleep." he said as he gently got her to lay down and she pretty much instantly passed out with a content smile spread across her lips as she dreamed about her future with a certain pink haired man.
"What are you doing Salamander?" asked Simon as he cautiously looked at the fire mage with a skeptical look in his eyes.
"Oh you know, just getting it so I don't have to go on another murdering rampage." he replied now heading over to the beaten Ikaruga.
"Why did you stop him Natsu?" asked Ikaruga with a slightly hurt and questioning expression on her face as she looked up at him.
"Obviously because I didn't want you to die idiot." he answered while rolling his eyes at her as he knelt down next to her.
"DARK MOMENT!" shouted Simon as the lights all went out.
"Chose your next move wisely Simon because if you chose incorrectly then you and the rest of your friends are as good as dead." came the voice of Natsu from right behind him. This caused Simon to have a new reason to fear the man right behind him, as he stood there too shocked to even move.
"If you planned to go and try to help Erza you're all free to but I would highly advise against it." he whispered before somehow going back to his spot next to Ikaruga the very next second as if he had never left her side. Simon could only attribute all of this to the dragon slayer's enhanced senses, because otherwise he really shouldn't have been able to move so surefooted in the complete darkness like he did.
"Thanks Salamander." whispered Simon as he took off for the stairs to the next level and only getting rid of the darkness once he was gone.
"Where did Simon go?" asked Millianna now freaking out since she could only assume that it was because of Natsu.
"He decided to head up there to try and help Erza out. And before you all go rushing after him I want to advise you all against it." replied Natsu as he actually started to treat Ikaruga for her wounds. Causing said woman to glare at him with a slight blush but let him continue on with what he was doing.
"And why the hell wouldn't we do that Natsu?" asked Gray with a look of disbelief since Natsu just told them to not go and help Erza.
"Because you and I both know that all you guys would do is get in the way. So why don't you all do the smart thing here and get out of this place before the Council actually fires Etherion on us." he answered as he lit one of his hands with his crimson flames.
"Like hell we're going to do that." shouted Sho, whose eyes widened as Ikaruga let out a scream due to Natsu placing his hand that was on fire just above her right hip.
"What the fucking hell did you do that for?" she screamed at Natsu, and only got a little smirk from him before he got up and turned away from her.
"Okay, you're all free to go and help Erza but that means you have to go through me first. Oh and I won't hesitate to kill any of you right here and now because it's pretty much the same thing in my eyes as letting you go up there." he stated as he completely coated himself in his crimson flames that were causing his coat to billow from the sheer magic pressure coming off of him.
"He's right guys, we would only slow her down with how wounded we all are. So let's go and grab Lucy and get the hell out of here." said Gray with an upset look on his face since Natsu was indeed correct about all of it.
"Man I'm not looking forward to going down all of those stairs." said Sho as he staggered over to Juvia and started to pick her up with the help of Millianna.
"After we go and get Lucy I've got a quicker way down from this tower." said Gray as he walked over to Ikaruga, ignoring the glare that he was receiving from Natsu at the moment.
"What do you want?" asked Ikaruga as she glared at the ice mage.
"I'm coming to help you get out of here in case it all goes to hell." he replied.
"Touch me and you die, besides I'm already good as dead since I failed my job." she hissed at him while looking away from him. Gray was about to completely disregard her comment until Natsu spoke up in an angry tone that promised pain if disregarded.
"Don't you dare touch her if she doesn't want to be touched Gray." he said while his fire increased in intensity even more.
"Whatever, let's go." replied Gray in a shocked tone as he and the rest of his group headed down to the previous level to get Lucy.
"You really can't accept any help can you?" he asked with a slight smirk as his fire disappeared.
"You're one to talk, so why the hell did you save me and randomly decided to burn me right afterwards?" asked Ikaruga as she glared at him with a look that could almost kill.
"I already told you why I saved you and I burned you to mark you as mine." he answered with a huge grin as he took off his coat.
"What did you just say?" she asked with an irritated and angry expression coming over her face.
"I said that you're mine now Ikaruga, and that mark I just gave you will let everyone else know it. Granted it's not as effective as the full one but it should do for now." he replied still grinning at her as he sat down and put his coat over top of her like a blanket. Of course this explanation didn't help her confusion at all since she knew next to nothing about dragon slayers like the rest of the world.
"Mark, what in the world are you talking about?" she asked now just having a slightly confused expression on her face.
"Oh yeah you wouldn't know about that would you, well you see it's something that dragon slayers do because we are like dragons in a few ways. One such way is we mark our mates so that everyone else knows they are not to be touched, otherwise they have to deal with us." he explained as he thought how her confused expression actually kind of looked cute and he wanted to see it more often.
"M-m-mate, like being married?" asked Ikaruga now with a light blush on her face.
"I guess that's one way of putting it but I would say it's a little more binding on the dragon slayer's part. You already know what I'm talking about when you realized I couldn't kill you the other day. And the reason for that is because you're my mate." he said while getting back up.
"Why me?" she asked still trying to comprehend all of this since it was kind of a lot for her to process when she just assumed that she was going to be alone for the rest of her life. Something that she knows won't last much longer due to her and her team failing this job.
"Why not, you're strong and beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have you. Well that's at least my opinion of why you might have been picked as my mate, because honestly I really don't know why you're my mate Ikaruga. Some might call it fate or destiny but I really don't believe in that stuff anymore after what I've been through in the past few months." he explained while dusting off the little dirt that had gotten onto him.
"Thank you Natsu, but there is no way I'm making it out of here alive. Even if I did then my guild would do everything in their power to get rid of me." she stated with a slight sad smile.
"Oh you're definitely making it out of here Ikaruga, as for your guild coming after you we can worry about that later. Now you just wait there for me to come back for you and keep my coat safe while I'm gone." he said with a confident grin.
"You're really an idiot aren't you?" she asked with a little chuckle and slight smile as she could feel Etherion going off above them. She couldn't help but be slightly glad that her final moments where going to be with Natsu since he was definitely unlike anyone else she's ever met. A blinding light went off causing her to close her eyes as she waited for it to all be over but it never came.
"What is going on?" she asked as she looked at the tower that was now completely composed of lacrima.
"It's just the first step of Jellal's final stage of his master plan that I have to hurry up and go put a stop to. Oh and seriously keep my coat safe because I really like it." said Natsu before taking off for the stairs at a light jog.
"Did he know that this was going to happen?" she asked out loud as she finally could start moving a bit. And the first thing she did was wrap his coat around her tighter and take a big sniff from it and basking in his scent that slightly put her at ease.
With Erza:
"Simon please just leave me!" begged Erza as she helplessly watched him slowly get back up to his feet while coughing out a little bit of blood.
"Sorry Erza but I can't do that." he replied only for a swift kick from Jellal to send him crashing into another pillar.
"You got that right Simon, but not because you have any choice in the matter. No you can't leave because I won't let you since you had to come up here and try to play the hero and right when I was just seconds away from achieving everything that I've been working for during these past eight years." said Jellal while laughing as he kept hitting Simon over and over again.
"Jellal stop, you're going to kill him!" shouted Erza as tears started to flow from her left eye.
"That's what I'm planning on doing to him Erza and it's all because of you." he replied with a crazed laugh as Erza could only cry more. With her now believing that it was indeed her fault since she wasn't strong enough to deal with Jellal and even let him trick her when she had the opportunity to kill him.
"Don't listen to him Erza, none of this is your fault." coughed out Simon, shocking Jellal because he was confident that he had knocked him out with that last hit.
"Aren't you the tough one, then again that is why I had you leading all of those useless idiots that betrayed me." he said as he kicked Simon in the gut and sent him flying into another pillar on the other side of the room.
"Simon!" screamed Erza as she looked at the body of her friend as he made no attempt to get back up.
"Well that seems to have done the trick, now where were we Erza? Oh yeah we were at the part where you merge with the tower and become the host for Zeref." he stated with a sinister grin as he started to make his way towards her.
"Stop! You won't hurt Erza as long as I'm still alive." said Simon, once again staggering to his feet and looking like he was literally a dead man walking at the moment.
"That can be arranged Simon, and since you've lasted longer than I ever expected you to I'm going to do the honor of finishing you off with ALTAIRIS." he said with a smirk as he crossed his arms above his head causing all of the shadows in the room to start moving to him and form a black ball above him.
"Jellal please stop this I'm begging you!" shouted Erza as his binding spell on her was just almost completely worn off.
"Any last words Simon?" asked Jellal, completely ignoring Erza as all of his focus was on the man that would not stay down.
"Go to hell Jellal." he replied as he spit out a huge amount of blood onto the floor in front of him.
"Not that bad for your final words." stated Jellal as he got ready to release his spell.
"Stop, if you release the spell now you'll be getting rid of your precious sacrifice." shouted Erza now standing in front of Simon.
"Erza get back." said Simon as he tried to get around her but had no luck.
"No I won't Simon, so what's it going to be Jellal?" asked Erza as she glared at him.
"Have it your way then Erza, because I already have someone else planned to take your place if something like this should happen." he replied with a little chuckle as he savored the look of dread that went across her face at hearing this.
"So long Erza and Simon." he said right as he unleashed his spell that raced towards the two and exploded on contact obstructing his vision. But as soon as it cleared he was greeted with Simon facing him and arms stretched out after he somehow was able to get around Erza and take the full brunt of the attack.
"Simon!" screamed Erza as she lunged forward as he fell to the ground unfortunately not getting to him in time. So she came to a skidding halt right next to him and started to cry as she looked down at her friend that she knew only had a few more seconds left.
"Don't cry Erza." he said in a hoarse voice as his breathing became labored.
"Why Simon, why would you sacrifice yourself for me?" she asked now with tears coming from both of her eyes.
"Because I love you Erza, actually I've always loved you, ever since the moment that I first saw you." he said quietly as a loving smile slowly made its way across his lips as he closed his eyes. And while still having that smile on his face his chest stopped moving, letting her know that he was already passed on.
"Simon!" she screamed out one last time as she started to cry into his chest. Now wondering what did they do to deserve any of this, because no one deserved to be put through what they have all just gone through. But she wasn't allowed to ponder any of this any longer due to the hysteric laughter coming from the blue haired man responsible for all their suffering over the last eight years.
"Oh man I can't believe he actually did that, I had a strong suspicion that he would be stupid enough to sacrifice himself pointlessly like that." cackled Jellal as he clutched his chest trying to calm himself down. Erza was about to lung at the bastard in front of her but before she could even make a move a flash of red zipped by her and sent Jellal crashing through a few of the pillars until he luckily stopped against a wall.
"I was told to bring you back alive but after hearing what I just did I don't know if I'll be able to stop myself from ripping you apart Jellal." said Natsu as he stood in the spot that used to contain Jellal.
"I was wondering if Yajima was going to ever call you." replied Jellal as he got up and seemed to have only received a bruise from that last attack. "So how much are they offering you to take care of me?" he asked as he dusted himself off and started to casually start strolling towards Natsu.
"Natsu?" asked Erza, now clearly lost because from what she could gather it sounded like one of the Council members might have hired Natsu to deal with Jellal.
"I'll explain later Erza, but right now me and Jellal here have to work some stuff out." said Natsu as he turned back to give her one of his grins quickly. And just from seeing that grin of his and feeling the aura coming off him at the moment let her know that she didn't have to worry about him possibly being persuaded by Jellal no matter what he offered. Because he unknowingly did something that Natsu saw as completely unforgivable, which was making fun of someone sacrificing themselves so that they could protect a loved one just like Happy did for him.
"Now Jellal I honestly don't know what they plan on paying me for doing this since I hung up before Yajima and I could discus that stuff, but it doesn't matter anymore." he replied as he cracked his head.
"So you're saying that you did actually care about Erza like I originally thought?" asked Jellal with a smirk as he too started to get ready for a fight.
"Oh I do still care about her a little bit but she's a big girl and can take care of herself. She actually had no effect on my decision to turn against you Jellal." answered Natsu as he cracked his knuckles.
"She didn't did she, then what did make you to have a change of heart so much so that not even a substantial amount of jewels could keep you on my side? Because as far as I could tell that was about the only thing you cared about anymore these days." he asked as he rolled his shoulders.
"Well if I'm going to be honest I always planned on turning against you because I've been looking for a good fight since that last guy I fought wasn't much of a challenge. But after learning that you were planning on using me as the sacrifice for this stupid tower that won't bring back Zeref made me sure that I was going to enjoy beating your ass into the ground." stated Natsu as both of his fists were now coated in his crimson flames.
"That still doesn't sound like any reason for you to not possibly accept more jewels from me since we were both ready for the other one to betray us. And it doesn't explain why you want to take my head now or how you know what the purpose of this tower is since I never told you." pointed out Jellal with a little smirk.
"Come on Jellal did you really think something as big and elaborate as your tower wouldn't get out sooner or later. But as for why I want your head removed from your shoulders is for the simple reason of you laughing at Simon's sacrifice." he replied now having a stern look on his face.
"I guess you are correct about it being impossible to keep this completely under wraps. But are you seriously upset about that fucking idiot Sim.." said Jellal, only to be cut off because of his face being slammed into the ground.
"You don't get to say his name anymore Jellal!" growled Natsu as he smashed his face into the ground two more times and then kicked him away.
"It seems like you might actually give me a good fight Dragneel, METEOR!" he shouted as he flashed away in a light only to appear behind Natsu and land a kick to his side that sent him flying in the air. But before Natsu could even hit a pillar or wall Jellal appeared in front of him and sent him launching the other direction.
"Come on Salamander, what happened to all of that talk about you ripping me apart and taking my head?" asked Jellal as he continued to assault the dragon slayer without even letting him touch the ground. The whole time Erza was watching in disbelief since it looked like Natsu was for some reason just taking it and not even trying to fight back.
"Natsu, what are you doing?" asked Erza quietly as she started to think that what happened to Simon was going to happen to the pink haired dragon slayer as well. Natsu was then kicked into the floor making a sizeable crater where he laid there motionless as Jellal now landed in front of her with a smug look on his face.
"Sorry Erza but it looks like the Salamander was not your knight in shining armor either. Actually he put up less of a fight then Simon did and he was barely even a mage." he chuckled to himself not realizing the looming figure behind him that actually caused Erza to let out a surprised gasp.
"I said you don't get to say his name anymore." stated Natsu in a deep and gravelly voice as he proceeded to flip Jellal over his shoulder and slam him into the floor. But before Jellal could even try and get back up he received a FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW to his back getting him to let out a grunt of pain.
"Don't worry Jellal the party's just getting started." he said as he kicked him into a pillar putting some space in between them. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" he bellowed as Erza could only sit back and watch in awe as a crimson roar streamed from him and was the same size as the one he used to obliterate the Jupiter Cannon. But this time she got to witness it first hand as it completely destroying everything that stood in its path as it got closer to Jellal.
"METEOR!"came the panicked shout of Jellal as he just barely got out of the way of the roar that easily would have taken him out. He was a little surprised by how much that single roar had done, but after admiring the destruction that it caused he realized that Natsu was probably still recovering from a move like that. So with a crazed glint in his eyes he charged at the dragon slayer that was standing down there with his head down.
"You're wide open Salamander!" he shouted as he appeared at the right side of Natsu and delivered a strong right hook. But rather than Natsu being launched like he expected his head only moved an inch as it felt like he just tried to punch through solid two feet thick steel wall.
"That was our last free hit Jellal, I hope you're happy with it." stated Natsu as he looked back up at the mage with a crazed grin that showed off his fangs that seemed to have grown an inch or two and his eyes now having red slits. But that wasn't the only change to his appearance that Jellal instantly took notice of because right where he landed his last punch on him had what appeared to be scales. Not only where they on his face but they could also be seen on his forearms, that he also couldn't be too sure about but might have gotten slightly bigger since they started this fight.
"W-what the hell did you do?" he asked after he jumped back from the mage looking at him with a crazed grin that was even giving him the creeps. But rather than getting an answer from him, Natsu somehow vanished from his sight for a brief second to only appear in front of him.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FISTS!" shouted Natsu as he unleashed a fury of punches on Jellal that gave off little fiery explosions with each hit that landed.
"METEOR!" shouted Jellal after kicking Natsu off of him and launching into the air where he would be safe from the crazed dragon slayer coming after him. He looked back down trying to see where Natsu was at but once again he was gone in a split second. Jellal unfortunately didn't even get to think about his because of a hand grabbing his face making it feel like he was going to be crushed with its grip alone.
"Not fast enough Jellal, FIRE DRAGON'S GRIP STRIKE!" he stated as a torrent of crimson flames shot from his hand gripping Jellal and hitting him point blank and eliciting the first of Jellal's so to be many pain filled scream. "FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW!" shouted Natsu as he kicked Jellal with a flaming foot back towards the tower.
Although right before Jellal would have made contact with the tower's floor he shot back up and launched off right back at Natsu. Where he in a blind rage he relentlessly attacked the dragon slayer expecting for it to end the way it did the first time he did something like this. Erza was left completely forgotten at the side of the room next to Simon's body too stunned by the mages fighting in front of her to even speak anymore.
All she could do was wonder if this was how he was able to take on Jose by himself. Because during that time she was just so relieved to see him now fighting on their side again, that she didn't even notice if he displayed these changes to his features as he was doing now. All this did though was raise more questions for her because as far as she knew Natsu didn't know any transformation magic like this. And she really doubted that it was that since because of the power coming off of him right now was too strong for even someone as skilled as Mira to handle when she was in her prime.
So she came to the conclusion that it had to be some sort of dragon slayer spell that he learned while he wasn't part of the guild. And from what she could gather from watching the fight it seemed to enhance all of his stats to levels that most mages would be envious of with good cause. Because at the moment it would appear that he was keeping up with the speed of Jellal's Meteor, something that she couldn't even do with her flight armor. But she was brought out of her thoughts as Jellal was tossed into a pillar just a few feet away from her and spit out some blood as he staggered back up.
"How are you not ever getting hit by any of my attacks anymore?" shouted Jellal, clearly having lost his composure during the course of this fight.
"Why do you think I let you attack me for so long?" he asked back with a smug grin now on his face as Jellal's became one of denial.
"No one would be stupid enough to let their opponent attack them that long just so they could learn their moves." shouted out Jellal, clearly not liking what Natsu was insinuating at.
"Oh but I did Jellal, because I knew that you couldn't go full out since you would be afraid of damaging this precious little tower of yours. FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" he replied as he lunged forward as flames burst forth from both of his arms that he held out straight. Jellal was able to roll out of the way but as he looked back he realized that Natsu didn't care if he missed him because he took out another six pillars causing a good chunk of the ceiling to fall down.
"That's it Salamander, I don't care if I have to rebuild this whole god damn tower from scratch. I'm no longer going to be holding back so I can't wait to see you start begging me for mercy, DARK GRAB!" shouted Jellal as black arms shot from the floor and latched onto Natsu who looked back at him with a blank look.
"Really Jellal, if this is you not holding back then please go back to whatever you called that before." said Natsu as flames burst out from all over his body and burned away the hands like they weren't even there to begin with. Jellal was shocked at how easily he shrugged that off but it gave him enough time to start charging up another Altairis.
"Let's see how you fare against this Salamander, ALTAIRIS!" shouted Jellal with a smirk as he saw Natsu easily dodge it making his grin only grow bigger. Of course this caused Natsu to instantly know something was off so with a quick glance over his shoulder he realized exactly what it was. Because right in the path of Jellal's attack was Erza still kneeling next to Simon's body and looking at the incoming attack like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.
"Shit, FIRE DRAGON'S SHEILD!" bellowed Natsu as he got in front of the spell right before it would have hit her. Erza was completely shocked by this since she had somehow already come to terms with dying at the top of this tower and this happened to be the third time that she thought it was all over for her. The first one was when she had Jellal pinned underneath her and they both could feel Etherion charging up to be fired on them. The next two though caught her off guard since she didn't see herself as someone worthy of saving since she couldn't even stop Jellal.
"Fuck that is quite the spell Jellal you got there." stated Natsu as he dispersed his protective fire wall. Only to be caught off guard as Jellal slammed into his gut and launch him into the ceiling and into the night air. Erza looked up at the whole with a concerned look as she watched a streak of gold and one of crimson continue clashing into each other over and over again as they made their way across the sky. But a little piece of green cloth caught her eyes as it fluttered down from the hole making her concern change from her ex-guild mate to the blue haired man that really might die if the dragon slayer noticed this.
The fight continued in the sky for a few more minutes until she watched them clash into each other one last time to then become a bigger streak of crimson coming plummeting down back at the tower. It took them just a second for them to go smashing through this floor and down into the ones below, but during that split second she caught a glimpse of Natsu holding Jellal by the throat and making him slam head first through anything underneath them.
With Ikaruga:
She honestly didn't know why but she for some reason decided to stay there and wait for Natsu to return to her like he said he would. And after him being gone for no more than five minutes she could start feeling the tower shake from the obviously enraged dragon slayer fighting in the upper floors. She could even feel the heat from his roar all the way down here and could only smile at how rather than feeling threatening like it probably did to most people who felt it, for her it filled her with the sense of security that she had never felt before except for with him.
There were a few minutes where she started to grow concerned because of the lack of shacking and sounds of fighting that she grew accustomed to for that brief period. But she was in for a rude awaking as the two ducking it out above all of a sudden came crashing through the ceiling and continued straight through and down into the ones below. She unlike Erza wasn't expecting it so she couldn't make out what was happening but just from seeing that it was a blazing ball of crimson flames she knew that Natsu was fine.
"You are definitely enjoying this more than you should be." she stated with a smirk as she nestled into the red fur lining of the collar on his coat.
"I would have just slit his throat by now but I guess we each have our own ways of doing things." she said as she could feel them making their way back up. Of course making a new set of holes on the way up and taking out a few pillars along the way since Natsu really didn't care about possibly taking down the tower in the process of bringing down Jellal.
With the others out in a boat a few miles away from the tower now:
"We were actually about to go up against that?" asked Sho in disbelief after witnessing the large roar burst forth from the tower and then the two fighting it out above the tower.
"I honestly wasn't ever going to go up against that man unless everyone else was." stated Wally as he watched the two plummet back into the tower.
"And this is why I said we definitely needed to listen to him when he said we should retreat." said Gray as they all watched dust and other debris shoot out from the tower signaling where the two were currently at.
"See what did I tell you guys, Natsu obviously was going to help us out." declared Lucy with a smug smile as they watched the debris and smoke start going back up meaning that the two were already making their way back up to the top.
"I hope Erza and Simon are both alright." said Millianna with a concerned look on her face since she couldn't help but feel as if something had already gone terribly wrong. And judging from the way that the two were fighting right now it wasn't that hard to believe something could have happened to the other two.
"I'm sure that they're both fine, they're probably just waiting for Natsu to wrap things up." stated Lucy with a warm smile since Millianna seemed like a really nice person from what she's seen so far.
"I still can't believe that Jellal actually planned on the Council firing Etherion at the tower." said Sho as he shook his head at the tower that barely looked close to the tower that they had all worked on for the past eight years of their lives.
"It's amazing that it could actually hold that much energy." stated Wally.
"Yeah but for how long will it be able to hold before it becomes unstable?" asked Gray as they all now looked at the tower with a concerned look since the two battling it out were definitely not slowing down that process at all.
"I think we should probably keep moving away from it before something like that does happen." said Lucy not being able to hide the her uneasiness after hearing that it might become unstable, which she knew would lead to it exploding.
"If only the Water Girl was awake we could really get out of here." said Wally as he looked over at Juvia who still passed out with a happy smile on her face as she every once and a while mumbled Natsu-sama.
"I have a feeling that if she was awake then she would be in the tower right now." stated Gray as he shook his head at how odd his new guild mate was, not noticing that he was already down to his boxers.
Back with Erza:
Just as the rumbling drew closer a new section of the floor exploded with the two of them erupting out of it and Jellal being tossed into a pillar as Natsu let out a triumphant roar.
"This fight isn't over Salamander." growled out Jellal as he got back up on his shaky legs.
"Yes it is Jellal, now give up before I decided to only take back your head like I wanted to do from the beginning." he growled back as Jellal somehow jumped into the air higher than he should have been able to, due to his current injuries.
"GRAND CHARIOT!" shouted Jellal as he did a quick hand sigh and seven magic seals formed in front of him. Only for a line to then go and connect all of them together making it look like it was a constellation and then for a light to blast down directly onto Natsu who was looking up at it questioningly.
"That should be enough to even take out a monster like you Salamander, because not even you could hope to survive the power of a meteor strike." he stated as he landed back down next to Erza and staggered just a bit because of his wounds. Looking at the giant hole he just made in the floor with smoke billowing out of it and taking great pride in bringing down Natsu after he showed that he wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
"Natsu?" asked Erza in disbelief as the tower started to shake because of it no longer being stable after that last attack.
"I already told you Erza that he wasn't your knight in shining armor, now this isn't ideal but I'm pretty sure we can still do the ritual as long as it's within the next ten minutes." he said with crazed look in his eyes as he moved towards her slowly.
"You're correct Jellal, I'm definitely not a knight." said Natsu from within the smoke and scaring both of them since they were confident that he perished after taking on a spell like that head on.
"There is no way you should be alive!" he shouted back as he tried to find the dragon slayer.
"Do you know what I actually am Jellal?" asked Natsu still not showing himself to them.
"Like I give a fuck what you think you are Salamander!" he replied angrily. The next second finding himself laid out flat on his back with Natsu standing over him. Well what he assumed was Natsu but it was kind of hard to tell since his clothes where torn all over and was now covered in blood making him truly look like a monster.
"Well that isn't very polite of you Jellal, but I might as well tell you even if you don't care." said Natsu as he brought his hand down with his fingers sinking into Jellal's shoulder like it was soft butter causing the man to hiss out in pain. "I'm a dragon." he stated with a smirk as Jellal started to scream out in pain as Natsu lit his hand currently stuck into the man on fire. But he didn't stop there; he continued to increase the intensity of his flames while also using his other hand to start dealing out crushing blows to whatever he could reach.
Erza could only watch in horror as Natsu savagely laid into Jellal and wasn't showing any signs of letting up soon. She could only assume that this is what he did to Jose that day since the screams of pain sounded eerily similar to what she heard back then. She wanted to stop him but honestly see was too scared to even say his name and possibly become the focus of his anger so she just sat back and watched it continue on for three more horrendous minutes.
"I should really just kill you right now Jellal, but I don't think they would look too kindly on that now would they?" he asked the brutally beaten body of Jellal who had passed out a full minute ago.
"Natsu is that you?" asked Erza in a scarred tone that caught him off guard since it sounded so wrong coming from her.
"Yes it is Erza, who else would it be?" he asked her back.
"I don't know, it just seemed like what I just saw earlier wasn't you." she replied clearly not wanting to look at the man covered in blood that was mainly his but definitely had a bit of Jellal's.
"No that was all me Erza, now I need to go get Ikaruga and then we're getting the fuck out of here." he said no longer have the modifications that come with dragon force that she saw him have earlier. Natsu gave Jellal another kick and then headed down the stairs picking up his pace as he finally took notice at how much the tower was now shaking.
"You actually came back." stated Ikaruga in a slightly surprised tone.
"Of course I did, you've got my coat." he replied with a smirk as her response to that was to start glaring at him.
"So are you going to give it back?" he asked as his smirk just got bigger.
"Fuck you Salamander!" she shouted as she tossed his coat at the ground in front of his feet to the turn away from him as he started to chuckle at her response.
"Oh don't be like that; you know I was just messing around. And I think you look good in my coat by the way." he said as he picked it back up and draped it over her and then quickly scooped her up before she could object.
"Just leave me here to die." she said quietly after he had already carried her across the bridge and started to take her up the stairs.
"Not going to happen so quit asking for me to let you die." he replied while giving her one of his old toothy grins. Causing her to decide to rest her face against his chest and close her eyes and enjoy being held by him like this with neither of them speaking until they finally made it back to the top floor.
"Where the hell did she go?" he asked as soon as he noticed Erza no longer next to Simon's body. When he finally saw her he was so surprised he almost dropped Ikaruga due to the sheer shock of seeing her slowly going into the tower of her own free will.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing Erza?" he shouted while setting Ikaruga down harder than he wanted to but that didn't matter when compared to what was going on with Erza at the moment.
"I'm saving everyone." replied Erza with a sad smile as she looked back at him with teary eyes.
"Like hell you are!" he shouted back as he started heading towards her but fell over clutching his side in pain. Thinking that of course he had to start feeling the side effects of using dragon force now of all times.
"Natsu the tower is going to blow soon and wipe out everything in at least a ten mile radius. Unless someone merges with it and directs it up into the air where it won't harm anyone, so we don't really have any choice." she said now almost completely inside of it with only one of her arms and her head sticking out.
"Erza don't do this, think of everyone at Fairy Tail." he pleaded with her in the hopes that she would stop this foolishness as he continued to try and reach her.
"I am Natsu, and it's because of them that I'm doing this otherwise the rest of them will die here as well. And if I do this only one of us has too die." she replied with one last smile before she went all the way into it just before he slammed into it trying to get a hold of her.
"No one should have to die!" screamed Natsu as he punched into spot she was at just moment ago with his flames now shooting out from him.
"She's gone Natsu, but now we at least have a chance at surviving." stated Ikaruga now in a sitting position with sad look gracing her face. Not because of Erza sacrificing herself but because of how clearly upset Natsu was about someone once again sacrificing themselves in order to save him.
"No… I'm not letting it happen again!" he shouted as he was engulfed in his flames as he put both of his hands against the spot in front of him. And to Ikaruga's surprise he actually started to sink in as he screamed out in rage with his crimson flames violently shooting off of him until he too finally disappeared inside of the tower.
"Natsu?" she asked in a quiet tone, not believing that he just disappeared like that. And just like that the one person that she was starting to believe would actually help her and be with her was gone, making her hang her head down to possibly start quietly crying before it all came to an end. But before she could do that last part the spot where Natsu and Erza both disappeared at started to change to a light red that progressively changed towards a deep crimson.
It continued like this until with a blinding flash it exploded with Natsu's unmistakable crimson flames filling the spot that used to be a part of the tower. With him standing in the center of it with an unconscious Erza Scarlet in his arms as he let out another roar of triumph while his flames grew with his declaration to the world of his victory. Seeing this made a sly grin spread across Ikaruga's face as she realized that nothing could stand before a dragon and what it wants, and apparently she was under that category which made her grin only get bigger.
"You're an even bigger idiot than I ever was." said Natsu with a slight smile as he looked down at Erza in his arms, but was brought out of his musing by the tower starting to shake violently again.
"Congratulations Natsu, now we can all die together." stated Ikaruga in an amused tone that perfectly matched her current smirk. His response to this was a slight scoff as he placed Erza down and then picked up the unconscious body of Jellal and walked over to the hole behind the two women he was trying to save today, and with a crazed grin taking over his face his one fist caught on fire.
"Natsu what are you planning on doing?" she asked hesitantly.
"FIRE DRAGON'S CRUSHING IRON FIST!" he shouted and hit Jellal with a flaming fist that was also being enhanced by the flames shooting out of his elbow. "Isn't that obvious Ikaruga, I'm saving all of our lives." he replied looking back at her with the same crazed grin. And before she could reply she was tossed over one of his shoulders with Erza being slung over the other one and him then jumping out of the tower.
But rather than falling straight down like she predicted them to they were flying out form the tower at a shocking rate. Of course this was still with them falling down, but now she knew they were at least going to fall into the water rather than the island that the tower was on. Even with Natsu catapulting them away from the tower at insane speeds thanks to his flames, it didn't seem like they were going to escape the explosion that Ikaruga was now witnessing taking place behind them.
In a split second the tower erupted into a giant blue explosion that knocked Natsu out of the sky and sent his group straight into the water below. But that was all it did because as soon as it hit them it seemed to get sucked back in on itself to then erupt straight back into the sky, leaving behind nothing in its place.
A few minutes later as Erza regained consciousness:
The first thing she felt was an intense sense of pain all throughout her body which she didn't expect to feel in the afterlife. Actually she didn't even know if she believed in the afterlife as she slowly opened her eyes and was then met with pink locks of hair, which instantly brought a smile to her face. Although upon closer inspection the hair was way too long to be his, which meant it could only be one other person that she would rather not be facing in her current state.
"Easy now Titania, neither of us are in any sort of condition to fight." stated Ikaruga quietly as she looked at Erza's face that was at first angry but then slowly went to her usual stern expression.
"What happened?" she asked back.
"He happened." replied Ikaruga as she nodded to her left that was right next to the chest of someone in a torn and blood stained white vest and an equally torn and dirtied shirt. That was when Erza realized why the two of them were so close to each other at the moment, because right now they were both being held against the chest of Natsu Dragneel. Who at the moment looked like he might drop dead any second now due to the countless wounds that littered his body or even from a severe case of exhaustion.
"Natsu I…" she started but didn't know what to say as her words seemed to be caught in her throat.
"Erza I'm only going to tell you this once. You don't die for your friends, you live for them because that is honestly the best thing you can do. And if you ever get the stupid idea of trying to sacrifice yourself again like that I will once again stop you just so I can kill you myself." he stated while glaring down at her with an intensity that she had never seen him use even against his foes.
"Natsu I…" she started again but was cut off by him. "If your next words aren't I promise to never do it again I might as well end you right now. Because at least that way Fairy Tail can think of you as a hero rather than a coward that chose to take the easy way out." he said still glaring at her as they then stayed that way for a few moments in silence.
"Now don't get me wrong Erza, what Happy and Simon did was what they both believed to be the only option for them to protect the ones that they loved. And for all I know it was and I will unfortunately never get to thank them for doing it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a slightly selfish act for them to do since now we both have to live on for their sakes as well. That right there is why I'm so disappointed in you Erza because you were so quick to throw away the life that Simon gave his all to protect." he finished now with a sad frown.
"I promise I'll never do something like that again Natsu." she replied as she started to cry into his chest and continued to do so for a few more minutes. Knowing that Natsu wouldn't think any less of her because of it since he too knew exactly how hard it was to watch someone you care about sacrifice themselves for you.
"Well I'd say something like take care of yourself Erza but I already know that you will. So I guess you can tell the rest of the guild I say hi." he said, finally breaking the silence while also getting up after gently getting Erza off of him and into a sitting position. Ikaruga on the other hand was now being held by him bridle style causing the woman to have a slight blush.
"Please don't go yet Natsu." she said with a pleading look sent his way.
"Sorry but I have to go track down that blue haired bastard and turn him in. Besides the rest of them will be here in a few moments since they're screaming for you right now." he replied while turning away from her and starting to slowly walk away.
"Wait Natsu, you said you'd explain things later." she pointed out which brought him to a standstill.
"That I did Erza but I never did say when that time would be, but since I'm feeling nice I'll tell you what I assume you want to know the most right now. The Council has decided to occasionally send me bounty requests that will most likely end with me dying, which I'm fine with because those are the ones that pay the best." he responded while grinning at her over his shoulder and then going back to walking away from her until he could no longer sense her presence anymore, where he then pretty much collapsed to his knees while still keeping Ikaruga from suffering any harm.
"Are you always going to put on this tough guy act?" asked Ikaruga with her usual smirk.
"Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation that I've been working on recently as being an unstoppable monster." he replied with a slight chuckle as he set her down.
"So what is really going on, since I know what you told Titania was only a half truth?" she asked him, but was completely blown off by him as he seemed to be looking intensely at something in the ocean. She tried to see what had caught his attention but couldn't see anything even after waiting for a few minutes.
"So I've decided what we're going to do about your old guild." he stated all of a sudden with a grin spread aross his face.
"Don't pretend that you didn't hear my earlier question Salamander." she said in a commanding tone but was once again completely ignored by him, which irritated her to no end but decided he probably had his reasons. "And what pray tell is your plan Salamander?" she asked in an irritated tone.
"We're going to destroy it of course, and with your knowledge it should actually be pretty easy for the two of us to do." he said with a smile that didn't fit the conversation that they were currently having. Needless to say this stunned Ikaruga since he was being completely honest to her when he said this to her and had every intention of doing it.
"You do know that they are all highly trained assassins?" she asked just wanting to make sure he knew what he was proposing, which he apparently did since he gave her a scoff while rolling his eyes. "You do realize that you'll probably have to kill a lot of them." she stated with a small smile now on her face.
"I was actually planning on killing all of them since you said they were going to be stupid enough to try and take you away from me." he replied with a devious grin spreading across his face now.
"Aren't you the possessive one, but that would probably be the only way for me to not have to worry about being constantly hunted down by them at least." said Ikaruga with a slight giggle at the beginning.
"That I am, now are you finally going to show yourself Mystogan?' asked Natsu as he looked out at the ocean again.
"Natsu there's no one out there." she stated only to be shocked when Mystogan appeared with the badly beaten and burnt body of Jellal under his arm.
"Those senses of yours are quite the formidable foe." replied Mystogan as he continued to walk towards them.
"That was you wasn't it." stated Natsu as he intently stared at the mage walking towards them.
"I have no idea what you're talking about Salamander, but I think you have some unfinished business with this man." he said while dropping Jellal right in front of him.
"That I do but I find it odd that you of all people are helping me right now." said Natsu as he reached forward and grabbed the Wizard Saint medallion off of Jellal that was shockingly still there. And with a quick yank he broke the chain and then instantly put it into his pocket dimension with a smirk.
"What's odd about a friend helping out another friend when they need it?" he asked in an amused tone.
"Nothing I guess, but don't think this means that I owe you shit Mystogan." replied Natsu with a slight glare.
"I wouldn't dream of it Natsu, so I guess we'll be seeing each other around." he stated before dissolving right in front of them with no trace of him ever being there in the first place.
"Who the hell was that?" asked Ikaruga with a shocked look on her face.
"Just an old guild member that has interacted with me way more now that I'm no longer a member of Fairy Tail." answered Natsu as he dropped two pairs of magic suppressing cuffs onto Ikaruga's lap.
"I didn't peg you for a guy liking to be bound." she said with a sultry grin spread across her lips.
"They're for him, and you would be correct about me not liking being bound. But if you want to be I'm okay with that but first I need some rest." he replied before falling onto his back and closing his eyes while letting out a tired sigh as he thought about how much trouble today was for him.
End of Chapter
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed what I did since I tried to keep it somewhat similar to what happened while also having it still being different enough to hopefully keep you interested. If I didn't accomplish that please let me know where I fail so I can hopefully do better if I ever try something similar to this in the future. So I was thinking that I might have the next chapter be about Ikaruga and Natsu destroying Death's Head Cacous, but if you guys don't want that and would rather me to get straight to Fairy Tail's fighting festival then that is what I'll do. Feel free to leave a review or pm since they are always greatly appreciated and I'll try to reply back as soon as I can.
Also a quick heads up on something that I'm going to do which will hopefully allow me to update these stories quicker, something that a few of you have been asking for, and if you'd like to find out what I'm planning on doing check out my profile since I don't want to waste any more of your time than I already have with this sentence here at the end.
Until the next Chapter
Digem Out!