The Fallen Dragon

by Draconian Enigma

Natsu loses his world and gets taken to an alternate version where he must recover and build new bonds with this world's Fairy Tail over time. Natsu is stronger, darker, smarter, but can still be a little bit of a goofball. Contains gore, violence, swearing and other mature themes so read at your own discretion. AU to AU. Chapters are under review to fix mistakes, working on CP10.

34. The Fairy Festival

6th March – 6:20 AM

"Commander." A firm but gentle voice cut through Natsu's dream and a hand came to rest on his bare chest, pulling him straight out of his slumber. Standing above him was a beautiful woman with her ashen hair tied up in a messy bun and clad in simple white lace negligee.

"Sera." Natsu grunted groggily and he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He gently rolled Lucy onto her other side and stretched his now free arm while he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Where is your sister?"

"Down in the maintenance pod; we were running scans on our bodies to make sure we were functioning fine. She's still down there because I wanted to ask you something…" Sera trailed off with an unusual bashfulness. "Would you mind if I take a look at your handiwork? I know she seems to be functioning perfectly fine, but you're a soldier not an AI Engineer so I want to be sure that she really is operating at her full capacity."

"Go ahead." Natsu replied with a soft yawn. He rose from the bed and put on a nearby pair of black silk pyjama pants. "Just be sure to push any changes you make to the Hub too to keep parity across all of her systems."

"Yes, Commander." The android gave a brief nod before hurriedly walking from the bedroom and taking the stairs two steps at a time.

"Sera, Natsu is fine. I know Rita calls me 'Master' but that's due to technically being my Head Maid and it was preprogramed into her thanks to her base code coming from the original programming that occupied the Hub." Natsu remarked while following the woman closely.

"By that logic, it should still be fine for me to call you 'Commander'." Sera reasoned and she spared a quick look over her shoulder and a small smile at the man. "You were listed as Commander Natsu Dragneel in my database back in DARL… But I guess I've left that 'life' behind me now. That being said, haven't you been given the rank of Commander once again by this world's Hisui?"

"Technically it's Lieutenant Colonel this time, but you don't belong to the Ministry of Defence anymore, so you aren't confined by regulations."

Sera felt a warm hand slip into her messy hair and give it a gentle ruffle. Warmth welled up inside of her and while it still felt a little foreign, she turned and hugged the man that had given her a new life. "Thank you, Col… Natsu. I can't thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to come here. It does look a little strange out there, going from what I've seen through the windows, but I'll get used to it soon enough. I might still end up calling you Commander or Colonel from time to time though."

"That's fine." Natsu chuckled softly before asking, "Has the information that Rita sent you been of any help with getting settled into your new body?" Since she seemed to be enjoying his warmth, he decided to pick her up and carry her down the stairs in his arms.

"Eh?" Sera squeaked in shock and she instinctively curled into Natsu's grasp so she wouldn't fall. She placed a hand over her racing heart and calmed herself down with a few deep breaths before replying, "Yes. It has made getting used to it a lot easier. And since Rita and I are basically identical twins, I can use the things she has learned pretty flawlessly. Though… there are still things I've yet to get accustom to, like the sense of touch and smell. Taste too, I can believe just how good our dinner was!" The android set out a soft sigh and reached a hand out to slide her fingers along the wooden railing beside them. The way the polished surface caught the pads of her fingers and the smell of the wax tingled her nose brought a sense of delight to her after living an immaterial life for so long. "It's why I want to repay the favour by checking over her coding and seeing if there is anything I can polish."

Natsu chuckled softly at the mention of the android trying food for the first time, it reminded him of her sister's first experiences with their biological bodies. "How kind of you. Speaking of your body; have you and Rita done any training yet, like sparring or using the gym?"

"Mhm." Sera nodded lightly which caused some of her hair to fall over her face and she quickly brushed it aside. "While you were still back in our world, I asked her to help me test the body. From what she had sent to me and what I could gauge from the innate programming, I could tell that my body was very capable. When Rita and I started fighting, I finally understood what it meant to be 'in the zone'. It was like we were dancing, each strike met with a parry into a counter, each grapple reversed or defeated mid-attempt. All with little thought, just a natural flow of movements that blended into each other." Sera twisted out of the man's grasp like a cat and landed deftly on her feet as they reached the first floor. She looked back at the pinkette and offered him another small smile. "She told me that you're a lot tougher of an opponent though and I can understand that. I've seen what you can do in the labs, seen how you can throw around the training dummies like toy dolls and have even been privy to the information gathered from them. To fight you when you're going for the kill, I could easily see how that would be horrifying – if they survive long enough to understand what is happening."

"Rita has been on the receiving end of that kind of training, I'm a lot more violent and aggressive to her than when I am training others due to the nature of her body. You two are faster, stronger, and quicker than even the best soldiers using magic to reinforce their bodies. Humans can only do so much before their bodies give in, people who have been mutated by their magic – dragon slayers – push past these boundaries, and I can go further due to being part Etherious. Now throw in Project Heracles and you've made monsters out of men."

"I'd like to train under you, just as she has." Sera requested resolutely, sparing the man a quick glance over her shoulder as she opened the door to the basement stairway and lead the way down to Henrietta. "And if it's all right with you, could I also have my own weapons?"

"What did you have in mind?" Natsu asked curiously. He had already planned on bringing the android on missions due to having a body built for combat, just like Henrietta. And just like her sister, he didn't want that to go to waste.

"I'm not certain right now. Rita was telling me about how you've structured your team and I'm not sure where I could fit in. You're an all-rounder due to your past; Rita handles medium to long range; and Lelyanna takes care of short to medium and is a medic… Both Rita and I are experts in hand-to-hand due to our programming…" Sera paused in front of the door to the maintenance room with her hand on the doorknob and she turned to face the pinkette with an inquisitive gaze as an idea popped into her mind. "I might have just come up with something for Rita and I… Do you mind if I created a device that would interface with our bodies and grant us the ability to use magic, even if it's just basic utility magic like Requip?"

"Sure. Do you need anything for it?"

"Not much, aside from using your tools …and probably permission to gather materials and equipment from DARL if I need them. I might also need magic primed Lacrimas from you for Requip and possibly Archive if I can't pre-program them myself." Sera smiled warmly at the man's instant assent and she pushed the door open, revealing a nude Henrietta lying on the maintenance bed with negligée identical to her own neatly folded on a nearby chair. She made her way over to the bench next to the bed and sat down in front of it, swivelling her chair to face the pinkette. "Your terminal, please. I need it to access her code."

"Right. Rita's suit will fit you so if you need to head back to gather stuff, just use that and talk to Ceres. And make sure you're careful, I'm sure you noticed all the creatures roaming around since the world ended." Natsu cautioned the android as he handed over the large tablet and sat against the edge of the open maintenance pod. He watched the woman open a link to her sister's mind and start to read through the information at a stunning pace.

"I'll see if Ceres can duplicate a few of Rita's belongings like she did with my body. If I could bring her along with me then I'd feel a bit better roaming that world."

"Yeah…" Natsu grunted softly. "I understand that sentiment all too well… It was a very lonely place."

"Are things going well here?"

"Better than I hoped but I'm still a little worried about fucking things up somehow. Everyone seems to be fairly accepting though." Natsu replied in a small voice before falling silent. The silence didn't last long though as Sera's stomach rumbled lightly, causing the android to look down in shock and Natsu to chuckle. "Sounds like you're hungry. Haven't had breakfast yet?"

"This body is weird." Sera slowly looked up with an embarrassed blush and shook her head slowly at the man. "But no, neither of us have eaten yet…"

"I'll go and sort something out." Natsu pushed off the pod and placed a hand on Sera's shoulder, gently turning her back toward the lines of code. "You're free to make any changes as you see fit, just as long as it doesn't impact her existing growth and personality. If you're done before I'm back, just come up to the dining room and we'll eat together."

"Yes Sir."

Natsu made his way back up to the first floor and into the kitchen. As he took some eggs, milk, and butter from the fridge, a sound caught his attention; a lethargic, soft pattering of bare feet drawing closer. He looked over his shoulder and saw a sleepy-eyed blonde stick her head through the open dining room door and gaze over at him, a small but warm smile tugging on her lips when their eyes met. "Hey Babe."

"What's wrong?" Lucy yawned softly and she stepped into the room. She was just barely covered by a haphazardly-buttoned shadowy-blue dress shirt that hung off her right shoulder and flapped around her thighs as she walked toward the man. "Bad dreams?"

"They're rare when you're sleeping in my arms." Natsu shook his head lightly and he placed a kiss on Lucy's forehead when she reached him. "No, Sera woke me up to ask for permission to go over Rita's code. She needed my terminal to access it and I keep it on me inside Requip."

"Ah." Lucy murmured and she snaked her arms around the pinkette, burying her face into his firm, muscular chest. "What are you doing for breakfast?"

"Omelettes, want one?"

"Please."

"Right, well if you're adamant about hugging me like this then I might as well do this…" Natsu smiled at Lucy's sleepy affections and he gently tied her long hair up into a neat bun then lifted her up so she could wrap her arms and legs around his neck and waist. "No funny ideas, it's hard enough to concentrate with you around and it'll be harder if you started grinding on me."

"I'll be a good girl, I promise." Lucy purred sleepily while tightening her grip on the man, snuggling into his warmth.

"For how long though." Natsu remarked, earning a soft giggle from the beautiful blonde. He collected a few more ingredients for the omelette filling then got to work. Since it wouldn't be long before they were joined by Natsumi and Lelyanna, he portioned out enough to feed the six of them while accounting both his and Natsumi's larger appetites.

They were quickly joined by Lelyanna who seemed fresh from a shower and was dressed in the black boots and pants, and dark-grey long-sleeved crop top shirt that she wore during their first job together. Her ivory-white guild mark could be seen poking out from the bottom of her shirt, just under her left breast but it became more visible when she stretched her arms out above her head and yawned, "Morning. I kicked the horny bitch out of her bed so she'll be down shortly once she's showered and dressed."

"You seem a little upset." Lucy murmured as she looked over Natsu's shoulder at the approaching priestess. "Something wrong?"

"Just feeling a little overworked. Came back from our job and had to do a bunch of running around with not much time for rest at the Cathedral. Nobles are a finicky bunch, no offense."

"None taken, I completely understand what we can be like." Lucy giggled softly at the tired woman. Thankfully, it looked like she had slept well enough.

"Mhm, I half want to pester Natsu to get me some kind of transportation of my own." Lelyanna said as she came to a stop beside the man and pushed herself up onto the bench, sitting with her legs dangling over the edge while she watched him cook. "But thankfully, I finished all of my house calls around eight-ish last night. Well… all the local ones. I still have some summons from other cities but I made sure they were nothing that couldn't wait another week since I'm 'supposed' to be attending the festival as a healer, just in case."

"I mean, I've got no issue with you taking my car." Natsu laughed light-heartedly and he spared her a quick glance before placing a cooked omelette on a plate and handing it over to the priestess. "You just have to have your magic signature coded into it."

"I couldn't do that, Natsu. Though, I do appreciate the generosity." Lelyanna rebutted respectfully while hopping down from the bench and making her way to the table with her breakfast. "Even with the money I earn going on jobs with you, it would seem weird for someone like me to turn up in a Leopard unaccompanied. I'll just stick to public transport and walking for now."

"Something smells delicious!" Natsumi called out cheerily as she charged into the dining room, white pleated skirt flapping around her thighs and her small black wrap-top doing its best to contain her bust.

"Have a seat," Natsu glanced over his shoulder at the energetic pinkette and he flashed her a fanged grin. "I'll sort out ours last since we eat more."

"That's fine." The pinkette replied and she sat down at the table with a large grin.

Seconds after the woman had joined them, Henrietta and Sera joined them still clad in their sleepwear. The identical androids approached the man and Henrietta moved to help him but she was stopped by a gentle hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "Master?"

"How did Sera's check-up go?" Natsu asked and he spared the android a brief look of concern as he brought out more pans. Since everyone arrived almost all at once, it was going to be quicker to cook multiple omelettes at once so they could all eat together.

"I feel normal. Hm… maybe things are processing quicker. It's hard to tell."

"I did some optimising, fixed some minor errors, and expanded her code where I deemed necessary." Sera explained as she took a seat and watched the man cook. "You did better than I expected but there was still work for me to do to bring her closer to my level of complexity. And we pushed the update to the Hub like you asked, those tests were all green too. However, I'm not sure how well they'll be able to fully utilise her upgrade."

"No, most likely not all that well." Henrietta responded with a small shake of her head as she brought a hand to her heart and clenched it, bunching up her thin sleepwear. "In all honesty, I've long since started seeing this body as my main one and the Hub as an extension of me due to it."

"Wouldn't that cause some envy?" Lucy asked curiously. She eased herself down from Natsu's body and stretched her limbs lithely, his warmth having helped her body wake up.

"No. It's still me. It thinks and acts like me and in unison with me. All the decisions made by the part of me inside the Hub would be the exact same as if I made them remotely. It's not really a case of them and I, it's all just me." Henrietta shrugged slightly and turned to the blonde with bemused look, asking, "Why would I be envious of myself?"

"Hm, I suppose you're right." The blonde mused softly and she collected up a plate, sparing the android a quick glance before holding her plate up and smiling lovingly at Natsu. "From a personal point of view, it's a bit difficult for me to understand since I have met other versions of myself, like the Edolas one or the ghostly me that came from Natsu's world. But I guess it's still different since they don't share my mind and even think completely different to me."

"Here you go." Natsu placed an omelette on the presented plate and let Lucy head to the table. As he worked on the next ones, Henrietta stepped up beside him with two plates – one for her and one for her sister. "Did you two bring up my terminal?"

"Sera has it."

"I'm just using it quickly to design that module I asked you about." Sera quickly clarified as she paused with her hands hovering over a holographic display, her eyes darting to the man. "I was going to give it back after breakfast."

"That's alright, just hold onto it for as long as you need it."

"Thank you. It shouldn't take me long to work out the things I need for the modules and whether I need to get stuff from our world."

"Do you need help with that?" Henrietta asked with a quick glance at her sister. She felt the weight in her hands increase and looked down to see a pair of omelettes, so with a quick word of thanks to her master, she headed to her sister's side.

"I wouldn't mind, but we've only got one suit between us." Sera replied quietly but she was immediately followed up by Lucy who offered the android a warm smile.

"You can have mine." The blonde said quickly. "Natsu said he'll see about giving me the suit that belonged to his wife due to it being fitted for her and would be more comfortable for me. All I'll need to do is get an extra helmet too."

"That can be arranged." Natsu chimed in. "Wouldn't be hard to find one of those."

"What about your wife's helmet?" Lelyanna asked curiously but her voice held a hint of apprehension which was quickly justified by the man's firm answer.

"Buried with her body. I buried my team in their armour, so I'm guessing that Ceres probably left them in it and I have no intention of exhuming them."

"I wouldn't expect you to." The priestess agreed, nodding lightly at the man's declaration. "Well, like you said, it probably won't be hard to find a new helmet since I got the impression that they are pretty standardised."

"That's correct." Natsu collected up the last two plates and headed over to the table, placing one down in front of Natsumi and taking a seat next to Lucy. "I've still got to mention it to Ceres, if she isn't already aware of it… She's got a bit on her plate right now though, considering I've asked her to get a few things for me so I can test this fuel that Alvarez uses and she's probably working on things without my knowledge as well. Plus, she still has her own personal duties as a deity."

"Oh, Natsu, I got a little bit of good news for you." Lucy glanced up at the man and she flashed him a quick, bright smile. "I was speaking with my mother about your plans and she said she's happy to help sort out materials and logistics since we've got companies that'll be able to work with you."

"Do you have any construction companies?"

"Yep! Once you've got your plan finalised and have found some land to build it on, just send it through to my mother and she'll sort out the construction. We can even have one of our companies build you automatons to a requested spec since I know you'd want to run it like the buildings here."

"Hm, I might have to do some research for that one." Natsu murmured softly. "Maybe Hisui can pull some strings and organise a tour of some universities so I can work shit out." He shook his head lightly and pushed the thought aside. "That's a matter for another time. We should get ready and head out to the guild hall."

"You'll be able to ask her when you see her in the guild." Lelyanna reminded the man while pointing at him with her fork. "Granted, I know you wanted to enjoy the festival and not think about other things, so I can understand not seeking her out. But you'll likely be sought out by a few people today, given that your identity has been passed onto the guild masters attending."

Natsumi was a tad bit shocked at the priestess' tone and she glanced at the woman. "You sound like you disapprove."

"Quite the contrary, actually. I think it's a good thing as it'll help his recovery progress but what I do worry about is if they lack tact and decide to dogpile him and pester him for information."

"Well, if I do find them annoying, I can just tell them something dark and depressing." Natsu chuckled lightly and he gave the young woman a relaxed grin. "That ought to get them off my back, don't you think?"

"Heh, probably." Natsumi snorted and broke out into raucous laughter. "It won't work on Sting though; he'd want to hear all about it. Same goes for Goldmine and the entirety of his litter of puppies."

"You should come along with us." Henrietta said as she looked at her sister and smiled. "We'll get you brought into the guild and put onto Master's team. There'll be some paperwork involved but it'll be fine, just remember to use our last name; Frost."

"I will." Sera nodded quickly, her lips tugging back into a happy smile.

Lelyanna rose to her feet and picked up her plate and cutlery. "Henrietta, would you like me to just put these near the sink or in it?"

"Inside the sink will do, I'll have one of the units come by after we leave to do the dishes."

"Right." After Lelyanna placed her dishes down, she walked by Natsu and placed her hand down on his shoulder. "I'm going to wait outside. I'll be over at the gazebo, getting some practice in with my rifle and pistol."

"We won't be long." Natsu replied over his shoulder but the priestess just gave him a cute, amused smile.

"If you end up showering with Lucy, I doubt that." Lelyanna playfully jabbed and she winked at the lovers before making her way out of the dining room.

"We better go and get ready." Henrietta said as she stood up and made her way to the kitchen with her sister in tow.

"I'm going on ahead," Natsumi announced cheerfully. "I want to be there for any brawls that start up so I can get in on the skull-cracking."

"Okay, see you there!" Lucy exclaimed lively, giggling at her best friend's eagerness to brawl. But as the dragon slayer and androids left, the blonde immediately turned to Natsu with a sultry smile and purred sensually, "Up for some 'wet and wild' fun in the shower?"

"Of course, I am." Natsu chuckled and he caressed the blonde's cheek before leaning in and kissing her lovingly.

---

9:28 AM

With the first day of the festival upon them, the guild was abuzz with activity. Stalls lined the front of the building; all selling odds and ends ranging from Fairy Tail emblem trinkets in various colours and themed mugs to figurines and pin-up posters of guild members. Down the side of the building stood carnival games like shooting galleries with airguns or bows, ring toss, fishing games, and darts. The obstacle course had been completed but it wasn't currently in use due to the event being scheduled for a different day. Cheering and shouting roared from the wide-open doors with a pair of voices belonging to a man and a woman soared above the others.

"Who the fuck has been training you?!" A man shouted in disbelief that the woman could've become and even better fighter than she already was.

"You already know the answer to that." A sensually smoky purr replied to the man. "A certain soldier spent a month's long job drilling me because we didn't have much else to do while stuck on a ship."

"Why does she have to say it like that?" Natsu murmured as he entered the guild, though he couldn't help but be amused by his counterpart's antics. He glanced to the centre of the hall where a protective cage had been set up and within it, a brawl between Natsumi and Sting was taking place with the pinkette currently pinning the man to the ground, lips spread in an excited and almost domineering grin.

"She's being lewd again, isn't she?" Lelyanna asked while Lucy giggled beside her and she answered for the man.

"It's safer to just expect anything that comes from her mouth is going to be lewd to some degree."

"Comes into it too." Natsu remarked with a smirk and the beautiful blonde snorted quietly while the priestess pouted at him.

"I'm going to find Yukino. I'll see you all later." Lucy announced and she gave the group a gentle smile before slipped away into the crowd.

"Well, I should probably run off too." Lelyanna murmured as she gazed up at the man beside her. "I'm sure Wendy would appreciate an extra set of hands tending to anyone injured in the fights."

"Well, considering I never felt any major spikes of magic power on the way over, I'm guessing they're doing non-magical fights – just a straight-up slugfest." Natsu glanced through the crowd then nodded toward the blunette. "She's near the centre of the hall, tending to the previous combatants."

"I'll probably end up seeing you soon." Lelyanna waved to the man as she walked away. She glanced over her shoulder and gave the pinkette a knowing smile. "After all, I'm willing to bet that you'll get dragged into one eventually."

"Well, hopefully you bet on me in the fight." Natsu chuckled lightly. As the woman disappeared into the crowd, he turned to the twins behind him and gazed down at Sera. "She's probably a bit busy, but let's see if we can't pester Mira a little about getting you stamped."

"Yes. Let's." Sera gazed around the hall slowly while following the man across the floor. She recognised so many of the faces within the building that it started to get a little off-putting. A large majority of them had been through DARL to receive Project Heracles and their armour.

"Oh my, who's this?" Mira called out playfully, drawing the android's attention as they reached the bar. The while-haired woman handed off a tray of drinks to one of the succubi flying overhead then leaned down against the bar-top with a curious smile.

"This is Sera Frost, Rita's identical twin." Natsu replied as he stood aside and ushed the wide-eyed android forward. "She only arrived yesterday so she's still getting used to things."

"I would like to join the guild and be put onto Natsu's team, please." Sera said while bowing politely to the beautiful barmaid.

"Oh?" Mira straightened up with a playful titter, "You don't call him 'Master' too?"

"Well, I used to call him 'Commander' but he said to just use his name – even though he has received basically the same rank from Her Majesty, and has been given that role."

"Next to no one knows about that though, Sera." Henrietta quickly clarified.

"I'd be happy to induct you. But – and I'm sure you've been told this already – you'll have some paperwork to fill out." Mira looked back and forth between the sisters, they sounded identical save for very minor intonation and tone differences, and without looking at the marking on Henrietta's thigh, the only way the two androids could be told apart was how their hair was styled; Henrietta was wearing her hair down like she usually did while Sera had her hair up in an ornate bun flanked by braided loops. It was a complex design but it displayed Sera's love for the newfound freedom that her body provided.

"Yes, I know." Sera nodded slowly.

"Right! I'll go and grab the stamp and paperwork from Laxus' office." Mira cheered and darted out from behind the bar.

Taking the opportunity given to her by Mira's absence and betting on Kinana not noticing her, Cana winked at Natsu and brought a finger to her lips, asking for his silence before vaulting over the bar and swiping a bottle of rum.

"She hasn't changed at all." Sera remarked flatly, following the already drunk brunette with her eyes before turning her gaze up to the man beside her.

"Nope, she definitely hasn't." Natsu chuckled lightly.

"Want some?" Cana offered the bottle to the trio but she blinked curiously when the androids shared a glance between them. "What's wrong?"

"They haven't had alcohol before, especially Sera." Natsu clarified quickly. He took the bottle and opened it. He took a swig and smacked his lips then handed it off to the two androids. "Here; have a sip you two. It's pretty tasty."

"If you're okay with it…" Sera murmured as she took the bottle and gazed down inside it at the liquid. She brought it to her lips and took a curious sip. "Hm, it tastes all right, not sure what I think about it."

Henrietta sipped the rum and handed it back to the lush with her head slightly tilted to the side in thought. "It kind of tastes like bananas…"

"That's because it's banana rum. I had an itching for it." Cana cheered and she hurried off into the crowd.

"Don't tell me she just pulled that from the shelf?" Mira muttered as she followed the woman with narrowed eyes before turning them on Natsu. "I take it that she didn't pay for it?"

"Nope."

Mira sighed softly and she placed a box and some sheets of paper down on the counter. "I'll just put it on her tab and she can pay it off later. Do you have a pen on you?"

Natsu reached under his coat and pulled out a fountain pen between his fingers. He held it out to Sera and placed his hand on her back, guiding her toward a stool.

"Firstly; where would you like your stamp and what colour?" Mira asked with a bright smile as she took the stamp out of its box and held it aloft.

"Err, could I have it in ash-grey like Rita's but on my right thigh instead?" Sera slowly lifted the hem of her Lolita-style dress to present her chosen thigh to the woman. "That way people will be able to see who is who when my hair isn't up."

"Okay." Mira leaned down and firmly pressed the stamp to the android's skin, marking her with the guild's logo. "There, all done."

"I'll leave you ladies to it. Don't lose my terminal, Sera." Natsu said, gently clapping his hand against Sera's back.

"I'll keep it close."

"Don't worry, Master," Henrietta turned to the pinkette with a small smile. "I'll keep her out of trouble and help keep an eye on the terminal too."

"Hey…" Sera whined softly at her sister but she couldn't stop the happy smile from tugging away at her lips.

Leaving the androids to their paperwork, Natsu started making his way through the crowd, his eyes wandering around the tables. He noticed a lot of regular people mingling around inside the hall, it was a rare sight since people tended to avoid coming inside due to the rowdiness of the guild. But here they were, coming and going like they were visiting Blue Pegasus. The density of sound and emotions was already starting to give him a headache but he did his best to push it away.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! We have a Winner by Tap-Out!" Lisanna's gentle voice called out loudly over the din of conversation and shouting thanks to the Lacrima Microphone in her hand. "After a long battle of attrition filled with grapples and pins! Fairy Tail's Naughty Nightmare Natsumi has come out on top and made Sabertooth's Sting Submit!" The announcement was met with cheers and cries as money changed hands. "Let's have a word with our combatants. First up, Sting! You noticed that Nat has picked up a few new techniques, what did you think of them?"

"Troublesome." Sting grunted. He let out a sigh and continued, "It's clear that her fighting style has changed drastically. She was already a great fighter but the man who has been training her is something else. He's a Jaeger like us, right?"

"Correct."

"Well, put it this way; if I was his target, the last thing I'd want to do is get into a fist fight with him. If Natsumi could do that to me, I hesitate to imagine what he is capable of."

"Natsumi, what do you have to say to that?"

"I think it depends on whether he has decided that you deserve correction or elimination. He doesn't go into a mission with the intent to outright kill someone, it's only when he has enough evidence that you don't deserve to live that he'll come for your head. That and if you mess with someone close to him, and he and I are very alike in that regard. I am very protective of the people close to me and will not hold back if someone wants to seriously harm them. Now imagine the kind of hell you'll be in when you have someone like me but far, far more physically stronger and faster, and with considerably better training."

"Shit."

Lisanna giggled softly at Sting's stunned remark and she said, "Maybe we'll see him fight today, I know many people among our allied guilds are very curious about him after all."

"Speaking of devil." A seductive mature voice drew Natsu's attention to a table that he was passing by. Sat at the table with a glass of red wine in her hand was a beautiful, lavender-haired woman dressed in a stunning, flowing and shimmering plum-coloured tulle dress. Her eyes had been glued to the man who exuded an incredibly subtle but intense aura of power from the moment she had spotted him.

"Shianne." Natsu gave the woman a quick, appraising look before locking eyes with her, his gaze slowly icing over though his tone remained warm. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Shianne replied coolly, her lips slowly tugging back into a gorgeous smile. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. You're the Mermaid Heel Guild Master." Natsu remarked in a matter-of-fact tone. He shifted his attention to the two women sat at her table, recognising them instantly; Kagura and Millianna.

"Huh, I remember you from Christmas." Kagura lifted her chin as she stared at the man, recognition flittering across her face. "Natsumi held the party in your estate."

"Báleygr, right?" Millianna asked curiously, earning a gentle giggle from her guild master.

"Yeah, but I should probably introduce myself properly." Natsu gave the women a polite nod and gestured to their leader with a quick, casual wave of his hand. "Shianne should already know this, since Laxus asked me about it. But my name is Natsu Dragneel, I'm another version of Natsumi who came from a different version of this world. I was brought here after mine went extinct thanks to a very devastating world war. I'm the one that Natsumi alluded to in that fight."

"That must've been a handful." Millianna giggled and she glanced over at the pinkette on her way over to them. "Speak of the devil."

"No, no. Shianne had it right the first time. Natsu's the devil, not me, I'm the dragon." Natsumi grinned playfully and she jabbed her elbow into Natsu's side. "Did you see my fight?"

"No, but I heard enough. Like Millianna said, you must've been a handful."

"Well, let's just say that he's probably going to drag Yukino away to a quiet part of the guild now." The mischievous dragon slayer cackled and she glanced around to see if she was right. "Well, I can see that Lucy is pouting and heading to her mother so I'm probably right."

"So, how you usually are."

"I like being a handful, it's fun." Natsumi purred playfully and she smirked at the man. She let out a soft groan as she stretched lithely. "Well, I'm going to grab a drink, unless you've got something refreshing on you?"

"Just alcohol and the sports drinks that I give you girls when you're training and I don't have an endless supply of those." Regardless of what he said, Natsu requiped a bottle of electrolytes and handed it to the woman. He turned his attention back to the mermaids and offered them a small smile. "I'll be around if anyone wants to talk to me, but like I said to Laxus; there are some questions I just won't answer."

"Before you go," Shianne leaned forward as she spoke up, drawing the man's gaze to her. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" Natsu narrowed his eyes slightly, confused by the unexpected gratitude. "Why?"

"Word about your firearms reached my girls and one came out to Magnolia to buy a pistol. We were surprised at the presentation and quality of it, but most of all, the handbook that you provide with every weapon is what I really want to thank you for." The mature woman gave the pinkette a warm, appreciative smile. "You put such detailed instructions in it. Not only on how to clean and maintain the weapon, but also your recommendations on form and how to practice using them. It helped her learn and get confident with the pistol and it encouraged other members to take a train over and buy some for themselves. They have already gotten my girls out of tough situations."

"Is it just the handguns that they bought?" Natsu asked curiously. "Have they gotten any rifles?"

"I believe they tested it out but it has a bit too much kick for them right now."

"It'll likely just be bad form and poor grip. You should have a chat with Bisca Connell while you're here and see if she'd be willing to teach a class on how to properly fire rifles. You'll probably have to contract her for it but I definitely think it's a good idea, it'll help your girls understand how to us them properly."

"Couldn't you teach them?" Millianna tilted her head curiously. "You're clearly very experienced."

"I could show them how it's done but the issue is that I basically feel next to no recoil from even my larger calibre or fastest firing weapons, it's all just soaked up by my body. Those 8.6mm rifles are basically just like putting a peashooter into your girls' hands." Natsu answered with a shake of his head. "Bisca is one hell of a shot and she knows her way around rifles, she picked up on my SLRs pretty quickly. Since she's a friendly face, she'd be the best pick for your guildmates."

"Well, we have plenty of time to talk with her during this festival." Shianne sat back and took a sip of her wine. "I look forward to seeing what you accomplish in the future, Natsu."

"I'll see you around." Natsu gave the women a quick wave goodbye and stepped past Natsumi on his way away from the table. He heard footsteps race after him and a body collided with his back, a pair of legs locking around his waist. "I'm surprised that you aren't heading over to Happy."

"He's with the other Exceeds right now. Carla too. I'd rather not interrupt their time together." Natsumi murmured into the man's ear. She finished off her drink and waved the bottle in front of his face. "I'm done if you want it back." After the man had requiped the empty bottle with a tap of his finger, she rested her hands on top of his head and looked out over the many heads in the crowd, using her powerful legs to anchor herself to the man and keep herself steady. "People have been curious about you."

"Have they?"

"Mhmm. Of course, you've already met Hibiki and the Trimens plus Jenny, but it seems like the puppies have taken an interest in you. Then again, they're always pining for a fun time. Jellal and his group are also interested in meeting you, they're floating around here somewhere."

"Well, they have all week to approach me. I probably won't be available afterwards though because I'm going to try and fit in another job between the festival and these military trials."

"Just taking your team this time?" Natsumi glanced down then looked over to the members of his team; the two androids moving away from the bar and the priestess stationed by the cage, overseeing the current fight.

"Yes. I need to see how we all function as a unit without outside factors like another team or some uninvited visitors. Sera's probably going to finish this module that she's working on during this week, so that'll expand her and Rita's capabilities, and the shield I made for Anna will keep her safe enough that I don't have to worry about her being in the thick of battle, even when her attention might be divided due to providing aid to someone."

"Oi, you Natsu?" A firm hand grabbed Natsu's arm and pulled him around to face the man questioning him. It was Orga Nanagear, Sabertooth's Lightning God Slayer, whose face was set in a serious expression.

"Oh, how unusually bold of you." Natsumi let out a seductive giggle and she climbed down off of Natsu's back. "You don't normally hunt people down like this, save for Laxus when you wanted to put on a lightshow that one time."

"After your little show with Sting, of course I'd seek him out." Orga retorted, sparing the gorgeous pinkette a glance before turning his attention back to the man who held a resemblance to her. "So, you are him?"

"Yes. I'm him. Natsu Dragneel, also known as Báleygr. Natsumi's counterpart from a different version of your world." Natsu replied casually, gazing up at the taller, bulky man with disinterest. "What did you need?"

"I want to see what you can do, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one."

Natsumi cackled loudly at the man's declaration and her lips pulled back into a large, fanged grin. "Well, I suggest coming at him with the intent to kill him because you won't stand a chance otherwise."

"Yeah, I doubt I'd need to go that far." Orga boasted while leaning down to get a closer look at the man before him. "Sure, he looks tough but I've seen bigger and stronger guys on construction sites."

"One, looks can be deceiving." Natsumi pointed out with a finger pointed at herself as if to illustrate her point. "Two, he's wearing a damn coat with armour inside it, so of course he doesn't look as impressive. I can tell you now that he doesn't have chicken legs like you. It's actually built from top to toe. His body has been honed by war-"

"Bloody hell, just suck me off already. You're already halfway there." Natsu remarked casually, cutting the woman off before she hit her stride.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Natsumi purred playfully, her attention immediately ripped from Orga by the man's joke. "Should I do it right here or should we find somewhere a little more private?"

"Let's just get this over with." Natsu murmured as he turned and started making his way toward the cage.

"The sucking or the fighting?" Natsumi pressed on, giving the man a sultry smile while walking beside him. "I would love either one, how about we have a little fight ourselves and see who comes out on top?"

"You just want something forced down your throat."

"What can I say? You awoke something in me with our training, I love getting overwhelmed by you."

"Do I need to give you two some privacy?" Orga asked, confused by their intimate dynamic.

"No, we can fight once they're done." Natsu replied with a nod to the current combatants; Grace and Lyon. "I'm shocked that they aren't naked already."

"Ha! They still have time." Natsumi laughed loudly and she banged on the wooden cage. "Oi! I've got money on you two getting butt naked, don't make me lose it!"

"Fuck off, you horny bitch! Go choke on someone's cock!" Grace shouted with a faint, embarrassed blush. She weaved out of the way of Lyon's punch and grabbed his arm, using his momentum to pull the ice mage into a grapple that she had watched Natsumi do.

"Lyon is wearing a belt, Grace, try and use it again him." Natsu called out to the raven-haired woman with his hand over Natsumi's mouth to stop the obvious remark sitting on the tip of her tongue from being voiced.

"Huh?!"

"Grace, you're smaller, more flexible, and more agile than him. Use your head, take a good look at your opponent and see if they have anything you could use against them." The salmon-haired man sighed as he ran his hand down his face, freeing the pinkette. "Think about how Natsumi would use the belt and try that."

"Hehehehe." Natsumi cackled at the man's suggestion and she flashed Lyon and flirty grin. "You're in for a fun time, Lyon."

Grace twisted out of the way of Lyon's kick and used her flexibility to kick his leg higher, causing the man to stumble back. While he was off-balance, she slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his hips, unbuckling his belt while she suplexed him. The attack left Lyon stunned and wide-open for her next attack. The raven-haired ice mage flipped him onto his stomach while pulling his belt through the loops of his trousers then used it to tie his hands behind his back. Panting heavily, she sat down on the face-down man, straddling his hips. "Heh, maybe I should take lessons from him too. What do you think, Lyon?"

"I think you should get off me, and after that, I don't care what you get up to." Lyon grumbled while straining against his belt, trying to free his hands. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh and laid limply under the woman. "I give."

"Damn, I lost the bet." Natsumi chuckled lightly and she playfully slapped Natsu's arm. "Why did you have to go and tell her that. If the fight went on longer, then they might've gotten naked and then we would've been in for a real show."

"Are you here for a fight?" A soft, smooth voice drew the pinkettes' attention and they turned to see Lelyanna standing behind them with Wendy and Shelia, all three ready to tend to the fighters after Lisanna spoke with them.

"Orga wanted it." Natsu replied with his thumb pointed over at the nearby man and shrugged. "Figured I'm here anyway and this is the current event. If I want to enjoy the festival then I have to take part in it."

Lelyanna looked up at the large man then lowered her gaze back down to Natsu, sighing quietly. "At least don't send him to us on the verge of death… We've got enough work on our hands as it is."

"You'll be able to pull your punches enough, right?" Wendy asked curiously but with a hint of worry in her voice as she glanced at Orga, concerned for the man's safety. "I know that's probably the reason you don't want to brawl with the others."

"If I can train someone as small as Anna without hurting her too much, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"He says that but he's gotten rougher with his training now that I've got my shield." Lelyanna informed the blunette in a whisper near her ear. "I can take the hits thanks to it but it is no less frightening, especially since I've seen what he can do from an uncomfortably close distance."

"Like the ants?" Wendy glanced between Natsu and Lelyanna, noticing the man's eyes had gone cold at the priestess' words.

"No. I had been getting harassed by a nobleman for a while now, he made the mistake of trying to kidnap me on Christmas night." Lelyanna shook her head lightly. "Natsu noticed I was in trouble and came out to investigate. It… got messy. That was the first time that I really saw just what he was capable of. In his own words; a man-made monster hunting what he had been trained to hunt."

"You're fighting, Natsu?" Lisanna asked lightly, her eyebrows raised slightly with surprise. She was holding the microphone aside so it wouldn't pick up their conversation as she approached the pinkette.

"Yeah."

"Okay. How should I introduce you? Not everyone knows who exactly you are."

"Just use Báleygr. That's what everyone knows me as thanks to the newspapers and magazines, it's also the primary name I use for the Bank of Fiore and Jaeger Association of Fiore." Natsu remarked and he walked to the chairs that had been set aside for Wendy, Shelia, and Lelyanna to wait until they were needed to tend to the combatants.

"Got it, turning the feed on." Lisanna smiled brightly and she tapped on the Lacrima camera floating around beside her, activating it and showing up on the displays dotted around the guild hall. She beautiful young woman adjust her hair and smiled at the camera as she began to announce the incoming fight. "Ladies and gentlemen, our next fighters have come forward. On my left, we have a very familiar face who has appeared in many Grand Magic Games over the years; Orga Nanagear from Sabertooth. I'd get a few pre-fight words from him but I fear he'd try to sing into the microphone, much like our very own Gajeel Redfox. Orga has sought a fight with one of our own members, a relatively new one however he has been making a name for himself."

Natsu saw the camera pan from Orga, who stood stoically by the cage, to him from a screen in the corner of his vision as he shrugged off his coat and laid it on the chair with a hefty thud. He unfastened his pistol and knife from his thighs and laid them down on top of it before starting on his waistcoat and shirt.

"On my right we have a man that you who's face you would've seen in the papers or around town, he does have a name but uses his epithet over it for personal reasons. I'm talking about the man with flaming eyes; Báleygr." Lisanna stepped closer to the pinkette to get a comment from him but her eyes dropped to the scarred tanned muscular torso and the new tags that hung around his neck but they were quickly removed and dropped onto the clothing. "Do you have anything you'd like to share?"

"Hmm…" Natsu glanced up at the woman while he took off his boots and socks then began stretching to warm up his muscles. "Sure. This is all fun and games for everyone, so I'm happy to fight anyone who challenges me."

"Are you starting to have regrets, Orga?" Natsumi tittered loud enough to be picked up by Lisanna's microphone and she grinned up at the large man. "I did say that he had been training me, and now you've picked a fight with the man himself."

"Nah, I can take him." Orga shrugged and he entered the cage without a further word, taking the position on the far side.

"He is eager." Natsu grunted. He clapped Lisanna on the shoulder lightly on his way to the cage. "Ready whenever you are, chief."

"Could the Referee join the fighters in the cage."

"Coming." A nearby man called out, drawing Natsu's attention. He was a tall blunette who was instantly recognisable thanks to his facial tattoo.

"Hello Jellal." Natsu greeted the man quietly after he stepped inside and the door was closed behind the blunette.

"I was hoping to meet you at some point but I didn't expect it to turn out like this." Jellal chuckled lightly. "Erza has told me a bit about you."

"Nothing too heinous, I hope." The pinkette's lips tugged back into a wide, fanged grin as he joked with the former criminal.

"No, no, no." Jellal shook his head, smiling at the familiar cheeky grin. "She speaks highly of you. Truth be told, I knew of you before we were told who you were. She didn't say much, just that she met a man who reminded her of her friend, and a few other things too like the job you did together, but she didn't divulge your identity."

"I don't think I would've minded, given your bond. I'm actually surprised she kept so much information withheld."

"Are we actually going to fight or are you two going to chat until the cows come home?" Orga called out from his position on the far side of the cage.

"Raring to go, isn't he?" Jellal remarked with a glance at the bulky man before turning his attention back to Natsu and nodding over to the position opposite Orga. "When you're ready, I'll call the start."

"Right, right." Natsu stretched his arms and rolled his neck as he took his mark and gazed across the cage at Orga with cold, abyssal-onyx eyes. "Now is as good as ever, Jellal."

"Understood. Rules are as follows; no magic, injure each other as much as you want providing it won't cause immediate death or not give enough time for the healers to work their magic, ring-out doesn't count as a disqualification, fights are only ended by the referee's call or by a fighter's resignation. Aside from those rules, anything goes." Jellal looked between the two fighters as he raised his hand high. After a few seconds, he threw his hand forward, chopping through the air while shouting, "Fight!"

Orga confidently thundered forward, charging at the man who stood his ground without even a hint of concern. His fist flashed forward but it was calmly batted away with a smooth swipe of the pinkette's arm, wrist meeting wrist. The large man kept his eyes open for the counter but it didn't come so he used the momentum from the parry to turn and kick at the pinkette, only for him gracefully dip under it.

Even with Orga's explosive strength propelling his attacks, Natsu was able to easily track and manoeuvre out of the way. What disappointed him the most was the fact that he hadn't even used Reflex to quicken his reaction time, the larger man was just that easy to read.

"What is this, a ballet?"

"Then make it interesting for me." Natsu remarked casually as he continued to brush away or move just outside of Orga's attacks. "Because right now, I could be sleepwalking and still avoid you."

"Bullshit." Orga grunted and he pushed harder and increased the speed of his attacks but it was in vain as the pinkette continued to avoid getting hit. "Stop fucking dodging."

"Stop telegraphing your attacks, make your initial movements faster and maybe I'll put some effort into fighting back." Natsu suggested offhandedly. Even at such close range, he kept the man in his view at all times, using his peripheral vision to track any incoming kicks.

"Come on, Natsu! Put on a show already!" Natsumi loudly heckled the man as she banged on the cage with her fist. "The people are here to see a fight, not watch you bust a move. Save that for the talent show!"

Natsu sighed as he ducked under Orga's punch and stepped forward, giving the man a gentle shove to knock him off-balance before turning and driving his heel in to the man's abs with enough force to send him tumbling across the makeshift arena. He slipped his hands into his pockets and strolled over to Jellal while Orga picked himself off the ground. "Oi, hear me out; if we want to make this a spectacle that's fun for everyone, let him use magic – even if it's just to bolster his physical speed and strength."

"Are you sure about this?" Jellal asked curious, cautiously eyeing the man. "Once I make the call, I won't rescind it for this match."

"It's either that or I fight blindfolded with my arms tied behind my back." Natsu remarked bluntly. He sensed Orga coming up behind him and he turned to the side, avoiding a punch hooking into his side and grabbing the larger man by the wrist. He effortlessly tossed him aside with a bored expression. "I'm dead serious, this won't be a fun fight to watch if I actually took it even remotely seriously. I can pull my punches but I can't slow my reaction time and I'm used to things moving a lot faster than this."

"Very well." Jellal nodded and turned to the discarded lightning mage. "Are you willing to spice things up, Orga?"

"Fine by me, what are the limits? It's pretty crowded in here." Orga pushed himself to his feet and gestured to the crowd just beyond the cage. "Should probably put in some lightning rods, just in case."

"We'll go with contact or close-range spells only, no 'lightning cannons'." Jellal replied before looking over his shoulder. "Gajeel, do you mind putting up an iron cage within the wooden one."

Even though the man was nowhere in sight, iron pillars sprouted from the wooden floor just within the boundary of the wooden cage, creating a ground for the lightning which would protect the spectators.

"Hm, works for me." Natsu looked around, turning slowly on the spot before facing the lightning mage and holding out his arms. "Like Natsumi said, come at me like you want to kill me. Put me through the ringer but don't worry about hurting me, I can recover pretty quickly."

"Don't have to tell me twice, just don't bitch and whine after you get the beatdown of your life." Black lightning surged across Orga's body as he amped himself up. He watched and waited for Natsu to move away from the referee and without warning, he launched forward like a bolt of lightning and drove his electrified fist straight into Natsu's stomach which sent him flying into the metal cage and discharging into it.

"Fuck. I'm awake, I'm awake…" Natsu groaned as he slid down the iron bars. He shook his head lightly and chuckled as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off, lifting his head to reveal a pair of eyes like frozen pools of blood and a somewhat savage grin. "I've got to admit, that was a little shocking."

"Looks like you're finally raring to go." Orga remarked while Natsumi cackled in the background at Natsu's quip. "You're finally ready to fight?"

"You can move as fast as lightning, but are your reflexes just as quick?" Natsu's grin widened, baring his fangs like a playful predator toying with his prey. "I hope you're boosting your physical resistance too, because I'm going to be hitting hard once I get moving."

"What kind of mage would I be if I didn't take care of the basics like that?" Orga shot back and he leaned forward to launch into another attack but something hit his stomach and lifted him into the air and a heartbeat later, he slammed into the iron cage with an even more painful throb in his magic-reinforced abs. "I thought…" The man grunted as he pried himself off of the bent cage. He fell to his knees and looked up when a pair of feet suddenly appeared before him. "I thought you weren't going to use magic."

"I haven't used any form of power beyond my physical strength." Natsu leaned down over the man with his hands on his lips. "Magic, curses, nothing. I'm even further from human than Natsumi is. You're stuck in a cage with a monster, Jaeger, that's why it wasn't going to be a fair fight if you couldn't use magic."

"Well, you definitely pack a punch if that's the case." Orga pushed off the ground and steadied himself, staring down at the red-eyed pinkette. "How many hits was that?"

"A punch to get you airborne and a kick to send you across the cage." Natsu replied and he turned and started walking back to the middle of the cage.

"You got some balls on you, turning your back to me now that we're serious."

"Just because I can't see you doesn't mean my attention isn't on you, have you already forgotten how I intercepted your attack while I was talking to Jellal? I have more than one way to track people around me, after all."

Deciding to test the man's claim now that he could use his magic, Orga launched forward in a bolt of black lightning, aiming a punch at Natsu's back but the man flipped over him with a mere moment left to spare. With his speed augmented by his lightning, the large man pivoted on the ball of his foot to turn and drive his fist straight up into the mid-air man.

Natsu twisted in the air like a cat, his demonic eyes locking onto Orga in an instant as his hand came down and used Orga's fist as a springboard to launch himself back to the ground. The moment his feet touched the wooden floor, Orga was in his face with a lightning infused fist only a few centimetres from it.

Orga saw the man's bloodred eyes change slightly and he moved too fast and fluidly to be natural when he eased under his attack and lunged forward, one arm slipping up over his chest and around his neck while the other moved under his arm and up his back with both hands locking the arms together. Even though his electrified body had been shocking the pinkette every time they had made contact, Orga was still pushed back and driven down into the ground with a heavy thud that cracked the wooden floor.

"Congrats, you actually made me get a little serious." Natsu murmured into the man's ear while keeping him in a firm triangle lock. His muscles were spasming but the lock he had chosen was safe enough that he shouldn't cause too much damage from the contractions.

With his back pinned to the floor, there wasn't much room for Orga to draw his arm back so he relied on the speed boost from his lightning to add more force as he started punching at Natsu's exposed side with his left hand, delivering powerful shocks with each hit and trying to force the pinkette off of him. Even though he couldn't get the man to loosen his grip, Orga could see that he was doing damage as the man's skin began to bruise and bleed.

"Natsu." Jellal calmly warned the man and watched as Natsu released Orga and stood back with an unphased expression. To both his and Orga's shock, the man's wounds healed before their eyes and all that was left was the blood that he had lost that slowly ran down his tanned skin. If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't detect any magic coming from the pinkette whatsoever, he'd have to disqualify him for breaking the rules he agreed to but to be sure, he asked, "You're not using magic or anything, right?"

"Like I said before; no, I am not." Natsu replied firmly, levelling his cold red eyes on the blunette. "No magic, no curses, this is just what my body is capable of." He turned his attention back to Orga and brought his fists up, adopting a boxing stance. "I noticed something about those lightning charges you do. It's like you are a gun; you point yourself at your target and fire off your attack. You don't seem to have the capability of changing directions or the kind of attack you're using and there is always a little bit of lag-time, so I'm guessing your brain can't keep up with your speed and needs a moment to catch up. But to be fair, most people wouldn't be able to capitalise on that fraction of a second."

Orga narrowed his eyes and charged up his body, electrifying his muscles and preparing launch into another attack. He bolted forward in the blink of an eye but he came to a stop against Natsu's arm with an immense, debilitating pain in his abdomen that threatened to knock him unconscious. "Wha… what happened?"

"Knee to the liver. I'm surprised you're still awake."

"Fuck…" Orga groaned and his vision faded to black with his body falling limp right after.

"Not anymore, I guess… Wendy, Lelyanna, Shelia." Natsu glanced at the three women who were watching the fight from right up against the wooden cage. He picked up the man and carefully carried him outside while Jellal made the call and Lisanna announced it. "I held back a lot but there might be internal bleeding from his own momentum."

"Just lay him on the table and we'll get to work." Wendy instructed and she brushed their belongings aside to make room. The second Orga's body was placed down, she gave the pinkette a soft shove aside and put her hands on the large man's abs, instantly getting to work. "Internal bruising and bleeding, concussion from the sudden stops bouncing his brain off his skull, torn muscles from overexertion…"

"I'll take the concussion, you two work on his organs." Lelyanna slipped around to the man's head and placed her hands on his temples. Her eyes and hands lit up with a divine turquoise glow as she began to tend to the man's injuries.

"Shouldn't we check over Natsu?" Shelia asked, worriedly glancing between the two Fairy Tail mages. "He had a lot of lightning shot right through his thorax, it can't be good for his heart and lungs. And Orga was hitting his ribs incredibly hard…"

"Orga first." Natsu shot down the woman's concern with his gentle remark, redirecting her attention back to the injured man. "I'll be fine." He felt a tap on his shoulder and he looked back to see a smiling Lisanna with her microphone held up.

"Do you mind answering a few questions about the fight?" Lisanna asked lightly.

"Sure but…" Natsu turned his gaze on Lelyanna who glanced up and nodded to the white-haired woman.

"He's fine. He'll be coming to in a couple of seconds, the head trauma is minimal and I'm almost done healing it."

"We're almost done on his mid-section too." Wendy added with a glance at the man.

"All right." Natsu turned and gently grasped Lisanna's elbow, moving her away from the healers so they could work without their disturbance. "What did you want to ask?"

"Well, firstly, I wanted to point something out." Lisanna said with a gentle giggle and she pointed up at the man's blood-red eyes that faintly glowed with demonic power while looking at the floating camera Lacrima. "For anyone who is wondering; this is where he gets his name from. Anyway, what made you ask for the 'no magic' rule to be lifted for Orga?"

"It makes it more fun and enjoyable to watch instead of having us just dodge, take the hits, and give pissy little pretend punches like some kind of actor in a play. Personally, I'm not used to play-fighting so it's tough for me to judge punch strength."

"Well, it was certainly an entertaining fight which displayed some of your skill and showed where Natsumi's new moves came from. However, it does bare the question on what your hits would be like if you did use magic?"

"To put it bluntly; I have an attack spell that dumps all the kinetic energy from the hit straight into the target's body. If I was to use that at full force, well… to spare the details, it gets messy. Granted, most of us have spells that could turn something into nothing. I'm sure Natsumi is more than capable of vaporising in an instant if she needed to."

"And you aren't?" Natsumi remarked loudly, a boastful grin worn proudly on her face. "Our last job begs to differ."

"About the last hit?" Lisanna asked, glancing down at Orga's body just as he let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes. "You were fast but it looked more like you were just moving your leg, is it safe to assume that the real source of the impact was Orga himself?"

"I made use of Orga's speed and how he lacks the ability to adjust his attack path mid rush, that's where the majority of the force came from. All I needed to do was swat his fist slightly to knock it off course and use his momentum to drive my knee into his liver, which is what ended the fight."

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Lelyanna cooed as she leaned over Orga to check his eyes then she sat the man upright. "Feeling better?"

"You ladies are fantastic." Orga replied and he pivoted left and right then rolled his arms. "I think I feel even better than I did before the fight."

"Looks like sleeping beauty is awake." Natsu smirked at the man before lowering his gaze to the cute white-haired woman in front of him. "Any more questions? I know you want to chat with him too."

"I'll do one more; since this is your first festival with us, are you planning on taking part in any other events?"

"I've been eyeing off that obstacle course out the back ever since coming back from my last job, but as I said to Laxus; I'm probably a bit too experienced to run that particular one competitively. I do want to run it seriously but I just won't have my times recorded."

"Right! Thanks for answering my questions! I'll let you get dressed again while I go and pester Orga." Lisanna smiled brightly at the man and gave him a light push over to his clothing.

Just as Natsu slipped his dog-tags back on, a slender finger pressed against his spine, right between his shoulder blades and he felt a cool sensation run through him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Lelyanna who offered him a wink while she checked him over.

"You've still got a little bit of damage to your organs, good enough to function and it's not like it won't heal soon enough but I'll sort it out and you can be on your way."

"Thanks, Anna." Natsu gave the priestess a quick smile and turned back to his clothes but was faced pair of ashen-haired twins that had suddenly appeared in front of him. "How did it go?"

Sera lifted the hem of her dress a little to show off the marking on her thigh, smiling happily all the while. "It went smoothly with Rita's and Mira's help. I'm officially part of your team, Colonel."

"Good, I'm planning on taking a job after the festival is over."

"It'll be interesting to see what lies beyond the city. I never had the chance before, not even over there." Sera said as she handed over Natsu's terminal once he was fully dressed. "The plans are completed and I ran some simulations; it seems like it'll work as intended. But unless I go back during the festival to gather materials and equipment then it won't be ready for the job."

"Sera," Natsu spoke softly as he placed a hand on the android's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're free to come and go as you please, to do as you like. If you want to travel then you're free to do it. I'll sort out some money for you so you can buy stuff and travel just like Rita can. As for the stuff, I already gave you permission to grab whatever you need."

"Yes Sir, thank you." Sera gave the man a happy smile and placed her hand atop his. "I do have some things in mind already but they can wait until after the job."

"Natsu." Lucy called out quietly as she made her way through the crowd, a sweet smile tugging at her lips when she saw his eyes snap to her and the red faded to abyssal-onyx with warmth rapidly returning to them. She stopped beside him and gave him a quick, apologetic look. "I know this is out of the blue but Hisui has somehow accidentally set up an impromptu meeting with Magnolia's mayor… She was talking with Mother and I about your plans and when he overheard us and said that he'd like to speak with you about it."

Natsu sighed theatrically and caressed the blonde's cheek as he leaned in to whisper into her ear, "You're lucky that I'm madly in love with you." He heard a cute squeak slip from Lucy's lips and he pulled back with a sly smile, stealing a kiss from the beautiful woman before pulling away completely.

"Cheeky bugger." Lucy murmured, pouting cutely as she sneakily glanced at the nearest Lacrima display to see if their kiss had been caught on camera. She placed a hand over her racing heart and let out a soft breath. "Let's move away from the cameras before you kiss me again. It would be a little embarrassing to get caught on camera, even if we're just in the background."

"I can think of worse things we could be caught in the act of." Natsu grinned devilishly but he relented. "Lead the way, can't hurt to see what this guy wants to know."

Lucy grasped the man's hand and gently led him through the crowd with the android twins following closely behind them. She glanced back at the man and gave him a small, loving smile. "You're lucky that I love it when you tease me. Maybe I shouldn't berate Virgo so much when she gets masochistic…"

"You've found out why she enjoys it so much, huh~?" Natsu whispered huskily into the woman's ear and grinned teasingly when the ear became red.

"Maybe~." Lucy turned and pushed up on her toes, bringing her lips to his ear in an effort to deal out a little bit of payback. "If you're lucky, I might just do a little bit of begging for punishment when we get home. I might even dress up as a slutty little maid~, Master~."

"You make life so hard for me." Natsu growled quietly, his eyes flickering with a fiery passion. "How am I supposed to focus on business when I'm stuck with a raging erection?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll manage just fine." Lucy purred softly and she gave the pinkette a quick kiss before taking a few steps back and winking playfully. "You've done well enough so far, after all."

"I'm taking out the frustration on you later."

"You're more than welcome too." The blonde let out a sensual giggle and she bit her lip at the thought of what was to come. She calmed herself and straightened out her face as she turned and she led Natsu the last of the way to the table where her mother, Hisui, and the mayor sat. "I'm back."

"Lady Heartfilia, Your Majesty," Natsu bowed politely two the two women who both shared a sly smile at his formal tone, silently agreeing to tease the man later once their unplanned company had moved on. He turned his attention to the slender man with greying hair that sat opposite them, he was a little familiar. "You must be Magnolia's Mayor, I heard you were asking for me?"

"Yes, allow me to introduce myself." The human man rose from the chair and stood in front of the man with his hand held out for a handshake. "Lord Roy Silverstone. We met during the demonstration that you held back in late January but you had your hands full with the demonstration and making sure people didn't shoot themselves or others in the foot, so I won't hold it against you if you don't quite remember me."

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Lord Silverstone." Natsu took the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. He half turned and held out his hand to the two ashen-haired women behind him, bringing the nobleman's attention to them. "You might remember one of them from my demonstration but these are Henrietta and Sera Frost, members of my team who also help me with my company." Both androids bowed in unison but didn't speak, prompting the man to continue. "Henrietta operates my business while I'm away from the city and Sera is a researcher who helps develop new ideas, some for our personal use and others which we could put into production, but some ideas don't make the cut on account of their complexity or risk factor."

"Ladies." Lord Silverstone bowed politely to the women and took his seat at the table once again. "What I wanted to speak to you about – and please forgive me once again for the interruption, Your Majesty, Ladies Heartfilia – is regarding the titbit of information I happened to overhear from their conversation. You were looking to expand your manufacturing and were looking into where you could build in or around Magnolia?"

"Given the size of the complex I intend to build, it would likely have to be outside of Magnolia. I'd likely need to have enough land available to build a basic airfield for use in testing air and ground combat vehicles."

"I can commission a military base adjacent to your complex to be used for testing and training." Hisui interrupted politely with a raised hand. "Think of it like a quid-pro-quo in that we buy equipment from you and you can rent facilities at the base to test weapons, vehicles, and aircraft."

"That'll make deliveries easier too." Natsu nodded quickly. He turned to look at the androids behind him and asked, "Does that suit you, Sera?"

"Yes. Especially if the location is far enough outside of the city that we won't disturb people when testing live ammunition and explosives, and the collateral damage from experiments gone awry will be significantly limited with proper testing facilities."

"I'll keep that in mind for selecting the right land for the job." Lord Silverstone said. "Now, about the complex itself, can you give me an idea of the facilities you'll have?"

"Foundries for producing the alloys I need to create my products, small-scale refineries to produce the materials that aren't as easy to obtain, forges and machine shops to produce parts, assembly buildings, warehouses, logistics depot for truck and rail…" Natsu paused for a moment and shook his head lightly. "I'm sure you get the idea. This isn't exactly a small undertaking but it is necessary due to government contracts that will need to be fulfilled. To give you an idea of scale, I'll show you the work-in-progress design." He shifted the terminal that he had been holding under his left arm to his hand and tapped on it, navigating the interface deftly until he found Yggdrasill's blueprints which he projected as a three-dimensional hologram on top of the table. "It's not complete because the situation has been changing quickly recently but this is the general gist of it."

Sera stepped around the man and leaned in; eyes filled with curiosity as she gazed at the hologram. "Do you mind if I take a look at this later, I might have some improvements to make."

"Sure." Natsu glanced down at the woman and tapped on the terminal, bringing up a scale to show the complex's size. "That's roughly the area that I'm going to need but it could be likely that it goes up. However, some of the facilities that I had planned on incorporating are now going to be provided by the military installation and therefore shrinks the overall amount of land that I need."

While the man was talking, Lord Silverstone had taken out a pen and notepad and wrote down the points that he had deemed important like the general dimension and size of the land required as well as the neighbouring military base that would have its own requirements. "Give me some time to investigate some plots of land and check in with Her Majesty later on to get an idea of the dimensions of the base. Once I've worked out what locations would be the most suitable, I'll contact you and we can go from there. Chances are that you'll have to sort out road infrastructure but since it was being discussed with Lady Heartfilia, I'm sure you were already aware of that possibility."

"I've already offered to provide construction services and I'm more than happy to include road, power, water and waste in that service." Layla informed the men, sparing Natsu a quick glance and noticing that there wasn't much surprise on his face, her daughter had obviously passed on the message so she gave Lucy a brief smile before turning her attention to the mayor. "All he'll need to do is provide me with blueprints – with the requirements for specific buildings included – and a location and I can sort out the rest."

"Perfection." Lord Silverstone smiled broadly, revealing pristine white teeth. He jotted down a few more notes then slipped the notepad and pen back into a pocket on the inside of his jacket. He stood up and offered the ladies an immaculately graceful bow before holding his hand out to Natsu. "I still have your business card so once I've selected some potential locations, I'll give you a call and you can drop into the council building or I can have the document sent to your manor for you to review and speak with Lady Heartfilia and Her Majesty."

"Thank you. I look forward to seeing what you come up with." Natsu shook the man's hand and let him be on his way, leaving him with a pair of teasing smiles from women who looked ready to pounce on him for being so formal. He sighed as he shut off the hologram and sat down at the table with Lucy sitting next to her mother and the androids flanking him. "Come on, get it out of your system."

"Oh no, I'm going to save this one for later." Layla purred playfully, her gleeful smile so reminiscent of the younger blonde beside her. "Though it does make me want to drag you out to events next time I have Lucy join me, just so I can watch you suffer more."

"At least it'll make it a lot more bearable for me since it'll stop every single man there hitting on me or trying to cop a feel." Lucy let out a relieved murmured which drew her mother's attention.

"On second thought, Lucy would probably try and sneak away with you to somewhere quiet to pass the time every single chance she gets."

"Mother!"

"Don't say 'Mother' like you are trying to deny it." Layla giggled light-heartedly. "It's pretty clear to me just how much you love Natsu, both emotionally and physically."

Deciding to show her friend a little bit of mercy, Hisui leaned forward with an apologetic grin. "I have not had a chance to apologise for that little chat happening, so let me do it now; I am sorry for dragging you into that. The three of us were talking about it while you were having your fight and Roy must have been loitering nearby for one reason or another."

"It's fine. It was inevitable, one way or another." Natsu shook his head lightly and grinned at the greenette. "Thankfully, it has streamlined things for me so I can work on other things. Do you need me to provide a plan for that military base?"

"If you could, I would be grateful." Hisui bowed her head slightly. "Nothing too drastic though. Just a basic layout would suffice, and please include details like the runway lengths."

Sera pursed her lips in thought and turned to the pinkette. "I believe we might have some archived plans for an old Airforce base that had been turned into the Dunhill Race Track… I'll need to cross reference it with local maps but I believe it was situated in the perfect position for our needs as it should reside outside of Magnolia, going by the current level of sprawl."

"Ah, I know the one you're talking about." Natsu nodded quickly. "Yeah, I believe you might be right about the location. We'll have to scout it out some time in the future or wait and see if Lord Silverstone puts forward that location."

"I say to do both." Hisui suggested. "There is nothing wrong with taking a look around for yourselves while he does his job. And if you have decided that this strip of land is the place you want to build on then you can always just submit your own recommendation and see what he thinks."

"Right, we'll probably do that then." Natsu agreed and he turned to Sera. "I'll fly us out to the location at some point in the next few weeks and get an aerial overview of the land. It'll probably need some landscaping done to get it to where we want it."

"That's fine. Just work on getting the land sorted out first." Layla offered the man a sweet smile. "I can take care of the rest. Especially after you provide the blueprints."

"Right, well I want to check out some of the games outside so I'll see you three later." Natsu said as he rose from his seat, followed by the two androids.

"Make sure to win something for me." Lucy giggled, smiling warmly at the man as she waved goodbye.

"All right."

---

Not much to say here beyond how in the last chapter I mentioned writing a new chapter for Continued Life of a Dragon Slayer and between then and now, I've gone back through the first eight chapters and pretty much completely rewritten them. The quality is a hell of a lot better than their originals and I'm pretty happy with how it is going. It has made me enjoy writing that story again but I'm going to be working on the rewrites predominantly as it allows me to get my head back into the story and competently write a new chapter.

However, my next task isn't going to be working on CLoaDS, instead it'll be a new chapter for The Agency as I've neglected it a little.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you all in the next one.