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It was another busy day in Fairy Tail. The recent brawl had finally died down, and Lucy had deemed it safe enough to return to her drink at the bar. After a moment Natsu, black eye and all, and Happy joined her. Natsu let his forehead collide with the wood, savoring the coolness on his face. Lucy gave a small smirk at her exhausted companion.

“Not tired already are you? We still have a request to go on today.”

Natsu mumbled something incoherent, his face still pressed against the bar.

“What was that?”

Natsu jumped up, holding his fist in the air.

“I said I'm all fired up!”

Lucy let out a laugh at her friend’s sudden change of attitude. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that something big was going to happen during the mission.

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Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza stepped down the dirt path, Happy flying close behind. They were on their way to take care of some dark mages who had been terrorizing a nearby town. Apparently they had been forcing any mages to demonstrate which type of magic they used, threatening force if they didn't agree. None of the townspeople knew what they were looking for.

At last the group reached the town just as the sun was beginning to set. They had barely stepped into the town before they were approached by a frantic looking man running towards them.

“Thank goodness you're here! I was worried that you weren't going to show up.” he panted, nervously wringing his hands.

“I assume that you're the mayor who published the request then,” Erza said, waiting for the man to catch his breath. He gave a short nod before continuing.

“The mages typically show up now when people are heading home at the end of the day. You've actually arrived at the perfect time. I'm sure if you wander around the town enough you'll run into them.”

Erza gave the man a nod before gesturing for the rest of her companions to follow her. It didn't take long for them to run into the dark mages, mostly due to the fact that Gray and Natsu had gotten into another fight. The resulting explosion of ice and fire had attracted a dozen or so of them over, all wearing dark robes and masks. One of them stepped forward.

“You haven't been inspected yet have you? Well then, you know the drill.”

Natsu gave a mischievous grin.

“Just show you our magic right?” a slight nod from the cloaked figure. Natsu sprang towards him, hand already aflame.

“Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!” he bellowed before knocking the man clear across the street.

“He's a dragon slayer!”

“Wasn't the target female?”

“Doesn't matter, get him!”

A few silver slashes, a golden glow, and an ice attack later the attackers were all unconscious.

“Well that was a letdown.” Natsu remarked, folding his hands behind his head as he kicked up dirt.

“Let down or not, at least it's over with. Let's go talk to the mayor and collect the reward.” Lucy said with a sigh as she dismissed Taurus.

"Wait," Erza held up her hand, silencing the group, "I hear someone."

Everyone strained to listen for a moment before another hooded figure began to appear in the distance.

“Guys, we need backup! We found the target but she-"

He stopped in his tracks as he surveyed the situation in front of him. All his companions were unconscious, and four rather angry looking mages (plus a cat) were staring him down. He gulped and turned to run, only making it a few feet before his feet were frozen in a block of ice. Shaking, he twisted his torso to face Gray, who had sprinted up to him as he casted the spell.

"Where are they?" he almost growled. If they had targeted one person, then surely she was in trouble. The hooded figure extended a shaking finger to the edge of town, too terrified to speak. The Fairy Tail mages sprinted in the direction, Natsu taking to opportunity to knock the man unconscious as he ran past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As they reached the edge of town they saw a huge dust cloud, random flashes of light from magic attacks lighting up inside. They glanced at each other.

“That doesn’t look like one girl fighting off a bunch of dark mages to me.” Gray commented.

“Everyone, be on your guard. We don’t know what either side is capable of.” Erza ordered, summoning a sword to her hand. She nearly dropped it in shock when an inhuman roar echoed from the battle. Natsu’s eyes widened.

“T-That roar…it sounds just like…” he drifted off, his forehead wrinkled in concentration. The others looked at him bewildered, he almost never acted like this. All five of them turned towards the battle again when they heard the dark mages yelling to retreat. As the dust began to settle, the group could begin to make out a large creature.

“It almost looks like a-” Lucy began.

“It is.” Natsu said with a determination usually saved for his enemies.

There in front of them, at almost twice their height, stood a dragon.

It had glittering scales that ranged from navy to sky blue, razor sharp claws, and piercing (e/c) eyes that stared them down. Natsu sprang forward at the dragon.

“Where is Igneel!?!” he screamed, fists clenched and fury in his eyes. Without saying a word the dragon spread its magnificent wings and shot into the air, leaving the group behind.

Natsu screamed in frustration to the empty sky.