And here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy. Your reviews really encouraged me thank you.
In regards to the final pairings I'll let it go on for a little longer, but it definitely will have Nali
With one mighty roar Natsu dashed down towards land and tackled Acnologia into a field of trees, Natsu's claws crushing the black dragon's head beneath the earth; not letting himself be outmatched Acnologia swung his tail and flung Natsu away. Standing up the apocalypse dragon shook his head trying to regain his senses; his eyes glared at Natsu, charging towards him the black dragon raised his fist, dark energy began forming; bringing up his wings Natsu blocking the blow sending shock-waves around them, pushing the claw back Natsu revealed his own burning fist and sent it flying towards Acnologia.
The Fairy Tail group all stood as far back as possible observing the battle that raged on between the two Dragons, they watched Acnologia be pushed back and next thrown across the island, Makorav noted how Natsu was careful not to bring the fight close to the Tenrou tree or where Mavis' grave stood, it seemed that he didn't want to cause too much damage to the island;
"hmm, it seems Hades really did a whole lot on Natsu-sama's magic power" Wendy muttered,
"what do you mean?" Lisanna asked,
"Natsu-sama is much stronger than what you are seeing right now" Wendy explained,
"I don't think that's it" all eyes on Makarov now, "I think Natsu's holding back his power" Wendy could believe that, knowing Natsu he wouldn't want to harm his friends just because he accidentally released too much power,
"if that's the case then I have a feeling Acnologia is holding back as well, but from the way things are going I don't think the black dragon will be doing that any longer" and just as Gajeel spoke those words Acnologia took flight, ascending high above the clouds, Natsu followed in pursuit; now only their massive ominous shadows were visible, their roars continued to echo into the distance; this was a battle that they would never forget.
Within the skies, the two Kings stared each other off, neither one saying anything. Then Natsu acted, he flapped his wings and with one swoop attacked Acnologia, giving out a roar the black dragon stopped the attack and pushed back, they were in stalemate now, but throwing Natsu aside Acnologia gathered dark energy above him, Natsu reacted by flying away; the dark energy blasted its way towards Natsu splitting apart into multiple particles and chased after their target. Natsu with his swift flying easily dodged the black beams but grunted as he noticed more coming his way, making a sharp left then right he flew in zigzags forcing the attacks to collide against each other, he made a quick u-turn and towards Acnologia who in turn began dashing away, now the two dragons were racing against each other each one attacking the other with their claws whenever they got the chance, Acnologia began forming dark energy once again, Natsu retaliated by gathering his own, a ball of fire formed behind him and by his command they split off, following close behind him, slowly the million bolts of fire circled around Natsu and by another command they began attacking Acnologia, the black dragon also attacked with his bolts of dark energy but to no avail as the circling bolts of fire intercepted each one protecting their master while Natsu's own attack struck Acnologia exploding on impact.
Back on Tenrou Island, Fairy Tail could only watch in amazement as they saw fire explode behind the clouds the two shadows dashed along the sky at high speeds that at some points they would lose sight of them. It was as if a powerful storm was brewing behind the clouds, it was terrifying yet mesmerizing at the same time,
"it looks like Natsu-sama has used one of his four" Wendy mumbled,
"four?" Lucy asked,
"Natsu has four spells that are considered to be legendary among the Dragon Race" Gajeel explained, they looked to him now, "you see those explosions up there and what looks like a trail of fire" their eyes followed to where he was pointing, "that spell is called Heaven's Wrath"
"Natsu-sama calls forth balls of fire to his aid, under his command they will protect him from harm or rain destruction on his foes" Wendy said, "but your all wondering what's so special about it right" they flinched back realizing they were caught red handed, Wendy smiled "a Dragon's magic is ranked based on how big of an impact it will make on the world; a single bolt from that spell has the power to level a city, now imagine millions of them" she waited as the information set in, "it has the ability to wipe out all life in a country"
"then what about the other three?" Erza asked, by this point almost afraid to get an answer,
"that's a secret".
Dashing through the clouds, the two Kings clashed against one another, their claws slashing through the thick air. Natsu noticing dark clouds in the distance flew into it with Acnologia behind him; now using the darkness and his superior speed to his advantage he circled around the black dragon striking him with his claws and tail whenever he got close; this continued for a good minute leaving Acnologia with scratches and bruises but with one roar the black dragon cleared out the clouds revealing the light, but there was no sign of Natsu, looking around he eyed his surroundings carefully when he realized a shadow looming over him he looked up. Natsu with his wings spread held up his arms a massive ball of fire forming above, flinging it down the fire consumed Acnologia imprisoning him. Black energy engulfing him, Acnologia released a nova of energy clearing the flames but this was able to give Natsu enough time to close in, striking the black dragon in the jaw with a flaming punch. Regaining posture Acnologia swatted Natsu back and fired his breath attack in four short bursts all of them hitting Natsu on the chest, the burns were minor his armored skin managed to withstand that attacks, next he was whipped across as Acnologia struck Natsu with his tail. Flung back Natsu felt his dragon form withering, if he wanted to end this he needed to end it soon. Eyes flaring Natsu gathered energy around his claws, spreading his wings Acnologia charged towards him dark energy gathering around his body; and with one swoop Natsu swung his flamed claws.
There was a loud bang high in the distance all onlookers looked up as a body dropped towards them, their hearts stopped for a moment, their eyes trying to see who had fallen, they saw black and blue, a small smile formed on their lips as they all jumped cheering. Acnologia came crashing down into the water; Natsu landed back onto the island, flames covering his body before he reverted back into human form,
"this is my limit" he gasped out, he was slightly irritated though, not being able to fully utilize his full strength felt incredibly restricting, as if there was something nagging him at the back of his mind; two more years, that was all he needed to be at his prime; he would need to be if he wanted to defeat Acnologia, he felt the Apocalypse dragon hold back much of his strength, though he was able to use this to his advantage. Suddenly there was an explosion erupting from the sea, Natsu watched the black dragon land in front of him, observing the dragons severe wounds he inwardly smirked, those would take a while to heal at least it brought him some time to regain his power,
"looks like this is your victory" Natsu called out to the dragon, Acnologia didn't respond only prepared his claw ready to kill his opponent.
Mavis Vermillion the first master of Fairy Tail, she was a very carefree individual having been raised by a rather carefree Dragon, the girl stood up from the branch of a tree looking down at the sight before her, eyes wandering around and spotted her beloved pink haired Dragon Slayer, the man who she considers to be her father; eyes widening as she watched him face the massive dragon, panic spread across her face, fully knowing that her Master had run out of magic energy, she was ready to interfere when she spotted a group of people running towards him, she held back and smiled at the sight, clasping her hands she prayed for their safety.
Acnologia let out one last roar, when suddenly his attention turned as a figure appeared behind him, a powerful bladed slash cut deep into the Dragon's left eye, the figure landed in front of Natsu, her eyes flaring with anger,
"Don't you dare lay a finger on my king!" Wendy roared, Acnologia shrugged off the sudden attack, but was hit by a powerful blast of ice and water,
"you alright Natsu?" Gajeel asked as he stood by his side,
"you know me Gajeel, it takes more than that to take me down" Natsu responded, Gajeel grinned; their relationship can be summed up as one thing, rivals. Despite Natsu being his king he always considered him his greatest opponent, but don't misunderstand, his loyalty to Natsu is unquestioned, he would rather die than betray his king, rather he considered Natsu's power a goal to strive for, a means to get stronger. The Tenrou team all piled in attacking Acnologia with everything they could dish out,
"All of you!" Laxus called out, "I want you to throw your strongest attack at him, and if you even think of saying 'that's all I've got', I'll kick your ass!" everyone smiled and began channeling their strongest spells. Natsu fell to his knees completely exhausted from his earlier fight, he then felt someone lift him up to his feet, looking; he came eye to eye with Lisanna,
" you need to rest, you've done more than enough" she said,
"not enough it seems, Acnologia is a lot tougher than what he makes himself out to be" Natsu responded,
"don't worry, we'll get out of this alive, all of us will" she smiled warmly at the Dragon Slayer who smiled back. Having been hit by the combined power of all the Fairy Tail members, Acnologia let out a roar ready to swipe them all away with his tail when suddenly both Wendy and Gajeel appeared before the Dragon's eyes; Wendy sent out gusts of wind whipping Acnologia to the side leaving gashes on his chest; next Gajeel controlling his iron sand formed a guillotine above the Dragon which came crashing down on him. As the smoke cleared, they could all see that the Iron Dragon Slayer's attack was blocked by Acnologia's wings but they left their mark as one large cut was sliced across his wings. Erza was in awe, and she was sure the others were feeling the same; all of their combined efforts did nothing to the Apocalypse Dragon, yet those three alone had managed to greatly wound him. Was this the power of a Dragon Slayer? No, Erza thought, this was the power of Dragon's. Natsu grinned at the fight, a small bit of pride built up as he watched his old companions rise up to face the foe that is considerably stronger than them. He didn't know why Acnologia was holding back especially knowing that if he continued to let Wendy and Gajeel attack him in such a manner they would eventually kill him. Was this a test? The Fire Dragon Slayer wondered; was it to see if he and his companions had the power to defeat him. Or was it just simply because he cannot take human's seriously. But with all these questions in mind Natsu knew one thing; Acnologia wanted to confirm his very existence. Chuckling to himself, catching everyone's attention as he and Lisanna made their way to the rest of the group,
"Acnologia has yet to unleash his full power" he explained to them, "he's toying with us" everyone with the exception of Gildarts who knew from the start, stood stunned by his words all looking afraid of the Dragon, "but that doesn't mean anything, because Wendy and Gajeel aren't using their full power either"
"what! Then they should stop toying around and finish him off" Elfman cried out,
"it's not that simple"
"out with it then" Gray shouted, "we don't have time for this" the others couldn't help but agree,
"Like me their powers are scattered when we were reborn, it takes time for us to gather it all back" Natsu explained, "and it took me two years to only gather fifty percent of my power"
"you mean you weren't even at your strongest when you fought Acnologia! Yet you did that much damage to him" Makarov cried out,
"you could say that, if Hades didn't temporarily drain away more of my powers, I probably would have been able to deal more damage to him" it was at this point did they truly realize just how powerful Natsu was, they could only imagine what he would be like if he was at his prime, but just thinking about it sent a chills down their spines,
"then shouldn't we help them?" Lucy asked pointing at the fight before them, Natsu shook his head,
"we would only be in the way" they were all surprised by how calm Natsu was, completely different from the hot headed, act before thinking individual they all knew, it was something that would take time to get used to, "do not underestimate The Sky Empress and The Iron Emperor, even with their limited powers they are still strong, but I'm not sure if they will be able to hold out much longer, especially with the little magic energy they have", all looked afraid for their comrades, mentally hitting themselves for not being able to help,
"Sky Empress and Iron Emperor?" Mira spoke up, Natsu nodded,
"Wendy and Gajeel's titles back when we were still Dragon's; they represent their status as rulers of the sky and earth". Back in the midst of the fight between the two Dragon Slayers and Acnologia, Gajeel cringed a bit as felt his wound open, he looked up at the rising dragon attempting to swat Wendy out of the sky,
"this guy just won't quit" he muttered through gritted teeth,
"at this rate were both going to be out of magic power" Wendy called out, but that didn't matter as the Black Dragon, with his wings sent a gust of wind throwing both Wendy and Gajeel away. Natsu and the others sprinted towards their location, worry filled their features. Levy ran towards Gajeel and helped him onto his feet; she could see that his bandages were soaked in blood. Natsu managed to get Wendy back to her senses, he glared up at Acnologia who took flight, as everyone was trying to see if the two Dragon Slayers were okay Natsu stepped forward, taking a deep breath he began gathering energy into his body, Wendy eyes widening realizing what her King was about to do,
"Don't do it!" she screamed, all eyes know on Natsu, "Somebody stop him!" Erza, Gray and Elfman ran towards the Dragon Slayer but was cut off as a wall of fire separated them, Natsu looked back at them a strained smile formed on his lips,
"sorry guys" he said, realization struck them like a ton of bricks,
"you bastard, don't you dare!" Gray shouted,
"you're a hypocrite Natsu" Erza growled out, "wasn't it you who told me not to do such things?" Natsu froze not sure what to say,
"I guess you'll just have to beat me up after all of this is over" Natsu swallowed the blue orb of energy, a pulse of energy flared up from him, letting out a deep breath he calmed his nerves and stared up at Acnologia as the Dragon prepared his breath attack, channeling all power to his throat he chanted his spell,
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" an explosive blast of crimson orange fire erupted from Natsu's mouth, it was far more powerful than anything they've seen Natsu do before, the blast of fire shot towards Acnologia, getting closer and closer, but suddenly something went amiss for Natsu; cringing in pain he stopped the attack short and grabbed a hold of his chest, spitting out blood he fell to his knees. The wall of fire disappeared as Erza, Gray and Elfman dashed to his side with everyone else close behind,
"Natsu!" Erza cried out, Wendy pushed through the crowd and quickly got to healing Natsu who fell unconscious,
"he pushed his body far past its limits" she explained to the others, they noticed a light coming from above them, they looked up to Acnologia's raging attack, right now they could only wait for the inevitable. They joined their hands; their hearts and spirit were one. With one attack Acnologia launched a powerful beam from his mouth, it hit Tenrou Island; the impact was so powerful that it sent powerful waves across the ocean. Those that had gathered around the island could only stare in disbelief as they watched Tenrou Island be struck by such a powerful attack. They would never forget was has transpired here, the appearance of the Dragon that had outclassed the Dragon of the Apocalypse, the way the two clashed above the clouds, the thunderous roar, the wave of power that the mysterious dragon emitted. And with those thoughts Tenrou Island disappeared without a trace.
And so ends the first Arc of this story, look forward to the next one coming soon