{A New Path}: Who's At The Top; Acnologia Or Amell?

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME, OLD MAN! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!" Unadulterated rage was bubbling up inside Natsu as he stood face to face with Amell. For context, Amell had just declared Cana the princess of Fairy Tail and the only one good enough to pass the S-class trials. Even though they weren't finished, Natsu was the only one that dared stand up and say something about it. Gildarts thought about saying something but remembered the hellish punishments his father could instil on people and decided to not interfere.

"Natsu, let it go... He is a founder, he can do whatever he wants, I think." Lucy hid behind his back and whispered into her friend's ear, hoping to not get dragged into it.

"Fair? What a pointless concept. If it's not fair, do something about it. Stop screaming and come here and beat me to the ground. Make me eat dirt and I'll change my mind." Amell sat on a chair way to small for his enormous body. He was looking down at Natsu, right into his eyes as if challenging him, hoping he would attack. And, to no one's surprise that was exactly what Natsu did. His fist lit up in flames and he attacked.

"Fire dragon's IRON FIST!"

"You call this S-class, you brat!" Amell stopped his fist with a finger and then grabbed his whole hand and threw him into a tree with ease. "Give it another five-hundred years, and then come and talk to me." His eyes scanned over the guild like the apex predator he was. "Anyone feeling particularly dissatisfied about my decision?"

"Yeah, Grandpa, everyone does. Even me, so why are you being so stubborn. Just let them fight for the chance at least. I don't even care about become S-class anymore." Cana sat beside Gildarts on a blanket leaning against his shoulder.

"Don't bother. Father has been this way since I was a little kid. He can be more stubborn than Natsu."

"Shut up, perv. I still haven't forgiven you, and I won't until you remember mom's name." Still, with her head leaning against his shoulder, she smacked him on the cheek hard enough to leave a mark. She wanted to be close to him but she was still very mad about him not remembering the name of her mother.

"C'mon, sweetheart! Can't you forgive me already? That is yesterday's problems. Let's focus on today."

Now she removed her head from his comfortable shoulder and stared in shock at him. "Did you refer to mom as yesterday's problem?"

"Ouch! Smooth going, son." Amell flashed a grin and held in a burst of hearty laughter for a more appropriate time.

"I certainly did no such thing. I just mean we only live ones, so how about we forget and forgive so we can enjoy the short-lived thing we call life." With a droplet of sweat running down his face, he scratched his neck.

"Nice save, old man." Gray nodded in approval.

"Stop your useless bickering! We still have more important things to do. According to what we know, there is supposed to be one more member of Grimoire Heart that we haven't found. We should focus on that." Erza looked respectfully over at Amell. "Sir, I ask for your assistance again. Would you help us locate this last member, as she is most likely still on the island."

"She is not." Amell pointed at the dark guild's flying ship, or where it was supposed to be. "They fled. There is only we Fairies here on this island now." As he was talking he didn't look at her once, Erza assumed he didn't like her, but he was currently distracted with a very powerful aura incoming.

"Come to take me out, have you, little lizard." His words caused not one weird stare, but multiple as everyone heard him but no one understood. All except for Gildarts. He knew enough about his father to know he would only refer to one person as "little lizard".

Is he coming?" He stood up, now looking more serious than before.

"Already here. Any second now. He has been waiting to take me out, but I never let him know where I was, he just isn't worth the trouble. But, now that I exposed my presence here, he must have felt it. After all, he hates me to his core." There was amusement in his tone, no fear.

"Excuse me here, but can we get some context? What are you two talking about?"Gajeel asked. He wasn't the sharpest tool normally, but now he was lost beyond belief. He really had no idea what they were talking about.

"A dragon is coming, prepare for it, my father is gonna fight it."

"WHAT!?" Suddenly the dragon slayers were up and about, Natsu was the first to reach Amell. "OLD MAN! IS IT IGNEEL!?"

"No, this one you have never met before, and be glad of that or you would not be alive now." Amell stood up, and right on queue, an all-encompassing roar fell on the island, it was so loud and powerful that the entire island shook. What followed was the massive claw of Acnologia descending from above the clouds into their visible range.

""THAT'S HUGE!!"" Everyone except the two Portgas men screamed. Makarov woke up by it and was greeted with the terror-inducing sight of Acnologia descending on the island. "GATHER UP! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Was the first words out of his mouth. He instantly activated his magic and grew to a giant version of himself.

"Master! STOP!" Mirajane screamed, being the only one except the S-class mages managing to stay somewhat calm. But, her words fell on deaf ears as the black dragon landed on the ground in front of them. His gaze sending shivers up the body of the guild. Except for Amell who started walking towards him.

"Makarov, boy. This one is mine to defeat. He and I have been waiting for this."

"Grandpa! Are you gonna be okay?" Cana couldn't help but yell out. She believed in him with all her heart, but that humongous dragon possessed so much magic that it was hard to breathe. Yet, through all of this, Amell just turned around and shrug his shoulder at her. "If there was a chance of him being able to hurt you, I wouldn't have let him leave his cave." With that, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of Acnologia.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Makarov asked Gildarts as she shrunk back to his normal height. He couldn't physically ignore a command from a founder such as Amell. It just wasn't within him t be disobedient towards a man with that level of fame and power.

"The active Overlord on Paradise Island can all fight Acnologia and win. Some may struggle a bit, but they all have the capabilities to defeat him." Gildarts said casually while standing in front of the guild to protect them against any shockwaves the fight would produce.

"So what? What does that mean?" Natsu asked, his fists on fire, and his heart almost beating fast and hard enough to put a hole in his chest.

"He beat all five of them with one hand. And not to mention that scary-ass butler of his. He can also, by himself beat the five Overlords. In my estimation, Acnologia doesn't stand a chance." The words were spoken with confidence, but seeing is believing. It was just too hard imagining someone standing up to that incredible magic Acnologia was exuding.

While Gildarts was explaining just how powerful Amell was, the God-like existence himself stood comfortably with his hands resting behind his back as he was staring at Acnologia. The staring contest didn't seem to have an end, and neither side wanted to give in. But as Acnologia released another roar that shook the island, Amell's expression changed from a serene to a frown.

"This is why I avoided you all these years, not because I am afraid of you, but because you're so damn loud. What's with the yelling, really?" As Amell raised his hand another massive hand about half the size of the dragon materialized behind him. "Time to shut you up for good." He swiped his hand as he would against a fly and Acnologia was struck across the face and was sent crashing into the ocean. Amell, wanting to preserve the island as much as possible, even though he could just restore it again, flew after Acnologia's body.

"I...Is that the founders magic? That's so cool!" Lucy asked timidly with awe evident on her face. An emotion she shared with the rest. Amell had just swatted Acnologia like he was a fly and nothing more.

"One of them. Though I've never actually seen that one before, he must have just created it."

"That's insane! He can just create magic, just like that?"

"Yes, right you are, Lucy." Gildarts smiled proudly before saying with a hint of jealousy. "He knows every magic this world has. And, if for some reason he comes across magic he doesn't know, he can perfectly replicate it after maybe a day of training with it. It all depends on how complex it is."

"That's... Too much! He can't be human, no human can be that crazy strong. And, that nice. How is he that strong and so inactive in the world's affairs." Gajeel asked.

"I don't know. For as long as I've been alive, I've only seen him angry ones or twice. And, trust me, you don't want that. Last time that happened, the world almost fell apart. Scary stuff." Again, they stared in disbelief at him for how casually he said that. Destroying the world, who could do that?

"Cana, did you know of this?" Erza asked the girl standing with stars in her eyes. She was barely paying attention to them, she was too busy watching the multiple white-glowing massive hands slapping the dragon around.

"Huh? know about what? His power? No idea it was this insane, but grandpa called Grimoire Heart bugs before so I knew he was strong."

"Bugs, huh. Why do I even exist..." Makarov laid back down on his blanket and closed his eyes

---

With Amell and Acnologia things had escalated beyond crazy. Their clash caused great waves to crash against the island, and the sea was parted most of the time, making it so that their fight took place close to the seafloor. The parted sea that was constantly getting pushed away from the immediate area created an almost water cage around them as they uprooted the seafloor every time they collided with it.

ROOARRR

"Down, boy!" Amell slapped him again sending a shockwave out that stopped the water from crashing down on top of them. This slap counted towards the hundreds of times he had been made to eat dirt by Amell. His majestic and powerful dragon body was covered with sand, blood and water all mixed together to give him a fierce appearance. But, whatever he did, no matter how many claw-swipes or magical roar-attacks he released, Amell would disperse them before they even got close to the island. And, of course, they couldn't hurt him in the slightest. "I bet you thought yo have been on the top of the food chain since your first dragon killed. How humiliating must it be to know that I could have killed you any time I wished? Even now, I'm still just playing around with you. I am regaining more magic them I'm spending in this fight with you. My supply is nigh-infinite, and you aren't near the level that it would take to exhaust me." Amell enjoyed seeing a pure rage physically affecting the surrounding. Not many mages in the world would be able to stand next to Acnologia now, he was starting to tear into the fabric of reality just by the amount of magic revolving around him, and Amell's presence helped in that regard as well.

ROOAAAR

"I said, down, boy!" A blade materialized in his massive hand, and with it, he cut one of Acnologia's legs off his body. The fountain of blood spewing out of him surprised even Amell, and it caused him to cringe, albeit only for a second. "Wanna continue, or are you gonna give in to lady death willingly?" Amell used another giant hand to wipe the blade of the blood. "I could end you now, but I am interested to see if you are willing to fight me in your human form. End it as it started." Amell was dodging and countering attacks all while speaking in this calm tone.

"Amell..." The loud reverberating voice of Acnologia echoed out around this cage of water on the floor of the sea, much to the surprise of Amell. Who would have thought he would answer when in such a state of rage. "I'll kill you" The intent imbued in his voice spoke for itself. He wasn't gonna stop until Amell or he was dead. And, as a fellow fighter and immortal, Amell nodded solemnly.

"Come! Give me your best shot, King Of Dragons!" Amell's constructs disappeared and instead, he waved his hand slightly and took control of the ocean around them. The water in a large radius around them started surrounding Amell as the rest was pushed away by him as well. Now they both stood firmly on the seafloor with no danger of the water crashing down on them. Amell constructed the water into a massive dragon of his own design, eastern-styled with a long wavering body and fierce facial appearance. "This is the end for one of us, Acnologia!"

Acnologia gathered magic in his mouth and prepared a shout of extreme power. The air started shaking, as well as the ocean and Tenrou Island. Amell raised his hand and his water dragon opened its mouth and a massive amount of water starting gathering and shrinking rapidly by in its mouth. Both parties were preparing extremely powerful magic.

Acnologia finally released his shout, and like lightning, it sped across the seafloor destroying everything in its path. With no delay, Amell released his shout as well, this one of equal power, and the explosion that came from the collision completely swept away the water for hundreds of miles around them. The island had not one sigh of damage from it, but the ocean was nowhere to be seen. This was the magnitude of the power in those two shouts. As the smoke cleared on the seafloor, visible was Amell's water dragon slithering around in front of the corpse of a black dragon. A giant hole straight through its body, with the seafloor now drenched in blood.

"A respectful attack. Even my Overlords would have died if that hit them. King Of Dragons, indeed." Amell dissolved his dragon and touch ground in front of Acnologia. "I wonder what Zeref will think now that another one of this world's immortals has fallen. I should go visit him again soon." He didn't dwell on it much longer, he had paid his respects, and it wasn't like Acnologia was worthy of much respect in his eyes. The number of beings he had killed in his lifetime was maybe more than Amell's when combining both of his. The Black dragon was evil and Amell wouldn't show mercy to anyone threatening his family.

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End