Disclaimers: I do not own Fairy Tail.
A/N: So in self-quarantine at my house and you think I would be able to get some writing done for stories like Right Claw and such. Unfortunately, all I got was writer's block, so I shift focus to this story to help me break out of it. Let's see how it goes.
This story was semi-beta by Tenryu no hoko who has been a massive help in idea swapping and such. Check out their stories, "Times Comes Around" "Tales of the Romeoverse", and "Heart of the Flames" when you have the chance.
Also check out my other stories like, "The Wild Master", "A Child of Fire and Brimstone" and the Fiery Hurricane series.
Please leave a Review, Fav, or Follow, if you want.
Chapter 7
Wrath of the Trickster
Magnolia Hospital
"So as you can see, this deal works out for both parties", Macao finishes explaining to the head doctor, "Wendy provides her healing magic to your facility at a part-time wage, while you get someone who can clear up all the backlog of patients you got and free up your personnel."
Dr. Hiaser Mcnuddet, the head of staff at Magnolia Medical Center, rubs his chin as he ponders the idea. With over fifty years of experience, he always wondered about the possibilities of magic being used alongside practical medical knowledge. Up until little over seven years ago, he thought healing magic was a lost art, at least that's what his old friend and drinking buddy, Makarov, used to tell him. But that all change once the girl in question joined up with Fairy Tail. But that idea came and went as quickly as the young lady did after that Tenrou fiasco.
But apparently the gods work in mysterious ways and somehow both Makarov and Wendy survive that incident.
"You know, Macao", Hiaser began, "When I personally bought you into this world all those years ago, I somehow had the distinct feeling that you would grow up to be the type of person who would do anything they could to make a profit."
Macao's face goes red from embarrassment, "Don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Mcnuddet. This is just so Wendy can have a little extra money on the side to help her get back on her feet."
"Along with giving Fairy Tail a good reputation among the townfolks with her helping out here", Hiaser quickly adds, "You don't have to lie to me, Macao. I do realize that you're really doing this to actually help the girl, it just so happens to have an added bonus."
A moment of silence passes between the two men as Macao keeps eye contact with the doctor from across the desk between them.
"Soooooo... can she work here then?"
Outside the office, Wakaba and Wendy sat at the end of the hallway, with the older mage grumbling to himself over having to put out his cigar before coming in and the younger one fretting over whether or not the hospital would accept the offer put forth by the guild. Due to the distance from the office and the fact that Dr. Mcnuddet actually has his room soundproof through magical runes, even her enhanced hearing couldn't pick up on the conversation.
She didn't know who came up with the idea for her to work here once she told the rest of the guild about how the lack of jobs was not helping her money issues. While most of the other girls who were on Tenrou were able to get by selling some of their old stuff, Wendy didn't really have much to call her own even back when she was with Cait Shelter. She was barely able to pay the first month's rent at Fairy Hills but if she didn't get some decent income soon, she wouldn't be able to make the next month's rent.
"Master Makarov told me right before he and Mira left to talk to Twilight Ogre that it wasn't him nor her. Who was it then? Lucy? Levy? Perhaps Natsu, Gray, or Erza?", she thought as she sees the door open up and Macao come out. He looks around and spots the duo and makes his way over to them.
"So what the doc say?", Wakaba asks.
Macao looks down at Wendy who was practically shaking with anticipation and scratches the back of his head.
"Well, he said that Wendy is technically underage to be working at this type of job, even part-time", he starts.
The dragon-slayer's face and mood drop dramatically upon hearing this.
"But only mentally and emotionally. Physically, she is nineteen according to her magic guild profile sheet, so he sees a loophole that he can use should it ever become a problem", the Purple Flare mage finish.
"So what you're saying is….?", Wakaba asks.
"She can start next week after the doc gets some paperwork done and inform the rest of the doctors and nurses. She will be pay on an hourly basis depending on how many hours she puts in and she will pick up her pay from city hall at the end of each week-oof!", Macao answered before finding himself getting hug tightly by Wendy.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!", she squeals as she easily lifts him up and spins around.
"Wendy, you might want to let Macao go before he hurls all over the place", Wakaba suggests and the girl realizes what she was doing and puts the man down.
"Sorry about that", she apologizes while Macao leans on his knees in an effort to keep himself from throwing up.
"It's alright. Just need a moment here", he groans.
"While you're down there, you mind telling me who came up with this idea? Because I doubt you did", Wakaba says, only to receive the middle finger from Macao in response.
"Actually, if you must know, it was Kasai who mention it."
Both Wakaba and Wendy raise an eyebrow at this.
"Kasai?", Wendy questions.
"Yeah", Macao nods as he finally comes back up, "He must have heard about your problem and casually suggested it the other day while Master Makarov and I were talking in the clearing outside the guild. Nearly gave me a heart attack when he appeared out of nowhere. Not even the old man heard or saw him coming."
"Well, that's awfully nice of-", Wendy began before a loud noise draws everyone's attention outside and toward the forest.
"That came from the guildhall", Macao says as he broke into a run toward the exit, with Wakaba and Wendy following right behind him.
Meanwhile at Fairy Tail
Kasai lands gracefully on the other side of Natsu and briefly examines the crater left by his fist.
"Wow, that punch lacked focus and precision. It was basically the equivalent of you throwing a rock at a tree while blindfolded", Kasai snickers from his position, "I know I said that I would only criticize your fire magic techniques but that was so sloppily that I just couldn't help it and I can't even punch to begin with."
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!", Natsu screams again as he lunges at the fox spirit, only this time Kasai simply bends his body underneath the follow-up punch and slither like a snake away until he was once more on the other side of the dragon-slayer.
"Miss me again!", Kasai yips, "Must be hard facing an opponent who can easily predict your every move!"
Natsu lets out a growl before launching himself in the air until he was right over Kasai, flames gathering around his right foot.
"Fire Dragon's Inferno Stomp!", as he drops downwards only for the kitsune to merely take a step back to completely evade it, unfazed by the slayer once more creating a crater right in front of him.
"Okay Pinky, be honest, you're making these spells up as you go along, aren't ya?", Kasai asks with a snicker, not at all visibly threaten by the heated glare Natsu was sending him or the flames billowing off of his body, "Because honestly, it sounds like you're pulling these names out your ass. I mean, no doubt your vocabulary is limited but at least put some thought into them."
Kasai then lowers his head to dodge the spin kick Natsu throws at him and the two once again resume their game of cat and mouse.
Both Loke and Capricorn share a look with each other, one that indicated that they knew something wasn't right regarding the spirit. They weren't the only ones either as Romeo was eyeing the kitsune suspiciously as well.
"Big Brother Natsu is a great fighter, there's no doubt about that. In fact, he might be one of the best the guild has ever had and Kasai can't cast any spells without me so he has a major advantage. But... something seems...off about all of this", he thought as he kept watching Kasai dodge every punch and kick that was being thrown at him with uncanny ease, "It's almost like Kasai is holding back, but why?"
Romeo's thoughts took him back to the train ride home, back to the moment where he felt his life was just a hair's breadth away from ending and where he initially felt the sadistic aura of his first summon. Then his memories went back even further to Kasai's fight with Tarsus.
"Straight out of the get-go Kasai was trying to maul Tarsus, claws, teeth, and all. He even used the fire in his tail at one point. So why all the hesitation now?", he asks himself as a foreboding feeling began to creep into his heart, "Now that I think about it, Kasai was intently watching everyone train out in the field over the past few days."
Over the week while Romeo was training to beef up his magic supply, he occasionally spotted his fire spirit watching the rest of the guild as they train in the clearing. At first, the boy thought it was nothing more than a passing curiosity for Kasai but now he was having second thoughts about it.
Meanwhile, the other spectators of this event were silent if not a bit confused about how things have turned out.
"Not going to lie but I was expecting this to be more of an actual fight than just a game of tag", Gajeel says, drawing a look from Max.
"You know what tag is?", the Sand Mage asks, receiving a glare from Gajeel in the process.
"You do realize that I was a kid once?", he growls.
"Could have fooled me. Thought you were just born into a fully grown disgruntled man with a stick up his butt", Jet murmurs under his breath.
"Gajeel's past aside, he's right. I expected that by now both Kasai and Natsu would be in an explosive deathmatch with us having to intervene to prevent it from carrying over into Magnolia", Freed states while everyone else around him nodded their heads.
Both Capricorn and Loke turn to stare at Freed, a move that did not go unnoticed by the Rune mage.
"I beg your pardon, gentlemen, but is there something on my face?", he asks.
"From what you just said, you make it sound like that Natsu is on even ground with Kasai", Loke answers.
"Well while he's no Laxus-sama, I begrudgingly admit that he does have an impressive track record of defeating powerful opponents, Laxus-sama included but only with the help of Gajeel", Freed states, ignoring the grumbling coming from said Iron Dragon-Slayer.
"Did he defeat Acnologia?", Loke asks, causing Freed to go silent for a moment and everyone who was on Tenrou to turn their attention away from the fight to them.
"Well….Acnologia was more of a force of nature than anything-", Freed started, trying to quell the unsettling feeling that developed at the mere mention of the Dragon King.
"And what do you think Kasai is exactly, good sir?", Capricorn asks while adjusting his shades.
"A….spirit?", Elfman answers.
"Hmm, more powerful forces then yourself have thought that same thing in the past and they did not live long enough to regret it", Capricorn merely replies.
"What does he mean by that, Loke?", Lucy asks as she joins them.
"Let me ask you something, Lucy", the Lion Celestial Spirit says, "Did you know that with each contract a Celestial Spirit makes, they revert back to a certain level of magical energy then what they were before the contract was made?"
Lucy looks at Loke with a baffle expression.
"Are you trying to say that Celestial Spirits doesn't carry over the magic power they had from their previous summoner?", Levy jumps in.
"That's another way of putting it, but correct", Capricorn answers while watching Kasai move out of the way of yet another punch from Natsu.
Lucy places a hand on her chin, "Now that I think about it, my mom did mention that. Something about how Aquarius wouldn't be as powerful for me as she was with her. Why is that?"
"It's because Spirits, along with a number of other entities, are cut from the same cloth as gods but to a much lesser extent", Capricorn states, "Our recurring magic reduction is part of a pact made with the heavens to maintain the delicate balance between us", he explains before pointing a finger at the fox spirit, "And Kasai is the reason for such a pact!"
"Okay Pinky, this is starting to get a little dull and I got better things to do like bask in the sun or count the leaves on a tree", the spirit of fire joke as he looks down at Natsu, who was starting to show signs of slowing down, "So how about you just take this as a loss and move along with the rest of your extremely minuscule life?"
"Not until you take back what you said about Igneel!", Natsu growls as he clenches a fist
"You can't take back the truth, Pinky. You will always remember pain and the truth hurts more than any wound caused by a weapon or a claw. Trust me, I know.", Kasai explains, "Igneel took a dump on the lessons I gave him and taught them to you, a lowly creature not even worthy to step in the ashes that I leave in my wake."
"OH YEAH?!", as flames once again began to erupt off of Natsu, "THIS WILL SHUT THAT MOUTH OF YOURS!", he screams as he inhales deeply and began to gather flames in his mouth.
"Wait, Natsu, don't!", Loke shouts but it was too late as Natsu jumps into the air, still gathering flames while he doing so until he was above even the treeline.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!", echoes throughout the forest as the dragon-slayer unleashes a massive column of raging flames at Kasai, hitting him dead on and engulfing the entire area around the spirit in a torment of fire. So powerful in his anger was Natsu, that the intensity of the flames forces everyone closest to them to move back in order to avoid getting burnt.
"Woah! Salamander must be really pissed off with flames like that!", Gajeel comments.
"Well, everyone who has been in Fairy Tail for years knows that his father is a sore subject for him!", Levy states before noticing the somberly look at the two Celestial Spirits' faces.
Lucy also takes notices of this and her curiosity gets the better of her, "Loke? Capricorn? What's wrong?"
Neither of the Celestial Spirits answers back to her, instead they just keep looking forward.
"What's up with them?", she wonders as she looks back to see Natsu land back on the ground and had a triumphal smirk stretch across his face.
"Ha! Take that! Bet you'll never talk bad about Igneel again after that!", he yells at the giant burning fireball that once used to be the guild courtyard.
A neutral expression crosses Capricorn's face as he adjusts his shades before turning to Loke, "It would seem that while Natsu-sama is an extremely exceptional fighter, he seems to be lacking in the "Know thy enemy" department."
"To be fair, this is the first time Kasai has been in this part of the world in gods knows how long so not a lot of people know about him", Loke replies, "Damn it, but I should have warned Natsu sooner! I guess I was betting on the fact that he would have realized it himself!"
Romeo though is oblivious to this entire conversation despite being just a couple of feet behind the spirits as the uneasy feeling that started out small has now grown exponentially and was gripping his heart. It was telling, no, warning him that something horrible was about to happen.
And he didn't have to wait long to see what exactly it was as the giant fireball dramatically began to shrink right before everyone's eyes.
They all watch in shock and amazement as it rapidly diminishes in size and soon enough they could make out a familiar four-legged figure.
"Wow, he's still standing after getting hit by that?!", Happy says, only to have Loke turn and look at him.
"What part of Fire Elemental Spirit did you not understand?", he asks.
"Well, Natsu fought fire mages before and his spells bang them up pretty bad! I mean he's defeated Bora, Totomaru, Zacrow…", Happy starts naming off.
"Yeah, they were all human fire mages", Loke points out as the flames finally dissipate enough for everyone to see that they were being absorbed into the fox's tail, the burning power of Natsu's spell being turned into a stream of fire that was become one with the kitsune's appendage. But that only drew their attention for a moment before it was diverted to the fox himself who was now the walking embodiment of a hellish nightmare.
His eyes were shining as bright as the sun only they had a sinister glow to them that was in perfect sync with his bare fangs which glisten in the light. His claws were fully extended, digging into the ground underneath them as the grass around them began to burn away from the intense heat that was coming off of his body. The flames on his tail roar in anger as Kasai's back was arch up and his head was lowered and even from across the way, everyone could make out him trembling in barely restrained rage and the suffocating heat generating off of his body could be felt throughout the area.
"You...you dare", he said a voice so full of raw, unadulterated, anger that combined with his terrifying posture, causes everyone except Leo and Capricorn to take a step back on pure instinct alone, including Romeo.
"Here we go", Leo whispers.
"I was created from the very essence of the Elemental Plane of Fire itself and it is the source from where I draw my flames from. Back in the eons before the first human was even a thought, I was a Guardian of Nature and even suns bowed to my blaze", Kasai growls as he began to take ominous steps toward Natsu, his paws leaving scorch marks in the ground and for what it was worth, the dragon-slayer stood his ground.
"While serving on the front lines during the Existence Wars, I laid waste to hundreds of realms within the Infinite Abyss, fought the devil legions of Asmodeus and his forsaken kin in all nine levels of Hell at least thrice and alongside my brethren, battled each of the Four Horsemen of Abaddon in their personal strongholds and together we slew the Fifth Horseman, The Oinodaemon, in his own throne room. My flames have scorched the Shining Gates and made even the armies of heaven tremble in fear."
"You know what's the most insufferable part about all of his boasting?", Capricorn said as he once more adjusts his glasses.
"The sheer fact that none of it is a lie?", Loke answers.
"Precisely. It really puts into perspective how young we are compared to him."
"But I have never suffered such an insult as the one you just gave me! To think such a lowly creature as yourself would have the sheer audacity to attack me with a pure FIRE spell in hopes that it would defeat ME! Prepare yourself for the afterlife, foolish creature! For I am about to do onto you what I have done to countless others of your kind!", Kasai roars as he lunges straight at Natsu, his claws extend out those the mage's head.
Natsu ducks just in time to have the spirit going flying over his head, his razor-sharp claws taking off the very tips of his hair.
"He's fast!", Natsu tells himself as he comes back up and turns around to face the fire spirit, only to find himself instinctively dodging another attempt at his head from Kasai's claw swipes as the spirit turn around quicker than expected, "Really fast!"
The fire mage backflips away and puts some distance between him and the enraged beast.
"Fire Dragon's-", Natsu starts to cast only to be interrupted as Kasai once again launches at him with his jaws wide open and his blade-like teeth aim on his throat. For the second time in a span of under ten seconds, Natsu founds himself ducking to the ground to avoid having his head taken off and once more Kasai goes sailing over him. The spirit lands on the ground and slid for a moment, his claws creating tiny trenches in his wake as he twirls around and charges, giving the Fire Dragon-Slayer no time to counter as he unleashes a storm of claw strikes and powerful bites at him.
A well-timed back lean allows Natsu to evade a claw swipe to his chest, the sharp ends barely scratching the fabric of his vest. Pulling his foot off the ground in the nick of time made sure that he wouldn't have a stump for a right leg as Kasai's claws sail harmlessly under it. Swerving his head to the left barely manages to keep his entire face from getting caught in the rugged deathtrap that Kasai called his jaws. In the midst of all the dodging and such, Natsu found himself press up against one of the log stacks that was used to repair the guildhall and only by sliding underneath the fiery fox at the last minute did he avoid the same fate as the wood as they were slice straight down the middle by a devastating downward slash.
"Holy crap", Gajeel whispers under his breath, "Never seem Salamander like this before in a fight. He's barely getting any room to breathe."
"I know, right? Can't remember the last time I saw him completely on the defensive", Gray added.
Erza's hand was shaking so hard that those nearest to her could hear her sword rattling. The S-Class mage wanted nothing more but to rush to the aid of Natsu in his battle with the fire spirit. But deep down she knew that he was prideful and although he wouldn't show it beyond a simple shrug and saying he could've handled it, Erza was well aware that it would deeply hurt the slayer's pride if he had to have someone else come help him in a fight, especially one that he threw the first punch it.
"I just have to trust that Natsu will find a way to prevail like he always does", she thought before briefly turning her attention to the dragon-slayer's biggest fanboy, "But why has he not sent Kasai back yet? All of this could've been avoided."
"Natsu will handle this. He'll be just fine. In fact, him beating up Kasai might get him to stop treating me like crap and threatening my dad", Romeo told himself over and over again, anything to keep the intense feeling in his chest from getting any larger. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be as every line of reassurance did the opposite effect and cause his anxiety to grow more and more.
"Do you think Natsu is going to be okay?", he hears Happy asks Lucy.
The Celestial Spirit mage looks down at the blue exceed, "There's nothing Natsu can't handle. I mean, he took on Acnologia and live to tell the tale", she reassures him.
A sudden crash brings Romeo attention back to fight where Natsu had just once more evaded a fatal pounce from Kasai and the fire spirit must have lost his balance in the process as he went sliding into another one of the log stacks, his sheer weight and size sending them sprawling out as his tail catches more than a few of them on fire. One of these burning logs came rolling those Natsu and he capitalizes on the opportunity to replenish his strength and began eating the flames, only to be brought to a knee with one hand over his mouth not far into it.
"Natsu, are you okay?", Lucy screams out and was about to run over to him with Loke steps in front of her and motion his head over to Kasai who was starting to get back up from his stumble.
"So good!", everyone hears him squeal, "His fire is soooooo tasty! Best I ever had!".
Nearly everyone sweatdrops at this statement, including Loke and Capricorn.
"Only that flaming idiot would talk about how tasty some flames are despite the dangerous situation he is in", Gray says.
Kasai once again stood up and turn upright to face Natsu, "You're lucky I'm still shaking off hundred of years of rust and can't use my magic or else this battle would have been done as soon as it started, Pinky."
Natsu stands back up, a cocky grin spread across his lips, "Oh, yeah?", he says as he finishes eating the rest of the flames, "Now I'm all fired up and this time I'm going to put you down!"
"Ha! In case you haven't noticed, your fire spells have no effect on me!", Kasai boosted.
"Then try this on for size!", Natsu screams as he engulfs himself in a blazing inferno.
"Gladly! Give me your best, Pinky, and I'll make sure your death is quick and pai-!", Kasai started before stopping him upon seeing something strange beginning to form around Natsu's fire, "What in the Nine Hells?"
Before everyone's very eyes lightning became to surge up around the flames surrounding Natsu, merging with them until they form a completely new element.
"Lightning Fire Dragon Mode!", Natsu bellows.
"What the hell is this?", Jet asks Lucy.
"While we were fighting Precht on Tenrou Island, Laxus gave Natsu some of his lightning to eat and well this is the result of it!", Lucy explains.
"Amazing!", Nab shouts.
After a moment of staring at Natsu, a malicious smirk creeps its way onto Kasai's lips, "Have to admit, Pinky, you surprise me! All the times I watch you and the other Short Lives train I never once saw you pull this off."
This all but confirm the suspicious feeling Romeo had about Kasai while Erza herself is taken aback by the statement, "He was watching us train? Why? Was he trying to get a feel of our fighting skill?", she wondered.
"But it matters not, adding a little lightning to your fire doesn't change the fact that it will barely tickle me", Kasai laughs.
For once, Natsu has no reply for Kasai and merely began sucking in the fire, including the flames that were still burning on the logs. Once he was done he aims directly at the fire spirit.
"This again?! Come then, show me what passes for fury among your misbegotten kind!", Kasai challenges.
"Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!", as he unleashes massive burning electric blast directly at Kasai who stood firm.
At first, the fire spirit was confident that he could withstand the attack but as it got closer and closer his eyes began to widen upon feeling the raw magical energy being projected off of the spell. By the time his mind tried telling his body to move it was too late.
"Oh, crap!", he screams as it collides head-on with him and he vanishes within it.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!", escapes from the fox's jaws and echoes throughout the forest causing everyone to cover their ears in order to prevent their eardrums from bursting at the spirit's painful shrieking.
The blast continues on through the woods before finally dissipating near the mountains. When everything died down back at the guildhall, a deep trench traveling for at least a couple of miles could be seen along with charred and blown back trees on both sides of it.
"Yeah...take...that...you stupid...fox", Natsu huffs out as he collapses backwards onto the ground.
"Natsu!", Happy shouts as he flies over and lands next to him, "Are you alright?"
"Of course I am!", he grins, "I'll admit that he was tougher then I thought he be, but I came through!"
Lucy lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, "Thank goodness. He had me worried there for a second", as she starts to walk over to Natsu before feeling a grab her from behind. She turns around and sees that it was Capricorn holding her back.
"Capricorn, what are you doing?", she says but the Goat Spirit ignores her as he looks at Romeo, who had a daunting expression on his face as he stares off into the forest in the direction Natsu's attack took Kasai.
"Romeo, did you feel Kasai go back to the Spirit World?", Loke asks in a serious tone, something she rarely heard him use.
But Romeo did not answer at first, he just kept looking at the woods.
"Romeo!", Loke harshly shouts while placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, finally catching the boy's attention, "Did you feel Kasai return to the Spirit World?"
Romeo slowly shook his head, "N-No, I didn't-", he stops before his eyes widen in fright, "Natsu, look out!", he shouts just as a blur came zipping out of the forest.
The hairs on Natsu's neck stood up and the slayer grabs his small companion and chucks him as far as he could just mere moments before a huge paw with five extended claws could slice him in two. Towering over Natsu with a body showing signs of deep bruises, cuts, and short bolts of lightning still arcing across large patches of charred and burnt fur was the walking monstrosity of Kasai the Fire Elemental Spirit.
Kasai was looking down at him with a face contorted into one of primal rage. His eyes glowing so brightly now that they easily surpass the sun in intensity along with all the hairs on his body bristling in raw anger. His tail was now revving up in such a frenzy that pieces of it were starting to flake off and set the grass nearby alight.
"You!", Kasai shouts as he lifts up one of his front legs and brings it straight down on top of Natsu's right leg, instantly shattering the bone as he put all of his weight and power into it, "Filth!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!", fills the ears of everyone present as Natsu howls out in anguishing pain. But this only lasts for a moment before Kasai slams his head into the ground with an open paw, his claws embedding themselves deep into the dirt and surrounding Natsu's head in a makeshift cage while pressing his face down into the dirt. He then lowers his snout until it was hovering just above the slayer's ear.
"Your death is going to give me the greatest sense of pleasure I have felt in a long time, Pinky. Normally I would make it slow and extremely painful for those who have irked me beyond all reasonable means, but since you did, in fact, give me your best shot, I'll keep my promise and make it quick and painless!", Kasai tells him.
"How-", Natsu struggles to get words out through the intense pain surging through his body, "How are you still standing after taking a hit like that? You should be back in the Spirit World after that spell!"
"Wow, even when you're facing certain death you still have a mouth on you. I can't help but begrudgingly admire that", Kasai spoke with complete sincerity despite the rage in his voice, "Well, let me let you in on a little secret then. While your lightning did hurt me, it wasn't enough to dispel me", the fox taunts before opening his jaws wide, "Now die."
"Sword Air Slash!"
Kasai jumps back away from Natsu just in the nick of time as a scythe-like blade of magical energy passes through the exact spot he was standing only a second ago. Upon landing, the spirit turns his full attention to the rest of the Fairy Tail mages who were all preparing themselves to do battle as each of them began to summon their own variety of magic. Erza was at the front of them, her sword at the ready.
"Oh, I was wondering when you lot were going to join in", Kasai chuckles darkly, "Guess it wouldn't be fair to Pinky if he was the only one I had fun with today."
Erza points her sword directly at the fox, throwing a heated glare at him in the process.
"Stand down or face the consequences!", she warns.
"You can't be serious! I just wreck one of your best mages and all you think that you can do better? Trust me, stay out of this, all I want is Pinky's head! With how riled up my bloodlust is right now I can't promise you that you won't end up a corpse if you get involved!", Kasai warns.
"We will not stand down and watch you take the life of one of our comrades!", Erza declares.
Kasai lets out a feral growl, "Don't say I didn't warn you, Pointy!"
"Romeo", Erza says in a low, cold voice, "Send him back to the Spirit World, now."
But there was no response from the former fire mage and Erza took the risk to shift her eyes from Kasai to the younger mage. He was frozen in place, his eyes glued to Natsu who was now sitting upright and trying to stand on his one good leg, but his progress was predicatively slow. Also with great effort, the dragon-slayer began trying to summon what little magic he could and a small amount of embers could be seen gathering in his hands though this seemed to be the full extent of what he could do.
"We..ack! We...aren't done yet!", he says through clench teeth as he struggles to get up, "I can still fight!"
"Ha! Pinky, now you're just being pathetic! You can't even stand and your little healer isn't here today!" Kasai laughs, "But don't worry, I'll get back you once I'm done with the rest of your friends!"
"Did he intentionally chose today to start trouble because Wendy isn't here? Did he also do it because Master Makarov and Mira are gone as well?", Erza wonders before shaking her head of such thought, "Romeo!", she barks.
The youngest active member in Fairy Tail snaps out of his trance and he looks at the Requip Mage.
"I know it's hard for you to see Natsu in that state but I need you to send Kasai back to the Spirit World at this very moment! If we were to engage him in combat now, I can't guarantee that all of us will come out in the best of shape!", Erza tells him.
Romeo nods at this, "R-Right! I'll send him back now!", as he began to focus his magic while staring at Kasai who was glaring right back at him.
"Oh, I don't think so, Kit", Kasai smiles as his eyes turn pitch black and turns his sights to his selected targets.
"Oh no", Leo says as he figures out just who exactly those targets were, "Lucy! Romeo! Juvia! Cover your-!"
"Piercing Fear!", Kasai says as a black aura pulse out of his eyes and washes over the Water Mage, the Celestial Spirit Mage, and Elemental Spirit Mage before anyone could react.
For a moment, no one made in motion, frozen in time trying to figure out what just happen.
Till all three mages in question drop to the ground, their hands clutching their hearts.
Romeo couldn't move, he could hardly even blink. It was like his body was failing to heed what his brain was telling it to do. He could barely breathe and his heart felt like it was caught in the grip of cold, lifeless hands. And that's when he saw it…
Appearing no more than a couple of yards from him was a tall, cloaked figure covered in a black hood that was slowly coming toward him, dragging on the ground what look like a large scythe with the menacing blade shining in the sunlight and leaving a trail in the ground behind it. Every step echo within Romeo's eardrums, every passing moment brought the mysterious entity closer and closer to him until it was finally standing right over him. Once it did Romeo was able to finally get a good look at the face underneath the hood and found himself looking directly into the red glowing eyes of a bare skull completely remove of skin.
"The Grim-Grim-Grim", his mind kept saying over and over but he couldn't even bring himself to finish the sentence.
The creature then moves silently as it equally skinless hands took hold of the shaft to its frightening weapon and methodically raise it high above its head, its eyes never leaving Romeo. The boy could only watch helplessly, unable to move, barely able to breathe as the creature brought his blade down on top of the former fire mage's head.
"Juvia! Oi, Juvia!", Gray screams as he cradles the Water Mage who was trembling in his arms while still clasping her heart, "Speak to me!"
"Lucy!", Natsu screams out as he began crawling over where she was at, only to stop when a large paw press down on his back.
"You are not going anywhere. We still have unfinished business that we'll get back to once I'm done with your friends, Pinky", Kasai says.
"What did you do to them?!", Erza demands as she readies herself to attack Kasai right then and there.
"Relax, Pointy. They aren't going to die", Kasai tells as he moves away from Natsu, "Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use that move on Kit."
"He's right, Erza", Loke tells her as he looks over Lucy who was trembling on the ground, "Piercing Fear does nothing but paralyzes the victim in a state of perpetual fear and it wears off after around fifteen, twenty minutes."
"Exactly, now this is your last chance to back out and let me get back to my business with Pinky in peace. Take it or leave it.", Kasai smiles.
Erza grits her teeth, "Everyone, prepare to attack on my command! Leo! Capricorn! I'm going need you two to aid us in the fight seeing how you two seem to be knowledgable about what tricks Kasai has up his sleeves!"
"Bwhahahahahahaha! You think Mane Boy and Goat Cheese are going to help you?!", Kasai howls to the heavens, "I get that you mortals are not very knowledgeable in the way things work between us spirits but I thought at least they would have told you!"
Erza spares a look at Loke and Capricorn and notices that both of them seem uncomfortable at the moment, "What is he talking about?"
Loke takes a deep breath, "There's a number of rules establish between the Elemental Spirits and the Celestial Spirits. One of them pertains to keeping us from restlessly fighting one another."
Capricorn then steps in, "That rule is that a Celestial Spirit can only fight an Elemental Spirit under three circumstances. One, if the Elemental attacks the Celestial first, the Celestial can defend themselves. Two, if the Celestial is ordered to by their summoner. And finally, if the Elemental threatens the life of the Celestial's summoner. Those are the only times that we can attack Kasai or any other of the Elemental Spirits."
Erza looks down at Lucy, the blonde mage's eyes still frozen in terror, "So that's why you targeted her. To keep Loke and Capricorn from fighting."
"Right you are, Pointy!", Kasai replies, "As long as I don't touch her or them, they can't do a thing but watch!"
Erza then looks at Romeo, "No doubt you targeted Romeo to prevent him from sending you back to the Spirit World."
"Right again!", Kasai keeps laughing.
"You monster! It seems you have no shame even in targeting children!", Erza accuses, narrowing her eyes at the fire spirit.
The smile from Kasai's lips instantly drops and morphs into a snarl, "Careful with your words, Pointy. Do not begin to think your simple mortal mind can comprehend me. I was already beyond ancient long before the metal ore used to forge your swords and armor was even created."
Erza keeps up her glare for a moment before finally laying her eyes on Juvia, still in Gray's arms.
"But why would he go for Juvia? I can understand her being a Water Mage could be a threat to him, but she hasn't been practicing out in front of the guild with the others at all since we been back. So how did h-"
A lightbulb goes off in Erza's mind and she slowly turns her full attention back to Kasai, who was grinning once more.
"It seems like someone finally figured it out."
"That fire you started in the guildhall the day we first met you, it wasn't because you were being playful or anything, was it? You were trying to see who could use water magic and Juvia just so happen to put it out by herself."
"Well, at least you're smarter than you look. I honestly thought you were an idiot at first seeing how you only put armor on the upper half of your body", Kasai snipes.
Erza takes an offensive stance and prepares for a fight. This motion signals the rest of the guild to ready themselves as well as Gray gently put Juvia down and put his hands together in his signature spell casting form while Max summons a miniature sand-tornado in his hand along with everyone else preparing their magic.
"I would feel a lot better going into this fight with Wendy here but she's with Master Makarov and the others in town. If almost as Kasai waited until a day like this to cause trouble, which he probably did", Erza tells herself as she closes her eyes and began to channel her magic.
"Flame Empress Armor will protect me from Kasai's tail, though it means I won't be able to use its spells on him, but I shou-", Erza thought before a voice interrupts her thought.
"Erza, look out!", Jet screams and the Queen of the Fairies opens her eyes and ducks just in time to avoid having her head taken off by one of Kasai's claws. She quickly jumps back and manages to put some distance between them before coming to a stop and putting her sword diagonal defensive stance.
"You didn't honestly think I was going to give you time to transform now, did you?", Kasai taunts, "There's a small window in-between your transformation and unlike your past opponents, I'm not going to grant you the courtesy of waiting until you change."
"You bastard! You have no honor!", Erza spats.
"Ha! Honor was an ideal invented by failures so they could have an excuse when things didn't go their way!", Kasai laughs, "As long as you come out on top it doesn't matter how you got there!"
Erza lets out a warcry and launches herself at Kasai, the very speed behind her motion producing a dust trail behind her. Placing her sword into a thrust position, she looked ready to plunge it directly into the spirit's head and would have too if he didn't somersault backward away from her at the last moment and the Requip Mage finds herself barely managing to avoid her face getting burn by his tail as it swept by her. Landing on his feet with a crash a couple of yards away, Kasai eyes his new target with a predatory gleam.
"You know what, I've calmed down a little now. That means for you that I have enough control not to kill you insects", he says before cracking his neck a little and revving up his tail, "But that doesn't mean most of you aren't going to be missing a limb or two when this is all over. And just so we're clear, I'm still taking Pinky's head when all this is said and done."
"Over my dead body", Erza responds.
"Don't tempt me because that can still be arrange.", Kasai replies as he crouches down and prepares to pounce.
A/N: Let me first point out that I am not a Natsu basher. He just drew the short straw in this chapter.
Let me state by saying that Kasai has been around for a long long time. How long will come about in later chapters.
Also, I would like to point out that pure FIRE spells do not work on Kasai, the Fire Elemental Spirit, whatsoever no matter how powerful they are. Now fire spells combine with other elements, say lightning, do hurt him but only the non-fire part does. Now a powerful enough water spell or lightning spell is definitely going to hurt him, especially water. Basically any strong non-fire spell is going to do damage to him. Basically, Kasai is the worst type of opponent for Natsu to fight.
Now could Natsu's kick and punches hurt him? Well, he wasn't just dodging them to taunt the dragon-slayer.
Also, Kasai pulled an Android 17 from Dragon Ball Super by not allowing Erza time to change.
This story was semi-beta by Tenryu no hoko who has been a massive help in idea swapping and such. Check out their stories, "Times Comes Around" "Tales of the Romeoverse", and "Heart of the Flames", when you have the chance.
Also check out my other stories like, "The Wild Master", "A Child of Fire and Brimstone" and the Fiery Hurricane series.
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Stay Safe out there, you guys.