Chapter 3: I Beat Up A New Friend

Previously...

As the stamps shimmered into existence, Ramza and Lucy gazed at them with awe.

"I guess-" Ramza started.

"This makes us-" Followed Lucy.

"Fairy Tail members!" Said Mirajane happily.

Currently...

With her new stamp, Lucy ran over to show Natsu that she was now a member of Fairy Tail. Ramza sighed happily, following Lucy.

"Hey Natsu! I'm a part of the guild now!" Lucy showed him her mark gleefully.

"Same here." Ramza raised his right hand to show his mark.

"Oh yeah? That's cool, welcome to the guild Loony." Said Natsu in a plain tone.

"It's Lucy!" She corrected.

"What'cha looking at there?" Asked Ramza.

"The request board. Just looking for something to accept so I could earn some money." Said Natsu.

"Pick one with a big reward!" Said the cat.

"Oh yeah, I don't know your name," Ramza said at the cat.

"I'm Happy, Natsu's friend!" Said the cat happily.

"I'm Ramza. Me and Lucy here just joined." Introduced Ramza.

Natsu turned around to meet him. "Oh. Explains why I haven't seen you before. I'm Natsu."

"Pleasure to meet you." Ramza responded in kind.

"Woah, look at this one Natsu!" Said Happy.

"160,000 jewel just to take out some thieves?"

"Sounds good to me!" Happy commented.

"Why hasn't my dad come back yet?" Came a new voice. Ramza looked, and saw a young boy with dark hair, standing in front of Makarov.

"You're starting to get on my nerves, Romeo. Your father is a wizard, so have faith in him. Just wait patiently, and he will come." Makarov said while drinking a glass of booze.

"But sir, he promised that he'd be back in three days! It's already been a week since he left!" Romeo pleaded.

"If I remember correctly, he took the job on Mount Hakabe."

"That's not too far from here, so why won't somebody look for him!?" Yelled Romeo.

Makarov opened his mouth wide to lecture the kid. "Listen Romeo, your father's a wizard! And like every other wizard here in the guild, he can take care of himself! So go home, eat some snacks, and wait!"

Romeo then punched the master in the forehead, knocking him down. "Jerk!" Romeo yelled. "I hate you all!" Romeo then ran out of the guild.

"That's gotta be tough." Said Lucy sadly.

"Yeah. This stuff's weighing a lot on Romeo's shoulders." Agreed Ramza.

Mirajane sighed. "I know it seems like the master doesn't care, but he really is worried."

A loud sound of splintered wood came from the request board. It seems as though Natsu had punched it, leaving a sizable hole in it."What d'you think you're doing?" Complained a guild member, "You almost broke the board, Natsu!"

Natsu ignored him and began to walk away. His face was ashen with anger.

"This doesn't look good Master. Y'know how he can be." Said the guild member, "He's probably gonna go to Mount Hakabe to find Macao."

"When's he ever gonna grow up..." Commented another guild member.

"Who knows? The only thing that'll do is hurt his pride."

The guild Master sighed. "Remember: we can't choose another's path. Just leave him be."

Lucy stared as Natsu exited the guild. "Why'd he get so upset?"

"It's probably because Natsu and Romeo have a lot in common." Mirajane explained.

"A lot in common?" Ramza asked.

Mirajane nodded. "I think he sees himself in Romeo." She then set down the glass that she was cleaning and faced Ramza. "Just because we're members of Fairy Tail, doesn't mean that we don't have our own problems. Each of us has our own share of suffering and loss."

"Woah Mirajane," Ramza quipped. "You really know how to bring down the mood."

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's alright." Ramza gave Mirajane his mug. "Coffee, please."

As Mirajane took the mug and filled it, Lucy's head perked up. "Hey Mirajane, was Natsu really raised by a dragon?"

Ramza nearly fell out of his chair. "A d-dragon!?"

"Well, he did tell me that his father was a dragon," Lucy said.

"It's true! Natsu was raised by a dragon!" Mirajane confirmed as she handed Ramza his drink.

"W-what? I thought he was joking!" Lucy said with a shocked expression on her face.

"You see, he was found in the forest as a little boy. That dragon took Natsu in and taught him everything he knew. But one day, the dragon vanished and did not return." Mirajane explained.

Lucy snapped her fingers. "So that dragon was Igneel!"

"That's correct." Mirajane smiled. "Natsu lives for the day that he'll meet him again."

Ramza set down his drink. "That's really cool."

"So why don't we help him?" Lucy suggested.

Mirajane cheerfully hummed. "That's a good idea, Lucy!"

"Yeah, I wanna help Natsu find Romeo's dad." Ramza said.

"Nice! The two of us can go with him!" Lucy stood. "We'll just join him as he goes there!"

"Well, I recommend you two start moving," Mirajane said. "Natsu's probably halfway there now."

"Wait, like right now?" Ramza questioned.

"Come on, Ramza! You'll get left behind!" Lucy had already left the bar and was sprinting out of the guild.

"W-what?" Ramza gazed at Lucy, getting farther with every second. Natsu was probably much, much farther. If he wanted to catch up, he'd have to start running.

"Can you slow down?"Ramza then stood up, finished his coffee, and ran to catch up with Lucy.

The pair had quickly caught up to Natsu, who was getting a carriage to Mount Hakabe. He let them into the carriage without question. As soon as the vehicle started moving, Natsu turned into a variety of unhealthy colors.

"Yo Natsu, you alright?" Ramza asked worriedly.

"I'm fine..." Natsu responded in a daze.

"He has a serious case of motion sickness," Lucy said. "I guess that's another reason to pity you."

Natsu momentarily forgot his motion sickness. "What's that supposed to mea-" His face returned to a sickly green.

"Oh, nothing." Lucy quickly responded.

"Why are you guys here, anyway?" Natsu lay on the carriage's bench, trying to keep his queasiness in check.

"Oh, we wanted to help you find Macao," Ramza said.

"Urgh..." Natsu looked like a dead man, groaning uncomfortably on the carriage.

"Yeah, you aren't okay." Ramza deduced.

..................................

Lucy and Natsu kept conversing, with the latter still suffering from his motion sickness, while Ramza took this time to sleep. Two hours passed and the carriage stopped, waking Ramza from his nap.

"We're here?" He groggily asked.

"I guess so." Lucy said.

"Alright! We've stopped moving!" Natsu rejoiced with fire spewing from his mouth.

"Woah! Calm down your flames, man!" Ramza veered away from said flames.

"I'm sorry, but this is the farthest I can bring you." Said the carriage driver.

"Let's go out there and find Macao!" Lucy cheered.She then opened the doors, only to be greeted by a blast of frigid wind. She nearly got knocked over, but she held the side of the carriage for support.

"Where the heck are we?" Lucy yelled through the wind. "This place is frozen all over!"

"Mount Hakabe! This is the place Macao went to!" Natsu hopped off the carriage. He then shouted at the driver, "Hey, thanks for the lift! We're good here!"

And with that, their mode of transport has left them. Lucy was hugging herself, trying to keep herself warm. "Why is it so cold!?" Lucy complained. "It's summer, so there shouldn't be a blizzard here!"

"You feel cold?" Ramza looked at Lucy and frowned. "Yeah it's chilly, but the cold feels kinda soft."

"Same here." Natsu pointed at himself. "I don't feel the cold 'cause I'm a dragon slayer. You a dragon slayer too?"

Ramza shook his head. "Nope."

Lucy was chattering her teeth from the cold. "C'mon Natsu, give me your blanket!"

"That's what you get for wearing such light clothes." Nevertheless, Natsu gave his blanket to Lucy.

Natsu sighed. "You talk a lot, you know that?"

"Aye sir!" Happy saluted.

Lucy then looked as if she had an idea. "Oh, I know!" She then took a silver key from her waist and held it out in front of her. "Open, Gate of the Clock Constellation! Horologium!"

A magic circle suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made a cloud of smoke. Alongside the smoke came parts of a clock, which converged into one singular point. The singularity rose high up into the air, then fell back down as a grandfather clock. The clock then sprouted two long hands and a face that looked like some kind of butler.

"You're a celestial spirit wizard!" Ramza realized. "That's so cool!"

"Aye!" Happy cheerfully agreed.

"A clock! Woah..." Natsu looked at the celestial spirit in earnest.

Lucy was now somehow inside the spirit. Before Ramza could wonder why, Lucy was saying something through Horologium's glass.

"What're you saying?" Ramza asked.

"We can't hear you!" Natsu added.

The celestial spirit then raised its arms in expression. It then opened it's mouth to say, "She says 'she's staying in here and not coming out.'"

Natsu crossed his arms. "Then why'd you follow?"

Horologium responded in kind. "'What kind of crazy job would make Macao come here?' she inquires."

"You should have asked that before you came with us!" Natsu looked toward the snowy mountain. "He came here to take out some Vulcans. They're big monsters."

Lucy's face became one of slight fear. Horologium spoke on its master's behalf. "'I wanna go back home!' she proclaims."

Natsu snorted. "Go ahead and do that, I say back."He then walked a little bit farther, scanning the landscape.

Ramza went to Natsu's side and asked, "Yo. What's a Vulcan look like?"

"Oh." Natsu looked at him. "Well, they're big and look like apes."

Ramza pointed upwards. "Like that one?"

"Huh?" Natsu looked up to see a shadow fall on him. He quickly maneuvered back to dodge the attack. Ramza stepped back as well. As the snow cleared from the fall, it revealed a large monkey with a mischievous look on its face.

Happy trembled slightly. "That's a big Vulcan..."

Ramza and Natsu prepared a battle stance, but before they could attack, it sniffed the air, grinned, and took off.

"Wait a sec!" Ramza called out.

The Vulcan ignored his voice as it approached Horologium. It then grabbed at it from the side, with a terrified Lucy inside. "Me like human woman!" The monkey said devilishly.

"It can talk, huh." Natsu pounded his fists together, releasing a bit of fire.

Horologium was then carried by the Vulcan, bringing it somewhere."'Don't just stand there! Hurry up and save me!' she yells furiously."

Ramza ran to catch up, but the monkey had disappeared into the snow. "That guy's fast!" He said. "Now how are we going to find Lucy?"

Natsu tapped his shoulder. "Hey. Vulcans have a sort of home at the top of the mountain. That's where Lucy'll be kept."

"Oh."

Natsu lit his hand on fire. "And since that thing can talk, it can probably lead us to Macao. I'll make sure that monkey pays for what it did to Macao!"

..................................

Lucy was in a little predicament. She was on the top of an ice mountain, inside an ape's cave, and also said ape's prisoner. At the moment, Lucy was safe for she was inside Horologium, a place for a little respite despite the current situation.

She noticed the Vulcan dancing around the room in weird fashions. "Why's this monkey so excited?" Lucy asked.

The Vulcan then goes over to Lucy and looks at her through the glass. It gazes at Lucy with a certain expression, that gave her chills just thinking of what that ape could do to her. The monkey then stares at Lucy for a bit longer, until Horologium pops out of existence.

Lucy sat on the cold ice floor. "Where'd you go Horologium? Don't you dare disappear on me!" She yelled into the air.

"Sorry," Came the pleasant voice of Horologium, "But my time is up. Take care."

"Give me an extension, please!" Lucy cried.

The ape then looked at Lucy with its most desirable expression, until it heard a HEY! from the entrance of the cave. Natsu was running at the Vulcan so fast it left behind a dust trail, which Ramza faced the full brunt of, since he was behind Natsu.

"Where the heck is Macao, ya big monkey?" Natsu yelled, "Tell me!"

The slippery ice then came to Natsu's mind as he made a backflip and promptly fell reverse head-first onto it. He pirouetted a bit on his head, and then crashed into the frozen wall. Ramza did not suffer the same fate as he stabbed an arrow on the floor, preventing him from slipping.

"That wasn't cool..." Lucy facepalmed, "Why does he keep on doing stuff like this?"

"This isn't the first time?" Ramza asked.

Natsu was still upside down as he interrogated the large ape. "Where is my friend?"

The monkey just looked confused as Lucy made her way back to Natsu, clutching the blanket. Ramza too stepped behind Natsu.

"You understand what I'm saying. He's a human male, so where is he?" Natsu asked the monkey. It simply rubbed it's chin, as if contemplating what to do.

"That's right!" Pressed Natsu. "So where'd you hide him?"

Lucy looked skeptical. "Isn't that a little sudden?"

Ramza looked at the Vulcan with a wary eye. "Suspicious..."

The Vulcan ignored Ramza and Lucy. It then gestured for them to come closer, while pointing somewhere with the other hand.

"Hey, I think it knows!" Natsu said excitedly.

He then walked up to the place the ape had pointed. Natsu barely had time to shout "Macao!", before the Vulcan kicked him through the hole in the mountain. Natsu fell, arms grasping at the winds.

"Natsu!" Ramza and Lucy called his name, but Natsu did not respond back.

The Vulcan was celebrating by dancing around. "No like man! Me like woman!"

"This is bad..." Lucy looked through the hole. "He isn't gonna survive out there!"

"You're gonna pay for that!" Ramza shot an arrow, only for the Vulcan to step away.

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted once more, but nobody replied to her call. Ramza fired again, but it simply blocked the projectile with a hard icicle. Ramza stepped back, notching another arrow.

"Lucy, need some help?" Ramza looked back at her.

"You're going down, you pervy monkey!" Lucy then grabbed a golden key from her belt and put in in front of her. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!" A humanoid cow then appeared, with a large axe strapped to its back.

"Taurus, huh?" Ramza gazed at the spirit, then realizing the absurdity of its appearance. "I thought this was a bull?"

Taurus then looked at Ramza, not familiar with him. "But I am a bull! Who are you?"

Lucy introduced Ramza to her summon. "Taurus, this is my friend, Ramza. Ramza, this is the Celestial Spirit, Taurus."

"Oh." Ramza looked at the cow. "Well, nice to meet you."

Taurus grinned. "Hello!" He then shifted his eyes to Lucy's behind. "It's nice to see miss Lucy's body again. Wow, how beautiful..."

Lucy looked at Ramza with sympathy. "Yeah, sorry about that. He's a perv as well."

"I could tell."

The Vulcan then tiled its head, not expecting another enemy. "Huh? Cow?"

"I should warn you, Taurus is the strongest Celestial Spirit that I have a contract with!" Lucy boasted.

The Vulcan glared at Taurus. "No touch my woman!"

Taurus glared back, insulted. "Your woman? Those are some big words you mooooonkey!"

"Get 'im!" Lucy ordered.

Taurus took the axe from behind him and held it in between his hands. He then jumped up into the air, smashing the ground as he fell back down. It created an earthen shockwave that was rumbled towards the Vulcan.

It jumped to avoid the attack, then started to run across the cave. It then came around, launching an attack towards the Bull. But before the attack could hit, something else did. It was Natsu's foot, which connected so well with Taurus' face that he flew back, knocked out.

"Natsu! You're alive!" Ramza exclaimed.

"Stuff like that won't kill me." Natsu grinned. He then looked confused, pointing at the Vulcan. "How come there are more monsters now?"

"He was a friend, dummy! It's one of my spirits!" Lucy snarled.

Natsu looked at the Vulcan. "That guy?"

"Not that! The one you knocked out!" Lucy explained angrily. She then raised an eyebrow at Natsu. "Wait... How did you survive out there?"

Natsu pointed at the flying cat that was approaching. "Happy came to save me. Thanks buddy!"

"Aye!" Happy twirled around in the air.

"So you can't handle modes of transportation, but flying with Happy is okay?" Lucy suddenly questioned, arms crossed.

"What kinda stupid question is that?" Natsu looked disgusted. "Happy's not a mode of transportation, he's a friend!"

"Heads up, guys!" Ramza warned. The Vulcan struck at them, but Natsu blocked it with his arm.

"Now listen up! I consider everyone in the Fairy Tail guild a friend!" The ape then aimed a kick at Natsu and Ramza, knocking them back. "Whether it be gramps or Mira, or even those annoying guys Gray and Elfman!"

The Vulcan then charged forward, its feet stomping the ice. Natsu prepared a magic circle underneath his feet. "Happy, Lucy and Ramza too. They're all my friends."

The ape jumped up, hands preparing a punch. Fire then blazed around Natsu, lighting up the place. "Which is why..." Natsu countered the Vulcan's punch with a flaming kick to its belly. "I'm not leaving without Macao!"

Flames exploded from the tip of Natsu's leg, sending the Vulcan crashing towards the ceiling. It then nimbly flipped, landing unharmed on the cave's floor. A bunch of icicles fell from the ceiling, which luckily impaled no one.

The Vulcan then shouted a battle cry, before clapping in front of him. It created a wave of snow and icicles, threatening to pierce anyone that got in its way. Lucy and Happy ducked to the side, barely dodging the attack. Ramza shot icicle out of the air and then another, before jumping behind a frozen pillar. Natsu just stood there, absorbing the wave of frost.

"Your ice attacks have no effect on fire!" Natsu roared.

When the snow had settled, the Vulcan was seen brandishing a humongous axe.

"That's not good..." Ramza and Natsu said in unison.

"He got Taurus' axe!" Lucy said, shocked.

The monkey then made use of it, swinging at Natsu, who expertly dodged every attack. Ramza launched a volley at it, but the ape just knocked the arrows out of the air with the side of the axe. The Vulcan then backhanded the marksman, sending him flying.

"Ramza!" Lucy cried.

"I'm fine!" He responded, "Lucky I landed on soft snow..."

The Vulcan was still attacked Natsu with the axe, with the latter still dodging. He then stepped on a bad spot and slipped on the ice. The ape then swung down hard, but Natsu didn't surrender. He grasped the edge of the axe between his two hands, halting the deadly blow. The Vulcan strained against Natsu's hold, but the axe didn't move. It was a stalemate.

Lucy was at Taurus' side, who was still knocked out from earlier. "C'mon Taurus, go back! If you return to the gate, your axe will return too!" She shook the cow's shoulders to no avail. Taurus wouldn't wake up.

Natsu and the Vulcan were still locked in their hold, but then the axe edge near Natsu's hands began to glow a bright orange. A piece of it fell off, landing on Natsu's tongue.

"Is he melting the blade?" Lucy asked, eyes wide. "With just his body heat!?"

Happy flew to Lucy. "Uhuh!"

"Yeah! Now I've got some fire in my belly!" Natsu said, his mouth full. He then spat out the melted bits of Taurus' axe in rapid succession towards the Vulcan. It staggered back, the melted bit still hot and burning its' skin. Taking this opening, Ramza dashed forward the Vulcan. He then kicked its' gut, making the Vulcan fall down.

"That's for hitting me!" Ramza said.

Natsu then punched his knuckles together, making a magic circle. The spell lit his hand ablaze, and he leaped towards the Vulcan. "Eat this! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu hit it in the same spot Ramza did, knocking the Vulcan through several ice pillars and against an icy wall, which made a miniature explosion of snow. The Vulcan was now upside-down, which looked as if it had taken enough damage for one day.

"We beat him!" Happy said happily.

"But how is he gonna tell us where Macao is?" Lucy piped in.

"Oh, sorry about that." Natsu rubbed the back of his head. "I might've forgot."

"Eh, he isn't gonna talk anytime soon." Ramza shrugged his shoulders.

The Vulcan then suddenly glowed a bright gold, making everyone cover their eyes.

"The heck?" Ramza called out.

As the light died down, they could see who was in stead of the Vulcan, which was now gone. It was a man in a white shirt and brown pants, positioned upside-down.

"Macao?" Said Natsu disbelievingly.

Lucy's mouth fell open. "You're telling me that your friend was that big, perverted monkey all this time!?"

"He must have been taken over by that Vulcan." Happy supplied.

"What'd you mean 'taken over'?" Ramza asked.

"It must've used a possession spell on him." Happy flew towards Macao, "You see, Vulcans survive by stealing people's bodies and taking them over. They're evil body snatchers!"

In a little while, Macao was on the ground, with Lucy putting bandages on his body. Ramza, Natsu and Happy stood at Macao's side while Lucy aided the man. Happy looked at Macao and looked at him all over.

"It looks that he put up a pretty big fight until that Vulcan took over." Happy assessed.

Natsu then faced the sleeping figure. "Don't you die on me Macao! Romeo's waiting for you! Open your eyes!"

And at that moment, Macao did open his eyes. He gazed around, noticing the crowd around him. "Natsu."

Natsu's grinned wide in joy. "You're alive!"

"I'm so pathetic." Macao said dejectedly, "I defeated nineteen of those guys, but the twentieth one got me. I'm so angry with myself; I can't bare to go home and face Romeo..."

Natsu raised his fist in an attempt of courage. "C'mon man, you beat nineteen of them!"

"Dude, what?" Ramza's eyes nearly came out of their sockets, "You took down nineteen of those guys? You're crazy strong..."

Lucy seemed to be thinking the same thing as she nodded her head in agreement.

Natsu offered a hand to Macao. "Now let's go home. Your little boy's been waiting for ya!"

Macao smiled as he took his hand. He then pulled himself up, and the group begun to return home.

..................................

Romeo sat on the stairs of the building, brooding about his past. Three shadowy figures stood superior to him.

"Fairy Tail wizards are a joke, Romeo." One of the shadowy figures said.

"Yeah, everyone knows they're a bunch of drunken cowards." Another figure added.

"I'm gonna be a knight one day, not some dumb wizard!" The third figure smugly said.

"They're dirty and they smell like beer!" They said in unison.

The situation shifted, now with a younger Romeo and his father at the Fairy Tail bar.

"C'mon dad! Go to the board and take a job! I can't stand this teasing anymore!" Romeo begged.

Macao simply smiled. "Sure!"

Romeo was the jerked back to reality. Realizing the dumb mistake he had his father do, he cried. Arm on his face, he just couldn't stop his tears from falling. But at that same time, he heard a familiar voice call him name.

"Hey Romeo!" Natsu cheerfully called.

Romeo looked at Natsu, and his jaw dropped. His father was slung on Ramza's and Natsu's shoulders looking tired, but very much alive. Lucy sweetly smiled at Romeo, Ramza grinned at him and Natsu was waving. His father sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Tears once again welled up on Romeo's eyes and he jumped, tackling his father to the ground.

"DAD!" Romeo yelled emotionally. "You came back! I'm sorry, dad!"

Macao smiled softly. "No, it's my fault that I made you worry."

"I can handle it, cause I'm a wizard's son!" Romeo said defiantly.

"The next time those bullies pick on you, here's what I want you to say..." Macao looked at his son in the eyes. "Can your old man defeat nineteen monsters all by himself? 'Cause mine can!"

Romeo replied with the largest smile he could muster. He then stood up and faced the ones who had saved his father, who were now walking back to the guild. "Natsu! Happy! Thanks for your help!"

Natsu waved back. "No problem, kiddo."

"Ramza! Lucy! Thanks for helping him bring my daddy back to me!" Romeo added.

Ramza laughed. "Anytime!"

Lucy just looked back and waved, a look of complete happiness on her face.