Gajeel succeeded in defending Natalia against Sonder. He was able to free her from her cuffs and take Sonder out, but there was still one major problem. That problem was Rod and Natsu was fighting him all on his own. At the same time Gajeel was helping out Natalia, this was going on. Natsu and Rod continued to fight each other. They kept trying to strike at each other and they were both moving at incredible speed. Natsu was giving it all, but Rod wasn't bothered by him in the slightest.
"There!" Rod shouted as he gave Natsu a strong uppercut and sent him flying in the air. Rod used his teleportation magic and appeared over Natsu and slammed his knee against him to have Natsu crash into the ground. "You're finished!" Rod dived down and was going to use his hand to pierce through Natsu, but Natsu flipped back and avoided him. However, Rod teleported again and gave Natsu a strong kick that pushed him back. Rod teleported again and was about to strike again, but Natsu has just about had it with him. "You don't have the power to defeat me!"
"That all means nothing if I can't protect my friends!" Natsu said. Both of them slammed their legs against each other with neither of them backing down. Natsu pulled back his fist and readied to attack. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"
"Like that will work." Rod said. Natsu tried to strike Rod, but Rod blocked his fist and was able to keep the flames away. Rod slammed Natsu against the floor and tossed him away, but Natsu slid on his feet and was able to stay up. Natsu has burned through a lot of power against Rod and Rod's hardly broken a sweat. He's just too fast and his attacks are more effective. Natsu looked up, but was met with Rod grabbing him by his neck and lifting his feet off the ground.
"Let go." Natsu said as he tried to get free.
"This fight is just about over. You did well to get this far, but you're going to die here." Rod said. "I can see your desire to protect everyone gives you strength, but that wasn't enough against me."
"I'll show you." Natsu said as he was able to plant his feet firmly on the ground and grabbed Rod's arm. Natsu spun around with all his might and went faster and faster with Rod going around and around. When Natsu built enough force, he tossed Rod into the air. "Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu tossed the fireball, but Rod teleported out of the way and landed on the ground. Natsu didn't stop as he charged right at him to attack again.
"You're a quick thinker when it comes to fighting, but you seem to make stupid mistakes." Rod said. He held out his fingers and used his bullet magic and hit Natsu right in his shoulder and caused him to stop. Rod didn't stop as he teleported behind Natsu and shot him again. Rod used a combination of both forms of magic as he shot magic bullets from all directions around Natsu and there was no escape for him. Rod appeared once more and gave Natsu a powerful kick to cause him to slide back.
"Is that the best you can do?" Natsu said as he took some deep breaths. He tried to stay strong, but that was difficult to do against Rod.
"So you want something more painful?" Rod said. "I can help with that." He held out his fingers again, but this time it appeared a smaller flicker of a flame came around his fingers. "Burning Bullet!" The small flicker shot like a bullet.
"You're using fire against me? That's just what I…." Natsu was confident that it wouldn't work against him, but he was wrong. That attack hit and it felt like flames burst around Natsu and it actually hurt. It exploded around him and knocked him down. It appeared to be a losing battle against him for Natsu.
"Now have you had enough?" Rod questioned.
"Not yet." Natsu said as he tried to push himself off the ground. "Why did that one hurt? Fire isn't suppose to hurt me."
"It wasn't exactly fire." Rod said. "That last bullet I used on you was concentrated ethernano that was extremely heated and it took the form of a small flame. You're really a glutton for punishment, aren't you? Why not just lay down and save your strength so I can kill you? It be a lot less painful because it would be over quickly and you have less injuries."
"Keep dreaming." Natsu said as he was able to stand again. "There's no way I'm going to die here. My friends are waiting for me."
"Argh. I'm starting to get tired with your little friend talk." Rod said.
"Don't worry. When I'm done with you, you won't be able to hear or do much of anything." Natsu said. "I'm about to burn you down into a pile of ashes."
"How do you plan on doing that?" Rod questioned. Natsu was bringing out the very best of his power as the flames around him became intense. Rod could feel the heat, the power, and the intensity in the flames and could tell this wasn't going to be a normal attack.
"Let's see you dodge this! Fire Dragon King Destruction Fist!" Natsu unleashed the power in his flames that engulfed most of the room. That's what caused the explosion from before as the wall was blown right off. "That should do it. That finished him."
"You think so?" Rod said as he appeared right behind him and held his fingers against Natsu's side. "Burning Bullet!" Rod fired at point-blank range and caused a lot of damage to Natsu. Natsu was blown against the wall and knocked right down to the floor. That's what brought us to right now. "That was some attack." Rod didn't completely escaped unscathed. He had some burns around him, but he was able to avoid it. "You lasted a lot longer than I thought, but it's time to grow up to reality. You can't always expect things to go the way you want them to."
"Natsu!" Rod turned to the giant hole in the wall and could see the platform with Natalia at the end of it.
"So she's still around. I didn't expect Sonder to actually put up a fight." Rod said. Gajeel raced to the end and saw what Natalia saw.
"No way! Salamander's down? That bastard actually beat him?" Gajeel questioned.
"Natsu! Get up!" Natalia cheered.
"No point in cheering. This battle is over." Rod said and walked towards them. "I'll just have to finish it myself." Natsu was down and it didn't seem like he was getting back up.
…
The Tower
Everyone else heard the explosion go off and knew there was only one person that could have been responsible for it. The explosion caused most of the place to shake and was wondering what was going on down there.
"What's that fire idiot doing? Is he trying to bring the place down with us in it?" Laxus said.
"That's how Natsu is." Juvia said.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Happy said. "I think something might be wrong with Natsu."
"You don't think he's hurt, do you?" Erza said.
"No way. Natsu couldn't be defeated." Gray said.
"Shouldn't we be hearing Natsu cry out in victory or something? Something's going on down there." Happy said. All of them knew Natsu pretty well and could see what Happy was talking about.
"No way!" Lucy said and got everyone's attention. "Natsu could never be defeated when he knows that his friends are in danger. He'll win. The fight he's in isn't over. It can't be over." All of them knew Lucy was right and there's no way for them to believe Natsu could actually have been beaten.
…..
Natsu
If they saw the state he was in, they wouldn't think any differently. Natsu may look like he's down for the count, but they believe in their hearts that Natsu is still going to find a way to win. Natalia may not know Natsu very well, but she has seen his power and she needs to believe it as well.
"Natsu! Get up!" Natalia shouted. "You can't be done for! I saw you fight! I know how powerful you are! There's no way you would let Rod beat you! You're much stronger than that! So why are you just lying there?! Get up!"
"Cheer all you want. It isn't going to make the least bit of…." Rod didn't finish that sentence as he heard a noise behind him and it was starting to dry out his patience. He turned around and saw Natsu trying to get back up.
"She's right." Natsu said. "We're not done yet. I've got to keep fighting." Rod decided to just ignore him this time and kept walking. "Get back here."
"Our fight is over." Rod said. "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to kill all of your friends. Some despair will do you some good. You'll learn how harsh reality can be."
"Shut up!" Natsu shouted as he slammed his fist on the ground and got right back up. "I don't care about any of that! Keep your lessons because you're not killing anyone! I'm going to end this."
"You can fight for your friends all you want, but if you can't overpower me, it's all for nothing." Rod said.
"I said shut up!" Natsu said as he charged right at him and tried striking as hard and fast as he could. 'I can beat him. I know I can. The problem is that speed and all that teleporting. I just need to figure out how to get past that.' He thought.
"Why don't you just die already?!" Rod said as his patience with him has run out. Rod pounded Natsu hard across the face, but Natsu grabbed a hold of his arm and bit his arm. "Petty fighting moves? Is that all you can do now?" Rod gave Natsu another strong hit and caused him to slide back. "You're out of power, out of strength, and about to run out of life!" Rod teleported again and Natsu looked around for him. Rod appeared right over Natsu and was ready to end this. 'I'm through playing around with him. It's time I ended this!' He thought as he was powering up another blast and was going to end this.
"No!" Suddenly, a vine came out of nowhere and wrapped around his ankle.
"What?!" Rod said. That gave away his location and Natsu spotted him. "You're still dead!" Rod was going to use his bullet magic, but suddenly some plants placed seal stone cuffs on him and blocked him from using his magic. Natsu knew this magic and looked to the platform to see it was Natalia's doing.
"Natsu! Now! Finish him now!" Natalia shouted. Natsu focused all the power he had left and was bringing it out to his limit.
"Fire Dragon King Roar!" Natsu breathed out his mightiest flame and blasted Rod with it and it was incinerating everything in its path. Everyone saw the flames shoot in the air and knew it was Natsu winning this battle. Rod couldn't handle all that power as he was shot into the air with him passed out. Rod came crashing down and slammed into the water. Thus, the final member of E.R.7. was beaten. Natsu exerted a lot of his power as he collapsed and rolled on his back. "I did it. I told that bastard I would do it and I did." Natsu took one last deep breath. "We're ALL going back to the guild! Natalia!" Everyone heard his call and signal Fairy Tail's victory. None was happier than Natalia for she was finally free from the fate of E.R.