Back in Magnolia, Brain and Cobra (in his snake form) are in the throne room, scolded by Carla with Wendy standing beside her.
"Brain, this is an outrage!" Carla glared. "Of all the things you have accomplished, this is by far the lowest! If it weren't for all your years of loyal service…" She then scoffed. "From this moment forward, you are to discuss the sentencing of prisoners with me before they are given the death penalty."
"I assure you, Prime Minister, it won't happen again," Brain said, bowing to Carla.
"I hope so, for your sake," Carla nodded. She then smiled. "Shall we put this whole messy business behind us? I'm sure Wendy will find it in her heart to forgive you."
"Once again, I give my humblest apologies, Princess Wendy," Brain said as he attempted to kiss Wendy's hand, but she snatched it away from him.
"At least one good thing will come of my being forced to marry," Wendy glared. "When I grow up and be queen, I'll have the power to get rid of you."
"Oh, my. That's not very polite… But at least the matter is settled," Carla sighed. She turned to Wendy, "Now, Princess, let us discuss your next suitor." But she noticed Wendy was walking out of the throne room. "Wendy?" She flew after her. "Wendy!"
Once Carla had left, Brain's smile faded into a scowl. He growled, "If only I had gotten that dragon scale!"
"'I will have the power to get rid of you'," Cobra mocked Wendy, before his voice became normal, "To think we have to keep kissing up to that dorky queen's dorky cat, and the queen's dorky daughter for the rest of our lives…"
"No, Cobra," Brain said, walking over to the balcony and looking out at Wendy and Carla. "Only until she finds a 'dorky husband' when she's old enough. Then she'll have us banished." He gasped. "Or even worse: give us the death penalty!"
"Eeeeewwww!" Brain and Cobra exclaimed in disgust, holding their throats at the thought.
Cobra brightened up and got an idea, "Oh! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Brain, what if you were the dorky husband?"
"What?" Brain frowned, looking offended at what Cobra had said.
"No, I mean, you marry the princess," Cobra continued. "And then you become the King of Magnolia."
"Oh!" Brain grinned, starting to take Cobra's idea with much interest. He sat on the empty throne. "Marry the princess? I become king? That's not such a bad idea."
"That's right!" Cobra jumped onto the throne. "And then, we drop the pretty girl and her babysitter off a cliff!" Then he dive bombed onto the floor, screaming, before he yelled, "Kersplat!"
Once he crashed onto the floor, Cobra laughed as did Brain, who said, "Cobra, I love the way your slithery little mind works!"
A laugh match began between the two, before they laughed evilly together. This could be the beginning of their new scheme.
Back with Romeo and the others, the Flying Dragneel airplane was approaching an oasis to land in.
"Thank you for choosing Flying Dragneel for all your travel needs," Natsu said, still a steward. "Please remain seated stand until the plane has come to a complete stop." Once the Flying Dragneel landed, Romeo, Asuka, and Happy got off the plane as Natsu waved, "Thank you. Good-bye now! Good-bye, good-bye! Thank you! Good-bye!" Natsu changed back to normal and laughed proudly, "Well, now. How about that, Mr. I-Doubt-You-Can-Do-It?"
"Oh, you sure showed us a thing or two," Asuka nodded.
"That's Natsu for ya!" Happy added. "He's the greatest!"
"He sure is," Romeo agreed. "Now about my three wishes…"
Natsu laughed jokingly before he said, "Hey, am I getting a bit of brimstone in my ears or something? Three? You are down by ONE, boy!"
He shoved one finger in his face, but Romeo smirked as he moved it away, "Uh-uh-uh, I didn't exactly wish for you to get us out of the cave. You did that on your own."
Natsu thought for a moment, before he realized Romeo had a point and his jaw dropped in complete shock. "Boy, do I feel sheepish," Natsu said, turning into a sheep. He then glared to Romeo, "Alright, you baaaaad boy, but no more freebies."
"Fair enough," Romeo nodded.
"Have any ideas for a wish, Romeo?" Asuka asked. "There's plenty to go around."
"I'm working on it, cowgirl," Romeo replied, walking around. Natsu listens while hanging on a hammock between two trees. "Now, let's see. Three wishes. I want them to be good. I don't want them to backfire." Then he asked Natsu, "Say, Natsu, what would you wish for?"
"Me?" Natsu said, surprised. "No one's ever asked me that before." He began, "Well, in my case…" He then stopped himself, "Ah, forget it."
"What?" Romeo asked eagerly.
"No, it can't be," Natsu replied sadly.
"Come on, tell me," Romeo asked again with a smile.
Natsu eventually answered with a sigh, "Freedom."
Romeo looked at the dragon scale, feeling a bit surprised. He looked back at Natsu, saying, "You're a prisoner?"
"Aye," Happy answered. "Ever since he was cursed."
"Cursed?" Romeo exclaimed.
"It's a long story," Natsu explained. "More than tens of ages ago, a sorcerer named Zeref cast a spell on me. He cursed me to become not a Genie of the Lamp, but a Genie of the Dragon Scale. It's a fitting title that matches my love for dragons."
"You love dragons?" Asuka asked, sitting down with Happy beside her.
"Funny, because I was raised by a family of dragons. Pretty crazy, right?" Natsu asked, before Romeo and Asuka nodded. "I was cursed to live out the rest of my life as a genie, granting wishes to nice people or bad people, all age long. It's all part-and-parcel, the whole genie gig." Natsu grew gigantic and his voice boomed, "PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWERS!" Then he shrunk down, cramped inside the dragon scale, as he added, "Itty-bitty living space."
"Natsu…" Romeo nodded sympathetically. "That's terrible."
"Don't you like being a genie?" Asuka asked Natsu. "Isn't granting wishes for everyone a lot of fun?"
"No, I don't think he wants to be a genie," Romeo said to Asuka. "He never asked for this. Happy told me he tagged along with Natsu for a long time, hoping for the 'big day' to come. I think that's what he meant about Natsu wanting to be free."
"That's what I want," Natsu nodded sadly as he drifted out of the dragon scale. "Not have to go, POOF! What do you need? POOF! What do you need? POOF! What do you need? All I want is to be my own person again, to be my own master. Such a thing would be greater than all the magic and all the treasures in all the world!" He then groaned, "But what am I talking about here? It won't happen. I may as well wake up and smell the fire in my belly."
"Why not?" asked Romeo.
"The only way to be free from the dragon scale is if my master wishes me out," Natsu explained.
"But we haven't seen anyone do it yet," Happy added with a scowl. "All they did is make three wishes and leave him back to the Dragon Cave of Wonders. Downright selfish, if you ask me."
"So you can guess how often that's happened," Natsu added.
Romeo paused to think, and then smiled. "I'll do it," He offered. "I'll set you free."
"Yeah, sure," Natsu rolled his eyes, before he changed his head into Pinocchio's and his nose grew long. "Whoop!"
Romeo pushed Natsu's nose back in, changing him back to normal. He said, "No, really, I'm serious. I promise. After I make my two wishes, I'll use my third wish to set you free."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" Asuka questioned.
"Yeah. Natsu's been cooped into that scale for so long, he wanted to be human again. He probably wanted to see the world for the first time in forever," Romeo answered. "It's like he said, I never had a friend like him, so why not? I'll be his friend! A friend never leaves a friend behind or turns their back on each other."
"But what about OUR wishes?" Asuka whined.
"I'll think it over, trust me," Romeo assured. He turned to Natsu and extended a hand. "So how about it? If I have one more wish, I'll set you free."
Natsu smiled softly, "Well, here's hoping." He shook Romeo's hand. "Alright. Let's make some MAGIC!" He turned into a magician, throwing some cards out of his sleeves before he went back to normal and asked, "So, what's your first wish? What's it you want more than anything?"
Romeo puts his hand behind his head and blushed, "Well… there's this girl—"
But then, Natsu made a noise of a game show buzzer and his chest showed a heart with a cross through it. He interrupted, "Wrong! I can't make anybody fall in love, remember?"
"Oh, but Natsu," Romeo blushed again. "She's different. She's smart and fun and…"
"Pretty?" asked Natsu.
"Gorgeous?" asked Happy.
Romeo shook his head and said, "Cute! More cuter than a bunny rabbit in the middle of August!" He continued in a dreamy stare, "She's got these eyes that just… glitter like stars… and her hair colored like a blueberry, and it smells like strawberries… her voice is as cute as a bird, wow… her touch is as soft and warm as a blanket… and best of all… her adorable smile."
Natsu was sitting in a Parisian café dressed in French clothing with Happy and Asuka. Happy spoke in a romantic tone, "He loves her…"
"Ami,"Natsu agreed. "C'est l'amour."
"The problem is, she's the Princess," Romeo sighed. "To even have a chance, I'd have to be a…" And then, his eyes widened with an idea. He continued, "Hey, could you make me a prince?"
"Let's see here," Natsu said, pulling out a book entitled 'Recipes for Royals'. "Chicken a la king?" He pulled out a rooster with a crown on his head and tossed him away, "Nope. Alaskan king crab?" He yanked out his finger, revealing Sebastian (from The Little Mermaid) clamped on as we hear a part of 'Under the Sea' play, before he tossed Sebastian, "Ow, I hate it when they do that. Caesar's salad?" A muscular arm came out with a dagger and tried to stab Natsu as he screamed and quoted Julius Caesar, "Et tu, Brute?" before he shoved the arm back into the book. He finally came to the right page, "Aha! To make a prince." The book vanished and Natsu looked slyly at Romeo, saying, "Now, is that an official wish? Say the magic words!"
"Natsu, I wish for you to make me a prince!" Romeo answered.
"ALRIGHT! Woof, woof, woof, woof!" Natsu exclaimed in excitement, before he took on square shoulders and looked like Arsenio Hall, even imitating him, before he became a tailor/fashion designer. "First, that fez and jacket combo is much too last six years. What are we saying, hard-working schoolboy that works himself half to death with triple-homework before he dropped out? No! Let's work with me here."
He took Romeo's measurements, clapped once, and Romeo was zapped. He is now dressed in a sparkling gold and silver long-sleeved prince's outfit, black shoes, and a gold and silver crown on top of his head.
"Wow! You look super-handsome, Romeo!" Happy remarked.
"You oughta impress your princess with that," Asuka remarked as well.
"The cat and the girl likes it, and I like it too, muy macho!" Natsu smiled.
"Thanks," Romeo smiled back as he admired himself in the mirror.
"But it still needs something," Natsu pondered. "What does it say to me? It says, mode of transportation. Excuse me, cowgirl!" He clapped his hands, motioning Asuka to come over. "Vaquera, over here!"
Asuka realized in an instant what Natsu meant and said, "Oh, no. I-I-I just remembered! I-I-I have to get to school for the science fair elsewhere!" She tried to hide herself behind Happy, but Natsu zapped her and flew her over. She screamed, "Oh, no! Oh, no! Oh, no!"
"Here she comes," Natsu said as he and Romeo were on a game show set, where Romeo was standing behind a podium with 'ROMEO' on it. "And what better way to make your grand entrance on the streets of Magnolia than riding your very own brand new camel!" A door bearing Natsu's face opened, where Asuka got transformed into a camel. "Watch out, they spit!" As if on cue, Asuka spat out the side of her mouth with a frown.
"Um, Natsu?" Happy interrupted. "I don't think anyone in Magnolia would want to see a prince riding a camel."
"You're right, Happy," Natsu shrugged. "Let's try again."
He snapped his fingers and Asuka transformed into a fancy white horse.
"Still not enough," Natsu frowned. "Let's see… What do you need?"
He snapped his fingers repeatedly, turning Asuka into a duck, an ostrich, a turtle, and a white racing Volkswagen Beetle with red, white, and blue racing stripes from front to back bumper, a racing style number '53' on the front trunk lid, doors, and engine lid, and a yellow-on-black '63 California license plate that read, 'A-SUCKA', before she returned to normal. Asuka was a little shaken, while at the same time, terrified.
Just then, Natsu got an idea, "YES!"
"Please! No more!" Asuka begged.
But it was too late. Natsu chanted, "Esalalumbo, shimin dumbo!"
On the keyword of the spell, 'Dumbo,' Asuka was turned into an elephant. Happy struggled to get out from under Asuka's size 46 feet. "I'm stuck!" he cried.
"Talk about your trunk space, check this action out," Natsu remarked.
"Huh?" Asuka wondered, before she looked into a pool of water and saw her reflection. Seeing that she turned into an elephant, Asuka freaked out and trumpeted in horror, before she scrambled up a tree, which bent right back to the ground, but Asuka held onto the tree and looked at Romeo upside down.
"You look good, cowgirl," Romeo chuckled.
"He's got the outfit, he's got the elephant, but we're not through yet!" Natsu announced.
"We're not?" Happy asked, getting up.
"Not by a long shot!" Natsu smiled. "Hang onto your crown, kid. We're gonna make you a star!"
Outside of the oasis, had anybody passed by, they would've seen fireworks erupting from the oasis.
To Be Continued…