When he initially stabbed Natsu, that was his weakened state. He needed to eat dragon cry to restore his full power. He restored his full power after eating dragon cry when Natsu was down. Then Natsu got back up after Lucy's tears healed him, and started punching him. Animus roared at Natsu, and then Natsu dragonized. Dragonized Natsu punched Animus a bunch of times, and then Animus aimed all the magic circles in the sky at himself for a power-up. Then Natsu beat him with that rainbow fire.Well, that explains that Zircnois level dragons are strong enough to kill even Alverez Natsu, right? That's an up for Dragons, as far as I'm concerned.
I haven't watch the movie yet, but have watched the final battle. Was Animus at his full power when he faced Natsu?
Basically:
- Weakened Animus stabbed base Natsu.
- Full powered Animus overpowered base Natsu and tanked some of Dragonized Natsu's punches.
- Dragon Cry boosted Animus lost to Dragonized Natsu's all out attacks.