"Natsu's up!" Happy shouted with excitement.
"Natsu, you're gonna win, right?" Lucy asked.
"Of course! I have to!" Natsu nodded, grinning. "I'm gonna win too!" Natsu hopped into the center arena. "I won't let everyone's victories be all for nothing!"
"You ready, Tak?" Reve asked, patting the Shadow Dragon Slayer's back a few times.
"Of course," Takeru responded, shoving Reve's hand away. "Don't touch me either." Take then morphed into a shadow, appearing in the center of the arena, just a few feet away from Natsu.
"Natsu-san's up…" Sting said quietly.
"Knowing Natsu, this is going to be a good fight," Cynthia nodded, grinning slightly.
"Natsu-san has a strong opponent, from what I've heard…" Wendy replied. "I heard Natsu-san barely won against Takeru-san the first time they fought…"
"That was then!" Natsu shouted from over his shoulder. "He's not winning this time either!" Natsu said as he turned to face Takeru, a confident smile on his face.
"It's about time we had a rematch," Takeru said, his cold expression remaining on his face.
"Yeah!" Natsu pounded his fist into an open palm, grinning widely. "Though, the result is going to be the same. Especially since Fairy Tail's reputation is on the line!"
"We'll see about that, won't we?" Takeru replied, choosing not to waste any more time. "Shadow Drive…" Takeru's body gave off a black aura before he turned into a shadow, using the stat boost from the Shadow Drive to zig zag towards Natsu, attempting to throw him off.
"I remember this from last time…" Natsu thought to himself, remembering him and Takeru's little skirmish in the woods when they were assigned to take out the dark mages. "Smell…touch…hearing…" Natsu "followed" Takeru with his eyes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Takeru appeared behind Natsu, and that's when he found his chance to strike. Natsu turned around with a fist engulfed in flames, and swung it at Takeru's face, landing a direct hit, causing Takeru to stumble back. "That's not going to work on me twice!"
"Tch!" Takeru shook off the impact, rushing towards Natsu once again, using his Shadow Drive to his advantage as he started to use an erratic fighting style against Natsu, moving from side to side to confuse his opponent.
"Hn…" Natsu looked around, unable to follow Takeru's movements with his hearing or smell. "Stand still!" Natsu threw a wild punch at Takeru's body, but he missed due to Takeru's erratic movement. "Damn!" By the time Natsu turned around. Takeru struck Natsu with a kick to the side, causing the Fire Dragon to jump back, holding his side slightly. "Grr…"
"Come on, Dragneel," Takeru said in a mocking tone, circling around Natsu in a clockwise direction.
"I got you now!" Natsu threw a flaming kick at Takeru, thinking he found an opening, but Takeru shifted directions, now moving in a counter clockwise direction. "Damn it! Hold still!"
"In your dreams!" Takeru appeared in front of Natsu, swinging his head for a harsh head but which caused Natsu to yelp, holding his head as he stepped back a few feet.
"Heh, Tak's pretty serious about this…" Reve smirked as Tak was dominating Natsu in the hand to hand combat.
"Well, he lost once, and I'm sure he doesn't want to lose now," Luke replied.
"Come on, Natsu-san! You can beat that Rogue faker!" Sting shouted.
"Faker…?" Rouge blinked a few times.
"This battle is just getting started…" Mavis said quietly, observing Takeru's serious attitude. She then averted her eyes to Sidney, who was again looking in her general direction, causing her to fall back. "WAHH!"
"W-What now!?" Cynthia asked the First Master.
"H-He saw me again!" Mavis flailed around.
"Oi…" Gray sighed.
Eventually, Natsu noticed that Takeru wasn't using any particular strategy in this particular phase, so Natsu did the one thing that came to mind; he swung his leg wildly, not aiming for Takeru in particular. Luckily, this wild plan worked as Natsu landed a direct hit on Takeru's stomach, causing the Shadow Dragon Slayer to stumble back a few feet, leaving an opening. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Flames engulfed Natsu's right and left hand as he swung it forward, landing two powerful punches on Takeru's body before he decided to fight back.
"Shadow Dragon's Claw!" Shadows engulfed Takeru's fist as Natsu swung a third punch. Takeru shifted his body to the left, avoiding the fist, and then swung his shadow covered fist at Natsu's face, landing a direct hit.
"Gwah!" Natsu jumped back, allowing fire to trail from his hands. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu aimed his arms at Takeru, throwing them forward as a trail of fire rushed towards Takeru.
"Shadow Dragon's Hide!" Takeru formed a weak barrier of shadows in front of him; the shadow shield wasn't enough to fully negate the Fire Dragon's Wing Slash, but it was enough so he wouldn't take serious damage from the attack as he slid back, placing his hands on the ground to halt his movement. Takeru then took a deep breath, his cheeks puffing out. "Shadow Dragon's Roar!" Takeru opened his mouth as he threw his head forward, unleashing a shadow vortex towards Natsu.
"Natsu-san, look out!" Wendy shouted.
"Gah!" Natsu crossed his arms as the Shadow Dragon's Roar impacted him, causing him to slide back across the ground. "Is that all you've got!?" Natsu asked with a smirk, his own cheeks puffing out. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu unleashed a near point blank roar towards Takeru, who's only option was to cover his arms, taking the blunt of the attack as he slid back, his arms slightly charred from the attack. "Talons!" Natsu jumped up, his foot engulfed in flames as he swung it down on Takeru's head.
"Not even," Takeru replied as he crossed his arms over his head, successfully blocking Natsu's kick, causing Natsu to backflip to gain some distance, landing on the ground a few feet away from Takeru. Takeru then rushed Natsu, swinging skillful combination of punches and kicks all aimed at Natsu's midsection. Natsu was able to block a few of the punches while the others slipped past his defenses. Natsu then blocked Takeru's incoming kick with his forearm, and then swung a wild head but at Takeru, causing Takeru to stumble back a few feet. Natsu used this opportunity to jump into the air, forming a large ball of fire in his hands.
"Dazzling Blaze of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu threw the large ball of fire towards the off guard Takeru, landing a near direct hit as the ball of fire exploded near Takeru, blowing him back.
"Gah!" Takeru landed on his back from the fiery explosion, but he hopped up quickly, throwing off his burnt jacket. "Shadow Dragon's Spike!" Takeru's shadow spread across the ground, nearly covering the entire arena within seconds as spike shot up from the ground, dealing moderate damage to Natsu, who jumped up into the air to escape. The shadow's faded, and Natsu landed back on the ground, wobbling just a little bit since his legs were hit by the attack.
"Natsu…!" Lucy noticed that Natsu's legs were struck, and begun to fear that it would hinder his fighting ability.
"This fight's already good…" Sting said quietly, admiring how Natsu didn't think twice to keep moving.
"Are we done sizing each other up?" Natsu asked with a slight smirk, using the back of his hand to rub the corner of his mouth.
"Oh, I thought you were giving it your all," Takeru smirked slightly, standing up straight, cracking his neck and knuckles.
"They're just warming up!?" Cynthia gasped, her eyes widening.
"This battle is about to get hella wild," Bacchus smirked slightly.
"Come on, Natsu!" Lisanna shouted from the stands. "You can do it!"
"Heh," Natsu smirked, red magical energy flowing from his body. "Let's do this. Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu lunged forward, his body off the ground as flames surrounded his body, ramming his head into Takeru's midsection. Takeru's eyes widened from the blow, but instead of flying back like most normally do, he dug his feet into the ground for leverage as Natsu pushed him back a fourth of the arena's total area. Right as the flames vanished from Natsu's body; Takeru raised an elbow and slammed it into Natsu's spine, forcing the Fire Dragon into the ground. "WAH!"
"Mine," Takeru grabbed Natsu by his vest, pivoting on his right foot and hurled him into the air. "Shadow Dragon's…" Takeru puffed his cheeks out, waiting for Natsu to land in the perfect position. "Roar!" Takeru unleashed the roar at a forty five degree angle, striking Natsu directly, causing a small explosion to form once the hit landed.
"Natsu!" Happy shouted.
Natsu landed on the ground on his feet, running forward while fire trailed behind his hands. "Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!" Natsu swiped both of his arms sideways, creating a wall of fire in front of Takeru.
"What?" Takeru was unable to see beyond the minor wall of fire Natsu formed. It was a fake out. Unfortunately for Takeru, he didn't realize this until it was too late, Natsu landed a spinning flaming roundhouse to the side of Takeru's head, causing Takeru to fly to the side as the wall of flames vanished. Takeru spun around for a bit in the air before catching himself and landing on the ground, shaking his head to shake off the impact.
"Talons!" Natsu swung his leg at the disorientated Takeru, but Takeru managed to bring his forearm up in time, blocking the kick, and wincing just slightly from the burn. "Fire Dragon's…" Natsu used this close range opportunity to puff his cheeks out. "Roar!" Natsu unleashed a powerful funnel of fire at point blank range, the breath consuming Takeru as he let out a groan of pain. When Natsu stopped his attack, he jumped back, panting just slightly. Takeru lunged at Natsu immediately with a shadow katana in his hands, swinging it skillfully at Natsu. "Whoa…!" Natsu suddenly found himself on the defensive as Takeru's shadow katana cut through his long sleeve, almost cutting right through his arm as well.
"I'll make this quick, Dragneel!" Takeru shouted, letting out a "YAH!" Every time he swung his blade. Natsu was unable to fully dodge all of the swings, as a few of Takeru's swings managed to cut his vest, his right arm, and his stomach, nothing too serious as Natsu finally spotted an opening, ducking low as Takeru swung horizontally, just cutting off one of Natsu's pink hairs.
"Got'cha!" Natsu forced his fist into Takeru's stomach, winding Takeru as Natsu sprang up, delivering a harsh uppercut to Takeru's jaw, sending Takeru back, and landing on his feet slightly.
"Grr…I'm done playing around…White Shadow Mode…" Half of Takeru's body covered itself in jet black darkness, the other half of his body retaining its original look.
"Heh, just what I was waiting for…" Natsu grinned as fire and lightning started to surround his body. "Lightning Flame Mode! I'm all fired up! Let's go!"
"Lightning Flame…?" Sting's eyes widened. "Was this the power Natsu didn't use against us…"
"This looks like it's about to get messy…" Heather said calmly.
"You have nooo idea…" Luke shook his head.
"White…Shadow?" Rogue looked on curiously, remembering that Natsu told him that Future Rouge had this very same mode.
Takeru pointed his arm forward, his palm open as a white sphere began to form in his hands. "Holy Blast," Takeru said, shooting the sphere of white energy at Natsu.
Natsu crossed his arms, taking the full force of the Holy Blast as the raw power of the attack sent him skidding across the ground a few feet. "My turn!" Natsu jumped into the air, a ball of fire in one hand, and a ball of electricity in the other. "Dazzling Blaze…" Natsu placed his arms together, merging the two spheres in a ball of lightning and fire. "Of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu hurled the sphere over his head and towards Takeru.
Takeru crossed his arms at the powerful sphere of lightning and fire slammed into him, causing him to fly back across the arena before catching himself, a black and white magic circle appearing in front of him. "White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk," Thin beams of shadow and light shot out from the magic circle and towards Natsu at an alarming velocity.
"WARGH!" Natsu attempted to dodge the incoming hairline thin beams as they rushed towards him. He shifted his body all around, but one beam struck his shoulder, another his leg and a third struck the left side of his chest, causing Natsu to tumbled, wincing noticeably from the pain all over his body. "D-Damn…"
Takeru then formed a ball of white energy in his left arm, and a ball of shadows in his right, merging them together in a chestnut sized ball. "White Shadow Dragon's Bomb!" Takeru hurled the sphere forward towards the downed Natsu.
"Natsu, lookout!" Lucy shouted.
"Heh…" Natsu didn't stay down; he stood up as fire and lightning trailed from his arms. "Wing Slash of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" He swung his arms sideways, unleashing fire and lightning into the White Shadow Bomb, causing a large explosion that towered from the arena. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu covered himself in fire and lightning once more, aiming head first for Takeru.
"Roar…" Takeru opened his mouth, a vortex of white and shadow energy forming as Natsu neared him. "Of the White Shadow Dragon…" Takeru through his head forward, unleashing a vortex of black and white energy that slammed into Natsu...however Natsu's attack cut right through Takeru's dual roar.
"YAAAH!" Natsu eventually reached Takeru, slamming into his stomach with intense velocity, forcing Takeru into the wall, out of his White Shadow Mode.
"T-Tak!" Aira shouted.
"Did he get him!?" Gray asked, looking over at Takeru who was stuck in the wall.
"Heh…that's two…" Natsu turned around, falling to a knee shortly after.
"Natsu…!" Happy grinned, despite Natsu's injuries, it seemed as though he came out on top.
"He took a lot of damage from that roar…" Mavis said quietly, relived with the fact that Natsu did in fact come out on top.
"That makes the score nine to eight now! We're winning!" Cynthia grinned.
"Hm…" Gildarts eyed Takeru carefully.
Takeru didn't say a word; instead, his body turned completely black as he stood up, the only thing visible was his purple eyes, and two jet black wings sprouted from his back. "Oh…this should be good…" Arc smirked slightly.
"Natsu-san, turn around!" Sting shouted, jumping from his seat.
"What…?" Natsu turned around, just in time to receive a powerful punch from Takeru, flying into the ground, sliding across it unwillingly on his back before hopping up, immediately going into his lightning flame mode once again. "W-What the…!?"
"Darkness Shadow Mode…" Takeru smirked. "I won't lose to you again, Natsu Dragneel!" Takeru used his wings, flying towards Natsu with great speed, stopping just in front of him and landed a fast roundhouse to Natsu's head, throwing him over to the side.
"W-What is that!?" Lucy's eyes widened as Takeru started to dominate Natsu in combat, throwing him all over the place.
"Dragon Slayers can get THAT!?" Cynthia asked with a surprised voice.
"I've never seen that before in my life…!" Wendy gasped.
"Kehehe…" Arc grinned, letting his teeth show. "He got that power from me…the Darkness Demon Slayer…Glad to see he's putting it to good use now…" Arc said.
"He's got this in the bag now," Reve said with a large grin.
"Talons!" Natsu swung a lightning and fire infused kick at Takeru, who easily blocked it with his forearm, but he winced, the damage from before catching up to him quickly. He knew Natsu was heavily damage as well, so this battle had to end quickly before one of them went down. "Iron Fist of the Lightning Flame Dragon!" Natsu swung another lightning and fire coated fist at Takeru, this time at his face, landing the direct hit as Takeru stood a step back, almost losing his balance.
"This isn't good…" Erza said. "Natsu's used up a lot of magical energy, and his damage is catching up to him…he's going to fall soon if he doesn't' wrap this up…"
"Natsu can win this!" Happy shouted. "C'mon Natsu! Do it for the fish!"
"What fish…?" Cynthia blinked. Happy's stomach rumbled a few seconds after.
"Oh…that kinda happens when I'm hungry…haha…" Happy laughed nervously before looking back at the fight, cheering Natsu on.
Natsu landed a powerful lightning and fire hammer fist with Takeru's chin, Takeru landed a powerful punch across Natsu's jaw, sending him back, Natsu landed a heavy fire and lighting axe kick to Takeru's head. By the end of the intense close combat, both combatants were panting heavily, feeling their injuries starting to take their toll. Natsu fell to both of his knees, using his hands to keep himself up as he panted heavily. "I'm not…done yet…" Natsu said through heavy breaths.
"I'm not…done either…" Takeru said through every pant, slowly standing up straight. "I won't…fall…until you've been defeated…Darkness Shadow Dragon's…" Takeru winced as he spoke, gathering nothing but pitch black darkness into a vortex in his mouth. "I will defeat him…in the name of White Eclipse!" Takeru thought this as he gathered every drop of magical energy he could muster.
Somehow, Natsu could tell what Takeru was thinking. Maybe it was the expression on his face. "You know, Takeru…" Natsu stood up straight as he saw Takeru charging his roar. "I know you wanna win for your guild, but there's one thing you should've thought about when taking us one…Fairy Tail is number one, and we always will be…" Natsu stood tall, stood proud as he covered himself in flame and lightning once again, using that energy to propel himself forward. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Sword Horn!"
"Roar!" Takeru released a pitch black roar towards Natsu, a repeat of what happened earlier happening now, only this time Natsu clashed with the roar head on, the two fighting for dominance.
"Levy…Lisanna…Gajeel…Elfman…" Natsu said these names out loud, making sure the ones who were no longer in the battle for number one could hear you. "As long as I can fight…your losses won't be in vain!" With a loud shout, Natsu cut through Takeru's Darkness Shadow Dragon's roar with the upmost difficulty, ramming into Takeru's stomach once again, a large explosion occurring, kicking up a large dust cloud and fierce wings.
"W-What happened…!?" Cynthia shouted.
"I don't know…!" Lucy shielded her eyes from the wind which slowly died down. When the smoke cleared...Natsu was the one left standing, while Takeru was on the ground. "NATSU!"
"Tak...!" The mages of White Eclipse exclaimed.
"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Natsu let out a roar of victory. He was the one who was the last man standing. And then...he collasped as well.
"What...!?" Gray gasped. "Hey, Natsu!"
"Natsu..." Erza said softly.
"T-They tied…!?" Nami gasped.
"That son of a…" Reve clenched his teeth, he gave Salamander too little credit for this battle. Takeru and Natsu's images X'ed out on the screen, making the score eight to eight. Heather, Luke, Reve, Cygnus, Zalen, Jack, Jaxon and Sidney vs. Lucy, Juvia, Cana, Erza, Gray, Cynthia, Wendy, and Gildarts.
"That fight was pretty damn WILD if you ask me!" Bacchus blurted out as Natsu and Takeru were dragged to their respective side's infirmary.
"Things are getting pretty close…" Mavis said in a serious tone. "Something bothers me though…"
"And what's that?" Laxus asked.
"That Heather girl…" Mavis eyed Heather carefully, Heather unaware of this. "I have no idea what that Heather girl can do…"
"Heather…?" Lucy looked over at Heather. "Come to think of it…I've never even seen that girl before…yet I see her White Eclipse mark…"
"Do you think she was a new addition…?" Gray looked over at Lucy.
"I don't know…But there's a reason they were so excited with she was selected…" Lucy responded, placing one of her hands on her skirt.
"With only eight of them left, I think we'll be finding out what she can do soon…" Mavis nodded slowly. "Good luck; Fairy Tail…this battle is only just beginning." Mavis kept her eyes on Heather, who was fixing her blonde hair without a care in the world.