Chapter 27

SNIFF! SNIFF! Mason followed his nose and eventually came across an empty patch of desert before taking another whiff. SNIFF! "Talk about suspicious…" SNIFF! SNIFF! "Yep this place reeks of those weird lizard guys and Natsu?!" SNIFF! SNIFF! "Gray and Wendy are here too as well as someone else…And…" SNIFF! SNIFF! "ACHOO!... Happy…." Mason said as he wiped his nose.

"Hey it's you!" Lucy called out as she and Erza ran towards Mason. "It's good to see a familiar face out here! Are you looking for Natsu too?"

"Huh? Didn't Cana explain why I'm out here, didn't she send you two as back up." Mason asked and the two girls looked back at each other not really sure what Mason was talking about. "Haaahhh…" The Dragon slayer sighed. "Anyway, I guess you could say I'm looking for Natsu and Gray but there's also something weird going on and my nose led me here."

"The lizardmen? I've fought one as well." Erza said and Mason answered her with a strong nod. "I agree something suspicious is going on and this is where we'll find our answers.."

"Here?" Lucy asked. "In the middle of the desert?" A bead of sweat dripped down the blonde wizards forehead.

"Natsu is somewhere around here. Gray and Wendy too. The longer we stay here the stronger their smells become." Mason explained.

"Then there's only one explanation! They're underground!" Erza declared as she transformed into a miner's uniform complete with a massive pickaxe that she quickly began to slam into the ground.

"Ugh! Seriously!" Lucy groaned. "I really doubt that's the case."

"Wait.." Mason put a hand on Erza's shoulder and got her to stop. "This way will be faster!" Mason pointed both hands towards the ground and created a large Magic Circle. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!" Mason blasted a deep hole in the desert ground but yielded no underground fortress. "Guess I picked the wrong spot, I should probably try somewhere else."

"WAIT!" Erza called out as she stuck a hand out in front of Mason as three Magic circles opened up on the ground and out popped three more lizardmen. "We have company…"

"PHANTOM DRAGON STRIKE!" Mason called out and his foot began to glow purple, just then he lunged at one of the Lizardmen but before he could the scaly foe disappeared and he crashed into the ground. "Gaah! That's starting to get old really quick!" Mason turned around to find a large energy blast headed his way and the dragon slayer licked his lips with anticipation. "FWOOOOSSHHH!" Mason sucked up the enemy's attack before his body surged with Magic power. "I thought I told you that you wouldn't be able to beat me with my own magic!"

Mason fired back at the scaly soldier but the lizardman opened its mouth as well and sucked up Mason's attack. "FWOOOOSSHHH!"

"Oh… Crap!..." Mason muttered before the lizardman lunged forward. "YAAAHHH!" Mason leapt behind the and wrapped his arm around the monster's jaw and held it tight. "If you can't open your mouth then you can't eat my magic!" Mason lifted his other hand up in the air and it began to glow with magic power. "See ya later scaly!" But before Mason could strike WHAM! The lizard smacked Mason in the stomach.

"GAAAHHH!" Mason got knocked away by the powerful machine, but he manage to catch himself before he fell on the ground. "Grrr! FINE!" Mason growled as magic power exploded around him. "If you wanna eat my magic then that's fine! HAVE SOME! PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!" The Lizard man began to eat Mason's magic attack but there was a lot more magic power than expected and the machine began to swell until BOOOOMMMM! The lizard man exploded and at the same time Erza and Lucy were finishing up their respective opponents but just then a strange voice called out to all three wizards.

"Oh you're all very powerful wizards! Yes! Yes! Yes! You destroyed my Lizard men!" The mysterious voice said as out of nowhere and then suddenly a massive grey dragon with a round crimson lacrima at its chest appeared from thin air. "But it doesn't matter how strong any of you are anymore because there's not a wizard alive who can hold a candle to my salamander powered Dragonoid!"

"Salamander powered?..." Lucy asked in a nervous mutter.

"What the hell is happening.." Mason asked as he had to rub his eyes in disbelief. "Who is that voice? And why is it coming from some fat robot dragon thing!"

"Her name is Daphne!" Happy cried out as he along with Carla and Wendy flew down to meet up with the others. "She and Gray tricked Natsu and trapped him in that freaky lacrima!" Happy pointed at the Dragon's chest. "She wants to use him like a battery to power her Dragon Robot!"

"Woah! Did you just say Gray was helping her! Like our Gray!" Lucy began to panic.

Mason then stepped forward, a cocky smile plastered on the young Dragon Slayer's face. "So you're out here trying to create this huge Dragon thing and those lizard guys were what? A side project?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Bingo! You got it! My lizard men were a fine experiment but they were nothing compared to my true vision! All my years of hard work has finally paid off! My true artificial DRAGONOID!" Daphne continued to boast.

"Well that's just too bad isn't it." Mason smirked. "You put all that work into building this Dragon Wannabe and right off the bat you end up face to face with a Dragon Slayer! I would eject myself if I were you because it's time to go Dragon Hunting!" Mason put both hands out together in front of him and began to gather magic power. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!"

"Dragon Slayer? Oh no, no. That won't do at all." Daphne said before a creepy grin formed on her face. "Gray! I could use your assistance!" She called out and a wall of ice formed in front of the Dragonoid, shielding the machine from Mason's blast and Gray stood alone on the mountain of ice looking down on his guild members.

"Wow, I forgot how weak you all are…" Gray taunted from his mountain of ice. "If you can't destroy my ice wall how do you expect to beat the Dragonoid! It's pathetic!"

"No… Gray…" Lucy muttered as she clutched her arm close to her chest.

"You better have a good reason for betraying your friends like this!" Erza called back.

"I'm sorry!" Grey looked back at Lucy and Erza with vicious eyes. "I don't have a reason!"

"Well as fun as all this has been, it's time for me to take my leave!" Daphne announced as her mechanical Dragon's wings started to glow and it began to flap them in preparation for take off. "Gray, you stay here and make sure your friends don't cause anymore trouble!"

WHAM! "VANISHING FIST!" While everyone had been talking Mason took the opportunity and went up and punched Gray in the face, knocking him from atop his Ice Mountain. "Somebody catch him!" Mason called down and Happy flew down and caught Gray before he could hit the ground and Mason used the Ice as a springboard and leapt onto the back of the Dragonoid.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Erza called out as the Dragonoid began to take off.

"What does it look like I'm doing?!" Mason cried back as he gripped on tightly to one of the Dragon's spikes. "I'm going Dragon Hunting!" Mason said as the machine rocketed off into the sky, Mason looked down at the ground that was quickly becoming further and further away, he then looked forward and saw the city of Magnolia growing closer. "Crap! I didn't think this through…." Mason muttered as his face turned green.

"Oh no, no…" Daphne muttered as she discovered Mason grabbing onto the side of her artificial dragon. "Looks like we have a stowaway but it won't be an issue for long." The Dragonoid began to spin around in the sky and eventually shook off the weakened Dragon Slayer.

"Woah!" Mason roared as he fell from the back of the Dragon Slayer. 'Crap! I always knew that motion sickness would be the death of me….' Mason thought as he plummeted towards the ground but before he could go splat, Erza, equipped with her Black Wing armor plucked Mason out of the sky and began to carry him towards the Dragonoid.

"So how is the Dragon hunting going?" Erza asked sarcastically as she carried the Dragon Slayer through the air.

"Thank… you…." Mason groaned, his Motion sickness had quickly returned. Mason then fished a jar containing a stange pink powder out of his pocket and quickly took a whiff of the strange dust and immediately made a face. "Ugh! This stuff smells rancid." Mason screwed the lid back on the jar and shoved it in his pocket and his motion sickness quickly faded away. "But it works…"

"So you're ready to go?" Erza asked as she hovered above the mechanical monster.

"Yep!" Mason said with a smile. "Let me go!" Erza did just that and Mason began to fall towards the Dragonoid but just before impact his hands began to glow and he balled them up over his head. "PHANTOM DRAGON HAMMER!" Mason smashed both fists down into the Dragonoids back and its scaly armor cracked.

"OWW!" The Dragonoid roared in Natsu's voice. "Hey man! That hurt!"

"Oh sorry Natsu, you just gotta hang in there a little longer. I knew my Dragon Slayer Magic could hurt this thing so now I just gotta keep going till it breaks!" Mason declared as he lifted two glowing arms into the air but before he could attack a large muscular tail smacked into the Dragon Slayer's chest. "AAAAHHH!" Mason flew back but quickly caught himself before falling off the edge. "More Lizard Men?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Daphne called back from her cockpit. "I can't let you destroy my Dragonoid just because you call yourself a Dragon slayer! So my Lizard Men are here to keep you company." Just the another lizard man appeared in front of Mason, making it a two versus one fight.

One of the Lizards lunged at Mason, its arm glowing purple with Magic power but Mason grabbed it by the wrist and tore its hand off with its teeth. He then tossed the disarmed Lizard man at its doppelganger, knocking both off the side of the Dragonoid. "I guess you didn't do your research on Dragon Slayers that well, you can't hurt me with my own magic!"

"Good to know!" SNAP! With a snap of Daphne's fingers two more Lizard Men appeared out of nowhere, these two were equipped with glowing golden fists. "I got this data from that celestial spirit friend of yours, how do you like light magic!" WHAAMMM! One of the new lizardmen punched Mason in the stomach.

"GAAAHHH!" Mason spit up a mouthful of saliva. 'Crap!' The Dragon Slayer thought to himself. 'I can't phase through light attacks!' MUNCH! "AAAHHGGG!" Mason cried out as the other lizard bit down on his arm to hold the Dragon Slayer in place while its partner began to wail on him. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! "OOF! UGH! GAAHHAAHH!"

"Now to deal with that ugly hole you put in my precious Dragonoid! I'm gonna need to borrow some of your power, Salamander!" Daphne smiled maliciously as she pressed one of the buttons on her control console.

"AAAAHHHAAAAGGG!" Natsu cried out in pain as the Dragonoid began to repair itself, clearing robbing Natsu of his Magic power to do so.

"AAHHHGG! NATSU!" Mason managed to cry out for his guild mate but being trapped, he was unable to do anything of substance until SHWING! SLINCK! In two slashes of her Massive dark blade, Erza managed to cut the two Lizardmen in half and free her friend. Mason looked down at his arm and saw that it had been rendered bloody and torn by the Lizards teeth. "What took you so long?" He groaned.

"How's your arm?" Erza asked as five more lizardmen appeared in front of her, each of whom carried a different one of her magic weapons.

"It's been better but it's nothing a hospital or Wendy can't fix but I think we're gonna have to manage without it for the time being." Mason said as he stared down the odds before him. "So… What's your plan?"

"I'll hold off the Lizards, you need to find a way to get Natsu out of this thing if you can't use your arm to break in, use your brain and phase in." Erza suggested and Mason immediately felt embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that in the first place.

"Yeah ok… Good luck." Mason knelt down onto the Dragon's back and prepared to go in. "Get ready cause here I come Natsu!" Mason declared before diving head first into the Dragon's back but was met by a powerful ZAP! "AAAHH!" Mason roared as he reeled back. "What the hell! Why can't I phase through this thing!"

"No, no, no. You didn't honestly think I'd let it be that easy did you? I prepared for all manner of intangibility and phasing spells with that powerful force field you just became acquainted with. You'll have to try harder than that." Daphne taunted.

"Try harder huh?!" Mason roared before his good fist combusted with Magic power. "PHANTOM DRIVE!" Mason's body surged with magic power and the energy around his fist tripled in size. "How's this for trying harder!" SMASH! Mason punched a crater in the Dragonoid's back but was met with an eruption of flames.

"RRAAAHHHHHH!" Natsu shouted from within the Dragonoid. "I WON'T LIE DOWN AND TAKE THIS!"

"Oh! I see.." Daphne marveled as she got to work on her control panel. "So you think by turning up the power to eleven you'll short circuit my creation but jokes on you Dragon boy, I'll take that extra power and use it to fix the whole your rude friend made in Dragonoid!" With a push of a button the whole in the Dragonoid's back began to close.

"Oh no…" Mason muttered and looked ahead to see that the Dragonoid had just entered Magnolia. "Grrrr! It's not over yet!" Mason got back on his feet and blasted away one of the Lizardmen that had been attacking Erza. "Sorry Natsu! WIthout my other arm I won't be able to bust my way through and get you outta there! I need you to get yourself out!"

"He's right Natsu!" Erza cried out as she fought off a swordsmen lizard. "You can't give up now! We need you to keep fighting! WOAH!" When the Dragonoid began to land, both Erza and Mason were knocked off the beasts' backs.

CRASH! Mason, unable to make use of his hand was thrown off harder than Erza and landed further away. "AAGGHH! Everything hurts… On the brightside my arm doesn't feel so bad anymore by comparison. Ooooff!" Mason's voice was muffled as a large black cloak was thrown on top of him.

"Oh boohoo! My arm hurts." Cana, now wearing clothes of her own, taunted as she helped Mason back to his feet. "Aren't you supposed to be the Dragon Slayer, isn't this your job or something?"

"Yeah well it turns out I'm right handed." Mason joked as he concentrated magic power into his cloak and created a cast for his arm. "So writing, Dragon fight… Everything is gonna be harder for a little while."

The newly bandaged Mason and Cana made their way over to Erza, Lucy and the rest of the wizards assigned to deal with the Dragonoid. "What do you think you're doing here! You should be in the medical bay! The master ordered US to destroy this thing, not YOU.." Erza who had taken command called down to the injured Dragon Slayer.

"I don't think so.." Mason grunted. "My Dragon Slayer magic is the only thing that can hurt that even if I am down an arm and she can just put herself back together again, as long as Gajeel's nowhere to be seen then I'm still the only shot we have at destroying this thing!" Mason declared, unintentionally hurting Wendy's feelings.

"I wouldn't say our only shot…" Gray muttered as he slowly approached the group, drawing Malice in his direction. "Look I get that I messed up and y'all don't trust me but I can explain. Please let me help make things right?"

"Ok…" Erza said with her arms crossed. "Explain…"


(One explanation later)

"So Natsu basically just forgot about an entire city he promised to rescue?" Mason asked, his eyebrow raised in speculation. "I understand being forgetful but that's just not cool."

"I mean how could he forget something that important?" Lucy asked as he buried her face in her hand.

"That idiot never learns." Erza commented with a disappointed shake of her head.

"I knew my darling Gray would never turn his back on the guild!" Juvia cried out with joy.

"This is the only way I thought I could make things right." Gray said with his head lowered in shame. "It's my fault but now we gotta get that idiot out of there. We gotta beat Daphne

and her monster."

"I don't think so! No one's going anywhere!" Daphne declared as dozens of Magic circles appeared all over town. "Yes! Yes! Lizardmen 3.1!" An army of lizard men leapt from the Magic circles.

"There's someone hurt down there!" Wendy declared and a group of wizards ran off to rescue the injured citizen while the rest battled the Lizardmen.

BAM! BAM! BAM! Mason blasted away Lizardman after Lizardman but yet there were still more. "Crap! These things are easier to beat than those other ones but there's so many of them I'm starting to run low on magic power…" Mason growled before turning to the other wizards for help. "Levy! Snack time!"

"Right!" The blue haired wizard wrote out the word ghost in the air and a phantom appeared from nowhere. "Eat up!"

Mason slurped down the ghost and felt his body refuel on magic power, at the same time he watched Erza in her Heaven's Wheel Armor fly towards the Dragonoid. "Crap what's she thinking? She'll never be able to take down that monster on her own." Mason stared down the waves of Lizardmen between him and the Dragonoid and gritted his teeth. "Head's down everyone!" Mason warned his guild mates as he lifted an arm into the air and a large magic circle appeared over his head. "DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART! CURSED SOUL! HELL'S RAIN!" Mason created a massive ball of magic power that he blasted into the air before it broke up and hundreds of energy blasts rained down on the Army of Lizardmen.

"GAAAHHH!" Mason let out an exhausted groan as he dropped down to his knees. "That's it I'm out of juice…" Just then the Magic circles reappeared and hundreds more lizardmen appeared around Magnolia. "Crap…." Mason muttered but just when things seemed to be at their most dire, the air turned cold.

Water began to shoot up into the sky all around the city and as it fell down it froze into icicles that skewered all the Lizard men in town. "Ice and water?" Mason marveled at the magic power that was on display and a smile formed on the Dragon Slayer's mouth. "Way to steal my thunder guys."

"Don't worry, we saw you get a few of them." Cana said as she pulled Mason up by his uninjured arm.

Levy ran over to her teammates and quickly created another ghost for Mason to munch on. "Still hungry?" The short girl asked.

Mason eagerly slurped up more magic power but his attention soon fell back on the Dragonoid as Natsu began to rampage and spew utter nonsense. "This is bad.. He really is dying in there!"

"C'mon man!" Gray called out from some random building top. "I should've known you were full of hot air!" Gray began to taunt the mechanical beast. "We're all getting tired of this lame back and forth. It's not funny, it's just annoying. Time to man up!"

"Hey shut up!" Natsu called back.

"What is he doing?" Mason asked as he looked back confused by Gray's strategy.

"Fairy Tail wizards don't break promises! You're making our whole guild look bad!" The Ice wizard continued. "Show them what we're all about and destroy that thing!"

"It's too late now Gray Fullbuster!" Daphne declared with a confident laugh. "You're friend is almost completely absorbed."

"You really disappointed me Natsu!" Happy yelled back as well. "You're supposed to be the guy who wrecks anything that gets in his way! Now you're just gonna let this thing beat you!"

"C'mon Natsu! Give us a hand here!" Lucy cried out. "The whole guild needs you and you're just gonna lie down and take this!"

"Hey! That one was personal Lucy!" The dragonoid called back with Natsu's voice as it began to stomp around.

'Now I get it!' Mason thought with a smirk. "C'mon jerk! You're supposed to be a Dragon Slayer right? This thing's are not even a real Dragon and it already kicked your ass! I gave up an arm trying to get you outta there but if I had known you were just gonna lay down and let yourself get absorbed then I wouldn't have even bothered!"

"There right, you know!" Erza followed up. "You got caught off guard at first but there's no excuse for how far you've fallen! It's just weakness!"

"SAY WHAT?!" Natsu shrieked furiously.

"You want us to destroy you along with the Dragonoid? That's the ultimate sign of a weak heart!" Erza explained. "If you truly believe that then it's time for me to put you out of your misery. There's no place in Fairy Tail for one who has no value for their own life."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Natsu roared as the Dragonoid began to spew massive amounts of fire from its jaw.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! There's so much more power than I expected." Daphne exclaimed happily.

"Haha! Look at that!" The Dragonoid turned back to Erza, Natsu's smugness had somehow been transferred to the Dragon's face. "I bet you're scared of me now Erza!"

"YOU THINK SO HUH?!" Erza said as she transformed into her Black Wing Armor and summoned her massive club like sword and whacked the Dragonoid in its large Lacrima like core.

"Scary…" The Dragonoid cried out.

"Look at this mess.." A familiar voice growled out as Gajeel entered the fray. "I figured something like this would happen and I tried to warn that idiot but looks like things were gonna go to crap anyway." Gajeel then leapt at the Massive mechanical Dragon. "But thats no reason to be such a nuisance! DRAGON SLAYER SACRED ART! KARMA DEMON! IRON SPIRAL!" Gajeel's leg transformed into a giant metal drill and he immediately broke through the massive ruby lacrima and freed Natsu.

"Gajeel?…" The Fire Dragon Slayer muttered. "You...saved me?"

"Damnit, looks like I missed. I thought I could skewer you and this Dragon thing all together but My aim was off. Listen up salamander this chick used you to run the Dragon's reputation through the mud and now you need to pay her back." Gajeel said as he stood up on top of the shattered lacrima. "HEY! WE NEED SOME FIRE UP HERE!"

"You got it! OPEN GATE OF THE ARCHER! SAGITTARIUS!!" Using her celestial magic Lucy brought forth a spirit wearing a horse costume and Erza, Cana, Levy, Bisca and Alzack combined their strongest flame spells together and using Sagittarius' arrow they transported the magic buffet directly to Natsu who didn't waste time digging in.

Mason couldn't here exactly what Natsu had said but he could piece it together as he watched a massive pillar of flames erupt from the head of the Dragonoid and he saw his fellow guild mates cheer out in victory and it made the Phantom Dragon Slayer smile. "What a guild…"


(End)

Well that was a fun little break, next chapter we'll be headed back to the canon where we explore one of my favorite arcs in Edolas.