S.R: Just in case I haven't made it clear yet in the story… Hades goal is different from canon. Instead of wanting to find Zeref and gain access to 'the One Magic', he has come up with a completely different mentality. He believes that Zeref cannot be killed so long as magic exists, so he and Grimiore Heart are basically trying to cause mass genocide in an effort to remove magic from the world as a misguided attempt to kill Zeref for what he did to Mavis. Not that every member of Grimiore Heart agrees with that idea, since a few of them only joined because it gives them free reign to do whatever they want (Bluenote and Zancrow as perfect examples). Anyway, let's get back to the story.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu attempted to attack, but his fist was ducked under. Hades couldn't try and counter attack as from his other side Gildarts charged in with a fist coated in Crash magic. Instead he jumped back. Using his Bullet magic, the oldest mage in the fight thought to get a little bit of breathing room by forcing the two Fairy Tail wizards to back off.

"Crash Repulse!"

But his bullets were destroyed by a wave of magic from the orange haired man, which allowed the pink haired one to charge forward without hassle.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"

Natsu's head bashed into Hades' chest and caused him to stumble. But he was nothing if not experienced, so it didn't stop his next action. Chains wrapped around Natsu and threw him into the trees. Then with a flick of his wrists Hades shot several more bullets of magic towards Gildarts.

Of course he knew it wouldn't work like he wanted it to, but Hades felt least tiring way to end the fight would be to split them up. After all he still had to finish off Makarov after this, and despite his unlimited magic thanks to the 'Demon Heart' fatigue was still something that would slow him down.

However before he could even blink a spear of earth was broke free from the ground underneath him, forcing Hades to fall back. Right into the path of a flaming fist. Having used Natsu's distraction as a chance to get in close, Gildarts thrust his fist forward.

"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean"

Gildarts fist smashed into Hades ribs, while Natsu still held his fist against the dark mage's jaw. Pain shot through both Natsu and Hades after a moment. Since Gildarts wasn't holding back his attack reverberated through Hades and into Natsu's arm. But the Fire Dragon Slayer was nothing if not durable, so he easily put the pain aside.

"The two of you are starting to piss me off."

Hades commented before lashing out quickly. It was so fast even Gildarts was caught by surprise. Natsu found his head bouncing off the ground while Gildarts was sailing through the air. But Hades wasn't done yet.

"Amaterasu: Formula 28!"

The next thing Natsu knew he was completely enveloped in a shock wave.

"Oh shit."

Was all Gildarts had to say. He had felt the power behind that attack even though it wasn't directed at him. If the guild master of Grimiore Heart had spells at that level then he really needed to get serious, especially if they wanted to prevent him from destroying the island as collateral during the fight.

"Natsu if you can move, go tell everyone to pull back now. This fight is getting to the point the island will be destroyed before there's a winner."

Finally letting the last bit of control he had over his magic fade, Gildarts unleash the absolute full power of his magic, Lunging forward with his fist while crying out "Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean."

"I ain't out of it yet."

Natsu commented as Hades and Gildarts could finally see him again. While Hades had expected Natsu to have survived, both because of his magic, and because of his status as a Wizard Saint, he hadn't expected there to be as little damage as there was.

Natsu only had a few shallow cuts on his arms and legs, having managed to get into a defensive position the moment Hades spell activated.

"Warren, I know you can still hear me thanks to Telepathy. Don't let anyone leave the Christina. Gildarts and I both are about to go all out."

As he spoke Natsu's skin slowly became more and more red. As far as they could tell his skin was now the same color as molten magma. But they could see that his body was now covered in scales. Even though he was standing in such a way that his hair shaded his eyes, Hades was quick to notice that Natsu's pupils were now vertical slits.

But he wasn't done yet. Heat poured off of Natsu as the air around him began to warp, making it hard to see anything. The earth around his feet had become slag. All in all it was a pretty terrifying image to the two of them, even before Natsu's signature flames swirled around him protectively.

"Dragon Force."

Meanwhile

"You mean to tell me the shaking we've been feeling was caused by them while playing around?!"

Lucy shouted as her eyes became the size of dinner plates. Of course she knew Natsu was tough, they had been on a team together before he adopted Michiko. But to think he had gotten to the point he was part of a trio that had been making Tenrou Island shake as if there was an earthquake…

"What the hell does that ash-for-brains idiot think he's doing making the rest of us stay out of this."

Gray commented despite the fact he was still heavily banged up from confronting Ultear.

Only a few people present felt bad for him when Michiko kicked him in the shin for bad mouthing her daddy.

"Gray I know you don't want to believe this, but Natsu is far, far stronger than you now."

Cana stated with a sigh. The members of Blue Pegasus that were helping them all nodded their heads rapidly. Gajeel and Wendy, who had to help Erza fall back to the Christina were nodding as well. If even the Iron Dragon Slayer was agreeing to the difference in power level, then everyone else that had been present on Tenrou island when it vanished had to agree as well.

"But is he going to be strong enough to keep up with Gildarts?"

Freed questioned, feeling a bit unsure of the answer. But then they all had their eyes drawn towards the pillar of flames that shot into the sky. The level of power they had felt from the clashing trio before was high, but now?

"Do you need me to answer that question now?"

Cana said with a smile. Despite the seriousness of the situation, she couldn't help but brag about her husbands strength so before anyone could say anything to her question she spoke up again.

"It's been seven years without you guys after all. Natsu had to shoulder most of the burden, so of course he's far more powerful. Besides he mastered how to use Dragon Force, the strongest spell available to Dragon Slayers. Not to mention he's picked up and mastered a second element."

Of everyone that had been on Tenrou Island Gajeel was the only one not surprised, though that was because he already knew about it. He and Natsu both had gained a secondary element at the same time.

"Salamander's gonna be fine."

"Mommy who is Salamander?"

Michiko asked Cana after hearing Gajeel's words.

"That's what people used to call your daddy sweetie. But that's not his only moniker anymore. When he revealed his new Earth Dragon Slayer magic, Fiore re-branded him to 'the Volcanic Dragon'. Though since he still mainly uses his Fire Dragon Slayer magic most people still call him Salamander."

Though she was looking at her daughter at first, Cana looked at the other members of Fairy Tail when she mentioned Natsu's new nickname.

Ichiya and the other members of Blue Pegasus wondered why she didn't mention that Natsu had also become a Wizard Saint, though they didn't say anything either. The situation at hand was more important really. They had managed to stabilize Makarov, so he was no longer at risk of dying from his somewhat sudden heart attack. But he wasn't going to be happy to have to sit things out when he finally woke back up. Not to mention Gray was in rough shape, though Jet and Droy weren't in much better condition. Erza was also slightly ragged at this point.

Also, there was the fact that they didn't have anyone that could keep up with Natsu, Gildarts, and master Hades. But with the fight escalating there was a chance that they'd have to protect themselves from debris and errant magic. Really if they had to fight again, the best combatants they had were Wendy and Gajeel. The two Dragon Slayers had scoured the island just to make sure all the peons from Grimiore Heart had been defeated as well, but thanks to the mass of magic present on the island even they weren't confident enough with their senses to say that they'd dealt with everyone.

"If I may suggest. With how things are getting we might need to lift off. With the Christina in the air, we don't have to worry about possibly getting caught up in the fight."

Eve commented as he looked towards Cana. Sure Blue Pegasus wasn't part of the fight, but they weren't going to sit by and watch either. He just didn't mention the real reason he was suggesting the get moving. From the air they'd be able to get a better look at how the fight was going, and they could move closer to Grimiore Hearts airship. If they could do so unnoticed it would be possible to send someone in to destroy the dark guild's 'Demon Heart' and make it so Natsu and Gildarts wouldn't be drawn into a battle of attrition.

"Alright. Also now that I'm thinking about it, has anyone tried to contact the magic council to tell them about Grimiore Hearts attack? Given the fact we've beaten them down, it might be a good idea for the council to come and arrest them before they can escape."

The current guild master of Fairy Tail responded. Hibiki having expected that someone would think about informing the magic council sooner or later nodded.

"Yeah. I sent a message to them a while ago. They should have a few ships on the way already."

With the Fight

When the area around Natsu started to become normal again and they could see him clearly Gildarts and Hades both were shocked by the raw power he was exuding. Not to mention the massive jump in physical abilities.

Natsu had gone on the offensive the moment he had fully activated Dragon Force, unleashing a powerful blitz of fists on Hades. In fact the older wizard could only groan in pain as he felt his bones becoming powder. While Gildarts was thinking about how he might have to surrender his title as the Ace of Fairy Tail soon.

"Volcanic Dragon's Talon!"

Even his voice had changed, having a slight echo to it and deepening in tone slightly, they discovered as Natsu brought his heel down on Hades head with a growl.

"Not bad Natsu. You might even be able to go toe to toe with me now."

Gildarts smiled. But Natsu was ignoring him. His senses were screaming at him that the fight wasn't over yet.

"I didn't expect you to have Dragon Force under your belt just yet… It seems Fairy Tail will surpass expectations right up until the end."

Hades voice was slightly muffled since he was faced down, but Natsu and Gildarts both had to frown. Gildarts had been blocking out all the telepathic conversations so he could focus, but Natsu had completely forgotten about the mentioning of Grimiore Heart's device that was called the 'Demon Heart.'

"So long as our 'Demon Heart' is pumping magic, I am immortal. With my own heart inside that machine I cannot die without it's destruction. My magic is infinite. But still. I must commend the two of you for pushing me this far."

Slowly getting back up, Hades grinned darkly. He had completely recovered from the onslaught Natsu had just unleashed on him.

"So what I'm hearing is we just need to destroy your ship while bashing you senseless."

Gildarts spoke as he rolled his neck. He had already let his magic free completely, so there was nothing left to prevent him from unleashing his strongest attacks.

"All Crush."

With one of his palms facing Hades, Gildarts let loose a burst of extremely dense and powerful magic. It caused the dark mage to be pushed back so jarringly fast that Natsu and Gildarts had to rush forward just to keep him in their sights. It blew Hades back far enough that they could see the airship that Grimiore Heart owned.

Grinning at what he figured Gildarts was planning to do Natsu sucked air in.

"Volcanic Dragon's Roar!"

Molten earth spewed from his mouth. While he was aiming for Hades, Natsu knew the man had recovered enough from Gildarts attack to dodge it. But that was fine. They'd destroy his ship piece by piece, slowly tilting the fight into their favor.

Though Gildarts wasn't going to make it easy for Hades to dodge Natsu attack, unleashing a second and third burst of All Crush to keep him on the defensive. However things weren't going to go as planned.

Hades dodged Natsu's roar, and tanked through Gildarts extremely powerful attack while unleashing one of his own.

"Amaterasu: Formula 28!"

But he didn't aim for Natsu, no Hades was attacking Gildarts this time.

"Gah!"

The sound of a pained gasp left the orange haired mans mouth as the magic shock wave enveloped him. While it was able to make him cry out, it wasn't that bad so he easily powered through it before trying to attack.

"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean."

"This again? Don't you have any other spells?"

Hades taunted as he side stepped Gildarts fist and put his hand right up to the side of the orange haired man's head. Quickly unleashing an Explosive Bullet, he tried to take the Crash mage out of the fight. But now that his magic wasn't being restrained at all, it absorbed and even reflected the spell.

"What can I say, Crash magic is extremely dangerous but easy to shape. So just by letting it leak out from me I can do pretty much anything. If that's not enough then I'll start using real spells."

Even though he knew this was a serious fight, Gildarts could help but be playful. After all, things were in his and Natsu's favor.

"Earth Dragon's Grand Impact"

Natsu interrupted the teasing with his own attack. Both of his palms were forced into Hades side. The power behind it knocked the air from his lungs as the dark mage smashed into the side of his airship. Luckily for him, the ship was sturdy enough that he only bounced off the side.

"Let's try this one then. Grand Crash!"

Clapping his hands together Gildarts directed his magic to take the form of a thin vertical blade that sliced through everything it came into contact with. Even the airship, that was behind Hades who had managed to jump away in time.

"Amaterasu: Formula 54!"

Upping the power of his attacks Hades unleashed the same spell twice, once on Natsu and once on Gildarts. While it was even worse than the previous one, Gildarts was able to endure. Natsu wasn't as affected thanks to his scales, but it still did a fair bit of damage.

"Earth Dragon's Tremor!"

Stomping harshly, Natsu caused a small earthquake, as pillars of stone rose and fell, making the terrain completely uneven. A few of the spear like pillars ripped through the metal that made up Grimiore Heart's airship causing it to start to fall apart. But Natsu wasn't done yet.

"With the flames on my left hand, and the flames on my right hand… Bring them together, Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

It was at this point that Hades realized they were trying to destroy his airship in an attempt to break his 'Demon's Heart' so they could beat him without turning it into a battle of attrition.

Pointing both of his hands towards the two Fairy Tail mages Hades smirked.

"Bullet Barrage! Piercing Bullet! Explosive Bullet!"

Combining the different types of bullets he could make into his storm of bullets, Hades used his attack as cover to get in close. With a flick of his wrist several chains of pure magic began to wrap around Natsu. He tried to tie Gildarts up as well, but the Crash mages defensive barrier of magic was too strong.

"Fine then. It's time you took a nap anyway. Amaterasu: Formula 80!"

With Gildarts distracted Hades turned to Natsu. He had noticed how his formula 54 had only just managed to get through Natsu's scales, leaving the equivalent of a paper cut really. So he decided that it was either ramp up the formula level, or try and deal internal damage. Thus with his Chain magic he was throwing the Dragon Slayer around as if he were a rag doll.

Of course it wasn't working like he wanted to as Natsu was extremely durable, but until Gildarts made his move, Natsu was basically Hades' play thing.

"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Absolute Heaven"

Intending to use his strongest attack to buy them enough time to recover and find the 'Demon's Heart' Gildarts tried to hit Hades from behind. But that was really what the older mage was waiting for. At the last possible second he threw Natsu into the path of the attack, planing to have Gildarts ruin the Dragon Slayers scales for him.

"Oh shit."

Natsu and Gildarts both said in unison right before the bright flash of light from the explosion Gildarts spell caused prevented them from seeing anything. Hades couldn't take advantage of the situation either as there was far more power behind that attack than he thought, as he had to raise his arms defensively as he planted his feet to avoid getting blown back.

When they were able to see again, everyone noticed how Natsu's left arm was hanging limply at his side. Gildarts was surprised that the pink haired man wasn't pulp, and Hades was just surprised to see that Natsu had partially defended against it.

"Amaterasu: Formula 100!"

But Hades recovered quickly and unleashed the strongest level of his Amaterasu spell. Since Natsu was down an arm it would be harder for him to defend, so Hades chose to target Gildarts this time.

The pain was immense, easily being one of the most dangerous attacks he's ever taken. In fact it caused blood to begin to drip from his mouth after dealing a fair bit of internal damage. Unlike Natsu he didn't even have enough time to try and defend himself, not that it would have mattered. Gashes were covering his body as most of his clothes had become shreds that were floating in the breeze.

"You okay over there Gildarts?"

Natsu commented as he lunged towards Hades in an attempt to buy Gildarts time to recover a bit, though he didn't get an answer.

Molten earth encased his fists as he used his "Volcanic Dragons Secret Art Blazing Brimstone: Wrathful Fist." As his fist made contact, the island shook. A loud explosion nearly broke their eardrums, as if they were standing inside of a volcano while it was erupting.

"I've grown tired of this. It's time to end your struggle."

Hades commented as Natsu was thrown back by a burst of magic. Reaching up the leader of Grimiore Hear removed his eye patch. As the lid covering the eye beneath it shifted upwards, Natsu and Gildarts both were treated to the sight of a glowing red orb.

"I'm going to kill off magic so the world can be freed from the influence of Zeref. Sadly I must use the same power as the Black Mage to achieve this. But if it means freeing the world from that madman I would gladly sacrifice myself."

As he spoke the level of magic that he had skyrocketed enough to make Natsu shake. Gildarts would have been trembling in fear as well, but he hadn't managed to recover from the Amaterasu: Formula 100 so he was just lying there on the ground, eyes wide as he looked up towards the slowly approaching guild master of Grimiore Heart. Everything about him had changed. Before he just felt like a powerful mage, but now, even to Gildarts his very presence was screaming the word 'monster.' His magic now held a much darker feeling, especially as it circled around the man almost as if it were alive.

Back on the Christina

"Shit that's bad."

Meredy commented as they watched the fight from overhead. Thanks to vision Lacrima that were installed in the airship, they were able see without much difficulty. Cana would have berated the pink haired woman for cursing, but Michiko was too busy watching over Makarov to be paying attention to the discussion.

"What's wrong?"

Cana asked as a chill ran down her spine.

"Hades removed his eye patch. It works as a limiter and a seal for his most powerful and dangerous magic. I'm not sure when, but the eye was removed and in it's place he put a special lacrima that lets him use a very dark and dangerous magic called the Black Arts."

Levy being a bookworm zeroed in on those words. She'd read about all kinds of magic, and so she knew it was a forbidden type of magic.

"That's not good. Black Arts is the same type of magic that Zeref was known for."

The moment they heard the blue haired woman speak, several people went pale.

"Yes. I believe he once said 'To kill a monster, one must become a monster.' In fact, master Hades' goal is to destroy Zeref, who is immortal thanks to an ancient type of magic that has been forgotten since even before the most ancient of 'Lost Magic' was created. But to do so he thinks magic must be erased from the world. After destroying every other trace of magic he intends to battle Zeref and destroy him with the Black Arts before killing himself to make up for what he did."

Meredy commented as she fell to her knees.

A few people were concerned about that, as it seemed as if she was giving up.

"He didn't want to use this against anyone but Zeref as it weakens the user the more it used. But now, there is no point to fighting back. Any form of life that is touched by his magic will now be under his control. Completely and utterly."

"So?"

Cana pressed, wanting to know just how dangerous it was. After all it was both her husband and her father fighting Hades who was using that magic.

"If you fall under his control he can simply look at you and say 'die', and you will. Hades has taken to calling it more of a curse than a form of magic since there has never been an exception to it's ability to kill."

Gajeel and Wendy both shared a look before walking away. Somehow, Cana knew what they were thinking. If Hades was really connected to the 'Demon's Heart' thingy that Meredy had told them about, then destroying it should make him pause, giving Natsu and Gildarts the opening they need.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

Gray shouted after them. But neither one said a word. Instead it was Makarov who spoke up. His words making everyone aware that he had woken up.

"They're going to do whatever they have to, to ensure their friends and family survive this."

"When did you wake up master?"

Freed asked, as he tried to make the older man lie back down and rest so as not to delay his recovery.

"In time to hear about what Precht is doing."

"Who is Precht?"

Lucy questioned, confused by the sorrow she heard in Makarov's voice when he said the name.

"Precht Gaebolg, the former guild master of Fairy Tail. He's changed so much since I last saw him, but Hades, is definetely him."

Thanks to Makarov providing the distraction none of them were paying attention to the screen. So none of them saw what happened, only feeling the tremor caused by the shock waves from the fight as they rocked the Christina. Of course some of them tried to see when they felt the shaking, but given that all they could see from the lacrima was a bright dome, they gave up, thinking someone just caused an absolutely massive explosion.

With the Two Dragon Slayers

"Since they brought the fight to their airship, this will be pretty tough."

"Yeah. There's a chance we could get caught up in the chaos."

Wendy replied when the dark haired man mentioned the fight below them.

"You sure you can handle this?"

"Gajeel, I'm just as much of a Dragon Slayer as you and Natsu are. Don't belittle me like that."

Hearing the determination in her voice, he couldn't help but smile.

"Alright then. Let's get this done."

The two shared a nod as they opened up a side door that was meant to be used as an emergency exit. Despite the danger, they knew that something had to be done if not just Natsu, but all of them were to survive the onslaught from Hades magic. Especially if it could do what they'd been told the Black Arts were able to do. Yet as they opened the door an absolutely massive explosion caused the Christina to rock in the air. It was both that large and that destructive, that the shock waves were able to bother them, while they were so high up above the island.

Not saying anything the two of them instantly jumped out. Wendy had her eyes closed as she was focusing her magic so as to slow their decent, but Gajeel was able to see the ground clearly. At least for the most part.

He wasn't sure who did what, but there wasn't much left of Grimiore Heart's airship other than a pile of molten slag. Then just to the side of the remains of the airship, there was a huge crater, where he could only just make out the shapes of the three combatants.

When they were close enough that Wendy felt they could still move after landing she cut off her magic and opened her eyes to finish the drop. But as she felt her feet touch the ground, she was already being tugged along by Gajeel.

"I wasn't able to see them too clearly, but if that didn't finish the fight it doesn't matter. They need medical attention right fucking now."

As they entered the crater Wendy rushed towards Natsu and Gildarts who were side by side. From a quick look she knew Natsu shielded Gildarts from the explosion, but even then, they were both in bad shape.

The metal limbs that the Crash mage had were gone and the rest of his body was torn up badly. He seemed to be having trouble breathing, even while unconscious. As Wendy carefully cataloged his injuries so she'd know where to begin she noticed the reason for his uneasy breathing. Gildarts had taken enough internal damage that his lungs were starting to fill with blood. two of his ribs were broken.

Natsu's Dragon Force had already faded, but it had been active long enough to jump start his healing. Unlike Gildarts both of his arms were broken, and his body wasn't as covered in cuts and gashes, though he still had a few. But as Gajeel carefully checked Natsu's injuries while Wendy got to work healing Gildarts he discovered that Natsu had a few broken ribs, and if he was feeling it correctly one of them had punctured his right lung. There were spots that he noticed showed signs of being caused by internal bleeding, as well. After being thrown around like a rag doll for a bit Natsu had several bruises forming too, and Gajeel was certain that the pink haired man was going to have a concision as well.

Given that they hadn't been attacked or even heard any form of movement from the prone form of Hades, Wendy and Gajeel both knew that massive explosion had ended the fight in Fairy Tail's favor. If it weren't for the shape Natsu and Gildarts were in, they'd have let out relieved sighs.

Since he couldn't really do anything to help Wendy with healing the two, Gildarts just relayed what he noticed about Natsu's injuries before standing up and protectively keeping an eye out. Given the condition of the two, and the fact Wendy would be too preoccupied healing them, he made sure to look out for the others, though he was still on guard just in case there was someone else that would show up and try to fight.

What went unnoticed to him was the shock of black hair that was watching from a distance.

'You've certain grown strong Natsu. But it still isn't enough. Not yet.'

S.R: Okay so to anyone wondering why Hades was so strong, and why things ended with Natsu and Gildarts in rough shape I do have a reason. The 'Demon's Heart'. Thanks to it, there was no way that they weren't going to get roughed up. It was just a question of how much. But if I'm honest with you guys, I wanted an enemy that manages to fuck Natsu up almost as badly as he does them. I mean yeah, it should be obvious how Natsu will come out on top with his fights, but he can't always breeze through it.

So I decided Hades would be tough even when Natsu and Gildarts tag teamed him. He's got the knowledge and power to break through Natsu's scales when in Dragon Force, plus infinite magic thanks to the 'Demon's Heart'. Of course it'll be rare, but aside from the obvious ones (Acnologia and Zeref), there needs to be another one or two. Anyway I'll see you guys next time.