Lucy's P.O.V
"Lu-chan, what are you looking at?"
"Huh? Oh, Levi, you surprised me a bit." I say as I turn away from the window and towards her.
"Is something wrong? You keep looking out the window. I know that there's a demon out there but we should just listen to the Master and let Blacken Ice take care of it."
"Haha, I still feel kinda guilty for relaxing and letting them take care of everything… Ah, really I'm fine! Don't look so worried, Levi! It's just … isn't something strange happening with Magnolia?"
"Something strange?" She frowns slightly as she stares outside before I follow her gaze.
The city is uncharacteristically quiet today. Normal the street is packed since we're so close to a marketplace. Today though … there's no one outside even if the sky is completely clear. It's such an odd contrast to the inside of Fairy Tail. Everyone is being their normal loud self and the hall is almost completely packed. Hehe, the guild is so energetic especially Natsu. He's practically radiating happiness as he arm wrestles with Gajeel. It's great to see everyone having fun together again after the hundred year quest!… Maybe I'm just being paranoid but today's air feels wrong.
"I guess there aren't many people today but that doesn't mean something bad is happening Lu-chan. It's already the afternoon, you can't except the streets to be crowded."
"Still, doesn't it unsettle you? Magnolia shouldn't be this empty… Levy look there!"
"That's a man and … WHAT'S THAT CHASING HIM?!" Levy screams in shock and draws a few concerned eyes.
Is something chasing him? My eyes watch the panicked man as he runs down the street with jaded breathing. I smoosh myself on the window pane as I try to see what Levy is seeing. Rather than see it, I hear it. The disgusting sound of sloshing slime fills my ears before the inky black figure of a humanoid goop suddenly flies across the street and attaches itself to the man. OH MY GOD!
"SOMEBODY HELP ME! PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I'M NOT READY YET!" He wails. His body was being consumed by the slime in a way I could only describe as ice cream melting on him. He scratches at the floor while he tries to pull away but completely fails.
"We have to help him! Star Dress: Taurus!" I chant and I close my eyes before I feel my clothes change and Taurus' gate opening.
"Let's get a moo on!" I hear Taurus say as I smash the guild window open with my whip.
"Right!" With that, I jump out of the building and high kick right into the goop. Eep! What is this weird sensation?! This thing is completely giving way to my body and moulding around me! Why is it humid inside and why is it wet?! Ugh! The sensation of the goo feels gross on my skin but I can't focus on that now. I quickly grab ahold of the other man trapped in the slime and with my other hand, I flick my whip to wrap around the post of a street lamp. Okay! Let's go, Lucy! With a heave, I pull the two of us out of the slime and propel us towards the guild.
"THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! UGH! I'M SO HAPPY I'M STILL ALIVE! THANK YOU!" The man profusely thanks me as he clings onto my leg.
"Don't thank me yet! Get inside the guild, that thing isn't dead yet!" I order while I ignore how creepy it feels to have an unknown grown man cry into my legs. He quickly gets off of me and runs towards the entrance of the guild. I turn my attention back to the black slime and, to my shock, it's already back up again! Darn it! I'll just have to keep knocking it down until it can't get up again. "Earth Wav-Ahhh!" A shriek leaves my mouth as something cold touches the back of my neck.
Quickly, I reached the back of my neck only to feel something wet. I pulled my hand back and I feel something following my fingers. It can't be. Is there more of that thing laying around?! Carefully, I look up and stare in horror at the sight underneath the guild's roof. A chill ran through my body as I stare at the black squirming mess convulsing above me. DAMN IT!
Levy's P.O.V
"Lu-chan wait!" I call out but she leaps away before hearing me. She's becoming more and more like Natsu every day. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not but I'm glad those two are getting along so well.
"HEY, WHAT'S HAPPENING?! WHY DID LUCE RUN OFF TOWARDS THE SCREAM?!" Natsu yells as he stomps over to me with flames in his eyes.
"A monster is attacking a man outside. Lu-chan went after him!"
"DAMNIT LUCY!" He roars before jumping out the same window as Lucy and disappearing from my sight. Ah! I didn't have time to tell him more about the monster attacking.
"Holy shit! What is that thing-GAH?!" Wakaba yells at me. I quickly turn around right as Macao blast a stream of purple fire at his face.
Why are they fighting?! They always get into fights but they never resorted to using magic! I scream at Macao to stop but my voice is drowned out by the other members. His face was set in a grimace and guilt swam in his eyes while he continues to blast magic. Only a few seconds went by, with people screaming at him to stop and some bolder ones getting up to physically make him stop. What was left of Wakaba's face was completely black and most likely charred. It was almost impossible to even see the outline of his face.
"Macao you bastard!" Grey screams as he punches Macao's cheek before bunching his shirt with his other fist. "He was your friend! HOW COULD YOU ATTACK HIM SO BRUTALLY!"
"FORGET ABOUT THAT FOR NOW! CHECK ON WAKABA! IS THAT THING OFF OF HIM?!" Macao screams back.
I quickly change my gaze towards Wakaba's burnt body … or what should be a burnt body. I-it's as if the burns were sliding down and coating his entire body. No! Those aren't burns! The black tar on him starts to expand and stretch out before completely swallowing his body. Macao screams in anger as he tries to grab ahold of Wakaba's body. He moves his hands around, while slime starts to crawl up his arms, and he slides through the goop as if Wakaba was gone. Slime quickly climbs up to Macao's face as Gajeel and Grey try to pull him away.
"Grey-sama, please let go!" Juvia yells as she tackles the two mages to the ground. The two were forced to let go of Macao and within seconds he was engulfed in the slime. Its black body convulses a bit before picking itself up and forming back into a single mound.
Wha… WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! Everyone has stopped moving completely as they stared in shock and horror at the jiggling black puddle laying silently on the ground. Oh god, what do I do?! I have to help them somehow. Even though they're gone, that doesn't mean they're dead! I have to believe that they'll be fine and come back like Gajeel did!... How though? This is the first time something like this is attacking us. No, wait! Doesn't the slime move like Juvia's water?
"NO! KINANA!" Laki screams out and everyone moves their attention towards them.
The purple haired girl is grabbing ahold of the other purple mage. It's the exact same scene with Wakaba! More black slime is stuck on Kinana's head as it slowly starts to swallow her whole. How did another blob appear?! There has to be an opening somewhere or neither of these monsters would have gotten in! Where? Where? Where?! … Eh? Something is dripping on me… I look up and my eyes widen when I see black slime oozing out of the cracks between the roof.
"DAMNIT! Everyone watch out! Whatever this black stuff is, is leaking out of the roof!" I hear Grey shout but I don't really pay attention to him. After all, I already know that. It's happening right above me.
I have to save myself! As long as I get away then I won't get sucked up! With quick hands, I wave my hand in front of me and summon my chosen word. "Solid Script: Bullet!" A bright neon orange word appears above me. It starts to glow before shooting out hundreds of bullets out of itself. The shots hit dead on the slime and tear openings on its body. However, the attack doesn't destroy it. In fact, the attack didn't do much besides slowing it from descending on me! With the aid of gravity, it starts to drop faster and faster towards me. Ugh! I close my eyes in apprehension yet the slime never comes. Something grabs ahold of my waist and push me out of the way before holding me up. Slowly, I open my eyes to the comforting sight of Gajeel.
"Hey, are you alright?" He asks me as he cradles me in his arms.
"Um, yes. Thank you." I say back with a gasp. Oh no, I can feel my cheeks heating up. Now isn't the time to be awed! I quickly stand up and out of his hold. No matter how much I want to stay there, we have to save the guild first!
I look around the guild with a cringe. Barely a few seconds passed by but the guild is already in a mess. More of the black slime is starting to completely take over the guild. It was coming out from above but it has coated the walls almost completely and … I think half our members are gone. Oh, please let that just be my imagination!
"What the hell are these things?!" Grey screams out as he freezes a separated slime part.
"Juvia's sorry, Grey-sama! None of Juvia's magic is working on these monsters!" True to her words, every time she tried to attack the slimes, it just completely absorbs her water. On the other hand, Grey was having an almost easy time. Freezing the slimes left them completely useless to their allies. Then that's what we need to do!
"Everyone! Please listen to me! We have to somehow capture these things! There's no way we can defeat them in a fist fight!" I plead.
"Of course! Then we'll handle wrangling these guys up!" Lisanna encourages as she and Mirajane smile at me.
"Juvia will lock them in place!" The rain woman exclaims as she water locked a slime.
"And I will freeze them!" The ice mage yells while he freezes the water locked slime. In a small moment, the two mages shared a small smile together before moving on to the next slime.
"Everyone…" I whisper with happiness.
"Come on. We can't let them do everything, right?" Gajeel encourages with a grin. I smile brightly back at him and run in to help.
Lisana has already entered her Animal Soul: Cat and is jumping around the guild. With precision, she scratches and claws her way to forcing the slimes into one pile. Mirajane had dawned her Satan Soul and doing the same thing as her sister. In minutes, the two had made the slimes combine into one giant monster. It's always amazing to see them work together!
"Leave this to Juvia!" She yells as she summons water binds to constrict the titan blob.
"Let's go, Levy! We'll get this thing frozen in no time!" Grey yells, already ready to blast the thing.
"Right!" I agree back with my arms already in position to cast Solid Script: Freeze.
"Wait." Gajeel states, "What is that thing sticking out of the slime?"
I follow where he's pointing at. There's something poking out of the slime, near the very top of its chained body. It's a completely different colour from the rest of the body and moved strangely in comparison. "I-is that an arm?" I wonder out loud.
The thing jutting out really is an arm! It swishes back and forth while trying to grab at the surrounding slime. The arm clutches at the slime when suddenly another arm pops out. With the rise of the arm, the human trapped inside manages to pull up their head.
"H-help!" Nab pleas as the slime start to pull him down again.
"Don't worry! I'll get you out!" Lisanna yells as she bounces off the wall and towards him. She lands perfectly on the slime before grabbing ahold of Nab's arms. He desperately tries to grab ahold of her and the two slip a bit further into the slime. With a grunt, Lisanna tries to pull him out only for her foot to dig further into the blob.
"Lisanna!" Mirajane wails as she flies straight towards the two. In a desperate move, she sticks herself right into the monster before jamming herself between Lisanna and Nab.
"Big sis, what are you doing?!"
"I'm saving you! That's what I'm doing! I promised you, that I would never let you be taken from me again!"
She grabs ahold of Lisanna's wrist and painfully squeezes. Lisanna grunts in pain but refuses to let go of Nab's arms despite Mirajane's best attempt. The slime is slowly eating all three yet they aren't moving from their position at all. Both siblings were stubbornly trying to save someone while Nab can't do anything but sit and wait.
"Those crazy women!" Gajeel screams from beside me before sprinting off towards them. Unlike Mirajane, the man runs directly underneath where the three people were standing. He thrusts his arm into the sky before turning it into a steel pole. With surprising ease, he bends his arm and creates a hook around Lisanna's waist. She panics a bit but Mirajane quickly fastens the iron around her waist before pulling Nab's arm to hold onto the hook as well.
"Gajeel, no! The slime is moving again! Grey!" I scream out in desperation.
"I know! Juvia, try to bind it in more water!'
"Yes, Grey-sama!"
Juvia's face scrunchies as she flicks her arms towards the left of her body. Water comes gushing out of the ground like geysers before they contorted into the shape of chains. The binding shoots out like bullets and gouges itself into the top of the slime. It tightly squeezes the slime until it starts to ooze out of the slight openings between each link. Despite the small amount, it was enough for the slime to attack.
It tries to swallow the three again with four times the veracity. The slime ripples as it pushes forward its body to surround them. With no hesitation, Mirajane grabs ahold of Nab and pushes. She sinks in further in the slime but Lisanna and Nab fall out of the slime. Gajeel grunts at the sudden pressure pushing at his iron arm and in that confusion he steps forward a centimetre. The slime pounces and hits its mark. It whips around his body like a rope pulling in cattle and quickly starts to swallow him.
"SOLID SCRIPT: FREEZE!" I cast and soon Grey followed with his own ice magic. Our ice quickly climbed and froze the body with the help of Juvia's chains of water. However, by then it was already too late.
"BIG SIS!"
"Lisanna... I will always love you. Apologize to Yuki for me." Mirajane asks with a calm smile before completely sinking into the slime and letting it swallow her whole. Lisanna tries to give chase but by then the ice had completely spread out along the entire slime body. In the end, she couldn't do anything else but cry in pain and pound the ice as Nab tries to comfort the fresh scar in her heart.
I feel my legs give out underneath me and I feel to the ground. We… We won against those things... A-am I supposed to be happy? Gajeel he… he left me again!... Our friends and maybe even the townspeople… Everyone is gone...
Lucy's P.O.V
...Everything is so fuzzy... I-I think I'm drowning in water…Ugh! It's so hard to breathe like this... My lungs are burning inside my chest and my vision is fogging up more than it already is. Hahh, i-it hurts so much.
H-how could I let myself get trapped like this? I don't understand how the slime moves so quickly. My body was already in the middle of the street but my leg… Something that small… Damnit… I-I thought I was better than this. Even now, I can't get out of my hold. No matter how much I scratch, it holds on strong to my head. I can't even call on Taurus anymore… I-I can't feel my magic.
H-hah, help… I need help… please… anybody… Natsu… Help me!
"LUCYYYYY!"
Something encircles my waist and pulls me down. My body is dragged downwards until my behind touches the ground but the slime doesn't give up. It seems to stretch and follows my head. Whoever is pulling me, yanks harder and if they weren't helping me I would think they were trying to pull my legs off. Agh! Now my entire body hurts!
Suddenly, the pressure stops and I'm dropped back onto the ground. No! Are they giving up on me? How am I going to deal with this by myself?! Eep! Hot hands grab onto my ankles before pulling up. My back hits the ground roughly and I feel my body bounce a bit. In a weird way, the slime saved my skull from cracking. What is this person doing?! Space starts to build between me and the ground before I take off into the sky like a rocket. I try to scream but everything coming out of my throat is muffled by the slime.
"LET GO OF HER!" I hear a man yell.
My arms have already stopped grabbing at the slime and started swinging wildly in the air. My body flew through the air and I could feel myself soar upwards. What's happening?! The man screams something but I can't really make it out. AHHHHH! IT HURTS! Electricity runs through my entire body as I struggle in pain. Despite my pain, I can still feel the distinct feeling of the slime spasming on me. It shakes and convulses before going calm. With a squelch, it squeezes me out of its body.
I'm free! To my surprise, the electricity actually saved me alongside almost killing me. However, there is still a problem. I'm still stuck in the air! The only way left for me is to save myself! I don't want to rely on the man or I might actually die! Before I could do anything, I felt arms wrap around me again along with a cold sweat running down my back. I close my eyes in anxiety as I wait for the next dish of pain. When nothing came, I opened my eyes and my vision was filled with pink.
"WHY DID YOU ATTACK ME TOO?! WHAT WERE YOU… Natsu?" I gape at him after I realized who I was yelling at.
"ARE YOU OK?!" He screams into my ear with a worried expression. My ears were almost ringing from how loud he was but he was still being sweet and I smile at him.
"Hehe, I'm fine. Thank you for helping me but how did you know I needed help?"
"Wha… ARE YOU STUPID?!" He screams at me and I flinch back a bit. His face flashes with guilt before he steals himself. "You crashed through the window and ran out! Of course, I'm going to worry about you! DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! What if next time I don't get to you in time?!"
"But I know you won't." I confidentially say and his eyes widen, "I know you will always make it in time. You have always saved me and I trust you no matter what."
"Luce…" he whispers, for once at a lost for words.
However, I didn't have enough time to admire my work. I can hear the slime slowly jiggling besides us. Darn, I was hoping the lightning magic got rid of it for good. No such luck though. It has already started to slither back to a stand.
"Natsu… it's back up again." I said.
"Tch looks like one time wasn't enough." He says with a growl as he helps me stand.
"Do you think you can burn it?"
"No. I tried when you were in the air and it completely absorbed all my fire. It's an annoying little thing."
"If we can't burn it and electricity stuns it then… it's probably water-like in property!" I exclaim.
"...what?" He asks with a tilt of his head.
"Aah," Natsu's cute like this but… it's just a bit annoying, "just think of the slime as moving water but thicker!"
Even knowing that, what are we going to do? Physical attacks will bounce off and neither of us has anything that can permanently stop it. Natsu can't just keep stunning it until he runs out of magic! He's getting anxious. I can tell by the way he keeps clenching his fists and the small puffs of smoke he's huffing out. Natsu's going to act soon if I don't say anything.
"IF THAT'S THE CASE THEN WE MERELY NEED TO FREEZE IT!"
In a flash, a blur runs past us and jumps straight into the air until it descends upon the slime. The person stabs something into the blob. With a hiss, white frost jets out and around the woman before flash freezing the body. Scarlet hair blows in the wind as the powerful woman pulls out her sword. She flicks it in the air and the sun catches on the glass-like surface of the weapon.
"ERZA!" I shout alongside Natsu.
"Sorry for making you two worry." She jumps down the ice sculpture before walking towards us.
"That's fine! Besides that, when did you get a sword like that? I've never seen it before." I ask.
"Yeah! Have you been holding out on us?!" Natsu accuses.
"Oh, this girl? You have Yuki to thank for that. She made it for me and handed it over along with a scarf. Isn't she beautiful?" Erza explains with a proud smile as she shows off the ice sword.
It really is a pretty sword. The entire thing looks like it's made of ice but it's so clear it looks like glass. I'm not that great with swords but it looks like a thinner version of a broadsword. Vines are wrapped around the hilt of the sword that curved around the base. There were even daffodils along the hilt as well. It's beautiful but… I don't really understand how a decorative sword could be that powerful. That monster was flash frozen in less than a second. I'm not sure if even Grey could have done that.
"HEY, ERZA! Slow down for us!" A newcomer yells and we all turn behind us. They were a bit far but three figures were running towards us in the distance.
"... is that Sting?!" I shout.
It really was him! Not only that, Rouge, Yukino and Lucky were with him too. Is Rouge carrying someone?... he was but who is that? I've never seen that woman before.
"STING!" Natsu yells.
"NATSU!" Sting yells right back.
The blond man speeds up and leaves the others behind to run towards us. In matters of seconds, he was in front of us with his right-hand fist bumping Natsu. The friends excitedly cheered as they reunited.
"Erza, please don't run ahead like that." Rouge sighs out as he stops in front of us.
"My apologies! However, I have no regrets. There's no way I could allow myself to leisurely run over here while Natsu and Lucy were attacked." He sighs again at the response but accepts it with a nod.
"Lucy!"
"Yukino!" I excitedly greet back.
"It's been a long while since we last saw each other. How have you been? You look really healthy, by the way." The white hair girl asked.
"I've been doing good you but I've started to miss you! I'm so happy to finally see you."
"You should come over to Sabertooth more often. By the way," She glances sideways at Natsu and Sting, "have you made any progress?" Yukino whispers.
"Yukino!" I roughly whisper. She lightly giggles at my half-hearted glare and soon I join her as well.
"Excuse me, everyone but can we please focus on Rose." Rouge hurriedly requests.
"Who's Rose?" I ask.
"She's his girlfriend~" Sting teasingly answers, earning himself a glare from Rouge.
"Shut up Sting, we don't have time for that. She's seriously hurt and she won't wake up! Now isn't the time to play around… Lamia is here. That demon threatening those two siblings and our world."
What?! She's already here! I can't believe I was spending this day normally when she was loose! Then Rose must be the one Rouge is carrying on his back. He's right though. She looks terrible, right now! Her face was cut up in a way that made it look as if she was crying blood. There are blood stains all over her clothes and I could barely feel her magic pulse.
Any further teasing quickly stopped and our small group moved back inside the guild. When we reached the door, I had to pause a bit. I can hear crying inside but why? Ignoring everything, Natsu takes the door handle and pushes it open.
"...What happened?" I murmur out.
Fairy Tail… our guild is a complete mess. All the furniture are either knocked over or completely destroyed, there is residual black stains on the walls, a larger version of the frozen slime outside is standing tall and only five of our friends is in the room. Grey and Juvia are facing the ice sculpture with faces of disbelief. Nab has an arm around a Lisanna while she sobs and the sound of it makes my heart ache. Levy is on her knees with her arms limply hanging beside herself and while I can't see her face, I have a feeling she's crying as well.
"Lu-chan…" I barely hear Levy choke out. In a heartbeat, I rush over and encircle my arms around her neck. She shakingly holds onto my arms as she continues to speak, "Everyone is gone… W-we couldn't protect them. The slime… it came so suddenly and…" Levy starts to cry harder as her mouth mimics the word Gajeel over and over again. I try to comfort her but I have no idea if my words are helping her at all. I can only just hug her and try not to cry myself.
"Does that mean Aster is gone too?!" Lucky suddenly blurts out and breaks his bout of silence.
"No, he's fine. I saw him flying away from the guild when I found you five." Erza answers as she takes measured strides towards Lisanna and Nab. She kneels beside the two and evenly asks, "What happened here?"
Lisanna merely cries harder at the mention of the past few minutes. She is clearly in no position to say anything so Nab turns to Erza and starts to explain, "We were attacked by slime after Lucy jumped out the window. They were coming out of nowhere and they started taking everyone! It's like they were eaten or something! I… I was caught too but I got out thanks to Mirajane and Gajeel. Then those two..." He stops talking and stares directly at the ice sculpture.
"Lisanna," The scarlet woman begins before crushing Lisanna to her chest and ignoring the loud conk that sounds, "please don't give up. I know it might seem like your sister is gone forever but you can't give up! There is always a chance she might be alive!"
"E-Erza… I think you knocked her out…" Nab says in shock.
"It must have been so hard! She's exhausted to the point of fainting!" Erza exclaims while Nab stares at her with disbelief. "We need to bring her to a bed. Follow me, Rouge. You can place Rose in the infirmary as well."
"Thank you." Rouge quickly follows her along with Yukino into a separate hall.
"WHAT THE FUCK ICE BOY?!" Natsu roars.
"Don't blame Grey-sama! This isn't his-" Juvia tries to protest but her voice is easily drowned out.
"I KNOW I MESSED UP! I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE ACTED FASTER! YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE ME FEEL MORE LIKE A PIECE OF SHIT THAN I ALREADY DO!" Grey screams back.
"STOP FIGHTING!" I have had enough! Now isn't the time to be fighting each other like animals. We have to find some way to get the other members back! This is just wasting time.
"Lu-chan."
"What's wrong Levy?"
"... they're back."
What? I follow where she's looking towards the corner of the guild and she's right. They're coming back and they're coming in fast. More black slime is leaking in the guild. Why is this happening again?! Are they going to just keep coming back again and again? Then there has to be a point where they're coming from!
"Let's take them down!" Sting announces as the others got ready to fight. Even Levy has broken free from my grasp and holds her ground with a heavy glare.
"Wait! We can't keep fighting like this!" I scream out.
"Then what do you think we should do!" Grey asks.
"We need to find the source of all this slime! If we can stop it then everything will end!" Everyone paused and I could tell they agreed with me. The only problem now is where to find it but first, the slime in front of us.
Suddenly, the door creaks open and Aster walks into the guild. The exceed looks tired and certainly sounds it when he says, "I'm back."
"Aster!" Lucky yells and runs to his fellow cat. "I was worried about you! I thought for sure that the slime ate you!"
"As if I'm that weak. Anyways, I found where the slime is coming from. Grey follow me. It's surprisingly close." He says as he activated his wings and starts to fly.
"Wait. I can't go yet, there's still slime here!" The ice mage argues.
"YEAH! Also, why is he the only one going?!" Natsu growls out.
"Because I don't need anyone but him. You've fought the slimes so stop asking obvious questions." Aster says with a huff.
"It's fine." Levy says, "Just leave it to me! I'll make sure to take care of all of the ones here!"
"Nicely said." Erza compliments as she summons her ice sword. "You can rely on me as well so go. End this you two."
"Hey! I can't let you guys take all the spotlight! I'm coming too!" Sting announces.
"Juvia will also come!" The rain woman exclaims.
"No, they need you. Besides I won't have to worry if you're here." Grey says and Juvia bursts into red before following what he said.
"Whatever. I don't care who comes as long as one of you guys can use ice magic. Now let's go!" Aster takes off like that with Grey and Sting following.
"Wait! What about … me." I whisper the last part out.
"Luce! Hold down the fort for me! I'm counting on you!" Natsu yells as he runs out.
He's counting on me… Right! Now is the time to fight. I have to do my part to like everyone else! With a sharp turn, I join my comrades as I wear my Aquarius star dress. It's time to fight!
Natsu's P.O.V
UGH! WHAT CRAP IS THIS?! We've been following Aster around for five minutes already! This is taking too long! I want to hurry and fight the bastard making all these slimes!
"ASTER, ARE WE THERE-Woah!"
What was that? The ground just shook like crazy! Then again it might have just been me. Whatever it was, something came in and rocked the city like a shockwave! I turn to the others and they were as confused as I was. Ugh! We don't have time to figure that out when Aster won't stop for us! Our group twists and turns through the alleys of Magnolia until Aster hovers in front of one.
"There she is." He says before poofing into his human form and landing on the ground. Grey rounds the corner first and for some reason, his eyes widen in horror before he goes pale. What's his problem? I come over myself before looking at what's he seeing and I pause in shock.
"What's wrong with you two?" I hear Sting ask but who cares right now!
"That's Sakura… THAT'S SAKURA! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! SHE DIED YEARS AGO!" I scream.
A black-clad woman stood in the middle of the alley with her back to us. Her pink hair laid limply in a ponytail behind her as black slime seems to gather around her foot. She looks older but that's definitely Sakura! DAMNIT! WHAT'S HAPPENING?! How is she alive and why does the slime obeying her?! My yelling seems to attract her attention.
"Subjects found. Name: Natsu Dragneel, Magic: Fire Dragonslayer, Status: Capture. Name: Grey Fullbuster, Magic: Ice Devil Slayer, Status: Kill. Name: Sting Eucliffe, Magic: White Dragonslayer, Status: Capture. Now commencing mission given." She robotically says.
"What the fuck…" Grey whispers.
"Sakura, you're alive… WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THAT YOU WERE?!" I can't believe this! We've been looking for her for so long until we were forced to give up and she was alive the entire time! DOES SHE EVEN KNOW HOW BADLY SHE HURT REI?! She's not even responding to me. Sakura is still just staring at us blankly while the slime at her feet starts to ripple. "DAMNIT, ANSWER ME!"
I focus my magic into the legs before blasting myself towards her with my fists at the ready. Despite my sudden action, she doesn't do anything besides shifting her focus entirely on me. Why isn't she reacting to me?! I scream in frustration as I swing my flaming fist at her. She takes a step back and lets a wall of slime to block my fist. Ugh! This thing will always feel gross to me no matter what! I quickly pull my fist away and shock any trailing slime. As if I'm going to let you take me before I get a good punch in!
"Calm down, Natsu! You're going to get swallowed if you keep running in blindly!" Grey shouts at me and I hate that he's right!
"We need a plan! She has the advantage here. Her magic basically makes her auto win if we stay in this alley!" Sting growls.
"Don't worry about that. Solid Script: Shrink!" Aster casts the word on the walls trapping us in.
In seconds, the buildings start to minimize smaller and smaller until it was the size of a small dollhouse. Woah! Was he always this strong?! It's kinda like what's her face's magic from the Alvarez Empire. Damn, that's useful! Sakura pauses at the impressive feat and looks straight at Aster.
"Subject found. Name: Aster, Magic: Aera, Transformation, Solid Script, Status: Not Available… I am unsure how to proceed. Please calmly come with me. My master shall decide your fate with utmost precision. Please calmly come with me." She opens her mouth before hunching over.
"You guys know her right? What's she do-SWEET FUCKING GOD! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!" Sting screams in horror.
Black slime pours out of her mouth in waves like a never-ending vomit. It hits the ground with a splat before spreading out before forming a puddle underneath her. Some of it splashes onto her legs but it quickly gets absorbed back in. Ugh, it's getting closer to me! I quickly jump back to where Grey and the others are. The slime on the ground ripples and starts to shape itself into different smaller puddles. We watch in disgust as Sakura decides she barfed enough and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the slime near her mouth off.
"That… that can't be normal." Sting gasps out.
"Of course it's not! Sakura uses ice magic like me!" Grey yells.
The slime puddles stretch upwards before little arms start to extend out and it's lower mound splits into two legs. I let out a growl as I raise my arms. As if I'm letting them take the upper hand on us!
"Begin mission!" Sakura yells as she points at the exceed.
"GET READY!" I jump with a scream. Electricity shoots through my body and I power up into my lightning fire dragon mode. Flames and lightning mix together before setting me alit with power. I drop down right in front of the slimes before stopping.
"NATSU, MOVE!" Grey shouts.
I'm not backing down. If I do then I'm the loser here! Five of the slimes come at me at once but I don't do more than glare at them. Closer and closer they start to run at me with their fists ready to capture. "BACK DOWN!" I roar at the slimes and they flinch back before they come running again at the command of Sakura. Grrr, that prick! Just staring at her is enough to get my blood boiling but that's fine. There are some perfect dummies already getting ready to punch me. I feel my magic hum underneath my skin.
My fist lights up with a blaze of fire and volts of electricity. Not enough! I want her to feel the pain she caused the unneeded pain towards the guild. She had the chance to come back and she didn't use it. That's not fair to anyone! It's not fair to her friends! It's not fair to Lisanna! It's not fair to Rei! "EAT THIS! LIGHTING FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
I rocket my fist towards her face and drive it deep in. All at once, I release the magic stored inside of my hand. A bright light flashes as the crackles of lightning bounces off the ground and her face. Ugh, this feels weird as hell! My fist is going too deeply into her! It's like I'm punching into rubber! She took my punch way better than I wanted and her body goes completely statue-like. Oh, come on! She was supposed to fly like a bird! Instead, slime had completely wrapped around her lower half and grounded her.
"This is to be expected." Sakura evenly says despite my fist driving into her face.
What is this? My fire is burning her but I have no idea what this smell is! This isn't the smell of burning flesh that I'm used to. Actually, I have no idea what it is at all.
"Natsu watch out!" Sting yells out, "WHITE DRAGON'S ROAR!"
A white spiral of magic blasts past me and directly hit the slime that lunged for me. The slime lets out a high pitched moan as the light disperse. What the heck?! That definitely did not sound like a moan in pain! The slime continues to moan while it glows white for a few seconds. It suddenly starts growing bigger and bigger until it was at least triple the height of me!
"Good job, Sting! You just gave the slime a free meal along with a happy ending! What next, you going to ask it to go back to your apartment!" Aster grits out.
"SHUT UP! I never fought these things before! How was I supposed to know that would happen!" He yells in defence.
Damnit! In that moment of distraction, another slime wrapped itself around my arm. "Natsu Dragneel's capture com-Ugh!" Suddenly, a wave of magic slams into us and trips Sakura up. Ugh! It's the same one as last time. Luckily, the slime was also affected and I quickly jump away after I shocked it.
"Another shockwave?!" Grey yells.
"Nevermind that! I think I found the source!" Sting exclaims and we all look towards the sky.
"What the hell… Rei." I mumble out at the same time another shockwave flew by.
It's a bit of a way away but the sky is going nuts outside of Magnolia. Fire and a combination of blue and black magic flashed outwards like a mini tornado. The three magic mercilessly clashed with one another and in the middle… monsters. Two giant kaijus were violently duking it out in the middle of all that chaos. One of them looks like some demonic angel with wings and multiple arms. It's too far away from me to see if anything besides that but quite frankly I don't think I want to get any closer. The other one … that's Rei, no doubt about it. Only he would be able to make a something that big.
"The first attempt failed. Now, commencing the second attempt." Sakura speaks up.
His attacks are full of passion. That's right. Rei is fighting right now with Yuki and the others…. Hehe, I can't believe I forgot about them.
"Stand still or your capture shall be painful."
You're right, Rei. I have to try harder too. What kind of dragonslayer would I be if I left all our problems to another man? Who cares if I can't properly get rid of these slimes? I'm not alone. Grey can take care of it and Sting can act as bait. We can easily win...
"There is no point to resis-"
"SHUT UP! YOUR ANNOYING VOICE IS MAKING IT HARD TO THINK!" I roar in annoyance. She's a dick but can't she even give me a bit of time to have an emotional moment! "WHY DON'T YOU SHOVE THIS DOWN YOURSELF! LIGHTNING FIRE'S DRAGON ROAR!"
She screams out in pain as my roar digs into her body. Fire pours over her body as electricity runs directly through her body. Tch, the smell of burning slime really is gross. It's like I mixed gasoline with a garbage dump. Her body convulses under my blasts before the wall around her gave out and she was sent flying. That should teach her! My roar stops and all that remain of her is a half seared body jutting out of a new wall.
"AGH! Hah, don't think that this will be enough to stop me. I will always come back from something as weak as your magic!" Sakura threatens but it doesn't mean much when she looks half dead. Still, this is getting annoying.
"GRRR! HEY ICE BOY! GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!" I order with a glare.
"I can't! Her slime has been multiplying while you were staring at those giant monsters! I've been taking care of them! If anything, you should be thanking me right now!" Grey talks back as he freezes a wall of slime.
"As if I'll thank a lazy nudist like you! You completely failed! Look around, the slime is still everywhere!"
"YOU ASS! If it wasn't for me you would be dead right now!"
"STOP MAKING OUT AND FIGHT, YOU CAVEMEN!" Aster insults. He glares with the power of a thousand suns before blasting a slime sneaking up on him with a Solid Script: Freeze. In barely a second, it was gone beyond saving. Ugh! That was kinda scary! For a second I swear I saw Yuki for some reason.
"YEAH! He's right but not exactly the words I would use. Close enough though!" Sting agrees as he draws some of the slimes towards him and away from Grey.
Ugh, fine! I'll just have to take care of her myself! Sakura is still struggling to move from her spot in the wall but her minions sure aren't. Already most of the slime has moved towards their commander in an effort to protect her. They swarmed and changed their shape into a giant wall. I quickly engage the electricity in my body to form a mock armour around myself. With a deep breath, I sprint forward and head straight for the slime. I run right into the slime with enough force to tear a hole right through it.
"I'M COMING FOR YOU!" I howl out.
Her eyes twitch in anger and her body starts to convulse with anticipation. She grunts in frustration while her body refuses to obey her. I light my fist up with magic again before pulling back to deliver a right hook with her face as the mailbox. However, I didn't get to feel that happy feeling of punching her again. My lips pull back into a snarl as I sneer at the slime that took the blow.
Sakura jumps up from where she laid and quickly put some distance between us. She recovered a lot faster than I thought she would. I quickly follow her with a sprint. I won't let you run from me! My fist is raring to go but she still remains emotionless. Actually, she was like that the entire fight. Yet, her lips are twitching up for some reason.
"UGH! CRAP!" I scream out as slime shoots out of the cracks in the flooring and jump me. It's fine! I'll just shock my way out of this! My right-hand sparks with lighting before I point it up at the black goop dropping on me. I directly hit it but it continues to drop! If anything it's going even faster!
"Don't think your tricks will help you Natsu Dragneel. Your thunder will do nothing against gravity controlled slime. It won't work on the slime surrounding you as well. Huhu, that's the one Sting Eucliffe powered up for me." She smiles secretively before going back to neutral. "Natsu Dragneel's capture commencing." Sakura robotically announces.
"DAMNIT STING! I WON'T LET THIS DEFEAT ME, SAKURA!" I scream out.
The slime floods me and I can't help but gag at the taste. I feel like I'm swallowing water downed manure. Ugh, this can't stop me! I quickly try to shock the slime but it easily swallows my magic. Damn! Sting's magic really did make it immune to electricity now! Ugh, I'm starting to lose feeling in my limbs. How much longer can I hold out like this? The slime is up to my eyes already. I scowl at Sakura's unmoving face. She's not reacting to me at all!... she really has betrayed Fairy Tail.
"AGGGGHHHHHH!" Sakura wails out suddenly as the slime holding me starts to loosen up.
What the hell is going on?! I quickly look at Sakura and to my surprise to was full of ice. Mini spears of ice were jutting out of every part of her body like an urchin. She screams out in pain and disbelief while she mutters some incoherent words. Soon, she drops down before her body evaporates into nothing. The slime drowning me starts to disappear too. Man, it feels great to have my body back!
"NICE, ICE BOY!" I scream as I pump my fist into the air.
"... Natsu, that wasn't me." Grey says back with confusion.
"What do you that wasn't you? Who else would it be?"
" I don't know! It's just that wasn't me. I was too distracted to really help you without being swallowed. Same with Aster too… I think it was an outsider that saved you."
"Someone else…"
Who would do that though? All the town's people are dead or gone and I don't know an ice mage this capable other than Yuki or Grey. Even if there is, this guy helped me for no reason! Tch, I really can't trust whoever helped. Their magic feels familiar for some reason but the only one I can think of is… No, it can't be her. If it is then… what the hell have I been fighting? I look up towards where Rei is and to my surprise, he was gone! A giant dragon fighting a giant deity basically disappeared in a span of minutes. Instead, dark clouds have replaced where they stood and swirling into a centre point. Rei everything is getting more complicated now. I guess it's the same on your end too.
"Come on! If the slimes are gone here then we need to make sure the ones at Fairy Tail are gone too!" Sting says as he starts to sprint back with a flying Aster.
"We should go too. I know it's worrying but we should think about that later. Besides, they saved us, right? The person should be on our side." Grey reasons with a pat on my shoulder and I nod back. He nods in satisfaction before we start to chase after the pair ahead of us.
Rei… you better win this fight. Come on, hero. Bring us back a total victory!
