Chapter 30: Totomaru
A cavernous room lies before them with the first thing that catches their eyes is the giant lacrima floating in the middle of the room. It was at least the size of a house, never have they seen one that big before. Four other room-sized lacrimas are positioned an equal distance from the large one in the middle and from each other.
"W-What's that?" asks Natsu in astonishment more to himself than to Happy. A clank is heard and a warm female voice announces that there is 11 minutes left until Jupiter can fire again.
"It looks like a lacrima for concentrating magic." Happy puzzles out.
"I never seen a lacrima that big before." Natsu says, still in awe at the size.
Happy explains what it is to Natsu in a serious tone, "A Magic Focusing Cannon is a weapon that uses concentrated magic power instead of a cannon shell."
"I don't really get it, but all I need to do it break it, right?" Natsu asks, as he prepares to leap down to the ground. An unknown male voice cuts through the air.
"I won't let you do that." it says confidently. Surprised, the two friends look down where the source of the voice is coming from.
"A lookout?" Happy questions. As they look at a seemingly older male standing on the floor in front of the center-placed lacrima.
"Whatever! I'll just get rid of anyone in our way!" Natsu declares, already assuming the opponent below them is already defeated. He jumps down, prepared to end this in one blow.
The light gives the taller male's eyes a strange glow as he replies, "I won't let you."
"I don't have time for this! Outta the way!" Natsu shouts as his fist ignites. Almost reaching the ground, Natsu cocks his fist back, ready to punch when suddenly he punches his own face. The force of the blow knocks him sideways as his mind tries to understand what just happened. Happy floats down using his wings as he is immediately concerned over the strange behavior of the dragon slayer.
"Natsu, what are you doing?" Happy questions loudly.
"Uh, my body is… on its own…" he manages to get out while his fist is still pressing against his cheek. He quenches his flames and is able to get back in control. Flipping, Natsu is able to land without injury. His face is a mask of seriousness as he knows that this isn't going to be an easy fight.
"It looks like… you're the one getting in the way." says the older man, just as cocky as before. Natsu studies his opponent intensely. Two-tone black and white hair done up in a high ponytail catches his attention first. The over confident posture is next, which causes Natsu's anger to flare at being looked down upon.
On the newcomers face is a thick black line that goes across his nose, splitting his face in half. The cheerful woman's voice comes on and announces 10 minutes are left.
"Move it. I'm going to smash that giant crystal!" Natsu demands.
Happy floats besides his best friend and tells him quietly, "If you can break that lacrima, Jupiter shouldn't be able to fire." The two humans stare each other down for a while.
"I won't let you." repeats the unknown man after a period of silence. "Didn't I tell you?" he continued. The female voice announces 7 minutes are left. Natsu ignites a fist and launches another attack to which against his will, his fist punches him in the face again.
Catching the dragon slayer off guard, he tumbles on the ground, away from the other man. Natsu gets up and touches his cheek gingerly from where he unwillingly punched himself twice. He wonders what the hell is going on with his body attacking himself like that. Happy is frantic as he tries to get Natsu back on track to focus on destroying the lacrima.
Ignoring his friend, Natsu rushes in to attack with another flaming punch. He loses control of his fist, but instead of punching he is made to spin in a circle which causes a small fiery tornado to form around him. The other male jumps and hits Natsu with his knee, causing the spinning to stop and the flames to die down. Natsu crashes into a wall, leaving a sizeable dent, and then falls to the ground with a thud.
6 minutes before Jupiter fires is announced.
"I am Totomaru, and I manipulate the element of fire." Totomaru announces to the still fallen Natsu who pushes himself up to stand.
"Eh, one of those whatchamacallit-somethingorother 4?" Natsu asks.
"Natsu, it's the Element 4! The only part you got right was the 4!" Happy yells, frustrated at the dragon slayer's inability to recall names. Ignoring the cat, Totomaru directs his comments towards the other fire mage.
"All flames are under my control." he states as if it was a well-known fact. Needless to say, Natsu doesn't believe him and Totomaru continues to boast, "Whether enemy or in nature, all flames are mine!" The Elemental 4 mage hunches down, in preparation of getting attacked.
"My flames are mine!" Natsu shouts out harshly, getting mad that someone has the audacity to try to control his dragon fire. Happy again shouts at Natsu to ignore Totomaru, but to no avail.
"Seems you drew a bad match-up, my little fire wizard." Totomaru says, fully confident in his abilities. At this point, the 4 smaller lacrimas start to glow with magic. As the glow brightens, magic streaks across towards the larger crystal in electrical form.
This causes the Magic Concentration lacrima to glow as well as it charges. Natsu gasps in shock at the sight, the enemy temporarily forgotten. Happy states the obvious that it is activating while the female announces informs that there is 5 minutes left.
Tired of defending, Totomaru goes in for the attack with a shout, "Blue Fire!" His magic activates and column of blue fire lashes out and envelops Natsu. The smirk on the Phantom Lord mage quickly fades into one of shock. The pink-haired guy was eating his fire. Actually eating it!
Laughing as he eats, Natsu says, "Ooh, that's cold! Never eaten fire like that before." The sword wielding fire user figures out who he is facing and addresses him.
"I see… So you're the Dragon Slayer I've heard rumors about. This means we're both at a disadvantage. Fire won't work on either of us."
Angry, Natsu yells out, "Don't go decidin' that yourself! I haven't even hit you yet!"
"Exactly!" Totomaru says like he is teaching a really slow child something simple. "I can't be hit by fire!" Hearing this, Natsu pounds his fists together to start up his signature breath attack. Totomaru activates his magic before Natsu is ready to spew out the dragon flames.
"All fire is under my control!" the Phantom mage exclaims. Unexpectedly, instead of fire Natsu spits all over Totomaru who looks disgusted by the action. He starts to lose his cocky manner as his frustration with the stubbron dragon slayer grows. Natsu points and laughs in victory for tricking the other fire mage. The female voice sounds off that only 2 minutes remain.
Happy starts flying around everywhere while going ballistic that Natsu isn't trying to stop the Jupiter and just wants to fight. The two humans ignore the cat's incessant shouting as they glare at each other.
"Why, you… You tricked me!" Totomaru accuses harshly, his anger growing.
"Orange Fire!" he shouts as he activates his magic for an attack.
"Didn't you see? I eat fire!" states Natsu confidently. He starts to suck in the fire but has to stop.
"It stinks! My nose!" he cries out as his face starts turning colors from the disgusting odor the flames hold. He rolls on the ground and covers his nose with his hands trying to get rid of the smell that is assaulting his really sensitive nose. Totomaru laughs as he gets even for that trick Natsu played on him.
"That fire's the smell of a mop drenched with curdled milk!" he states proudly. Almost recovered, Natsu moves over to the other guy and the two mages start pushing against each other with their shoulders. They growl at each other for the trick the other has pulled on them. The female voice announces that only 1 minute remains before Jupiter fires.
The glow from the orbs seem to increase as time goes on. Happy is crazed with fear and tries to physically pull Natsu away from Totomaru while telling him to calm down so he can focus on Jupiter. Getting angry that his best friend doesn't trust him, Natsu shakes off Happy and rushes in to attack Totomaru but without his flames. Noticing this, Totomaru smirks feeling that victory is assured.
"Whoa, there… Giving up on magic and using your fists? In that case I, with my katana, have the advantage!" Totomaru jumps back as he says this to give him room to draw his sword that hangs on his hip. In a blink of the eye, he appears in front of Natsu and tries to slash him which gets dodged by the dragon slayer.
Natsu keeps jumping around dodging while Totomaru doesn't let up and keeps getting within range to slice up the Fairy Tail mage. With a swift upside-down kick, Natsu disarms Totomaru and the sword flies into the lacrima in the center of the room. It cracks, but it isn't enough to destroy it. Natsu smirks knowing that he evened the odds.
"Too bad." calls out the Elemental 4 mage. "A scratch like that can't destroy such a large lacrima." he says arrogantly.
"Oh? Is that so?" Natsu asks wonderingly with his back to the lacrima in question. His fists light up and he goes in for the attack with more punches while Totomaru dodges easily.
"Than how about this?" Natsu asks while attacking with a fiery fist.
"Honestly, you don't learn a thing, do you?" Totomaru says in contempt at Natsu's idiocy. He activates his magic and has Natsu punch himself in the face, again. Angry, Natsu ignites his flame out from his fists so much that Totomaru gets hit with it.
Looking singed, the Phantom Lord mage glares at Natsu in surprise and anger. He actually got hit by fire. Fire! His element! The injustice of that steels Totomaru's determination to pulverize the uppity dragon slayer to a pulp.
Happy is freaking out as the magic is gathering for another shot and the female voice announces only 20 seconds are left. Natsu lets out a wordless roar as he creates two giant fireballs, one in each hand.
"That won't work a second time. I told you already… All fire is under my control!" states Totomaru, fully confident that the dragon slayer is going to fail to destroy the lacrima in time. He activates his magic to take control of the flames swirling around Natsu. He grunts in surprise when the flames don't obey him like before.
The fiery vortex around Natsu grows in size and quickly reaches Totomaru's position. The fire manipulator can't believe that Natsu was able to find a way to block his control during a battle.
Enraged, Natsu bellows out, "How dare you move my fire!" He then throws the massive fireball right at Totomaru. The Elemental 4 wizard dodges to the side with a smirk.
"What does it matter as long as you can't hit me?" Totomaru taunts. Noticing something odd, he turns to see that the fireball turns into a fist of fire and it hits the lacrima as the female voice counts out the last seconds. He stares in utter shock, not believing that he let the attack hit the lacrima.
Still angry, Natsu gives him a smug grin as he informs the other mage that he wasn't aiming for him with that attack. The fire drives the sword that is still stuck in the lacrima in further and deep cracks appear over the orb's surface. A giant explosion rocks the entire building as the large lacrima bursts and takes out the entire Jupiter system.
Faint cheers can be heard over the explosions as the members of Fairy Tail are ecstatic that the Jupiter gun is destroyed. As the explosions clear along with the dust and dirt, it shows the entire room is now just a pile of rubble.
Natsu chuckles a bit before he explains to the bewildered Element 4 mage, "Look here, bud. Fire ain't gonna listen to people telling it what to do. It responds to your heart's will." he adds a grin to the end of his statement. Happy looks on in awe and slight embarrassment. It dawns on the blue-furred cat that Natsu had to fight Totomaru to gain control of his flames or there was no way he could of destroyed Jupiter.
He hangs his head in shame that he let fear keep him from thinking clearly. Down on the beach, the destruction of the Jupiter gun raises the morale of the fighters. With increased vigor, they renew their attacks on the Shades. Mirajane, still posing as Lucy, looks on at her fighting friends with great relief. With the threat of Jupiter gone, they now have much better odds at surviving this battle.
Back inside the destroyed Jupiter room, Natsu is readying another attack that he is focusing on hitting Totomaru with.
"You can't manipulate my fire any longer! It's your turn to get blown to smithereens, Phantom!" he shouts out. Without warning, the whole room rocks which causes the three males to lose their footing. Unseen by those three, the guildhall starts moving again. Only this time instead of walking, the parts of thr building itself starts to move. The rooms of the building shift around as the entire place starts to transform.
The unnatural movement causes Natsu's motion sickness to act up. But thanks to the tea he has been drinking for almost two weeks, it doesn't affect him nowhere nearly as badly as it would have. He sends up a silent prayer in thanks for his housemate and her knowledge and kindness.
Outside, the Shades retreat which give the fighters on the beach a small reprieve. Catching their breath, they watch as the Phantom Lord headquarters shape shift. Totomaru knows what is going on and is surprised that José is doing that.
Random Phantom Lord mages scramble to get to safety so they won't fall off into the water or get squashed as everything continues shifting. Totomaru grins in victory, knowing that nothing can stop the building after it shape shifts.
"The giant has awakened! It's over for you guys!" he crows. Natsu hunches over with one arm wrapped around his stomach, fighting back against the motion sickness. He is able to stay on his feet and his face isn't as pale as it would have been, but he hasn't been completely cured.
Down on the beach, everyone looks up in horror and fascination. If they thought the enemy guild hall was huge before, it is nothing compared to how it is now. It towers over the entire town as it stands up.
A magical giant stands before the guild of Fairy Tail, and no one can believe their eyes. The Shades reappear and move in a stream around the giant, almost like a sash before José's voice sounds out again as he speaks to the guild.
"You should grovel and beg for forgiveness, you damn kids. Then you will learn your place! Feast on despair until the end of your pitiful lives!" José almost growls in irritation. The giant starts to walk closer to the guild and the Shades fly back down for another attack. Too focused on defending their home, no one notices a pair of blue-grey eyes opening.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
TrinaVanHawkins1
TrinaVanHawkins1 I know it was to add drama and tension to the story, but personally I think the way time passed during Totomaru's and Natsu's fight went way too fast for the amount of fighting they did according to the anime.
But that's what happened, so that's what I went with. As Krysti gets more involved, the future fights and everything else will start to change. So until then, this arc will... mostly follow the manga and anime.
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