Chapter 28: An Inevitable Melee! Erza's Scheme and the Dragon Chain Cannon!

"Hey guys!" Another familiar voice shouted. Sanji looked at the direction Natsu came and Luffy running towards them.

"Hey Luffy!" Sanji said, greeting his captain.

"We got it." Gray said, showing the key that he made. "I know this key is going to work, you hear me? We can save our friends with this." Gray said but was cut off when the sounds of footsteps were heard. They looked at the direction where the sound came from and saw Erza walking towards them.

"So, I've found you and it seems that you have the key." She said.

"Whoa, it's Erza." Natsu said.

"Hold on, something's not right." Gray said, getting a closer at "Erza". "She's from Edolas."

"I don't believe it…" Natsu said, looking at Edo-Erza. "Our Erza lost?!" Then ice key that made fell to the floor and scattered as the scene went black.


"Damn it, where am I now?" Zoro said, walking to another dead end. Even since he defeated his Edolas counterpart, he's been wandering around the castle to look for the others. But like always, he managed to get himself lost…again. "What's with this world? Almost everywhere I turn, I find a dead end." Then the swordsmen heard footsteps and quickly hid behind one of the nearby pillars. He looked behind the pillar and saw Erza Knightwalker dragging four unconscious bodies towards some kind of door with soldiers guarding it. On one hand, she was dragging Natsu and Gray. On the other, she was dragging Luffy and Sanji.

'Those idiots…' Zoro thought. 'How they let themselves get captured?!'

"Glad to see that you're unharmed, Captain Knightwalker." One of the soldiers said.

"You idiot, she is obviously harmed." Another soldiers said. "Did you need assistance captain?"

"Don't trouble yourselves." Knightwalker said as the soldiers ran towards her.

"May I ask who these men are?" The first soldier asked, looking at the four unconscious boys.

"They're keys to the Dragon Chain Cannon."

"I don't understand." The second soldier said.

"Is his majesty inside?" Knightwalker asked.

"Of course, captain."The soldier said as the door opens up before the Edolas captain.

"We're very close, men." Knightwalker said. "Everlasting power is within reach."


Elsewhere in Edolas, Lucy Ashley stares out into the desert plains with her guild behind her.

"Come on, what's with the hold up?" Edo-Lucy said to herself.

"You do it." Edo-Luffy said to his partner. "She's like you better."

"Yeah, I guess…" Edo-Natsu said as he walked up to Edo-Lucy. "So what are we doing out in the middle of nowhere like this? I'm just curious."

"We're waiting for someone." Edo-Lucy said.

"Waiting for who?"

"Do you have some sort of plan in the works?" Edo-Gray questioned.

"Maybe…" Edo-Lucy said. "But if I'm going to convince the others, I need to get all of the credible info that I can."

"Convince them of what?"

"This is not going to be good, is it?" Edo-Natsu asked scared.

"So what's the deal with everybody else?" Edo-Lucy asked.

"After hearing that you have a plan you want to talk to them, they've been pretty antsy." Edo-Natsu said.

"No duh." Edo-Luffy said. "Even since you've met people the other world, you've irritable than normal."

"Tell me about it. It's totally scary there."

"YOU BETTER TAKE BACK THOSE COMMENTS IF YOU WANT TO STAY ALIVE!" Edo-Lucy yelled at the two carrier wizards.

"We're really sorry!" Edo-Natsu and Luffy said, hiding behind a rock.

"Don't harmonize!"


Back inside the castle, Knightwalker walked towards King Faust and his Dragon Chain Cannon.

"I've heard that you've successfully retrieved the key. "Is this true?"

"Not entirely, your majesty." Knightwalker said. "It was destroyed."

"Explain yourself."

Knightwalker throw Gray on the ground and said, "This one can fabricate a working copy."

"No way!" Gray shouted.

"And who is this?" Faust said, looking at the ice-make wizard.

"He's an Earth Land wizard, sir." Knightwalker answered. "And he's a comrade of the Dragon Slayers."

"Is that so? Is he connected to the lacrima that vanished from the plaza?"

"He is indeed."

"Free him and have him produce this key immediately."

Knightwalker nodded and cut the ropes from around Gray's body with her sword. "Get up, Earth Land wizard." She ordered, holding her sword near Natsu's neck. "And don't do anything rash." Gray stood up and looked at the device in front of him. "You will activate the Dragon Chain Cannon."

'So this is it, huh?' Gray thought, looking at the device. 'It's not quite what I imagined it would look like. This is going to be way more complicated than I thought.'

"Quit stalling." Knightwalker said, bringing her blade closer to Natsu.

Gray glared at Knightwalker and then looked back at the cannon. "I guess I have no choice." He said. He use his ice make magic and created a new key, shocking Faust and his soldiers.

"That's crazy!" One of the soldiers said.

"Is that Earth Land power?" Another soldier questioned.

"Does he have to be shirtless?" A third solider said.

"Back, I'm not some kind of circus freak." Gray said as he walked towards the cannon. He placed the key inside the hole and turned it.

'This is going to be my only chance.' He thought as the device started to activate. 'I have to score a direct hit on the lacrima with this thing. Because if I don't, it's over for my Fairy Tail pals. Not to mention those folks.


Outside of the chamber, Zoro slowly walked towards the door, catching the attention of the guards.

"Is that Captain Zoro?" One of the guards asked.

"Hold on, that's not our captain!" Another guard shouted. "He's from the other world." Zoro smirked as he draws one of his swords.


Back inside the chamber, the eyes on the stone Faust heads started to glow, brightening the room with a red light.

"Yes, this is a glorious day for our kingdom!" Faust shouted.

The crystals in the chamber where Natsu and Wendy were drained of their powers turned a flaming red as they start to move. A red aura surrounded the city's skylines and then vanished. Then the castle's towers began lower and the courtyard started to rise.


"Whoa, everything's moving!" Nami shouted as she, Franky, Lucy, and Coco ran thought the courtyard's balcony. "What's happening?!"

"This is no good!" Coco shouted. "They're firing up the Dragon Chain Cannon!"

"You know, it's kinda like the Gildarts shift." Lucy said, referring to the most destructive of the Earth Land Fairy Tail. "Is this because of some destructive moron too?"

"The king designed it!"

"Franky, Nami!" A familiar voice shouted. Nami looked up and saw Usopp, Robin, and Brook running towards them.

"Usopp, Robin, Brook!" Nami shouted at her crewmates. "You're ok!"

"What's going on here?!" Usopp asked, trying to catch his breath. "Why is everything moving? And where's Luffy and the others?"

"We don't have time to explain." Franky said. "Come on, we got to get moving."


Gray looked around the cannon, trying to find to the controls. 'How are I aim thing?' he thought. 'Where's the controls?!' A bright light enveloped the room as a huge red blast was fired outside of the castle and towards the sky.


"Have they started the cannon already?!" Edo-Gajeel asked, riding his motorcycle and looking at the blast. "I was foolishly hoping that I was going to have a little more time than this. It looks I don't so I better hurry!"


"Prepare to fire!" Faust ordered.

Knightwalker lowered her sword as she leaned to Natsu's ear. "Now's our time..." She whispered, tossing Natsu forward. "Natsu!" The wind blew Erza's hair, showing the cut of her cheek. It was Erza Scarlet.

"I'm here." Natsu said with a smirk as his body was engulfed in flames, burning the ropes on him.

"What?!" Faust shocked, looking at the Dragon Slayer.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu engulfed his arms in flames and hitting several soldiers.

"Now's our cue." Sanji said, standing up as his and Luffy's ropes were burned off as well. He jumped towards the soldiers charging him. "Party Table Kick Course!" He grabbed onto the face of one of the soldiers as he kicked the other soldiers around him and then the one he used as to balance himself.

"Gum-Gum…" Luffy stretched his leg to the side. "…Whip!" He kicked several soldiers to the side and sending flying across the room.

"What's going on here?!" Faust shouted. "What is the meaning of this?!" Then he felt someone grabbing him behind and a blade coming towards his neck.

"I'm calling off the launch!" Erza shouted.

"You traitor!" Faust said bitterly, still thinking that she's the Edolas Erza. "How dare you?!"

"This is treason!" One of the remaining soldiers shouted.

"Is she crazy?!" Another one shouted. Gray and Natsu looked at Erza with a huge smirk painted on their faces.

"You're playing with fire, Erza!" Faust threatened. Then Erza's body started to glow and quickly fade away, showing Erza in her usual Heart Krutchz Armor.

"My name is Erza Scarlet!" Erza shouted. "I'm an Earth Land wizard!"

"Nice job!" Gray said. "It got pretty hairy there. But thanks to you, we're going to save, after all."

"They actually fell for it!" Natsu shouted. "Good ole Plan D, deceive the Royal Army dummies!"

An explosion erupted at the door of the chamber, catching everyone's attention. The smoke started to clear and revealed Zoro standing on top of the rubble with the unconscious behind him.

"Zoro!" Luffy shouted, happy to see the first mate of his crew.

"It's about time you showed up, moss head." Sanji said, lighting a cigarette.

"Shut up!" Zoro shouted. "The last thing I want to hear you is your crap!"

"I want you to aim the cannon directly at the lacrima!" Erza shouted.

"And I want you to fire it now at the original target!" Faust shouted.

"What do we do?" One of soldiers asked.

"That's a low move to take hostage like this!" another soldier shouted.

"We don't care what you think." Sanji said, blowing a puff of smoke.

"We'll do whatever we have to if it will turn our friends back to normal." Natsu said.

"We're wasting too much time!" Erza shouted.

"What's our order?" A soldier asked.

"We have to protect our king!" another one said.

"Fire it now!" Faust ordered. "Forget about saving me and eliminate the exceeds!"

"Change the target and aim for the giant lacrima!" Inside the blast, a dragon-like head rose up from the courtyard and was pointed at the giant lacrima.

"You cowards!" Faust shouted. "You're throwing away our chances for everlasting magic power!"

"Scarlet!" A familiar voice shouted as the owner jumped down from the ceiling and lashed her weapon towards Erza. It was Erza Knightwalker. Erza let the king go so she could block the attack with her sword but Zoro appeared in front of her and blocked the attack himself.

"It's Captain Knightwalker!" Faust shouted.

"His majesty is free!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"Now reset to the original target!" another soldiers shouted as a dragon's roar sounded throughout the chamber.

"Oh crap!" Sanji said.


Knightwalker lowered her spear down at Zoro again and the swordsman easily blocked it. "So you're the counterpart of my partner, Zoro Raijin." She said, looking at Zoro. "And you being here must mean that you've defeated him in battle."

"That's right." Zoro said. "Let's see if you have make things more interesting than he did."

"Very well then, I'll show I'm stronger than him! Now prepare to fall!"


"Fire!" Faust ordered. The dragon head was launched from its position and was shot up at the island where the giant lacrima is.


On that island, Gajeel and Panther Lily were still fighting each other until the ground beneath started to shake.

"What was that?" Gajeel asked.

Panther Lily smirked and said, "That's Dragon Chain Cannon attaching."

"They didn't make it in time."

Happy flew down and saw a chain attaching itself to the island Gajeel was on. "He's right." He said. "There's something big stuck to it!" The dragon head of the chain started to dig itself deep into the island and the giant lacrima turned into a flaming red crystal. "I don't like the looks of this."


"The attachment is complete!" a soldier said.

"Now smash it into the exceeds' kingdom at once!" Faust ordered.

"We can't let this happen!" Luffy shouted. Then an explosion erupted from the ceiling of the chamber and a giant creature flew inside.

"Hey you guys!" Lucy shouted, from the creature's back as it landed. "Get on its back!"

"Lucy?!" Erza said.

"Is that you?!" Gray added.

"Holy cow, they turned you into a monster?!" Natsu shouted.

"Quit being ridiculous and get on right now, you idiots!" Nami shouted as she, Lucy, Coco and the other Straw Hats popped up from behind the creature's head.

"It's a legion!" A soldier said, looking at the creature. "What is it doing here?!"

"How could this happen?!" Faust asked, looking at the legion. "How are they in control of a legion?!"

"It's because this one is mine!" Coco shouted.

"Coco…" Faust said angrily as it started to fly again with the monster trio and the other Fairy Tail wizards on its back.

"Are we going to able stop it with this thing?" Natsu questioned.

"We'll never know until we try." Lucy said.

"That's right." Luffy said.

Knightwalker glared at her Earth Land counterpart and Zoro as the legion took flight. "Scarlet! Roronoa!" She growled in anger. She took one of the staffs from a fallen soldier and cut some of her hair. "Don't just stand there! Prepare the second Magic Warfare Unit's Legion Platoon!"

"Yes ma'am!" The soldiers said in unison.

"I will be going as well." Faust said. "Prepare to deploy the Dorma Anim." The soldiers looked at their king with widen eyes.

"But that's a forbidden spell." One of the soldiers said. "Article 33 of the Royal Charter said that it is not to be under any circumstances."

"THAT IS AN ORDER!"


Outside of the castle, the island where the lacrima is located was being moved by the chain and is heading for Extalia.

"What's going on?" Gajeel asked. "Is this thing moving?"

"It is." Panther Lily said with an evil grin on his face. "According to our military's plan, we'll smash into Extalia, eliminate their kingdom and harvest unlimited magic power."

"You got be kidding me. That's completely insane!"

"But why?" Happy asked shocked with tears flowing down his face. "Why would your people ever do something so horrible?"


Below the island, a legion flew towards the moving island with the Fairy Tail wizards and the Straw Hat pirates on its back.

"LET'S GO!" Luffy yelled.

To be continued…

Next Chapter: Save Extalia! The Lacrima Closes In!