➵

The four dragon slayers found the royal city in chaos. With the floating islands falling and all the magic-filled lacrima that the citizens of Edolas relied on fading fast, everyone was panicking and running through the streets. Earthland Dealana was confused by what they were trying to accomplish by rushing around like headless chickens. If they were going to escape the 'end times' wouldn't it be better for them to unite and stick together rather than freak out?

Perhaps that was just her way of thinking though, and her mind was all over the place with the near complete exhaustion of her magic power. Their fight with Faust was hard-won, but they managed to defeat the power-crazed old man. Dealana was currently dragging the unconscious king by the back of his cloak when two familiar faces came into view.

The black exceed with the odd arm twitch and a magenta-haired girl around Dealana's age were fast approaching the dragon slayers. Dealana couldn't quite remember the exceed's name, but she definitely recognized Lorna, who had a look of alarm written across her face.

"Lorna? What's wrong?" Dealana questioned the girl, concern filling her eyes as she literally dropped King Faust with a thud on the ground to meet Lorna halfway.

"You... You guys beat King Faust?" Lorna asked in disbelief, her wide crimson eye lingering on the defeated form of Edolas' king. "But h-how?"

"Never underestimate the power of a dragon slayer, kid," Gajeel answered with a slight smirk.

"What's wrong, Lorna?" Dealana asked again, trying to keep the girl on track. "And what's with the cat?"

"Better question, where's my cat?" Gajeel grumbled, earning a sharp elbowing from the sky-blunette.

"Pantherlily's fine," Lorna told Gajeel before turning with the black exceed to face all four dragon slayers, "But there's something you guys need to know about him and Mystogan..."

➵

Mystogan and Pantherlily were at an odds in their argument over who would take the role of Edolas' ruler. Both not wishing to hurt the other while insisting that they would play the role of the "villain". They were both incredibly stubborn about the ordeal. Ihe the midst of their back and forth, Pantherlily received a report from a royal army solider.

Chaos was erupting in the streets and it needed to be addressed by someone. That someone just happened to be Pantherlily with Mystogan following behind.

Hearing that people were wreaking havoc wasn't surprising to hear, but neither Mystogan nor Pantherlily were expecting what they saw. Evil laughter echoed in the air and it belonged to none other than Natsu Dragneel. He stood atop a building, a dark cape with a high collar billowing behind him as he looked down at the gathered citizens.

"I am the demon they call, Dragneel!" The pink haired pyro declared, "and I've come here to this world to steal all of your magic power!"

"What?" Pantherlily gawked. Mystogan stood beside him, both stuck staring in utter shock at the dragon slayer's doings.

"Is that... Natsu?" Mystogan asked. The prince of Edolas was confused, wondering what in the world Natsu was doing.

By now, Edolas Fairy Tail had arrived at the gathering crowd of distraught people. Everyone seemed to be staring up in fear and when the dark guild moved their gazes to the rooftop, they too were great surprise for a number of reasons; the main one being Natsu's new get up and evil, maniacal laughter.

"Have you gone insane, other me?" Natsu Dragion questioned. His Earthland counterpart licked his lips as he continued with dark laughter, prompting Dragion to retract his statement, sputtering, "Never mind."

"Faust ain't your king anymore!" Earthland Natsu told the crowds, "'Cause I kicked his sorry old butt!" He declared, throwing an arm to where King Faust was tied to a wooden post.

"Is that..." Gray Surge began to ask with wide eyes as a burst of lightning struck the carved, stone sculpture of King Faust, causing a crack to spread across the middle.

"A mini Stormy?" Juvia finished as Edolas Dealana looked to see none other than her counterpart squatting on the top of the post that the defeated king was tied to. She wore a similiar dark billowing cloak with red inner lining and a high collar. Her clothes were slightly tattered and her hair was loosely styled atop her head in two messy buns. This, along with the mischief sparkling her in her heterochromatic eyes and the dark smirk, only added to what Edolas Dealana hoped was a facade.

When Earthland Dealana's eyes met her counterpart's in the crowd, her smirk widened and the sky blunette winked. A wave of relief washed over Edolas Dealana, but everyone else remained confused and mildly terrified.

"She's adorable," Juvia began, unable to take her eyes of the smaller version of her close friend, "but what are they doing?"

"I don't know," Edolas Dealana admitted, narrowing her eyes at the dragon slayers atop the roof. What in the world were they up to? It was a question being asked by nearly everyone at this point.

Natsu's laughter continued, "But I decided to spare his life," he explained before adding an ominous, "for now!"

The crowd's reaction was everything the dragon slayers were hoping for, and Earthland Dealana couldn't help but wonder if this is what Cobra felt when he could say that he heard their fear. It was an invigorating feeling to listen to their cries of horror and see the looks of pure terror on the citizen's faces. That feeling scared Dealana. For a moment, she was lost in the sea of panic she'd helped to spread and create. Natsu's continued explanation and his exaggerated evil voice brought her back to their plan.

"Come on Redfox, Marvell and Ka'ino! Now my faithful servants! It's time to trash the city!" Natsu exclaimed. Not a second following his declaration, Gajeel, clad in an identical billowing black and red cloak, swiped across a row of building with his arm transformed into an iron blade. The iron dragon slayer laughed at the destruction while Earthland Dealana, still standing on the top of the wooden post, spread her arms and conjured a brooding storm cloud out of literal thin air. A bolt of lightning burst forth and struck a nearby building causing a chunk of the roof to crumble and collapse.

The citizens of Edolas screamed while Dealana's smirk seemed to only grow. They were playing the necessary role of the villains and it was a role the dragon slayers played extremely well.

Somewhere amongst the crowds must have been Gajeel's reporter counterpart because Dealana heard his voice shouting to the people.

"These villains won't stop until they destroy everything in sight! The city is under attack by demons from another world!" Edolas Gajeel exclaimed. The people around him listened carefully and instantly believed the explantation.

'He must've caught on.' Dealana realized as Wendy tried her very best to intimidate a poor kid. She succeeded but only with a little help from Gajeel looming with a creepy look on his face behind her.

"Just look at them!" Edolas Gajeel continued. "They're an unstoppable force of evil!"

"Just what do you think you're doing!?" Mystogan shouted at them. Dealana's smirk remained strong when she heard the voice they were hoping to hear. "Stop this!" the blue-haired mage demanded.

Natsu ignored him shouting, "Now! My loyal servants of Lord Dragneel! Don't stop destroying stuff!" He ordered. Dealana rolled her eyes and scoffed at the scarf-wearing pyro, but nonetheless lifted her arms to expand her storm cloud. She spread her arms apart, the dark grey mass splitting into three separate clouds as she did.

"Keep going with this servant crap and I'm coming up there first," Gajeel threatened, reasonably annoyed with Natsu's demands.

"Just do what I tell you to, slave!" Natsu fired back using new wording that made Dealana bite back a laugh.

Gajeel sweatdropped, his whole demeanor drooping for a moment as he muttered, "Guess I should've been more specific." Dealana shook her head, still greatly amused by their antics. She turned her focus back to her storm clouds, mustering as much of an evil tinge as she could into her voice.

"Go forth my dark storms, wreak havoc upon this city in the name of Lord Dragneel!" Dealana grinned, her abnormally sharp canines prominent. She pushed her arms forward, manipulating the clouds to spread across large portions of the royal city. Hail rained down from one, the chunks of ice crashing into roof tops and the cobbled pavement as lightning struck from another creating dents and craters in the ground.

The storm dragon slayer could hear Natsu's not so subtle snickered and glared at the pyro. "Don't let this get to your head, Salamander, I'll knock your ego back down once we go home." She hissed, effectively shutting Natsu up and returning his focus to their master plan.

The crowd continued to talk amongst each other, saying things along the lines of how it was the 'demon lord Dragneel's' fault, how the dragon slayers were to blame for stealing Edolas' magic power. Edolas Gajeel only affirmed their statements, pinning all the blame on Dealana and the others saying, "That's right! Dark Lord Dragneel's the brains behind the whole operation!"

"Unforgivable!" One citizen shouted at the dragon slayers. Another spoke up saying, "Give us our magic back, now!"

"Better be careful," Natsu warned, "'Cause you know what happens when you play with fire." For the added effect, Natsu displayed his magic, breathing fire into the air, further scaring the people of Edolas.

"Natsu!" Mystogan yelled angrily. "Stop this now!" He demanded.

Dealana smirked, "I think we're getting scolded." She hummed in amusement, turning her attention on the once-elusive Fairy Tail mage. Natsu turned with confusion towards Mystogan, as did the crowd, who were wondering if someone was challenging the mighty villains.

Natsu and Mystogan stared at each other for a few quiet moments before the evil grin returned to the dragon slayer's face. "Are you tellin' me what to do, ya little punk?" Natsu asked.

"Stop this foolishness! The king has been defeated. There's no need to attack innocent people!" Mystogan replied. However, the moment the words left his mouth, Natsu expelled a beam of fire upon the crowd, causing them to scream and scramble away from the flames. Dealana was ensuring that the flames didn't actually hurt anyone, able to cut off the oxygen fueling the flames with a small amount of wind manipulation, but Mystogan didn't know that.

"No, don't!"Mystogan exclaimed, his knuckles turning white from how hard he was gripping the banister. Dealana continued smirking from where she stood atop the wooden post.

"If you're trying to scare the Demon Lord Dragneel, it's not going to work," She told him, "He doesn't care. Even if you are the prince." Natsu only continued sporting the evil smile and crazed look, laughing in affirmation to Dealana's words.

The crowd was thrown into a bout of confusion, wondering if the blue-haired man standing beside Pantherlily could actually be the prince of Edolas. The reporter version of Gajeel, once again, caught onto the dragon slayers' plan, realizing that Mystogan was, in fact, the missing prince of Edolas, who disappeared seven years ago.

"Prince Jellal is back!" He exclaimed loud enough for all to hear. Gasps of disbelief came from the crowd as they seemed to remember. They were filled with the hope that their long lost prince had returned and was going to defeat the evil, Demon Lord Dragneel along with his minions.

"What are they doing here?" Pantherlily wondered as he continued to take in the scenes before them.

"Yeah, about that..." A familiar voice trailed off from behind them. Mystogan and Pantherlily turned to see Lorna and Nadi, the exceed with the odd arm twitch, standing there. Lorna wore a particularly sheepish and guilty expression as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "We, uh, we're kind of responsible, sirs."

"What do you mean by that?" Pantherlily questioned. Lorna licked her suddenly dry lips and glanced nervously to Nadi, hoping he would help her out in explaining their actions. She sighed in relief when he spoke up.

"Miss Lorna and I happened to overhear your conversation earlier," He admitted. Meanwhile, Natsu dramatically flapped his dark cloak behind him, taunting Mystogan.

"Let's fight," He smirked, "Or your precious city is gonna get burned to the ground." He threatened. Mystogan grimaced while Pantherlily turned to watch him.

"It seems we have our villain," He remarked. "Don't we?" The crowd grew uneasy with the obvious threat of Natsu and the other dragon slayers. The royal army wasn't doing anything and with the appearance of their prince, they questioned whether or not he would defeat these villains.

"Natsu! Stay right there!" Mystogan shouted, leaping over the banister as a sign of accepting the challenge set forth by the fire dragon slayer.

"Didn't you hear me?" Natsu asked him. His arms were crossed as Dealana's storm clouds produced a rather strong breeze, the wind blowing on their cloaks, adding to their dramatics. "I am the great and powerful lord Dragneel."

Mystogan said nothing in reply, only dashing through the street towards his guild mate while Pantherlily began to put the pieces of the dragon slayers' plan together. Mystogan would play the role of 'hero', but that by no means meant that Natsu was going to completely throw the fight. He couldn't. If the people of Edolas believed for even a second that Dealana and the others were faking, they wouldn't accept Mystogan as their king and Edolas wouldn't properly untie as a new kingdom working together.

Dealana watched her own arms crossed as Mystogan continued forward. As their plan was moving forward, she knew it the back of her mind that this was also goodbye. Mystogan ran passed the crowds, including the members of Edolas Fairy Tail and Gajeel's counterpart.

"There goes the prince," Edolas Gajeel said, taking a step forward to address those around him, "Is he really going to fight that monster by himself? What unbelievable courage he has!" The commentary continued to spur the crowds hope and support for their long lost prince. Dealana had no doubt that Mystogan was well aware of what their aim was, she could only hope Mystogan and Natsu's fight was believable enough.

"Now, sleep!" Mystogan said, attempting to cast a spell aimed at Natsu. However, his magic was merely sucked up by the Reverse Anima, just like Dealana's storm clouds from earlier. Once they were spread across to different areas of the city, she manipulated them high enough to where they would be absorbed with all the rest of Edolas' magic. The crowds were far too distracted by Natsu and Mystogan's impending battle to even realize.

"What's the matter?" Natsu asked him, "You're scared without your magic, huh? Well, you should be, 'cause check this out!" The scarf-wearing pyro told Mystogan with his fist engulfed in flames. Natsu brought his fist down onto the rooftop shouting, "I got plenty!"

Fire-filled cracks spread down the destroyed building and rubble, inspiring more fear and panic to those below him.

"I said stop!" Mystogan repeated, shouting at Natsu.

"Natsu, you're going way too far!" Wendy called up to him, concerned for the safety of the citizens in the crowds.

"No, he's not," Gajeel countered. "The more powerful a villain's magic seems to have in 'em, the stronger the hero looks when he beats him without using any magic at all." He explained as Dealana descended the rubble to better observe Mystogan and Natsu's fight.

"Listen to me, Natsu. You're making a big mistake with all this." Mystogan said, staring down the confident looking Natsu, who was perched with his arms crossed on a prominent piece of rubble. "This whole show that you're putting on. You can't expect to fool all these people."

"Hah!" Natsu scoffed before charging forward declaring, "I challenge you!" Natsu punched Mystogan in the jaw, sending the blue-haired prince backwards. Mystogan's staff clattered to the ground uselessly.

"You fool! You can't bring the people together like this. Through evil!" Mystogan pushed himself up, launching back at Natsu, who caught the incoming punch.

"Fight me for real," Natsu growled. There was a second of pause before Mystogan brought his leg up to kick Natsu in the face, the crowd cheering at the action. Natsu staggered back and quickly recovered as Mystogan looked around at the gather people rooting for him. "Yeah! Now they're really gettin' into it."

"Idiot," Mystogan scoffed, still trying to deny it all. "You should've stayed down so we wouldn't have to stretch this out further." Dealana smirked at this comment. She had a feeling Natsu wouldn't go far that kind of mock fight. Sure enough, Natsu came at Mystogan with a punch to the gut.

"Not my style!" The fire dragon slayer told the prince. Mystogan returned the blow to Natsu's face, sending the pink haired male skidding a short distance away. Natsu tried to land another punch, but Mystogan just barely caught Natsu's wrist. The crowd continued cheering while many watched in awe. Natsu drew Mystogan closer so the crowd wouldn't hear him saying, "This is it, buddy, we're gonna give you a real Fairy Tail send off."

Mystogan's eyes widened and Natsu continued. "Since you're leavin' Fairy Tail you gotta swear to follow these three rules." The two jumped back, Natsu calling out, "Dealana, number one!"

"Never ever share sensitive information about Fairy Tail with anyone as you live!" She shouted back, fighting back tears and clenching her fists at her sides. "Two!" She called out as Mystogan landed a direct punch to Natsu's face.

"How'd that one go again?" Natsu questioned trying to remember as he saw stars for a moment.

"Number two," Mystogan continued unleashing a barrage of punches and swift kicks upon Natsu, "Never contact any client you may have worked with for the guild for your own personal gain!" He said, finishing with gritted teeth as he swung at Natsu.

"That's right, and don't forget number three," Natsu said after landing a particularly strong punch to Mystogan's chest. "Although our paths must stray you've gotta promise to live the rest of your life to the fullest-" Natsu grunted, interrupted by a blow from Mystogan before continuing, "That means to treat everyday like it was going to be your last day in this world."

"Don't forget the friends you've loved," Dealana continued, a few tears pooling in her eyes as she observed from her perch amongst the rubble. Mystogan and Natsu were at the final moments of their battle.