Hot and Cold

Righteous Path

~*****~

"Check it out, Romeo! He's tryin' to act all high and mighty while sittin' on an octopus!" Natsu laughs as he roughly pats Romeo on the back.

"I wouldn't laugh," Romeo retorts. "He held his own against Gildarts, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," I wave my hand dismissively. "He's powerful, who the hell cares. He's riding a giant octopus, that's so lame." I sigh loudly as I cross my arms behind my head.

"Natsu and Aria are awful role models, aren't they?" Ballad mentions.

"Yeah, they're both jerks." Happy agrees.

"That makes me worry about Romeo's future!" Michelle agrees. "Goodness, all the kids they'll have will be a disaster!"

"Who said anything about kids?!" I bark back, my face flushing.

"Wait, that means if I beat this guy... then it's kinda like I'm beatin' Gildarts, too!" Natsu chirped, completely unbothered by Michelle's comment.

"I'll destroy you." Byro retorts calmly.

The octopus rears up and sprays, thick, viscous ink at us. There's an odd stench to it, causing me to shout and leap out of the way. The ink melted through the ground, leaving a massive crater in it's spot. "Aw, man, that is some dangerous ink!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Becareful, guys!" Happy cries.

"Ooh, I want Squid Ink Risotto!" Michelle stammers.

My stomach growls loudly. "Damn, now I do, too." I mention irritably.

"We can save the cravings for later," Lucy comments dryly.

"Get back! I got an idea!" Natsu exclaims before leaping at the octopus. "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

It doesn't cause an impact as he would've hoped. His fist sinks into the octopus' squishy flesh before getting cracked against the wall with it's large tentacle. It starts trashing about, and I heave out a groan before going to save Dan from being squashed, seeing as how Lucy saved Coco just in time. "Hey, Octo-punk! Are you so stupid, that you don't even know who's on your side?!" Natsu shouts as I still have Dan over my shoulder.

"Seriously! Coco and Dan are supposed to be your allies!" Lucy shouts.

"I realize that, but as proud members of the Legion Platoon, they are prepared to sacrifice their very lives to win this holy war." Byro simply says.

"What gives you the right?!" I snap. "I don't give a shit who you think you are! They aren't your slaves! They don't belong to you, or Zentopia! They belong to themselves! And I'll be damned if you take away their decisions, you got that, you old bastard!"

"You're in no position to chastise my actions," Byro snorts. "You fail to grasp the severity of the situation. There are many more lives at stake in this war than you realize."

There's another crash of the octopus' tentacles, and I narrowly avoid it just in time to save Natsu's sorry hide. "You're lucky Ballad gave up her bracelet to give me that extra boost, Natsu!" I exclaim after spitting out the hunks of gold that surrounded the small ice diamond in her bracelet.

"Thank you, Aria! I totally owe you one!" Natsu groaned as I slammed my talons into the octopus' arm to help lift it up. I give a loud shout as I throw the arm up and use my foot to kick Natsu behind me.

"Cool! It's like Natsu Soccer!" Happy shouted.

"Hey, Aria! You think you can get his mouth open?!" Natsu asks eagerly.