"Something good?"
Lucy's eyes sparkled with anticipation.
If those words had come from Chase instead of Dark Magician Girl, she might have been a little suspicious. Not that she didn't trust Chase—it was just that the pink dumbbell from the last "gift" was still being played with by Natsu!
Come to think of it, after that whole Galuna Island and Phantom Lord mess, she hadn't had a chance to seriously train…
As Lucy was lost in thought, Chase pulled out a blank card from thin air.
"This contains the training regimen that Dark Magician put together for you, along with a few summoning magic books. Just pour magic into the card to extract them."
Looking at the original story's later developments, Lucy, having inherited all of Layla's keys, truly had immense potential as a Celestial Spirit Wizard.
Setting aside things like Celestial Spirit Dress that allowed her to use her spirits' powers, abilities like opening multiple gates simultaneously, mastering the Lost Magic Urano Metria, and summoning the Celestial Spirit King put her leagues above other Celestial Spirit Wizards!
The reason she always got crushed in battle and seemed weak was simply the stark contrast created by being surrounded by monsters like Natsu and Gray.
Therefore, based on the information Chase provided, Dark Magician's training plan focused primarily on unlocking Lucy's latent potential.
"Oh, right! I almost forgot about that!"
Lucy reached happily out with both hands and carefully took the card from Chase. "Chase, please thank Dark Magician for me!"
There was no need for excessive formalities between them. She graciously accepted this kindness from Chase and Dark Magician.
The Phantom Lord incident had deepened her bond with her guildmates, and her desire to grow stronger to protect them burned brighter than ever.
Even if she was still the weakest one for now.
"A training plan? Lucy, let me see!"
Natsu's eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed over to snatch the card from her.
"No! This is a customized plan! Customized!" Lucy quickly clutched the card protectively to her chest.
Letting him look was fine, but she was terrified Natsu might accidentally damage the precious materials Dark Magician had worked so hard to compile.
If that happened, she'd have no choice but to atone by disemboweling herself!
"Natsu, don't be so impatient. I have gifts for you and Happy too."
Chase held up a finger, his smile mysterious.
He'd originally planned to wait until tomorrow, but since Natsu and Happy were conveniently here, he might as well start testing Fusion right away!
"Huh? I get something too?"
Happy was pleasantly surprised, a bit of drool forming at the corner of his mouth. "If it's a card that summons endless fish, I promise I'll never sharpen my claws on your pillars again—I'll only do it at Lucy's!"
Lucy: Why do I keep getting caught in the crossfire?!
"It is related to cards, but not something like that."
With that, Chase held up two fingers and revealed Polymerization. "This is a Spell Card I recently obtained. It can fuse two separate entities together."
"How about it? You two want to give it a try?"
Based on the fusion mechanics in Yu-Gi-Oh!, the resulting monster either had higher stats than the fusion materials or possessed incredibly powerful effects.
Either way, the outcome was basically becoming stronger!
He just didn't know what form it would ultimately take when applied to mages.
Would it grow three heads like Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon? Or transform into a new, single entity like fusing Dark Magician with Buster Blader to become Dark Paladin?
Was it determined by the attributes of the fusion materials, or did both outcomes happen randomly?
The information field on the Polymerization card didn't provide these details, so the only way to find out was through experimentation.
"Ohhh! Combination magic? That sounds awesome!"
Natsu, always excited about anything new and interesting, immediately perked up.
"Aye! If Natsu and I combine, we might—no, we'd definitely—be Fairy Tail's strongest!"
Happy waved his fist with equal enthusiasm.
Neither of them bothered considering the details or potential risks. They weren't the type to think things through carefully—if it seemed fun, they wanted to try it!
Lucy, however, couldn't help but comment: "Combination magic usually refers to synchronized magic coordination between mages, right?"
"And doesn't the word 'combine' sound kind of… suggestive?"
Imagining something embarrassing, she covered her mouth, squinted, and shot Natsu and Happy a teasing look.
"Since you two are fine with it, I'll begin."
With that, Chase poured magic into the card. A dazzling magical circle appeared beneath Natsu and Happy, designated as the fusion materials.
Immediately after, the fusion vortex exerted its pull, drawing the excited Natsu and Happy into a blinding flash of light.
A formidable energy began to brew, filling the cramped apartment.
Lucy was forced to shield her face from the intense light.
When she felt it subside and opened her eyes, she was startled by the bizarre figure before her.
It was a man with deep blue skin. While his face was still recognizable as Natsu's, the "slanted eyes" Gray always teased him about had vanished, replaced by rounder pupils that held a hint of intelligence.
A large cat-head hood sat atop his head, with cherry-pink hair poking out from underneath, interspersed with a distinctive blue forelock.
A long blue cat tail swayed lazily behind him, incredibly conspicuous!
Seeing the fused "Na-Happy" (as she mentally dubbed him), Chase's first thought was Natsu wearing a Happy mascot costume.
Much like Erza had donned that matching couple's outfit with Jellal in the original story.
"Aihahaha! This feels so weird! My field of vision is so much wider! And I have a tail!"
Na-Happy examined his body, looking here and there. His voice sounded like a strange hybrid of Natsu and Happy's voices.
One thing was clear so far: he'd perfectly inherited Natsu's carefree personality.
"Pfft! They actually fused?!"
Lucy spat out her entire mouthful of tea.
Snapping back to reality, curiosity overwhelmed her. She rushed over, eyes wide, and asked, "Hey, are you Natsu? Or Happy?"
"Hmm, that's a tough question. I'm neither Natsu nor Happy—"
Na-Happy rested his chin on his hand, pondering for a few seconds. Then he clapped his fists together with a bold grin.
"That's right! I'm the Fire Dragon Cat—the one who possesses the power of the Fire Dragon and the Cat! This is me!"
***
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