"You want to challenge me? I feel honored." A voice resounded through the hall, "But you're a hundred years too early to actually defeat me."
"You guys go find Kireba I'll take care of him." Natsu said.
"You sure you want to defeat him by yourself?" Happy asked.
"As long as I have you by my side, I know I can."
"Alright everyone, we're going to have to split up again." Erza said.
"Again?" Wendy asked.
"Yea, we did this on the previous job, but as a result, Happy turned into bait." Gray whispered to Wendy.
"Gray, your with me, Lucy, with Wendy and Carla." Erza ordered.
They broke up into those two groups and took a different hallway leaving Natsu and Happy in the main hall alone.
"So you split up again? Let's see the results of it this time." Souls voice bounded around the hall as is he was moving. "You know what, I'll come out of the shadows and give you a chance."
Natsu stood in a battle stance and Happy decided to avoid the ground for the battle and found a secluded ledge where a torch should have been.
"Are you ready to die?" Soul said.
"No, are you ready to die." Natsu said.
"Too bad."
In a split second, Natsu was being choked by almost nothing. Soul stood behind him hands at his sides. One of his hands was curled like he was holding something little did they know that he was holding the neck of Natsu's shadow. Natsu kicked Soul's arm making him stumble and drop his shadow. He then used a volley of attacks that created a thick cloud of dust.
"Natsu!" Happy shouted from his ledge above, "You have to be careful, the place could collapse if you keep fighting recklessly."
"As long as it doesn't collapse, I can do what I need to do." Natsu said still attacking at random.
"Would it pay if you actually see what your attacking." Soul said from the other side of the hall. Natsu stopped to let the dust clear out and noticed that he was punching a boulder and was about to go through it. Two shadowy monsters ran down the two paths everyone went down.
"You were so focus on trying to defeat me, you gave me enough time to summon two Shadow Beasts to go after your friends." Soul said shake ing his head, "Only if you weren't so hot headed, you could have spared them the fight or their lives."
"I don't have to worry about them, they can handle it." Natsu said.
"Well then would you like to face one? Well then, here you go."
A black magic seal appeared on the floor and when it disappeared, Natsu saw nothing but his shadow and Soul's.
"Looks like it failed Soul. Now, prepare to feel the burn!" Natsu charged at Soul and leaped into the air. There was a magic seal behind each hand and fire streamed out of it. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Fire hurled towards Soul and with a glance, a shadow beast leaped in between Soul and the fire. The shadow beast grabbed the flames and flung Natsu in the wall.
"Hey! Aren't shadows suppose to fade in the light?" Natsu protested.
"Shadow beasts aren't mere shadows," Soul explained, "They are the creatures of hell. Daylight would have killed it, but flames are something they like to toy with."
The shadow beast charged for Natsu. He was prepared for the impact until, Soul jumped on top of the shadow beast holding a shadow lance. He then jumped again over Natsu. Natsu thought he overshot his jump until he felt something stab through him. He turned his head to see him putting the lance through the belly of his shadow.
"I know just stabbing you isn't enough to kill you," Soul said with his back turned, "But I would like to see your reaction if I killed your friends in front of you. Won't that be enjoyable?"
"I can still move you know!" Natsu said trying to walk forward, but when he did, the pain shot up to his abdomen.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Soul said, "Right now, your bleeding on the inside. I've linked your shadow to you since we started the battle. If the lance reaches your heart, you know what happens next."
Soul suddenly disappeared and stood next to Happy on the ledge. Stricken with fear, Happy didn't move.
"And if you don't want to go back to the shadows, you won't move from this ledge. Understand?"
Happy nodded shaking at the thought. A little black ball hovered over Happy watching his every move.
"This will keep you in check. I'll be back with all you friends, and since I can't kill the blue haired girl, I guess I'll just cut her in front of you. Oh wouldn't that be fun? Ku ku ku." Soul walked down the hall Wendy and Lucy took with the shadow beast. Natsu could only watch as he left. He soon noticed that the shadow beast didn't go down the other hall which meant that Lucy and Wendy were closer to Kireba.
Petlover30: Hey people who are reading this, up until now, this whole story was pre-written so from here on i'm actually writing more of the story from scratch. Write a reveiw, favorite, or follow the story for more ^^