— — — — — — —
Onibas Train Station
"We were so busy talking, we forgot Natsu on the train! And he gets motion sick so easily!"
"If he makes it to the end of the line, that's fine. But if he suddenly wakes up midway…"
"This is my fault! I invited Natsu to come along, but I didn't take care of him properly! Just punch me already!" Erza said, looking utterly guilt-ridden.
"That's not the point!"
"You! Just stop the train already!"
"What… What are you even talking about?"
The station manager stared at Erza, utterly confused. He had no idea what she was trying to say.
Lucy broke into a cold sweat. "I was right—Fairy Tail folks really do just do whatever they want!"
"We're doing this for our friend. Please try to understand," Erza pleaded earnestly.
"Please stop causing trouble! There's no way I'm stopping a train just because someone missed their stop!"
The station manager had pieced together what Erza meant, but stopping an entire train for one passenger was unthinkable.
Suddenly, Uchiha Kitaro appeared behind the manager and calmly pulled the emergency brake lever.
"There, problem solved."
"Sir, you can't just—!!!" The station manager stared at Kitaro, his mind blank with shock.
"Good work, Kitaro!"
"Oh, and sorry—please take this luggage to the Hotel for me."
With that, Erza handed over her luggage cart's handle to the already bewildered station manager.
Before the poor man could react, the troublemakers bolted, heading straight for a rented magical vehicle to chase down the train.
— — —
On the Train
Kageyama sat across from the still-sleeping Natsu, growing increasingly annoyed.
"Why does this guy get to be part of a legal guild, while I'm stuck in a dark one?"
"Why does he get to sleep so peacefully while I get haunted by nightmares? Why does his guild have so many cute girls while mine is full of stinking dudes?!"
When jealousy sets in, even the most trivial things can become reasons to pick a fight.
Kageyama couldn't stand the sight of Natsu drooling in his sleep. He stood, raised his foot, and stomped down hard on Natsu's face.
SMACK!
Natsu groggily opened his eyes, slapped the offending foot away, and looked around in confusion.
"Oh? You're finally awake!" Kageyama said mockingly.
Natsu blinked, disoriented. Where was Erza? Gray? Lucy, Happy, or Kitaro? Why was there a random stranger sitting in front of him?
"Who… Who are you? And what do you want?"
"Fairy Tail, huh? You guys think you're so great, don't you? Just because you're part of a legal guild, you act all high and mighty. It's disgusting!"
Kageyama sneered, leaning closer. "You know what we call Fairy Tail? Flies. Yeah, pesky flies! Swat!" He mimed smacking something, landing a condescending pat on Natsu's head.
"You… you bastard!!" Natsu growled, flames igniting in his hands as he jumped to his feet.
But before he could attack, a wave of motion sickness hit him like a freight train.
"Urgh…!!" He clutched his stomach, the fire in his hands extinguished.
"Ha! That's your magic? Pathetic!" Kageyama laughed.
"I'll show you real magic!"
With a flick of his foot, his shadow transformed into a giant fist, punching Natsu square in the jaw and sending him sprawling into the aisle.
"HAHAHAHA!"
"D-damn it…" Natsu groaned.
At that moment, the train's emergency brake activated, jolting everyone as it screeched to a stop. Passengers fell left and right, and Kageyama's three-eyed skull flute slipped out of his bag, clattering to the floor.
"Huh?" The odd item caught Natsu's attention, but Kageyama quickly snatched it up, looking panicked.
"Did… Did you see that?!"
Natsu rubbed his jaw, his irritation flaring. "You've got a lot of nerve. Talking trash about Fairy Tail, huh? Well, here's a gift for you!"
Flames surged around Natsu's fist as he punched Kageyama square in the face, launching him through the train car and shattering the door to the next one.
"Take that, 'Fly Punch'!" Natsu taunted, shaking his fist.
"You… you little punk!"
— — —
Train PA System
"Attention passengers, the emergency stop was caused by a false alarm."
"We're resuming our journey now. Apologies for the inconvenience."
"Crap, gotta get out of here!" Natsu scrambled to grab his stuff, desperate to escape before the train started moving.
"You're not getting away! How dare you attack me?! I'll make you pay, you little fly!" Kageyama shouted, still dazed but furious.
Natsu glared back. "And I'm not forgetting your ugly face, jerk! Next time, we'll settle this outside! Ugh—!" He leapt out of the window just as the train began to move.
"Was that Natsu?!" Erza shouted as she sped toward the train, just in time to see him fly out.
"Why is he jumping out of a train?!"
WHAM!
Natsu collided with Gray, who was sitting on the roof of Erza's car, their heads smacking together.
"OW! What the hell are you doing, Natsu?!" Gray snapped.
"My memory's all fuzzy after that hit! Who even are you, you smelly bastard?"
"What?!"
Erza slammed on the brakes. "What's going on here? Natsu, why were you on the train?!"
Natsu crossed his arms, glaring. "I should be asking you! I woke up alone! Did you all just leave me behind?!"
"Uh… sorry about that," Erza said sheepishly. She wasn't great at lying and had indeed forgotten all about him.
"Well, let's catch up later," Kitaro interjected coolly. "Right now, we've got some dark guild business to deal with."
.
.
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