I'm so excited to update this, I have up to chapter nine planned out. Would have had this up earlier, but Naruto has consumed my entire Summer (Sasuke, Hinata, Kakashi and Kiba are my faves, if you were wondering) hence my lack of updates. But here we are! My hype is real for this story, so expect this to be updated possibly weekly if I can get it written up fast enough.
I hope you guys are as excited as I am. Who do you think Ryō will run into first? Who else besides Rogue and Kagura could he run into? Sting already has seen him. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Thanks for all the support so far, it's appreciated!
The flames of the fire dragon broke through, deeming stronger of the two as it threw Sting back, causing him to go crashing into the wall. The blonde groaning as his back impacted with the concrete of the underground. How..? It had seemed as if he had gotten stronger. But how? Sting wondered, marvelling at Natsu's sudden burst of power.
"Huh, is that so? Then I should use the same kind of power that I use to fight for my friends you laughed at!"
No one simply gained power by friendship, it was impossible.
"Shadow dragon roar!" the burst of tangible black and gray shadows caught the Fairy Tail wizard off guard, quickly pivoting on his feet to counter with his own dragon roar. Flames met shadows at a stalemate between the two men, before the flames engulfed the raven haired dragon slayers roar, turning the attack into nothing. However the flame roar kept travelling towards it's target, blasting Rogue backwards.
Sting looked on as dust settled where his team mate was, eyes wide as his frustration built. "I'm not done with you!" he growled, charging towards Natsu.
The Twin Dragon's charged at the Fairy Tail mage, their tenacity was relentless, always finding ways to come back again and again, counter for counter. However, Natsu was having a hard time holding the two at bay, yet still managed to fight both of them off, despite being outnumbered. Eventually it drew to a stalemate, all three of them breathing heavily, the match seeming to drag on minute by minute.
Each one of them knew that there wasn't much time left, only having thirty minutes to score the win over the other team. They were well into twenty minutes, if not edging towards the time limit.
Rogue glanced at Sting, the blonde recognising the look his team mate was giving him, and with a nod he solidified their final plan.
"Now Sting!" Rogue roared out, hand tightening to a fist as he focused his magic energy, a dark aura flaring. Letting out a battle cry of his own, Sting did the same thing, however his aura glowed a pure white with hints of gray, which contrasted against Rogue's. His was of a midnight blue, with a purple tinge and a lighter blue centre. It started off as a small orb like shape, yet got larger and larger as seconds progressed.
Tremors racked through the arena, the magic pressure as tense. The light and dark auras expanded further and further, yet not mixing with one another.
Teeth bared and with a look of determination, the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth focused all they had, their signature move, one which would solidify their victory.
There was no way they were losing to Fairy Tail, not now, not ever.
"This looks bad." Beth commented, a weary look on her face as she stared at the screens enticed by the match, just like everyone else in the Domus Flau.
Risley hummed in agreement, "I don't understand why he's just standing there." she added, eyebrow raised as a questioning look settled on her face at the fire dragon slayer stood there, doing nothing but watching the other two.
"What are they doing?" Millianna questioned.
"Unison raid. In other words, they're fusing their magic together for one complete attack."
The feline-like woman glanced at the Mermaid Heel ace, "Unison raid? But...but if that hits then..." Millianna's eyes widened at the thought of the attack hitting the lone dragon slayer. She knew that individually the Twin Dragon's were strong, but if they came together to make one attack... It was knock Natsu out, for sure.
A small frown appeared on Kagura's face, knowing that what ever Millianna was assuming, was right. If Natsu didn't counter or dodge right now, he was going to lose the match, giving Sabertooth the win. She couldn't bear to see that sight, them gloating over their win, looking down on everyone as they claimed themselves superior to everyone else.
Refraining from rolling her eyes the swords-woman glanced over to where team Sabertooth were seated, spotting the Dragon Slayers exceed's perched on the edge of the balcony, a look of fear on their faces over the men battling it out underground. "You can do it, Sting!" the red-furred exceed cheered, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm cheering for you, too!" the pink frog-suit wearing one added.
The pressure suddenly disappeared, the aura's the dragon slayers were producing vanished as the whole arena went quiet.
Two small spherical balls appeared, similar to the aura the Twin Dragon's gave off in their palms, light and dark mixing as it turned into one lone sphere.
"Natsu! Outta the way!" Happy shouted, fearing Natsu wouldn't move out of the way quick enough.
Ryō's eyes widened in awe at what was transpiring. A 'unison raid'? He knew his father was powerful, but to be able to pull off fusion magic? His father had told him stories and how that him and his uncle- Sting, pulled off this type of magic. He always wanted to see it, and now he was able to.
"Holy Shadow Dragon Flash Fang!" the Twin dragon's roared out in unison, sending a mixture of light and darkness hurdling towards Natsu at lightning speed.
The Fairy Tail Mage blinked before getting into his fighting stance. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art," Flames in the shape of a Phoenix formed. The counter attack was quickly executed, if you blinked you would have missed it. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
The flames nullified the cloud of light and dark, engulfing the two Sabertooth mage's in flames. The attack so strong that it blew through the underground, sending tremors all throughout the arena.
The screens went blank as the blast had caused the video lacrima's to malfunction. The announcer stating that they would be up and running against shortly as whispered could be heard throughout the crowd.
Ryō glanced up at Lucy who shot him a small reassuring smile, "They're okay, I'm sure of it. They're dragon slayers, remember?" The boy could only nod as he turned his attention back to the crater in the arena floor. He couldn't sense no magic energy, not his father's, nor Sting or Natsu's.
Lucy had to blink several times, adjusting the hood of her cloak with her left hand. I hope they're okay, she let out a sigh. This whole match had been a roller coaster for her, as this was the first time she was seeing this for herself. She recalled being in the infirmary when Natsu and Gajeel were called for their match against Sting and Rogue, her team mate coming to see her beforehand. She recalled how excited he was to be able to fight, knowing Natsu was itching to get his hands on the Twin Dragon's.
They had disrespected Fairy Tail too much, and the injuries she sustained during the Naval Battle had pushed the dragon slayer over the edge, he was ready for a war, if that's what it meant.
Nobody disrespects my friends and gets away with it.
The screens flickered, the video lacrima's finally starting up again to show the underground where the dragon slayers were fighting. The dust settled, the three men coming into view. They all looked worse for wear, wounds bleeding and torn up clothes.
Rogue stumbled back, trying his best to keep his weight up. But he couldn't, he knew he couldn't. This was a lost battle. He let out a groan, his whole body aching from the intensity of the fight. Lifting his head up slowly, he glanced at Natsu. Even though he looked worse for wear, his stance was strong. Does this man's power know no bounds? Legs finally giving way, Rogue let his whole body fall forward. At the same time, Sting dropped down onto his knees. Both of them fell down, bodies slumping to the floor.
That was it, they were done.
The bell rang as cheers rang throughout the crowd, Fairy Tail claiming victory of the battle of the dragon slayers.
A small smile tugged at Kagura's lips as she watched Natsu celebrate. He had done it, he had defeated Sabertooth. She somewhat got satisfaction from it, knowing that the loss would wound the blonde's —What was his name again? Oh yeah, Sting Eucliffe.— ego. Good, he needed it.
"What a match!" Beth spoke, somewhat in awe of the battle between the four— well, three men.
They all agreed, the battle amongst dragon slayers was one to remember.
Lucy noticed the slouch in his shoulders as the young boy stared at the screen, she knew that he was upset his dad had lost.
"Ryō-"
"He did his best," Ryō cut her off, "He did his best... right, Lu?" he questioned, his ruby coloured eyes glancing up at the blonde.
She smiled in return, her hand mussing up his hair. "He did, he gave it his all. Like always."
Glancing back at the screen, Ryō let out a small laugh at Natsu's celebration. The dragon slayer was currently breathing fire in the air and dancing around. He was happy uncle Natsu had claimed victory. But to him victories didn't matter, because deep down he knew. He knew that even though in his present time, even though his father has been plagued by darkness, that he would always believe his father to be the best wizard ever.
And no one could tell him any different.
Glancing at the screen, Yukino marvelled at the sight of her ex-guild members being defeated by Natsu Dragneel. A smile appeared at his victory dance, a small giggle passing her lips at his antics. Walking towards the window she stared towards the Domus Flau, her mind going deep in thought.
She had heard earlier in the morning whilst walking through the city that somebody had stormed the inn Sabertooth were housing in, causing a ruckus. It brought a smile to her face, knowing it could have been only one of two people. Natsu or Kagura. Part of her leaned towards it being Natsu, knowing that he was quick to throw himself into things of the sort. Plus, he took of running in that direction when he left her that night.
Yukino made a mental note to thank him personally. Her mind then drifted towards the woman who had beaten her on the third day of the Grand Magic Games, Kagura Mikazuchi.
She had left Kagura and her team mates at Mermaid Heel, thanking them for their hospitality and kindness towards her, eventually leaving them after spending a night at their inn. She had only time to write some form of note, thanking the woman before having to grab her luggage. Yukino assumed that they would think she had left Crocus, which she did intentionally think of doing. She would also have to thank them in person sometime in the near future.
"Sargent Aguria."
Yukino saluted as the man approached her. He was the one who convinced her to stay in Crocus, as she was needed for a plan.
Arcadios gave her a nod as he stopped in front of her. "Are you settling in fine?" he asked.
"Yes, thank you. I would also like to thank you for this opportunity. I am appreciative that you chose me to help." Yukino replied.
"Are you sure you're about joining this project and seeing it come to fruition?"
"Yes. I am certain about helping with the Eclipse plan."
"He really kicked our ass, didn't he?"
Rogue let out an amused 'hmph' in reply, glancing at Sting with a small smirk.
They had been attended to by medics, wounds cleaned up and bandaged or patched up. The Twin Dragon's sitting in an empty room in the infirmary wing, their respective exceed's besides them, sleeping. Seems the match had taken a lot out of them too, Rogue mused.
His whole body was aching with exhaustion. Yet, for the first time in awhile, he felt alive. That match had really —as Natsu would say— fired him up. He could tell Sting felt the same way, despite his current state the blonde had a smile on his face.
Sabertooth had lost. Fairy Tail coming up victorious in the battle of the dragon slayers. He had given it his all, they both had, yet it still couldn't compare to the power Fairy Tail had. Rogue noted that Sabertooth lacked something what Fairy Tail had a lot of.
Camaraderie.
He could hear their cheers of encouragement through the crowd, their pleas to keep pushing through no matter how hard the battle got. And Sabertooth? Apart from the cries of Lector and Frosch, they had nothing. No encouragement. Nothing of that kind from his guild mates. "There are plenty of guilds what actually care for their friends." Kagura's words echoed in his mind yet again. Rogue shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of the sound of her voice. He hated how her words continued to haunt him, yet there was truth to her words, and he had seen the proof to back it up today.
Fairy Tail had proved to Rogue that they were the better guild.
"Not gonna lie, it was pretty amazing to fight against the two of them." Well, mainly Natsu. "Probably the best fight I've ever had." Sting spoke, voice quiet amongst the silence between the two. He glanced at Rogue, seeing him nod in agreement.
"Same."
Sting smiled at his friends passive expression, yet knowing deep down he felt the same way. He wasn't lying, it was the best fight he had ever competed in ever since they had started the Grand Magic Games. No other opponent had been tougher than their idols, Gajeel and Natsu. Their expectations had been fulfilled, if not exceeded.
He heard Rogue let out a grunt, his eyes glanced over towards his friend. "What's wrong?" Sting questioned.
"Jiemma."
That statement alone had that adrenaline rush instantly disappear from his body, the blonde hanging his head. He wasn't going to be happy with their loss. Sting knew he and Rogue had hyped themselves up to be the very best, the true definition of dragon slayers and that they were on top of their game. They had proved that today, but Natsu was just that bit better than both of them.
But that wasn't going to be enough, both of them knowing as soon as they got back to the inn there would be repercussions.
"Tch, he is such an asshole." Gajeel grumbled to himself as he walked aimlessly through the underground. He had ended up further down after his impromptu roller coaster ride, curtesy of Natsu fucking Dragneel. "Just wait until I see him..."
He still had no idea if the flame brain had won the match or not, knowing his stupid brain he probably blew it and got too cocky. Then again, cocky Natsu always seemed to somehow pull through. Maybe he did win, showing them asshole's from Sabertooth just who they were messing with. It was one thing to insult Gajeel, but to insult the Fairy Tail guild. Insult him, you might get some brash words and perhaps a punch or two, but to disrespect the guild that took him in... he wasn't going to let anyone ever get away with that.
That's what the Saber-assholes had done. He had heard about Natsu's run in with the two dragon slayers the night before the Games had started, and about them throwing that Celestial Wizard out of the guild because she lost the match. The brutal attack on Lucy had pushed it for not only Natsu, but Gajeel too.
They needed to be put in their place, and he would happily do it. However, fate and a being called Natsu Dragneel had other ideas, hence him being stuck down Mavis-knows where.
That and that dark haired asshole from Sabertooth had torn his headband with a punch. A measly punch. He had to hand it to the guy, he was pretty fast. But... the headband. Fucker, that was my favourite one too! He was gonna make sure he beat some money out of that punk, he is going to pay for a new headband.
"Fucker. Ruining my fucking headband the fucking fuck. I'll..." Gajeel halted, eyes widening. He blinked trying to be sure that what he was seeing was real. No, it couldn't be. He blinked again, shaking his head slightly, yet the vision never changed.
Bones. That of a large structure. Ones he knew could belong to a creature so large. They were scattered all around the area, too many for him to count. But why were they here, under the Domus Flau? How did they get here? Just how many were there exactly?
He had stumbled upon a Dragon graveyard.