Chapter 3: Monkeys, Bulls, and Health Bars… Wait, Health Bars?!
Author's Note Part 1: Well, I've been getting good feedback for the last two chapters, so I'm going to assume that you guys like how it's going so far! Now, in this chapter, some things are revealed about Michael to Lucy, Natsu and Happy. However, the big questions won't be answered until later, and, by how my plans are going, probably won't happen until just after the Battle of Fairy Tail arc.
However, I have some twists and turns planned for this chapter as the group of four head off to find Macao and bring him back to Fairy Tail, one of which includes something that I'm certain noneof you will see coming. And for those of you who actually did… How? I didn't even come up with this until I finished writing the last chapter, so how could you possibly know I was going to write it if I only just thought of it?
But, apparent future-seeing people aside, I hope that this chapter will give you some of the action you've been wanting, along with more questions to wonder about. For now though, I'll let you guys get to actually reading it, so enjoy!
3rd Person POV:
Road to Mt. Hakobe, Fiore
Inside a carriage heading towards Mt. Hakobe, Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Michael sit in the seats, with the Dragonslayer of the group talking to the Fairy. "So these little things will actually help me with any kind of motion sickness?" Natsu asks with a large grin, holding the box of Dramamine in his hand as if it were a holy object. Michael nods with a small smile on his face in response to his friend's question.
"Yeah. But we should probably try to stay away from any form of transportation at least for a while. I know how to make the stuff, I just need to check to see if I can get any of the ingredients around Magnolia. Otherwise it's gonna take me a while." Michael tells the teen sitting across from him. Natsu just continues to stare at the box of Dramamine with a large smile on his face, almost like he hadn't heard what Michael said.
"So you must really have a problem with motion sickness if you think that stuff is great." Lucy comments, making Happy turn to look at her.
"Yeah, it's a side effect of Natsu's magic." The small cat explains to the blonde girl and raven haired boy with them.
"Well, there's bound to be some kinds of negative side effects for stuff like that. After all, it's not like you'd expect Natsu to have some great magic with no weakness." Michael comments, making the other two nod, while Natsu just continues to stare at the Dramamine box. But he doesn't seem to be focusing on it anymore. In fact, what the others don't know is that he's actually remembering a bit about Igneel, the mission that they're on bringing back some memories. Suddenly, the carriage that the four are riding in stops and everyone jolts from the sudden movement.
"We're there already?" Lucy asks, looking at the small window in the wall that separates them and the driver of the carriage they're in.
"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can get you." The driver tells them, making the four raise their eyebrows in confusion, before Michael pushes the back of the carriage open, and their greeted by wind and snow blowing towards them, Happy actually needing to hold onto the open door to keep from getting blown away.
"Where the heck are we guys?!" Lucy exclaims in order to be heard over the wind. "It's a frozen wasteland!" She continues.
"My guess would be somewhere around the base of Mt. Hakobe! There's no way this guy would lead his boar up the mountain with this much wind and snow!" Michael exclaims as he jumps out of the carriage, helping Lucy out while Natsu jumps onto the snow covered ground and grabs Happy from the door, before he closes it. After everyone's on the ground, Michael walks around the carriage to the man sitting on the front, and hands him a bag filled with Jewels. "Thanks for the ride! Here's some payment for you and any family you might have!" Michael exclaims, the man grabbing the bag with a grateful smile on his face.
"Thank you kind sir!" He thanks Michael, making the teen nod his head with a small smile on his face.
"No problem! Now you go ahead back down the mountain! We can handle it from here!" Michael explains, getting another nod from the man before he directs his boar back down the mountain, leaving the three teens and one cat on the trail leading further up Mt. Hakobe. When the man leaves, Michael turns around to face everyone. "Alright guys, let's go get Macao!" He exclaims, getting determined nods in response, but Michael notices that Lucy is shivering due to the light clothes she has on.
He assumes Natsu doesn't feel the coldness due to his magic, and Happy because he's got fur. So, with that in mind, he swipes his left hand down in the air, and brings up his Menu. After clicking a few boxes, blue particles appear in front of him, and create a bundle of cloth in his outstretched hands. After unfolding it, the cloth is shown to be the brown cloak he was wearing the day before in Hargeon, which he gives to Lucy. "Here you go Lucy, this'll probably help you out more than the rest of us." He tells the blonde, making her give him a grateful smile in response.
"Thanks Michael, that's really thoughtful of you." She thanks him, making him wave the praise off.
"No need to thank me, I'm sure that if Natsu had a cloak he would have given it to you. Right Natsu?" He asks the Dragonslayer, making Lucy turn to look at him. When she does this, Michael nods to him, telling the pink haired teen to answer with "yes".
"Yeah, sure thing Lucy." He answers, having seen what Michael was telling him to do, and making Lucy give him a thankful smile. "Alright guys, let's go get Macao." Natsu says with complete seriousness, turning around to start walking along with path with the others close behind.
"Aye sir!" Happy exclaims as he jumps onto Natsu's shoulder to hang onto him, the other two nodding in agreement as they follow them along the trail. As they continue, Lucy shivers slightly, the cloak protecting her from the wind and snow, but not completely protecting her from the coldness.
"Why is there a blizzard? It's summer!" She exclaims, making Michael turn to look at her, the black clad teen wearing his regular clothes and staying warm thanks to the multiple layers.
"We're currently climbing up a mountain. The higher we get, the colder it's gonna get Lucy." He explains. "After all, even though warm air rises, around mountains the rule is different. Don't ask me to explain how, because I couldn't tell you." Michael continues with a shrug. Lucy lets off a sigh as she continues to shiver a bit, before she looks up with a small smile.
"Oh, I know!" She exclaims, moving the cloak a bit so that she can grab one of her silver keys off the chain, this one having the end shaped like a clock. "Open, gate of the clock constellation: Horologium!" She exclaims, a light blue magic circle appearing in front of the clock, which a clock and multiple gears fly out of, before they all form together into a grandfather clock. The top of said grandfather clock opens, and a clock face, with an actual face, pops out of the top, while arms grow out of the sides, and feet grow out of the bottom.
"Tick-tock." The clock says, before Lucy opens the glass part, and climbs inside, sitting down with the cloak wrapped tightly around her. After she closes the glass part of the clock, she starts to talk to the trio outside. However, they can't hear what she's saying.
"Wait, we can't hear you!" Natsu exclaims, making the Horologium start to talk instead.
"She says 'I'm staying in here and I'm not coming out.'" Horologium translates.
"Then why'd you tag along?" Natsu asks her as Michael starts to go through his Menu once again, pressing on multiple boxes as he goes along.
"'What kind of crazy job would force Macao to come to a place like this?' She inquires." Horologium tells them. In response, Natsu turns away to look up the path again, while Michael finishes going through his Menu, giving a nod of satisfaction for some reason.
"You should've asked that before you came with us." Natsu tells her. "He went to slay a Vulcan. It's a big monster." Natsu continues, and inside Horologium, Lucy's eyes widen in fear.
"'I want to go back to the guild!' She proclaims." Horologium says as Natsu and Happy continue to walk away.
"Go and be my guess, I say back." Natsu tells her.
"Aye." Happy agrees as he walks after the pink haired teenager. Meanwhile, Michael sighs as he stands next to Horologium, before opening the spirit's glass casing, and tossing an object inside to Lucy, before closing the glass once again so the cold air stays outside.
"Here. If things really do get bad, then you can use that. But, you should really think before you do. For one, I don't have that many left. And also, you're a part of a wizard guild now, you shouldn't run away from problems, you should confront them with all your strength." Michael tells her with a small smile, before he goes after Natsu, leaving Lucy to look at the object in her hand, which is a rectangular, blue crystal, set on a grey, metal base, with smaller, red crystals attached to the grey metal on the two shorter sides. A few seconds later, Horologium can be seen following the rest of the group, Lucy sitting inside with the crystal on the wood next to her.
Later, when the group is higher up on the mountain, Natsu stops, and places a hand next to his mouth, before yelling. "Macao! Where-" He's suddenly cut off as Michael clasps a hand over his mouth, making Natsu look at him in surprise, and a bit of annoyance.
"Do you want to cause an avalanche?" The raven haired boy asks his friend, making Natsu think about what he means, before sweatdropping as he gives a nervous laugh into his friend's hand, Michael just sighing when he realizes that Natsu only just thought of that possibility. However, he suddenly stiffens up, before pushing Natsu away, and jumping backwards just as a large shape lands where the two were previously standing. The figure is revealed to be a large gorilla-like creature, with white fur, and grey skin.
"That's a big Vulcan!" Happy exclaims, revealing that the figure is actually the creature that Macao had been sent after just over a week ago. The two teens glare at the Vulcan as it stares down at them, easily a few feet taller than them. However, it suddenly stops staring at them to sniff the air, before giving them a smirk, and running off the way that they came. The two stare after it in surprise, before they notice it holding onto Horologium with a grin on its face.
"Like human woman." It says in a broken form of English, Natsu pounding his right fist into his left palm as a smirk makes its way onto his face.
"So it can talk huh?" He asks, Michael nodding as he walks up to stand beside him.
"Apparently." He says, before they notice how the Vulcan has picked up Horologium, with Lucy still inside, and has started to run away.
"'Don't just stand there! Come and save me!' She yells furiously." Horologium comments, oddly not angered, annoyed or fearful himself as he's taken by the large monster as it laughs, disappearing into the cloud of snow that's being picked up off the ground from the harsh winds.
"…Natsu." Michael says after a few seconds.
"Yeah Michael?" The pink haired teen asks his friend.
"…Did we just stand here doing nothing as that thing ran off with Lucy?" Michael asks.
"…Yeah, I think we did." Natsu agrees. The two continue to stand there for a few second in silence, not doing anything except staring at the spot where the Vulcan disappeared to second ago.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…Don't you think we should follow it then?" Michael asks.
"…Crap!" Natsu exclaims, before running off while grabbing Michael's wrist with one hand and Happy's arm with the other. "Come on guys, we've gotta see if that Vulcan knows where Macao is!" Natsu exclaims.
"Gah! It took Lucy too you know!" Michael exclaims. "And I can fly us after the thing Natsu!" Michael exclaims, making Natsu stop running and skid along the ground.
"Whoa, really? But wouldn't the wind stop that?" Natsu asks, showing one of the few times where he actually thinks before acting.
"Uh, hello. I'm technically a fairy. Therefore, my wings are magical, and not affected by outside forces." Michael explains as he lets his wings appear just to prove it.
"Oh, alright then! Come on Michael, we've got a Vulcan to catch!" Natsu exclaims, making Michael nod in response as he picks up Natsu with his hands, while the pink haired teen picks up Happy. Then, the raven haired teen takes off, following the direction that the Vulcan took, all the while looking for any holes in the mountain that it may have entered to get away from the blizzard. Eventually, he spots a large cave, and flies towards it with a determined look on his face. When they enter, the trio can see the Vulcan standing over Lucy, who's sitting on the ground with tears in her eyes, and Horologium nowhere in sight.
"Hey you big ape!" Natsu exclaims, getting the attention of both the Vulcan, as well as Lucy. When Natsu yells this, Michael tosses him, while grabbing Happy at the same time. "Where's Macao?!" Natsu exclaims as he flies through the air. "Tell meeee!" Natsu yells as he kicks the Vulcan in the chest, sending the big monster sliding across the ground, while Natsu flips to land on the icy ground on his feet. As the Vulcan pushes itself up off the ground, Natsu glares at it. "Alright, spill it monkey. Where's my friend?" Natsu asks, making the creature look at it in confusion.
"You understand me, right? He's a human man, now tell me where he is." Natsu says with a glare as he crosses his arms. When he says this, the Vulcan finishes getting to its feet, and places a finger to its chin in confusion.
"Man?" It asks, looking away slightly as it appears to think about Natsu's question.
"That's right, where are you hiding him?!" Natsu exclaims, pointing at the Vulcan as he asks this with a glare on his face.
"Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?" Lucy asks next to Natsu, before the Vulcan suddenly seems to think of something, and points off to its left as it waves at Natsu with its other hand.
"Man!" It exclaims as it does this, making Natsu stop pointing and stare at the Vulcan in surprise.
"I think he's gonna show me!" Natsu exclaims, before going off in the direction that the creature pointing, not noticing as Michael attempts to get his attention. "Macao- Whoa!" Natsu's yell for his friend is suddenly cut off as the Vulcan palm-slams him out of the hole that Natsu had been yelling out of, making the Dragonslayer start to fall down the cliff. "Monkeeeeey!" He yells as he falls.
"Natsu!" Michael, Happy and Lucy yell as they stand next to the hole that Natsu had been slammed out of. Meanwhile, the Vulcan dances behind them.
"No like man, me like woman! Oo-oo-oo-oo-oo!" The Vulcan "sings" as it dances while the two teens and one cat continue to stare down the cliff after their friend.
"This is bad news. He can't survive out there!" Lucy exclaims, before Happy goes flying out of the hole.
"Natsu!" Happy yells as he flies down the cliff after his friend. When Happy does this, the two stare after him, before they hear the Vulcan behind them.
"Wo-man, wo-man, wo-man, wo-man." The Vulcan chants repeatedly, punching its chest as it does so, just like a gorilla. As it does this, Lucy glares at it, before tossing her cloak off her, which Michael catches.
"Alright you pervy monkey. You're going down!" Lucy exclaims as she takes a golden key off her key chain, and holds it up. "Open, gate of the golden bull: Taurus!" Lucy exclaims as a light blue magic circle appears on the ground, and a large, white, human-like male bull with black spots comes out of it with a large battle axe on his back, "moo-ing" as he appears. He's wearing black boots that reach up to his mid-calf area, dark blue shorts that are held up by a silver belt with a copper, cow-shaped belt buckle, and has bandages tied around his forearms that reach his brown, fingerless gloves. He also has a long, brown belt that goes from his right shoulder, down to the left of his waist, and back up his back that holds his axe.
"Cow?" The Vulcan asks in confusion as it stares at Taurus.
"I should warn you monkey-boy, Taurus is the most powerful celestial spirit that I have a contract with!" Lucy exclaims, before said spirit turns to her with hearts in his eyes as he crosses his arms.
"Oh wow Miss Lucy, I almost forgot what a nice figure you have." Taurus comments, making Lucy's eye twitch as she continues to glare at the Vulcan. "Why don't you come give me a smoooo-ch?" He asks, finally making Lucy turn and place a hand on her head. Meanwhile, Michael smirks as he stares at the bull spirit.
"Oh yeah, and he's a big perv too." Lucy says in annoyance. However, Michael speaks up after she says this.
"Hey Taurus. How's it going?" He asks, making Taurus turn to look at him, and recognition appears in his eyes.
"Well hey there Michael, how are you doing?" Taurus asks with a smirk on his face, his voice changing slightly so that he's no longer in his "flirt-mode".
"Eh, not so bad. I'll tell you this much, my time-" However, before the raven haired teen can continue, the Vulcan decides to speak up.
"Don't touch my woman." He growls out, making Taurus eyes turn completely white with anger, before he turns to glare at the creature.
"You're woman? Them's fightin' words you Moooo-nkey." Taurus says, making Lucy turn to him as the Vulcan breathes smoke out of its nose.
"Get him!" Lucy exclaims, and Taurus smirks in response as he reaches behind his back and pulls out his battle axe. Then, he leaps into the air, spins the axe around, and slams it into the ground when he lands, the ground cracking along a line where he cut it. In response, the Vulcan jumps out of the way, before running along the icy floor, much like a gorilla… Just like many of the things that he does. "He's fast!" Lucy exclaims in surprise while Michael watches the fight with a frown a few yards away. However, just as the monkey leaps at Taurus… Natsu suddenly comes out of nowhere and kicks the bull across the room. Taurus' axe falls out of his hands and gets imbedded into the floor, and the spirit lands a few feet away with "X's" replacing his eyes as a small spirit in the shape of his head floats out of his ear.
"Looks like this is the end for me!" The small, white spirit exclaims.
"Epic fail!" Lucy yells as she looks at the downed form of Taurus, Michael staring at the Dragonslayer in a mixture of amusement, annoyance, and surprise.
"Hey, so how come there are more monsters now than when I left?" The pink haired teen asks in confusion, the Vulcan looking at Natsu in confusion at the same time. In response, Lucy looks at Natsu as her teeth change to resemble those of shark's as she glares at him in annoyance.
"He's a friend dummy! One of my spirits!" Lucy yells at him, making the Dragonslayer turn to face the Vulcan.
"That guy?" He asks in confusion.
"Not him, the bull you idiot!" Lucy exclaims, before thinking of something. "Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that Happy was able to get to you?" She asks, looking up at the flying cat in question.
"Aye!" Happy responds with a large smile.
"But, wait. So then you can handle Happy, but not other modes of transportation?" She asks the Dragonslayer, making Natsu look at her in a put-off manner.
"What are you talking about? Happy isn't a mode of transportation, he's my friend. I mean, duh." Natsu tells her, making Lucy get a blank look.
"You're right, it was totally wrong of me to compare the two." She admits, silently thinking to herself that she walked right into that one. However, throughout all this, the two had forgotten about the Vulcan, and are only reminded by it when the creature attempts to attack Natsu. However, the Dragonslayer blocks the Vulcan's attack with one fist as it attacks him from behind, a glare on his face even as he's not facing it.
Play: Fairy Tail Natsu's Theme
"You listen up! I consider everyone in the Fairy Tail guild my friend!" He exclaims as the Vulcan launches a kick at him, and he crosses his arms to block the attack, which sends him skidding backwards across the icy floor. When he stops, he glares at the creature over his crossed arms. (0:08) "Whether it's Gramps and Mira, or even those annoying jerks Gray and Elfman." Natsu explains, making Lucy stare at him in surprise at his words while he straightens out, and the Vulcan charges across the floor at him. (0:16)
"And Happy, Michael and Lucy too. They're all my friends." Natsu says with determination as an orange magic circle appears underneath him, a slight wind picking up making his hair start to point upwards as Lucy blushes a bit and Michael smirks. "Which is why…" (0:24) Natsu trails off as fire appears around his feet, and the Vulcan leaps toward him with its fist pulled back, only to be kicked by a flaming foot by Natsu. "I'm not leaving without Macao!" Natsu yells, flames being expelled by his foot and launching the Vulcan away towards the ceiling. (0:32) However, it simply leaps off it as icicles fall down and impale themselves in the ground. Natsu smirks at this, but the Vulcan simply glares at him as it brings its arms back, and then claps them together, sending a cloud of ice and icicles towards the Dragonslayer. (0:36)
When this happens, Lucy leaps away with Michael flying into the air above the attack, while Natsu simply stands against it with his arms outstretched and a glare on his face. "You're ice attack has no effect on fire!" He shouts, before the dust clears to show the Vulcan standing with Taurus' axe, the attack from before being nothing but a distraction. (0:43)
Stop OST at 0:43
Play: SAO OST – Confront Battle (If you can, try to follow the time pacing that I've written into the paragraphs, just like above)
The Vulcan gives a slight chuckle as it holds onto the weapon, a bit of light from Natsu's flaming feet catching the metal and making it glint. "He got Taurus' axe!" Lucy exclaims in shock as she stares at the sight a few feet away from them in surprise at the Vulcan's actual planning ahead to gain the upper hand in the battle with the Dragonslayer.
"That's not good." Natsu agrees with a grim look on his face. (0:15) Meanwhile, a few feet away, Michael looks at the situation with a frown, before opening his Menu once again, and starts to quickly swipe along the different boxes, pressing on a few here and there while continuing to look at the situation a few feet away from him in slight worry, though knowing that Natsu will be able to handle it for now.
"Please, be careful Miss Lucy." Taurus says from his place a few feet away on the ground, drool coming out of his mouth and pooling onto the icy floor beneath him. (0:25) A few seconds later, the Vulcan charges, and swings the axe horizontally from right to left at Natsu with a yell, making the Dragonslayer jump away from it with one hand on the ground to dodge it. After that, the Vulcan continues its attack, attempting to swing the axe at Natsu diagonally upwards to the left, making the pink haired teen dodge it once again by weaving around it, and then weave around it again as the creature swings at him diagonally in the opposite direction.
When the attempts to cut the human in front of it don't work for the Vulcan, the creature tries to once again swing the axe horizontally, this time from left to right, causing Natsu to flip over the attack to dodge it once again and keep from being cut into two separate pieces by the sharpened metal. (0:42) However, this time around, he slips when he lands on the icy floor of the cave they're in, and falls onto his back as the Vulcan jumps upwards into the air, and pulls the axe behind its back to swing it vertically and cut Natsu in half from his head to his legs. (0:52) Natsu stares in shock at the sight in front of him, already knowing that he wouldn't be able to push himself up to stop the axe.
Just as the sharpened metal comes down, a black blur appears in front of Natsu, and the sound of metal striking metal is heard as sparks appear. (1:00) The next thing anyone sees is the axe embedded into the ground a few inches from Natsu's head, with Michael standing in front of him with his black sword in a reverse grip in his right hand, having just deflected the strike off to the side as the Vulcan stares at him in shock at the fact that he deflected his attack. (1:10)
"Hey Natsu." Michael says, making Natsu look at the teen standing in front of him. "I've got this." Michael says, before giving a grin to the Vulcan making the creature pull the axe back as it leaps backwards and get ready to fight the human in front of it. (1:16) In response, Michael runs forwards with a yell, swinging his sword towards the Vulcan in an attempt to strike it. However, the creature blocks it, before swinging the axe again, this time making Michael block the attack, and continue to do so as the Vulcan attacks again. (1:27) After the Vulcan attacks once again, Michael misses once, and the Vulcan successfully cuts him across his waist. However, instead of a large gash appearing, the same red, pixelated line that appeared on Bora a couple days before when Michael attacked him appears, before healing. (1:37) When this happens, Lucy, Natsu and Happy notice something that appears around Michael's head. It's a large bar that's filled with green, but when he's hit by the axe, part of it goes away, and a black color can be seen underneath the green color. (1:46)
"Damn, I'll give you credit for getting an attack on me. But this battle's over." Michael tells the Vulcan in front of him with a grin, just before he charges towards the axe-wielding creature. (1:54) When he does this, he starts to swing his sword once again to attack, the Monkey only managing to block a few, while most of the attacks get through its guard, leaving the same red, pixelated gashes over its body, before they fade away. However, the creature still feels the pain that such wounds would actually inflict upon it with a real sword. Most of the attacks appear on the Vulcan's chest, with others appearing on the arm that's holding the axe. (2:12) However, the creature finally starts to fight back against Michael's attacks, blocking more of his sword swings while also dealing more damage with its axe to Michael, the other two teens and one cat watching the fight as the green that's filling the bar around Michael's head slowly starts to decrease, not even decreasing by a quarter as the fight continues for a few more seconds, Michael dealing more damage than the Vulcan. (2:30)
After a few more attacks from each party, Michael leaps back to dodge another attack from the Vulcan, before rushing forwards with a yell, slicing the sword through the creature's torso as he passes it, making it give a pained yell, before the black clad figure hits it with the flat side of the blade, launching it across the room into the far wall. (2:36)
Stop OST at 2:36
"Holy crap!" Lucy yells at the swordsmanship shown by their friend in the battle that he just fought.
"That was awesome!" Natsu yells out with a large grin and stars in his eyes.
"Aye sir!" Happy agrees, Michael turning to face them all with a sheepish laugh as he sheaths his sword on his back, and then makes it disappear via his Menu.
"Ah, come on guys, it wasn't that great." He argues.
"Are you kidding me?! You just took out that thing that had a giant axe with a single sword!" Lucy exclaims, internally intimidated by that fact as Taurus finally goes back to the spirit world in the background, his axe going with him. "And what was that thing around your head during the fight?" She asks him in confusion.
"What, that?" He asks gesturing over to the now-unconscious Vulcan. "Ah, that's more of a level 20 mob." He tells the others, completely confusing them, as shown by the question marks that appear above their heads. Michael realizes this, and gives another laugh, only this one more nervous. "Uh, never mind. As for the bar, think of it as something that will show you how much "life" I have in me before I'm knocked out. Like a "health bar" of sorts." Michael says, changing the subject in a hurry, which the others notice, but don't comment on.
"Wow… That's a cool thing to have." Happy comments, getting a nod from Michael.
"No kidding. Anyways, let's get this thing tied up so that we can ask it about your friend when it wakes up Natsu." He says, looking over at the unconscious form of the Vulcan a few feet away.
"Yeah, let's get this thing to tell us where Macao is." Natsu agrees, pounding his right fist into his left palm… Just before the Vulcan starts to glow. "Huh?" He asks as the Vulcan starts to shrink, before the glow recedes, and smoke is thrown up from the place where the Vulcan is. "What in the heck was that?" Natsu asks, before his eyes widen and his pupils shrink as he stares at the man that took tha place of the creature. "Macao?!" Natsu yells in shock. The person in question being a man with Caucasian skin, and dark purple hair. He's wearing dark brown shoes, light brown pants with a white belt holding them up, and a black shirt with a white trench coat with a blue trim over it. Most of his clothes have rips in them, showing that he'd been attacked, but not from Elucidator, as Michael had told the other's was the name of his sword.
"Are you telling me that big perverted monkey was actually your friend this whole time?!" Lucy yells in shock, making Happy nod as Natsu and Michael stare at the man lying in the crumbled ice a few feet away, before the cat goes on to explain how Vulcans take-over the bodies of people they defeat, and then survive like that. Afterwards, the group helps Macao onto solid ground, before Natsu starts to take medical supplies out of his backpack. However, Michael stops him with a hand on his arm, before opening his Menu, and scrolling through it. Finally, he chooses an item, and an object materializes out of pixels in front of him.
This one was unlike the object that he gave Lucy earlier, which had since been returned to him and he'd stored away via his Menu. Instead, it was a glass vile that was shaped like sphere at the bottom, before shortening into a neck towards the top, with a cork covering it to keep the red liquid inside. Michael grabs the cork between his teeth, and pulls it out, before opening Macao's mouth, and pouring the red liquid inside down his throat. "Come on… Come on…" He mutters after it's finished and the glass vial explodes into pixels. A few seconds later, Macao's body glows, much to Lucy, Natsu and Happy's surprise, before they're even more surprised when the light dies down and Macao is shown to be completely healed. "Yes! It works on other people!" Michael exclaims, making the others turn to look at him.
"What… was that?" Lucy decides to be the one to ask him, making the black-clad teen turn his attention to her with a smile on his face.
"That was a health potion. I haven't had to use one on anyone since that place, so I was hoping that it would still work here, and they do!" He exclaims, making the others happy, but wonder why it was that he had such venom in his voice when he referred to the other place. However, before any of them can ask, they hear a groan, and look down to see Macao opening his eyes.
"Macao!" Natsu yells in joy, making the man look up at him,
"Natsu…" He says, making the teen give a wide smile in response. "I'm so pathetic. I defeated 19 of those brutes." He says, making Michael give him a small smile at his strength, while Lucy looks at the man in disbelief. "But the 20th… that's the one that got me… I'm so angry with myself, I'm embarrassed to go home and face Romeo." Macao admits, only to feel a hand on his shoulder, and look over to see a new face he'd never seen before.
"Hey, Macao was it? I'm new to Fairy Tail, but I know this much from my time before I joined." He starts with a serious face. "Romeo misses you. He misses his dad. Right now, he doesn't care if you didn't finish the entire job. Right now, he wants you, he wants his dad, to go back and be with him. And that's why we came. We came here to get his dad, and to bring him back to his son." He tells the man, making him stare at him in surprise, before tears collect at the edge of his eyes.
"Yeah man, you defeated 19 of those things! Romeo will be blown away when he hears about that!" Natsu adds, making Macao wipe away the tears, before he sits up, and gets his now-stitched together shirt and trench coat, making everyone stand up with him, and make their way outside the cave, and back towards the town of Magnolia.
Back in town, Romeo cries on steps leading to higher levels of town as he remembers the reason that Macao went on the job in the first place. That being him begging his dad to go so that the other kids would stop teasing him about his dad and the guild he was a part of. As he wipes away more tears, he suddenly hears a voice that he recognizes. The only one that belonged to a pink haired Dragonslayer. "Hey! Romeo!" When he hears that voice, he looks up to see the teen that talked to him back at the guild, as well as Natsu, Happy, Lucy… And his dad. He sees the group smiling at him, and the floodgates open.
"Dad!" He cries out as he leaps at the older man, sending the two crashing to the ground as the young boy hugs his father while crying tears of joy at seeing the man who he'd thought of as possibly dead because of what he asked him to do. When Macao pushes himself upwards into a sitting position, Romeo keeps his arms wrapped around his neck as he cries tears of joy. "You came back! I'm so sorry dad!" Romeo cries into Macao's shoulder, the others watching the touching scene with smiles on their faces, Michael and Natsu's being the brightest.
"I know… I'm sorry for making you worry." Macao says, the others getting ready to leave the two to get reacquainted with one another as Lucy wipes tears of her own from her eyes.
"I can handle it! Cause I'm a wizard's son!" Romeo exclaims, making his father smile as the young boy pulls away slightly and the group starts to walk away. When they're about a block away, they hear Romeo call out to them.
"Michael! Natsu! Happy! Thanks for your help!" He calls out, making the three raise their hands to the kid behind them.
"No problem kiddo!" Natsu says in response.
"Just glad to be able to help kid!" Michael tells Romeo as he continues to walk away.
"Aye!" Happy agrees.
"Lucy! Thanks for helping them bring my daddy back to me!" Romeo calls out, making the blonde turn around to give the boy a small wave as she gives a light laugh. When the group gets closer to the guild, Michael lets his grin slip off his face slightly.
July 4th, I ended up arriving at the Fairy Tail guild today, got my stamp, told Master Makarov about my… Past, and then helped to reunite a young boy called Romeo with his father Macao… I'll admit this much, just from first glance, Fairy Tail is a guild filled with wonderful people. And when you get to know the members, it just solidifies that fact.
I can already tell that I'm gonna go on plenty of adventures here in the guild, and I look forwards to each and every one of them! I just wonder… How much longer until the others in Fairy Tail have to know about what's happened to me… And the other 9,999?
Author's Note Part 2: Well guys, here's the second Author's Note of the third chapter. So, what did you think about this one? Where the changes believable for Michael being added? Or were they a bit far-fetched? And how did you guys like the soundtracks that I added in if you were able to listen to them? Did they add in a good atmosphere?
Anyways, next chapter will be one of two things. I'm either gonna write out the Dear Kaby arc, or I'm gonna replace that with my own Original Arc. This will most likely include downtime at the guild for a bit, before Michael goes on an original arc, possibly so that I can further his relationship with Cana. But, since I need to decide, it's gonna take me a couple days to figure it out, and then another couple to actually write it. So, don't expect a chapter until Friday at the earliest guys.
Anyways, I got some really good reviews from last chapter, so here's the replies to them!
Anime PJ:
No problem, honestly it's nice to see a reply like that! As for Michael meeting only a few characters, as you can see from this chapter, I'm trying to space out his meetings with them, that way it seems realistic with how he meets them.
For him knowing Kirito… You'll just have to wait and see. I'll be touching on his past over the story, and the big reveals about his past will most likely come right after the Battle of Fairy Tail arc, since I find that to be the best time for what I have planned. Also, thanks for the suggestion, and I'll most likely go with that, since you bring up a good point.
Also, it's nice to see that you've gotten someone to like SAO! It's nice to see another person who's been introduced to the awesome series!
"ShadowAngel13":
Thanks for the compliment! As you can probably tell from the reply above, I'm most likely gonna have them be together just before the Phantom Lord arc. At least, if I can find a good way to have them get together by then.
Akira Himura:
Well, thanks for the compliment, as well as the offer to help!
Theboblinator looks over his own piece of paper, tapping a pencil against his chin as he does so.
"Which to choose, which to choose…" He mutters, and the paper is revealed to have multiple titles on it, some of which are crossed out with arrows next to them pointing to different stories, signifying that they're re-writes. Finally, he points at one.
"High School of the Dead and Aliens!"
"That one… That'll be the one that I update next." He says, before putting the paper down, and opening a word document on his laptop, and then starts to type.
davycrockett100:
Thanks!
duskrider:
Thanks for the compliment! I hope that you'll continue to like the story as I continue to write it!
PandaDerpz:
Well, I hope that you return to watching him at some point, because him and Rage have been posing videos like crazy lately, and they're all awesome! It's also nice to see that you like how it's going so far, and I hope that you continue to like it! As for the pairing, I've gotta agree that there just don't seem to be enough stories with a pairing like this out there.
I'm glad to see that I've managed to keep your interest with this crossover category, and I hope that you've liked this chapter as much as the last two, and will continue to like the chapters that I give you guys!
"K3lst":
Thanks for the compliment! I hope that this chapter has kept you interested, and I also hope that the next will do the same!
Well, I think that's about it for now. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next time!