"Don't let the shades touch you!" Loke shouted. "They're curses in physical form!"

"That is correct," Jose chuckled. "With a single touch, my phantom soldiers can weaken your life force. Such are my shades!"

"Just don't touch 'em, right?" Alzack asked.

"Let's show them what we're made of!" Bisca cheered. Between the two of them, they annihilated a large group of shades.

"Nice shooting," Cana approved. Unfortunately, the shades reformed.

"Aw, come on!" Bisca complained.

"They came back?"

"Now what?"

"Aw, now that ain't fair."

"We just can't seem to catch a break!"

"There'll be no end to them if they keep fighting like this," Loke muttered. He felt a twinge. "What's that? I got a bad feeling all of a sudden."

Natsu punched the Jupiter cannon with blazing fists, but it wasn't doing anything. "Crap! I'm barely even scratching the surface!"

"Maybe you should try destroying it from the inside," Happy suggested. Natsu glared at the cat, then shrugged. They dropped into the inside of the cannon. Natsu got the feeling that he was walking into a monster's mouth. They came into a large room with a giant lacrima in the center. Four other lacrima of different colors surrounded it, probably to provide the power. One of the hands on the giant clock moved.

"Eleven minutes until the Jupiter fires," a female voice said.

"Crap, I should get to destroying it," Natsu muttered.

"I can't allow that," a man said.

"Should have guessed that they would have someone guarding it," Natsu said, crouching. He wasn't going to give up the high ground just yet. "Who are you? On second thought, I don't really care. Out of my way!" Natsu was fast, but the other man was faster. His fist moved of its own accord and hit him in the face. "What the heck?"

"Ten minutes until the Jupiter fires."

"Ok, this isn't funny anymore," Natsu growled a couple minutes later. "I have to destroy this cannon, and your little trick with the fire is annoying."

"You can certainly try, but I won't let you."

"Seven minutes until the Jupiter fires."

"I'm running out of time. So shut up and let me hit it." Natsu tried to hit him again, but the same thing happened.

"Are you ok?" Happy asked.

"I did it again… Man, that hurt! I didn't realize just how strong I was."

"How cares?! We don't have that more time! Just forget about this guy! It's the cannon! We gotta break it right now!"

"I'll show you," Natsu growled, running at the man.

"Listen to me, Natsu!" Unfortunately, his fist decided to go spinning around, and his opponent kicked him hard.

"Six minutes until the Jupiter fires."

"I am Totomaru, and I have complete control over the element of fire."

"So that's your name," Natsu muttered, rising. "I think I might have heard of you before. You're one of the Element Four, aren't you?"

"Yes. Any form of fire is my plaything to do with as I please."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"It doesn't matter if it's natural or magic," he smirked. "All fire will yield itself my commands alone."

"Hate to break it to you, but you're not controlling mine."

"Natsu! That doesn't matter right now! We gotta destroy this thing first!"

"This isn't going to go well for you," Totomaru said. "My dear fire wizard." Natsu's eyebrow twitched. He hated it when people talked to him like that. The extra lacrima began to power up, pouring magic into the center lacrima.

"Oh, no!" Happy exclaimed. "It's starting to activate again!"

"Five minutes until the Jupiter fires."

"Will you shut up?!" Natsu shouted. "I know!"

"It's too late," Totomaru said. "Blue Fire!" The attack was pointless; Natsu just ate the fire.

"Whoa! That's cold going down… Never tasted fire like that before!"

"So it's you," Totomaru growled. "Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer."

"The one and only," Natsu said mockingly.

"Well, this isn't going to work out well for either of us! We're both impervious to fire attacks."

"I haven't even hit you yet! How do you know my fire won't hurt you?"

"Go ahead and give it your best shot, but you won't be able to hit me." Natsu slammed his fists together.

"We'll see about that! Fire Dragon…!"

"I told you I can control any flame!" Natsu pulled the cloth mask down.

"Spit!" Natsu cackled as he pushed his mask back up. "Ha ha! I got you good!"

"Two minutes until the Jupiter fires."

"Natsu! We've gotta hurry! The Jupiter is about to fire!"

"That was a dumb move," Totomaru snarled. "Do you think this is a game? Orange Fire!"

"You saw it yourself; fire is food to me!" Natsu began to eat the fire, but choked. "What the heck?! This tastes awful!" Totomaru laughed.

"That fire has the smell of an old rag that's sopped up spoiled milk."

"That's a dirty trick," Natsu growled.

"And a face full of spit isn't?"

"One minute until the Jupiter fires."

"Come on!" Happy wailed, tugging on Natsu's horns. "Hurry up!"

"Shut up!" Natsu snapped, whacking the cat off him. He rushed towards Totomaru. I can't use my magic against him. Maybe I can take him down barehanded.

"Now you're going to try fighting without magic?" he smirked, dodging with ease. "That's fine by me! My katana and I have the advantage!" Years of sparring with Erza when he was bored kept him well out of reach until Natsu finally landed a blow. The katana went flying and embedded itself into the main lacrima.

"You think you're so smart," Totomaru scoffed. "A little ding like that won't destroy a lacrima of that size!"

"Maybe not, but now you're swordless!" Natsu lit his hands on fire again. "Which mean I have the upper hand!"

"Sheesh. How many times do I have to tell you that won't work?" Natsu punched himself in the face, cracking his visor. Aw, crap, not again! Replacing this thing is a nuisance! He increased the range of his fire so it would reach Totomaru. It worked.

"This is bad!" Happy panicked. "Bad! Bad!"

"Twenty seconds until the Jupiter fires." Flames swirled rapidly around Natsu's fists.

"Think you're going to blast me again? Not going to happen! I'll keep my distance and control your fire from here!" The inferno grew as Natsu combined the fire. "What? I can't get it to move! It won't even budge! He's blocking my control! How did he learn to do that in the middle of a fight?!" The normal color of the flames began to be tainted black.

"This fire is the only thing that's stuck with me through the years!" Natsu bellowed. "It's mine, so don't mess with it!" He threw the blaze at him, but he dodged.

"Ha! Your attack's no good if it can't hit me!"

"Who says I was aiming for you?" Natsu smirked as the column of flames rushed toward the sword.

"Three. Two. One." The lacrima shattered. That was too close. The cannon exploded. Natsu could hear the cheers of Fairy Tail. His mouth curved into a little smile.

"You outsmarted me," Totomaru growled. "I guess you aren't just brute strength after all."

"Here's a little tip for you," Natsu sighed, ignoring the wreckage around him. "You can't just tell fire what to do. You have to ask it from the heart." Totomaru sneered.

"Don't get cocky," Jose growled. "You haven't beaten me yet. Awaken the giant!" The ground began to rumble.

"I've had enough of you messing with my fire," Natsu shouted. "Play with my fire and you'll get burned!" Then the ground began to tilt.

"He's awakening it now?" Totomaru gasped. "But there's no horizontal stabilization in this room!"

"What?!"

"You Fairy Tailers are through!" Totomaru laughed as Natsu felt familiar twistings in his guts. "Phantom's giant will slaughter you!"

"Natsu! Pull yourself together!"

"I can't…"

Yo! So I've been thinking about how there are over 200 people reading this story, and only ONE of you (Johnny Spectre, thanks a bunch!) was kind enough to review... It may just be me being weird, but it kind of bugs me. I don't know. Maybe I should stop writing for this...