[Re-edited 03.12.23]
Happy Saturday! Hope everyone is well, dragon slayer fights and some future arc set up, ahead.
I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter, but thought it best just to get it out instead of dwelling and over analyzing it for the foreseeable future. Might have to do a minor rewrite at some point though!
I didn't want to draw the fights out too much, or they'd drag on for a couple chapters and there's other fun ideas that I'm more excited for, so let me know if there was still enough detail or if it felt too rushed!
Anyway less rambling, more story, onward!
26
-Eclipse-
King Faust remained silent after supplying the project's name, and though he gave no commands, his guardsmen advanced to form a dense circle around the mages. Natsu didn't move either, he remained outwardly relaxed, scanning their enemies in appraisal, seeking the biggest threats. They'd come to learn that the Elite and higher-level guardsmen didn't wear the generic armour that offered full body protection to the majority of the foes they'd come in contact with so far, so the real threats should be easy enough to identify.
Lucy released his arm, she'd been gripping it since they'd entered the suspiciously empty room earlier. Now she adopted a subtly defensive stance as well, just as ready as he was to fight and protect their comrades. Behind him, Levy had moved away from the strange door—Eclipse, to join the small group in a circle. Gajeel stomped forward a couple steps toward Faust, and Natsu vaguely registered him yelling at the King about the payback he was going to dish out for being used as his personal battery. Natsu shared that sentiment... But he was still preoccupied with analyzing their current situation to join in on the threats.
He picked out a couple guards in the crowd clad in unique armour, three, if the King could be counted. In addition, they were vastly outnumbered, grunts or not. Sinking a sharp canine into his bottom lip, Natsu turned his attention back to the King. Realizing their best course of action would be to stall this long enough for more of their comrades to arrive and level the playing field, he asked, "Care to enlighten us as to what you're aiming to accomplish here? I mean you did forcibly use me and my friends to power your little toy, after all."
A man with orange hair and matte silver armour with crimson details leaned toward the King. "Let me take care of the obnoxious pink-haired brat your Majesty" he requested, eyes meeting Natsu's as he continued, "you dare to presume you can speak to my King like that."
Natsu cocked one brow and pushed his bottom lip out in a display of bored arrogance in response. "Like you could take me." The taunted guard growled and took a challenging step forward, but Faust slammed the shaft of his scepter down on the top of the man's head. He said nothing as the guard dropped to his knees with a surprised yelp.
"Eclipse is the answer to unmatched and endless power," Faust stated calmly, locking eyes with him again, "And dragon slayers happen to be the most effective power source for our magic tools, it's nothing personal. You understand, after all, we cannot continue to mine ethernano from the environment indefinitely. But dragon slayers are rare, the Knightwalkers bring back fewer catches every year, and aside from the one catch, they all end up being lacrima enhanced slayers. True dragon magic has proved to be much more powerful, so clearly, four true dragon slayers showing up here now, just proves that this is the time I have been preparing for all these years."
"I fail to see how your stupid door will solve your problems, and you've got a fucking wake-up call coming if you think we will let you hunt our kind anymore!" Gajeel spat, holding an iron coated fist up in threat.
Faust ignored the threat and alluded, "This doorway is a direct connection to Earthland's Eclipse gate, a connection across worlds, across times. Your Lost Magic won't be so lost, hundreds of years in the past when dragons roamed the worlds freely." The king laughed at the shocked looks shared by the Fairy Tail mages as they grappled with his claims. "Too bad none of you will be around to see it, after all, the four dragons currently in my castle can power the first of my all powerful weapons—and with these new weapons at our disposal, the rest of the continent of Edolas will bend to my control."
Just as Natsu had been counting on, a huge tidal wave materialized from nothing, surging into the chamber and crashed through the rows of guards that blocked the entry way. Both the King and the ginger guard sprang out of the way. Apparently Faust was pretty nimble for an old guy, Natsu dryly observed. The rest of the unsuspecting guardsmen were submerged and thrown violently into the opposite wall by the destructive wave. Natsu and his comrades scattered reflexively, avoiding both the water spell and the resultant pile of enemies being projected toward their feet. With a wide path carved through the mass of guards, Haru strode through the door with a certain nonchalant air, streams of water still skipping between his outstretched palms. Both Mira and Wendy trailed just behind him and all three stopped for a short moment, gazes shifting around the room to get tabs on the situation.
Then, Haru and Mira sprang in opposite directions after a couple banks of recovering enemies, blasts of magic exploding with each of their strikes. Carla snagged the back of Wendy's shirt and flew her directly over Natsu's group, throwing her at a crowd of guards advancing behind them. The teen whipped her arms downward, unleashing twin gusts of wind, mimicking Natsu's own Wing Attack.
Natsu grinned as a large number of their enemies went sailing back to bowl over subsequent guards under the Sky Slayer's gusts. "Wendy, that was awesome!" he shouted proudly. She landed softly and looked back with a bright blush at his praise and stuttered her gratitude just as Carla lifted her out of the way of a slash, berating her for losing focus. The fire mage shook his head and chuckled, his team had taken Haru's arrival as their cue to engage in the battle as well and they were all easily cutting through the multitude of guards around them.
Grinning wildly, Natsu leapt to join them, searching for an opponent in Faust. However, as he cut a path through the masses and attempted to lock onto the King's scent, he determined the King was absent now. "Hey, Happy!" he called, "Did that Faust jerk retreat?!"
Happy soared higher, scanning the chaos of the colliding groups, "Aye sir! He isn't here!"
So, the subject of his rage had inexplicably snuck off at some point, leaving the Elite Guard units to engage the intruders...
Well isn't that just a piss off?!
Growling to himself, Natsu resigned to taking his frustrations out on every single kingdom associate unfortunate enough to end up in his vicinity. At least their group was making steady progress in eliminating their foes, and the sooner they did, the sooner Natsu could hunt down that jerk. Gajeel and Lucy were each battling with the higher-level guards with little difficulty, overwhelming the two men easily. But despite the ease of challenge the guards presented, their sheer numbers would still start wearing on everyone's magic stores at some point.
Pivoting with streaks of fire dancing between his palms, Natsu conjured spirals of fire and sent a large group of the guards flying into the adjacent wall. He was just whipping around to the next group when his name echoed through his head. "Natsu." The Fire Slayer skidded to a stop in surprise, immediately searching the room. The voice held a similar quality to telepathic communication, but it wasn't Haru's voice, and there was something slightly different about the nature of the transmission. Based on the continuing battles around him, his comrades hadn't heard or noticed anything.
"Natsu."
Natsu attempted to reply, but the whispery feel of an internal conversation wasn't there. He stopped completely now, relinquishing his flames as he relaxed from his offensive stance and scanned the large chamber in confusion.
A pair of guards went soaring by him in a torrent of water magic and then, suddenly, everything stopped. The guards hung in suspended animation in front of him and Natsu's eyes widened as he cautiously looked around. Everyone in the room, friend and foe alike were frozen mid-attack, their spells decorated the room in various colours as frozen as the forms of the mages that launched them.
'What the fuck now?!' Natsu thought with a mix of unease and frustration, was this another ability of a magic tool they hadn't seen yet? He quickly dismissed that, it seemed unlikely the Guardsmen would have been affected as well if that were the case, and why spare just him?
"What the fuck is this?!" he yelled at the room at large, eyes continuing to dart over the space in search of an enemy, a clue, something to vent his anger at. "Show yourself!"
Someone or something must be behind this, right? He couldn't let his comrades just remain a part of some permanent messed up war scene. He ground his teeth as his anger climbed and then a bright glow was bursting off the Eclipse gate to his left and he had to shield his eyes from the blinding lights. As the massive doors opened with a deep grinding sound, Natsu cracked a single eye open in attempt to see what was happening while adjusting to the light. A figure emerged from the passage, silhouetted by the shining white behind them.
The light diminished slightly, revealing a woman who moved to stop directly in front of Natsu. He stared, openly dumbfounded, into the warm brown eyes of, "—L-Lucy?"
The addressed woman tilted her head as she brought a hand up to drop onto the top of his head. She ruffled his pink locks affectionately, further confounding him, "To think you'd be taller than me now," she said nostalgically. He gaped in response, as his mind whirled with a hundred half-forming questions. Tearing his eyes off the blonde in front of him to check back over his shoulder to confirm that his Lucy was still frozen with the heel of her boot jammed into an enemy's chin. Natsu turned stiffly, returning his attention to the woman in front of him, searching for understanding but finding no words to demand answers.
"I'm sorry Natsu, I don't have very much time, so I can't answer all your questions," she informed him regretfully, even as his jaw worked over the numerous questions demanding precedence in his head. "I know you don't remember me; my name is Anna Heartflilia, I knew you when you were just little," she supplied gently. Natsu grumbled and brought his fingers up to massage at his temples as an ache sparked behind his eyes. Why does all the craziest shit happen to him and his guildmates?
"Edolas was never supposed to have an Eclipse gate," she told him, as though that should make any sense, "it is destabilizing time frequency, this gate must be destroyed, and soon." Natsu choked out a questioning sound, as Anna wavered under fatigue and held a hand up to silence him, pausing his questions. "The existence of this gate here, also means that the King disregarded our order to destroy the one in Earthland... The true Eclipse Gate is far more powerful than this imitation. It is dangerous. But Natsu, you must find it, there are things you need to learn, you and the other dragon slayers, but you especially—" she stopped. Natsu watched various emotions play over her face, still barely grasping any of the information she was providing. "—Also, you must not let either gate, these weapons, be discovered by those that would use them for evil."
Natsu couldn't believe what he was hearing. He and his comrades hadn't even finished their mission on Edolas, and here this woman was telling him about some dangerous weaponized gate, the responsibility of which she seemed to be placing squarely on his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes, "If this power is so dangerous, why was this gate made in the first place?"
"Eclipse was constructed over 400 years in the past by way of celestial spirit, spatial and time magics, as an answer to the threats Acnologia and Zeref presented to our world." Anna smiled softly at the fire mage, guilt crossing her face at dropping all of this information on him suddenly and without the luxury of time to properly explain it. Increasing weakness pulled at her again as the gate drained her magic. "You will meet Zeref soon…" she trailed off, pulling him into a hug, "I must go, this false gate can't support my presence here much longer."
The warmth and familiarity of the embrace from this woman that he had no recollection of, sent Natsu reeling more than any of her words had. Was it because she was so similar to Lucy? No, she'd said he'd known her, why couldn't he remember her at all? Anna withdrew and pressed a small package into his hands. "This is very important to me, please keep it safe for me," she requested, "and don't open it... we'll see each other again." Anna turned away from him, moving back toward the gate.
Natsu's grip tightened on the unknown keepsake, "Wait, Igneel, do you know where Igneel is?!" he pleaded desperately as she stopped in the void of the gate.
Anna gave him a sad smile. "You'll meet him again, Natsu. Take care." Her response echoed through his head again, as she disappeared back through the gate that had brought her to him. Unbidden tears slipped down his cheeks that he couldn't explain, the doors slammed shut again and in an instant, time moved forward once more. The sounds of battle exploded all around him again as if the interruption had never occurred and the two guards from earlier, both crashed to the ground mere feet in front of him. He gazed blankly at the large puddle of water remaining from Haru's attack that reached the toe edge of his boots and then at the package in his hand. Natsu requipped it away, silently promising to keep whatever it was safe. He might not remember Anna, but he felt like she had been someone important to him, someone he would never let down...
Just as he was gaining his wits back, a body collided hard into his side, sending him careening to the ground and knocking the air form his lungs. Slowly opening his eyes, he found Haru above him, staring down at him incredulously. "What the hell Natsu? Where is your head at?!" his partner yelled. Haru sat back a bit and summoned a vortex of water magic to send another group of advancing enemies flying. Natsu peered passed the Water Slayer to see a large strip of scorched ground where he'd been standing a moment earlier, and shook himself out of his stupor. He realized he was definitely the only one aware of the sudden pause in their battle.
"Thanks for the save man," he offered, "I'm here now, sorry."
Haru arched a brow at him suspiciously and reached down to drag him back to his feet. "Don't let your guard down, it isn't like you," he reprimanded in a concerned tone. Nodding once, the fire mage slammed a fist into his open palm and shouted out a usual cocky statement before jumping back into the fray and leaving his fellow slayer watching after him, completely stunned.
. . .
The battle continued without any new interruptions until the entire wall to Natsu's left imploded unexpectedly. Chunks of concrete and debris showered the large chamber and all the occupants ducked and shielded their faces. The fire mage lurched back, falling into a half kneeling position as his head spun to get eyes on the now gaping hole in the castle wall, sunlight bathed the room in a warm glow. He couldn't see anything but clear blue skies beyond, but a sinking feeling told him that explosion wasn't good for the good guys. Behind him, Haru dropped a hand on his shoulder, watching the hole on high alert as well. All the ongoing fights had come to an abrupt halt, it seemed their foes hadn't been expecting the explosion anymore than they had.
After a long moment of silence, a metal structure flitted through the limited vision the hole presented before striking across the stone facade, obliterating what remained of the wall. Some of the lower-level guards started abandoning weapons and retreating to the halls for safety and the Fairy Tail mages instinctually gathered together. The unknown weapon propelled into the chamber, the metallic nose of the structure formed in the likeness of a dragon. It lunged, sweeping one metal leg across the room and snagged Gajeel from right in front of them in a clawed grip.
"What the fuck?!" Natsu shouted. He shook off the awe and abandoned caution as he charged forward with Haru and Mira trailing close behind. The three peered over the edge to find a draconic-looking machine flying just outside the damaged wall. It was easily the size of Lucy's apartment building, and hovered on mechanized wings, each of which appeared to have four large whirling engines to keep it in the air. Gajeel was yelling furiously and swiping at the machine with an extended iron club. "Huh," Natsu grunted at the scene.
Mira pursed her lips, eyes shifting between the machine and the Twin Dragons as Lucy appeared over Haru's shoulder to check out the new developments. "Well, this looks like fun!" Mira cheered. Lucy rolled her eyes as the other woman rapidly shifted into another Satan Soul and dove off the edge without a second thought. Spinning midair, she drove a boot right into the windshield eyes of the dragon-shaped vessel. "It's Faust!" Mira shouted up at them after locking eyes with the pilot inside.
"Good—Payback time," Natsu growled, fire exploding off of his entire form as he shot through the air and collided with the machine. At the same time, Haru dissolved into a torpedo of water and slammed right into the metal claw holding Gajeel captive. The metal did not give in the slightest under the impact and Haru was forced to cling to the metal as Faust attempted to shake him loose. Carefully, he moved to the claws where the Iron Slayer was busy battering the mechanism currently trapping him and Haru added his own attacks to the cause.
Somewhere above them, flames were bursting off the draconic machine and every splatter of fire was preceded by tremors that rocked the machine. "Come on Poseidon, can't you do better than those love taps?! We gonna let Salamander have all the fun?" Gajeel barked at him.
With an irritated look, Haru released his magic pressure and entered his Drive State, relishing Gajeel's wondered look. "Dragon Slayer's secret art: ocean's vengeance, storm blades!" Numerous thin blades of concentrated water slashed out around the metal contraption, slicing right through the thick metal like butter as Gajeel watched in stunned silence. When the claw burst apart, he shouted and swiped at the air for purchase on something before Haru swung down and grabbed hold of his wrist, he fixed his fellow slayer with an infuriatingly cocky smile. "Guess it was my turn to rescue—what was the word you used? Ah—damsel," he mocked with a very amused smirk. Gajeel grunted irritably as the Water Slayer lifted him back to the airship. Glaring, he sprung by Haru, blatantly ignoring the dig.
"Iron Dragon's mallet," he yelled as he leapt up to the back of the metal dragon and swung his transformed arm down hard. From the base of the tail, Natsu smirked and launched himself into the sky overhead. Fire swirled around his arm as he propelled an Iron Fist attack into the same impact point Gajeel had just hit and Haru added his own right after. However even with the coordinated dragon-born magic assault, the metal didn't crack an inch.
"What the hell is this thing made of?"
"Can't you take a bite out of it Gajeel?"
"Don't you think I'd have done that already if I could?! Thought the damn thing was going to shatter my teeth!"
A powerful pulse of magic erupted off the King's weapon, sending the dragon slayers and Mira soaring back to collide with various surfaces. Lucy yelled for Happy, and he and Carla began shuttling the girls down to the ground below just as Mira and the guys were getting back to their feet, largely unscathed, if a little worn. Faust's laughter boomed through speakers, taunting them about the indestructibility of the new series of weapons his royal engineers had invented. The metal dragon landed on the ground on durable hind legs, its wings retracting slightly as the swirling propellers slowed to a stop. The dragon slayer trio scoffed, "You're just a damn dragon reject!" Natsu shouted. "And we're dragon slayers! Our magic is meant to deal with dragons, whatever the form. This will be your last day!"
Yet another series of explosions behind them had all the Fairy Tail allies shifting to assess the source. In the distance, soldiers from the capital had poured out into the streets of the surrounding walled city to meet the influx of rural citizens that had breached the Kingdom. At the forefront of the mass of rebelling people, a large four-wheeler with red and orange flames emblazoned over the sides, was colliding with a second draconic weapon bearing the Kingdom's emblem.
From the distance, Natsu couldn't tell who was piloting either, but he could make out a single person on the top of each of the two vehicles. The second metal dragon was slightly different from the one Faust occupied. This one appeared to have foregone flight capabilities in favour of a quadruped alignment to accommodate a large cannon-like device mounted to its back. The cannon, apparently manned by Edo Erza, let loose streams of ridiculously destructive power that tore up the ground, buildings and people alike. It didn't appear the redhead was concerned with what side those people were aligned with.
A few feet away, Mira was releasing a torrent of curses at the scene. "You dragon slayers take Faust, I am taking those damn Knightwalkers down for GOOD this time!" she vowed. She didn't wait to hear any of their responses and was already halfway across the divide between them and the second ensuing fight.
Natsu turned to his left, taking in the two dragon slayers to his side. "You heard the lady," he said, aware Wendy was just behind them as well. The fire mage waved back at his departing comrades as Happy and Carla took to the air with Lucy and Edo Levy respectively, and raced over to provide assistance to the Fairy Tail rebel group. "Haru! Let's go," the fire mage called with a bright grin. Haru nodded back and from either side framing Gajeel, the Twin Dragons' magic pressure spiked rapidly as they summoned their Drive Modes.
Gajeel blinked, this was the same feeling prior to Haru's shift earlier, he grit his teeth. 'Don't tell me Salamander can do it too… can the sky girl?' he wondered, glancing over his shoulder. He found her chanting something in concentration and just as the pillars of water and fire burst apart, all three of the male dragon slayers were glowing with the power of Wendy's enchantments. Natsu and Haru vanished, shocking Gajeel again, and then explosions were breaking at random points all over the Faust's weapon, landing with untraceable strikes.
Not to be outdone or intimidated by the Twin Dragons' impressive show of power, Gajeel leapt to join the battle with his entire body armoured in iron. He slammed into the machine's feet, skewering huge iron stakes through the feet to prevent it from retreating back into the skies, before quickly climbing up a folded wing. Just as he was reaching the back, a massive sphere of violently pulsing fire and water shot through the air and obliterated a chunk of the metal dragon. The resulting shockwave blew him across the castle courtyard until a cushion of wind buffered his fall. Landing unharmed on his butt, he looked over his shoulder incredulously at the small Sky Slayer who gave him a shy smile and quickly approached to ask if he was okay. He nodded dumbly, wondering why she would care; he wasn't one of her friends after all.
Streaks of red and blue shot into the sky and arched toward them as another series of blasts erupted off the metal beast. The magic dissipated to reveal Natsu and Haru both sliding back on the balls of their feet with the momentum, kicking up clouds of debris. "Breath-Attacks! Let's go!" Natsu directed, and as usual, Gajeel balked at the command barking out his irritation before begrudgingly falling into alignment with the other three who'd already sprung into action. He caught up quickly between Natsu and Wendy, and foursome propelled themselves into the sky, each appearing in the space before the windshield of the machine.
"Water Dragon's—" "Iron Dragon's—" "Sky Dragon's—"
From his spot dead center, Natsu locked eyes with the suddenly panicking form of King Faust, hiding in his supposedly indestructible contraption, but he and Haru had already proved that to be untrue with their Unison Raid. That attack had caused extensive damage to the weapon, and this would finish it, even the King seemed concerned about that as he fiddled frantically with his controls. Unfortunately for him, Gajeel's spikes were holding strong, preventing an aerial escape. With an undeniably demonic grin, Natsu inhaled deeply, cheeks and chest puffing up, "Fire Dragon's—"
"—ROAR!" All four dragon slayers bellowed in unison, iron shrapnel and raging water and wind swirled around the cyclone of fire at the center, forming a devastating mass of elemental magic that fully overtook the hulking form of the metal dragon weapon.
Lucy
An aerial advantage afforded Lucy the chance to scan over the warring groups below to gain her bearings. Below her, thousands of civilians and guards swarmed the streets of the south and west districts engaged in battle. Carla had flown Levy over to the group of Edo Fairies that were beginning to spread out to assist and protect the outer townspeople that the rebel band had excited into rebellion with them. Perched on top of the four-wheeler that Lucy had to assume was Edo Natsu's, Bisca's look-alike braced herself in a half kneeling position, one leg stretched out in front of her for stability. She appeared to be haphazardly secured to the vehicle in a harness and tangle of cables, a sniper riffle nearly as tall as her, balanced over her shoulder as she easily picked off multitudes of guardsmen. The sniper seemed undeterred by Edo Natsu flinging his car around in crazy maneuvers.
"Ice Make: FLOOR!"
Lucy's head snapped downward to catch site of Gray's ice spreading outward through the streets, destabilizing a large group of charging guardsmen, as well as the dragon weapon. Taking advantage, a scarlet blur flashed across the street and slammed into Edo Erza, prying her off of the cannon she was using to wreak havoc. The two women fell off the metallic dragon, rolling over the ground in a spiralling mess of red hair and flailing limbs.
Mira collided with the side of the dragon machine, causing it to lurch to the side and flipped herself up and on top of the machine. She shouted angrily at Erza on the ground below, about stealing her mark but was promptly ignored. Lucy watched as she blew her bangs out of her face irritably and swung into the vehicle's cabin instead. The metal dragon's movements became choppy as the two occupants fought inside, accidentally mashing the controls randomly in their battle. "Happy, take us down," Lucy called.
"Aye sir!" The blue cat dove rapidly, sweeping up just before the chaotic streets and released the blonde to shoulder roll and slide to a stop.
Lucy unleashed an incredible sphere of blinding gold magic into the sky, letting her spell grow in size until it reached a powerful threshold. "SHATTER!" she cried and the orb shattered to fill the streets with precise meteors of star magic, marking only her enemies.
"Lucy—" the blonde whirled at the sound of her name to see her counterpart speeding toward her on the familiar flame red magic two-wheeler. Edo Lucy kept a strong grip on the bike and extended an arm out for Lucy. Without slowing the bike, both blondes found purchase on one another's forearms in a strong grip and Lucy swung onto the bike behind her double. Happy whipped down and latched onto her back with a delighted sound. "Alright Other-Me, what's say we deal out some damage Lucy-style?"
Lucy smirked back, "Hell yeah!" The stellar mage stood, holding the bike's seat in the vice grip of her thighs and Happy used his wings to stabilize and help guide their trajectory as fire magic burst from the bike to launch them forward into even higher speeds. Lucy shrieked briefly as she adapted to the speed and sudden harrowing movements her counterpart got from the bike and gripped the other blonde's shoulder as they sped through a dense squad of guards.
"Make sure you keep a good grip you two! Natsu's a surprisingly good teacher and though I might not be as good as the Fireball himself…I can damn well drive!" Laughter peeled out of her lungs as she threw the bike into another gear, peeling the front wheel off the road and shot forward again. Happy cried out and tightened his grip on Lucy's shirt, the cat was certain Natsu would withhold his fish for a week if he let Lucy fall. This was nothing like riding with Gray, but Lucy was getting a feel for her insane counterpart's tricks and the subtle tells that preceded her spinning the bike or firing its engine. She adapted her Star Shatter spell to enclose each of her fists, concentrating the magic to release numerous bullets of light as the blonde duo sped through crowds of their enemies.
"SHIT—HOLD ON!" Edo Lucy warned when the two Erza's crashed into the ground just meters ahead, rolling through a cloud of dirt in their direct path. Lucy screamed for her redheaded comrade in concern, but that scream dissolved into one for her own safety as the bike angled so far to the ground to avoid the pair of knights that she could feel the ground scraping against her foot. Unfortunately, Edo Lucy didn't have that maneuver down as well as her boyfriend and they lost control of the bike which went careening through multiple walls and left them groaning as pain washed over them.
"Luuushie," the blue cat whimpered from beside her, "are you okay?" The addressed blonde raised a palm to her forehead which came away wet with the blood from a gash over her eyebrow, but otherwise she felt fairly unharmed.
She glanced at Happy, his eyes swirling and unfocused with dizziness, "Are you?" she chuckled blandly. Edo Lucy was swearing up a storm behind her, and the stellar mage spun to help, her counterpart's leg was trapped under the bike and she was punching at the bike angrily as though that would help her. Shaking her head amusedly, Lucy summoned Taurus and asked the spirit to right the bike. She force closed his gate just as quickly when the bull began verbalizing various perverted sentiments about the pair of blonde bombshells.
"You have some really strange friends, Other-Me," Edo Lucy said in deadpan. Lucy palpating her lower leg ripped her from her thoughts, her leg was already sporting deep-purple bruising. Her counterpart pushed her hands away, "I'll be fine, we need to get back out there," she declared stubbornly. Lucy narrowed her eyes at the girl, but didn't bother arguing with her. She knew if the situation were reversed there'd be no talking her out of continuing the fight either, and she and her counterpart shared a lot of traits, clothing choices aside. Luckily, Edo Natsu's bike seemed largely undamaged, the immense durability being a major benefit of magic tools in Edolas. Lucy pulled her double back to her feet and assisted her back to the head of the bike before climbing on behind her again. Revving the engine into a familiar purr again, the bike was peeling back out of the collapsing building and into the streets seconds later.
Edo Lucy skidded the bike to a stop where the stellar mage directed. "Erza!" Lucy called out, and the redhead pivoted at the sound of her name. She held her own counterpart's cape in her fist, and dragged the unconscious huntress behind her as she approached the two Lucys.
"One more major player outa commission! Nice job Erza!" Lucy praised with a large smile. Her comrade gave a curt nod, enquiring as to the status of the rest of Lucy's group. "Well, I think the guys have taken down Faust, or at least the dragon weapon. I saw it go down in a large explosion earlier," Lucy supplied, adding, "Wendy is with them as well, I believe."
"Good, and I saw Mira, I assume she's taking on Edo Haru, he was at the controls of that dragon machine thing," Erza said. As the girls spoke, they would periodically spin to take out various approaching guardsmen stupid enough to interrupt their relatively relaxed conversation. Then a boisterous cheer sounded a fair distance away and the girls whipped their attention around again to catch sight of their idiot pink-haired dragon slayer standing atop the second, recently destroyed metal dragon.
Natsu flashed his signature toothy grin, indiscriminately casting his gaze over the surrounding people, and lifted King Faust into the air by the collar of his robes. The fire mage could easily be seen for good distance around with the large machine as a stage. "Guardsmen, STAND DOWN! Your King has been defeated, your indestructible weapons—destroyed, your Elite Guard surrendered—" Natsu was still shouting out over the civil war that had temporarily frozen in shock as Mira strolled up to join Lucy's group, dropping a semi-conscious Edo Haru between them. The raven-haired hunter groaned pathetically as he took in the sight of his equally defeated partner, crawling over to pull her into his arms and nuzzled his face into her red hair.
The four girls watched for a brief moment before ignoring the pair in favour of turning back to Natsu who was now joined by the other three dragon slayers flanking him. The four slayers seemed to be purposefully allowing their magic to spill forth and swirl around them threateningly to discourage any wayward guards from reckless actions. "This war is over—you can make this Kingdom what you will, choose your own King, choose your own destiny!"
The Fairy Tail rebel band were the first to sound their cries of celebration as all around the walled kingdom, guards were abandoning their weapons to the cheers of the their opposers. Lucy, Mira and Erza were quick to add their voices to the escalating excitement as Natsu tossed Faust to the ground below and the Iron Slayer conjured thick bars of iron to imprison him.
"Oh, there they go…" Happy pointed from Lucy's shoulder. She looked over to see Natsu and Gajeel bickering and knocking each other around randomly for one reason or another and sighed loudly at their behaviour.
"It was only a matter of time," Lucy replied dryly to the cat as they watched Haru force himself between the two and wrench them apart. Lucy could just imagine the reprimanding lecture he was probably giving the pair about setting an example in a situation such as this. The crowds of people— guards, kingdom and rural citizens alike, were slowly gathering around the downed draconic weapon. They looked up expectantly at the strange team with their strange magic that didn't appear to be coming from any noticeable magic tools. Lucy could see the uncomfortable looks now flittering across the guys' faces as they realized the people were waiting for them to announce what they should do, Natsu's head swivelled between the other slayers in rapid discussion.
Lucy had to admit, she was kind of amused by the situation the rambunctious guys had gotten themselves into, they weren't exactly political masterminds. Haru might be able to talk them out of this, maybe... But as the excited roar of the crowd grew, Lisanna pushed through the masses, drawing Mirajane and Mystogan along behind her. The Edolas trio stopped at the base of Natsu's improvised stage to look up with smug looks.
Lucy couldn't hear their conversation from her spot still seated on the two-wheeler but it appeared the dragon slayers were saved from the mess they'd gotten themselves in. Next to her Edo Lucy had leaned into the handlebars of the bike and dropped her head into her palm. Natsu and Wendy nodded enthusiastically at whatever Mystogan had told them, before the four sprang off the machine and made their way toward the rest of their gathered comrades.
The first thing Natsu noticed was, of course, was Lucy times-two straddling a flame red bike... he gaped openly.
"I know right?"
Natsu turned toward the voice to find his own double behind him, posture folded in a little with Edo Levy and Bisca next to him, her riffle was still lazily slung over her shoulder. "Other-Me! No way!" Natsu called excitedly, skipping over to slap his other-self hard on the back. Edo Natsu cowered at the action which pulled a surprised sound from the fire mage who was promptly pulled into an aggressive body lock position that had his spine screaming. "What the fuc—" he cried out in a pathetically whiney tone, before being tossed unceremoniously back on his butt.
He stared up at the leather clad Lucy, mouth agape. She held her hand out with a big smile, "Nice to meetcha, Other-Natsu." The corner of his mouth twitched in response to the insane blonde, even as he hesitantly reached a shaky hand toward hers. Snagging his hand, she dragged him forward with a dangerous look, "beat on my man again, and I will use torture technique number 41…" Natsu paled considerably and quickly retracted his hand as her regular smile returned and his own Lucy appeared beside him to pat him consolingly on the shoulder.
"Try not to break my Natsu would you, Edo Lucy?" she asked with an arched brow.
Natsu's eyes shifted calculatingly between the two Lucys before internally admitting defeat and wrapping his arm around the stellar mage's shoulders. He leaned in to whisper, "Other-You is scary…"
Lucy giggled in response, eyes drawing over the group of assembled Fairy Tail members from two different worlds, still so similar and yet so different. "Shall we go listen to what Mystogan has come up with for Edolas? As much fun as you all are –I personally, would like to go home at some point," she told her guildmates' doubles with a laugh.
Dipping his head over her shoulder, Natsu nipped at the shell of her ear. "Me too… You deserve a reward for saving my butt earlier, and such things should only happen when I have you all to myself…" he trailed off.
Lucy squeaked out an embarrassed sound at his unspoken promise, cheeks heating as she snuck a glance around to see if any of their companions had noticed the interaction. It appeared only their Edolas doubles had, both fixing them with knowing smiles. Mira had latched herself onto Haru at some point, though he didn't seem to be complaining in the slightest. Gray was helping Erza properly restrain the Knightwalkers as she launched into an unsolicited lecture about correcting their ways and using their power to help make Edolas a more inclusive and stronger place for all citizens. Lucy smiled warmly at her friends before turning narrowed eyes back to the mischievous fire mage. She clicked her tongue at the lustful look he was giving her and dragged him over to Mystogan and the Edo Strauss sisters to listen in on their speech. The rest of their friends followed suit not long after.
A/N. Okay I've caught up a bit on my writing, and finally have a couple chapter buffer again! Woo!
Next chapter sees the fluffy end of the Edolas arc. And after that, pre arc chapters involve some some loose ends to tie up, lots of fluffy relationship building and a training trip interlude before the S Class exams.
For always brightening my day, shout outs to valerioux and FireShifter for reviewing last chapter!
See you all next week!
R&R.
xx Loka Muse