Chapter Fifty-Seven

No Holds Barred

"Jellal!"

Gray and Lyon both looked up when they heard the distant cry of an enraged Fire Dragon, immediately followed by the ground shaking.

"Je-lal," Erza strained through ragged breath. Despite Natsu's immense magic power coursing around inside her body, she was running out of time.

"Jellal!? No, this is bad, I can't let Natsu fight him alone," Gray cursed as he stood up, trying to figure out what the best course of action was.

"Jellal? That Wizard Saint that went rogue, what's he got to do with the Oración Seis?" Lyon asked, sparing a single glance at Erza who had winced whenever the name had been spoken.

"I don't know," Gray shook his head honestly, "But Natsu was the one who grounded him when he tried to murder Erza. His magic was bound, so he nearly beat Jellal to death with his bare hands." Gray muttered quietly.

"He… He took down a Wizard Saint without using magic?" Lyon looked on, wide-eyed. Jura had omitted that fine detail earlier in the mansion.

"If Jellal is here…" Gray trailed off slightly, adding more intensity to the ice underneath Erza's body as she squirmed around.

"If he beat him once before, he can do it again, surely. Besides, his magic isn't bound, just most of it is currently doing whatever this is," Lyon pointed at Erza.

"It's not about that, it's more because…" Gray thought about the best way to explain it but realized that beyond his initial impression, he too wasn't quite sure how to summarize it.

"He and Erza are intimately close, and he cares about her a lot more than it seems. I'm worried that if Jellal is here and they're fighting, he might not be able to keep his cool," Gray managed to explain.

"And that would be the worst thing?" Lyon raised a brow.

"Yes," Gray answered gravely. He stopped the ice underneath Erza, "I don't think this is going to help anymore, we'll be better off out there. The others have already all gone off to do their own thing anyway. Hibachi-"

"Hibiki," the Trimen corrected him, glaring at the way Gray was mirroring Natsu's utter lack of regard.

"You'll stay here with Erza if we go to help Natsu?" Gray asked as he collected his top that had previously been discarded.

"I will. When Ichiya arrives, he's got a parfum that takes pain away remarkably well. He may even have something to take down her temperature," Hibiki nodded, still playing around with the various magic screens currently trying their best to track everyone as they split.

"His magic won't take this temperature down. She's got the fire of a Dragon King inside of her, if she wasn't already as tough as she is, she'd probably have been burnt to a crisp by now." Gray explained with a solemn nod.

"Don't worry though, that ice should stay beneath her for quite a while," Lyon added quickly as the two of them headed down the trail that they'd seen Natsu and Lucy go.

The distance between them and where Natsu had sniffed out the entrance to the cave was no more than a mile, and on the other side of that mile, Natsu had been forced into a deep borehole in the ground from an overwhelming volume of Heavenly Body magic.

"Idiot," Jellal said, sucking his teeth slightly as he glared at it, "Did you think that I would be naive enough to ever take you lightly after what you did at the Tower of Heaven?"

"You may have ruined my plans there, but I will still revive Zeref. I knew that if I was ever going to be facing off against you again, I would have to throw everything at you," Jellal said, finally looking at Lucy.

"I don't know who you are, a Fairy Tail mage and likely one of Erza Scarlett's friends, but you're now in my way. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to take your life as well as the Dragon," Jellal said with an almost believable glint of sadness in his eyes as he raised his hands towards Lucy who for the most part had been shellshocked at what was going on in front of her.

Natsu swore in what Lucy thought might have been Dragon tongue as he pushed out of the hole, a heavy set glare thick on his features.

"First you try to kill Erza; unforgivable, now you're trying to kill Lucy. Shall I get Mira here so that you can make an attempt on the lives of all three of my…" he stopped short, again realizing that he had no way to properly group them.

"All three of mine," he said, a brief flourish of his hand toward Lucy.

"Natsu Dragneel, every time I meet you I'm left with more answers than questions. It almost pains me that I'm going to kill you," Jellal said, looking back at the Fire Dragon, "Almost,"

"Seven Stars, pass your judgement; Grand Chariot!" Jellal chanted as the magic circles appeared blisteringly bright in the sky above them.

'I do not like this one,' E.N.D. spoke up, catching Natsu's attention while his eyes had been firmly on evading each of the seven strikes that had begun homing in on him with alarming speed.

"Celestial Dragon; Roar!" Lucy's attack had been far more contained this time, not draining her of her entire magic. The roar funnelled with impressive potency, catching Jellal off guard and sending him slamming into the rock wall by the mouth of the cave.

Natsu evaded the final blast from Jellal's attack and stopped right next to where Lucy was trying to catch her breath.

"Now that," he said with a genuine smile. He'd been about to say something but the powerful scent that followed her took his focus away.

"You smell so good," he whispered, looking at her with an immense need in his eyes.

"Not right now!" she whispered back, "One of us has to be able to say no otherwise the other guy will take control. It's bad enough that you're talking back to him, but if we… You know, then he'll take over!" she barked, unable to stop the flush that rose in her cheeks.

"Lucy, Natsu!" Happy yelled as Wendy came running out of the cave with both of the winged felines in her arms, running wide away from the spot where Jellal was pulling himself out of the rock face.

"Another irritating Dragon Slayer to slay. Very well then, I'll destroy all three of you in one go!" Jellal raged as he released raw magic that irradiated out of him in waves.

"You couldn't destroy a wet piece of paper," Natsu laughed, bluffing ever so slightly, knowing that whether Jellal realized it or not, it would anger him immensely.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart," Jellal's glare narrowed as he focused solely on Natsu.

The Fire Dragon turned to the two Dragon Slayers by his side. They watched as his normally obsidian eyes narrowed and turned into pure gold.

"It's time for the two of you to go back. Wendy, I need you to save Erza, she's been poisoned, and besides that, I really don't want you to be around if this gets a bit out of hand," he told them, making it clear that there was no room for negotiation.

"Right," Lucy nodded quickly, "Happy, let's take the easier way," she said. Both of the flying felines moved on cue, grabbing the Dragon Slayers and taking to the skies.

As soon as they were gone, Natsu advanced, much as Jellal did until the two of them were face to face, mere inches apart.

Jellal was overflowing with magic power, far more than Natsu had noticed he held at the Tower of Heaven.

Although Natsu had pushed the majority of his remaining magic into Erza, he held a different kind of power, not even that of his curses.

He had an immeasurable aura of raw physical prowess that cast a shadow over everything around him. It was unseen, intangible, and yet, Jellal could feel it bearing down on him.

Jellal knew what it was, better than almost anyone else. It was that unbelievable strength that he'd used to break the foundations at the Tower of Heaven in the first place.

Natsu Dragneel was the one person that Jellal was never going to underestimate ever again.

"You must realize that you don't have the power to kill me," Natsu said, staring intently at the former Wizard Saint.

"You underestimate me," Jellal glared as th his magic flared to life, striking Natsu head-on, sending his body crashing back into the line of trees, breaking clean through one of them.

"I didn't say it would be painless," The Fire Dragon answered through gritted teeth as he forced himself up, facing Jellal once again.

"You're just as irritably persistent as you were at the tower. What's your motivation? Erza isn't here and your other Dragon Slayers have already fled. Why do you insist on fighting me!?" Jellal demanded, exasperated.

"Grand Chariot!" The short-form magic spell had been cast and within a second a weaker version of the seven stars had come blasting down from the sky, each hitting different parts of Natsu's body.

He slammed back against a tree, almost falling to his knees before he caught himself.

"If I had to guess," Natsu said, his voice dangerously slow and deliberate, "I would say it's because I'm not over you trying to sacrifice Erza."

"Who you love is your business, but sacrificing her life is an insurmountably small loss compared to reviving the dark lord himself!" Jellal's eyes had taken on a glossy hue for a moment as he threw his hands skyward in what Natsu thought might have been praise.

"Firstly, I never said love…" Natsu shot back.

'Do you not?.' E.N.D. asked calmly.

"Be quiet," Natsu huffed, "And secondly," he looked back at Jellal, "Whether I do or not is none of your business. Sacrificing her is something that I will never let you achieve. And lastly," he rushed forwards, evading every one of Jellal's attacks while he reached out and grabbed the heavenly body wielder by the throat, holding him up high and squeezing tight.

"You can't revive that which isn't dead. I've told you once before, Zeref cannot be revived, and he cannot be summoned. He answers to no man, not even me, and I was created to take his life." Natsu's voice had turned into nothing more than a whisper, heard only by the mage struggling in his grasp.

He spun, releasing his grip and launching Jellal at the rock face that Lucy's roar had embedded him in.

He slammed against it with an agonising cry that filled the air.

'That was… Highly satisfying.' Natsu knew that behind his prison bars, E.N.D was smiling.

They hadn't ever been aligned, not since before Natsu's involvement with Fairy Tail, but, bit by bit, the Etherious was being softened, that much was clear by the way that he took a severe disliking to Jellal.

Natsu knew for a fact that it was for the same reason that he held a grudge against the mage before him.

"All that power and you're still going to be brought down by a Dragon without magic," Natsu grinned.

"I am going to use everything I have to kill you," Jellal swore as he pulled himself free once again.

"Everything!" He screamed. His voice trembled with the raw power that was fuelled by his rage towards the Fire Dragon.

"True Heavenly Body Magic!" The power around Jellal sprung upwards, shining so bright that it caused even Natsu to wonder.

"What the hell is this?" The Fire Dragon asked, far calmer than anyone else would have been.

"Sema!" The spell had been invoked and the ground had begun shaking so hard that the earth was being torn apart beneath them.

The clouds above split apart instantly as an enormous flaming rock began hurtling down toward Natsu.

"Did you just summon a fucking meteor?" He asked, looking up at it in disbelief.

"Now you'll die and cease being a thorn in my side!" Jellal laughed in hysteria before Natsu stepped back a half dozen feet, lining himself up to defend against the

"Well, Erza and Mira got close to taking my life, perhaps you will too, but…" he said, finally looking back at Jellal with that hellish grin that triggered the heavenly body mage so harshly.

"Kinda doubt it,"

Across the forest, Lucy and Wendy had dropped from the skies, skidding to a halt next to Erza who had completely burned through the carpet of ice she'd been left on.

"Hey," Hibiki waved at them, still watching Erza worriedly, "The two ice guys left, said that the ice wasn't going to help her much more and that they'd be more help out there." He explained.

"Hey, Natsu, can you hear me? Lyon and Gray were on their way to help you out but they've been stopped by that weird Racer guy, looks like they're in trouble," Hibiki said aloud, not taking his eyes away from the screen.

The words he'd spoken had appeared on a separate screen, one that had a small visage of Natsu glaring skyward.

"I would heavily advise against that," Natsu responded casually.

"What, advise against getting help?" Hibiki asked in confusion.

"He's fighting Jellal, it'll be personal to him," Lucy said with a soft voice, staring down at Erza while Wendy worked her magic to stop the spread of the poison.

"Natsu? Why don't you want any backup, you shouldn't be fighting against someone like that on your own… Natsu, what's happening?" Hibiki's question didn't go unanswered for long as they all saw the massive flash of light that was followed by the shockwave that ruptured its way through the forest, and finally the enormous sound of the meteor crashing down against the earth.

Hibiki's connection to Natsu died instantly.

In the dense thicket of forest between where Lucy was watching over Erza with Wendy and Hibiki, and where Natsu had been fighting against Jellal, Gray, Lyon and Sherry watched in horror as Racer tore open his jacket to reveal a line of bombs strapped to his vest.

"You're mad!" Lyon shouted, already trying to form a defensive spell between his hands.

"I swear in the name of the Oración Seis!" Racer bellowed, the whites in his eyes growing weaker with the rising bloodshot veins that pumped through them, "I swear that I will take you all down with me!" He screamed, grabbing the release for the bombs.

Before Racer could trigger the bombs, the shockwave from Jellal's Sema had hit them, bringing with it a flaming Dragon.

"Shit, fuck, shit, ow, moth-" Natsu came hurtling last, breaking through every tree, bouncing off of the ground, and being thoroughly thrashed around by the raw destructive power of Jellal's True Heavenly Body magic.

Natsu hit one final obstacle, his body slamming directly into Racer and taking them both rocketing away from Sherry and the ice mages.

Three dozen feet they tumbled and fell before the bombs strapped to Racer's chest detonated, blowing a crater into the ground, and felling several more trees around them.

"Natsu!" Gray leapt into action, almost falling over himself as he sped down the trail of destruction that had been left in the Fire Dragon's wake.

By the time the three of them had reached the smouldering hole in the ground, they stopped just in time to see Natsu pull out from underneath fallen trees and upended slabs of rock.

"And that is why we don't negotiate with terrorists," he said with a deeply immature chuckle before collapsing.

"Natsu, stop messing around man, come on, we need you!" Gray caught him before he'd hit the ground, gently trying to rouse him from unconsciousness.

"Fuck…" he whispered, his voice barely audible, "Jellal…" he added.

"Great, the strongest of us is down and out," Gray sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"He and Erza both," Lyon added, sighing much in the same way.

"Ah, actually, I saw Lucy and Wendy flying back overhead, so chances are that Wendy has managed to save Erza from the poison, and she's currently got all of… Oh man, what a terrifying thought," Gray went silent as he contemplated the sheer destruction Erza could be capable of.

"What?" Sherry asked, moving closer to Lyon.

"Natsu gave Erza almost all of his magic to stop the spread of the poison, which is probably why he took so much damage from that meteor," Gray explained.

"Magic or no, it's a miracle he isn't dead, especially after taking that bomb to the face as well," Lyon reasoned.

"No, not Natsu. If there's one thing I've learned, it's to never underestimate him, you'll just look stupid when he turns around and achieves the impossible." Gray shot back.

"No, the only reason that Jellal has managed to do him in like this is because he has pretty much no magic left, but, my point was that Erza has all of Natsu's power. That much strength added onto Erza's already insane power is… Pretty scary." Gray admitted with an involuntary shudder.

"Let's get him back, if she can return his magic he should be back in action, right?" Sherry asked, being the voice of logic between them.

"I don't know, but it couldn't hurt," Gray agreed as he shouldered Natsu's body and they began making their way back through the forest, taking directions from Hibiki who had managed to reconnect with them after the disturbance from Jellal's meteor.

It hadn't taken them long before they'd trekked back up the path that had been carved into the first by Lucy's first Dragon Roar, eventually putting Natsu down in the clearing. His body had instinctively reached out to where Erza was recovering after Wendy's healing treatment.

As soon as their hands had touched, all of the magic that had been coursing through Erza's body had returned to the Fire Dragon, leaving him smouldering where he lay.

"Quickly, move Erza!" Gray barked, pushing last and doing exactly that.

He pulled her away, falling down with her in his arms just before Natsu's body had been completely engulfed in fire.

The ground around them began to turn black as the sheer heat charred the environment.

"Natsu?" Erza said, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

The flames grew with intensity.

"Is this the real extent of his power?" Lyon asked, casting an ice barrier around himself, Sherry, and Hibiki.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed, trying to reach the ears of the Dragon.

Without warning, Natsu's body jerked upright in an unnatural way. Jets of pure red flames shot out of his eyes, rising up above the pink hairline

"Jel-lal," he said excruciatingly slowly. It sounded like he was just learning how to speak, with a mouth that wasn't his own.

Before anyone could move, a pillar of light shot toward the sky from the depths of the forest behind them.

Nirvana had been reached, and Natsu's hold over the darkness was beginning to slip.

A/N: I was told that my version of E.N.D has reminded someone of the Sony Venom, and now I can't unsee it. If I have to deal with that fact then so do you.