Here is the next chapter. Either 1 or 2 chapters remain in this arc. No idea just yet. I own nothing. Enjoy.
As soon as Natsu was defeated and possibly killed due to the attack and being flung off the cliff, Erza went into a rage. She flung herself at Gajeel and began to smack him around in her Heavens Wheel Armor, forcing the Iron Dragon Slayer to go on the defensive, using his iron body to defend against her blades.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Erza said, tears in her eyes but she looked pissed off beyond belief. It was then coming from the top of the tower fell Makarov, right into the middle of the battle. Makarov was sickly green. Elfman and Gray yelled at Erza to come over and getting her senses back, she rushed over towards them and held Makarov. "Master! What happened!"
"My… magic..." He said weakly, struggling to stay awake.
"No master!" Erza cried out.
"I don't sense any magic coming from him..." Gray stated.
"Did you hear that boys? Their master has been defeated." Spoke one of the Phantom Lord peons.
"Oh yea? They aren't half as strong without their master." Spoke another.
"We even got Gajeel and the Element Four on our side. Not to mention our own Master." A third one chimed in.
"We can beat them!" Spoke a fourth!
Erza's eyes widened and she looked towards the enemy who was charging. 'This is bad. Really bad.'
The enemy attacked and Gajeel grinned, watching from above. "Well, I can see where this is going." He said to himself as he watched from the rafters.
"WE MUST RETREAT!" Erza called out. "EVERYONE! Back to the guild at once!"
"No way! We can't just give up!" Gray retorted!
"A real man never retreats! We can't let them get away with hurting Natsu and the master!" Elfman called out.
Macao grinned. "I still have fight left in me." He retorted, though he was injured badly.
"We can't! We don't stand a chance without the master! Retreat! That is an order!" Erza ordered.
"I'm not leaving! I will not leave until I get revenge! They have to pay for what they have done!" Gray said. Erza approached him and gently held his hands.
"Please..." She said, looking up at Gray. He now noticed that this was hard for her as well, losing Natsu, The master and the fight. "Just… please. I'm sorry… We need him… we're completely helpless without the master."
Gray nodded and with that, Fairy Tail retreated.
Natsu was sent flying off the cliff where the Phantom Lord headquarters were, into the sea below. He was knocked unconscious from the powerful blow to his face and when he impacted into the sea, he was sinking while completely out of it. However, the currents washed him to the surface but out to sea.
Upon their return to Fairy Tail, Erza, Gray, Mira and Cana were helping out with the injures, patching up wounds and helping with any broken bones. Morale was extremely low and sadness filled the air, though there was also a lot of anger. Elfman took the master to another Wizard saint, a long time friend of the master who could hopefully help them. It was the same wizard who gave Erza her new eye.
Most of the guild's opinion was to go back and fight… make them pay for what they did. However, it just wasn't feasible due to their lack of strength, though it didn't stop Macao and a couple other people from setting up a plan of attack. The group was even researching up some spells.
Erza, Cana and Mira were in a corner by themselves, all of them discussing the fight… it was then Erza revealed what happened to Natsu and all three women put on sad faces. All three of them were falling for their mysterious wizard friend and hearing his defeat and most likely death, was just too much. Mira and Cana started to tear up and cry, though silently while Erza just had tears in her eyes, staying strong for the guild. Cana ended up going into another corner to go drink while Mira walked over towards a Lacrima orb, hoping to contact someone for help.
Erza couldn't hear anything but she saw Laxus's face on the screen. From what Cana and Mira were doing, it seemed Laxus was being his asshole self. It was then Erza noticed Mira was crying even harder and she had smashed the orb. Erza knew that they weren't going to get any reinforcements… and Phantom Lord was going to attack once again. This wasn't the end of this fight… and she wasn't sure they could pull out of it alive.
'Is this where you are going to die Natsu?' Spoke a voice that Natsu recognized. He then saw his mother standing before him. They were in the forest where they lived together.
'I can't move… I can't do anything. I'm dying… I can feel it.'
'You aren't dying my beautiful baby boy. You just feel like you want to die.'
'I want to see you again.'
'So you are ready to abandon your friends just to come and see your mother?'
'They aren't my friends… they don't know anything about who I am. They only know what I want to show them.' Natsu said bitterly, hugging his knees as his mother sat behind him, hugging him to her chest.
'Then why don't you show them who you are?'
'They will fear me! Treat me like all the others! They will think I am a monster.'
'Are you a monster Natsu?'
'I am the son o-'
'That isn't what I asked you.' His mother scolded. 'Are you a monster?'
'I am the son o-'
'You are MY son!' His mother said, turning Natsu to face her. She gave him a sweet smile and hugged him tightly. 'You are my son… not his. The circumstances of ones birth is irrelevant Natsu. It is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are. So, are you a monster Natsu? Will you be like your father or will you live as your own person?'
'I… want to be who I am… I don't want to be a monster.' Natsu said weakly.
'Then be who you are Natsu!' His mother said proudly. 'Be the strong caring man I made you be! Embrace the power that your father may have given you, but use it for the good of your friends and family. We will meet again Natsu, but this is your life you must live. Are you going to abandon those who you have gotten close to?'
'I can't save them… I'm too weak.'
'Embrace the power you have within.' She said before disappearing, signaling that Natsu was about to awaken. Natsu woke up a few hours after he was sent flying, finding himself lying on a beach somewhere in a place he didn't know. He sat up and looked around, seeing that seeing his mother was all in his head… but she was right.
"I can't let my friends die without me trying to stop it… I have to get back and save them..." Natsu said. His heart hurt at the thought of losing Cana, Erza or Mira.
Back at the guild, Erza and the other members were standing outside of the guild, looking in fear at the sea. In the bay, getting closer and closer was a giant castle sitting on a large pile of rock and dirt. Many legs like a spider were moving the giant building towards the Fairy Tail guild which sat near the bay.
"Is that… Phantom?" Gray said, his eyes wide.
"It's huge!" Elfman said. "It's a giant castle being propelled with legs!"
"How do we fight that thing?!" Spoke another member.
"I never anticipated this! I would have never thought they would go to such extremes to attack us!" Erza said.
The giant mechanized monster suddenly stopped. About a minute later, part of the castle opened up and a giant cannon began to appear from the castle, getting longer and longer every passing second.
"The magic focusing cannon Jupiter…" Spoke the evil Phantom Lord Master, Jose. "KILL THEM ALL!" He spoke, as the cannon powered up.
Erza quickly moved forward. "EVERYONE FALL BACK! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" She ordered before she quickly ran towards the edge of their cliff.
"What are you doing Erza!?" Mira called out before they saw her get into a new armor!
"She just requipped!" Cana called out.
"I am protecting the guild hall!" Erza called out.
"You can't do this!" Mira called out. "This isn't worth risking your life!"
The cannon fired.
Natsu appeared suddenly from the ground, only to watch as Erza took the blast head on with an armored shield and a magic circle. Natsu's eyes went wide as the cannon's blast was blocked, but Erza was sent flying as her armored was destroyed!
Natsu quickly flew past everyone and landed next to Erza, cradling her in his arms.
"Erza… I'm so sorry." Natsu cried, tears falling from his hood and onto her cheeks. "I wasn't here."
"It's ok… Natsu." Erza said weakly, gently reaching into his head and patting his cheek.
"Makarov has fallen and now Erza can no longer stand. Any chance of victory has slipped through your fingers!" Spoke Jose on a magical megaphone. "Surrender Erza to us now or die. You have no choice."
"Not going to happen!" Spoke Alzack.
"Like anyone who hand over their own member to a monster like you!" Spoke Bisca.
"You hear that?!" Macao stated. "Erza is staying put!"
The entire guild began to cheer, roaring in anger and defiance.
"WE WOULD NEVER BETRAY HER LIKE THAT! YOU'D HAVE TO KILL US FIRST!" Natsu roared, standing to his feet and he looked towards the enemy.
"That can be arranged!" Jose said. "You have fifteen minutes to ponder your actions as Jupiter will fire again!"
"Oh no…" Macao said.
"What do we do?" Gray said.
"It's going to fire again!" Cana said.
It was then massive amount's of shadow minions came from the guild and they charged at Fairy tail.
"This is all my fault… I lost the battle for us at the Phantom Lords base… because I was too weak." Natsu said quietly, standing up as he gently put Erza behind him. "No more… I WILL DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM ONCE I DESTROY THAT CANNON!" Natsu roared out as a massive torrent of black fire appeared, forming a pillar of flame that reached thirty feet into the air.
Cana and Mira had wide eyes as did the rest of the guild. Erza looked in fear as Natsu began to release a massive amount of firepower an anger.
"Natsu! You can't! You can't do this! You will lose control!" Erza called out, but she was too weak to say much. It was then the flames formed a large dragon of black flame that was twenty feet in length with a fifteen feet wingspan. It was then where Natsu was standing, was a teenage boy. It was Natsu's real form!
They could only see the back of him as he was facing the guild hall.
"I am Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu roared out, his body hovering in the air now as the dragon above circled. The shadow minions stopped as even Jose was watching. "I am the bastard child of the evil dragon known as Acnologia and a wizard! I will not let you destroy any more of my family's home nor will I let you harm anyone that I care for! For the longest time… I've been scared of using my power… for it was impossible to control… but for my friends… for my family! For the people that I love! I WILL CONTROL THIS POWER AND WIELD IT AGAINST YOU!" Natsu roared out as the dragon flew down from the sky and crashed into Natsu's body, engulfing Natsu into a pillar of flame before it died down, revealing Natsu's new power.
"My new armor! ARMOR OF ANNIHILATION!" Natsu roared. Natsu's new form was his own body, but a massive amount of black flame covered his entire body. He also had two large dragon wings made out of the black flame that he so proudly proclaimed he would use. He had a wing span of twenty feet. "IT'S TIME I TAKE THE FIGHT TO YOU!"
"Natsu!" Gray called out. "Take Elfman and I with you! Let's storm the place together!" He said.
"With pleasure!" Natsu said, flying into the air with blinding speed, grabbing onto the hands of Elfman and Gray as he rocketed off towards the giant monstrosity.
"We shall fight down here! You do this Natsu!" Cana roared.
Natsu, was back and he was pissed.
Read. Review. Moo.
Might have another chapter later tonight.