Several workers were strewn around the area. The laborers and security didn't put up any resistance.
An arm with its right side covered in metal swings at a wooden shipping crate, opening it without damaging the contents. "Uh, this is it. This is what the boss wanted." Mr. 1 says to Mr. 0 also known as Crocodile. "A Sea Stone Energy Emitter. Elric may have stopped making weapons, but he still makes all kinds of good stuff." Crocodile smirked but his victory was interrupted by the sound of sirens
Crocodile looks down to see they have police and S.W.A.T. arriving. "Get your toy. It's time to go,"
SWAT vans and police cruisers screeched to a halt. Many officers deployed in a defensive formation, waiting for the threat to appear. "Spread out. Weapons ready." To their surprise, they didn't expect someone coming from above.
Mr. 3 jumped onto a police car and coated it with wax. Crushing it from the outside, and setting the wax on fire from the explosion of the car.
"Contact!"
The villain proceeded to manipulate the wax so some of it was launched towards the men, it hit some and went through some SWAT members until it hit another car and blew that one up as well.
"Officer's down!" called out the Captain of the squad. In the corner of his eye, another threat came. "We've got another one!"
Out of nowhere, Mr. 5 flicked a small black ball towards the police officers. The ball hit another police car exploding on impact and toppling it over some SWAT men.
The squad fired at the man, but Mr. 5 generated an explosion at his feet and the shock wave from it bounced all of the bullets away. "Out of the way!"
Crocodile then comes in, unfazed by their weapons. The SWAT shot at him but the bullets went right through his body and were only making a sandy hole in it.
Crocodile held out his left arm where a golden hook replaced his hand and by manipulating the sand near the end of his arm it shot forward and rammed into a police car while also hitting about 6 other men. Whoever was left standing tried to retreat to no avail.
A blue-haired medic came on to the scene treating one of the men with a neck brace. She looked back at her partner who was in the van
"I need your help. Come on!" The woman ordered. She looked to be in her early 20's and as in a paramedic uniform. The man she was looking at shook his head in fear
"N-No way this is crazy!" He said as he shut the door to the van
Crocodile laid on one of the toppled over cars as Mr. 3 and 5 walked over to him, while Mr. 1 held the Sea Stone blaster towards the blue-haired medic
"Let's see what this thing can do." He said as the gun charged and got ready to fire. But right before Mr. 1 pulled the trigger he was shot in the stomach with a fireball that launched him back and hit a container.
Mr. 1 looked up from where he clutched his stomach from the attack and saw who the man was that hit him.
He was a tall man, with salmon spiky hair and onyx eyes. He wore a closed black jacket with one sleeve missing, a gold-trimmed, black cloth around his waist that reached his knees, held by a leather brown belt with an oval-shaped silver buckle, and white shorts and black leather combat boots. He seemed to have rather sharp canines and had a weird red emblem on his right shoulder.
"Don't worry guys. I'll deal with them." The man said as he jumped off of a container and walked over to the criminals
"Who the hell are you?!" Mr. 5 asked
"Natsu Dragneel, but some people call me Salamander." Natsu answered, "Either way it doesn't matter, I'm still going to be the one to barbecue you for what you did to these guys."
Mr. 5 didn't take the threat seriously as he spawned another black ball and flicked it towards Natsu.
It exploded on impact and the villains thought the job was done already. That was until they saw a giant fireball hit Mr. 5 into a large shipping container.
"Who's next?" Natsu asked, making the 'bring it on motion' with his hand.
Mr. 3 then ran up to him and turned his hands into wax hammers and delivered a series of blows to the Salamander's abdomen.
With one more hit Natsu spun around and raised a brow since the attack didn't even hurt. He then spun his elbow right into Mr. 3's rib making him cough out blood and land on his butt as he clutched his stomach.
Natsu was about to get up before he was suddenly hit in the head. Crocodile then hit Natsu and sent him flying.
"Heh, so much for a hero." Crocodile said as he started to walk off, he then felt some rumbling and looked back to see Natsu charging through shipping containers while his body was on fire. It was as if he were a bowling ball and the container was just pins for him to knock out.
Natsu then tackled Crocodile and headbutted his stomach knocking him back into some containers. Natsu then slowly walked towards the fallen man.
"I recommend giving up, I'm not afraid to hit an old man," Natsu says cracking his knuckles.
Crocodile grit his teeth, he held out his right hand and sand started to swirl around it "Shut up!" He yelled as a load of sand hit Natsu's face blinding the hero for a second
Crocodile then swung his left hand with the golden hook back and then swung it forward trying to make it pierce Natsu's skin. With all the sand Crocodile couldn't see Natsu's whole figure but he could see enough. When he felt his arm stop he figured the job was done.
But then he saw smoke building up from where he struck the hero.
He took a closer look and saw his hook never connected into the hero instead it melted from Natsu's own body heat.
"N-No way! T-That's impossible." Crocodile stuttered
Natsu smirked and then punched Crocodile's face launching him back. Mr. 1 recovered enough from the blow he took to see Crocodile rolling on the ground while Natsu walked towards him.
Taking a good look at the environment, he saw his golden opportunity. His arms became steel swords and he jumped and sliced a nearby crane's support beam.
Natsu's stomach started to bloat a bit until it went back to normal but his cheeks became the one bloated "Fire Dragon-" He said but was cut off when the metal of the crane creaked and cables snapped as a shipping container and the crane itself fell on top of the hero.
With that, the gang laughed at their apparent victory.
"The dud was such a blowhard. Seriously Salamander? Ha! More like a Sala lose-" Crocodile was cut off as the pile of flattened metal exploded into pieces.
And out of it shot out a mighty big load of fire with the only sound being heard was "ROAR!"
The fire engulfed both Mr. 5 and Mr. 1 and exploded right after causing Crocodile and Mr. 3 to get launched back and smash into a bunch of shipping containers
Natsu walked out of the debris and admired his handy work.
"Alright we got, Blade Guy, we have Wax Head and Bomb Dude... wait where's Sandy?" Natsu asked looking all around until he saw the man but he wasn't alone
"Back off, you pink-haired freak or girly here is gonna get a little too much off the top." Crocodile said as he held the blue-haired girl with his left arm while his right arm transformed into a sand scythe-like blade.
Natsu growled at the thug, as he bared his teeth and clenched his fist "That's not fair!"
Crocodile smirked and pressed the weapon a little closer to her neck. "Life's not fair, kid. You should learn to roll with it."
Natsu smirked and raised his foot a bit. "Then you won't complain about this then." Natsu then pressed his foot into the ground
"Huh?" Crocodile looked down to see smoke building up from under him and then flames shot up from the ground and hit Crocodile in the back. Crocodile then sordid threw the air until he came back down and smashed into the concrete ground
The blue-haired girl sighed in relief. She got back to her feet and walked up to Natsu. "Thank you."
Natsu raised a brow "You don't have any magic, neither do you have any weapons. So why did you go and help them?" Natsu asked curiously
The girl blushed a bit "They needed my help. I've always wanted to help people. It's kind of like 2nd nature. When I see someone injured I just want to help them." Natsu smiled at this "Plus I'm a paramedic, it's my job to take care of people injured. By the way, I'm Wendy- Wendy Marvell." Wendy held out her hand
Natsu held out his hand and shook hers "I'm Natsu Dragneel."
Clouds in the sky started to swirl together and create a small portal where a voice echoed through the area
"Natsu! Fiore is under attack! We need your help!" A man shouted out and Natsu nodded
"See ya, Wendy," Natsu said as he used his fire as a boost and jumped off the ground and flew right into the portal. It then closed and the clouds dispersed.
"See ya..." Wendy said with a slight wave, red tint still on her face
In Fiore
The city looked to be an old-time look. There was even a castle on the far side of it.
The whole city was surrounded by a great big wall but everything seemed to be peaceful.
As the gatekeepers of Fiore stood watch, several figures appeared in the distance. Suddenly, loads of attacks of fire, light, wind, water, boulders, ice, and many others came flying toward them. It hit the wall and watchtowers and they crashed down.
Just as the men and women of Fiore were feasting and enjoying their merriment, another attack crashed through the stained glass windows, ruining their festivities.
From across the bridge, demons walked over to the bridge and continued their assault on the outer wall.
One launched a giant block of ice at and hit multiple guards. The ice then destroyed the drawbridge and was replaced by a bridge of ice.
As the common people evacuated from the area, they looked in fear at their attackers breaking through the main gate.
As the dust cleared, a man in black and white clothing stepped forward. "Forward, my Demons." He pointed toward the castle as the demons walked/flew ahead. "Strike hard. Do not stop until the throne of Fiore belongs to me, Zeref."
The demons continued to destroy many of the buildings and homes in their wake.
Within the city, the demons ignored the citizens below them as they had their sights set on a bigger prize, the central palace. However, Fiore was not without protection.
Several warriors fought valiantly to protect their fair city.
A swordswoman in steel armor dodged a massive sword strike before she ran up to one of the demons and cut it in half. Her armor then transformed into black spiky armor with a giant spiky black mace. The mace slammed into a few more demons launching them in the air.
Another man with spiky white hair transformed his body into an alligator like-being and punched a couple of demons away.
Another man with spiky black long hair transformed his arm into a sword and sliced some demons in half.
Meanwhile, Natsu had just arrived in Fiore. He looked over to the city to see all the demons there.
"Damn," Natsu swore as fire swirled around his feet "You joining?" Natsu asked, the yellow-haired man shook his head 'no'
"I need to be here. Can't let anyone get close to the Anima. Go without me." Natsu nodded
He launched off the ground and flew towards the city and got ready to battle.
Back at Fiore
A woman in long white hair then grabbed on to a couple of demons and absorbed them into her. A magic circle then appeared from under her and she transformed into a demon and human-like hybrid. A dark ball then launched towards the demon and comply destroyed the demons.
A woman with long blond hair used her whip and struck a bunch of demons.
Then a man in raven-black hair came in with pink ice and froze a bunch of demons coming towards them.
Even though all that, the demons still kept coming.
"These guys aren't going down!" The raven-haired man spoke as they all took a step back.
A big blaze then came out from nowhere and engulfed the demons. The demons' screams were heard as they burned to ash in no time.
In Fiore castle
A short bald man smirked "Natsu..."
Back with Natsu
A demon looked at Natsu and pointed at him "Dragon Slayer! Now we will kill you!"
Natsu's hands were then lit on fire "Bring it demon scum!"
Natsu and the demon clashed which sent a shock wave through the city.
Another demon shot a blast of explosions at him but Natsu was able to eat the flames.
Thanks to his dragon slayer magic he was able to eat the element he uses in battle. Which happened to be fire.
Fire engulfed his fist and launched towards one of his opponents "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu punched the demon's face but then immediately got punched by another demon and got hit into a building.
A couple more demons then came from all over and piled on top of Natsu. For a moment it seemed like Natsu lost until fire burst through the demons and Natsu came out of the pile unscathed and more fired up than before.
Natsu then tried to jump towards them but was shot by a black and purple blast that made him launch into several buildings and crash into the giant wall that surrounded Fiore.
Dozens of demons then launched attacks at Natsu. All of them sending different elements and all connected and caused a large explosion to occur.
The demons thought the fight was finished but then they heard a noise.
"Dragon Slayer's: Secret Art-" Natsu ignited his arms in fire and generated long torrents of flames from them, "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" The fire moved to hit the demons in a spiraling formation. Each connecting strike generated a powerful, burning explosion.
Before Natsu could celebrate his victory he was hit with another black and purple blast that sent him through a pillar.
Natsu looked up to see who shut him to see a very familiar face.
"Welcome Home Brother." Zeref says with a sinister smile on his face "You've had this coming for a long time, of course. But you know this." More of the magic gathered in his hand.
Zeref grinned as he attacked with more of his death magic. The hero cried out in pain as he was forced into the ground and back. The death magic crumbled anything that got in its path.
Zeref floated towards Natsu with his magic still in hand. "You and Makarov deserve what's coming."
"I don't want to fight you, Zeref." Natsu groaned as he pushed himself from his crater. "We were brothers. We fought side by side, Dragneel brothers, together. It could be that way again!"
A sick grin plastered on Zeref's face. "You made your choice, Natsu. You chose to remain blind by Makarov's lies, and for that choice suffer."
Zeref spawns a black orb in his hand but Natsu uses his foot that was covered in flames to kick it away.
The black orb then hit a building to its right and collapsed once the orb hit. Zeref gritted his teeth.
Natsu's fists were then coated with flames as Zeref's fists were then coated with black orbs.
Both charged and clashed the fists coated with magic power and the very ground started to rip apart.
Both either blocked or countered the other so neither got a hit in. Zeref launched his left hand back and then forwards hitting Natsu's right cheek then exploding the orb on impact.
Smoke surrounded Natsu's face and Zeref was blinded from sight of Natsuuntil Natsu rushed out of the smoke with part of his cheek ripped up and a fist surrounded by fire.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu yelled out, he slammed his fist into his brother's face and sent him into another tower "Stay down!" Natsu ordered as he wiped some blood off of his face.
Zeref didn't listen and sent a black beam of death at Natsu. Natsu's hands lit up with flames. A large stream of fire from each of his arms was launched at the beam and countered it.
Natsu then rushed forward and punched Zeref in the face sending him off the tower and onto a bridge below it.
"Fire Dragon King Mode!" Natsu announced as flames erupted from his body. The tower started to melt away so was the surrounding area "Fire Dragon King's Roar!" A torrent of flames burst through Natsu's mouth and slammed into Zeref.
"AAAHHHH!" Zeref screamed out, but then dispersed the flames with his death magic
Both brothers made motions with their hands and spawned their magic in their hands.
Natsu lifted both of his hands up and held them as if they were holding a ball. The sun in the back shined brighter as in between the 2 palms had grown a tiny ball of fire which then got bigger and bigger.
Zeref swiped both of his arms in a circular motion until the bottom of his hands met. The hand on top had the index and middle fingers pointing upwards, while the other hand had the pinky and index fingers pointing downwards.
"Igneel, lend me power..."
"Ankhseram, hear my prayers...
"Fire Dragon King's-"
"Dark-"
"Brilliant Flame!"
"Repent!"
A beam of dark black energy and a ball of bright orange fire clashed together causing a massive shockwave that shook all of the landscape of Fiore.
In the distance, the people of Fiore could see pillars of black energy and orange fire be launched in the sky and push away the clouds that filled it.
In a crater, all that could be seen was Zeref groaning in agony as he slowly tried to get up but went back to the ground when Natsu placed a foot on his chest.
"Come on, Zeref. You and Gramps have a lot to talk about." Natsu breathed a sigh of relief
It was over.
In the throne room
Natsu burst through the throne room's doors. Zeref was locked in anti-magic cuffs designed to nullify magic.
Makarov was intimidating but calm. What little he had left white hair indicated old age, but he showed years of experience behind those eyes.
"You have gone too far, Zeref. This is no game." Makarov warned. "Soon I shall enter the Ethernano Slumber, and Fiore will not have my power to protect it. To bring the Demons of Tarturos here, to try to usurp me!"
Zeref gritted his teeth "Look at you. King of fools, of arrogance, of weakness and betrayal! Fiore will fall and I will be there to laugh in its ruins to see you and Natsu in chains!"
Makarov stood up from his throne and motioned his hands together as if he was about to clap and pray. "ENOUGH!" Makarov bellowed. His godly aura froze everyone in place. "You leave me no choice, Zeref. You are hereby banished to the Isle of Silence, where no one will have to suffer your lies and deception."
Zeref's eyes widened in fear. "No. No!"
Makarov clapped his hands together and soon Zeref was engulfed by a bright light.
Following the spell, Makarov slumped in his throne from exhaustion.
"Gramps," Natsu voiced his concern.
Makarov waved his worries. "The Ethernano Slumber nears. Once a year, I must slumber to regain my strength and let Ethernano pass through Fiore giving the mage's strength." Makarov looked to his most trusted and most powerful child Natsu. "There is much for you to prepare."
"Gray and Erza will watch over Fiore while you sleep. I have to watch over Earth Land," Natsu responds.
Gray and Erza look at each other in uncertainty.
"You need to be here," Makarov asserts. "Fiore is your responsibility, not Earth Land."
"Those people need me, Gramps." Natsu presses. "Every time I come back, more bad people are trying to murder good people, bad guys, that need to be taken down a peg or 12!"
Makarov raised a brow. "Really? Gray tells me the humans are more capable than you give them credit for." Natsu glared at Gray, he only looked away slightly whistling "You saw the courage that human Wendy Marvell had."
"And of course, you were watching me," Natsu bemoaned. "I will always be here to protect Fiore, but I'm not playing this game. Zeref is not wrong, Gramps. You could have stopped Zeref's attack before it started."
"ENOUGH!" Makarov interrupted. "You dare defy me?!"
"Whoever is dumb enough to attack Fiore again, I will be here to kick their ass. But until then, I choose Earth Land." Natsu walked out of the room
On the walkway to the Anima
Natsu stood about a mile away from the anima before he looked back at the castle that held his family.
He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Why did he like Earth Land so much? He felt so... free. Ever since he was born he felt a weight on his shoulder. A pedestal he had to climb as if he made one wrong move. It meant the end.
But on Earth Land, it was the exact opposite. Taking on bad guys, defeating villains. It felt right, saving people. He felt good.
He was needed there... or is it that he just wanted to be there.
"Gramps I- No I need to find something to hit," Natsu says
He then sprints as fast as he could into the Anima and teleports back to Earth Land.
At the Isle of Silence
Zeref sat alone, going over his plan so far.
He had tricked the Demons into thinking that Fiore is preparing for war against them.
Disguised as a villain named Blackbeard, he hired Crocodile, Mr. 1, Mr. 3, and Mr. 5 to attack the Elric Industries freighter.
Although there was just one thing that didn't fit in. How would he get Natsu and his flaming ass over there quickly, well he would need more help. He smirked.
Flashback
Natsu sat on a building eating some nice cooked fish.
"Salamander, please you have to help!" A woman with red long hair waved to him Natsu used his magic to land on her balcony
"What is it?" Natsu asked with concern finishing his fish
"It's horrible, police at the docs are under attack." She said, Natsu eyes widen and looks towards the direction of the docs
"Don't worry. I'll deal with them." Natsu said and rushed off towards the docs
Once he was out of sight the red-haired woman smirked and then used magic to change into her original form.
A taller, more beautiful woman, she was Irene Belserion. An old enemy of Natsu and she was proud to work for Zeref
End Flashback
Disguised as Gray, he planted seeds of doubt in Makarov regarding Natsu's motives on Earth Land. He continued to wait against a tree for the next step of his plan.
In a bright red light, Irene appeared on the Isle along with a hooded demon named Bloodman a demon Zeref created himself. With a wave of Irene's hands, a magical barrier forms and expands around the trio. "Did you miss the sound of your own voice?"
Zeref was unimpressed. "What else is there to listen to when everything else is worthless. Tell me."
"All transpires as you planned. Neither Natsu or Makarov is aware of what is happening."
Zeref stood up, hands to his sides. "Of course, they're not. It is my plan, after all. No one's ready for what comes next." Zeref's smirk widened and laughed at his accomplishment.