Prime Earth Land, Ishgar, kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x791.
By the time Ultear made it to the center of the area her [Ice Rampart] had sectioned off, Natsu's right fist was still embedded in the ground. And to her amusement, he was having trouble pulling it out. Because thanks to her ice, the molten stone that had been created on impact cooled quickly around his arm.
"Ahh! Damn it!" Natsu shouted while pulling his arm with all his might. "Why is this rock so hard?"
Although Ultear wanted to tease Natsu about the situation she found him in, she knew there were more important things to deal with. And looking up to the sky, Atlas Flame and Prime Natsu were descending from was one of those more important things.
"Looks like one of the dragons has switched sides, HUH?" Ultear asked while looking up at the dragon and the wizard on its back.
"What?" Natsu asked, momentarily forgetting about his stuck arm.
"Ultear?" Prime Natsu said, surprise in his tone. "What are you doing here?"
"Is this female human an enemy, Son of Igneel?" Atlas Flame asked in a voice that rumbled like a wild fire.
"No, not really." Prime Natsu replied while scratching the side of his head. "But I thought she said she was leaving Crocus. Or maybe she didn't... I wasn't really paying attention after she opened my [Second Origin]."
'Opened his [Second origin]?' Prime Ultear asked herself. '[I can do that, too. But I'd have to use [Arc of Time Magic] to do it. Does that mean the Ultear in this world took the magic book from Grimoire Heart after the attack on Tenrou Island, too?'
Ultear then glanced at Prime Natsu once again while he spoke with Atlas Flame. Then, she shook her head and continued her thoughts.
'No, based on how he said that, he doesn't seem all that familiar with the Ultear in this world.' Ultear thought. 'Perhaps this Ultear isn't a part of Fairy Tail. Maybe she was actually a member of Grimoire heart at one point. Hmm… I wonder how that happened.'
It did not take Ultear long to piece together a hypothesis, however. She knew she had voluntarily separated from her mother when she thought that she had been replaced. And if Gildarts had not found her unconscious in the snow, there's no telling where she might have wound up.
"Um… Hey, guys…" Natsu said, still struggling to free himself. "Can someone give me a hand."
That question drew Ultear out of her thoughts. It also drew Prime Natsu's and Atlas Flames' attention to Natsu, as well.
"Huh?" Prime Natsu intoned in confusion while looking down at the young man who looked like a slightly older version of himself. 'Why are there two of me here?'"
A moment later, however, Prime Natsu's eyes lit up in realization.
"Oh, I know!" Prime Natsu shouted. "You must be the Natsu from Edolas, right?"
"Of course not!" Natsu shouted. "That weirdo actually likes riding in vehicles!"
That response brought Prime Natsu up short as the two Natsus shuttered at the thought of riding in a vehicle. A moment later, Prime Natsu went back to scratching his head in confusion.
"Then, who are you?" Prime Natsu asked. "And why are you with Ultear."
"Because she's a member of Fairy Tail." Natsu replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
However, that was probably not the best answer to give, as Prime Natsu narrowed his eyes. At the same time, he started flaring his magic power, flames engulfing his form. Though, it was hard to tell he was doing so because of the flames all over Atlas Flames' body.
"Wait." Ultear said, drawing Prime Natsu's attention onto herself. "There's a misunderstanding here. We're from another world like you thought. But it's another Earth Land, not Edolas. And we came here because Lucy from your future somehow ended up in our world and asked us to help with the mess the dragons would cause if they weren't stopped."
Ultear's explanation only confused Prime Natsu even more. Even her own Natsu seemed confused. Because even though he was there for all the world-hopping explanationss, it all flew right over his head. The only thing he understood was that he would get the chance to fight a dragon. So, he was all for it.
Yet, Atlas Flame did seem to understand. At least the way he nodded the flames that most-likely made up his head made it seem that way. Unfortunately, Ultear had no experience reading the facial expressions of dragons, let alone those that seemed to be made of flames.
"I see." Atlas Flame replied. "So, in this campaign, you are allies to the son of my dear friend, Igneel."
"You know Igneel?" Natsu asked, once again forgetting about being stuck in the ground. He then looked down at the gauntlet on his hand that was stuck in the ground and continued. "Hey, Igneel, do you know this guy? Really? His name is Atlas Flame? That's awesome. Then, we should be friends, right?'
"What? You know where Igneel is?" Prime Natsu asked as he leapt off Atlas Flame's' back. "Where is he? You have to tell me."
"'Strange…' Ultear muttered internally. 'Natsu found out about Igneel's whereabouts as soon as he reached the partial release state of his ["soul Armament]. Why doesn't he know about that?'
Ultear then looked towards Prime Natsu's hands. And when she did not see the wristbands that her Natsu usually wears, the sealed state of his [Soul Armament], Igneel, she understood.
'This Natsu doesn't have a [Soul Armament].' Ultear said to herself. 'Did this world's Alfonzo not make any? But why would he not make them? They've made our guild so much more powerful.'
"Huh? You don't know?" Natsu asked in a confused tone. "But you should have found out when Alfonzo made your [Soul Armament]."
"What is a [Soul Armament]?" Prime Natsu asked, sounding just as confused. "And who the heck is Alfonzo?"
"Huh?" This time, both Ultear and Natsu were confused when they heard Prime Natsu's question.
"I believe you will have time to talk about that later." Atlas Flame said in his rumbling voice. "For now, I believe there are some humans that need our assistance. Motherglare is siccing a veritable horde of her spawn on them."
As he spoke, Atlas Flame was looking in the direction where Erza, Prime Jellal, and Prime Erza were fighting Motherglare and her spawned miniature dragons.
"Erza!" x 2
The two Natsus shouted in unison after sniffing the air and smelling their own Erzas. Then, Prime Natsu took off in the direction of the battle. Yet, Natsu flipped himself over when he tried to do the same, as his arm was still stuck in the ground. And Ultear, after seeing her Natsu's stupidity, could only sigh.
In the next moment, a large, flaming dragon claw reached down and plucked Natsu out of the ground. Then, he threw the pink-haired dragon slayer onto his back before looking at Ultear.
"Unfortunately, my flames would more than likely burn you to cinders were I to place you on my back." Atlas Flame said calmly. "I hope you're able to keep up as I speed to the battlefield."
"Don't worry, I'll get there on my own." Ultear replied while waving dismissively. "Dragons aren't the only ones who can fly, you know. [Soar Upon the Frozen Winds, Kinsi]."
In the next instant, Ultear's [Soul Armament], Kinsi, which was hanging from her waist, glowed in an ice-blue light before that light engulfed Ultear. Then, when the light faded, Ultear had a pair of ice wings on her back and with ice covering her arms that ended in what appeared to be ice phoenix claws on her hands.
*Whoosh!*
A moment later, though he was surprised to see Ultear's transformation, Atlas Flame flapped his wings before flying off at a low altitude. Then, as he flew past the [Ice Rampart], he snatched up Prime Natsu before putting him on his back next to Natsu. He then sped off towards Motherglare with Ultear in hot pursuit.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~!*
However, before the group of three wizards and a dragon got halfway to the battlefield, they heard the sound of thunder in the distance. Looking back, they could see another dragon crackling with arcs of golden electricity.
"Looks like Laxusand Lici found their target, too." Ultear said with a smile.
"That was Laxus?" Prime Natsu asked with a pout. "Just when did he get that strong? And who is Lici? Is it that unfamiliar smell coming from that direction?"
'I think I'm starting to get it.' Ultear thought to herself after hearing Prime Natsu's question. 'This world's Fairy Tail doesn't have an Alfonzo. Probably no Lici, either. Just how much has changed in this world without them?'
*Roar!*
Meanwhile, the dragon crackling with golden lightning was roaring in pain as the lightning ravaged its body. On top of that, because of a great number of nearly invisible threads, it was not even able to move out of the way of the lightning bolt that caused it such damage.
"Who the hell are you?" Prime Laxus asked the brown-skinned woman with what appeared to be dragon scales on her hands while he stood in a defensive position in front of the Prime version of the Thunder god Tribe.
"Gimme a second." The brown-skinned woman, Elicia, replied as she fired several of the scales on her hands towards the dragon, an enormous purple scaled dragon with a large body, a narrow head, and curved horns jutting out from his forehead and jaw that curved towards each other like a pair of scissors. "[Slip Stitching]."
In the next instant, threads were shot from Elicia's hands as the scales turned into golden needles with dragon motifs before the threads threaded the needles on the ends of the needles. Then, Elicia manipulated the threads to make the needles pierce through the membranes of the dragon's, Scissor Runer's, wings and stitched the wings to the rest of its body.
"Damn you, humans!" Scissor Runner shouted in rage.
"Now, it shouldn't be able to fly." Elicia said with a smile as she wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "But I gotta tell ya, dragons are stronger than they look."
"Yeah, enough with the prattle, who the hell are you?" Prime Laxus asked as he got ready to attack should the answer not be to his liking.
"It looks like you're not a part of Fairy Tail in this world, Lici." Laxus said as he appeared next to Elicia in a flash of golden lightning.
"I guess not." Elicia replied with a shrug. "Maybe my dad and Fonzie's mom weren't able to save us from the Cult of Zeref when they raided our village all those years ago. Or maybe we just don't exist here. Who knows?"
"Hmm… Interesting hypothesis." Laxus replied while rubbing his chin.
Meanwhile, Prime Laxus and the Prime Thunder God Tribe were completely dumbfounded when they saw a second Laxus appear in front of them. And Prime Laxus was even more confused when he saw the large halberd propped on his doppelgänger's shoulder.
However, there was one of the quartet who did not stay confused for long. And that was Prime Fried, who's eyes were shining at the thought of having two Laxuses in the same place.
"Am I in heaven?" Prime Fried asked himself aloud. "There are two Laxuses. If this is a dream, please don't wake me up."
"That reaction doesn't surprise me as much as it probably should." Laxus said while smiling wryly. "I wonder if our Fried would be embarrassed to see himself like that?"
"Huh? Hasn't he chilled out since you got married to Saya and Chico, though?" Elicia asked while tilting her head cutely.
"I don't like that woman." Prime Evergreen said while narrowing her eyes at Elicia. "It feels like she's challenging me for the title of the most beautiful woman on the battlefield."
"And that reaction doesn't surprise me at all." Elicia giggled. "It's almost the same as all those years ago, isn't it?"
"Yes, we were all quite young and brash back then." Laxus replied with a fond smile on his face, as well.
"So, um… What exactly is going on?" Prime Bickslow asked in a confused tone. "Are you guys, like…?"
*Roar~~~~~!*
"Hold that thought." Elicia said after Scissor Runner's roar interrupted Prime Bickslow. "I think we should take care of all these dragons before we start playing Twenty Questions."
"Fine." Prime Laxus grunted in annoyance. "But you will answer our questions once all of this is done."
"Yeah, yeah." Laxus replied with a shrug. "Anyway, just stand back and let the adults show you how it's done. [Bow to the King of Lightning, Elexion]."
With that, Laxus' halberd turned into its double chain halberd form. Then, he began spinning one end by the chain before throwing it at Scissor Runer with all his might.
Along the way, the chain elongated rapidly. By the time one of the hooked ends of the halberd dug into the dragon's flessh, piercing straight through its scales, the other end began wrapping around the dragon over and over before the hook on the other halberd dug into it at another point.
"[Pin Cushion]." Elicia chanted shortly afterwards as she launched all the scales on her hands towards Scissor Runner.
With even more ease than Laxus' halberds, Elicia's needles pierced Scissor Runner's scales. On top of that, the needles seemed to be long enough that they stuck out all over Scissor runner's body, making the name of Elicia's spell quite apparent, as he looked exactly like a pin cushion.
Meanwhile, Laxus flew up into the air in his [Lightning Form] before coming to a stop directly above Scissor Runner, where the center of his [Soul Armament's] chin was located. Then, he took a deep breath while channeling as much magic power as he could muster into his lungs.
"[Lightning Dragon's Roar]." Laxus chanted as he exhaled all the air turned lightning in his lungs into a beam of golden lightning.
*Zap!*
*Boom~~~~~~~~!*
An instant later, Laxus' [Lightning Dragon's Ropar] crashed into the chain wrapped around Scissor Runner. And when it did, the lightning flowed through it, scorching all the scales along its path, before entering Scissor Runner's body through the hooks dug into its flesh. On top of that, it spread to all the needles Elicia pierced the dragon with, as well. And although they were not quite as deep, they still caused a tremendous amount of damage when the lightning flowed through them.
"What the hell is that weapon?" Prime Laxus asked while staring at Elexion with fervor. "And why the hell don't I have one."
"Even stranger than that, is that woman using sewing techniques n battle?" Prime Bickslow asked in a dumbfounded tone.
"Sewing Techniques? Sewing Techniques?" Prime Bickslow's Dolls chorused a moment later.
Before either of those questions could be answered, however, the flash and explosion that engulfed Scissor Runner faded. When it did, the six wizards could see the dragon was standing completely still with smoke billowing out of every hole on its body. Then, after a few seconds of tense silence…
*Boom!*
... Scissor Runner's limbs could no longer handle its own weight as the dragon collapsed to the ground on its belly.
"They made it look so easy." Prime Fried muttered while shifting his gaze between the two Laxuses.
"And just to make sure." Elicia said with a solemn expression on her face while flicking her fingers as Laxus landed next to her. "[Thread Magic: Thread Slicer]."
At the same time, a large number of threads flew around before wrapping themselves around Scissor Runner's neck. And as soon as that happened, the large dragon, which appeared to be dead, began to struggle to raise its front claws and tear at the threads. Yet, before it could even reach the threads, Elicia pulled her hands back forcefully.
*Thud!*
*Splatter!*
With that motion, the dragon's head was cut off and a fountain of blood shot out from the dragon's neck, flooding the destroyed street.
"And that's why you always double tap." Elicia said as she dispelled the threads.
Hearing that, Prime Laxus, Prime Fried, Prime Bickslow, and Prime Evergreen looked at Elicia like she had just grown a second head while thinking that they did not want to get on her bad side. Meanwhile, Laxus only shook his head at Elicia's antics.
"You know, you've changed, Lici." Laxus said in a nostalgic tone. "Although I wasn't there when you came back from your first quest, I hear how you didn't even wanna kill the wargs you were tasked to eliminate. Now, you take precautions to make sure the prey is dead."
"Oh, please." Elicia said dismissively. "If I didn't do something, you would have. You could tell it was still alive, too."
"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Laxus replied with a smile. "Anyway, let's go see if we can help anywhere else."
"Got it." Elicia replied. She then looked at Prime Laxus and the Prime Thunder God Tribe. "And don't worry, we'll explain everything when all this is over. And that shouldn't take that long. Especially since Fonzie is coming back from dropping off someone by the Eclipse Gate."
With that, Elicia and Laxus leapt away from the dragon's corpse. Though, Elicia did wrap it with Vibranium Threads to make sure no one took it. Alfonzo could probably use it to make something, after all.
'I wonder if dragon steaks are any good.' Elicia thought to herself as she began to salivate while swinging through the city to the next place she might be needed.
Meanwhile, Prime Laxus and the Prime Thunder God Tribe were just left to stare at the decapitated dragon with awe on their faces. A few moments later, however, they decided that they would help with the rescue efforts, as well. So, they ran off to do what they could.