Natsu was so thrilled that he was able to beat Codemaster Amzen. He got a great location scan of Under Cavern Jungle and he can't wait to see what it's like in Perim.
"There you are." Lucy said as she spotted Natsu on a computer. "Are you actually doing research?"
"Yeah. I'm planning on going to Under Cavern Jungle today." Natsu said. "Seeing what it's like in the dromes after my match against Codemaster Amzen, I can't wait to see what it's like in real life."
"I'm actually surprised to see you doing research on the location." Lucy said.
"Normally, I wouldn't." Natsu said. "However, that place is tricky and dangerous. I know since I battled in it. There are a bunch of dangerous plants and there's no telling what kind of creatures are there. If they're like anything Amzen had, I'm in a world of trouble."
"Well, when you get back, let me know. Erza, Zach, and I would love to try out some of the new scans you get." Lucy said.
"Sure thing. I can't wait to check it out." Natsu said as he grabbed his scanner. Natsu was a little excited to check out his new location and can't wait to see what's waiting for him. With a push of a button, he was off and Lucy was hoping for the best.
...
Under Cavern Jungle
The reason the location is called Under Cavern Jungle was because it looked just like a lush jungle and it was all underground. Natsu ported in and he had a look around the place. It was strangely bright and he didn't remember it being like that.
"This is Under Cavern Jungle?" Natsu questioned. "When I battled Amzen here, it was as dark as night here." Natsu didn't get it until he saw the large set of crystals and it shined like the bright sun. "Oh! I think I get it. The light of those crystals must change to determine the time of day. Makes sense since this place is underground. Might as well grab a location scan while I'm here." Natsu took his scanner and managed to get a second location scan of the place. "Now let's see the cool stuff I can find around here." Natsu made his way through the jungle and was trying to find some new scans.
"RRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!"
"That didn't sound friendly. Love it!" Natsu said as he was already liking this place. Natsu was excited to find more around the place, but just like in a regular jungle, there are predators that stalk their prey. That's just what someone was doing with Natsu. Natsu heard some sort of noise and looked around until he spotted a set of eyes through the plants. "Uh...hi." Without warning, the creature leaped at Natsu and knocked him down and pinned him to the ground. Natsu looked up to see it was female creature. If she was human, she would actually look charming. She wore rags around her beige body. She also had a tail with blonde edgy-looking hair tied back. "Who are you?" She didn't answer him, but she held out her hand against his face and got him to blackout.
...
Natsu
Natsu woke up and saw he was in some sort of net and suspended off the ground. Natsu looked around and spotted the female creature that attacked him by a small campsite and she had his scanner.
"Hey! Give that back!" Natsu said. "If that thing breaks, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble." She looked at him like a wildcat looking at her prey. Natsu was also able to get a good look at her. "Wow. I bet she be considered hot if she was human."
"I've seen a few of your kind before. You come and disappear. Let me assure you that if it turns out that you're here to destroy my home, you won't be getting out of here at all."
"I'm not here for something like that." Natsu said, but she didn't look like she was in the mood for negotiation.
"Sanndanna!" The creature turned to where that call come from. Obviously, that was this creature's name. Natsu looked and spotted a create that Natsu knew quite well.
"Sinta!" Natsu said. Sanndanna went over to her and bowed to her.
"What's going on?" Sinta asked.
"I found this strange looking creature. I thought he was here to cause trouble." Sandanna said.
"I am not!" Natsu called.
"He also had this strange device." Sanndanna said as she handed Sinta her scanner. Sinta took it and looked at it and Natsu. She went over to him and she actually did look willing to talk.
"You somehow know my name." Sinta said. "I have seen creatures like you before with these strange devices."
"I swear, I didn't come here to cause trouble." Natsu said. "That device is just used for a game I play."
"Yes... I think I've heard about your kind. You're called Chaotic players." Sinta said. "You use these devices to scan us to take part in this game of yours. You're also capable of teleporting with these devices."
"Show us how so that we can leave this place!" Sanndanna demanded.
"I...I can't. That scanner only works for me. I'm the only that can use it." Natsu said. Sanndanna didn't like the sound of that the way she growled.
"That's enough Sanndanna. This is our home and we will not abandon it." Sinta said.
"Yes, milady." Sanndanna said. Sanndanna reached for the net and cut it open with her claw with Natsu free. "You're of no use to us. Get out while you still can."
"What's that suppose to mean? Maybe I can help." Natsu said.
"You can't." Sanndanna said.
"Why? Why do you want to leave?" Natsu said.
"It all happened a while back." Sinta said. "It was just a regular day for us, but that was before the tremors started. Then, something came out of the ground. Something we know nothing about." Natsu was curious as to what they were talking about, but he didn't get the chance as they heard some sort of strange sound. "Sanndanna, get him out of here while you still can!" Sinta ran off in one direction while Sanndanna grabbed Natsu's arm and started running in the opposite direction.
"Hold on! You don't need to show me the way out! I can just use my scanner to port out!" Natsu said.
"So do that." Sanndanna said as they stopped. "Leave this place while you still can!"
"I can't. If there's some sort of problem, maybe I can help." Natsu said.
"You can't." Sanndanna said. "We don't know what this is and we can't seem to stop it. Besides, this is our home, not yours. We shall defend it with our lives as my master says."
"But I can't just leave you while you're in trouble." Natsu said. Sanndanna was a little impressed with how Natsu was acting.
"What is your name?" Sanndanna said.
"It's Natsu."
"Natsu, you must leave. There is nothing you can do. Perhaps you can find help from the outside." Sanndanna said. "Please, just leave while you still can." Natsu didn't like the sound of any of this, but it seemed like he had no other option. So Natsu ported out of there and Sanndanna hoped that when he comes back, their problems will be gone.
...
Chaotic
Natsu ported back to Chaotic. Once he got there, he met up with his friends and told him about the little experience he had.
"It was a little crazy there. All I could get was a fresh location scan of the place." Natsu said. "I didn't get the chance to scan Sinta or Sanndanna."
"At least you didn't leave empty." Zach said.
"You were able to go see it and come back. That matters more." Erza said. "Sometimes players don't port back from their ultra rare location scans."
"So how about we go to the Beta Drome and check out your new location scan." Lucy said.
"Hold on. Who says you get to be the first one to battle there?" Zach said.
"Ever heard of ladies first? Not to mention that Natsu and I have been best friends for years." Lucy said.
"True, but I'm the better player. I would be able to get more out of the location than either of you." Erza claimed and the three of them started arguing on who should take Natsu.
"Time out!" Natsu said and got them to stop arguing. He took out his scanner and held it up. "I got an idea. I got one of my scans up. The first one to guess what it is gets to take me on." All of them agreed to that. "This one is a creature, an underworlder. He doesn't do fire, but he does have earth. Which one is he?" The three of them thought about it, but Erza had a clear answer.
"It's Rothar." Erza said.
"Correct. Erza it is." Natsu said with Lucy and Zach moaning about that.
...
The Beta Drome
Natsu and Erza went over to the Beta Drome. Natsu set the location and they planned to have a one-on-one match.
"You ready? I got the location scan set." Natsu said.
"Let's do it." Erza said as they were picking their creatures.
'Using fire is dangerous in Under Cavern Jungle. So I better use Rothar since he has earth attacks.' Natsu thought. 'I'll also give him a liquilizer so he can use water attacks too. Most mipedians use earth and air attacks. I think I'll go with...Song of GeoNova for mugic.'
'I'm battling in a location I know nothing about. Better play smart.' Erza thought. 'I'll try Alazdan and give him a torwegg. That way, his air attacks will be stronger and I can get a better view of the location. I'll also have the Melody of Mirage to help.'
"Ready, Erza? I am." Natsu said.
"All set." Erza said as the two of them locked their decks.
"Let's do this. Rothar attacks Alazdan in Under Cavern Jungle!" Both of them selected their creatures and turned into them.
"Let's get chaotic." Rothar said. The area changed into the jungle. Rothar pulled out his liquilizer and was keeping his guard up. "Come on, Erza. Where are you?" He knew that since mipedians can turn invisible, he's got to be careful. What he didn't know was that Alazdan was already in the trees.
'Erza's got to be around here somewhere.' Natsu thought. That was right when he heard mugic. 'Mugic?! From where?!'
"Up here!" Rothar looked up and was surprised as he saw multiple Alazdans flying with torweggs. Rothar didn't know what happened, but he went on the attack as he used his liquilizer at them. The attacks just passed through.
"Hail Storm!" Alazdan unleashed the attack and blasted Rothar with it. The fakes all disappeared with the real Alazdan in the air.
"How did you do that?" Rothar questioned.
"That mugic was the Melody of Mirage. Perfect for a surprise attack like that." Alazdan said. "Wind Slash!" He launched a slash of wind, but Rothar rolled out of the way.
"Power Pulse!" Rothar unleashed green energy fists and blasted Alazdan with it was he was blown away from the attack. Rothar chased after Alazdan and fired water blasts, but Alazdan avoided each of his attacks.
"Rip Tide!" Alazdan unleashed his own water attack and blasted Rothar with it and he was knocked back. Rothar tried getting up, but Alazdan turned invisible.
"You might turn invisible, but you can't hide from mugic!" Rothar claimed. "Song of GeoNova!" Rothar cast the mugic and it came down as it hit Alazdan and revealed where he was. "Harnessed Rage!" Rothar fired his attack and blasted Alazdan out of the air as he crashed to the ground. Rothar held out his battlegear and was ready to finish this. "Any last words before getting coded?" Alazdan remained silent, but Rothar didn't finish it as he heard a sound. He saw a tree about to fall on him and he jumped out of the way. "How did that happen?"
"Natsu, look!" Alazdan said as he pointed down to where the tree fell. They both looked and saw something unreal. They saw some sort of black bubbly sludge and there was much of it.
"What is that stuff?" Rothar questioned. Alazdan flew into the sky and got a better look at it. It was widely spread and spread over the location. It was covering up every inch and it appeared to be absorbing the material as trees and such were sinking into it.
"Whatever it is, it's spreading." Alazdan said. This didn't look good at all.
...
Outside
Lucy and Zach were outside the drome and watch the battle go on. They saw the strange black sludge as well and were shocked at what they saw.
"What the heck is that stuff? Where did it come from?" Zach said.
"The only scan Natsu got was a location scan. So it must be part of the location." Lucy said. It might be part of the location, but none of them knew what it was.
...
The Battle
'This must be what Sinta and Sanndanna were trying to warn me about.' Natsu thought. 'Whatever this stuff is seems to be destroying the location.' That black sledge was advancing with Rothar and Alazdan backed away.
"What do we do?" Alazdan said.
"Let's try and stop this stuff!" Rothar said. "Rock Wave!" He caused rocks to rise out of the ground and it made it's way through the sludge, but that sludge covered the rocks as well. "Nothing?"
"Let's try a wider attack!" Alazdan said. He unleashed energy slashes and slashed through the sludge, but that wasn't working either. It just kept spreading through the location. They both tried some water attacks, but that didn't work either. "Nothing's working!"
"There's got to be some way to stop this!" Rothar said. Nothing seemed to work and it got worse as Rothar accidentally stepped on it and it was making its way up him. Rothar could feel his leg burning and in no time, he ended up coded. They were back at the drome, but neither of them liked what they saw.
"That was crazy. What was that stuff?" Erza said.
"No clue." Natsu said. Both of them stepped outside and met up with the others.
"Are you two okay?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah. Good thing that wasn't the real thing." Erza said.
"What the heck was all that?" Zach said.
"It must have been what Sinta and Sanndanna were trying to warn me about." Natsu said. "That stuff must be destroying the location and they're trying to stop it."
"From what I saw, it looked like that stuff was absorbing the vegetation and minerals of the location." Erza said. "The more it absorbed, the more it spread."
"There's got to be a way to stop it." Natsu said. "I've got to go back and help Sinta and Sanndanna."
"But what can you do, Natsu?" Lucy said.
"Natsu has the right idea." Erza said. "Think about it. If that stuff swallows up all of that jungle, it could spread through all of Perim." None of them liked the sound of that. Whatever that sludge is, it's got to be stopped or else everything in the jungle and more will be destroyed.