Into the Fairy-Verse: A Fairy Tail Story

Chapter 3: Natsu Versus... Natsu?!

Ryoto POV

My story? Why would you wanna know that? Very well... I'll tell you all, but It's not that important considering how many participants there are. For starters, I am a dragon slayer... The Holy Flame Dragon Slayer. I guess that is obvious considering I'm in this tournament. Oh! And as to how I got here... I was enjoying myself in the guild hall, sharing some drinks with Erza and the rest of my friends when, suddenly, I popped up in a weird location.

The last thing I saw was Mira giving me a drink, as well as Erza smiling. Then, everyone panicked as I slowly vanished. And so, I met Stella. She explained everything that you probably know by now... The multiverse... The deities... The tournament... I won't lie. I was excited for this contest, but there were still a lot of questions in my mind. I guess I would just have to ask Stella once this was over.

Next thing that happened?

I was taken to a remote island in another universe. Almost 500 dragon slayers gathered there, all of them participants of the tournament. Stella showed up as a hologram to explain some details. And so, it began... I rushed across the pink field... I entered the forest... A freaking chimp stole my scarf... I met and fought a variant of Natsu... I encountered a variant of Makura... And now, all 3 of us ventured deeper into the island, traversing the forest until we reached a canyon.

We all hurried up to reach the goal first, but we encountered several enemies along the way. The dragons slayers did not stop showing up. Some of them had even teamed up in the same way we 3 did. Nevertheless, we managed to defeat every single one of them. I gotta say though... I never imagined the immense variety...

A Rock Coal Dragon Slayer...

A Sand Dragon Slayer...

A Magma/Lava Dragon Slayer...

A Shining Ice Dragon Slayer...

Even a freaking Garbage Dragon Slayer!

I know... There are some absurd things out there, but I guess that's the beauty of a multiverse. At any rate, Natsu, Makura and I continued our path non-stop. We were focused solely on the race. Although, I did have something else in mind. It might seem odd since every single enemy on our way was falling, but I had the feeling that someone else was spying on us... Someone who hadn't showed up yet... But who?

"Come on, guys! We are already half way there!" Natsu said happily, speeding up and leaving us behind.

I had no problem with him getting ahead for a bit, but that reckless attitude could be dangerous. In fact, it proved to be dangerous when a blast of dark fire crashed near Natsu, startling Makura and I. "Natsu!" Makura yelled. However, we widened our eyes when the fire slowly disappeared, being consumed by the pinkette as if it was a daily snack.

"Crap! That's the worst fire I ever tasted!" Natsu said. Then, he turned to one side in search of whoever it was that attacked him. Makura and I did the same, and so, we stumbled across a man wearing long black robes, covering his face with a hood while standing on top of a cliff. " Tch... Who the hell are you?!?!" Natsu clenched his fist in childish annoyance, but the stranger simply smirked in return.

"Natsu Dragneel... Yes... I was waiting for this..." muttered the man in a devilish voice. "Of all the variants out there, you are the one who most ressembles my past self"

"Your past self? What are you talking about, dude?"

"You..." I intervened. "You are the one who's been following us, aren't you?"

"Oohhh? So you noticed?" replied the stranger. "Guess there is no point in hiding it now that the cat's out of the bag" The stranger jumped from the cliff, standing on our level now, walking slowly towards us. "Yes, I was following you, but make no mistake, I couldn't care less about you two bluenettes. The only one that matters to me... is the FIRE DRAGON SLAYER"