Tear Down the Palace!

"This… This is impossible," Natsu stuttered. Dragon's Eye had failed to work. Laxus exploded into laughter.

"All that build up and that's it? Man is that a letdown!" he cackled. Natsu grabbed his necklace, and looked at it carefully. It was still glowing lightly from inside.

How can this be? Natsu thought I can't be out of magical power yet. It then dawned on him.

"Don't tell me I can only use Dragon's Eye once a day," he muttered to himself. Though when he thought about it, he had only just achieved this ability, he supposed it was to be expected that he couldn't use it so freely as he may of thought.

Erza cringed, as she watched Natsu. She was certain that considering how easily Natsu defeated Jellal with Dragon's Eye, he could have defeated Laxus as well. But if Natsu couldn't use it then perhaps defeating Laxus would not be as easy as she thought.

Before Natsu could do anything else, Laxus bolted forward, slamming an electrically charged fist into Natsu's gut. The black-clad mage flew back, slamming through the wall. Natsu emerged from the rubble, wiping the side of his mouth.

"It doesn't matter!" he said firmly, "I'll still be able to beat you!" He held up his hands.

"Apocalypse Technique: Chaos Flash!" Several glowing orbs appeared around Laxus, before exploding. Through the dust, Laxus emerged in the form of a lightning bolt. He shot at Natsu, who held up his arms, using his Chaos Shield. Laxus bounced off, before reforming over Natsu.

"Lightning Prong!" The twin bolts of electricity curved towards Natsu. Natsu coated both of his fists with magic power, punch the bolts away.

"Chaos Dragon's Roar!" he yelled, blasting at Laxus. Laxus turned back into electricity, as he reformed on the ground.

"You've gotten better, I'll give you that," Natsu said.

"That's all you got to say," Laxus said as he cracked his neck, "I'm just getting warmed up." With that, he blasted at Natsu. In response, Natsu blasted at him. The two collided into each other with incredible force that Erza thought would blast her right out the wall.

"Chaos Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu said, as he brought both of his arms down, magic energy gathering around them giving a resemblance to wings. Laxus jumped out of the way.

"Lightning Web!" Spreading his hands out, sending out a series of lightning bolts at Natsu which formed into the style of web, enclosing him.

"Chaos Dragon's Roar!" The roar blasted away the web, after which Natsu brought his hands together.

"Chaos Dragon's Cannon!" A beam of magic shot from his hands towards Laxus. In response, Laxus brought up his hands. A wall of lightning blocked the worst of the attack, though the force knocked the Lightning Mage back, after which he shot another blast of lightning at Natsu, who punched it away with his Dragon's Fist.

"I don't get why you're doing this!" Natsu said angrily, "What do you have to gain from this?"

"Look who the hell's talking, since when did you care about Fairy Tail?" Laxus sneered right back, as he brought his hands together, sending an orb of electricity at him. After knocking it away, Natsu opened his mouth to answer, but somehow, he couldn't think of a reason for him. He wanted to say that he needed the money, but somehow, that reason didn't seem sufficient.

"Don't turn the question around! I asked you!" Natsu said, as he held up his hands, using his Flash technique again, only for Laxus to turn back into lightning, and get out of the way.

"You of all should know what Fairy Tail has become!" Laxus said, "Its become soft and weak! Phantom Lord has shown our weakness! We must remind everyone of our power! Including our own members!"

Natsu didn't respond, as he just cringed. At one point, he would have been inclined to agree with Laxus on this perspective. He had been raised to believe that the strong had to rule, even if that meant having to crush those who were weak. But something about the events at the Tower of Heaven…

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Natsu sprung at Laxus again, with his Dragon's Fist. Laxus simply sprung into the air, he then rubbed his hands together.

"Flash Bolt!" A huge blast of light came from his hands, that blinded both Natsu and Erza. That briefly blindness gave Laxus the opening he needed. He turned into lightning, and loomed over Natsu.

"Lightning Sting!" He jabbed at Natsu multiple times with lightning charged fingers. Natsu let out a grunt of pain, as he fell to the ground.

"I can't move!" he said. Laxus laughed as he leapt back into the air.

"Its clear to me now that you no longer deserve the moniker as the strongest! Its time you were relieved of it!" He then gathered his hands together, gathering a huge collection of lightning in his hands.

"Raging Bolt!" With that, he blasted down all that lightning in one single blast towards Natsu, who could just watch as the lightning came down on him.

"Natsu!" Erza cried out.

There was a huge explosion where Natsu was. Laxus landed on the ground, as he watched the dust clear, and his grin grew larger as he saw nothing but rubble.

"Where's all that strength now, Chaos Dragon?" he cackled, "Hard to fight when you've been blasted into oblivion!" He continued laughing until a new voice spoke up.

"Last time I checked you were guild mates, and now you're laughing about kill him?" the voice asked. Laxus turned, and standing there was Gajeel, holding Natsu by his belt.

"Look's like its now my job to kick your ass!" he said.

"Gajeel," Erza whispered in surprise.

"The hell are you doing here, Iron Dragon?" Natsu sneered.

"Saving your ass!" Gajeel answered, as he dropped Natsu on the ground.

"I had it completely under control," Natsu answered, as he kicked up magic which cloaked his body. This allowed Natsu to get back up, as he panted.

"Now why don't you go handle those lightning orbs? And leave this idiot to me?" he said.

"I'd say you should do that, seeing as you're the one who's all beat up," Gajeel said, "But unlike you, I'm smart." He the grinned at Natsu.

"What so you and I take him on together?" he asked. At first, Natsu was going to say no. He didn't accept help, much less help offered from a former enemy. But he looked at Laxus. Without Dragon's Eye, this was going to prove challenging, and he couldn't waste time on this guy. He then looked at Erza.

"Scarlet!" he called. Erza looked up.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Can you get up?" Natsu asked. Erza cringed, as she struggled, but still managed to get back to her feet.

"I suppose I can," she answered.

"Good," Natsu said, "We're going to deal with this guy. You go out and see if you can do anything about the Thunder Palace." Erza, knowing that was probably all she could at this point, nodded in agreement, before moving out as fast her body was going to allow her.

"Just stay clear of me," Natsu said to Gajeel, as he cracked his knuckles.

"I was about to say the same thing!" Gajeel answered. With that, the two dragons launched at Laxus, who just grinned darkly.

(in the streets of Magnolia)

Erza looked up at the sky, as she looked over the multiple Lacrima orbs surrounding the city. She then re-quipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor. With that, she launched several swords into the sky, which slashed through the orbs cleanly. In response, the lighting bolts shot down to her. Erza tried to re-quip her lighting armor, but was too slow, as the lightning struck her.

The red-head let out a cry of pain, as she almost fell down, but she refused to fail. With that she held up her swords, as she got ready to launch again, but then a voice ran through her mind.

"Everyone!" Erza held up her head in surprise. It was Warren's voice.

(somewhere else in Magnolia)

"Warren?" Lisanna asked. She and Cana were sitting on the ground, having refused to fight each other for this issue.

"What's going on?" Cana asked, looking up.

"The barriers are down! Freed's been beaten! And the girls are safe!" Warren said.

(somewhere else)

"Bisca's safe?" Alzack cried out. He hadn't been beaten yet, but he was rather seriously been beaten up. But now that Bisca was safe…

(on top of a building)

Warren, more than a little beaten up, was standing on the roof, his fingers on his forehead. Standing behind him was Lucy.

She'd found Warren on the ground, and managed to help him back on his feet. Remembering that Warren could use telepathy, and with that, Lucy opted to try and spread for the word.

"I'm speaking for Lucy!" Warren said, "She told him that Mirajane's beat him! We don't have to fight anymore!"

Lucy could hear faint cheers from around Magnolia about the battle being over, and she herself let out a quick sigh of relief.

"But its not over!" she said, "Tell everyone to look up at those Lacrima orbs!" Warren relayed that, and Lucy explained the situation.

(with Erza)

"Everyone, we've got to destroy those orbs! Together!"

Erza heard those words, and could only smile, as she stood up. Something about hearing everyone returned her strength. She remembered Makarov once telling her that it was something in the Fairy Tail guild that linked people. She then looked up, and held up another series of swords. With a yell, she shot her swords into the air at the orbs. Throughout the town, blasts of magic emerged, towards the orbs. Each orb was destroyed, and bolts of lightning descended upon the ground. Erza closed her eyes to take it, but they never came.

She opened them, and saw the lightning curving away, and colliding with a distant mountain.

"What?" she muttered.

(at Fairy Tail)

The girls of Fairy Tail, with the exception of Lucy, along with Gray, had their arms held up to XingLong, who was in a battle position, panting. They had focused their magic on him, allowing XingLong to redirect the bolts of lightning.

"You did it!" Levy said. XingLong turned to them, still panting.

"I suppose now's a good time to ask," he said, "Can I join the guild?"

"I'm sure as hell you can," Gray said, with a thumbs-up. XingLong smiled back, before collapsing to the ground, passed out.

(at the cathedral)

The Dragon Slayers and Laxus were still fighting ferociously. Every attack they seemed to through, Laxus either blocked, or dodged. But it was becoming apparent that Laxus was on the losing end, and Natsu and Gajeel knew that.

"Iron Dragon's Spear!" Laxus ducked, only for Natsu to appear over him.

"Chaos Dragon's Fist!" he said, as he slammed Laxus in the side, and threw him into the wall.

"Redfox!" Natsu called out.

"On it!" Gajeel said, as he took a breath, as did Natsu.

"Chaos Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

The two breath attacks shot from both ends at Laxus, creating a huge explosion of energy that blew the roof off the cathedral.

Both Natsu and Gajeel were tired, but Natsu was more so. He looked at his necklace, the glow was slightly dimmer. I really hope this is over he thought to himself, looking on as the dust settled.

To his horror, the figure of Laxus stood up.

"Looking back, it was probably a stretch to assume I would be able to beat you both as things stand," he said, "I should've gone all out immediately." He then looked up, his eyes glowing fiercely, as lighting crackled around his body.

"Time to show you what I can really do!" With that, lightning exploded around him.

"What in the hell?" Gajeel said. But Natsu recognized it.

"That impossible," he muttered.

Laxus' canines turned into fangs, as scales appeared over his body.

"That can't be!" Gajeel said, now noticing it as well. Laxus just smiled, that seemed darker than all the others before it.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!" he yelled.

Note: I was initially going to establish Lightning Dragon in this chapter, but figured it should get a whole chapter of its own, so I decided to tear down the Thunder Palace, and have Gajeel arrive in this chapter. I hope its satisfactory. A lot is probably going to happen next time.

On an unrelated note, I was considering during a story where canon Natsu gets Dragon's Eye. It would be "Eye of the Fire Dragon". What do you think?