Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima and probably a couple others. I am not among those couple others.
Crash & Burn
Crash!
Gildarts kept the blast radius of his magic in check- no easy task for Fairy Tail's ace. He meant only to discourage further combat. Natsu leapt back from Elfman, avoiding the impact.
"Natsu," he said. He'd noticed the unmistakable pink hair from a distance. Elfman's deep voice rumbling about manhood left no room for confusion either. "I know you love a good spar. But I think he's had enough."
Gildarts took his first good look at the fire mage. He saw the horns before anything else, which for some reason summoned the image of livestock in his mind.
"Oh," he said, smirking. "Did you teach him some of your take over arts, Elfman?"
The largest Strauss sibling didn't answer. Gildarts glanced over his shoulder to find the white-haired wizard lying very still. The crash mage heard snarls coming from Natsu, but paid them no mind; instead kneeling to inspect whatever damage had been dealt.
"You might have overdone it, Na"
Gildarts raised his arm to block Natsu's lunging attack. His magic, difficult as ever to control, responded on its own. White light engulfed the pink-haired wizard, and a new crater formed next to Gildarts. He chuckled and rose.
"Though I shouldn't be too hard on you," he said as he turned to face the fire mage. "I've never been good at holding back either."
Natsu, still on his feet, growled and threw another fist at him. Gildarts used his improved prosthetic to block it and- to his surprise- found himself knocked back several feet. His replacement limb sizzled. His easy confidence shifted and he frowned. He didn't sense dragon slayer magic being used. He looked at Natsu again, seeing something on his chest in the dim light; a foreign guild mark, one that Gildarts recognized.
"You tried taking over a demon of Tartaros," he asked no one in particular, since Natsu seemed even less articulate than usual. "Leave it to you to charge into something too quickly."
Despite the serious situation, a ghost of a fond smile blinked onto Gildarts' face. He fended off and rebutted a new crazed assault from Natsu, feeling a little nostalgic. He'd been in similar scenarios with the young dragon slayer countless times.
Or at least, he believed they were similar. Until he saw a shroud of white flames form about Natsu's hand.
For perhaps the first time, Gildarts moved to avoid Natsu's attack. The shot of fire continued on a straight trajectory along the ground, incinerating any trees or boulders in its path. Grimacing, Gildarts ducked the fire mage's next punch and caught him with a body blow that sent him back. Gildarts turned to address the flames.
Crash!
Though he had to wreck a significant portion of the forest floor, he managed to stop the fire. He returned his attention to the raging dragon slayer. Natsu greeted him with a pair of clawed hands locking onto his right arm.
As soon as physical contact was established, Gildarts felt something shift in- or rather, tug on- his magic. Deeming it best to avoid dragging out a scrap, he lifted Natsu up overhead and broke down the walls he maintained around his magic power.
Before he could strike, though, Natsu cried out and let him go. The horned mage leapt backwards, fixing Gildarts with wide eyes. He hissed and turned to flee.
"Oi!" Gildarts called. Natsu spit out a ball of white fire from his mouth. He had escaped by the time Gildarts dealt with it. The ace of Fairy Tail scratched his head. What had that been about? He walked back to Elfman, who grunted as he neared.
"Did something happen while I was gone?"
Gildarts had more answers than he expected, yet fewer than he wanted as he arrived outside the guildhall. He carried an immobile Elfman over one shoulder, and, in typical fashion, entered the building via medium of wall.
"Yo," he said, walking in through Makarov's office door. He tried putting his casual good nature into his greeting. "How goes"
He stopped in place. The guildhall looked much more trashed than usual, even by Fairy Tail standards, like someone had attacked them.
"Gildarts!"
Macao was first to notice the crash mage. The others, so absorbed in the tense atmosphere, responded with varying degrees of enthusiasm until they saw Elfman.
"Elf-nii-chan!"
Lisanna cried, rushing to help those carrying him to the infirmary.
"First the Master, now Elfman."
"And Wendy's in pretty bad condition, too."
"Gildarts, did you see Natsu?"
"What happened?"
The ace of Fairy Tail held up a hand. He rubbed at his jaw.
"Yes, I did," he said, taking a seat at one of the remaining bar stools. "But first, someone should tell me what's going on."
Mavis was about to oblige, but the communication lacrima began flashing. Gildarts tapped it and Laxus' face appeared. The lightning mage raised an eyebrow.
"You're back?"
Gildarts gave a half-hearted smirk in reply.
"What's going on there?"
He shrugged.
"I was trying to find out myself."
The other guild members traded looks before pushing Macao forward. Gildarts called for Kinana to set him up with something strong. He had a feeling he'd need a drink.
"The old man is hurt?"
Laxus kept his agitation checked by taking it out on the chair he'd been using.
"Yeah," Macao said. "It looks like a relapse of his heart trouble."
Laxus cringed and grit his teeth. He didn't need to be reminded of the last time Makarov had suffered from heart problems. The events of the Fantasia Parade still gnawed at him.
"The stress from his burns probably isn't helping his recovery."
The S-class wizard's muscles tensed; stray crackles of electricity ran up his arms. Leave it to Natsu to cause trouble.
"It's good you called. We could use your help tracking down Natsu."
Laxus breathed in deep. He could look for the little fire breathing demon- somehow that news didn't take as much mental adjustment to fathom as he expected. He schooled his expression back to his usual stoic scowl.
"No."
Silence ticked by on the other end for several moments. Incredulous and aggravated yelling followed. Laxus straightened.
"We're still at war," he said. "Even if we can't see the enemy, that doesn't change our priorities."
"You've got to be shi"
Laxus terminated the call. He huffed through his nose.
"Is that really all right?"
The youngest Dreyar turned to Freed and the rest of the Raijinshuu. Freed rarely questioned Laxus' judgment, but the lightning dragon slayer understood in this instance.
"You sure you didn't sound a bit paranoid just now?"
Bixlow's 'babies' parroted him on paranoid. Laxus walked by them.
"The whole thing reeks of being a diversion," he said, stepping outside. "If we exhaust ourselves running around, we'll be useless when they attack again."
"Leave it to our Laxus to calmly assess the situation."
Freed's praise went unheeded.
"The best we can do is wait," Laxus said. "If the enemy or Natsu comes to us, we can react. Until then, we conserve manpower and energy."
"What about Natsu," Evergreen asked. Her concern surprised Bixlow. "You're not worried about what might come of him running rampant?"
Laxus turned to look at her. He smirked and chuckled.
"You're joking, aren't you? It's Natsu."
"This is Phantom Lord all over again! I can't believe Laxus!" Macao shouted.
Mavis listened from a distance with eyes closed, pondering everything in her strategist mind.
"Let him do what he thinks is right," Gildarts said. The ace of Fairy Tail swirled the drink he had in its mug. "We'll do what we can from here."
Mavis swung her feet from the second floor railing where she sat. Zeref never did anything as an accident, barring the negative effects of his curse. It seemed obvious to her that he'd used Natsu to throw Fairy Tail into disarray, but to what end?
"Lisanna," Gildarts said. "You go and find Porlyusica. Bring her back here."
The white-haired take over mage shook her head, nipping at her fingers.
"Master tried to get her to come see Natsu," she said. "She refused to come out until after the war ended."
Mavis furrowed her brow, glaring down at the floor. The guild was already damaged and the members spread far between. If Zeref could make his whole army vanish, why not bring them all here?
"She'll change her mind if she knows Master's condition," Gildarts assured. He stood and placed a hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "Don't worry about your brother. We'll be watching out for him."
The youngest Strauss sibling gave a reluctant nod before running out of the guildhall. Gildarts turned to Warren.
"Any luck finding Natsu on that thing?"
The telepath shook his head in frustration.
"It's like his magic power has changed or something," he said. "I've found several signals that weren't there before, but they could be anybody. No fire dragon slayers."
Gildarts sighed and pinched his nose.
"He ran toward the southeast when I saw him. Keep trying."
Mavis craned her neck up, her thoughts interrupted. She stared toward the ceiling for several seconds before retreating back into her mind. The founder of Fairy Tail could have sworn she'd heard something snicker in the rafters.
He crouched. More mortals- humans- passed. They came in groups. He sniffed. No magic. He growled and retreated. Last one was too big, almost a predator. He interrupted, but had to run. Still weak. Not sure who name is. Feel been asleep for a long time.
Wait. Stop. New scent. Two. One burns the nose, drink, he thought. The other like his, but different. Demon. Both laced with magic. He licked his fangs and ran toward the water. Saltwater smell near them. He needed more. He hunted.
A/N: I'm back! It's only been a week, but given the update schedule for the other now two bits I'm writing, it feels longer. Hopefully this one didn't take too long for those who've been reading! I also hope that this one's enjoyable, because two of the most BA characters appear, and I had some fun with it, especially the last part! More action types on the way! If you liked this, leave a review! If you didn't, palm down as many keys as you can with one hand and post whatever comes up as a review!
Reviews:
Spaghettikingpapyrus (I would shorten that, but it seemed wrong to do that): I'm glad the tension still feels real! Did I update soon enough for you? Thanks for reading and reviewing!