AN: Thank you Wadeparker and MDM11. MDM11, yeah, I could see Azuma being in Crime Sorcière.
Natsu and Zeref both performed backhanded strikes with their right arms, the former's enhanced by flames. Their forearms collided and pushed against one another in a manner similar to arm wrestling. Natsu quickly won, slamming his brother's arm (as well as the rest of Zeref's body) into a nearby table.
Natsu followed up by throwing his left fist at the Black Mage, who dodged by rolling to the side. Zeref then leapt up, using his momentum to throw a kick at the Fairy's right side. Natsu blocked the hit, but the force of it still sent him slamming through several tables and into a pillar.
"You're a lot better at fighting hand-to-hand than I would've thought," said the Fire Dragon casually standing back up. Despite the damage to the building, neither of them had shed even a single drop of blood.
"Just as I thought," went Zeref, visually appraising his brother. "The power of Igneel has vanished. You can no longer kill me."
"I've still got my own power!" retorted Natsu, activating Fire Dragon King Mode. However, the Black Mage could tell that the ensuing flames were not enough to kill him. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
The Fairy threw his left arm at Zeref. The Black Mage stepped to the side, avoiding the swing, only to be surprised when Natsu extinguished the flames and grabbed his older brother's wrist instead. The dragon then punched with his right hand, letting out a 'hyah!' as his flaming fist struck Zeref's free arm (which was in a defensive position) and knocked him back.
Fortunately for the Black Mage, he was able press his feet against the ground, the friction halting his backward motion. Then, to Natsu's surprise, his older brother let out a chuckle.
"This is fun, Natsu," said Zeref, confusing his younger sibling. As he spoke, the Black Mage rubbed the arm that Natsu had struck. Blood dripped from the point of impact, and the area had varying degrees of burns.
"His flames might not be enough to kill me, but it seems they can still cause lasting damage," mused the Dark Mage. "Unless I take you down here and now, humanity has no future. So why is this so much fun? Perhaps this is part of my Curse of Contradiction. I don't really understand how I feel."
"You talk too much," replied the dragon, disgusted. He might enjoy fighting, but he would never find a battle fun when lives were at stake — after the danger was gone, sure, but never during it. To him, this was evidence of just how warped his brother's mind had become.
Their conversation halted, though, when they both felt the surge of a very large and ominous Magic Power; Acnologia.
"…It seems that time is up," stated Zeref, sighing. "Natsu, I cannot afford to play with you any longer. For me, this is my final chance. Lay down your life, so that I may activate Neo Eclipse. For the sake of all humanity."
Going back a few minutes, Acnologia finally turned away from Irene's corpse to look at Erza.
"You have a scent similar to that woman," observed the Black Dragon, appraising her. "Was she the source of the Dragonization that led me here? No, she isn't even a dragon slayer."
"Irene's my mother," responded the Fairy. "Stop desecrating her body."
The Black Dragon dismissed Erza, shifting his attention to Wendy and widen his eyes is shock.
"A dragon?" he said, incredulous. "A tiny brat like you was the one I sensed undergoing Dragonization?"
Acnologia brushed off his surprise quickly, though. He gathered up power in his sole arm, then fired it at the Fairies. Not fully recovered from the battle with Irene, they were unable to dodge or counterattack against the Black Dragon's spell.
Fortunately for them, backup arrived at that moment in the form of Jellal. The Independent Mage moved between the Fairies and Acnologia, creating a hexagon-patterned barrier that blocked the attack.
"Heavenly Body Magic…" began Jellal, dropping his barrier as soon as the Black Dragon's spell ended. Aware of the danger he faced, Jellal didn't even spare Erza and Wendy a glance as he concentrated entirely on Acnologia. "…Pleiades!"
Six beams of light shot down from the sky at the Black Dragon. Acnologia dodged all of them, only to find the Independent Mage appearing in front of him with another spell ready.
"Jiu Leixing!"
Nine swords of lightning, positioned around Jellal, shot at the Black Dragon. When they collided with Acnologia, their explosive force blasting him back.
"You will be judged by the Seven Stars!" shouted the Independent Mage, refusing to let up his assault until the enemy was dead. "Grand Chariot!"
The spell's signature pattern appeared for a moment, followed by an intense beam of light that engulfed the Black Dragon. Yet he only laughed.
"He's eating…"
"The magic…!?"
"Wh-What kind of trait does he have?"
Jellal, Erza, and Wendy watched in horror as Acnologia devoured the Independent Mage's spell. Once the Black Dragon finished, he answered the Sky Dragon's question.
"Trait? I don't have one. I am the Final Dragon… the Ultimate Dragon who devours all magic…" Magic Power radiated from Acnologia's body as he transformed into his true draconic form. "I AM THE DRAGON OF MAGIC, ACNOLOGIA!"
"Neo Eclipse?" repeated Natsu.
"Unlike the original Eclipse Gate, I will not go to the past or future," answered Zeref. "I will reset time, remaking the world. I'll return to who I was before I became an immortal! No one will be hurt! And Acnologia will be dead! What more of a happy ending could you ask for!?"
"And what about all of us in the current world!?" demanded Natsu.
"Who knows?" said Zeref nonchalantly. "After all, this won't be my world anymore."
Fury welled up in the Fairy at his brother's callous, selfish attitude. He unleashed a Fire Dragon's Roar, yelling at the Black Mage as he did so.
"You bastard! All of us here are gritting our teeth and fighting to live in this world! How dares you trample over all of that by wiping away our efforts!"
Using his Anhkseram Black Magic, Zeref created a barrier made of the same energy that surged from his body whenever his Curse activated. However, the Dragon's flames made the barrier crack, and few small blazes made it through to singe the Black Mage.
"So what?" replied Zeref coldly, dropping the barrier as Natsu's attack ended. The Fairy charged at him, reengaging in close combat. As the Black Mage fought back, he continued to speak. "Does it really matter if I trample over their efforts when Acnologia is going to kill everyone anyways? Even Igneel, the great Fire Dragon King, was unable to kill the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse. Or do you actually believe that you can beat him?"
Zeref landed a heavy blow to Natsu's stomach, causing his younger brother to wheeze. But when he tried to pull his arm back, the Fire Dragon grabbed onto it with both hands.
"Of course not," stated Natsu bluntly. The Black Mage, struggling unsuccessfully to shake his arm free, gave him a puzzled look. "But I do I believe that me, everyone at Fairy Tail, and all of our allies can defeat Acnologia if we work together!"
As the Fairy said 'together,' he pulled on Zeref's arm and delivered a fiery headbutt to his brother's skull. The blow made the Black Mage stumble backward and rub his aching forehead.
"Wait a second…" muttered Natsu, having a realization as Zeref recovered. "We were born hundreds of years before the others! You're not just erasing our lives… Neo Eclipse will make it so that our kids never exist! How can you do that to your family!?"
After Acnologia revealed that he could eat all types of magic, Jellal, Erza, and Wendy felt a sense of despair. Of the three, the younger Fairy was the quickest to recover.
"I-I have to… do my part…" forced out Wendy, resisting her fear. "Because I… am a dragon!"
The girl began to shift to her Dragon Form, feathers spreading across her body as it grew and elongated. She knew that fighting the Black Dragon would only end in her death, yet the Fairy still chose to act so that she could buy everyone else even a little more time.
"Stop! Wendy, no!" shouted Erza, remembering the Sky Dragon's defeat at the hands of Irene.
"We've got to retreat!" yelled Jellal. After failing to even harm the Black Dragon, the Independent Mage had realized how badly outmatched they were.
Acnologia drew back his arm, preparing to unleash another attack on Wendy while she was transforming. Miraculously, his strike was stopped again, this time by Blue Pegasus's Magic Bomber: Christina. The ship rammed into the unsuspecting dragon, knocking him down for a few seconds.
The Fiore Mages stared at the airship in shock, with Wendy reverting to her human form due to a loss of concentration. They didn't snap out of it until a door on the ship's side opened and Ichiya came out, rushing them onboard. And, as they entered the ship, the Pegasus explained his guild's plan.
"If we can use Christina to lure Acnologia to a certain place, we may have a chance to beat him!" proclaimed Ichiya. While he spoke, the airship began to fly toward its destination. Acnologia, wanting to destroy Christina and the Sky Dragon aboard, took to the sky and pursued it.
"What!?" exclaimed Erza and Jellal in response to Ichiya's claim (Wendy was too motion sick to speak). "Is that true!?"
A woman that neither the red-haired Fairy nor the Independent Mage recognized walked over to them. Ichiya turned to face the woman and spoke.
"Can you confirm that?" asked Ichiya.
"Yes.," replied the woman, her voice holding so much conviction that nobody could doubt the veracity of her claim.
"'My family'?" echoed Zeref sarcastically. "My Curse didn't allow me to have a family. I did my best, you know. I strived to build a family like your guild! To attain happiness!"
The energy left his voice, leaving only sadness. Although the Black Mage had forgotten the value of life, he still remembered the pain of loss.
"But if I ever love somebody, my body kills that person," continued Zeref, recalling the countless victims of his Curse. A certain illusionist Fairy, in particular, came to mind. "It destroys any happiness I find."
Natsu approached his brother, grabbing the Black Mage's collar before shouting in his face.
"Family's not like that! It's got nothing to do with what is or isn't allowed! You made your own happiness! That's what family is about!"
Memories of his own family passed through Natsu's mind as he spoke. Igneel. Fairy Tail. Happy. Millianna. Blaze and Iggy.
"If you're going to insist you don't have a family…" started Natsu, furious. The very idea of rejecting was incompatible with the Dragon's beliefs and values. "…then what little bond we have ends here, big brother!"
Natsu had not been holding back against Zeref. The Fairy had been fighting to kill, for the sake of all those dear to him. However, up until this point, Natsu had been prepared to mourn his brother after Zeref died.
Now, the Fire Dragon just wanted to incinerate the Black Mage. His brother was already long dead.
"Strange, isn't it?" said Zeref as he slapped Natsu's arm off of his collar. "That there was ever a bond between us."
The Black Mage knew for a fact that he had felt something toward his younger brother. After all, if there wasn't, then the Fairy's declaration wouldn't have further increased the rage that had been building in Zeref since their conversation turned to the subject of family.
The two Dragneels prepared to resume their fight. A shroud of flames coated the dragon's body, and the Black Mage emitted his malevolent power.
Except, before they could cast a spell, they were interrupted by a new arrival at the guild hall.
"Zeref!" yelled Mavis, announcing her presence to the Black Mage. "For my plan to defeat him, I'll have to bet everything I have!"
"Mavis?" exclaimed Zeref, smirking after a moment of surprise. "Now all the pieces of Neo Eclipse are here!"
Omake
"You know, I get why Jellal felt the need to check on Erza after seeing her jump into the sky to destroy a meteor, but I can't help feeling like he ditched us," complained Meredy.
She said this to Ultear as the two of them casually defeated a small group of Berserker soldiers. The three founding members of Crime Sorcière had been fighting alongside one another before Jellal's sudden departure.
"I agree," replied Ultear, smirking sadistically. "We should scold him for rushing off to see Erza later, in front of the rest of the guild. While we're at it, we can also ask if he took the opportunity to confess his undying love for her. Hehehe…"
Meredy looked at the chuckling Ultear fearfully, silently apologizing to Jellal for unintentionally giving her guildmate the idea to tease him. Elsewhere, the mage in question felt a chill run down his spine that was completely unrelated to the Black Dragon he was currently dealing with.
AN: I feel like I kind of forgot about Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy between the Hargeon Town battle and now. I mentioned other members of Crime Sorcière, but I didn't even think about those three as I did so. It's a little embarrassing, though admittedly not that much.
That is all. Goodbye for now!