"Who's that?!"
The slavers stared, thrown off by the sudden change.
Lucy's eyes flicked between the freckles, the orange cowboy hat, the bare chest—then back to his voice.
"Kael…?" she asked, unsure. He looked completely different.
"Yeah." Kael's tone was flat. "It's me."
His gaze swept the cabin like he was taking inventory.
"Time to take care of you trash."
He shifted his weight, about to move—
—and a hand grabbed his ankle.
"Kael… ulp…"
Kael looked down.
Natsu was clinging to him with one hand, face still green, fighting for his life against the ship's rocking.
"Just wait a second, Natsu." Kael sighed. "I'll finish these guys in three seconds. And stay back—don't puke on me."
"No!" Natsu wheezed, swallowing hard. "These guys… pretended to be from Fairy Tail… I have to… beat them myself! Bleh…"
Kael paused.
He glanced at Bora. Then at Natsu.
He got it.
This wasn't just some random slaver to Natsu. This guy had worn their guild's name like a mask.
Kael exhaled once. "…Fine."
FWOOSH!
Flames blasted from Kael's feet.
The deck beneath him charred instantly—wood blackening, then giving way as the fire punched through.
The flame didn't stop there.
It plunged into the ship like a jet, tore through the lower level—
—and burst out the back in a roaring plume, like a rocket engine igniting.
"Hold on!" Kael snapped to Lucy.
"???" Lucy barely had time to blink.
BOOM—!
The ship lurched violently.
A sudden, brutal thrust slammed through the hull, knocking everyone off balance.
"Aaaaaah!"
Bodies toppled. Someone hit a table. Someone else slammed into the wall.
The ship swung hard—
"Aaaaaah!"
—then rolled the other way, sending everyone skidding across the floor.
Then the whole vessel shot forward, straight toward Hargeon Port, cutting over the water like it had been kicked by a giant.
A moment later—
CRUNCH—!
The ship slammed onto the beach and dug into the sand, grinding to a halt with a long, splintering groan.
"Wh-What's going on?!"
"A ship just crashed onto the beach!"
People at the port shouted and rushed toward the commotion, lanterns bobbing as they ran.
On deck, the girls—no longer charmed—blinked awake like they were coming out of a nightmare.
Screaming, they bolted.
They scattered off the ship in every direction, tripping over dresses, sobbing, desperate to get away.
"Finally…" Natsu muttered, swaying as he stood. "It stopped… moving…"
Happy fluttered nearby, tense.
"Th-This is bad… Mr. Fire Dragon!" one of the slavers yelled, panicking. "We're back at the port! The girls all ran away!"
"What?!" Bora's face twisted.
Lucy's relief hit like a wave. "Great! The army is coming! You're all finished!"
"Kid!" Bora snarled at Kael, veins bulging. "Look what you did!"
Kael just smiled, casual as ever. "Hey, no problem. I just love doing good deeds."
"I wasn't thanking you!"
Natsu stepped forward and pulled off his jacket, shaking off the last of the dizziness like it was an insult.
He stared Bora down.
"Are you a Fairy Tail wizard?"
"Huh?" Bora scoffed. "Still asking that? What if I am? What if I'm not?"
Natsu pointed at himself, voice sharp now—no sickness left in it.
"Come over here and look! I'm Natsu of Fairy Tail! And I've never seen you before!"
"What?!"
Lucy froze. "Fairy Tail?! Natsu is a wizard from Fairy Tail?! If Natsu is, then Kael…"
Her mind snapped back to Kael's earlier certainty—how he'd said the man was fake like it was obvious.
Because it was.
"Look at that mark!"
"Mr. Bora… it's a real one!"
"Id-Idiot!" Bora's eyes flashed with panic. "Don't call me by my real name!"
His cover was cracking in public, in front of witnesses.
Happy's ears twitched. "Bora… 'Bora the Red.' He was kicked out of the Titan Nose guild years ago." Happy spoke fast, like he was reciting a headline he'd read.
"I heard about him!" Lucy added, anger rising now that the fear had somewhere to go. "He was kicked out for using his magic to steal! I can't believe he's a slaver now."
Natsu's expression hardened.
A vein stood out on his forehead.
"I don't care who you are. No one who fakes our guild's name gets away with it."
Fairy Tail wasn't a logo to him.
It was family.
"Hah!" Bora barked. "Shut up, kid!"
He thrust his hand out.
"Red Typhoon!"
A blast of fire roared into Natsu, swallowing him in flames.
"Natsu!" Lucy lunged forward—
—but Happy grabbed her, holding her back.
"Hmph!" Bora sneered. "Let's see you survive that!"
A beat.
Then a voice, disgusted, came from inside the fire.
"That was disgusting."
Bora froze.
The flames peeled back just enough to reveal Natsu standing there—unburned.
He looked offended.
"What is this? Are you really a fire wizard?" Natsu said, face twisting. "That's the worst fire I've ever tasted. It's nothing compared to Kael's."
Then—like it was the most natural thing in the world—
Natsu grabbed the flames with his hands and shoved them into his mouth.
"What?!"
"He's… he's eating the fire?!"
"Wh-What is this guy?!"
Bora staggered, eyes wide.
He could accept Kael being immune.
But eating it?
Happy grinned. "Fire can't hurt Natsu."
Lucy's hands shook. "I've never seen magic like that!"
Natsu inhaled, chest expanding.
After swallowing that fire, his eyes lit up like he'd been fed fuel.
"After eating, I'm all fired up!" He grinned, feral. "Here I come!"
He drew in one more breath.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A huge blast of fire erupted from his mouth—
BOOM—!
The entire ship exploded.
The deck lit up like a furnace. The shockwave kicked sand and smoke into the air.
"Aaaaaargh!"
The slavers were thrown like dolls, tumbling across the beach and into the wreckage.
One of them looked up, saw Natsu clearly—pink hair, scarf—and started shaking.
"That kid… is it… Mr. Bora! I've seen him before!"
"The pink hair… the scaly scarf… It's him! He's the real…"
"Fire Dragon…" Lucy whispered, the words landing with new meaning now that she'd seen it.
Natsu stepped forward, fists igniting.
"Remember this!" he shouted, voice carrying over the chaos. "This is a real Fairy Tail wizard!"
Then he charged.
"Aaargh!"
"Waaaaah!"
The slavers screamed as Natsu tore through them, fists flashing, fire snapping with every hit.
Bora's eyes darted.
One man he couldn't hurt with bullets.
Another who could eat his fire.
Monsters.
He swallowed and made the only smart decision left.
Run.
Purple flames burst from his feet and lifted him into the air.
Lucy spotted it instantly. "Oh no! He's getting away!"
Kael raised an eyebrow, almost amused.
"Running?" He turned his head, tracking Bora like a target. "You mess with Fairy Tail, and you think you can just run away? That's not how it works."
Kael's right arm erupted into flame.
"Fire Fist!"