It was the time of the Grand Magic Games, Fairy Tail's chance to rise back to the top after the supposed 'deaths' of the core members on Tenrou Island. Today, the matchups all had interesting fights, but none were so anticipated as that between the dragonslayers. Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox of Fairy Tail versus Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney of Sabertooth. The fights were going very well, and taunts were quickly thrown around, even though their guilds were rivals, the dragonslayers couldn't help but have fun as they did what they were born to do...fight.
Of course something was bound to be said that would completely stop Natsu and Gajeel in their tracks.
"You...killed your dragons?" Natsu asked completely shocked, both he and Gajeel were consumed with utter rage.
"Yeah, we did and we're all the better for it, especially with the lacrimas implanted in us. We're far more powerful than you could ever be." Sting said as he and Rogue stood side by side smirking at the other two.
"I'll admit...I wasn't going to use this." Natsu said, the people who heard him were surprised. Did Natsu have some kind of secret trick up his sleeve?
"What are you talking about Salamander? Use what? What trick do you have up your sleeve that you hope can defeat us?" Sting asked before Natsu's fiery aura appeared and skyrocketed. He clasped his hands together, a glowing light appearing between the cracks before he started to open his arms.
"What the hell are you doing Salamander?" Asked Gajeel who took a few steps back from the heat. Natsu's arms fully opened before the fire died down revealing a sword in his right hand. It was beautiful, it's handle was a deep onyx, and looked like it was crafted out of dragon scales, red wrappings criss crossed the handle. The tsuba was in the shape of Fairy Tail's symbol and was the same color as the symbol on his shoulder. The blade itself was of amazing craftsmanship that even Erza found was without imperfection.
"What's this? Natsu Dragneel in an impressive display of magic has made a sword appear out of fire." Pumpkin man said, Natsu couldn't really remember his name.
"This, is a representation of my soul, my zanpakutou, it represents my father, and the fact that he will always be with me, that his power is a part of my very soul. On my pride as the Fire Dragonslayer Natsu Dragneel, Son of Igneel, the Fire Dragon King. For the honor of the dragons you murdered. I will strike you down." Natsu said as he pointed his blade at them. "Rise, above the scorched earth, into the ashen skies, Igneel." From the bottom of his blade, a hole in the butt of the blade glowed before it spewed out a torrent of fire. The fire quickly wrapped itself around Natsu before it traveled to his arm and enveloped his sword.
When the fire cleared away, the sword had changed shape, curving slightly upwards with a wide, tooth-like extension at the end, the tsuba had changing, becoming dragon claws at all four directions. At the bottom of the handle was a dragon head and to top it all off the blade was glowing orange, while the handle and tsuba had turned red.
"Igneel? Your blades' name is Igneel?" Gajeel asked as Sting and Rogue stared at Natsu. "No Gajeel...my blade is Igneel who lies in the depths of my soul." Natsu said before his sword pulsed. "Fire Dragon's Inferno Blade!" Natsu yelled as he swung his blade at the other two dragonslayers a crescent of fire barreling towards them.
"WHITE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Sting yelled, the white energy barely cancelling out the fire attack. "Alright then Salamander, I'm gonna beat your pride down! Let's go Rogue!" Sting yelled as they both attacked, Natsu and Gajeel quickly faced them as the crowd cheered at the fight they were watching.
"Erza, did you know that Natsu had a sword like that?" Lucy asked. "Did anybody?" Everybody denied it, however, Mavis was looking at Natsu with a gaping expression.
"Is something the matter first master?" Makarov asked. "I know it's surprising that Natsu had this up his sleeve, but that boy's always managed to surprise people and-"
"How in the world did he get a zanpakuto? That's something that is only used by shinigami, so how did he get one...unless." Mavis thought to herself before she realized she was being asked something. "Huh? Yes third master?"
"I asked did you know what that was? You said zanpakuto so I presume you know what that is?" Makarov asked, all the fairy tail members quickly paid attention to what she was going to say.
"Well, zanpakuto, or soul slayers, are weapons capable of great power. They're used by Shinigami, death gods or soul reapers, who pass on spirits to the next life, zanpakuto are literally a representation of the power of one's soul. But I don't know how Natsu got one. Shinigami do not meddle in this world since there are no hollows. Oh, hollows are souls that do not pass on in time and are consumed by despair, they became heartless beings, monsters even, that consume other souls and try and fulfill the emptiness inside them. In fact, another duty of the Shinigami is to purify hollows and send it's soul, along with any souls they consumed to the next life." Mavis said as everybody was surprised by the explanation.
"Natsu seems pretty angry, infuriated even, I've never seen him this mad." Gray said before Erza shook her head. "We've all heard the stories from Natsu from his father, I imagine, that to Natsu, to kill the dragon who raised you, protected you, and taught you their magic is the worst crime any dragonslayer can commit."
"I know for a fact that Natsu ain't no shinigami, but I'm still wondering where he got that sword." Gray said before Lucy cried out. "Oh no! Look!" They all looked and were shocked by what they saw. Gajeel had taken a seriously bad hit and was down for the count. Natsu was amicably fighting off both dragonslayers. But he was getting slowly overwhelmed. It was worse when both the Sabertooth dragonslayers jumped back and cried out, "DRAGON FORCE!"
"DRAGON FORCE!" Sting and Rogue cried out, Natsu momentarily froze and that moment was all that was needed for Sting and Rogue to come at him from all sides, they punched, kicked, and roared at him, sending him flying back bruised and battered. Natsu fell down but pushed himself up using his sword as a crutch.
"H-how, can you do that? How the hell can you access dragon force, like that? So easily, it's nearly impossible for me to do that. Yet you two can do it so easily?" Natsu gritted out, his body crying out in pain. His eyes narrowed in rage at the two dragonslayers in front of him.
"Heh, it's easy, it's because we killed our dragons." Sting said as he smirked, Rogue was next to him, looking down at Natsu before he too spoke. "With the death of our dragons at our hands, the ability to use dragon force comes far easier, at an instantaneous level. With their deaths, we have achieved a level of power you can't ever achieve. We have surpassed on every level." Rogue said as Sting chuckled.
"I'll admit, that blade of yours is pretty interesting, naming it after your dad, but in the end it's nothing compared to our power, the power of Sabertooth!" Sting yelled as the crowd roared cheering out Sabertooth's name along with Sting's and Rogue's.
"So, you did all that, you killed your parents...for power!?" Natsu spat out before his magical aura skyrocketed, everybody felt it, the power in the air, it coated the atmosphere and also showed Natsu's turbulent emotions, rage, grief, hate, disgust, but most damningly the pure unbridled rage. People were choking at the emotions they were feeling before it suddenly snapped back to Natsu as a cold rage settled over him. "I told you already, my blade isn't named after Igneel, it is Igneel, and the power that resides within my soul." Natsu said as the stadium went silent.
"I understand now, that for people like you, dirty traitors who are willing to do anything for more power, I hate those people the most, they don't care who they step on their way to get to the top. It's disgusting, disgraceful, that two dragons had chosen you to be their sons only for you to betray them. I, Natsu Dragneel, will strike you down and avenge them, let anybody from your guild face me and I shall burn them all to ashes. I'll show you the power of a true dragonslayer, a power that you can never achieve with the blood on your hands, I have the soul of a dragon, and I shall show the flames of retribution!" Natsu screamed, his hand near his hip, Igneel pointed at them, he put his hand on his wrist as his aura consumed him.
"Ban-KAI!" He cried out as his eyes glowing being the only thing Sting and Eucliffe could see before a pillar of flame shot up into the sky.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW, WHAT IS THIS? NATSU DRAGNEEL HAS JUST BEEN CONSUMED IN A PILLAR OF FIRE, MY LORD! IT'S BREAKING THE RUNIC SHIELD AT THE TOP!" Pumpkin man exclaimed as they noticed cracks appearing at the top where the shield designed to withstand all manner of magic attacks so that it wouldn't get to the crowd started to crack.
"This is impossible, how could Natsu have this much power!" Gray said as the Fairy Tail contingent saw the effects of the pillar of fire and how it started to change shape? "Look, it's turning into a dragon, the fire is turning into a dragon!" Lucy yelled as they saw the pillar of fire change shape into a large majestic dragon, the literal fire dragon rose up and roared before it went down and crashed into the ground where Natsu was.
The shock wave from the blast barreled into Sting and Rogue almost sending them flying away. "How did he get this much power? We're in dragon force! He should be easy to beat as we are now!" "I don't know, look the fire's dying down." Rogue said as they both looked to where Natsu was and their eyes widened at the changes.
His blade had change, gaining two more tooth like extensions below the first one making three, all of them looking like a dragon's teeth. But the biggest changes were to Natsu. On his back were glowing wings made of pure fire, so thick you couldn't see through them, a fire tail as appeared from Natsu that scorched the earth where it rested and his right arm was completely engulfed in flame
"Karyō Igneel."
Up in the crowds, people were screaming like maniacs at the new power that Natsu showed. All the guilds and mages, even the civilians could feel the power that Natsu currently wielded.
"How have you gotten so strong?" Sting asked as he and Rogue were wide eyed and trembling since they were so close to the power that Natsu was letting out.
"Bankai, the ultimate form of the zanpakuto, the final release, in this state, a zanpakutou can become five to ten times more powerful than the shikai state, the first release which I showed you earlier. My bankai, Karyō Igneel, I have the power of a true dragon at my hands, and I will show you the power of Fire Dragon King Igneel. And at the end of this battle, you will kneel before the king."
"Yeah right! Let's go Rogue!" They both cried out their own roars, the two of them combining into a Unison Raid, the audience cried out, a Unison Raid on one person seemed a bit much, however true in their dragon force, their roars would've been many times greater than they usually were, especially since it was a Unison Raid, but what happened next shocked everybody in the stadium. The combined attack impacted Natsu and completely consumed him, as they attack died down they saw Natsu completely unscathed, his left arm extended, energy still in his hand before he crushed what was left.
"Impossible…" Sting and Rogue both breathed out. The crowd was shocked, Fairy Tail even more so, everybody had expected for Natsu to be heavily injured at the very least, not for him to deflect a Unison Raid with his bare hand. If one noticed they would see Sabertooth's master Jiemma seething in rage.
Natsu quickly rose his blade, "Fire Dragon King's-" and suddenly he disappeared before Sting and Rogue knew what had happened a voice spoke behind them "Retribution Blade." And fire consumed them. Both came out with burns across their bodies and quickly tried to attack again, but to the rest of the of the people in the arena, what was a match became a massacre.
Natsu was relentless, batting aside their attacks and quickly responding with his own, his eyes were glowing white as he snarled in rage, both Sting and Rogue had sustained serious injuries, but both were too stubborn to surrender. Sting quickly lashed out at Natsu only for Natsu to grab his arm slash down with his blade give a debilitating blow. Sting cried out in pain as the crowd cried out in shock. Natsu kicked him away towards Rogue, the wound already cauterized by the intense heat of the blade.
"Natsu's going too far! At this rate he'll kill them instead of knocking them unconscious!" Erza cried out, everybody was shocked at how far Natsu was going and how brutal he was being. All of a sudden a dome of fire surrounded the three dragon slayers, hiding them from sight and Natsu's judgement.
"I, cannot believe that you two killed your dragons simply for power, they raised you, loved you, and taught you their magic, for you to spit it back in their face and kill them requires a reason far more complex than just power." Natsu said as Rogue held Sting to him, the latter far too injured to even move let alone attack.
"So I say this now, tell me your true reasons, or you will die by my hands." Natsu said before Rogue cried out. "You, you can't do that! You're a Fairy Tail mage, this is how you guys operate!"
"It is true that I am a Fairy Tail mage, but as the son of the Fire Dragon King Igneel, it is my duty, to destroy traitors to dragon kind. In fact, it will even be my duty to defeat the demon dragon Acnologia, so that the dragons may return to this world without fear. So that they may return to their children. Answer me NOW! TELL ME! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A CRIME OR FACE MY WRATH!" Natsu cried out before Rogue just yelled out, "WE DIDN'T WANT TO KILL THEM!" It was silent before Sting and Rogue started to tear a bit.
"We...we didn't want to kill them, but...they told us too. My dragon Weisslogia." "And mine Skiadrum." "They, they became sick, and they knew about the threat of Acnologia, so they told us to kill them, to end their suffering, and so that Acnologia wouldn't find them and lead him to us. They also said that by killing them we would become stronger, better prepared for the world. We didn't want to kill them...we loved them." Sting said as tears freely flowed from his eyes. Rogue also teared up a bit more, but still had more control.
"Then why, why do you say such things with pride, I can see you truly regret killing them, so why say all those things?" Natsu asked as both Sting and Rogue chuckled mirthlessly.
"Because, in Sabertooth, to care? To love? All of those feelings are weakness, only the strong survive, only the strong conquer, and only the alone are strong. To Jiemma, the master of Sabertooth, things like the bonds of friendship and camaraderie are useless and for the weak." Sting said before Natsu simply snorted in disgust.
"Then your master is an idiot, a fool who lets pride and arrogance cloud his judgement. In Fairy Tail, my friends are the source of my strength, the bonds we hold allow us to persevere, it is because of those bonds that we survived Tenrou in the first place, and it is the bond that I have with my father, who lies in my soul, that allows me to have such strength. If I, one dragonslayer who believes in those bonds can defeat you two from a guild who doesn't, well, doesn't that show how wrong your master is?" Natsu said before he took a deep breath and sighed.
"You keep saying that Igneel is a part of your soul, what do you mean by that exactly?" Rogue said before Natsu smiled. "It means what it means, I found my father, and he is in my soul, he became my zanpakuto." Rogue shook his head, "That's impossible, how would one even manage that?" Natsu smirked, "Well, he is my dad, besides you forget, magic is a wonderful, and unpredictable force. And the dragons have been around far longer than we have."
Sting laughed a bit before coughing in pain. "You're not as dumb as they say you were." Natsu laughed as well before responding, "Hey, I'm smarter than I look, plus I got my dragon to help me out now." Natsu then became serious. "Sting Eucliffe, and Rogue Cheney, I find you two innocent of the murder of two dragons, instead I now realize that they sacrificed themselves to save you from Acnologia, and to make you better prepared for the world around you, they may not have died on the battlefield, but their deaths were still honorable."
The fire that consumed his blade now died to a dull simmer, and even the dome of flames around them was starting to disperse. "You know what you must do now?" Natsu asked as both Rogue and Sting nodded. The fire dispersed completely, though Natsu was still in his bankai, as one both Sting and Rogue looked at each other, "We surrender."
The dome of fire was still going strong but nobody knew what was going on until voices could be heard from inside.
"I, cannot believe that you two killed your dragons simply for power, they raised you, loved you, and taught you their magic, for you to spit it back in their face and kill them requires a reason far more complex than just power."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems as though some of the listening lacrima are still in effect inside the dome, for those of you who don't know, these lacrima are implanted in the arena so that we can hear the contestants to increase the theatrics of the Grand Magic Games!"
"So I say this now, tell me your true reasons, or you will die by my hands." Many people cried out at this, not believing that Natsu of all people would ever kill.
"You, you can't do that! You're a Fairy Tail mage, this is how you guys operate!" People heard Rogue cry out, and thought that it was true that Natsu wouldn't ever do such a thing, Natsu was from Fairy Tail, they never kill.
"It is true that I am a Fairy Tail mage, but as the son of the Fire Dragon King Igneel, it is my duty, to destroy traitors to dragon kind. In fact, it will even be my duty to defeat the demon dragon Acnologia, so that the dragons may return to this world without fear. So that they may return to their children. Answer me NOW! TELL ME! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A CRIME OR FACE MY WRATH!"
"This has gone too far, we have to stop the match!" Erza said as she stood up before Makarov shook his head. "We can't the match only goes until somebody surrenders or they are incapacitated. I can only hope that Natsu doesn't do anything he'll regret.
"WE DIDN'T WANT TO KILL THEM!"
The crowd was roaring and then became silent.
"We...we didn't want to kill them, but...they told us too. My dragon Weisslogia." "And mine Skiadrum." "They, they became sick, and they knew about the threat of Acnologia, so they told us to kill them, to end their suffering, and so that Acnologia wouldn't find them and lead him to us. They also said that by killing them we would become stronger, better prepared for the world. We didn't want to kill them...we loved them."
The crowd heard what they said, a few of the emotional ones started crying, Gajeel, who had awakened, and Wendy became despondent, at what Sting and Rogue had to do, tears flowing down Wendy's face as the other Fairies comforted her. Makarov himself, was stricken with grief and sympathy, for mere children to be forced to kill their parents, it was terrible, and for Natsu to have the duty to defeat Acnologia, incomprehensible.
"Then why, why do you say such things with pride, I can see you truly regret killing them, so why say all those things?" They heard Natsu ask before both Sting and Rogue chuckled mirthlessly. "Because, in Sabertooth, to care? To love? All of those feelings are weakness, only the strong survive, only the strong conquer, and only the alone are strong. To Jiemma, the master of Sabertooth, things like the bonds of friendship and camaraderie are useless and for the weak." Sting said before the crowd heard a snort of disgust.
"Then your master is an idiot, a fool who lets pride and arrogance cloud his judgement. In Fairy Tail, my friends are the source of my strength, the bonds we hold allow us to persevere, it is because of those bonds that we survived Tenrou in the first place, and it is the bond that I have with my father, who lies in my soul, that allows me to have such strength. If I, one dragonslayer who believes in those bonds can defeat you two from a guild who doesn't, well, doesn't that show how wrong your master is?"
The Fairy Tail contingent laughed, only Natsu would both say something profound and manage to insult somebody with it, Makarov idly noticed Jiemma going apoplectic with rage. Other people in the crowd also were surprised, not truly realizing how deep the bonds between the Fairy Tail mages went.
"You keep saying that Igneel is a part of your soul, what do you mean by that exactly?"
Everybody went silent, it was no secret Natsu Dragneel's quest to find his father.
"It means what it means, I found my father, and he is in my soul, he became my zanpakuto."
Complete silence, and from Gajeel and Wendy, complete shock.
"That's impossible, how would one even manage that?"
"How indeed…" Both the first and third masters of Fairy Tail thought, which was aligned with just about everybody else's train of thought.
"Well, he is my dad, besides you forget, magic is a wonderful, and unpredictable force. And the dragons have been around far longer than we have."
"You're not as dumb as they say you were." The crowd heard as Natsu laughed as well before responding, "Hey, I'm smarter than I look, plus I got my dragon to help me out now."
Everything went serious at Natsu's next words however, his tone was different, mature, it was unusual to say the least for those who knew them.
"Sting Eucliffe, and Rogue Cheney, I find you two innocent of the murder of two dragons, instead I now realize that they sacrificed themselves to save you from Acnologia, and to make you better prepared for the world around you, they may not have died on the battlefield, but their deaths were still honorable."
The crowd took a sigh of relief as they realize that Natsu wasn't going to do anything that would've left a big impact. Idly some notice the fire dying down before Natsu spoke again.
"You know what you must do now?"
The fire dome had completely dispersed, they noticed Rogue kneeling with an injured Sting in his arms. They both looked at each other, then at Natsu and as one said, "We surrender."
Needless to say, the crowd went nuts. The Fairy Tail contingent were cheering as Natsu took a few steps back, he took a deep breath...and roared. It wasn't his normal fire attack though, it was simply a roar as loud as a dragon's, a roar of triumph over a defeated enemy, a roar that annoyed the hell out of Gray and deafened just about everybody in the stadium.
Natsu extended his hands, pulling up both Sting and Rogue before going to Gajeel and getting him up with a fireman's carry. "Damnit Salamander, I can get up by myself." "My ass you can, just shut up and let me help you." "Is it true? Your father…" "Yeah he is, and who knows, maybe it's the same for you and Wendy, I doubt you'll get zanpakuto but hey, at least there's a chance you'll get to see your parents again." Natsu said as he jumped to where the medical area was.
"Salamander wait! THE SHIELD'S STILL UP! Huh, guess it wasn't." Gajeel said as they both landed, Gajeel was immediately lied down for medical treatment. "Natsu...thanks, I really like the fact that I'll be able to see him again."
"Of course Gajeel, now, let's get you healed up so that we can watch the next fight!" Natsu said before a commotion outside was heard, all of a sudden the Fairy contingent crashed through the door as a barrage of questions assaulted them.
"NATSU WHAT WAS THAT!?"
"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET SO STRONG PINKY!?"
"HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO NEARLY DESTROY THAT RUNIC SHIELD!?"
" HOW DID YOU GET A ZANPAKUTO!?"
"HOW DO YOU HAVE BANKAI!?"
"Can you really get Grandeeney back?"
The questions silenced as they all looked at Wendy. Natsu walked up to her and kneeled so that they were at the same level. "Can...can you really help me find her again?" She asked, her voice trembling a bit. Natsu smiled before he hugged her, "Yeah, I can, Igneel is in my soul, and it might be possible that Grandeeney and Metalicana are in your guy's souls too. Once this is all over, I'll help you guys find them. And even if they're not there I'll still help you find them. Of course if we do find them in your souls you guys probably won't get zanpakuto but if we don't find them it's kind of a mute point but if we do find-" "SHUT UP NATSU!"
"Sorry, point is, yeah, I can." Natsu said as Wendy smiled as she hugged him tighter, a few tears streaking down her cheeks. "Aw come on, no need to cry or else I do this!" "EEP! No, hehe, n-o-o, please N-ahahatsu! St-aha-p tickling m-eheehee!" Wendy was reduced to giggles as Natsu tickled her, his hug preventing her from escaping as the others watched with smiles on their faces. "Right let's go metalhead, I wanna watch the next match, come on Wendy!" Natsu said as he piggybacked her. The others followed him with even Gajeel getting up to follow them.
Natsu couldn't help but feel elated, he could help his fellow dragonslayers finally find their dragons, and if they got zanpakuto that'd be even greater! Although the amount of destruction they could potentially cause would probably give Makarov a coronary. Yet, Natsu couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was going to happen, but whatever it was, Natsu knew that he would be able to get through it, as long as he had Fairy Tail and Igneel by his side, nothing would stand in his way and they'd all get through these games and back to the top. 'Fairy Tail, where would I be without you guys? And master, thanks for helping me reach bankai, wherever you are, I hope you're proud of me.'
Little did Natsu know, up in the shadows of the stadium was a figure that looked at Natsu with pride. 'He did very well for his first fight with bankai.' 'Now you see the benefits that come with being a teacher.' 'Yeah, I do.' 'We should fight him sometime, it'll definitely prove fun.' 'Another time let him relish his victory'
If anybody had seen him and blinked, they would've noticed the figure was there one moment and then gone the next.