Flaming Beatdown

Just as Happy's cries of despair end, a whooshing noise quickly roars to life causing everyone in the room to stop what they are doing. Gajeel, who is holding Natsu up by his ever-present scarf, looks around in annoyance.

"Now what?" he spits out, getting a little more than irritated that something is keeping him from absolute victory. Before anyone could answer, a wave of fire shoots into the room and completely engulfs it. The regular Phantom mages are screaming in pain as the fire burns them and there is no cover to protect them from the flames.

Lucy and Happy both scream out as the fire surrounds them as well, but soon stop as they realize that there is no pain. For them, it feels like a warm summer breeze. They look on in awe as the flames dance around licking at everything but there they stand, unharmed.

The roar of the fire doesn't drown out the cries of agony from the others who are being burnt and Lucy shudders at the terrible noise. With her vision obscured, she doesn't see that when the flames swarmed into the room, Gajeel dropped Natsu to bring an arm around to protect his face.

"I don't know what you did Salamander, but these measly flames aren't going to pierce through my armor!" Gajeel cackles in victory, the light of the fire enhancing the crazed look in his eyes. A different whooshing noise is heard and the fire clears out of the room. Lucy and Gajeel look to where the sound is coming from and they see tendrils of fire going right into Natsu's mouth.

Most of the fire is gone from the room by the time Natsu stops eating. His stomach bulges from how much of the flames he inhaled before just as quickly going back to normal. He lets his head hang down while he stands with a very wide stance as he lets the flames revitalize his supply of magic.

"That hit the spot," he says after letting out a happy chuckle. As the fire restores the pink-haired man's energy you can see his fatigue lifting. Realizing what is going on, Gajeel makes a mad dash towards Natsu in hopes of being able to put the beat down on him again before the Fire Dragon Slayer can attack.

"Don't get all full of yourself just cause you ate some fire!" he shouts out in frustration. Quite upset that his moment of complete victory has very well been snatched away from him, Gajeel leaps into the air and throws a punch aimed at Natsu's head.

Just as it nears contact, Natsu turns his head to give the Iron Dragon Slayer a pissed off look. Within a split second, before Gajeel's fist makes contact, Natsu throws an uppercut in the larger male's direction and he is enveloped by flames.

"All right!" Lucy cheers out in happiness. Glad that her friend is finally able to truly show off his power.

"Now he's at full power!" Happy also cheers, confident in Natsu's ability to kick ass. The power from that full powered flame punch knocks Gajeel into a house-sized piece of debris leaving a sizeable dent in it. Not only did Natsu's punch make Gajeel's body dent the stone, but it pushes the stone back as well.

Lucy lets out a horrified gasp as the dragon slayer's fight brings them close to the Phantom mages that were still in the room. Or rather what was left of them. They look like lifeless husks, blackened beyond recognition. Seeing this causes a shudder of fear to go through her body at the thought of something powerful enough to do this to people. Natsu's voice drags her attention away from the unmoving forms of the Phantom mages.

"Levy, Jet, Droy, Gramps, Lucy, Krysti, my friends, and Fairy Tail..." Natsu says solemnly, the same pissed off look still on his face as he hasn't moved since he punched Gajeel.

"Roar of the Iron Dragon!" the dark-haired man shouts out as he plans to mow down the Fire Dragon Slayer with another spray of metal. Natsu turns his body to brings both of his hands up to block the attack. The light catches his eyes to give them a demonic red shine just before the attack hits. After a few seconds of letting the attack hit him, Natsu throws his arms into the air in such a way that it breaks off the breath attack.

"No way! He deflected my breath with just his bare hands?" Shock and confusion run rampant through the Phantom Lord Dragon Slayer. Never has anyone he ever fought come close to that amount of power. Natsu stands there as the wind leftover from the breath attack whips the ends of his scarf around. He may be battered, bleeding, and bruised, but he stands tall and confident, knowing that soon the battle will be over.

"How much do you gotta hurt others before you people are satisfied?" the Fire Dragon Slayer asks calmly. The light reflecting off of his eyes glow ruby red with his magic and shows the anger barely hidden beneath his calm exterior.

"Impossible! I couldn't...To someone like him... To trash like him..." the Iron Dragon Slayer trails off, not wanting to admit defeat even though he knows deep down that he is about to have his ass handed to him. His senses are reeling that a weak mage as the Salamander was just a moment ago could suddenly be so much more powerful after eating fire.

Gajeel, who believed that all of Fairy Tail was completely weak and pathetic, is having a hard time coping the there are mages who are stronger than him. HIM! The only mage he ever met that was stronger than him was the leader of his guild who is a wizard saint! So how can there be others who are even stronger? How?!

At a slow walk, the pink-haired man slowly makes his way to his opponent. Magic in the form of fire explodes out from Natsu as his rage bubbles back to the surface and shows on his face. Lips curl back with a snarl to reveal all of his fangs, veins throbbing on his forehead, eyes wider than ever as his pupil shrink. If it wasn't for the fact that Natsu doesn't kill, Gajeel would have been literally ripped to pieces from Natsu's rage.

"I'm going to pay you back for everything! I'll show you that picking a fight with Fairy Tail was a mistake!" the Fire Dragon Slayer calls out, his voice getting lower and more gravelly which makes it all the more menacing. Lucy silently nods her agreement with Natsu's words. Phantom has brought them so much pain for no valid reason at all that a lesson needed to be taught.

She looks on, arms crossed and with hardened eyes at what is about to happen. At hearing Natsu's words, Gajeel felt a stab of anger. That last punch must of been a fluke, there is no way that a pathetic weakling like Salamander could ever beat a top-notch wizard like him.

"Who the hell do you think I am? You trash!" Gajeel shouts his frustration out as his magic explodes around him with a bright green glow not unlike how Natsu's fire is surrounding him. Without warning he launches himself into the air, aiming to lay a beat down on the other dragon slayer.

"Hard First of the Iron Dragon!" the larger males shouts out as he cocks back a fist to knock the piece of Fairy trash off his high horse. Natsu lifts his fist up to meet Gajeel's head on and surprisingly, Salamander's fist isn't covered by magic. The shockwave from their fist colliding causes sparks to fly in the air.

As if reading the other's mind, they both activate their magic while their fists are still connected. A huge shock of pain spider webs up Gajeel's arm as his defensive scales start cracking from the pressure of Natsu's magic.

(I am... the strongest...) Gajeel thinks, not wanting to admit even in his own mind as his biggest advantage in the battle is breaking up.

Flames almost pure white wrap around Natsu's body as he lets his rage fuel his magic.

"This is the end for you!" the Fire Dragon Slayer grounds out in that same low, gravelly voice from before.

"Blazing Fire Dragon Fist!" Natsu roars out as he cocks back his other fist and those white flames surround it. Before Gajeel can even blink, Natsu has already rammed his fist into the larger males face and it knocks him back. Jets of fire hit Gajeel like sledgehammers and they keep hitting him continuously.

The Iron Dragon Slayer is getting hit so hard and so fast that he is just floating in the air as he is being pummeled by Natsu's magic.

"This is for Levy, Jet, Droy, Nab, Macao, Gramps, Erza, Lucy, and Krysti!" Natsu shouts out and lands one last punch on the Phantom Lord mage. Gajeel flies up into the air before landing hard on the ground halfway across the room.

He is knocked almost unconscious, unable to stand up against the force of the enraged Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu's flame surrounds him in a fiery display of dominance over the other dragon slayer as he lets out a dragon's roar of victory.

"And this is for destroying our guild!" He roars out, not completely done with the mage. He throws another punch and his fire shoots out in jets to pummel the other dragon slayer some more. As Natsu continues to thrash Gajeel and sends him flying around like a rag doll, he also intentionally destroys the building they are in.

The damage is so intense that even José's Shades, who broke apart from the giant Shade to attack the wizards again, stop their attack to watch the damage to the guildhall. If the member's of Fairy Tail were impressed by the display of fire exploding out of the giant, they are even more in awe at this.

Finally finished beating up Gajeel to make his point, Natsu lets him fly over a pile of rubble and out of sight. As more holes open up in the giant on the beach, the members below recognize the light of the magic escaping from it.

It's the fire of Natsu, Fairy Tail's very own Fire Dragon Slayer. Despite all the trauma, mental and physical, that the members left on the beach had to face, their friends came through. The odds were stacked against the Fairy Tail mages, but with the strength of their friendship and trust within one another, they have pulled through.

They have won.

As they cheer for their friend, the head of the giant slips down to crash into the ocean below, exposing most of the damage within the room the two dragon slayers battled to the sun above.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouts out while looking for the fire mage in the rubble. As soon as it started getting dangerous to be within the guild hall, Happy picked up the blonde and whisked her high into the air where it was safe.

"Natsu!" Happy also calls out, wanting to find where his best friend is at.

"Natsu!" Lucy calls out again before she sees the pink-haired dragon slayer standing at the edge of a drop and looking down to where Gajeel has landed on a floor below.

"Natsu won!" cries out Happy in happiness.

"That d-damn... tra..." is all the Phantom dragon slayer can say before he passes out completely. Gajeel's scales have been obliterated showing how bruised and beaten up he really is.

"Now... we're even," Natsu says wearily just as he falls backward to rest from the insane amount of magic that he let loose in such a short amount of time.

"Natsu!" Lucy cries out in worry as she sees him fall to the floor flat on his back.

He cracks open an eye and with a lopsided grin, looks up at the blonde before saying, "I can't move right now..." Happy and Lucy just floats there in the air looking down at Natsu with a smile on their faces, glad that this battle is finally over.

"Sheesh, you really overdo it. You know that?" Lucy asks him as Happy flies them closer to the dragon slayer. Tears of relief and happiness form in her eyes as she looks fondly upon her friend.

With a giant grin on his face, Happy confirms, "Aye! He's Natsu all right!" In response, the pink-haired man closes his eyes and grins as wide as he can, happy that his friends and family are finally safe. He chuckles lightly, glad that it is all over and that he properly paid back Phantom Lord for the assaults on his home.

Lucy and Happy laugh along with him, their hearts and minds no longer burdened by the oppressive shadow of their defeat.

Unfortunately, they forget about one last player in the battle against Phantom Lord. The strongest one of them all.

José.

_____________________

Ezra stares in shock as her heavily injured friend bursts into flames. She almost screams in panic, thinking that José somehow set Krysti on fire. Yet the look of shock on his face showed that it wasn't him who did it. (She finally released her magic.) Erza thinks before José and she were caught up in the conflagration.

The red-head closes her eyes as the flames wash over her. Almost instantly her eyes snap open at the gentle warmth caressing her.

"Warm?" she mummers to herself, momentarily forgetting that she is being held captive as the pain ebbs away. The smell of smoke catches her off guard. (How can something be burning from just that gentle warmth of Krysti's fire? It's an impressive display with how large the fire is, but the strength in the flames are lacking. It's no surprise since it is the woman's first time releasing her magic. Very few wizards have a strong display of magic the first time it manifests itself.) Erza concludes in her mind.

The flames look strong. They surround her to the point to where she can't even see José, and they are definitely bright with an amber glow. Erza is certain with time, Krysti would become quite the powerful fire mage, as strong or even stronger than Natsu is right now. The smell of smoke grows stronger and this worries Erza.

What if it's the older woman who is burning? It doesn't happen often, but sometimes fire mages can lose control of their fire and burn themselves. The flames start to die down and the glimpses of the room surrounding the redhead leave her startled.

Charred.

The white and grey stone of the room is scorched until most of it is black. The battered red carpet is burnt into a black smoldering mess; even José himself hasn't escaped the fire unscathed. His lip is curled into a sneer as his singed clothes have small wisps of smoke coming from it.

A thump pulls Erza's attention away from the room and she looks over to where her friend is. Krysti lays unconscious on the ground in a heap. Even her clothes suffered from the fire.

"Krysti!" she shouts out in concern, hoping the brunette would stir to let her know if she is okay.

She didn't move.