Chaotic is a place that can get chaotic, either at the actual place or in Perim. Battles go on no matter where you go and holds some of the mightiest creatures around. Natsu ported in and spotted his friends at a table.
"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Natsu said.
"Hey, Natsu. We're just watching the end of Gray's battle." Zach said.
"Gray's battle?" Natsu said as he looked at the screen.
"Yeah. Gray is battling as Velreth and his opponent is battling as Tangath Toborn." Lucy said. Natsu watched the battle go on. He saw Velreth avoid some of his opponents attacks in a location called Crystal Cave. It didn't look good as Velreth's energy was getting lower and lower. He was backed against the wall with Tangath Toborn ready to finish him.
"This isn't looking good for him." Natsu said.
"He must have something planned." Erza said as they watched carefully.
"Composition of Concentration!" Velreth used mugic and used it to increase some of his strength. Tangath Toborn used Vine Snare, but Velreth glowed bright and smashed through. "Prowl Strike!" Velreth smashed against Tangath Toborn and coded him with him winning the match.
"Not bad. He used that mugic to increase Velreth's power and made that attack even stronger." Erza said.
"He won without losing a single creature. That's guy got skills." Zach said.
"He's not so great." Natsu said as he took a seat. "I bet I could take him."
"You mean like you did in your last match?" Lucy mocked and damped Natsu's ego.
"I know I can take him again if I had a really good scan like...that one dragon I saw on my first day in Perim." Natsu said. "That dragon guy called Igneel."
"Oh yeah. I remember that." Zach said. "Natsu, it might not make that much of a difference. Gray's opponent is lucky to have a scan of Tangath Toborn. Igneel is one of the rarest and hardest creatures to scan."
"He is? Why?" Natsu asked.
"Igneel travels all around Perim and he never stays in the same place for very long." Erza said. "No one knows where he might be. Even if you are in the same place as him, Igneel never allows anyone to scan him. That's why no one really seems to have a scan of him."
"No one? Then...I'll be the first one day!" Natsu said. "Igneel was so cool and he looked real powerful. I bet having him on a team would be great."
"That's easier said than done, Natsu." Zach said. "Finding Igneel is harder than finding...Lord Van Bloot."
"Van Bloot? Isn't he some sort of big shot in the underworld?" Natsu said.
"He was. He was second in command of the underworld, just beneath the one in charge: Chaor." Lucy said.
"What happened to him?" Natsu said.
"Van Bloot was a vile creature. He always looked for more power so he could be number one." Zach said. "Last time he was seen, he was heading for a place called Dranakis Threshold. The threshold ended up being destroyed and Van Bloot was never seen again. No one knows what happened to him."
"Really? Sounds like it could be fun to figure out what happened to him." Natsu said.
"I don't know, Natsu. Van Bloot is a dangerous creature. Not someone you want to mess with." Lucy said. "What good would finding him do anyway?"
"I would at least get a great scan." Natsu said. "Where was this threshold place?"
"Near Ravanaugh Ridge. Do you have a scan of that place?" Erza said.
"Yeah. I'll just port there and check it out." Natsu said.
"Wait, Natsu. We'll come with you." Lucy said. Natsu was looking forward to this.
...
Ravanaugh Ridge
Natsu and the others ported to the ridge. Once they got there, the others led the way to Dranakis Threshold above the clouds.
"There it is. Dranakis Threshold, or what's left of it." Zach said as he pointed to it and it was now nothing, but floating rocks.
"When Dranakis Threshold was destroyed, the power it had was destroyed with it." Erza said. "It's really nothing, but a floating rock now."
"So where do we go from here?" Lucy asked.
"Well, if the rocks didn't come from up, they must have came from down." Natsu said as he looked down a cliff.
"You can't be serious." Lucy said as she could see where this was going. Natsu climbed on the cliff and started working his way down. "Natsu, I don't get it. What are you hoping to gain by doing this? We don't even know if Van Bloot is even down there."
"Come on, Lucy. We could be the ones to figure out what happened to him and get a few cool scans in the process." Natsu said as he started climbing down.
"He's persistent, I'll give him that." Zach said.
"We can't let him go alone." Erza said as they started to make their way down as well. All four of them continued to climb down, but it felt like they were climbing down for hours.
"Are we even getting close to the bottom?" Zach questioned. There was no way to tell since they were surrounded by clouds and it was getting darker the further they go down.
"Maybe we should just port out. This seems dangerous to begin with." Lucy suggested.
"No way. We're not going to go through all this and go back empty handed." Natsu said as he continued his way down. "Whoa! Guys, come look at this!" the rest of them climbed down and they found themselves in a strange location where the ground was broken open and clouds were erupting from the ground. It actually looked creepy.
"I've never been here before." Erza said.
"Where in Perim are we?" Lucy said. All of them continued down and finally made it to the bottom.
"Well, that was a good way to build muscle. Too bad that doesn't port with us back to Earth." Zach said.
"Freaky, but cool." Natsu said as he had a look around. Zach took out his scanner and got a scan of the place.
"My scanner says this place is called the Tremor Grounds." Zach said. "I've never even heard of this location."
"We might want to be careful here." Erza said as she walked carefully through the place. "The ground appears to be unstable here. There must be some sort of pressure that builds underneath the surface."
"Sounds like a great place for a battle." Zach said. "One loud sound and boom, your opponent's coded."
"That could be true the other way around." Lucy said. "Okay. We're down here. Now what?"
"Let's look around and see if we can find a clue about Van Bloot." Natsu said as they all moved carefully through the place.
"Natsu, what happened to Van Bloot was a long time ago. We don't know if he even went down here." Lucy said.
"It's a good place to start as any." Natsu said. They looked around, but it was a little hard to imagine that anyone could stay here.
"No water, no source for food. There's no way anyone could live down here." Erza said. "I hate to say it, Natsu, but Lucy might be right. If Van Bloot was here, he probably left a long time ago."
"Come on. I'm not giving up." Natsu said and stomped down to amplify his point. That was a mistake as it caused some sort of chain reaction in the ground and it began to shake.
"Run for it!" Zach said as they all tried to run as fast as they could as clouds started to erupt from under them.
"Up there!" Erza said as she spotted a safe ledge for them. Zach and Erza were able to make it, but it didn't seem like Lucy and Natsu would. The ground was just about to erupt, but that was when something came from the sky and grabbed the both of them with the erupting that was almost like a geyser happening.
"Natsu! Lucy!" Zach called through that mess. When it settled down, they both looked to see where they were.
"There!" Erza said as she pointed up as something landed down and placed them to safety.
"Thank you so much." Lucy said.
"Yeah. Thanks." Natsu said as he turned to him, but he gasped as he saw who it was. "Igneel?!" They actually found Igneel instead of Van Bloot. More like he found them, but they were still amazed. Erza and Zach met up with them and they were just as impressed to see this.
"I remember you. You're that human from before." Igneel said.
"This is perfect! Just hold still." Natsu said as he reached for his scanner and was about to scan him, but Igneel growled and stopped him from doing anything.
"Don't even think about it. I saved your life this time. Do not expect me to save you again!" Igneel shouted. He might seem like a good guy, but he sure does seem scary. Natsu put his scanner away and Igneel calmed down. "Now why are you here? This place is dangerous. Especially for humans."
"We're actually looking for Van Bloot." Natsu said.
"Van Bloot?" Igneel said.
"I'm actually a fan of your tribe." Natsu said. "I was hoping to find out what happened to Van Bloot and maybe grab a scan of him for our game."
"I'm actually looking for Van Bloot myself." Igneel said.
"You are?" Lucy asked.
"Van Bloot is a dangerous creatures. Someone like him shouldn't be roaming around so freely." Igneel said.
"Is he really that bad of a guy?" Natsu said.
"One of the worst." Igneel said. "We need to make sure he can't do anymore harm to anyone. It would be wise of you to leave this place. If Van Bloot is still around here, he will not hesitate to strike at you."
"Well, I can take care of myself." Natsu said.
"Is that so? Let's find out about that." They all were surprised by that voice. They all looked into the sky and saw a green flying creature in the air.
"Van Bloot!" Igneel said.
"That's him? Perfect!" Natsu said as he tried to get a scan of him, but Van Bloot dived right down at them.
"Natsu, move!" Lucy said as she pushed him out of the way as Van Bloot came at them. Van Bloot tackled Igneel, but Igneel gave him an uppercut and sent him back into the air. Igneel unfolded his wings and flew into the sky so he has a chance against him.
"What do you want, Van Bloot?" Igneel asked.
"That's really none of your business." Van Bloot said. Van Bloot shot acid from his mouth, but Igneel flew out of the way.
"Magma Might!" Igneel launched blasts of magma at him, but Van Bloot moved out of the way. The two of them engaged in combat in the air while Natsu and the others watched.
"Darn it. I can't get a lock." Natsu said as he tried to scan one of the two.
"Natsu, forget about getting a scan. This might get dangerous." Lucy said. "We should port out or at least keep out of the way."
"What's Van Bloot even doing down here? He looks perfectly fine. How come he hasn't left?" Zach said.
"Maybe he has and for some reason he came back." Erza said. Igneel continued to attack Van Bloot as he launched flames and lava at him, but he kept thinking about something.
"Something isn't right. Van Bloot might be vile, but he never does anything without a motive. What's he after?" Igneel questioned.
"Ash Torrent!" Van Bloot unleashed a cloud of ash and blasted Igneel with it. It blinded him and he took his eyes off Van Bloot for a moment. "Paral-Eyes!" Van Bloot shot a beam form his eyes and blasted Igneel. It left Igneel paralyzed and he crashed into the ground. It caused a small explosion to go off from the ground as well and did some damage to him.
"Igneel! We've got to help him!" Natsu said as he hurried to do that.
"Natsu, wait!" Lucy called as she went after him. Van Bloot saw this as an opportunity. He flew down and went at the both of them.
"Guys, above you!" Zach said. Both of them looked up and spotted Van Bloot heading their way. Natsu jumped out of the way, but Lucy wasn't. Van Bloot swept her off the ground and she dropped her scanner so she couldn't port out.
"Natsu!" Lucy called as Van Bloot carried her away and they lost sight of her in the clouds.
"Lucy!" Natsu shouted. She's gone and Natsu thinks it's all his fault now.
To Be Continued...