Chapter 24: Broken Weapons Won't Stop Her

First chapter of the New Year. Let's get into it. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

Broken Weapons Won't Stop Her

"LAXUS!"

Both of the shouting Mages suddenly turned to each other in shock.

"When did you get here Natsu?"

"What are you doing here Erza? I can fight him myself."

"Don't be an idiot Natsu. You can't even beat me so what makes you think you can fight Laxus alone?"

"Hey! I was always holding back to protect your feelings."

"So you are saying you willingly let yourself get beaten into the ground?"

"This is one of the questions where it's best I don't answer isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I thought so."

The two Mages quickly turned towards Laxus, the Mage waiting patiently for them to finish their conversation. Why did he need to hurry after all? He had absolute confidence that he could destroy both by himself, so a surprise attack was unnecessary.

He glanced at his coat before shrugging it off, letting it fall to the floor. He would at least have to deal with them more seriously that Mystogan, not because they were stronger, but because they were from the same team. A lone wolf like Mystogan had no hope of beating him unless the man got much stronger. Natsu and Erza would at least give him some fun while he waited for Gramps to get to him.

It shouldn't be too long. With Levy nearby, she could find a way to manipulate the Runes to her advantage. He wouldn't be surprised if she had already found a way to start bringing Gramps towards this place a while back.

But for now he would have to deal with the Dragon and the Fairy Queen. He knew Natsu had grown stronger over the years but had Erza? If she was still the same then this would be boring.

Erza's armour glowed before it changed, revealing her Black Wing Armour. So this was her main offensive armour was it? How well would it hold up against the strength of his lightning?

Natsu took a stance next to her and let his fists set alight. If Laxus remembered correctly, he had heard something about how Natsu had the ability to use his flames without burning his enemies. Natsu wouldn't hold that back against him though so it posed the question of how strong Natsu's flames had become.

Then the two Mages charged, Laxus not moving from his spot. Erza reached him first, the extra speed her amour was giving her leaving Natsu behind.

Sloppy. But what could he expect really? They were a newish team and, while they had been through a lot in such a short amount of time, that was how they had gained their experience. It bonded them together but where was the coordination when they needed to fight together?

When Levy had been introduced, they had practiced together for hours sometimes on working on combination strikes. If one lead, the other needed to be fast enough to catch up with the second strike.

Natsu was far too back. His expectations were spot on as he ducked under Erza's strike and shot a fist out at her. It didn't hit but she backed off to dodge.

Natsu arrived far too late. A bit faster and the Dragon Slayer could have used the chance to attack while Laxus had been attacking Erza.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist."

Laxus caught the strike lazily but was caught off guard when Natsu smiled.

"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow."

A blast of fire expelled from behind Natsu's elbow on his attacking fist, forcing the attack through Laxus's lazily constructed guard.

Laxus felt himself get forced backwards a few steps before pulling his arm away and sending Natsu flying towards him, Natsu's fist still stretching towards him.

As Natsu tried to connect his punch, Laxus jumped over it with surprising speed, bringing his feet down on Natsu's exposed back.

They hit metal. Erza gripped her sword tightly and forced Laxus to go flying away from her as she swung her sword.

Laxus let a smirk grow on his face. They were learning weren't they. Erza predicted his movements and made to block Natsu's exposed weakness till he recovered.

His form shifted and he shot towards them as Lightning. Natsu prepared for the counter strike before Laxus shot past both of them. Erza and Natsu looked confused for a moment before they felt a burst of pain, lightning flickering along their bodies.

"What the…"

"Natsu," Erza called out as she jumped to the side when Laxus turned for a second strike. "He's using ambient Magic attacks."

Natsu nodded and his Magical Power increased slightly. Laxus smirked. They were doing exactly what Mystogan had done when he had started fighting against his Lightning Form. You could be protected as long as you used your Magical Power to shield yourself, similar to how some people battled from the sheer presence of their Magic.

Good thing they could. It would have been over too quickly otherwise.

Laxus sudden shot towards Natsu and shifted out of his Lightning Form, punching forward quickly with a lightning covered fist.

Natsu's eyes widened as he took the punch. The Dragon Slayer wasn't ready to go down yet though. He used his falling moment to spin round with his right hand and tried to strike Laxus with his fingers, flames following in the wake of the path.

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang."

Laxus didn't even bat an eyelash, transforming back to lightning just as the attack was about to connect. That was why he didn't need to worry. Because he could shift between the forms at extreme speeds. Erza might have made him a bit more cautious with some of her reflexes but Natsu wasn't as fast as she was yet, or at least he wasn't when he wasn't using fire to amply his speed.

As he flickered around the room, he observed the remains of Natsu's attack crash along the ground. It actually managed to pierce and cut along it. Those flames definitely had a lot more destructive power like this if a small amount of them could do something like that.

A glow of light caught his attention as he shot towards Erza. She had changed armours.

The one she was wearing now was a bit mix of orange, red, and black, the armour separated into three sections. The breastplate was a lot like a one piece swimsuit but still had a fair bit of armour to it. The other two parts were the gauntlets and the greaves, both ending with designs reminiscent of claws.

It was very Dragon like in most of its design. Quite a few parts of it were meant to be like Dragon limbs while her hair was tied into two pigtails, the clips holding them together like horns. Finally was a pair of Dragon like wings on her back. Laxus was half waiting for Natsu to declare her part Dragon or something because of her appearance.

So she had the matching sword too it seemed. It matched the armour in its design and completed the set. The Flame Empress Armour.

There were a few Empress Armours like this one around the world, and he didn't doubt for a second that Erza had more of them. If he was correct, the Flame Empress Armour cut the destructive power of fire attacks in half. It should even let her use some Fire Magic, admittedly basic but it was still Magic she couldn't use normally.

Was she an idiot though? Taking him on in that armour was stupid. Her Black Wing Armour was a much better choice than this one. It was faster from what he had seen from when he had observed her capabilities when she fought Natsu with it, and it wasn't destructive enough to help her against him. Natsu's flames already had that power for her. She should have chosen a different armour.

Erza gripped the hilt of her sword and caused flames to swirl around the blade rapidly. She pulled the blade back and Laxus smirked. So it was a game of chicken was it? If he switched back to a physical form, she could strike out at him. And she would react fast enough that he wouldn't be able to switch back without getting caught somewhat.

But if he didn't attack, he had to come back around for another strike. He was fast but his speed was greatest when he went in straight lines and bounced off surfaces. Lightning was hard to curve naturally.

He'd accept her challenge though. His form changed as he left his Lightning Form, lightning already appearing round his fist and he sped along the ground.

Erza gave him a smirk, one that told him that he had fallen for her trap. With a slash, the flames escaped from the blade, firing towards him in a giant wave.

"Please," Laxus muttered before his foot was engulfed in lightning and pushed off the ground in his next step, sending him flying to the side as he dodged the attack. Instead of trying to continue his charge, Laxus increased the intensity of the lightning around his fist and punched the ground.

The ground cracked and lightning shot out of those cracks. A particularly large crack quickly reached Erza and she got her arm caught by lightning as she jumped away. Laxus laughed.

"That all you got?"

Erza still had her smirk. "You haven't escaped yet?"

Laxus's eyes shot quickly to Natsu who was swallowing the flames. Before they went down to the boy's stomach however, the process stopped, Natsu having to hold his hands over his mouth to stop the flames escaping.

He knew what the boy was about to do even before Natsu took the pose for a Breath attack. But was it really something that could be done so easily?

He knew how a Breath attack worked. While some parts would be different due to his and Natsu's different elements, the process was still similar. You summoned up Magic inside you and directed it towards your mouth. When a suitable amount of energy had been built up, you expelled it out in one blast, the part most people would argue was the hardest. You needed to keep it in a constant stream as it left the mouth because the Spell would backfire if you got the distribution of your Magic wrong.

As for devouring elements, the process was a bit in reverse to the Breath attack method. You gathered energy to your mouth like with a Breath attack but instead of releasing energy, you drew it in. Very little was needed because the ability consumed barely any Magic at all. Someone who was dead out of Magic could probably even do it the moment they regained just the tiniest of sparks. The energy from the element you just ate would do the rest.

Once you drew in the energy, it is forced down your throat and broken down into raw Magic energy for immediate use. And the instant you regained that energy, you always felt at your strongest because it was so easy to draw in the Magic you just ate. It would still be transferring to your stores of Magic at the time so it was easy to redirect the flow into attacks. Even some of the strongest attacks became more deadly with that increased firepower for them.

But Natsu wasn't taking advantage of this. He was keeping the flames in his mouth, even as they started trying to be broken down. And at the same time, he could only watch in shock and curiosity as Natsu quickly did the motions for his Breath attack.

It may have not been very long in reality but it felt longer for Laxus. He couldn't move from his spot, not because of fear, but because he truly wanted to see what was about to happen.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

He had seen Natsu's Breath attack before. It was a powerful one but this was something different. The attack was almost three times the size of a normal Breath attack and Laxus knew it wasn't because of a little extra Magic put into the Spell.

His form flickered and transformed into Lightning. He was about to pay for his curiosity but it was his own fault. He wouldn't escape this attack completely unharmed but he knew he had to move anyway else the attack would be worse.

Normally attacks against his Lightning Form would be ineffective unless you enhanced your attacks. That wasn't exactly true always though. It wasn't that they were normally ineffective, rather that they lacked the raw power to harm him. His Lightning Form was a form where he became his element as he moved and it was raw Lightning Magic. To harm him, you needed to overcome the Magic around him that suppressed the attacking Magic. That was why you used focused Magic to break past the natural defence. But this attack was a different way to break through.

This Breath attack would do it for sure. It was too densely packed with Magic to not be able to harm it. The attack connected with Laxus and he shot out of the attack a second later, some burns along his skin from the attack's intense heat.

Natsu's training definitely paid off. If you can remove the heat, you can then amplify it too. He glanced to the path of the attack and couldn't stop his jaw dropping. Natsu ripped a massive hole right through the Cathedral's wall and it almost reached the houses nearby before it spiralled upwards.

That attack should have continued on instead of spiralling upwards. He glanced back to Natsu who was panting from the effort of the attack. He could see the Dragon's Slayers arms raised slightly. The boy had manipulated his flames to such a degree after they had been released to stop such a large attack by directing it upwards?

This was far better than the old Natsu. He wasn't sure how far the attack would have gone before stopping but it could have hurt a lot of people if they got caught in the crossfire.

"Natsu…"

Laxus glanced towards the voice, spotting Erza with her eyes wide in shock. Had she not known what he had planned? She must have simply assumed Natsu would have used the flames to counter but not to such a degree. But she wasn't the only one who was shocked since Natsu had looked confused himself.

He knew the answer though. It was like what Ichigo and Levy did when they were preparing to fight Gildarts. They had worked on their Artificial Unison Raid for months before that but they had only gotten it finished as it reached the Trials.

This was the same, admittedly on different principles. For Ichigo and Levy, they had needed to perfectly balance their power in their respective attack in order to create a sustainable synchronisation. Natsu however had already taken those flames Erza had given him and had began breaking them down. However until he swallowed them, those flames still had traces of Erza's Magic, just in a raw form of it.

And that was enough to synch the two fire attacks together. The fusion of the raw fire Magic of Erza's combined with Natsu's raw fire increased the overall intensity of the attack to the point where it became greater than both attacks individually.

Levy would be so envious when she heard of this. Natsu had accidently done in seconds what had taken months for her to do with Ichigo.

It didn't look like that would be something that worked outside of Breath attacks though. No other way would provide the suitable conditions for the fusion to take place and he doubted Natsu would try that attack again. Or it was more likely that he wouldn't be able to do it again. Laxus knew the two simple ways to stop the attack. He had to either make sure a large amount of flames didn't reach Natsu from Erza, or just dodge. He had wasted too much time watching it after all.

He could tell from the looks Natsu and Erza exchanged that they wouldn't try it again as well. He had to wonder though if it was possible for him to use such an attack. It was food for thought but he didn't feel like using his Dragon Slayer abilities just yet. They had yet to give him that much trouble.

"Is that all?" he taunted, enjoying the scowls on their faces.

"Don't underestimate us," Erza simply stated, letting her armour glow again.

This time she Requiped an armour he had expect to see. It was like a metal tunic in places, with the top breastplate part being a light blue while the rest of the section was white, and the armour of the centre piece continued down to her knees. A pair of spiked blue pauldrons rested on her shoulder with highlights of gold around the edges. The gauntlets she was wearing were a similar design and had spiked points at several places on them. The greaves meanwhile were more like thigh high boots and were composed on a lot of plates with a spike on each of the two pieces at the knees.

Around her hair, it had changed to a long braided ponytail while the top of her hair was held back with a band, a ribbon on each side of her head.

The weapon of this choice was no longer a sword but instead a spear. The spear had two spear heads at one end that connected to a circular wheel before joining the rest of the pole. From what Laxus could see, the spear heads would separate due to the wheel for what even purpose it was meant to serve. A long ribbon extended off into two loose strands from below the wheel to finish off the weapon.

This was the armour she should have brought out from the start. "The Lightning Empress Armour. You don't honest think this will make any difference do you?"

"When two Mages go up against one another and they have the same type of Magic, the winner is decided on what separates the two."

"I know this. Magical Power, the techniques you can use, and the experience you have gained."

"You forgot one. The Mage's heart. The resolve to win no matter what."

Laxus couldn't take those words of hers, throwing a blast of lightning straight towards her. How dare her. Resolve? Heart? She believed that her reason to win was superior to his? That his goal could be so petty and selfish that her noble goal would trump his?

Never. He was in the same position she was. No, he was higher. He wasn't doing this for himself. This was for the good of the guild, and most of all for Ichigo. And for her to say that her reason to win was stronger was unacceptable.

The Lightning Empress Armour proved just how effective those Empress Armours were, his lightning strike doing very little damage to her even with a partial hit against her. Those armours were deadly against Elemental Mages if she had the armour suited to fight against them. And that armour probably cut his attack power in half just like the Flame Empress Armour did with Natsu's flames when the two fought once.

No matter. There was always a limit. He just had to find out how much Magic it would take till the Lightning Empress Armour was unable to stop any more of his attack.

Erza rushed at him, Natsu quickly following behind her. Laxus responded in kind, charging towards them in his lightning form and shifting as he reached them.

Erza tried striking first, stabbing forward with her spear. Laxus rolled to the side and tried to use an uppercut against Erza. Natsu quickly interfered, leaping over Erza and blasting down with a stream of fire.

Laxus swiped the flames away as they hit him, barely slowing him down. Had Natsu's flames gotten weaker? They weren't damaging him as much as he expected them to, even if it was just a basic blast of fire.

That didn't matter too much. If Natsu had gotten weaker then it meant he would be even easier to defeat. It would ruin some of his fun though.

He jumped away and held out the palms of his hands, an orb of lightning forming in front of them. From the orb quickly fired smaller bullets of lightning, each one exploding as they hit something.

Natsu jumped in front of Erza as the bullets approached and swung his arms around. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack."

The flames rushed out from around the Dragon Slayer and created a shield ahead of the two. Erza took advantage of the shield by jumping above it, pointing towards Laxus with her spear. The two heads of the spear separated as the wheel spun, sparks flickering between the two parts.

Bright blue lightning shot from the spear in massive amounts. Laxus glared at the small storm of bolts approaching him before bringing up an arm against them.

The attack was weak, but maybe that was because he was a Lightning Dragon Slayer. He barely felt the sparks as his own lightning flickered around him, his Magic easily neutralising the power the other lightning had and stealing it for itself. It would have been much more efficient to eat the lightning but he had no need to devour their Magic. His Lightning Magic was enough still.

"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction."

A massive sphere of lightning quickly formed above Natsu and Erza, Erza's eyes widening.

"Natsu! Move!"

Natsu made to protest so Erza did the first thing she could think of. She grabbed him and threw him away. As the orb rushed down towards her, she flipped her spear around till it was horizontal against the coming attack. A Magic Seal formed over the spear as lightning shot out in front of it, creating a lightning barrier.

Laxus wanted to laugh at her pitiful attempt to block. She already knew she couldn't escape and had already gotten Natsu out of there before he got caught too. Now she was trying to cut the attack's power with that Spell of hers.

That could have worked with some Spells but Raging Bolt was one of his own creation. They say that incantations were how some old Spells worked but he had never understood why they mattered until meeting Ichigo. If you managed to link a Spell correctly to a chant, its power increased. Raging Bolt was his result of practicing.

The attack hit the barrier and Erza was engulfed in the explosion of electricity that followed. Now Laxus laughed. As the sparks finally cleared, he saw Erza's form. She was still standing and had her armour intact but the Spear was destroyed, the pieces lying on the ground next to her.

She would need to get that fixed before it could be used again, and he took notice of how she returned the destroyed Spear to her Requip Space. It was doubtful that she had another weapon to work with that Lightning Empress Armour of hers.

She rushed towards him but he was in no hurry to deal with her with Natsu approaching. He shifted to Lightning and made to shot past her towards where Natsu was.

That had been the plan. He hadn't expected her to grab him as he passed and throw him back the way he had come.

Laxus shifted out of Lightning as he crashed against the ground and brought a hand to his face where Erza had grabbed him. She, the ultimate weapon user in Fairy Tail, was fighting without one? "How?"

Erza gave him a smirk of her own before settling into an unarmed style of fighting. "I'm not the same as I was three years ago, no matter how it may look. I trained too, increasing my skill with all the armours I had. And I discovered a few things about them too."

Laxus scowled. "The Lightning Empress Armour doesn't just reduce the damage of my Lightning Strikes does it?"

"Why don't you find out?"

Laxus charged towards her, dodging her first strike as he launched a blast of Lightning at her. Erza's other hand shot out and caught the lightning, letting it explode against her hand. He made use of the slight distraction to bring his fist round and attempted to smash it against her head.

Erza ducked bringing up her own fist against Laxus and pushing him backwards. Laxus rolled and brought a hand back, sparks of lightning jumping around it. He shot that hand forward, a large blast of lightning following the punch's path and shooting forward. Erza brought up her arms and caught the blow against her guard. And then Laxus saw it.

The lightning hitting her was being forced around her armour before being ejected out of the back of it. He wasn't sure how he had missed the sparks before from her back but maybe it was because he had viewed that spear as a greater threat.

Some of the lightning had to have damaged her, that he was sure of, but something still bothered him. How had she grabbed him in his Lightning Form? He could understand being harmed in the form but being grabbed?

He shot forward as lightning and changed direction abruptly as she struck out a hand to grab him. He barely dodged the sudden strike and rushed back round to strike her again. He shifted out of Lightning as he appeared over her and brought his fists together above his head. Lightning intensified around the two as he tried smashing the two hands together down on her, lightning erupting all around them.

Erza blocked it with one hand, struggled to stop it. That confused Laxus. Why was she using one hand to block this strike? Unless… She needed her other hand free.

His realisation came too late as an armoured gauntlet rushed up to hit him, lightning dancing around the armour.

The fist smashed into him and pushed him a decent distance away. As he pulled himself up, Erza was already ready in front of him, not willing to allow him any time to recover. He strikes were faster than before, the first few hitting before he realised. He tried shifting to his Lightning Form to avoid the strikes only to find they still could hit him with unnatural ease. What was happening?

Slowly, Erza's speed started to drop and he used the chance he had gained. He smashed out against her, the lightning around his fist strong enough to send her flying back despite the armour she wore. Only when he saw it then did he realise what that armour was doing.

He had believed it was redirecting lighting out the back of it and that was why he thought it cut the power of his own attacks in half. That was wrong. The lightning from his latest attack was flowing around the armour before vanished, very few volts being fired off the back.

That was why she could use some Lightning Magic while like this, despite not having trained in it. That's why his attacks weren't as effective as they should have been. That armour took power from his own attacks and gave it to the wielder, resulting in use for their own Lightning Magic attacks.

But without the Spear, it was being used differently now. She was using it to increase the Speed she reacted at and had waited for that moment to reveal the ability. It had really caught him off guard and had gotten a lot of good strikes in. If he wasn't a Dragon Slayer, those attacks would have taken him out then and there.

It was like a battery from the look of it. The more she used, the slower she got because she had less Lightning Magic to use against him. But she didn't have much to worry about when it came to running out as he had seen what his attack had just done. She had used him to refill the depleted reserves the armour had and was probably back up to full now. Any excess Lightning must be simply sent out the back of the armour to get rid of it.

This was an interesting fight. He wasn't affected much by her lightning strikes but she was refilling the amount she used with his own Magic instead of having to use her own. And his attacks were weaker against her too and he wasn't trying to refill his reserves right yet.

That armour was extremely fast when used in unarmed combat. He supposed the lack of the spear made her determined to get as many strikes in as possible to make up for it. And with lightning, speed was extremely important in how you fought.

It was that unarmed style that let her grab him. By channelling the lightning through her gauntlets, she was able to grab him by overcoming his own lighting. There had to be a dense amount of lightning cycling around in that armour for her to be able to easily overcome the natural protection he gained in that form. It was like she was fighting as if she were someone like Natsu with the element being added into her combat style. She really was the most adaptable Mage of Fairy Tail. Still, all he had to do was move faster. What point was that power if she couldn't connect it against him?

He glanced to Natsu. The guy was still observing him carefully, and had been for a while now since Erza had engaged him. What was that idiot planning? He had expected that Natsu would be going out in full force, determined to fight him himself. Why was Natsu observing him so much?

"I'm your enemy right now!"

Laxus leapt to the side as Erza shot forward, her movement speed faster than it was before. He shot around as lightning and was shocked to see she was managing to keep up somewhat.

That would make things a bit harder when it came to attack her. She may not be able to reach him with her speed but she would be fast enough to reach to his actions if he got close enough.

He wouldn't let that stop him, charging in faster than before. He shot towards her and shifted out at the last moment, quickly engaging in a fierce match of close combat. She wasn't the only one who could amply their reaction time and speed with lightning, though it was much more efficient when using Dragon Slayer Magic.

Slowly though, he felt himself getting pushed back. He had the superior strength but Erza was managing to block his attacks and sneak some in that he couldn't stop. For all his talk about not letting her hit him, he was showing a terrible example.

Erza took his distraction in her stride and lunged forward, her fist clenched towards him. He jumped back but she was too close as the lightning shot forward from her fist like a beam.

He felt it pass straight through him, a blast of pain causing him to drop down to one knee. Erza herself looked pretty winded from that attack. She must have used most of the armour's stored power just then so he doubted she had much Lightning Magic left in that armour. There was no way he was going to let her fill it up that easily again now that it was empty.

"Chance!"

Laxus froze, his eyes glancing towards Natsu as the boy flew down from above. Natsu had both of his hands alight and looked to be bringing the two flames together.

"With a flame on the right hand…"

No. Natsu had a Spell like his Raging Bolt? Did he create it? No, Natsu wasn't that smart. So it was one he had been taught. And knowing the nature of Dragon Slayer Magic, it wasn't a weak one.

"And a flame on the left hand…"

He wasn't letting Natsu finish that Spell as he made to move to stop the Dragon Slayer. Before he could, spears of iron rained down on him, bombarding his position and forcing him to stop moving.

"When you combine the flames together…"

Natsu had already fused the flames by now and was approaching a distance where Laxus knew he couldn't dodge from. But Natsu would hit Erza too if this attack connected. He glanced over at the redhead only to find her gone.

"Ge Hi Hi Hi."

He could only stare at the sight of Gajeel rushing away from him with a smirk on his face, Erza over his shoulder protesting. Lightning Form! He had to shift now and-

"FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!"

The large fireball shot towards him, and he knew he couldn't dodge. Lightning Form would not allow him to make it in time. Had he really been pushed so far by these people?

The blast connected and destruction ensured, the explosion spreading out rapidly from Laxus. Natsu reached the ground and moved over to Erza and Gajeel, the flames still exploding around Laxus and ripping the area caught in the blast to shreds.

"Is it over?"

Gajeel looked towards the flames. "No one would be able to take a direct attack like that after everything else you two were throwing at him. He'd have to be a monster to keep moving."

Natsu stared at the flames. "Why do you think we're still cautious? Fairy Tail has a few monsters, and Laxus is one of them."

Erza looked towards Gajeel. "How long were you hiding for?"

"A few minutes after the start. It was fun watching Salamander get thrown around at times."

"Why didn't you help us your metal bastard?"

Gajeel shot an annoyed look at Natsu. "Because I'm not an idiot. I wasn't going to charge in recklessly against this guy. I got hit by one of his attacks once and it hurt like hell, and I'm pretty sure that guy had been holding back."

Erza sighed. "Regardless, thank you for your help and for getting me out of the way. Laxus won't-"

She was cut off as a hard grabbed her head and smashed it against the ground. Sparks flickered around the hand before Erza felt a pain like no other. Her entire body felt like it was being stabbed everyone at once, her nerves crying out in pain as lightning struck against every part of her. Even her Lightning Empress Armour wasn't providing much protection from the excruciating pain.

It felt like it would never end. Who was screaming? It took a moment for her to realise that was her voice causing the sound.

Eventually, the lighting stopped, a few sparks remaining that flickered around Erza's skin at random intervals. Laxus stared at her in disappointment. She was covered in burns from the intense lightning and he had expected for her to at least put up a bit more of a fight. This was why he hadn't viewed these people worth his time using this power of his. They couldn't even stand against it.

"ERZA!"

Laxus sighed before throwing her body away as if he was discarding a piece of trash. Natsu rushed past him and caught Erza before she crashed against anything, holding her carefully.

"You bastard!"

Laxus laughed. "What's the matter? I thought you wanted me to fight seriously?"

Natsu was about to make an angry respond when a hand landed on his shoulder. He glanced to the owner to see Gajeel shaking his head seriously.

"Look at him carefully," the Iron Dragon Slayer muttered. "He's not the same as before."

Natsu listened to him and properly took in Laxus's figure. Something was different now, and he wasn't talking about the oversized muscles the man now had. What was up with that anyway? It looked wrong, as if they could burst if they got any bigger. It made him a bigger target as well but the physical strength difference would likely counter that.

But his Magic was the part that was strange. It was lightning but it was different. What the hell was it? It felt… familiar?

Laxus smiled sinisterly at them. "Let me show you a taste of my true strength."

Natsu and Gajeel couldn't hide their shock at what the man was doing. They could sense the change in the Magic that matched what they could do themselves.

"SALAMANDER! ROAR!"

Natsu didn't need any prompting from Gajeel. Both Dragon Slayers gathered the energy required just in time to match Laxus. They knew what was so familiar now. That Magic, it was just like their own.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

The storm of fire and iron joined together as they approached the lighting and the two collided. Natsu and Gajeel slowly backed up though as they saw their combined breath attack getting overpowered by Laxus's own.

Breaking their connection to their attacks, Natsu and Gajeel moved, grabbing Erza as they escaped before the blast of lightning broke through their attack and smashed into the area they had just occupied.

"LAXUS!"

Laxus smirked towards Natsu.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a Dragon Slayer?"

"What's the matter? Are you going to ask me where your precious Igneel is next?"

Natsu snarled, almost charging in before Gajeel stopped him. "Don't let him get to you. We need to work together now."

Natsu smiled. "I thought there was only room for one Dragon in the skies."

"Who can fly with all this lightning about?"

"Well then," said Natsu as he crouched down to Erza. "We need to go all out now. Hold nothing back, else he'll crush us. No tricks or surprises, just raw destructive Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

Gajeel shot his arm out to the side before it changed shape to an iron club. "As you said, we can't hold back any bit of Magic if we want to win. Use your strongest techniques against him."

Natsu nodded. "Got it." Flames sprouted off his feet and arms, before Natsu took one last glance at Gajeel. "Try and keep up."

Natsu took a step forward before he sudden leaped towards Laxus, fire propelling him from his feet.

"Fire Dragon's Claw."

Laxus shot to the side as the kick lunged at him, letting Natsu fly past. Before he could counter, Natsu had hit the ground and bounced back around. The lightning shot towards Natsu as he charged but he slipped past them, using the flames around him to propel him out of the way.

He reached Laxus and punched, the flames around his arm adding more force to his strike to try and counter Laxus's own strength.

Gajeel took advantage of the distraction and pointed his arm at Laxus. "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs."

The same spears that had bombarded Laxus before now assaulted the older Mage's back, Laxus grunting from the pain. Laxus quickly grabbed Natsu and threw him over his should towards Gajeel.

Natsu quickly countered the throw with his fire, charging back towards Laxus. He stopped short as he brought his fist back and punched, a stream of fire launching towards Laxus.

Laxus rolled to the side, lighting crackling around his hand as he threw it towards Natsu. Before it hit, it redirected, Gajeel catching the lightning against his arm, now transformed back into an iron club. Part of the club had an extra part extended to the ground, managing to neutralise some of the attack's damage by grounding it. Gajeel still held in a grunt of pain as he felt the rest of the lightning hit him.

Laxus scowled and made to move at Natsu in close combat before he felt something hit against him and push him forward. At the same time, Natsu propelled himself forward, his other fist brought back while the first was still connected to a stream of fire.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist."

The punch hit Laxus dead on in his stomach, sending him flying backwards against the wall. Laxus grunted again as he shrugged of the rubble and forced himself back to his feet. This wasn't enough to take him down. But what had Natsu just done? And how had he been forced towards Natsu?

His gaze glanced towards Natsu's hands and saw that one was still connected to that stream of fire. He followed the path of fire till he saw what must have hit him. A hand. Not a normal one of course, but one made completely of flames, with qualities that had to resemble that of a Dragon's. It was larger than Natsu's own hands and had claws at the end of it but it looked like Natsu could control it as easily as if it was one of his own limbs.

Did Natsu learn this from Macao? Macao was known for his Purple Flare Magic and the man had always been good at making flame constructs. Had he taught Natsu the method at some point?

This looked deadly effective to say the least. He hadn't ever seen it coming before he found himself getting struck from behind. It seemed he had to be wary even if he dodged one of these attacks. On the plus side, it didn't look like Natsu could do anything else with the hand creating the flames. It was like his limb had been extended and the original was now part of the arm. The only danger would be if Natsu did was Gajeel could with his Iron Dragon's Club Spell and could create his element from the extended limb itself. It certainly wouldn't be too hard to blast out to the side of the arm with the flames already present.

Laxus stretched his arms, not liking how oversized they were. He had meant to pull on his Dragon Slayer powers but he must have done something wrong. Dragon Force wasn't working as it normally did. Maybe it was because he was mad, or maybe it was that he was out of use with it.

Still, it didn't matter. He would crush these two easily. This level was already enough. All they had was tricks. He would crush them with the sheer strength he had flowing through his veins.

He lunged forward towards Natsu, his fist crashing into where the boy had been and cracking the ground. Natsu came to punch Laxus as he sped around him before Laxus made sure to catch the punch and throw Natsu back. Natsu flipped over in mid air and revealed Gajeel, the other Dragon Slayer sneakily having made his way towards them in their distraction.

Gajeel's arm extended to the club and Natsu hit used his flames to push them forward and amply the club's speed. Laxus grabbed it and felt himself getting pushed back a few steps before stopping. He gripped the club and prepared to throw it over his should and towards the wall.

Gajeel was one step ahead of him, retracting the arm from his shoulder so that he flew towards Laxus at great speeds. His other arm shifted and revealed a jagged blade, the points around the edges quickly being sent around the blade's edge like a chainsaw.

Gajeel raised his arm and brought it down at Laxus, the lightning Dragon Slayer pushing off backwards with his feet as he released his hold on the club. He didn't dodge all the strike though as the blade extended like the club had and caught his arm on his retreat.

The ground cracked as the rest of the blade hit it, cutting straight through it like butter. Laxus's arm was in better condition, the attack barely piercing the skin except for the small trail of blood along it.

It didn't mean Laxus wasn't hurt however. The attack was a deadly one, and only the enhanced durability Dragon Slayers got managed to reduce the damage to such an amount. Dragon Force had simply increased that durability. He knew his arm was hurt but it was the same pain as when he had been hit by Natsu's fire attack before. It was a mere nuisance, not something to be worried about.

"Hey Salamander."

Natsu glanced at Gajeel, keeping one eye on Laxus. "What?"

"Why hasn't he used his Lightning Form yet?"

Natsu glanced towards Laxus curiously. "Maybe he can't use it? Those muscles look to be negating most of the damage we do anyway?"

"That's what I thought," Gajeel muttered. "That's good if that's the case. Whatever he did earlier boosted his attack strength and defence but it lost him speed. I'm not even seeing him react as quickly as before."

"He's adapting quickly though."

"I know…" Gajeel looked at Laxus in shock for a moment. "Forget what I said about his Lightning Form, I'm sure he should be able to use it soon enough. We need to end this very soon without giving away anymore of our strengths."

"Huh?"

"Just trust me. Move him around a bit and attack at full force when I give the signal."

"What the hell is the signal?"

Gajeel smirked. "Trust me, you'll know the signal."

Protector Of The Fairies

That was long to edit. Next chapter is a bit shorter in response but it's just the way the chapters broke up. Nothing I can do about it.

So in response to some review stuff, you can see here how you counter Lightning Form. The intangibility is harder to deal with but you can still deal damage to them. Elemental Type Magic like flames are really effective since they have a natural barrier around the fists when on fire that makes them perfect if you focus correctly.

So Erza is down but did people like what I did with her? Unarmed fighting with some new features to one of her armours. The flame variant would have similar properties but she has no use for it here. Her first attempt with it was to see if it would work better with Natsu in terms of power. Gave him a bit too much really.

You saw the start of Natsu's new technique here, inspired by one of my loyal reviews and based off the Jinchuuriki cloak you see in Naruto. Different is that limbs don't grow off another limb but instead would need to separate from the original where it wanted to split off. Thank you to the one who gave me the idea for this style of flame fighting by the way.

Next chapter has Natsu and Gajeel fighting Laxus some more, and puts us one step closer to the finally. My biggest fear is how it will be received because I've built so much hype for this. It's what a think a lot of you have looked forward to since Chapter 1 so I really hope it will be good enough. The hardest part is that the past developed so much that it built all the hype as it went.

As for current writing, I ended up writing one of the new chapters and had to set up some battles yet not start them yet. Had to then add another important scene and still lacked the words for reaching my target. Long story short, I wrote an extra scene from it and now have an additional plot part for the future. Things are funny like that.

No new chapters this week which is a shame.

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.