Fairy Tail: Strongest Creature

At this moment, "Wow!"

A mound of dirt suddenly pushed up from the ground, and Natsu emerged.

"What the—?!"

"Natsu!!" Wendy breathed a sigh of relief to see someone else had appeared.

"Huh? Su Yan, Wendy…where is this place?" Natsu rubbed his eyes, disoriented. The scenery around him had entirely changed.

"You don't remember anything?"

"I was sleeping…"

"This was the guild," Wendy said gravely.

"What?"

"A huge hole appeared in the sky, sucking up the entire guild and the city," Wendy explained, her voice trembling.

Natsu placed a hand on her head. "Wendy, that's ridiculous—maybe you hit your head? That can't—"

"It's true!" Wendy insisted, pointing upward. "Look at the sky!"

Natsu glanced up to see a large hole slowly shrinking among the stormy clouds.

"Wha…?!" Only then did he realize Magnolia had utterly vanished.

At that moment, another voice spoke. "It's the truth."

They turned to see Carla flying toward them in the heavy rain.

"Carla!" Wendy exclaimed. "Thank goodness you're all right!"

Carla looked somewhat uneasy, remembering how she'd run off. "Yes, I'm fine."

Natsu pressed, "Then—why are we the only ones left? Where is everyone else?"

Carla took a breath. "They've disappeared—absorbed, actually."

"Absorbed?"

"Yes. That big hole in the sky was a portal to the parallel world Edolas."

Natsu's face went taut. "Then you're saying everyone is…?!"

Su Yan placed a calming hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Take it easy. Let Carla finish."

Carla continued quietly. "I'm originally from that parallel world, Edolas…so is that male cat, Happy."

Wendy blinked in shock. "But we found Happy's egg here! He was born in this world. I saw him as an egg!"

Natsu nodded. "Same for Carla—didn't you hatch in our world, too?"

Carla shrugged. "Yes, physically. But Edolas entrusted me—and, apparently, Happy as well—with knowledge and a mission. Though I remembered it—unlike him." She gave Happy a brief, reproachful glance.

"But…why would Edolas target Fairy Tail, or Magnolia?" Wendy asked.

"Because Edolas has nearly exhausted its magic supply," Carla said. "They've resorted to 'absorption'—pulling magic from our world. That giant hole was 'Anima,' a sort of hyperspace gateway that drains magic from here to them. All at once, the city was taken. …Mystogan must have been shutting Anima down every time—except now it was too big."

Natsu clenched his fists. "They abducted our entire city just to get magic?! Those bastards…!"

Wendy's eyes welled. "So everyone's in Edolas right now…"

Carla nodded. "Yes. They're likely stuck over there. All of this…is indirectly because of me—and Happy. Our presence might have triggered them to ramp up the plan."

Seeing Happy's crestfallen face, Su Yan knelt by him. "Don't blame yourself. You're you, that's all that matters. The real question is how we get everyone back. Right?"

"Right…" Happy sniffled.

Carla looked away. "I…still can't tell you everything about my mission. But we do know our friends are in Edolas."

"And that's exactly where we'll go," Su Yan declared, voice firm.

Natsu and Wendy nodded, determination replacing their shock. They would cross the boundary between worlds, rescue their guildmates, and set things right—no matter how impossible it sounded.