Sorano disappeared out of Natsu's house as fast as she had appeared.
"I've got it!" she yelled to Rustyrose.
A sour grin spread over his face as she joined him high up in the tree, "Excellent. Now, we get our thugs to take out the idiots following us."
As if on cue, demons rose from the ground, "I can't believe they thought they could vanquish the House of Dorthos and not think their brother guild, the House of Aranthos would not rise to avenge their brothers."
"Not good!" Gray yelped, watching the disgusting scene. They demons were black, much like the others they had seen from Dorthos, but these demons were larger. Gobs of tar dripped down their bodies, reminiscent of the tar that kept Lucy's keys locked in the spirit world all those years ago.
"Fairy Tail, we have incoming!" Gajeel yelled backward. Gray's demon slayer arm charged up as Gajeel and Laxus flanked him.
Gajeel, Gray and Laxus headed the charging army of the entire Fairy Tail Guild as Sorano and Rustyrose watched from the treetop high above.
"Summon her!" he demanded, "We need to make the contract now!"
She paused, glancing down at the ground as Natsu exited his house, letting loose a blood-curling scream. He was beyond pissed…and he would kill them if he found them in order to get the key back.
"We need to go!" she told Rustyrose, "Natsu will find us here!"
Wanting to argue, or even better yet, smack the shit out of her for disobeying, Rustyrose emitted a low growl. She was right though. They could hide from the battling Fairy Tail members since they were too distracted fighting demons to be looking at tree tops, but Natsu Dragneel was not fighting demons. He had one sole purpose – finding the key.
"Okay, let's go!" he said roughly, grabbing her wrist and chucking her to the next tree.
Sorano cried out, a branch scratching her back as she landed.
"Keep moving!" he demanded, watching Natsu out of the corner of his eye.
"SORANO!" Natsu thundered from below.
Sorano shivered, but she wasn't actually sure if it was because of Natsu looking for her or the fact that Rustyrose had just joined her in the tree and was preparing to make his next move.
Rustyrose stared down at Natsu, "We need to move faster. PEGASUS WINGS!"
He grabbed Sorano by the waist and lifted into the air.
"I don't think so!" Natsu yelled from the ground as he spotted them, "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!"
Caught in his direct line of fire, Rustyrose dropped Sorano and fell to the ground about 30 feet away from her.
"You want to play, dragon boy? Let's play," he said in a low voice.
"What happened to you?" Natsu demanded, "You were given a second chance! Crime Sorciere gave you a chance to redeem yourself! Why are you doing this?"
Rustyrose's eyes were flared with anger, "I never wanted to be part of that stupid guild!" he yelled, "But I had a lot better chance escaping it than prison!"
"What's your game plan?" Natsu's body lit up, his eyes dark, "Why do you want Lucy's key?"
Rustyrose laughed, "You really think I'll tell you why? Do you think I care if you know why I want the key? Move aside, Dragneel! I've got a Celestial spirit to make a contract with."
Natsu's eyes widened, his gaze quickly darting to Sorano, who was sprawled on the ground. It made sense now. Rustyrose was going to use Sorano, who was a Celestial mage at one point, to summon Lucy and bind her to a contract.
"BASTARD!" Natsu screamed, charging him, his whole body absorbed in fire.
Rustyrose yelled out, "JET BLACK SWORD!" He swung it at Natsu, anger vibrating through him as Natsu jumped over the attack and kept coming.
Natsu was powering up as he stormed across the battlefield and Rustyrose was suddenly a bit nervous.
"Bring it," he told Natsu with a dark gleam in his eye, "Because you don't stand a chance against my SACRED GUARDIAN BEAST – BELFAST THE HURRICANE!"
An enormous roar sounded, pausing some of the fighting around them as Belfast emerged from thin air. Rustyrose took the opportunity to start running, suddenly realizing he had a lame leg from one of Natsu's attacks. He grabbed Sorano from the ground, pushing her ahead into the forest.
Natsu stared Belfast down, "You're uuuuuugly!"
Belfast roared again, swiping at Natsu. Natsu jumped, powering up to do a Dragon Roar when suddenly Gajeel dropped down beside him.
"I've got this! Go after Rustyrose!"
Natsu nodded, pounding his friend's fist before taking off to the forest.
"Flame-Brain is right…you are one ugly son-of-a-bitch!" Gajeel chuckled, raising his fist, "Let's see what you've got!"
Natsu was dodging fighting bodies as he bolted after Rustyrose and Sorano. Ahead of him, he saw a gigantic ice wall emerge out of nowhere, effectively trapping them inside the battleground.
Natsu grinned, mentally making a note to thank the Ice Prick later.
"You're trapped again," he said in a low voice, "Give me the key."
"Natsu, have you met the House of Aranthos yet? They would be the brother guild of Dorthos…you know…the one Lucy annihilated?"
Natsu was attacked from four different directions at once, being pushed down to the ground. He lost no time in fighting back, but there were too many.
"Be careful!" he heard a demon hiss, "This one is END. We need to kill him quickly."
Natsu paused, remembering the demons from the House of Dorthos had said the same thing. What did it mean? END was gone.
You can't really get rid of what composes you.
Nodding, he threw the demons off his back, "Thank you Hisui!" he whispered.
Natsu closed his eyes and called from every space of his body…calling END's power. END was gone, but if his theory was right and Hisui was giving him a hint, then END could never be separated from his body completely.
He felt the familiar rush coursing through his veins and let out a feral roar, sending the demons around him scampering for cover. He felt stronger.
When he opened his eyes, they were blood shot red. Grinning widely, Natsu went to work smashing the surrounding demons to smithereens before turning once again to Rustyrose.
"So you figured it out," Rustyrose cackled. The men circled each other. Rustyrose realized his demon lackeys were being defeated rather badly now. He had to take Sorano and get out of there if there was any chance of their plan still succeeding, "END the demon is gone, but his blood still courses through your veins."
"I'm still me," Natsu replied hotly, "Give me back the key."
"I don't think so," Rustyrose glared at him.
Sorano screamed, running back into the fray of the battle. Natsu and Rustyrose squared off.
Suddenly, Rustyrose laughed out loud, "I don't have time for this. SACRED-GUARDIAN BEAST: BELCUSAS THE THUNDERCLAP."!
Another gigantic monster materialized, angrily bellowing its need to destroy.
He laughed maniacally, "I'm finding Sorano and blowing this popsicle stand," he announced, "Have fun, Dragneel!"
It took Natsu one blow to destroy the monster. END's energy flowed through him, spurring him on. He recognized the hunger for power. He emitted a powerful earthquake spell, essentially moving the magma underneath the earth. The demons in the area recognized END's appearance from his spell, suddenly deciding they were all going to die if they continued with battle.
"You're on your own!" one of them yelled to Rustyrose.
"Hey!" Rustyrose yelled, fisting the air, "Traitors! What about your brothers? I paid you good money!"
Fairy Tail's confused mages looking around, then breaking out into cheers as they realized the demons were gone.
Natsu kneeled, willing END to return to sleep. His comrades could not see him like this. They would be frightened of him again and he just couldn't bear the thought. Feeling the surges of END's blood calming down, Natsu stood up.
Fairy Tail had Sorano cornered. It was time to get his key back.