Chapter Two: Phantom verses Dragon.
The battle had quieted down after Natsu's loud declaration to Phantom Lord, everyone of the combatants silenced, waiting for what the reaction would be.
"You brats honestly think you can beat us?! Just because you broke my Jupiter Cannon does not mean you are better then us!" Jose yelled out.
"Just shut up!" Natsu yelled back out.
"I am coming for you Jose and nothing is going to stop me from beating you into a coma!" Natsu roared out, anger practically rolling off of the Dragon Slayer.
"Fine! You made your choice!" Jose yelled back as the Phantom Lord Guild Hall changed.
The guild hall grew arms and legs and morphed until it was now a massive robot.
The robot began to write as a massive dark purple magic circle appeared.
"That thing is a mage?" Gray asked in shock.
Mira gasped and said, "That robot is going to use Abyss Break! It will wipe out everything from here to the Kardia Cathedral!"
Natsu growled and said, "Bringing in civilians to this? Have you no honor Jose?"
"Judging from the rate the robot is making the spell I would say we have about 25 minutes before the spell is created." Mira told them.
"Okay, so how do we beat it?" Gray asked.
"An Abyss Spell uses the elements of Air, Water, Fire and Earth. I would think that the Element Four are being used to power the spell. Take them out and the Abyss Spell would disappear." Mira said.
Natsu turned around and said, "Erza, Elfman, Gray, Happy! You guys are coming with me! We are going to get inside that thing and we are going to stop this madness! We are going to take down the Element Four!"
The four aforementioned mages all nodded their heads and then Gray ran out in front and yelled out, "Ice Make: Stairs!"
Gray smacked his left hand into the palm of his right hand and light blue ice began to form, creating a large set of stairs leading from the cliff edge that they were currently standing on and went off towards the massive mobile guild that is Phantom Lord's main hall.
Natsu then turned back to the other mages and said, "Hold the line! This is our home! And dammit if we are going to keep it safe!"
The rest of Fairy Tail all cheered and then the assigned group ran up the stairs as quickly as they could, intent on stopping the madness that Phantom had unleashed upon them.
Once inside the massive metal monstrosity, Natsu turned towards Elfman, Erza and Gray and said, "There are six threats to use stopping this war. Juvia, Sol, Aria, Totomaru, Gajeel and Jose. I will take down Totomaru. Elfman, Sol is yours. Gray, you get rid of Juvia. Erza, eliminate Aria. I will then get rid of Gajeel and then we will all gang up on Jose. Hopefully we can pull this off. Any questions?"
The assembled mages gave none and Natsu said, "Okay, let's do this!"
Natsu ran off down the hall, Happy closely following him as they searched for Totomaru.
After searching for about twenty minutes, they found him, charred and unconscious.
"Well that was a let down." Natsu deadpanned as he looked at the unconscious mage.
"Well, I guess we go searching for Gajeel!" Natsu said.
"Aye sir!" Happy said as the two of them then went looking for the Iron Dragon Slayer.
They went charging through the guild, trying to find the Iron Dragon Slayer when they heard over the loud speaker, "Alright you brats! We have capture Lucy Heartfilia!"
Natsu and Happy then heard Lucy cry out in pain over the speakers.
"Lucy!" Natsu yelled out as he heard her cries of pain.
"And now that we have what we came for, we shall now destroy you all!" Jose yelled out.
Natsu grit his teeth as his power began to leak out, causing the surrounding area to start to heat up.
"Happy?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah?" Happy replied, a little scared of Natsu.
"Let's go save Lucy." Natsu said.
"Aye sir!" happy shouted out.
Natsu ignited his feet and went flying through halls, Happy flying not too far behind him, both set on saving Lucy.
Meanwhile, with Lucy...
Lucy cried out in pain as a large metal pole struck her in the gut, then retracted back, causing Lucy to fall to the ground it pain.
The pole retracted back into the left arm of one Gajeel Redfox.
Gajeel was a 5 foot 10 inch tall man with a muscular build to him. He had mid back length spiky black hair, four metal spuds for eyebrows, red eyes, four metal spikes on both sides of his nose, several metal spikes on his forearms and three metal spikes on the bottom of his ears. He wore a a dark blue jacket with spikes along it's high collar and the jacket went down to his knees. He wore white baggy pants, black boots with spikes on them and finally he had on black gloves with spikes.
Gajeel smirked, he was rather enjoying himself, beating up with Fairy Trash as he called them.
"Hey man, maybe you should stop. Jose would be really angry if you killed her." A Phantom Lord member said, worried about Lucy's state.
"What do I care? She's just a Fairy Trash." Gajeel said.
Lucy slowly got back onto her feet and started laughing.
Gajeel frowned and said, "What's so funny?"
"You think you won. That could not be farther from the truth. He is coming and when he get's here, he is going to destroy you." Lucy said, a smile on her face.
Gajeel snarled and then created a Kunai from his right hand and yelled out, "Let's test that theory!"
Gajeel then threw the Kunai at Lucy and one of the Phantom member cried out, "It's going to hit her!"
As the Kunai was flying through the air, the room suddenly spiked in heat, steam starting to come off of the metal.
Suddenly, the wall next to Lucy exploded and something came flying out of it.
The explosion caused a large dust cloud to surround Lucy and block her from view.
When the dust cloud finally settled down, all the Phantom Lord members felt a jolt of fear run down their spines.
Standing in front of Lucy with the Kunai caught in their hands was one angry Natsu Dragneel, his bright orange flames swirling around him like an angry vortex.
Natsu held the Kunai in front of him and then melted the Kunai in moments, the molten metal not even bothering the enraged Fire Dragon Slayer.
Natsu stared at the group in front of him and said, "Who threw that?"
The Phantom Lord members were really scared now, it wasn't that Natsu said that phrase yelling or even with a trace of anger in his voice.
Natsu spoke that phrase completely devoid of emotion, a chilling and frightening lack of emotion with a sense of absolute anger and fury buried just beneath the surface that put everyone who heard that phrase on edge.
Gajeel felt that sense of fear and apprehension as the others did, but unlike the others his Dragon Pride would not let that fear show, so he said, "I did. So, you are Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer? The Salamander?
Natsu turned towards Gajeel and said, "Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer I presume."
"Damn right I am." Gajeel said, a cocky smile on his face.
"I thought so." Natsu said.
Gajeel was about to say something when Natsu disappeared and then reappeared before Gajeel, his right fist covered in flames.
Natsu threw the fist forwards, hitting Gajeel in the face and sending the Iron Dragon Slayer flying backwards through the wall behind him.
Happy flew through the hole Natsu blew earlier and when he saw Lucy, he cried out, "Lucy!" and flew over to her.
Lucy saw the blue furred cat and happily said, "Happy!" and gave him a large hug.
Natsu then said, "Happy, get yourself and Lucy out of here, now."
Happy didn't want to leave his best friend, but he had faith Natsu would beat Gajeel, so he reluctantly nodded and then popped out his wings, grabbed Lucy by the back of her shirt and then flew her out the hole Natsu created, which would eventually lead to the outside of the guild hall.
"Wait! Happy! We have to help Natsu!" Lucy said.
"I can't fight Lucy and you are too tired and hurt to summon your spirits. At this point all we would do is hinder Natsu. He can beat Gajeel, believe in him." Happy said.
Lucy couldn't argue with that logic, but still she felt uneasy about leaving Natsu.
"Please be safe Natsu." She thought as Happy flew her closer to the outside of the giant robot.
Back with Natsu and Gajeel...
Gajeel got back up and glared at Natsu, who was glaring back at him.
Natsu raised his on-fire hand and said, "Get back up. I am not done with you yet."
Gajeel growled and then yelled out, "Iron Dragon's Club!"
Gajeel's right arm transformed into a large iron club, which he then sent towards Natsu, who saw the incoming attack and braced himself.
Natsu reached out with both hands and when the club reached him, Natsu managed to grab the club and keep it from hitting him.
The power behind the club pushed Natsu back, skid marks appearing as he was being pushed back.
Natsu grit his teeth and dug his feet into the ground, stopping him from moving anymore.
Once he was stopped Natsu roared out, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A massive jet of orange flames came roaring from Natsu's mouth, engulfing most of Gajeel's arm and Gajeel himself.
The jet of fire created a massive explosion when it hit Gajeel, causing sight of the Iron Dragon Slayer to be lost.
When the smoke cleared, Gajeel was shown to still be standing, several large burn marks on his shoulder, chest and legs.
Gajeel then said, "Not bad Salamander, that last blow hurt a lot."
Natsu nodded and said, "Your pretty good yourself, it nearly took all of my concentration to keep that Club from hitting me."
"Gi hi hi hi. So, ready to take this to the next level?" Gajeel asked.
"I thought you would never ask." Natsu said with a smirk on his face.
Gajeel laughed and then said, "Let's do this."
Natsu nodded and then began to unleash all of his power.
Natsu's red aura began to form around him, growing larger and larger as he continued to power up.
Gajeel was doing the same thing, a emerald aura surrounding him which also grew larger and larger.
Eventually the two reached their maximum power and stared at each other.
The two then disappeared and reappeared with their fists cocked back and ready to pound each other into paste.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"
Natsu threw his flaming left fist forwards while Gajeel threw his iron covered right fist forwards, the two fists meeting in mid air.
When the two fists smashed into each other, a massive shock wave was generated, the force of the shock wave was so strong it destroyed the surrounding walls and floor all around them.
The two were blow back from each other, but they quickly got back onto their feet and then charged towards each other once again.
The shock waves from the force of their punches and kicks were enough to shake the titan of a walking building they were in, all the other people in the building wondering what in the name of all that is good and holy was going on.
Gajeel threw a mean right haymaker into Natsu's face, causing the fire dragon slayer to go flying through the wall and smash into the giant's right shoulder.
Natsu got up and wiped away the small trail of blood on the right side of his mouth with the back of his left hand.
Natsu saw Gajeel flying towards him, his left fist cocked back and covered in iron.
Natsu smirked and then yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Hyper Fist!"
Natsu then disappeared, going so fast even Gajeel couldn't keep track of him.
Gajeel then gasped as he felt a massive burning pain in his gut.
Looking down, he saw Natsu's burning right fist in his gut, the man smirking up towards Gajeel.
Natsu's fist then started glowing and then with a massive BOOOM! exploded, causing a massive raging fireball that caught the attention of all the Fairy Tail members.
"What the hell was that?" Macao asked, his purple flames covering his hands.
"I haven't the foggiest idea, but the fact that it was a large explosion leads me to believe that Natsu was the cause." Wakaba said.
"Agreed. Only Natsu could cause a flashy explosion like that." Macao agreed.
"Stuff it you two. We got Shades to deal with." Cana said as she threw several explosion cards into a Shade, blowing the shade into a billion little pieces that quickly reformed back into the shade.
Back with Natsu, he was currently looking over at Gajeel, who had been blown back into the giant walking fortress.
Gajeel then came out of the hole in the wall he had made with his body, a massive burn mark on his stomach.
Gajeel was covered in scratches and burns from that last attack, it was a devastating attack if properly pulled off, as Gajeel had found at first hand.
Gajeel had a large number of nuts, bolts and metal scraps in his hand and said, "I am going to make you regret that Salamander."
Natsu saw what he was about to do and knew that he couldn't stop Gajeel in time, so he yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Reactor!"
Natsu sent out a pulse of fire, doing nothing to Gajeel.
Gajeel cocked a nonexistent eyebrow as he ate the metal pieces.
Once he was done Gajeel roared out, "Iron Dragon Scales!"
Gajeel roared out as his skin began to change into shiny iron plates in the shape of Dragon Scales and within seconds, Gajeel was now covered from head to toe in these iron dragon scales.
Gajeel gave a cocky smirk and said, "So, what do you think if my Iron Dragon Scales?"
"Not bad. I can feel the power increase from here. This will be fun." Natsu said as he smirked.
"You are just like me, you can't help yourself when you find a strong opponent to fight." Gajeel said as he got into his combat stance.
"Where is the fun of not having a challenge to fight?" Natsu said as he too got into his combat stance.
The two were still for a few seconds before they disappeared and reappeared with Gajeel throwing severalards Natsu, who was blocking them all.
Natsu knew that Gajeel now had the edge in speed, strength, and defense due to Iron Dragon Scales, so all he could do was hold on and wait for the card he played to pay off.
Gajeel then threw a massive left punch into Natsu's stomach, causing the sakura-haired dragon slayer to bend over in pain, where he got a knee to the face and then an Iron Dragon's Club, sending him flying right to the edge of the walking guild hall.
Gajeel walked over to where Natsu was now on his right knee and said, "I got to hand it to ya Salamander, you forced me to go all out and for that, you have my respect."
Gajeel then said, "Iron Dragon's Sword!"
Gajeel's left arm morphed into a spiked chainsaw that started to spin the spikes, vastly increasing the lethality of the chainsaw.
Gajeel then raised the chainsaw above his head and said, "I will make this quick."
Natsu had his eyes closed, apparently accepting his fate.
Just as Gajeel was above to bring the chainsaw/sword down onto Natsu's head, a brief red glow came over the dragon slayer.
When Gajeel brought his sword down, Natsu reacted.
With speed never seen before from him, Natsu's hands moved and caught the blade in a way where the spikes would not cut his hands.
Gajeel was in shock no one had ever caught his Iron Dragon's Sword before. He had Natsu dead to rights, so what changed?
Natsu opened his eyes and showed that there was now a hint of a red fiery aura surrounding the pupil.
Natsu grew a smirk and said, "So Gajeel, you up for round 3?"
The Fire Dragon Slayer then yelled out, "Fire Dragon's ROAR!"
Natsu opened his mouth and from his maw came a roar that put his earlier one to shame.
Gajeel screamed out as the pain from the flames engulfed him, this roar was quiet possibly the most painful thing he had ever endured in his life.
Gajeel was sent flying from the blast of fire and smashed into the side of the guild, going through the wall once again.
Gajeel slowly got up, all of his previous wounds acting up right now.
He looked up and saw Natsu walking over to him, the Fire Dragon Slayer's power much greater then before.
"How? How did you get so strong so suddenly?" Gajeel asked.
"Fire Dragon's Reactor is a spell that unlocks all the limiters inside of my body, granting me a five times increase in raw strength, speed, and power. However, the downside of the spell is that the first time using it takes a long time for the effects to be felt by the user, due to the spell having to remove the limiters. The more times you use the spell, the easier it is to use it and also the spell activates a lot faster as well, making this spell a very useful one to have." Natsu explained to Gajeel.
"Huh, guess you beat me Salamander." Gajeel said as he leaned himself up against a wall.
"Why?" Natsu suddenly asked.
"Why what?" Gajeel asked, confused.
"Why did you join Phantom Lord? Why did you attack our guild and our family?" Natsu asked.
Gajeel closed his eyes and said, "I never wanted to, but when Jose found me wandering the streets, he took me to Phantom and showed me how to be strong. I never liked what I did to others, but Jose was so strong I knew I could never beat him and he threatened me. So I obeyed his every order, hoping he wouldn't decide I was no longer useful to him and kill me. Jose is a monster, but he is a cunning monster, he made sure I would never tell anyone by placing a seal on my body that will kill me anytime he wants."
Natsu slowly grew more and more angry as he listened to what Gajeel had been through thanks to that monster Jose.
Natsu then said, "Where is the seal?"
Gajeel looked confused and then pointed in between his shoulder blades.
Natsu ignited his right hand and then thought, "Igneel, how can I destroy the seal?"
["To destroy the seal, place your hand onto the area where he pointed and then will your flames to seek out and then destroy the seal."] Igneel instructed.
Natsu placed his hand on Gajeel's back and then sent his flames out to destroy the seal.
Gajeel grit his teeth in pain as the flames go through his body, destroying the seal and freeing Gajeel from Jose.
After a few minutes, the seal was destroyed and Gajeel was now free.
Gajeel slumped to the ground, panting heavily, that was by far one of the worst things he had ever endured.
Natsu then said, "I am going to go and stop Jose, you stay here and rest up."
Gajeel then said, "Why? Why help me? After all I did to your guild mates and your home?"
Natsu stopped and then said, "Because you were a victim as well. You were forced to do those things in fear of your life. I don't trust you, but I can forgive you for what you did. Now, rest up. You are too tired to fight any longer."
Natsu then ignited his feet and flew off, headed towards the top of the Guild Hall, intent on stopping Jose once and for all.
Gajeel lay by the wall, thinking about what Natsu had told him.
Never had anyone gone out of their way to help him, they had always done so with a motive, yet Natsu had just freed his life and asked for nothing in return, even after all Gajeel had done to him and his home.
"You are a strange one, Natsu Dragneel." Gajeel thought before he fell asleep, being too tired to move anymore.
With Natsu...
Natsu had just flown up to the head of the monstrous-sized guild hall and was now entering into the guild hall.
When he was inside, he saw Elfman, Gray, and Mira all unconscious by the corner, while Erza was desperately trying to fight Jose, who had an arrogant smirk on hos face and was toying with Erza.
Natsu then roared out, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A massive jet of fire was sent towards Jose, who barely had time to move out of the way before the flames struck the area where he had been standing, causing a massive explosion.
Jose turned towards Natsu and said, "So, the famous Salamander now joins us."
Natsu took up his combat stance without any words, glaring at Jose.
"What? No annoying speech about how you are not going to let me do this any longer? Or how you are going to stop me in the name of friendship and all that nonsense?" Joe asked, getting a little irritated by the fact Natsu was ignoring him.
Natsu continued to not say a word to Jose, the only sounds coming from his was the sounds of the flames on his hands.
Jose then lost it, saying, "Don't ignore me! Dark Pulse!"
Jose waved his left hand in an arc, creating a series of explosions in the shape of that arc.
The explosions engulfed Natsu, causing Erza to worry for him and yell out, "Natsu!"
Jose smirked and said, "That will teach you to think you are better than me."
Just then, a slurping sound was heard and it was shown Natsu was eating the flames caused by the explosions, restoring his magic and also slightly healing the wounds he got from Gajeel.
Natsu wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand and said, "Shut up. I have had enough of you bad-mouthing my guild and my family. I am going to beat the arrogance out of you."
Natsu then roared out, "Fire Dragon's Hyper Fist!"
Natsu disappeared from view, confusing both Erza and Jose.
Natsu reappeared with his right fist buried inside Jose's gut, causing the man to open his mouth in a voiceless scream of agony, right before Natsu's fist began to glow brighter until it exploded, causing both Jose and Natsu to be hidden from view.
When they reappeared, Jose was buried inside the wall behind him, his entire shirt being destroyed and a massive burn area over his chest.
Natsu then said, "Get up. We aren't done yet."
Jose growled as he got up and screamed out, "You worthless Fairy! I am going to kill you!"
Jose then placed his left palm in front of him and yelled out, "Night Shade!"
A blade beam of magic came out of his palm and went screaming towards Natsu, who barely had time to get out of the way.
Jose screamed out as he continued to fire beam after beam of darkness towards Natsu, who dodged them all.
A large amount of fire began to form around Natsu's right fist as Natsu yelled out, "Fire Dragon Firing Hammer!"
Natsu flung his fist forward, a massive fireball erupting from his fist and smashing into Jose, causing a massive explosion.
When the dust cleared, Jose was shown to still be standing, a look of pure rage on his face.
Jose began to glow purple as his magic flared up, causing the air surrounding our heroes to grow much denser and heavier as Jose exerted his pressure on them.
Jose's eyes began to glow black, devoid of any other color.
Jose then roared out, "I am going to kill you!"
Jose then placed both palms toward Natsu and shot forth an insane number of purple beams that came in too fast for Natsu to react.
He was unprepared for the sheer strength and number of the beams, leading him to be blasted all over his body, destroying most of his clothes and causing a massive amount of damage.
When the beams died down and the smoke cleared, Natsu was seen, down on his left knee, with a massive amount of cuts and bruises all over his body.
Jose snarled and then said, "Die!"
He cupped his hands and generated a massive amount of dark magic, which he then threw towards Natsu, who was too tired and injured to move.
Erza, Mira, Elfman and Gray all looked in horror as the massive beam of darkness shot towards Natsu.
"Natsu!" They all cried out in fear of the long-time friend and family member.
Natsu saw the incoming beam and for him, time slowed down.
He saw the events of his life flash before his eyes.
He saw his first meeting with Igneel, he saw his training with his father, and all of the happy memories he made with Igneel. He saw the day Igneel left him and the months that came afterward. He smiled as he saw his first meeting with Makarov, meeting everyone in Fairy Tail. He saw the good times and the bad times.
It was here and now, at the end of his life, that Natsu felt content with how his life turned out.
"I found Igneel and made peace with him and with my sacrifice, Fairy Tail should be able to pull through this. I have a few regrets, like not being able to protect Lisanna. However, I leave this world with a smile on my face, knowing that I did good. I guess I will see you on the other side, Lisanna." Natsu thought.
Just as the beam was about to hit Natsu, a pole shot out of nowhere and struck Natsu, throwing him out of the way of the beam and sending him into a wall.
Natsu groaned a little and opened his eyes to see who had hit him and saw Gajeel, standing proud and tall, his wounds still present, but now smaller and he seemed full of life once again.
"Gajeel? What are you doing?" Jose roared out, anger written all over his face.
Gajeel ignored Jose and took out a fire crystal from his pocket that he stole from the armory on his way up here.
Gajeel threw it over to Natsu, who caught it barely and started to eat it, feeling his strength return and his wounds slightly heal.
"Gajeel? Explain yourself." Jose said, barely controlled fury present on his face.
"I am choosing my own path, not the one you forced me to choose. I have done a lot of horrible things in my life, the worst was ever trusting you. I am going to correct that mistake, right here and now." Gajeel said as he got into his combat stance.
"Very well. You made your choice. Now die!" Jose yelled out as he pointed his palm toward Gajeel and a magic circle appeared.
But nothing happened, confusing everyone present.
"W-why are you not dead?" Jose asked, fear creeping into his voice.
"Huh, if you are trying to detonate the magic seal you placed in Gajeel, tough luck, I already destroyed that seal. You will no longer harm my fellow Dragon Slayer." Natsu said as he got into his combat stance.
Jose growled out, his magic power rising further and further, rocks were starting to float off of the ground and into the air.
Gajeel glowed green as he shouted out, "Iron Dragon Scales!"
Natsu growled red as he shouted shouted out, "Fire Dragon's Reactor!"
The power boost came almost instantly to Natsu, the magic pathways were still slightly opened from the last time the move was used, so reusing it right now just reopened those pathways, allowing the power boost to act instantly.
The three males all finished charging up, the black energies swirling around Jose like a typhoon, while Natsu and Gajeel had their respective aura's surrounding them.
Natsu turned towards Gajeel and said, "Ready?"
Gajeel nodded and said, 'Let's do this."
Natsu nodded and got into his combat stance.
Jose glared hatefully at the two Dragon Slayers and said, "Today I shall kill two Dragon Slayers and the rest of Fairy Tail as well. Come forth and meet your end, Dragon Slayers!"
Natsu and Gajeel roared as they charged forth, their respective energies charging up as they prepared to fight the madman.
Natsu ran to the right while Gajeel ran to left.
Both breathed deeply, preparing to fire their signature attacks.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
A swirling vortex of fire and iron came out of the dragon slayer's maws and struck Jose, creating a large dust cloud that hit him from view.
The dust suddenly was swept away as Jose's aura fared up violently and the madman pointed his palms at each Dragon Slayer.
"DIE!" Jose roared out as he powered up his death beams and fired.
Natsu dodged the purple beam by ducking down, while Gajeel leaned to the left and let the beam pass within inches of his body.
Natsu pointed his own palm at the ground underneath Jose and yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Geyser!"
A large magic circle appeared underneath Jose and from it came a truly massive beam of fire that engulfed Jose, his screams echoing across the room.
A few seconds later, Jose charged up his aura and sent out a pulse of magic that destroyed the geyser completely.
Only to see Gajeel had created a large metal pole that was seconds away from striking him.
The pole struck Jose in the chest and sent the man into the wall behind him.
Seeing an opportunity, Natsu sucked in a deep breath, apparently charging up another roar.
However, the spell he used wasn't his normal dragon roar.
"Fire Dragon's Fusion Flare!" Natsu roared out.
A massive wave of fire came out of his mouth, putting all of his roar to shame, the sheer power of this new attack was starting to shake the room.
Gajeel jumped out of the way as the flames ran towards their target, the now immobile Jose.
Jose saw the incoming wave of fire and could do nothing as the fire washed over him, his screams being drowned out over the sound of the flames roar.
The ave of firer continued onwards, blasting through wall after wall until they came out the back end of the giant's head, a massive wave of fire that startled anyone who saw it.
After ten seconds of continuous roaring, the flames died down, revealing a crispy and smoking Jose, who was hunched over, breathing hard as he dealt with the pain.
Suddenly, a wave of killer intent more intense then any other the present mages had ever felt came crashing into them, causing Natsu and Gajeel to actually take a few steps backwards in fear.
Jose slowly rose up, black energy rolling off him in waves and then he showed the group his face.
His eyes were completely black, his hair now have several strands of black and purple running through it now and three black lines was going in a fan like manner from his eyes across his face.
Jose roared out, an inhuman howl filled with hatred and anger.
The howl caused a gust of wind to pick up, the force of the wind pushing Gajeel and Natsu back.
Erza, Mira, Gray and Elfman watched on, completely helpless to lend their aid in this battle against this force of nature.
Jose then moved with incredible speed and planted his foot into Gajeel's chest, causing the Iron Dragon Slayer to go flying backward, a trail of blood and saliva coming out of his mouth as he flew into the wall.
Jose then turned towards Natsu, who had run over to Jose and launched a fiery right fist into Jose's face.
A minor shock wave came from the punch, but everyone present was shocked when they saw Jose's face had only been pushed backward a little.
Jose turned back to Natsu, who was too stunned to move and brought his hands together above his head and brought them down onto Natsu's head.
Natsu found himself several inches into the floor from the force of that punch, his nose most definitely broken and he was now fighting to keep himself conscious.
Natsu struggled to get himself up, when he felt a weight crashing into the back of his head, causing him to fall back to the ground.
Jose was now stomping on Natsu's face, pushing him farther and farther into the floor.
"You." Jose slowly said as he then kicked Natsu in the stomach, causing the sakura-haired man to roll several feet away, groaning in pain. "Worthless." Jose kicked him really hard in the stomach once again, hearing the sound of several ribs cracking, causing a yell of pain from Natsu. "Piece." Jose continued kicking Natsu, headless of the cries to stop from Natsu's friends. "Of." Jose grabbed Natsu by the hair and brought the barely conscious mage up to eye level with him. "Fairy filth." Jose finished as he placed his glowing hand on Natsu's chest.
A bright purple beam erupted from Jose's hand, sending the sakura-colored man flying backward, where he smashed into a wall and then slowly slid to the ground, barely conscious and full of wounds and broken bones.
Erza and the other Fairy Tail members looked on in despair as they saw the broken and beaten form of Natsu lying there, barely alive.
Jose then slowly walked over to Gajeel before lifting him by his throat and said, "You. I gave you strength, I gave you a place to live, it gave to food, water and this s how you repay me? by betraying me for some weaklings?"
Gajeel choked and said, "I betrayed you, because of what you did to me. You turned me into a monster and made me do things I never would have done otherwise. You made me into a horrible person all for your twisted wants and desires. I may be a monster, but at least I am not half as bad as you are."
Jose snarled out and said, "Very well. Then die."
Jose placed his hand on Gajeel's chest and blasted him, causing a large hole to appear.
Gajeel gagged on his own blood as he was tossed to the ground like yesterday's trash.
Jose then turned towards the other Fairy Tail members and started walking towards them.
"You are a monster." Era said, glaring hatefully towards him.
"Better to be a monster than dead." Jose said as he pointed his palm toward the group.
The purple glow bathed the defeated mages, preparing to end their lives.
But then a voice said, "Stop."
Everyone turned and saw Natsu slowly getting to his feet his bruises and broken bones healing themselves.
All who saw were too stunned to react.
What none of them knew save for Natsu was that Igneel was currently healing Natsu's body using his magic.
He may not have enough strength to fight, but Natsu's adoptive father was strong enough to heal all, but the most grievous of wounds.
["You idiot! Do you realize how close to death you came!"] Igneel roared at Natsu as he continued to heal his son.
"Why didn't you try and help me earlier?" Natsu asked.
["I am still trying to consolidate my place inside of you, I only just got enough to heal you. Oh by the way, I just gave you a new ability."] Igneel said.
"What is it?" Natsu asked.
["Whenever you get hurt to the point of death and you get healed, you will gain a massive boost. This will only happen three times and I just used the first one, so you got two left."] Igneel said.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Natsu asked, in disbelief of his father.
["You didn't ask."] His father curtly said.
Natsu resisted the urge to yell at his father and turned towards Jose, who currently looked ready to burst a blood vessel.
"Why? Why can't you stay dead?" Jose said through grit teeth.
"Because Jose, as long as you continue to try and bring harm to my family, I will continue to stand in your way." Natsu said as he stood straight and walked to the middle of the room.
"It matters not. I beat you and Gajeel together, what makes you think you can beat me alone?" Jose asked.
"Because of this." Natsu said as he started to yell out.
The ground started shaking as rocks started floating upwards as the power Natsu was radiating started to rapidly increase.
Natsu's hair grew a few inches and became spikier as it started moving as if their was a breeze.
Natsu's muscles bulged, giving him a bulkier build.
Natsu roared out as a pillar of golden flames erupted around him.
The sheer force of Natsu's power caused a massive gust of wind that pushed even Jose back several feet.
Once he transformation was over, Natsu stood proud and tall, the golden flames of Dragon Force swirling around him like a raging forest fire.
Erza was too stunned to do anything, she had always known Natsu would one day eclipse her in strength, but she never expected him to ascend to this level so soon.
"I guess you have finally eclipsed me, Natsu." She thought, a little happy that Natsu had finally achieved his goal of beating her, but at the same time, sad he no longer needed her.
Mira was much in the same state as Erza, she was there when Natsu first came to guild and saw him as a little brother, so to see him grow farther then she ever had was a mixture of powerful emotions.
Gray on the other hand was downright jealous, not only had he barely beaten Juvia, Jose had wrecked him with only a single spell Yet Natsu had been strong enough to take a number of spells and keep on going and now he had grown stronger then Jose.
"Dammit flame brain, how did you get so much stronger then me?" Gray thought, bitterness and jealously clearly in his thoughts.
Elfman only looked at the man his little sister had loved and saw how far Natsu had grown.
"You are truly a man Natsu." Elfman thought, admiration and pride in Natsu rolling off of him.
Gajeel saw Natsu's transformation and couldn't believe it, Natsu was in Dragon Force, the legendary transformation that was said to bring out the true strength of a Dragon Slayer.
Jose stared in shock, before the pink haired brat was barely above Erza Scarlet's level of strength, yet now he was radiating strength equal if not greater then his own.
"What is this? What are you?' Jose asked, scared.
"Don't you realize Jose?" Gajeel asked, his voice barely able to be heard.
Jose turned to Gajeel and said, "Explain, now!"
"He has risen above the rest of us and become a legend. He stands before you now. The legendary warrior. The True Dragon Slayer." Gajeel said, his words somehow being heard all over the room.
Natsu glared at Jose and said, "Jose, I am a man of forgiveness as well as strength. If you yield and stop fighting, I will spare you. Continue trying to kill my friends, and I shall break every bone in your body."
Jose felt a deep shiver of feat at Natsu's words, his power was incredible and he felt how outclassed he truly was.
However, Jose was a man of pride and arrogance, so he said, "Never! I will crush you with my own two hands!"
Natsu closed his eyes and said, "You damn fool. Very well."
Natsu got into his combat position, ready to end this madness.
Jose roared out and summoned all of his shade soldiers from outside, which had destroyed Fairy Tail's guild hall.
Jose absorbed all of their power and added it his own, allowing him to almost be on Natsu's level of power.
"Let's end this, Dragon Slayer." Jose said with anger in his voice.
"Agreed. Let's." Natsu said.
For a few seconds, neither side said or did anything and then Jose roared out, "Dead Wave!"
Jose gathered a massive amount of purple dark energy into a ball, which he threw toward Natsu in the form of a massive purple beam.
But, when the purple beam struck Natsu, the golden flames ate away the darkness, leaving Natsu completely unscathed from the blast.
Everyone present was stunned, they all felt the power of the spell and Natsu acted as if he didn't even feel it.
Natsu then charged forth, a trail of golden flames following him.
He yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
His golden flames right hook nailed Jose in the face, causing the man to fly backward.
Natsu however wouldn't allow a moment of respit, flying faster threspiteen Jose and getting behind the man.
Natsu then yelled out, "Fire Dragon's Hyper Fist!"
Natsu's left golden-encased punch landed squarely into Jose's back, halting hi motion as well as causing a horrible amount of pain, and that is when Natsu's fist exploded.
Jose was flung forward before he stopped, the man groaning in pain.
Jose slowly got u, only to see Natsu two feet from him, his eyes holding only anger and fury.
Natsu then roared out, "Fire Dragon Slayer Secret Arts: Fire Dragon's Fist!"
Natsu's punches became blurs, the golden-encased fists striking and hitting Jose faster than the eye could follow, each time creating an explosion.
Jose felt as if his entire body was on fire, every nerve and part of his body was burning and in pain, he couldn't do anything to stop this endless assault as he was being beaten into unconsciousness.
Natsu roared out, the golden flames surrounding him growing stronger and stronger as his punches became stronger and faster.
After a solid minute of beating the crap of Jose, Natsu decided to end this mess with one final attack.
"Fire Dragon Slayer Secret Slayer Arts: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu roared out as he circularly twisted his arms, creating a swirling tornado of flames, each tendrils of fire exploding when they struck Jose, causing a mass of explosions to surround Jose.
After 30 seconds of this unbearable assault, the spell stopped and Jose fell to the ground, charred and beaten into unconsciousness.
Just before he fell into unconsciousness, Jose had one final thought.
"This body is no man, he is a monster! No, he is a DRAGON SLAYER!"
Natsu panted slightly as he went out of Dragon Force, the form quickly ate threw his remaining magic reserves.
Natsu turned towards his friends and said, "I am going to take Gajeel to Porlyuscia, will you guys be okay?"
Erza nodded and said, "Go."
Natsu nodded and used his flames as a booster to get to the reclusive medic of Fairy Tail much quicker.
Time skip...
Natsu was now walking back to Fairy Tail, having dropped Gajeel off at Porlyuscia.
The old healer had been reluctant to heal the man, but after seeing his wounds and Natsu begging her to do so, she eventually gave in and started healing him.
She said it would be several days before Gajeel could even move, he had been on death's doorstep when Natsu got him to her.
Natsu expressed his gratitude towards the elderly lady and then quickly left before he faced her legendary broom of death.
Natsu turned to corner and saw the entire guild surrounding their now destroyed Guild Hall, all of them talking to Lucy about something.
Natsu approached the group and said, "Hey everyone."
They all turned around and smiled at the Dragon Slayer and yelled out, "Natsu!"
A familiar small elderly man then walked over to Natsu and said, "You did well Natsu. I could not be more proud of you."
Natsu smiled and said, "Thanks Gramps. What do we now?"
Makarov turned back towards the destroyed Guild Hall and said, "We rebuild and continue our eternal adventure."
Natsu nodded and said, "I am all fired up!"
The entire guild laughed, it seemed that no matter what happened, Natsu would always be the same.
They all turned towards the setting sun, the brilliant gold and red background providing a fitting background to the end of this day.
Even as the sun set, the promise of a new and better tomorrow shown true, giving hope to the Fairy tail mages.