Chapter 11: Gathering Clouds

Heiza looked down at the crater he'd made with a satisfied smile. This time he definitely wouldn't lose to that dragon slayer. It wasn't just the loss that bothered him, but also how he lost. Of all the ways to lose a fight, your own power backfiring on you had to be the most embarrassing.

The teen had 'cleared out' a room in Marcos's lab, and had been training in it for six days to make sure nothing like that ever happened again. With the giant hole in the floor as proof, he was now ready for a rematch. He turned around to leave and almost ran directly into a mad scientist.

"Marcos," Heiza said as he regained his balance. "What are you doing down here?"

"This is my lab," the scientist said dryly. He looked around. "Or it was anyway. Thanks for blowing up my equipment, asshole."

"You're welcome." The dark user leaned against a wall. "Did you need me for something?"

Marcos smiled. "Nope, just letting you know that I'm going away for a while. Hades has something of mine, and I think it's time I take it back."

"That book huh? It's been years, why don't you just let it go?"

The madman shrugged. "I was just playing around before. I recently realized that I need it, so I figured I could be serious for 10 minutes and retrieve it."

"I think you're underestimating Hades," Heiza said. "He really could kill you."

"Don't be silly," Marcos replied. "No one can kill me."

Heiza shrugged. "I take it you're going alone?"

"Yeah. You scrubs would just get in my way."

"That's alright. We don't wanna hang out with an old man anyway."

As the two parted ways, Heiza thought about what he would do next. It had been a while since he'd seen Evan and Kara, so maybe he should spend some time with them. After six days of training, he just felt like relaxing. The rematch with Natsu could wait.

"I'm back!" Natsu yelled as he kicked open the door to the Fairy Tail guild hall. The entire guild fell silent as all eyes turned towards the dragon slayer.

"Umm, hey guys." Natsu waved awkwardly. "Did you miss me?"

The others continued to stare until Macao spoke up for the group. "What did you do?"

The Salamander scratched his cheek in confusion. "Could you be more specific? I've done a lot of things."

"He meant 'what did you do to get a councilwoman on your tail?'" Wakaba clarified.

Natsu paled. "Councilwoman?" Oh no. It can't be! Please don't let it be…

"Hello again Natsu," a woman called out to him from the bar.

"Ultear! The hell are you doing here?"

Most of the guild facepalmed at the rude reply. "Yep, he's going to jail," Macao whispered to Wakaba.

"I told you you'd see me again soon."

"I was hoping by 'soon', you meant 'never'."

Ultear pouted. "Don't be that way. Didn't you miss me?"

"Not in the least," Natsu said flatly.

The councilwoman rose from her seat and sauntered over to him, swinging her hips with every step. "Don't act so stoic in front of your guild Natsu. You couldn't wait to get your hands on me last time."

Natsu stared at her with wide eyes. "Wait, What?!" You might want to take this conversation outside. Huh? It was only then that he noticed the whispering of his guildmates.

"From a model to a councilwoman…"

"Some guys have all the luck…"

"How did that bonehead manage to land her…"

The Salamander growled. "HEY! You guys got somethin' to say?" When the whispers died out he turned back to the woman who caused this. "And you, come on."

Natsu grabbed Ultear's hand and pulled her outside. As he passed the rest of Team Natsu (who were still standing near the door) he noticed that Erza and Lucy were looking at him, while Gray was staring at Ultear. Maybe I can pawn her off on him.

"What the hell was that?" Natsu demanded once they were a fair distance away from the guild.

"I was just having some fun," the time mage replied with a smile.

"Well next time do it with someone else." The smile the young woman gave after Natsu said this made him feel like he'd fallen into a trap.

"The only person I wanna do it with is you."

Natsu's eyes widened, and Ultear started laughing. "You knew me in the future, didn't you?" she asked. "It shouldn't surprise you that I say things like that."

"You were usually pretty serious whenever I saw you," the pink-haired teen said in response. "It's actually kinda strange how playful you're being."

The woman crossed her arms under her chest. "Are you sure you knew me? I can't imagine I was serious all the time."

"When you showed up it usually meant things were about to go wrong." Natsu looked at her slyly. "Maybe it's because you're bad luck."

"That would explain a lot actually. So then," Ultear flipped her hair to the side. "What was our relationship like in the future?"

Natsu shrugged. "Well, we were friends."

"Is that all?"

No it's not, Zeref interrupted, voice dripping with amusement. Come on Natsu, tell her something good. There isn't much to tell her. Sure there is. Why don't you tell her how you thought she was a guy? Or how hot you think she is? Or how about that time you stuck your face between her breasts? Stop going through my memories Zeref!

Natsu broke from his thoughts to find Ultear smiling at him. "You just remember something?"

The dragon slayer scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yep, and I'm not telling you."

The purple-haired woman scowled. "Why is everything always so difficult with you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Before the conversation could continue, Natsu threw a fireball into the ground, kicking up a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the Salamander was gone.

"Should've seen that coming." Ultear placed her hands on her hips. "Oh well. It's always more fun when you have to work for what you want."

…

Next up is Gajeel, right?

Didn't you just tell me to stop going through your memories?

Natsu rolled his eyes. Yep, and I've told you a million times to stop being an asshole, yet that hasn't stopped you.

Fair point. Yes, Phantom Lord is your next opponent. Assuming I don't release Deliora sometime within the next two days.

Are you going to release Deliora any time soon?

…

Zeref? You choose now to shut up? Natsu sighed. I hate you sometimes.

With Zeref checked out of the conversation, Natsu turned his attention to back to his current task; finding a big rock. Pushing around heavy objects was one of the dragon slayer's primary forms of training, though his threshold for heavy had reached a rather unreasonable level.

It was becoming quite difficult to find anything that could give him a good workout. Natsu had known for a while that he'd eventually need to find a new way to train, and it looked like now was the time to try out one of his ideas.

The dragon slayer smiled as he reached the lake. Here goes nothing, he thought before jumping in.

He started off small, trying to create flames on his fingertips. The first attempt yielded nothing. So did the second. And third. With his fourth attempt the dragon slayer did see a momentary flash, though the fifth attempt wasn't able to recreate it.

I'm gonna be here a while, Natsu thought as he prepared for try number six.

"Damn… That really took it out of me."

That had turned out to be even better training that Natsu had expected. The pink-haired teen was laying on the ground panting as though he'd just went ten rounds with Laxus, and he hadn't even destroyed anything today.

Natsu slowly brought a hand up to his face. Two seconds. He'd only been able to hold a flame for two seconds.

Dammit. I have to get a lot stronger than this. Natsu let his hand fall to the ground. Someone was coming. The dragon slayer turned his head in the direction he heard the person approaching from. He'd considered sitting up to meet them, but considering who it was he really couldn't be bothered.

"So this is where you've been."

"Hey Gray!" Natsu greeted with a tired smile. "How can I help you?"

"Who is that woman?" the ice mage asked.

Straight to the point huh? I suppose I expected as much. "That's Ultear," Natsu replied. "She's part of the magic council. She was also on Galuna Island."

"Galuna Island…" Gray repeated. "Was she the one you were fighting?"

"Yeah." Natsu considered leaving it at that, but Gray probably wouldn't be asking about her if he didn't already have some suspicions about who she was. "She's your teacher's daughter."

The ice mage fell silent, but he didn't appear to be surprised. "And she's here because you owe the Magic Council money?"

"More or less," Natsu said simply. "She'll be here for a while, you should talk to her."

Gray sat down next to the dragon slayer, his face pensive. "Does she know who I am?" he asked after a moment.

"I'd assume so," Natsu replied. "She was working with Lyon after all."

"I see." The ice mage said before changing the subject. "What have you been doing out here?"

"Training," Natsu replied.

"Huh…" Gray glanced around, looking for any signs of the carnage that was Natsu's trademark. "You didn't blow anything up today," he commented after a moment.

"I have transcended such primitive means," Natsu said proudly.

The ice mage cocked an eyebrow. "Transcended? Where'd you learn such a big word?"

"Evil voice in my head."

"Ahh."

Natsu wasn't sure if Gray actually believed him about the evil voice in his head or not, but he never seemed to react whenever it came up.

If only he knew who the voice was, Natsu thought. Oh well, ignorance is bliss some times.

"Hey Gray?" the dragon slayer called out.

"Yeah?"

"How do feet smell if they don't have a nose?"

"…" The ice mage stared at his companion, making sure not to show any amusement at the terrible joke. "Dammit Natsu."

The next day

You know, I think it looks better this way.

Shut up Zeref. Natsu wasn't surprised by the damage done to the guild, but it still angered him to see. The metal poles sticking through the building at odd angles, the 'Fairy Tail' sign broken on the ground. "Gajeel," the dragon slayer mumbled.

It was strange; of course he remembered what the iron dragon slayer had been like before joining Fairy Tail, but it felt wrong being enemies again after being allies for so long.

"How could this happen?!" Happy cried. "Who would do this?"

"Phantom."

Natsu and his exceed companion turned around to find Mirajane standing behind them. Her eyes were downcast, not quite meeting their gazes.

"It's mortifying," she said. "But we were done in."

The barmaid led the two down to the basement, the only part of the guild that wasn't damaged in Phantom Lord's assault. On the way down, it crossed Natsu's mind that he probably should've told the master this was going to happen.

As it stood now, there was no area they could talk in private, so if he said anything now he'd be alerting everyone to the fact that he was from the future. He wrestled with that idea until he was pulled from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down Natsu," Mira said soothingly. "It's ok. They didn't break anything that can't be fixed."

"What do you mean we're gonna let it go?!"

All eyes turned toward the enraged voice.

"They won't do anything more than this," Fairy Tail's guild master responded to the angry ice mage in front of him. "Why let it get to us? All they did was attack an empty guild."

"Even if it was empty," Gray said, sounding a bit calmer now. "They destroyed our guild hall."

Makarov waved a hand dismissively. "I've been meaning to renovate anyway."

The ice mage opened his mouth to reply, before realizing that he wasn't getting anywhere. He wasn't like Natsu, he wouldn't beat his head against a wall that wouldn't move anyway. Speaking of Natsu…

"Hey Frosty!" the pink-haired teen called out.

"What do you want Flame Brain?" The response was a flaming fist that the ice mage barely managed to duck under. Gray's counterpunch missed by an even smaller margin, skimming Natsu's hair as he sidestepped. Their second punches collided, forcing both mages to take a step back.

"I take it you accept my challenge," Natsu said with a smirk.

"It's been a while," Gray said with a smirk of his own. "I figure it's about time I kicked your ass again."

Both fighters stepped forward, only to be interrupted by an armored woman standing in their way.

"The guild's already busted up enough," Erza said. "Take it outside you two."

"Fine," the mages replied before running off to continue their battle.

With that disaster averted, Erza returned to the guild master's side. "It's strange," she said. "Natsu didn't react at all."

"Would you rather he did?" Makarov asked.

"Maybe," the swordswoman answered. "At least then we'd know what he's thinking."

The old man took a sip from his mug. "He won't do anything too rash. The boy's not dumb."

Erza raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes I wonder…"

"Ice-Make: Lance!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

The two attacks collided, kicking up a cloud of steam as they canceled each other out. Gray kept his eyes forward as he focused on his next attack.

Natsu was aggressive, which made him somewhat predictable. The now shirtless ice-make wizard knew that if he waited here, the dragon slayer would come right at him.

"Fire Dragon's Blasting Claw!"

Gray sidestepped the flame blasts, and sure enough, Natsu wasn't too far behind them. The ice mage ducked under the dragon slayer and placed his hands on the ground.

Natsu turned around for a follow-up attack—

—and fell flat on his face.

"Oh that's cold!" the fire mage yelled as he shot up, only to receive a kick to the face courtesy of Gray Fullbuster.

Natsu slid a good distance away because of the ice, but managed to regain his balance after a few seconds. "That was pretty good," he commented.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Gray took his casting pose once again.

Natsu did the opposite, letting his hands fall relaxed to his sides. "Let's call it a draw."

"You giving up?" Gray asked, his hands falling to his sides as well.

The dragon slayer scowled. "Call it what you want." The true reason was that Natsu had already used more magic power than he'd meant to, and that he needed to conserve the rest of it for his probable fight with Gajeel tonight. He couldn't very well tell Gray that though, so he didn't say anything.

"Are you alright?" The ice wizard asked.

"Yeah," Natsu replied. "Why?"

"You're acting weird," Gray said. "I thought you'd be a raving maniac, but you don't seem bothered at all."

The Salamander smiled. "There's no reason to be upset. We'll get our chance for payback soon enough."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You'll see," Natsu said mysteriously before walking away.

Gray stared after him, pondering his words. "When did he become a fortune teller?"

I wonder how much this will change things.

It probably won't honestly.

The dragon slayer raised an eyebrow. How come? Natsu could almost hear Zeref sigh inside his head.

Because Gajeel trying to hurt some of your guild members is a good enough reason to fight, so it doesn't matter if he succeeds or not.

Natsu shrugged. I guess not.

Though you should probably warn Makarov about sneak attacks.

Oh right. I'll make sure to tell him before we go. The fire mage then stood from his perch on the roof of the Fairy Tail building. Team Shadow Gear was leaving, which meant it was show time.

Natsu leapt from the rooftop, flames spouting from his feet to propel him down faster. "Incoming!"

All eyes turned to the meteor that suddenly appeared in the night sky.

"Is that Natsu?" Levy asked her teammates.

"It could be," Jet replied.

"Whatever it is seems to be headed right towards us!" Droy interjected.

The human meteor never reached the ground, however, as it was intercepted by the Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel.

"Hey there Gajeel," Natsu greeted as their fists clashed.

"Salamander," Gajeel acknowledged. "You look like you've been expecting me."

The fire dragon slayer smiled. "That's a real possibility." He kicked the iron dragon slayer away, allowing himself to touch down safely. "What brings you all the way out here, Gajeel?"

Gajeel smirked maliciously. "I came to deliver a message." He pointed at Jet, Levy, and Droy. "Those three were gonna be a wake-up call for you weaklings, but now we might just get an instant surrender!"

The black-haired teen punctuated his words with a punch, his arm becoming a pole and extending to close the distance between the dragon slayers. Natsu barely reacted, only raising his hands to create his magic-circle shield.

"That all you got?" the Salamander taunted.

"Nope." A second iron pole extended from the first, aimed at the fire dragon slayer's shins.

"Agghh!" Natsu yelled as he stumbled back. Guess I deserved that for getting cocky.

Gajeel was in his face before he managed to recover. He landed a hard punch to Natsu's face, before turning it into a club once again to send his opponent skidding along the ground.

"What a letdown," he commented as he retracted the club, his fist returning to normal. "Is this what passes for S-Class in Fairy Tail?"

Ok you bastard, Natsu thought as he made it back to his feet. This time I'm serious. Before Natsu could attack, however, Gajeel was already off balance from a strong gust of wind.

"Solid Script: Push!"

"Falcon Heavenward!"

Jet's kick sent the iron dragon slayer flying, buying time for Natsu that he really didn't need.

"We've got your back Natsu," Jet said as he landed beside the mage.

"He came here for us right?" Levy asked. "That makes this our fight too."

Natsu's head tilted to the side. He was going to tell them to let him handle it, but Levy just pre-emptively shut that down. "Alright then," the pinkette said. "Let's do this!"

The fire mage rushed forward first, to where Gajeel was fending off Droy's Knuckle Plants with his Iron Dragon's Sword.

"This is getting annoying," the Phantom Lord Mage complained.

"It's about to get painful!"

Fire met iron for the second time, with much better results for the son of Igneel this time around. Natsu's punch was followed by a flame-infused kick that was almost too fast for his opponent to follow.

"Still disappointed?" Natsu asked as he watched Gajeel bounce like a skipping stone. There was no answer, however, as the ever persistent Knuckle Plants chose this moment to strike.

"Is it over?" Droy asked as his plants returned to the earth.

"I dunno," Natsu replied. "I did kick him pretty hard though."

The Fairy Tail mages began closing in on their downed foe.

"Can you believe it?" Jet asked Levy. "We took down Gajeel."

"Why did he attack us though?" Levy pondered before turning to Natsu. "And how did you know that he would?"

"I didn't," the dragon slayer lied. "I just happened to be around and it just felt like something was off."

"RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!" Gajeel roared, drawing everyone's attention back to him as he rose once again. The spikes on the edge of his blade began to move, effectively turning it into a chainsaw. "You're dead!"

Fairy Tail's dragon slayer readied himself for the attack, until he realized that he wasn't the target. By the time he could react to this it was too late.

"Levy!" Natsu called out, rushing forward in a futile attempt to protect her.

And then, Gajeel stopped. Or he was stopped, by Jet's fist in his stomach. Though Natsu still didn't relax. Can't he…

"Heh," Jet chuckled. "You left yourself wide open."

"Funny," Gajeel responded with a humorless chuckle of his own. "So did she!" His arm rose to point at Levy before the sword disconnected, flying like it was shot from a cannon.

This time Natsu was already in motion. Thinking twice about blocking the attack head-on, he instead punched the flat side with his left hand. This, predictably, sent the blade spinning into his left arm. The dragon slayer grunted but otherwise ignored the pain as he jumped out of the way of the out of control metal.

"Alright Gajeel, you… where'd he go?" Where just a few seconds ago had stood a fearsome mage, now there was only an unconscious Jet.

"Jet!" Levy and Droy cried. The duo rushed to their downed teammate, while Natsu scanned around for any sign of the iron dragon slayer.

"Oh well," the pinkette said once he was sure they were safe. "This counts as a win right." His eyes then fell upon the downed member of Team Shadow Gear. "Well, mostly."

Wow. I didn't realize that it had been two years. I really don't have any excuses for not updating besides the standard 'I was busy and working on another story'. Anyway, this one caught my interest again, so I plan to update more than once every two years from now on. Thanks for the patience, and until next time.