Mard Geer's chariot soared above the center of the Aquarius Sea, the exact location where the Eight Demon Gates, the most powerful Etherious in existence, were imprisoned. Before long, the first step of the Fates' prophecy had been fulfilled. The planets aligned in a straight line, and with the powers of the natural universe combined, they shot a powerful beam that struck the center of the ocean. The waters slowly parted to reveal a gigantic prison underneath, barred by pillars of radiant, heavenly fire. Mard grinned with absolute satisfaction. The Eight Demon Gates' eyes flashed from the dark confines of their prison, showing nothing but hatred and contempt.
"Brothers! Etherious! Mighty Demon Gates!" Mard declared boomingly. "Look at you in your squalid prison! Who put you down there?!"
"IGNEEL!" all the Demon Gates bellowed the name of the one who imprisoned them.
"And now that I set you free…" Mard shot a bolt of black lightning that destroyed Igneel's fiery prison, extinguishing all the flames and rendering the bars useless. "…what is the first thing you are going to do?"
"DESTROY HIM!" With their fists, the Etherious broke the bars and emerged from the ocean.
"Good answer," Mard smirked.
The Eight Demon Gates began their rampage across the mortal world, determined to climb Mount Olympus and exact vengeance against the one god who defeated them.
"I shall crush Igneel!" the Rock Etherious, Ezel, stomped through the fields, crushing anything and anyone misfortunate enough to stand in his path under his rocky feet.
"I shall freeze him to death!" the Ice Etherious, Seilah, breathed a massive stream of ice that froze the entire landscape in front of her, including the animals and humans there.
"I shall melt Igneel!" the Lava Etherious, Jackal, slithered his lava-like body, scorching the surrounding lands with volcanic fire.
"I shall blow him away!" the Tornado Etherious, Tempester, moved his tornado-like body to and fro, blowing away everything with his destructive winds.
"I shall drown Igneel!" the Aquatic Etherious, Torafuzar, smothered the earth with his purple watery body, drowning all living things with poisonous water.
"I shall plant a deadly seed in him!" the Plant Etherious, Kyôka, sprouted gigantic plants, flowers, and thorns all over the landscape, tearing apart the earth beneath her.
"I shall rip Igneel apart!" the Cyclops Etherious, Franmalth, fired a devastating optic laser from his one eye, destroying a large chunk of land.
"And I shall drag him into the fog!" the Mist Etherious, Keyes, fluttered his body made of mist that shrouded everything in endless fog.
"IGNEEL!" all eight Demon Gates marched. They won't stop until Igneel was dead!
"Uh, guys?" Mard interrupted. The Etherious turned to him, and he pointed over his shoulder towards Mount Olympus with a bored expression. "Olympus would be that way."
The Demon Gates realized they've been going the wrong way. The turned around and went into that direction, resuming their rampage and roaring Igneel's name. Mard brimmed with confidence; everything was going according to plan. But to ensure that Natsu or any of his friends would not interfere, one had to be precautious.
"Hold it, you two!" Mard spoke to Keyes and Franmalth, who had been following behind the rest of the Etherious. "Can I have a moment?"
"Yes, Mard Geer?" Keyes turned to Mard. "Is there anything that requires our attention?"
Mard answered, "I have a special job for you two, my two gargantuan friends." He added with a sinister grin, "You'll love it."
"Oh, boy!" Franmalth shook excitedly. "Does it involve killing someone else besides Igneel?"
"Oh, yes," Mard assured. "Most definitely."
On Mount Olympus, the gods and goddesses were busy with their duties of maintaining balance in the mortal world, while others relaxed cozily. Sitting on a cloudy chair, Leo was reading a book, minding his own business when a myriad of furious roars caught his attention. Looking down from the clouds, his heart raced with complete horror upon seeing six familiar monsters on their way to the mountain!
"Destroy Igneel!" Ezel boomed.
"Uh-oh! We're in trouble! Oh, big trouble!" Leo cried frantically. The Messenger God quickly raced to the throne room, where Igneel and Cassandra sat on two individual chairs. Leo reported, "My Lord and Lady, the Demon Gates have escaped, and they're practically at the gates!"
Igneel was heavily shocked. He found it hard to believe that the Etherious he fought and defeated so many eons ago had returned. Nonetheless, the king of Olympus rose from his chair and commanded Leo, "Sound the alarm! Launch an immediate counterattack! Go! Go!"
"Gone, babe," Leo nodded. He zipped through the clouds, blowing a horn to signal the Olympians of the impending danger.
The gods and goddesses hastily began preparations for war. Taurus, with his mighty crafting skills, sharpened their weapons and armor. Various lines of defense were set all over the mountain. The chariots were prepped up and ready to ride the skies.
"Charge!" Metalicana raised a shining sword of iron, signaling the assault. "On to battle!"
"The Etherious will fail again!" Grandeeney vowed.
The chariots plunged from the clouds, accompanied by ferocious battle cries. One by one, the Olympians unleashed their godly powers against the Etherious, leaving behind tremendous explosions and collisions of elemental energy in their wake. But no matter how devastating the attacks were, the Demon Gates kept on climbing Mount Olympus, their desire for revenge compelling them not to stop. They seemed to endure the Olympians' attacks with little effort.
"Fire God's Mighty Roar!" Standing on top of the mountain, Igneel inhaled and exhaled a gigantic flame of divine light, intent on sending the Demon Gates back to the ocean. Unfortunately, the attack just bounced off. The Olympians weren't the only ones prepared; the Etherious trained their bodies to withstand their destructive attacks, especially Igneel's famous fire breath.
From the comfort of his chariot, Mard watched the whole scene with a sinister grin. The Olympians were in complete disarray. Kyôka spouted gargantuan plants all over Mount Olympus, catching the chariots off balance. Torafuzar, Seilah, and Jackal destroyed every line of defense with water, ice, and lava, respectively. Jackal's solid rock body broke through Igneel's fire breath. Tempester's arms morphed into tornados that sucked most of the gods and goddesses in.
"You pompous windbaaaaaaaaaag!" Grandeeney screamed, pulled in with the rest of her fellow Olympians.
Mard remarked with a chuckle, "Should've thought of that a long time ago."
While the six Demon Gates kept the Olympians at bay, Franmalth the Cyclops Etherious rampaged all over Crocus, setting the city ablaze, destroying most of the infrastructure with his optic eye laser, and terrorizing the citizens. He and his fellow Etherious, Keyes, had been sent for one reason:
"Natsu Dragneel!" Franmalth jeered, tearing apart the roof of a building and throwing it down. "Where are you? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Macao Conbolt and the Fairy Tail wizards kept themselves hidden underneath a dried-up fountain, hoping they wouldn't get caught in Franmalth's rampage. Mirajane screamed frantically, "What are we going to do?!"
Gray shouted angrily, "Where's Natsu?! Where's that pryo when we need him the most?!"
Erza assured, "Natsu will come! We must have faith!"
Macao agreed, "Yeah! He's my son's best friend! He saved us before, he'll do it again!"
"Yeah, Natsu will save us!" Wakaba pointed at a statue of Natsu at the center of the town square, before it was smashed into pieces by the cane Franmalth was carrying around.
"Natsu Dragneel! Come out and face me!" Franmalth demanded.
Outside Domus Flau, Natsu stared at the rampaging monster with a blank expression. His magic was gone, his heart was broken, his body was beaten and bruised (thanks to the Phantom Lord and Twilight Ogre wizards), and he was all alone. He rejected Yajima, and Wendy, Romeo, Happy, and Carla were nowhere to be found. He was out of power, out of ideas, out of morale, and out of wits. But because the city counted on their hero so deeply, Natsu knew he had to do something, with or without his magic. He won't risk letting the people down.
Lucy took notice of the ex-Fire Dragon Slayer's intention to stop Franmalth and gasped. She blocked his path, "No, don't! You can't go out there! Without your magic, you'll be killed!"
"There are worse things," Natsu frowned weakly, pushing Lucy aside. After everything she had done, he wasn't sure if he loved or even trusted her anymore. At this rate, death seemed to be the only thing welcoming him.
"You can run, but you can't hide!" Franmalth shouted, with Natsu slowly walking towards him, ready to accept whatever fate had in store for him.
"Wait! Stop!" Lucy screamed in protest. But he didn't listen.
Back at the town square, the Fairy Tail wizards were terrified, completely unsure of what to do.
"We can't just hide in here all morning!" Elfman yelled. "We're Fairy Tail wizards, and we never give up! We gotta fight that monster, like REAL men!"
Lisanna stated, "We tried. Our magic doesn't have any effect on him."
Levy sighed, "If only Natsu was here…"
Just then, as if to answer their prayers, Natsu came into the square. The Fairy Tail wizards were relived and overjoyed to see their hero come to the rescue.
"Hey, look!" Macao pointed at the salmon-haired boy. "It's Natsu!"
Gray grumbled, "Well, it's about time he showed up."
Alzack smirked, "He's gonna teach that monster a lesson!"
Bisca cheered, "Thank the gods! We're saved!"
"So…" Franmalth stomped towards Natsu, the target Mard assigned him to kill. "You're the mighty Natsu Dragneel? This'll be fun for me!" The Cyclops Etherious laughed in cruel amusement, before he swatted Natsu away with his cane, sending him crashing into a billboard of himself. The Fairy Tail wizards cringed at this.
"My hero," Gray said sarcastically.
"What am I gonna do?" Lucy groaned to herself, pacing around in circles. "Natsu's in trouble, and his friends are locked up in the storage room." Her eyes then brightened with an idea, "Storage room! That's it! Natsu's friends will help him!" Her conviction renewed, she raced back to Domus Flau's entrance. "I'll set things right, no matter what!"
Inside the coliseum's hidden storage room, Wendy, Romeo, Carla, and Gajeel were still wrapped in Mard Geer's thorns, and a new prisoner increased their number to five. It was Happy, who had been captured by Kain and Rustyrose and thrown inside. The atmosphere of the room remained the same, except there were loud noises rocking from outside, causing small bits of rubble to fall from the ceiling.
"…and that's what happened," Happy concluded. "Those two jerks work for Mard Geer Tartaros, the Lord of the Dead. Before he threw me inside with you guys, I heard him saying that he's gonna kill Natsu, and Lucy's gonna be the bait!"
"Oh, no! Mard kidnapped Lucy!" Wendy gasped. "And he's gonna lure Natsu into a trap! We gotta do something!"
"Hate to burst your bubbles, kids, but we're still stuck in those thorns," Gajeel pointed out.
Romeo offered, "I'll burn them with Rainbow Fire, no problem."
Gajeel speared Romeo's hope, "They also prevent us from using magic. They can only be destroyed on the outside."
Carla raised an eyebrow, "Just the outside, not the inside? That sounds a bit confusing, don't you think?"
Happy cried, "What are we gonna do? Natsu and Lucy are in trouble, and we gotta save them!"
Romeo agreed, "Happy's right. But first, we gotta get—"
Without warning, the doors burst open, revealing Lucy with a knife in her hand. "Guys!"
"LUCY!" Wendy, Romeo, Happy, and Carla cried in unison.
"We're saved!" Wendy cheered.
"Thank goodness!" Carla sighed in relief.
"Aye!" Happy added.
"Wait a second, I thought you were captured by Mard Geer," Romeo said.
"Circumstances have changed," Lucy replied. "But no time to explain. Natsu's in trouble."
"We know," Wendy nodded. "Happy told us."
Using the knife, Lucy cut each of the thorns, releasing Wendy, Romeo, Happy, Carla, and Gajeel from captivity. She explained, "Mard Geer tricked Natsu into giving up his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, and he sent a giant monster to finish him off."
Wendy and her friends gasped in horror. Romeo exclaimed, "Natsu lost his magic because of Mard Geer?! And he's gonna die?!"
Carla shook her head, "That doesn't sound good. Without his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, he'll die. Is there any way to restore it?"
"I don't know, but we have to try. We gotta find Yajima. He's the only one who can talk some sense into him," Lucy suggested.
Wendy offered, "We'll stay here and help Natsu fight the monster."
Romeo nodded, "Yeah. Team Natsu's gonna show that creep a thing or two, with or without Natsu's magic."
Gajeel chuckled, "Suppose you got room for an Iron Dragon Slayer? Count me in. I'll help you kids out."
Carla smiled, "We're glad to have you on our side, Gajeel."
"I guess it's up to us, Lucy," Happy said. "We'll get a good view from up high."
"Up high?" Lucy asked nervously. "Does this mean we have to…"
The blue Exceed grabbed the blonde-haired girl's back and flew her outside Domus Flau at breakneck speed. "…FLY AGAAAAAAAIIIIINNN!" Lucy screamed for dear life, as she and Happy disappeared into the sky, desperate to find Yajima before it's too late.