The Final Battle

Luna had just regained consciousness which relieved everyone, especially Natsu. But he was still very concerned about her condition. She took a pretty hard hit from Scrap. But he had to admit, his little mate was one tough cookie. Even so, he was still worried she may not be in good enough shape to fight. She did just wake up from a blackout caused by minor head trauma, after all. And their last opponent was ridiculously strong. Frostus's curse ice powers were enough to put Luna in a hypothermia induced coma in an instant and she was a powerful ice dragon slayer.

'I wonder if she'll be okay?' Natsu said mentally as he thought about Luna's overall strength, their next opponent, and her current condition. She could easily hold her own against Natsu in sparring matches. One time she even managed to completely freeze one of his hottest flames, but she used up almost all of her magic power in doing so. Natsu considered that Luna's win, even though he technically won because she collapsed from exhaustion right after completely freezing his fire. Even Gray Fullbuster couldn't match her and he also possessed ice powers: ice-make magic and ice devil slayer magic. Luna's ice dragon slayer magic was capable of giving even the ice mage himself frostbite. She once overpowered Gray when he was using his powerful ice devil slayer magic against Natsu over insults and stupid name calling shenanigans (as always). After that was settled, Erza usually left the breaking up of fights between Natsu and Gray to Luna because Natsu wouldn't attack Luna unless he challenged her himself and she could handle Gray because she also possessed power over ice. Not to mention, she even checkmated Erza in a duel. The male Fairy Tail members were arguing over who was the strongest female mage in Fairy Tail: Luna Crystelle or Erza Scarlet. They were split evenly down the middle over the two so Fairy Tail held a big deal fighting match that even the Sorcerer Weekly reporters attended. Erza ended up having to surrender to Luna. So yeah, Luna's fighting skills and attack power were nothing to scoff at. The fact that Frostus put her out of commission so easily meant that he was going to be a really tough opponent. And with Luna's current condition, Natsu worried that she'd be in real danger trying to help him fight Frostus in that state.

"Hey Crystal. How are you feeling?" Natsu asked Luna as he knelt down beside her, placing his hand on her back and rubbing it lovingly.

"My head hurts a bit, but other than that I feel fine. The stinging on my arm from the cut went away. So yeah, I think I'm okay." Luna said, smiling at Natsu. He still gave her a concerned look though.

"Are you sure? You took a pretty bad hit earlier. Can you stand?" Natsu asked as he got up and held out his hand to Luna. She took it and Natsu helped her up to her feet. She didn't seem to have any balance issues as she stood up. That made Natsu both relieved and proud. He was proud of how tough his mate was.

"I told you I'm fine. My headache isn't even that bad. I've had worse headaches than this one before. I'm more than capable of helping you fight Frostus, even in this state." Luna said as she playfully punched Natsu's shoulder. He let out a soft laugh.

"Haha, alright alright. I know you can handle yourself. You're my tough little mate after all." Natsu said with a big grin on his face. Luna blushed just from him calling her his mate.

"We're all just glad you're okay Luna." Elise said with a relieved look on her face.

"Yeah!" Happy said as everyone huddled up around Luna in a group hug. But it was soon interrupted.

"Well, well, well! What do we have here? What a mess! I go off for a little while and entrusted my two guild members to finish the preparations for setting up the MNT and I come back to this? They seriously couldn't handle a couple of kids and their winged cats? Oh well. It's better that they're not alive anymore anyways. Anyone that weak will only hold me back. They are not worthy to bear the Hell Spawn guild mark even in death." A familiar cold male voice instantly ruined the moment and the four of them pulled away quickly, their guards up. It was Frostus and he was not happy. A huge menacing icy cold aura emanated from his body as he appeared from the edge of the crater Natsu created earlier while fighting Scrap. He dragged Scrap's and Myne's lifeless bodies by their hair. He dropped them on the ground and formed a blade of ice in his hand. He leaned over Myne's body first and skinned her guild mark off of her left outer thigh and threw aside the patch of skin. Frostus then used his ice blade to cut the guild mark off of Scrap's charred right bicep and discarded that as well. Luna looked at Frostus in horror as Natsu clenched his teeth and fists and glared at Frostus with intense loathing.

"How can you defile your fallen guild members' bodies like that?! Guild members are supposed to be your friends, they're like family!" Natsu raised his voice in anger at Frostus who just laughed wickedly.

"Friends? Family? Don't make me laugh! To a guild master such as myself, guild members are nothing more than pawns used to win a game. If some fall, so be it. As the player, a.k.a. the one in charge, sometimes I have to make sacrifices in order to win." Frostus said which made Natsu even more mad. Luna heard a deep growl emit from Natsu's throat.

"It doesn't matter if your guild members are strong or weak. What matters is the bonds that you have with them! We work and grow together like a family, we support each other and never abandon one another. One of the many things I've learned while being a part of Fairy Tail is that the bonds between us guild members make us stronger both as a guild and individually!" Natsu yelled back at Frostus who raised an eyebrow at him. Luna, Elise, and Happy all nodded in agreement with Natsu.

"You sure have an interesting view of how a guild should work. But I'm afraid that way of thinking will only hold you guys back as a guild. Perhaps I should show you why survival of the fittest is the core principle for my guild." Frostus said with a wicked grin as the temperature of the air around the surrounding area dropped and frost formed over the surfaces of everything within view. Natsu and Luna immediately activated their dragon force forms, knowing that Frostus was really strong and that he was going to be fighting them seriously. The two Fairy Tail dragon slayers readied themselves into a defensive stance. The final battle against the last member of the Hell Spawn dark guild would start when the first move is made, whoever initiates it. An intense stare down ensued. Normally when Natsu was riled up like this, he would charge explosively at his opponent(s) with all he's got. But this time he was being incredibly cautious and it made Luna wonder if there was something wrong.

"Hey Natsu, I can sense how angry you are at Frostus, but you're not going all out on him like you normally would. Are you okay? This isn't like you at all." Luna whispered to Natsu without breaking her focus on Frostus in case he decided to make a move.

"I'm not just angry with him, I'm enraged at him. People who're so heartless towards their guild mates like that really make my blood boil. But I've seen how dangerous this guy is. The last time I lost my temper with Frostus, You almost lost your life to save mine. I don't want to endanger you like that again. I love you too much to lose you. And I don't want you to have to live on without me either. Dragon slayers mate for life after all." Natsu said with genuine sincerity in his voice. Luna blushed at his words. He loved her so much that he threw his reckless nature aside to increase the chance of a future together with her.

"Well what are you two waiting for? I'm being nice to let you guys have at me first. Which I must let you know, is quite generous of me. You see, I don't just let people make the first move. In a game, going first puts you at an advantage. I only do this for people I feel have great potential. Opponents that I deem too weak to take me down I don't even bother giving a chance. Despite of what you may think of me, I actually have some decency. I'm not so sick in the head that I would give false hope to those who have a 0% probability of defeating me. I crush their hopes immediately as to not string them along and psychologically torture them any further." Frostus explained his twisted viewpoint.

"That's still messed up as hell! It's twisted no matter how you look at it!" Luna raised her voice at Frostus who just chuckled. It was both playful and sinister at the same time.

"You should think of this as a compliment. As I said, I only give away the first move to those I believe have a chance of defeating me. However, I should let you know that no one has ever managed to defeat me. I've forgotten how many enemy guilds I've defeated. Although, there was one guild that my guild fought with that was quite memorable... what was the name of that guild again? Oh yes, I remember now. It was called the Obsidian Crown. I'd consider that match more of a draw. I underestimated them and decided to not give them a chance. But no matter how many of their guild members died at our hands, we could not snuff out their hope. They had 100 people and lost 80 of them that day. I disposed of 60 of their guild members, Scrap destroyed 13 of them, and Myne took out 7. I still remember the look on their leader's face. Even after I rendered his right limbs useless, the fire of determination in that bearded burly man's eyes never died. He told me that he would fight for his guild family no matter what. So I decided it wasn't worth wasting mine and my guild mates' energy on the remaining 20 treasure hunter guild members and ordered a withdrawal from battle. You see, this is a perfect example proving that guilds based off of family/friendships is a weak concept." Frostus said, shrugging as if it was of no significance. Luna and Natsu froze for a second as his words stung in a bitter way.

"Natsu, I think he's talking about Brisk Sanders, that guy we met at that restaurant in Magnolia Town!" Luna said as Natsu nodded in response. His expression darkened as he glared even more fiercely at Frostus who just smirked.

"That man you mentioned. His name is Brisk Sanders and we promised him that we'd avenge him and his guild, the Obsidian Crown, by defeating you! We'll also prove to you that the power of friendship is real! Come on Luna, let's teach this guy a lesson! Happy, Elise you guys stay back and keep yourselves safe." Natsu shouted as he engulfed his entire body in intense burning flames.

"Right! Time to kill two birds with a single stone!" Luna responded as her icy aura grew, forming a jagged gauntlet made from the coldest ice she could muster on her left hand and forearm. Happy and Elise flew off to hide behind some rubble.

"You'll have to defeat me first! Until then, my mind will not budge on what makes the strongest guild. Come at me and demonstrate this so-called power of friendship!" Frostus said mockingly as he spread his arms out wide, a devilish smirk twisted his facial expression. Both Natsu and Luna let out a battle cry and charged towards Frostus at full speed in their dragon force forms. The smirk dropped right off of Frostus's face right before Natsu's flaming hot fiery fist and Luna's absolute freezing cold fist slammed into his face simultaneously. The impact caused him to fly backwards several yards. He raised his head and gave Natsu and Luna a scoffing smile, his brows furrowed in the middle. Not fazed at all by Frostus's cold sinister smile, the pair glared back at him with equal intensity. Frostus had a 3rd degree burn on one cheek and a severe frost burn on the other.

"Heh! I'll admit, you're better than I thought. You totally caught me off guard. But now it's my turn to return the favor!" Frostus said as he charged towards Natsu. He wasn't as fast as Natsu or Luna in their dragon force forms, but the speed of his attacks made up for that. Frostus aimed his pointer finger at Natsu's forehead like a gun.

"Natsu!" Luna yelled worriedly as her mate just barely dodged the curse ice beam as it whizzed past Natsu's head, freezing the ends of his hair which immediately broke off because of how cold and brittle they were. At that moment, Natsu and Luna realized the brutal truth of how Brisk really lost his right arm and leg. Frostus's curse ice attacks were so powerful that anything frozen by his ice was extremely brittle. It wouldn't take much force to completely shatter the frozen matter easily like it was made of thin glass.

"Tch! And I just had Lucy's celestial spirit Cancer give me a haircut right before this trip too." Natsu muttered to himself. The close call didn't even faze him as he immediately countered with an attack of his own.

"Fire Dragon King's Roar!" Natsu shouted as he leaped into the air, inhaled deep and blasted a huge brilliant stream of flames from his mouth. Frostus wasn't able to dodge Natsu's attack, however, he easily countered it by freezing the flames into a solid shimmering icy pillar. When that happened, Luna suddenly got an idea.

'I wonder if consuming that will allow me to immediately harness Natsu's flames as well as Frostus's curse ice. It is flames produced by Natsu, frozen by Frostus after all. Both Natsu and I have been able to consume elements other than our own and utilize them in combination with our natural element in battle before. Well, there's only one way to find out.' Luna thought to herself.

"Hey Natsu, keep Frostus occupied for me." Luna shouted to Natsu as she started running towards Natsu's frozen flames. Her request for Natsu attracted the attention of Frostus. Natsu nodded his head in response. And a faint look of concern made its way onto Frostus's face as he realized whatever Luna was planning may possibly turn the tables against him. Frostus pointed his finger at Luna, about to shoot a hyper speed curse ice beam at her. To Natsu, time seemed to go by in ultra slow motion in the moment he saw Frostus aim at his mate. Natsu snapped at that point and put in an immense amount of power and energy into his next attack.

"Don't you dare hurt her! Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu shouted as he charged at Frostus and grabbed him while he set his hands explosively ablaze, sending Frostus flying sideways. And just in time too. Frostus's attack nearly hit Luna, the impact propelling her forward off her feet and onto the ground. Natsu was extremely worried about Luna when he saw her hit the ground, but he didn't have time to check on her at the moment.

"You really have some nerve to try killing my mate in front of me. Luna told me to keep you busy. Therefore your opponent right now is me! You left yourself wide open when you decided to focus on the wrong person! Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Natsu said, raising his voice as he gave Frostus a dark sinister glare, his power level increasing rapidly before he mercilessly unleashed a barrage of fiery punches at him at a furiously fast rate. Frostus could only try to dodge or block the attacks. But he still got hit good by a few of them, leaving his clothes burnt away and his skin a bit charred at the point of impact. While Natsu and Frostus were locked in combat, Luna groaned in slight pain as she managed to get up and continued on her way over to the icy flame pillar. Out of the corner of his eye, Natsu could see that she was okay.

'Man, my little mate really is one tough cookie! No offense to Lucy, but she can't hold a candle to Luna when it comes to fighting skills and power.' Natsu thought to himself as he smiled while he fought. Now that he knew Luna was fine, his attacks increased in power and speed. Frostus noticed Natsu smile and that his attacks immediately got faster and stronger when he did.

'Why is he only getting more intense the more he fights? He should be starting to tire out by now, but instead he's getting better.' Frostus thought to himself with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Why are you getting stronger?! Shouldn't you be getting exhausted already?" Frostus asked Natsu as his smile grew wider.

"Didn't I tell you already? The people I value, make me stronger! Alive or dead, they give me a reason to fight!" Natsu said as he executed one of his signature moves: Fire Dragon's Iron Fist which was super powered by his dragon force form. Meanwhile Luna had reached the iced flames which were subliming, completely skipping the melting stage and evaporating. She dug her claws into the structure and ripped a large chunk out. It was so cold that it burned her armor-like scale covered hand.

"Well, here goes nothing." Luna said as she aggressively crunched through the iced over flame chunk. She started to get a really bad brain freeze as she ate, which is unheard of for her. It really was that cold. After she had gotten her fill, her brain freeze got so bad that it brought her down to her knees.

"So this is what people mean when they say they got a brain freeze after consuming something cold. God damn!" Luna cursed as she sat back on her feet, her right hand pressed hard against her forehead and her left one digging into the hard dry dessert ground to cope with the severe pain. As soon as the pain subsided, she felt an immense surge in power well up exponentially inside of her. Then she spread her wings and took off to join the fight. And just in time too. Frostus just shot a curse ice beam at Natsu who was headed straight for it while trying to land an attack on him again.

"Fire Dragon King's Roar!" Luna yelled as she stopped the ice beam in its tracks by melting it with her new found supercharged fire powers granted from eating Natsu's flames frozen by Frostus's curse ice while in her dragon force form. Her fire was as strong as Natsu's dragon force fire and her ice was now as cold as Frostus's ice. Her ice now possessed both magic and curse attributes as well. The two males both look in the direction from where the brilliant beam of flames came from. They were both surprised to see that the fire came from Luna.

"W-wha-? H-how?! I thought you only had ice powers!" Frostus stuttered out of shock. Natsu smirked with pride in his little mate.

"I had Natsu distract you so I could eat his flames that you froze over with your curse ice. Normally I only have ice dragon slayer magic. But when us dragon slayers consume elements other than our own, we can use them in battle like they're ours. What I ate was a combination of two elements: curse ice and the flames of a fire dragon slayer. Consuming elements, whether they're ours or not, gives us a power boost as well. Also, dragon force is the ultimate form for dragon slayers. It enhances our abilities and power. So not only can I use my normal ice dragon slayer magic, I can also use your curse ice powers and Natsu's fire dragon slayer magic and they're all supercharged due to me being in my dragon force form." Luna explained to Frostus who looked utterly flabbergasted.

"Heh, you never cease to amaze me Crystal." Natsu said, calling Luna by her nickname as she blushed slightly before snapping back to her senses.

"Natsu let me handle this. You go join Happy and Elise and rest up. I'll take him on for now." Luna told Natsu. She was expecting him to protest against it, but to her surprise, he complied without batting an eye.

"Alright alright. I think I've kicked his ass enough for me to be satisfied for the moment. Besides, I know you can handle him. You've got this Crystal!" Natsu said, winking at Luna as he departed from the battle. Luna smiled at him as he made his way to where Happy and Elise were hiding. Then she turned her gaze to Frostus and gave him a sinister death glare. The tension in the air skyrocketed as both Luna's and Frostus's auras grew. The ground trembled from both of their rising intensities and power levels. Then it got eerily calm before both Frostus and Luna explosively charged at each other. The two battled fiercely, constantly switching between defense and offense. At one point, Frostus's and Luna's fists collided with a huge amount of power, sending them both backwards. Luna recovered from the recoil faster and charged at Frostus with incredible speed.

"Combo Ice and Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Luna shouted as she rammed into Frostus with tremendous force, grabbing him and knocking the wind out of him. She encased her hands with the coldest ice she could muster, the ice on the tips of her talons elongating and digging deeply into Frostus's sides where she was gripping him. Then she set her hands ablaze with brilliant flames, blasting him backwards. Because fire and ice were now both her elements for the time being, her extended ice talons didn't melt when she explosively engulfed her hands in the super heated flames. Her terrifyingly strong grip strength further locked in and reinforced by her icy talons combined with the deadly blast of fire gave Frostus some nasty wounds. Good sized chunks of flesh were ripped from his sides when she tore away from him. He hit the ground and slid for a few yards before coming to a stop. He sat up and wrapped his arms around his sides, wincing in pain.

"Tch! You're a lot stronger than I expected. I guess I'm going to have to step it up a notch." Frostus said as he flashed Luna a dark smirk. Luna's brows furrowed as she sensed a change in atmosphere. Frostus stood up and removed his hands from his sides. He had replaced the missing flesh in his sides with ice. Then something strange started to happen to him. The ice from his sides started to spread through to the rest of his body. But it didn't just cover him, it reshaped his entire physique into a much more muscular version of himself. The ice then continued to sprout away from his body in the form of icy bat-like wings from his back, horns on his head, and a devil tail from above his ass. He started walking slowly towards Luna, chuckling evilly.

"You know, you should be very proud of yourself. You have achieved something no one has ever done before: you actually gave me decent injuries. I have deemed you worthy enough to fight me in my ultimate form! I am known as the Ice Emperor, the strongest Etherious ice demon from the Books of Zeref! As an affiliate of Tartaros, Hell Spawn's goal is the same, but on a much larger scale. I will succeed where Tartaros failed all for E.N.D.'s will!" Frostus announced as he laughed maniacally. Luna's eyes widened at this. She knew that E.N.D. was actually Natsu because he and Happy told her and Elise about it. As far as she knew, Natsu hasn't told anyone else this secret, not even Lucy. It seemed that Frostus had no idea who E.N.D. really was. If he knew that E.N.D. was Natsu, he wouldn't have picked a fight with him to begin with. Luna couldn't help but let out a maniacal laugh of her own. This puzzled Frostus and he paused.

"Funny you should mention E.N.D. Do you even know who he is?!" Luna asked Frostus mockingly.

"Of course I know who he is! He is a fire demon and he is the strongest Etherious demon from the Books of Zeref! As an Etherious demon myself, there's no way I wouldn't know who he is! What kind of a fool do you take me for?!" Frostus yelled, clearly angry at Luna's question. This just amused her further. She laughed even more before preceding to blow Frostus's mind.

"So Tartaros's and Hell Spawn's goals were for the sake of E.N.D.'s will, huh? What if I told you this E.N.D. you're doing all this for is actually my mate: Natsu Dragneel? You know, the fiery guy with pink hair you were fighting earlier." Luna said as Frostus's face contorted with shock and disbelief.

"Th-there's no way! That can't be true! You're lying!" Frostus yelled at Luna. Natsu walked up next to Luna, his fiery aura burning intensely.

"I really wish it was a lie. Because I refuse to be lumped together with the likes of you!" Natsu's voice increased to a shout.

"What do you think E.N.D. stands for anyways? Here's the answer: Etherious Natsu Dragneel!" Luna said as Frostus dropped to his knees.

"S-so it's true... you are E.N.D. the strongest Etherious demon from the Books of Zeref?" Frostus turned to look at Natsu.

"I don't accept my identity as E.N.D. But that doesn't change the fact that I am E.N.D." Natsu said as Frostus groveled before him.

"Forgive me Master! I apologize, I have made a grave mistake! Please spare my life! I promise I won't do anything against your wishes!" Frostus begged Natsu whose furious expression didn't soften.

"My wish is that my friends and comrades thrive and stay happy. You and your guild have only disrupted that wish. Making and executing a plan to nullify magic across the entire world, invading and defacing Fairy Tail's sacred island, and worst of all, severely injuring my mate Luna two times, nearly killing her the first! Not to mention, you gruesomely removed the guild marks from your own guild mates' dead bodies, saying that they didn't deserve to wear it, even in death. I show no mercy to those who don't treat their guild members like friends and family! Luna stand back, I'm going to bring an end to this demon!" Natsu said, gesturing to Luna for her to get back.

"Fine." Luna said with a disappointed pouted as she ran off, giving Natsu plenty of space. She really wanted to take down Frostus herself and she still had quite a bit of energy left. But she knew it was more important to Natsu to finish Frostus off himself than it would be to her if she did. Natsu felt guilty for what happened to Luna back on Tenrou Island. She knew that by allowing him to defeat Frostus, it would fill the hole that guilt gnawed into his heart. Natsu made sure Luna was far away enough to stay out of harm's way before turning his gaze back to Frostus who was terrified.

"Please spare me, almighty E.N.D. I beg of you!" Frostus stood up pleading, but Natsu's mind was made.

"I told you, I don't identify myself as one of you demons! Hidden Fire Form: Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!" Natsu shouted as he engulfed his entire body in an intense burning inferno and charged at Frostus, nailing him in the jaw with a sharp uppercut which sent him flying. Natsu then leaped into the air with explosive speed, headbutting Frostus in the gut as the flames surrounding his body burned bigger, brighter and hotter. Frostus was soon reduced to ashes, the echo of his anguished scream faded as with Natsu's flames. Since Natsu's dragon force form only had one wing, he couldn't really fly the best with it, especially since he burnt himself out of all his energy. He started to clumsily fall from the sky as he tried to flap his single wing. Luna's dragon force form on the other hand had two wings. She smiled and sighed as she took flight to catch her mate before he crash landed.

"Gotcha! Geez Pinky, you're as reckless as always." Luna said with a smile after Natsu fell into her arms.

"Ehehe, but that's why I have you Crystal!" Natsu said with a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head.

"Hey, does that mean I have to clean up after your messes and keep you in check?" Luna asked with a pout. A moment of silence ensued before they both broke out in laughter. The two of them landed on the ground as Happy and Elise flew towards them and hugged them.

"Yay we did it! We defeated Hell Spawn's guild members and stopped their plan!" Happy said in celebration.

"I hate to break it to you, but it's not completely over until we destroy the last two MNTs so there will be no way to nullify magic whether by accident or on purpose." Elise reminded Happy as he, Natsu and Luna nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well, now that the hardest part of this 'quest' is over, the rest should be a piece of cake!" Luna said as Natsu jumped out of her arms.

"Hell yeah! I'm all fired up now! And once this is all over and done with, we can relax and sleep around all day." Natsu said, putting emphasis on the two words sleep around as he winked at Luna who blushed a deep crimson. That's right! Mating season would be starting once this was over.