1st Of easily eeeaaaaassssiiiiillllyy my favourite chapter I've written. It took a while but it's done. I'm so sleepy right now I'm not even sure what I wrote so forgive me. Just read and enjoy and if you like it show me some love and favourite, follow and hit me a review. Gimme your feedback. Did you enjoy the fight? Did I favour one character too much?
Was it a fair fight? And most of all do you like the none canon abilities or should I stick to the script. Gimme your thoughts, help me to improve this story. So as always please enjoy I'm happy to answer any questions in fact I love it when people show an interest in the story enough to want to know more.
Jotting out of the residual smoke stood a humungous ice spear that was twice as wide as the average house and five times as tall. Although calling it a house would be a bit of a stretch after all, the spear's head had been completely disintegrated (evaporated wasn't cool sounding enough). Looking up from the ground Gray could see Natsu standing atop the ice pillar cocky grin on his face. Not showing any signs of exhaustion. Gray couldn't deny that Natsu's reserves of magic were levels beyond his own. If he had the choice he would've of wish to have never resorted to using Gungnir. Natsu could afford to be wasteful with his magic Gray was not so lucky. But he was not in as dire a situation as he believed. Natsu may have enough magic to chuck fireballs all day long but the stress and the drain of stamina was no joking if he wanted to win he couldn't afford to go over exerting himself to early on now the real begins.
Natsu with his fist ablaze jumped from the pillar ready for round two. Gray lunged upward and met him head on. They traded blows in mid air as gravity seemed to be having one of those lazy days where it doesn't feel like doing much. Natsu was the first to land a real blow and again he hit Gray in the jaw. "This flame brained bastard! A few more hits like that and I might lose a few teeth." Gray retaliated with the his Seven Slice Dance. Natsu responded in kind with Crimson Lotus Fire Dragon's Fist. Gray was sent rocketing towards the ground and had a great fall. (heh heh heh heh) Gray righted himself and got up while Natsu at that moment landed on the ground. Or at least he should have, Gray upon impact had placed his palm on the ground and sent out a thin trail of ice that expanded at Natsu's feet. The ice expanded to form a small patch right below Natsu's feet. This tiny mistake may not have seemed like much but it was instrumental in the course of the battle.
As Natsu recovered from his slight stumble he unfortunately realized he was under a shadow. Floating in the sky was easily the largest most beautiful sword ever to have existed in all of Fiore maybe even the world. Well Natsu wasn't able to appreciate that fact, nor would you if the sword was brought down on your head. Natsu with the blade centimetres away from his head caught the blade between his hands. But that was all he managed. The ground beneath shattered as easily as glass and Natsu was pressured even further into the ground. All the while not yielding to the weight and power of what Gray referred to as Excaliber Zero. Natsu pushed his magic to its limit and concentrated his flames to his arms and palms. He had hoped to melt the ice but his efforts yielded nothing. As any Fairy Tail wizard knows if it didn't work at first just hit it harder and that's exactly what he did. He mustered all his strength and as if he planed to flatten the his he pressed it so hard that he shattered the blade.
It was extremely exhausting but Natsu didn't the luxury to relax. If he wasn't fast enough he had no idea what Gray could pull off. He proceeded to enter a mad dash towards Gray who had assumed a fighting stance. This was not a smart move. Upon contact with Gray's body, which resulted from Natsu going for a low sweep, Gray's body exploded into shards of ice. Most of which merely battered Natsu's body some were able to inflict small cuts and nicks on Natsu's exposed skin and on the material of his clothes.
The dummy Gray was no surprise but it left the question, where was the real Gray? After calming himself Natsu used one of his greatest assets, his sense of smell. He sniffed out his opponent's location but could see no sign of him. Landscape had changed to the point where there weren't any trees or boulders available as cover so Natsu had one thought. He must be invisible. Yes. Yes that is what he thought. So he just charged in and punched the air of what should've been Gray's location. Sure enough his actions bore fruit as the refractive (not sure if that's scientifically correct) ice dome over Gray's body was erased. Exposing Gray who had been preparing his trump card.
He was standing in an almost meditative position. His eyes were closed and his knees were slightly bent. His hands made fist and they were touch each other as if he were giving himself a fist bump. Natsu not wanting to waste this chance unleashes what very well could've been the finishing blow. His body went ablaze and he charged into the fray. He went for an uppercut and was surprised when he easily landed the blow. Gray now in the air was set up for the finishing blow. The earth crumpled at his feet as he sprang into the air superman style head butting Gray in the gut. The trail of flames as well as the flames covering his body combined to form a sword of sorts from the flame. Gray took the Hidden Fire Form Crimson Lotus Phoenix Blade without any resistance. But what Natsu hadn't noticed was that trough all this Gray's hands stayed in contact trough the entire ordeal.
Gray fell from the sky after receiving critical injuries though he also felt satisfied as he managed to complete his setup. He got to his feet and resumed his previous stance. Natsu catching on to the fact that Gray was scheming something rushed in to deliver what possibly could have been the final blow…sadly instead of feeling the impact of fist on flesh Natsu hit something very solid. So hard in fact that Natsu felt blood trickle down his arm. And worst of all, his arm felt cold. So cold in fact that Natsu's arm was in pain.
What had stopped him was a large arm made of ice. This was just a small part of a greater picture. Floating behind Gray was what is best described as the top half of ice armour. The armour was missing most of its chest plate apart from the pectoral are. Also the helmet seemed to have space to fit a head and was the only piece of the armour. The design wasn't only odd because it lacked it's lower half but also because despite being hollow and seemingly able to be worn by Gray, the scale was just off. Gray would need to be almost twice as wide and at least a head taller. Gray folded his arms and the armour's arms mirrored the motion, not exactly though. The arms made a sort of protective gesture with the arms going around him in a hug like motion, without touching him of course, cause that'd be pretty freaking weird.
"This is strongest ice. The Complete Vambrace. I have to circulate my magic trough my body and condense it in order to make this ice but it's definitely worth. If your thinking it looks like diamond you wouldn't be far off." In fact it did look like diamond. It had and extremely refractive surface and the fact that it easily dealt with Natsu's blow suggest it was probably just as hard or maybe even harder.
"So if I break that ice I guess it's my win."
"Don't get cocky. If you think you got what it takes then bring it on." And that's exactly what he did. He went for him head on. He punched and kicked and was repelled each time. He went one more time but this time he used one of the arms like a ramp to get behind Gray. As soon as he touched the ground he was already going for a low kick. This was a bad idea as the armour didn't have any joints and the right arm simply spun around and caught Natsu leg. Natsu assumptions landed Natsu in trouble as he misjudged the structure of the vambrace. The head may have been the only part of the part that existed separately from the main body but the arms also weren't actually part of the main body. They just looked that way. It was Gray's turn to dish out damage and he revelled in it. He effortlessly swung Natsu repeatedly into the ground, hulk stlye then tossed him away like a overused bag of crap.
"It's over Natsu. You can't overcome my Absolute Defence."
"That all you got? Man you talk too much." Gray had wondered if Natsu would use it now he regretted that he had wasted so much magic earlier. If it was this Natsu even the complete vambrace wouldn't last very long.
Natsu body began to spew out light red flames that were transparent so his whole body and the slight changes to it were easily visible. His eyes became sharper and he had a much more serious look than his normal self. It gave him a mature look that totally didn't certain suite his character. The lining of his body was a brilliant red. His iris was crimson and his pupil and iris lining were gold. The most notable change was his hair. His signature pink hair became red a bloody red that just drew your eyes in.
"Hey Gray I'm not good at holding back so…try not to die ok."
At that instant, literally instantaneously, he invaded Gray's personal space. He had one palm on Gray's chest, left hand and his right arm was pulled back ready to deliver the blow. Once he launched his attack Gray barely had a chance to block. Both vambrace arms shielded him in a cross marked fashion. X marked the spot. Gray was sent flying in the opposite direction. Worst of all both of the vambraces arms were shttered and they still failed to block all the force. Gray had blocked the attack with his own arms in the same manner as his vambrace and his right arm that was over his left had received a fracture. He froze him arm to relieve the pain as well as so it would still be usable to him. What Gray didn't know was that Natsu was in a similar situation. He had fractured his knuckle on the super hard ice of the vambrace but his present form gave no sign of that. It was possibly the ultimate poker face. It was time to end the fight so Natsu proposed to Gray "Hey lets end this now. I'll show you my final fang."
"Yea I agree. Guess I just gotta take you out now huh." A black aura began to seep out from Gray's body. His arm was dyed black while reversely his hair became white. His pupils remained blue but were a darker shade and yet it stood out even more. "Let's end it."
The remains of the vambrace shattered and then floated towards Gray's right hand where the recombined in the form of a spear/trident. This spear was even more concentrated and may just have been Gray's greatest construct.
All of the flames around Natsu had disappeared and his right arm was glowing furiously. It looked like the effect on metal when it is heated to extreme degrees. The heat was so intense that the ground by Natsu's feet began to melt and form lava. "Hidden Fire Form: Fang of the Dragon Emperor: Ddraig." Gray totally wished he had a name for his impromptu move.
They both went in for the final blow. Gray new Natsu would go for his spear. Not just because it was in his nature but also because he couldn't afford to have the spear behind him. Now this meant Gray might gain an opening by exploiting Natsu's naivety. But he didn't it may not have worked any way but most of all he needed to prove that he could beat Natsu. The spear made contact with natsu's fist and their magic's collision unleashed a brilliant white light. Gray could feel himself being pushed back and in response poured every drop of his remaining magic into the spear. Just when he started to get the upper hand Natsu would push back. And so they went as the light at the point of contact expanded eventually engulfing them.
A massive explosion occurred and the resultant shockwave spread out uprooting the earth. When the dust cleared one of them was standing while the other laid flat on the ground. The fighter on the ground breathed out "Get up! Get up!" It was meant to come out as a shout bu he din't have the strength left for that.
"You're the one that needs to get up….Gray." On the ground laid Gray his right arm was severely burnt along with some of his chest and back. His face sustained some light burns but they were minor especially when compared to his arm. Natsu may have been stand but he wasn't in any better condition, similarly his right arm was a bloody husk and his arm was broken in several places. The raw exterior was due to him putting too much of a strain on his arm and the bones being shattered were all account of Gray.
"GET UP!" Gray roared as he tried to push himself up with his one good hand. This proved to be a fruitless effort. He had one choice. Using his husk of a hand he pushed himself up. Agonizing pain shooting trough his arm but he wouldn't turn back now. This time he wasn't fighting for anyone but himself and in a way this was his most important battle yet. A fight not for the sake of others but for the sake of one's pride. He managed to make it to his feet and hobbled his way over to Natsu. They were both down and arm and were ready to settle it. They exchanged blow after blow. They didn't even have magic left to enhance their punches. This was a plain and simple fist fight.
Gray blacked out for a second and when he opened his eyes Natsu's left hand met his right cheek. He almost crumpled to the ground but then he saw the chance to attack. He punched him in the gut and then delivered an uppercut but Natsu would not go down. They both drew back their arms and aimed for the face both connecting and the same time. Either of them could have lost a few teeth but they had instinctively clenched their jaws. Gray stood tall refusing to fall because he knew if he fell one more time he couldn't muster the strength to get up once more. Natsu however couldn't say the same. He went down, hard. Gray looked down taking this opportunity to breath. He took short laboured breaths and prayed Natsu would stay down. Though when Natsu struggled to get up in much the same way he did he wasn't surprised. They exchanged blow after blow for god knows how long each controlling the flow at different intervals. Neither of them had even realized when they ended collapsed on the ground.
Natsu weakly said "I'm not gonna lose."
To this Gray responded "You're gonna have to cause I wanna win."
"You're going down." They said in unison.
Gray looked up at the sky, the cloudless sky. It was so blue it almost made him want to cry. As he looked up at the sky he remembered clearly how it went down. He saw himself fall and he saw Natsu standing above him. He really felt like crying. He whispered it so low that even Natsu with his enhanced hearing not have heard it "I lost." Then his world became darkness and he lost consciousness.