It was truly a case of sitting calmly on a boat when disaster fell from the sky. The entire ship was slowly tearing apart, unable to withstand the damage as cracks began to appear along its hull.
Seawater started flooding in, soaking both Noel and Lucy. There was nothing worse than this.
"What's happening?" Lucy called out, still unaware of what was going on.
"He went too far… Sigh." Noel let out a heavy sigh. If he'd known it would turn out like this, he would have handled it alone. Now, an entire ship full of people was at risk.
Noel found himself with a headache. All those people were under a sleeping spell and unconscious. He couldn't just let them sink into the ocean, could he?
"Do you have any ideas?" Noel could only turn to Lucy for help.
Lucy, as a Celestial Spirit Mage, could summon spirits with significant power, and many of them possessed formidable abilities.
"Let me think," Lucy muttered, unsure of what to do.
"You could use a powerful current to wash everyone safely back to shore," Noel suggested, giving her a clear direction.
"A current…" Lucy's eyes brightened. She could summon Aquarius.
Eager to prove herself worthy of joining Fairy Tail, Lucy summoned Aquarius, the Celestial Spirit of Aquarius.
A fish… That was Noel's first impression. If Happy were here to see a fish this big, he would lose his mind with excitement.
"I am NOT!" Aquarius snapped, clearly reading Noel's mind. The boy in front of her was definitely thinking something dumb.
"Now, Aquarius, use your power to send everyone on this ship back to shore!" Lucy commanded, pointing at the unconscious passengers.
"Tch." Aquarius clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Did you just 'tch' at me?!" Lucy yelled, bristling with anger.
"Shut it, brat." Aquarius shot back, completely ignoring Lucy's feelings as she glared at her with disdain.
Aquarius lifted the urn she held, and a massive wave rose, sweeping toward the ship with tremendous force.
"See? Aquarius is the Celestial Spirit of Aquarius. Fighting in water is her specialty," Lucy explained proudly, showcasing Aquarius' strength.
"Ahhhhhh!" Lucy suddenly screamed.
As the massive wave grew closer, Lucy realized it wasn't stopping but was heading straight for her, making her shriek in fear.
"Wind Barrier!"
If that wave crashed down, it would destroy the entire dock, and Noel had no interest in letting the Magic Council flood Fairy Tail with complaints the next day.
A massive pressure of wind spread across the beach, and the towering wave crashed into the wind wall. The force of the impact dissipated, calming the wave while safely cushioning the unconscious people as they were washed ashore.
"Hey! What were you thinking, making the wave that big?!" Lucy yelled, unable to hold back her frustration.
"My bad. I didn't think you'd get caught up in it too," Aquarius said, showing zero remorse and even looking a bit regretful that she hadn't swept Lucy away completely.
"Did you target me on purpose?!" Lucy snapped, furious.
"I won't be coming when you call for a while. I'm going on vacation with my boyfriend for a week. With my boyfriend, get it?" Aquarius declared, delivering yet another blow to Lucy before vanishing back into the Celestial Spirit realm.
"YOU DON'T NEED TO SAY IT TWICE!"
The danger was averted, and Lucy regained her composure as a Celestial Spirit Mage, though something felt off in the script. Was being mocked by her own spirit normal for Celestial Spirit Mages?
"What a handful…" Lucy muttered, unable to hide her frustration.
"Seems like your relationship isn't that great," Noel commented, watching the scene and not knowing what else to say.
Seeing Aquarius treat her with zero respect in front of Noel made Lucy grit her teeth, muttering under her breath, "She's just an old woman now… so damn petty."
The battle, however, was not over yet. The fake Fire Dragon, who had been washed ashore, got back on his feet—an annoyingly resilient man.
"Oh, still standing, huh?" Natsu said, his interest reigniting.
Hearing that this fraud had used Fairy Tail's name to deceive others, and seeing how arrogant he was about it, Natsu's face darkened. To Natsu, who treated Fairy Tail as his family, this was unforgivable.
"Let me get a good look at your face. I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail! I don't think we've met before!" Natsu growled, his face stormy as he showed his Fairy Tail guild mark.
"What? That mark…" the fake Fire Dragon stammered, shocked at the sight of the emblem on Natsu's arm.
It was really Fairy Tail. To think he had been running scams in their name, only to end up in front of the real deal.
"It's really Fairy Tail, Lord Bora!" one of his henchmen, who had washed ashore and woken up, exclaimed in shock.
"You idiot! Don't call me by that name!" the fake Fire Dragon—Bora—panicked.
"Bora, the 'Red Hot Bora,' who was expelled from the wizard guild 'Titan Nose' a few years ago for repeatedly using magic to steal," Happy, who kept up with the Magic Weekly, revealed Bora's true identity without hesitation.
"I don't care what kind of mage you are, but using Fairy Tail's name to commit crimes is something I won't forgive!" Natsu shouted, veins bulging in anger.
"Bastard! So what if you're really from Fairy Tail?!" Bora barked back, refusing to back down as he launched a magical counterattack.
Flames erupted from his hands, blasting toward Natsu and engulfing him in an instant.
"Ugh, tastes awful," Natsu muttered inside the flames, followed by gulping sounds.
"You really call yourself a Fire Mage? This fire tastes even worse than the one on the ship…" Natsu's voice came from within the flames.
"Huh?" Bora was dumbfounded. Fire has a taste?
As the flames faded, Natsu's figure emerged, still chewing down on the last remnants of the flames. Lucy and Noel, who had just arrived, witnessed him devouring the fire.
"Thanks for the meal," Natsu said, wiping the corner of his mouth as he stared down at Bora.
Natsu brought the flames on his hands together, forming a massive sphere of roaring fire, and hurled it straight down at Bora.
It was the same move that had already defeated Bora once on the ship, and there was no way Bora could take it head-on again.
"Red Carpet!"
Using his "Red Carpet" to launch himself into the air, Bora tried to escape, but Natsu's Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame was simply too fast. It struck Bora solidly even as he attempted to flee.
However, the flames began to spread, engulfing half the port in fire. Noel could only watch, powerless to stop it. How could a single person possibly control this?
"Ah! What do we do now?" Lucy yelled, panicking as she looked around.
"What else can we do…" Noel sighed, utterly exasperated.