A whole lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Natsu and the others hear that they were selected by their dragons to face some coming darkness and save the world. At the moment, all four of them were just sitting around the guild and thought about everything Jellal has told them.

"What's with them?" Lisanna asked.

"Not sure. They've been just sitting there for hours." Cana said.

"Hey, man up. Don't sulk around like babies. What's bothering you guys?" Elfman said, but that didn't get a reaction out of any of them. Only Erza, Lucy, and Gray knew what was going on with them, but they never told anyone.

"That's it." Gajeel said as he got up. "Why are even thinking about this? There's no way any of that nonsense that Jellal guy told us is true, is there?"

"I don't believe it myself, but when you stop to think about it, whatever reason could there be." Wendy said. "That dragon showed up out of nowhere and so did these marks."

"I'm with Gajeel." Laxus said. "So what if some mystic force chose me? No one tells me how to run my life." Laxus and Gajeel were in denial about all of this and just wanted things to be the way they were.

"It looks like Gajeel and Laxus are going to be hard to convince." Erza said.

"Erza, even you believe all of that?" Gray said.

"You don't?" Lucy said. "What other reason could there be?"

"I'm just trying to be realistic." Gray said. "You know, Levy's into all this ancient stuff whether it's real or just legends. Maybe she might know a thing or two about this. Let's ask her."

"Good idea." Lucy said. She looked around, but didn't see her. "Mira, do you know where Levy is?"

"Levy? She hasn't come in yet." Mirajane said.

"I wonder where she could be." Lucy said. Natsu hasn't said a single word about what he thought about all this. No one could tell if he actually believed all of it or not.

"Natsu, what do you think about all this?" Wendy asked, but he wasn't answering.

'Are we really suppose to save the world?' Natsu thought. 'Are we connected by these marks on our arms? Also, what about that Cobra guy. He has a mark on his arm too. What would he think about all this?'

…

Oracion Seis

Cobra was just resting against a couch. He looked up at his arm and unrolled his sleeve to look at the mark on his arm. Ever since he ran across Natsu, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

'What's the deal with this mark and why did that other guy have one?' Cobra thought. He looked over and saw Kinana standing near him. "What is it?"

"I'm just wondering if you're okay. You've been quiet lately." Kinana said.

"Why are you so concerned with what goes on with me?" Cobra asked, but Kinana couldn't bring herself to answer that.

"Hey you two, get in here." Racer said. Both of them walked into the next room where all the others were and were watching the news.

"So what's this about?" Cobra asked.

"That." Midnight said. He pointed to the news on a television. It was about a deck being displayed at the museum and every card was an ultra-rare card. "What is to be considered the most powerful deck ever is going on display, but it's going to be ours instead."

"Surely if we just ask nicely, they'll let us see it." Hoteye said.

"Sometimes I wonder if you really belong here." Angel said.

"Leave it alone, Angel. We each seek to gain power." Midnight said. "Hoteye wishes to gain some money and power to help provide for his family. He's free to do whatever he wants."

"Let's just stay focus on the deck." Racer said. "What's the plan?"

"We strike tonight." Midnight said. "Kinana isn't much of a duelist, so we each shall get at least eight cards from that deck."

"Sounds good to me." Cobra said and left the room. "Scoring some sweet cards like that will be awesome." Just then, Natsu's voice echoed in Cobra's head.

"I think we're meant to be friends."

"And get that Natsu out of my head. Why can't I forget about him?" Cobra said.

"Cobra." He looked behind him to see Kinana again and she seemed really worried. "You're not seriously going through with this, are you?"

"What if I am?" Cobra asked.

"What if you get caught and arrested….Erik." Kinana said and that pulled a trigger.

"Shut it! You know we don't call each other by our real names here." Cobra said. "You're the only exception since you claimed you never wanted a different name."

"You can't blame her. She sounds like a big fan of yours." Cobra looked behind Kinana and saw Angel. "Be honest, is there something you like to tell us, Kinana. Perhaps someone you find charming."

"What's the matter, Angel? You jealous?" Cobra asked.

"Don't flatter yourself." Angel said as she looked disgusted.

"Then maybe you should mind your own business. That goes for you too, Kinana." Cobra said as he turned his back to them and kept walking. Kinana seemed upset and just ran out.

"I'm not sure I like this." Angel said. "I'm starting to think we should keep Kinana on a shorter leash."

"There's no need to worry." Midnight said as he came out from behind Angel. "Kinana knows what will happen if she goes against us. It will be her choice in the end. She either stays with us or face the consequences."

"What about Cobra?" Angel said, but even Midnight didn't know what to think about that.

…

The Guild

"Let's go you idiot. The sun is starting to set and let's get some dinner." Gray offered as he and the others were about to head home. "Unless you decide to eat like a pig." That didn't even get a rise out of Natsu.

"Wow. He must be really thinking about this. He didn't even react." Lucy said.

"Help!" All of them looked ahead and snapped Natsu back to reality. They all looked and saw Kinana.

"You're that girl from before. You're with the Oracion Seis." Lucy said. "What are you doing here?"

"You! You're Natsu, right?" Kinana said.

"Yeah. Why?" Natsu said.

"It's Erik. Erik is in trouble." Kinana said.

"Who's Erik?" Natsu asked.

"That's Cobra's real name." Kinana said. "He and the others are planning to break into the museum tonight and steal that deck with the ultra-rare cards."

"So why are you telling us? Go to the police." Gray said.

"No. They'll arrest Erik with the rest of them." Kinana said. "I don't want to see that happen to him. I'm asking you because you seemed to have had some sort of impact on him."

"It sounds like you really care about him." Erza said.

"I do." Kinana said. "The whole reason I became part of the Oracion Seis was so I can get close to him, but I can't just let this happen. He's not a bad person, I know it. I'm worried what might happen to him. Please, you've got to do something." Natsu didn't need to hear another word as he ran off.

"Natsu, come back!" Erza called out, but he ignored her. Natsu may not know much about this whole saving the world deal or Erik for that matter, but he can't just ignore someone who needs help.

…..

The Museum

Clouds rolled in and blocked the moonlight. The other members of the Oracion Seis hopped over the fence as they were about to make their move.

"It's as good as ours." Midnight said.

"Wait." Hoteye said as he saw through the shadows and saw someone was getting in their way.

"Who's there?" Midnight said. The clouds cleared away and showed it was Natsu.

"I'm the guy that's gonna stop you." Natsu said.

"I remember you from the other day." Midnight said.

"I knew we shouldn't have just let him go. What do you want now?" Angel said.

"I'm not here for you losers. I'm here for you Cobra." Natsu said.

"Me? Why do you keep following me around? What do you want from me?" Cobra said.

"Listen, there's something big going on and you and I need to work together to stop it." Natsu said. "The fate of the world depends on it."

"Is this guy nuts? What is he even talking about?" Racer said.

"Cobra, you don't need to do this." Natsu said. "These marks on our arms connect us. You're meant for something greater. These marks mean something, but I personally think they mean we're meant to be friends. That's why I can't let you step into that museum and steal that deck."

"You think just because you and I have some marks on our arms, we're meant to be friends?" Cobra said. "You don't know anything about me. So why would you do something like this? Are you trying to gain something?"

"I'm not just doing this for me. I'm doing this Kinana." Natsu said and that was a surprise to Cobra. "She cares deeply about you. She doesn't want you to throw your life away. She believes you're better than this. So prove her right. Make the right decision….Erik!" Another shocker to Cobra as he wondered how he knew his real name.

"I knew Kinana would end up betraying us." Angel said as she stepped forward. "Since you boys aren't smart enough to get him out of the way, I'll have to do it myself."

"Lovely little speech. Now move out of our way or else." Midnight said.

"Not a chance. I may have came for Erik, but I'm still stopping you guys." Natsu said.

"Fool. Angel, let's teach him a lesson." Midnight said as he stepped forward as well.

"Bring it. I'll take on all of you if I have to." Natsu said.

"Anyone else would like to join?" Midnight asked.

"If you're in, there's no reason for me to join." Racer said.

"Our opposition speaks for the love of another. I couldn't bring myself to do such a thing." Hoteye said. Cobra was different. He thought about Kinana and how she would do this for him and Natsu was actually reaching out to him in friendship. Cobra walked over to Natsu's side.

"Cobra, what are you doing?" Angel said.

"Actually, it's going to be two-on-two." Cobra said.

"Seriously?" Natsu said.

"Don't get the wrong idea. This doesn't mean we're friends." Cobra said. "It's just….if you're saying we have to work together, this will be a good way to see it."

"Fool." Angel said as she placed her duel disk on. "Once we're done with you two, Kinana is next."

"I hope you two are ready to go down hard." Midnight said as he placed his duel disk on.

"Well the only ones going down tonight are you." Natsu said as he placed his duel disk on and Cobra did the same. That was just about when Lucy and the others showed up.

"There they are!" Gray said.

"It looks like a tag duel." Wendy said.

"Why's Natsu working with Cobra?" Lucy said.

"Here's how this duel will work." Midnight said. "Both sides will share their field and life points. Also, no one can attack until everyone takes one turn. So let's begin." All four of them were ready to start as both sides shared 4000LP.

"Ladies first." Angel said as she drew her first card. "I pay 400LP so I can summon Shamsiel, Angel of Sunlight." Her life points dropped to 3600 and a giant angel with a pompadour and looked like a moving statue came out with 2000atk points.

"How did she summon a level five monster on her first turn?" Natsu asked.

"That's the power of Angel's deck." Cobra said. "She can just trade away life points to summon those things. The stronger the angel, the more points she gives up. However, there's one flaw. When those things are destroyed, she has to lose those life points again."

"I'll take care of that later." Angel said. "I place one face-down and end my turn."

"My turn!" Natsu said. "I summon Fire Dragon Talon in attack mode." Talon jumped on the field with 1500atk points. "Since I'm not allowed to attack, I'll just end my turn there."

"That's it? You'll have to do better." Midnight said as he took his turn. "I activate Invisible Scythe. This spell allows me to look through my opponent's deck and select one card. All copies of that card are sent to the graveyard, but I already know which one to choose. Your Thought Listener, Cobra." All three copies came out and he had no choice, but to get rid of them.

"That's card is how he took on Natsu." Erza said. "Without it, this might not be as easy for him."

"They're a gang and that Midnight seems like the leader." Wendy said. "He must know all their strategies."

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Midnight said.

"My turn!" Cobra said. "I summon Twin Headed Snake." His double head snake rose on the field and had 1400atk points. "I'm also going to activate Venom Value. When I have a reptile on the field, I can destroy one monster on the field. Say goodbye to jumbo!" His snake leaped towards Shamsiel and bit down on him. The poison spread until he was destroyed. "That means you have to lose life points again." Their life points dropped down to 3200. "I place one face-down and that's that."

"You can't keep a powerful angel down." Angel said as she took her next turn. "I summon Angel's Messenger!" A small round creature with teeth came up 0atk points. "Next, I'm going to activate his ability which allows me to take one angel from my deck and place it in my hand. Barakiel will do. I'm also going to activate Angel's Promotion. My trap card allows me to exchange one angel on my field for one in my graveyard." Her messenger changed into Shamsiel. "Shamsiel, attack that hothead." Shamsiel stomped down on Talon and their life points dropped to 3500. "I'm also going to activate Shamsiel's ability. He can destroy one monster and you lose life points equal to half of their attack points." Two pigs came out of his hair unleashed a bright light that destroyed the snake. Cobra and Natsu were blown back as their life points dropped to 2800.

"I've seen old folk hit harder than that." Natsu said.

"Trying to act tough isn't going to help." Angel said.

"You're about to see why no one ever messes with the Oracion Seis." Midnight said. Can two duelists who don't even know each other truly win this duel?

To Be Continued….