A/N: Episode 257.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT: WINGS OF DESPAIR

Ezekiel charged forward with his sword raised in the air. "I swear I'll stop you!" He declared.

"You're too late." Kyoka said.

"There's still time!" Ezekiel shouted, slashing his sword as Kyoka blocked it.

"Ezek...iel..." Mira muttered.

Ezekiel and Kyoka were battling it out as Minerva, Erza, and the Exceeds watched anxiously. Kyoka struck her claw at Ezekiel, causing him to get sent back as he dodged an attack from Kyoka.

Ezekiel then struck a kick at Kyoka, sending her rolling on the ground before Ezekiel sent a slash at her. The two had a stare off as Kyoka grits her teeth.

"Impressive." Minerva complimented.

"Fro thinks so, too!" Frosch agreed.

Mira smiled weakly before she winced in pain. "Mira, are you okay?!" Happy questioned worriedly.

"Yes..." Mira responded.

"Come to think of it, weren't you with Lisanna?" Erza asked.

"We ran into a little trouble." Mira replied.

"Trouble?" Lector repeated.

"What the...?!" Elfman questioned as he was holding onto Mira and Lisanna.

"What happened?" Lisanna asked.

Mira opened her eyes. "Hey! Over there!" Jet called out suddenly.

"The enemy!" Droy exclaimed.

Multiple Lummy's soon appeared. "What the heck..." Jet started to say.

"...are they?!" Droy finished.

"What are they laughing about?" Warren questioned.

"How many are there?!" Elfman asked.

"They're annoying..."

One of the Lummy's attacked Jet and Droy.

"Ow!"

"Are there any hot guys in your guild?" Lummy asked Warren.

"Look right in front of you." Warren pointed to himself.

"Was she mass-produced?" Elfman wondered, standing up.

Seilah stood up in the midst of the chaos and left.

"This girl..." Mira started to say.

Elfman and Lisanna kicked the multiple Lummy's out of the way.

"Leave this to us!" Lisanna informed.

"Go after her, Sis!" Elfman added, referring to Seilah.

"Will she be okay?" Lily questioned.

"Jet, Droy, and Warren are there, too." Mira responded.

"Why are we putting a lot of stock in those three?" Happy asked.

Ezekiel held his sword up, making Kyoka chuckle. "There you go, Ezekiel. As I thought, you are like me." Kyoka claimed.

"What the...?" Ezekiel suddenly said, hearing a sound in the distance.

"What is this?!" Minerva questioned.

"What's that noise?" Happy wondered.

"Lector..." Frosch muttered.

"I-It's okay." Lector tried to reassure him.

"I got a bad feeling..." Jim mumbled to himself.

"Yeah." Bruno agreed.

"What the hell is going on?!" Franmalth asked.

Doranbolt breathed heavily as he had teleported Wendy and Carla. "Are you all right, Doranbolt-san?" Wendy questioned in concern.

"Yeah." Doranbolt answered.

"That cube thing broke into pieces and crashed to the ground." Carla noticed.

"Everyone's still inside!" Wendy informed. "Warren-san, too... He must... be..."

Wendy suddenly collapsed to the ground, getting Carla and Doranbolt's attention.

"Wendy?!" Carla exclaimed.

Wendy began to pulsate violently.

"Wendy! Hold on! What's wrong?!" Carla asked.

"Wendy!" Doranbolt shouted before he noticed the strange sound. "What's that sound?"

Laxus was knocked out as his head rested on Juvia's lap. Akame touched his hands to his face. "He needs immediate medical treatment." He informed.

"Huh? This is something you can't fix?" Zack questioned.

"'Fraid not." Akame responded.

"Damn you, Laxus. You overdid it." Natsu claimed.

"But thanks to that, we have this." Gajeel raised Laxus's coat in the air.

"Demon's blood..."

"Take this to old lady Porlyusica, Levy." Gajeel said.

Levy nodded. "Okay. Laxus and the others can be healed with this, right?" She asked, taking Laxus's coat.

"Um... Where is Gray-sama?" Juvia questioned.

"He became incredibly powerful." Gajeel answered.

"Incredibly?" Natsu quoted.

"Yeah. He's different now. It was like the Ice Magic was rippling right under his skin." Gajeel said, recalling what had happened.

"Anti-Magic particles?!"

Juvia recalled what happened after she defeated Keyes.

"I'm sorry Gray-sama. I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It's better this way. Thank you."

"Gray's father..."

"I can finally go to heaven, thanks to you. And you stopped Face's activation."

"Juvia is..."

"Don't say anything. Take care of Gray."

"I wonder what happened." Lucy said, looking at Natsu.

Zack looked towards Gajeel. "You said he became powerful, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Do you know what happened to Gray-sama?" Juvia asked.

"I've only heard rumors. But if what Gajeel said is true, it's possible Gray could help us win this entire thing." Zack replied.

"Well, he went off somewhere right away." Gajeel stated as Natsu stood up.

"I see..."

"What do we do now?" Lucy questioned as Natsu sat back down.

Natsu suddenly widened his eyes. "What's wrong, Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"I bet he doesn't like to hear that the ice bastard suddenly powered up." Gajeel replied, making Akame snort in amusement.

Natsu's body started to shake. "Gajeel... Can't you hear it?" He questioned.

"Huh?"

Natsu turned around, a horrified look on his face. "That voice..." He muttered. Gajeel then widened his eyes.

"What?"

The ground soon began to tremble.

The trembling of the ground soon got Sting, Rogue, and Dusk's attention. "This is..." Mard Geer mumbled to himself.

"Sting... Rogue... You heard that too, right?" Dusk asked, making sure he wasn't hearing things.

"What the hell is it?!" Sting wondered.

"A voice?" Rogue questioned.

"This is unforeseen. It's coming..." Mard Geer muttered.

The noise got the rest of the Fairy Tail members attention.

"Was this mighty 'demon' lured here?" Mard Geer wondered. "Or has it come in pursuit of Zeref?"

"That voice! I'd never forget it!" Natsu exclaimed.

Acnologia soon appeared in the sky.

"Acnologia!"

Somewhere else, a firey volcano exploded, revealing Igneel.

"Then the time has come?"

Acnologia continued to fly through the air as he fired a large blue blast from his mouth, causing multiple explosions.

"It's Acnologia!" Cana exclaimed.

"What?!" Romeo said.

"Acnologia! That... thing?!" Wakaba asked.

"It blew up Tenroujima Island!" Macao recalled.

"Founder! Help us!"

"That despair... is coming for us... again..." Cana muttered.

"Acnologia..." Erza mumbled.

"What?!" Kyoka said.

"Wendy! Wake up! What's wrong?! Wendy!" Carla yelled as Wendy continued pulsating.

Carla looked up at Doranbolt. "It can't be..." He muttered to himself.

"It's coming!"

Natsu, Gajeel, Akame, and Zack began to pulsate violently.

"Natsu?" Lucy questioned in concern, crawling over to him. "Hey. Are you okay? Natsu... Hot!"

"Gajeel, too!" Levy informed.

"As well as Akame-sama and Zack-sama!" Hana added.

"The Dragon Slayers are reacting to Acnologia?" Juvia questioned.

"Natsu... Gajeel... Akame... Zack!" Lucy exclaimed.

Somewhere in the mountains, Quartz collapsed to his knees as he was hunched over and began to pulsate. He clenched onto his chest as if he was in pain.

"Quartz!" Peridot exclaimed, grabbing Jellal, Meredy, Daisuke, and the former Oracion Seis's attention.

"What happened?" Jellal asked.

"I don't know! He suddenly dropped to the ground all of a sudden!" Peridot replied.

"Was he attacked? I didn't hear anything sneak up behind us!" Cobra said.

"Hey, Quartz! Can you hear me?" Daisuke questioned as Quartz was breathing heavily.

Sting, Rogue, and Dusk were also pulsating violently, clenching onto their chests as well.

"This is..."

"What's going to happen? Even I can't tell." Mard Geer commented.

Acnologia soon fired another blue blast, making more explosions as he then roared loudly.

"Here it comes!" Lisanna warned.

"That's Acnologia?!" Warren exclaimed.

"Are we gonna die?!" Jet questioned.

"Don't give up! We can't give up!" Elfman declared.

"Run!"

"We can't all gather together!"

"Carry Freed and the others!"

"Scatter as much as possible!"

"Crap..."

Acnologia created more explosions, roaring once again as some Fairy Tail Mages flew in the air due to the impact.

"I don't believe this!"

"This impact is just from the thing circling around?!"

"Is this the end of the line?" Macao wondered.

"We're goners!" Vijeeter exclaimed.

"What did we do to deserve this?!" Cana tears up. "Dammit!"

"I see. It's after END." Mard Geer said as Acnologia continued to cause destruction. "Is it afraid of END? Has it come to destroy that before making its comeback? Interesting."

Acnologia got ready to fire another breath attack.

Natsu, Gajeel, Akame, and Zack continued pulsating violently as Natsu soon heard a voice.

"Natsu..."

Natsu widened his eyes.

"It seems the time has come."

Natsu gasped. "Igneel!" He exclaimed.

"I have faith that you can defeat END."

"Igneel! Why can I hear Igneel's voice?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Natsu?" Levy asked.

"What's wrong with Natsu-san?" Juvia questioned.

"I will do something about Acnologia."

A bright yellow light soon appeared from Natsu's body, making Lucy widen her eyes.

"Dad... Why did you leave?!" A younger Natsu shouted.

Natsu continued clenching his chest tightly.

"Maybe Igneel is still in this area!"

"I wonder if Dad is doing well..."

Natsu let out a scream as the intense heat shoved Lucy, Levy, Juvia, and Hana back a few feet while Gajeel, Akame, and Zack just watched.

"I apologize for everything, Natsu."

Igneel soon appeared from Natsu's body.

"I've been inside of you all this time." Igneel revealed. "This isn't the time to tell you everything. First I have to get rid of Acnologia!"

Igneel flew up in the air, slamming his head into Acnologia.

"Live, Natsu!"

Igneel let out a roar as Acnologia roared back before the two dragons crashed into each other.

"Is this... a dream?" Juvia wondered.

Igneel and Acnologia continued ramming into each other as Natsu watched.

"Dad..." Natsu choked out, tears streaming down his face.

A/N: Igneel finally arrives!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.