Here is chapter four!
I hope you enjoy!
Thanks for the reviews from
-Daisy Rhine
-MosesArk Reborn2000
-Death Kettle
-Attackoneverything
-Fairlymagical
-Deboo
-Fairytail's fan
-Reby Snowflake
-SceptileGirl44
Like always feel free to review, but (again) like normal no flames plz!
All rights go to Hiro Mashima
.
.
.
.
Makarov stared in shock, "What is this?"
He stared at the large container with a person sleeping inside a glowing liquid, the person wore simple black pants and a top- but what was most noticeable was his spiky pink hair.
Alsack lowered his gun, "Is that-"
...FT...
Younger Natsu stared at the empty container of glowing liquid in front of him, "What the hell is that?"
"Natsu look out!" Happy yelled- and he looked back just in time to dodge the attack coming from behind him. Then he ran forward as fast as he could, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled and punched the attacker- his flaming fist knocking him back.
After a moment the man pushed himself off the ground, "You got some power kid."
Natsu clenched his fist and stepped forward, "You ain't seen nothin' yet!" He yelled and ran forward.
"Natsu!" Happy tried to warn him, but it was just a second too late as the man appeared next to Natsu and kicked his ribs- throwing him back. Natsu cried out as he slammed into the container- and before he could react the man was right over him, grabbing his arm and holding him in mid-air. "Can't wait to see what your power level is when you're older brat." Then he drew a knife- cutting Natsu's upper arm and threw him to the side.
This time Natsu didn't crash into the ground because Happy was able to catch him in mid-air, flying back a bit and setting his friend on the ground, "Natsu!"
"I'm fine." Natsu mumbled and checked his wound- it was deep, but he had worse. He looked at the man as the man stabbed the bloody knife into the glass of the container, but the glass didn't break as the knife penetrated it. Natsu watched as his blood mixed with the glowing liquid. He forced himself to stand up- "What was that for?"
"Nothing for you to know yet boy- but we no longer need you alive Natsu Dragneel." The man said and raised his hand, the palm of his hand glowing.
Natsu glared. "How do you know my name?"
The man smirked then everything exploded in a blinding light.
...FT...
"Natsu?" Macao noticed that something was wrong, he was still- too still. He quickly put his hand over his nose- trying to find his breath, "No-" He moved fast, picking Natsu up and laying him on the floor, he put his ear to his chest- listening, nothing. "Come on Natsu-" He cursed and started CPR. Trying to get his body to start breathing once again. "Don't you dare do this to me Natsu." He mumbled as he pushed on his chest.
Macao was giving Natsu breathes when Happy and Lucy entered the room, "Natsu!" Happy screamed and flew up next to his friend. "Natsu?"
Lucy quickly grabbed the crying blue cat and hugged him. No! No! No! No! No! Lucy's mind screamed over and over again as she watched the fire mage try to revive the other one. Please stay with us!
Suddenly Natsu coughed and he started breathing again- it was ragged, but he was breathing. Lucy let out a choked sob and hugged Happy even tighter- he was alive.
Natsu coughed a few more times and his head moved to the side, "Natsu- if you can hear me try to wake up- that was a really close call." Macao said and watched for any movements.
...FT...
Younger Natsu coughed and whimpered as his body spasmed in pain. "Natsu?" Happy asked then coughed- making his way through the smoke, "Are you ok?"
"I'm alright- what happened?"
"No idea- but I think the man is gone," Happy said- he was clearly able to see Natsu- it didn't seem like the Fire Mage had any new injuries from that last attack. There were a few new bruises- but nothing else.
Natsu pushed himself up and noticing that he could see the sky- he looked ahead of him, the container was gone, and what was left of the building was rubble. He heard yelling behind him, "Damn." He winced, touching his wounded arm.
"Let's get out of here." Happy said and picked up his friend- He looked back at the approaching dark mages.
Natsu peeked back, his ribs were making it possible to get a full breath of air, especially for an attack- he also had an injured arm. "Dammit." He mumbled then turned to Happy, "Let's move."
"Aye!" Happy picked his friend up and flew- slower than before, knowing that his friend was injured. "Natsu? What was this that container back there?"
"No idea." Natsu said then looked back- "I don't see that thing anymore, so it must've been destroyed in the explosion." Natsu said and looked ahead. "That means that we don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Aye."
...FT...
Makarov stood in the same spot that Natsu had stood many years before- looking at what Natsu had thought was destroyed that day so many years ago. He was speechless- how was this done?
What type of magic is this?
He heard the others enter the room and gasp at what was before him, "What in the world?" Nab mumbled- speaking the same words that went through the other's minds at that moment.
Before them in a container of glowing blue liquid, wearing black pants and a shirt- he was barefoot and was without the familiar scar. With his spiky pink hair and his eyes closed- in a deep sleep,
Was Natsu Dragneel.
...FT...
Erza and Gray bolted out of the house as fast as they could- "That idiot!" Gray hissed as they ran, "He had those tapes all along and never said anything!"
"Don't be irrational Gray-" Erza said, "He is a man blinded by revenge- we have both been in that position before." She looked away, "He must've assumed that since a wizard saw it that the problem had been solved- he only had the one tape."
"It doesn't matter what he assumed-" Gray said, "What that man did was obviously something that would affect Natsu in the future- for whatever reason that man put Natsu's blood in that liquid is what is affecting him today." Gray yelled and sped up a bit. "Natsu was just a kid and he's an idiot on top of that- he wouldn't have known that what happened would hurt him," Gray said- his voice quieter than before.
"Gray-" Erza whispered, she looked ahead- seeing the Dark Guild Hall showing itself in the distance.
...FT...
Younger Natsu hissed as the disinfectant was applied to his opened wound, "There you go." Vigo said as he finished bandaging his arm, "It's not a too deep of a wound, how do your ribs feel?"
"They'll be alright." Natsu said and stood up, "Thanks for the help." He looked over at Happy, "You doing OK Happy?" Natsu asked.
"I'm alright, I was able to take a small nap so I'm not so tired anymore." Happy said as he walked up to him- looking up at his friend.
"That's good." Natsu said then looked over at Vigo- who had his back turned to him, putting the bandages away. He got an odd feeling off of Vigo- but he didn't say anything, not that he knew what to say.
He just got a bad feeling off the man.
"Is there something wrong young man?" Vigo asked.
"Nope!" Natsu quickly answered, "I just remembered that Gramps wanted us to head back as soon as we finished the job here!" He said- not realizing that what he said had been in fact the truth.
Natsu grabbed his bag, "Well it was good to meet you!" He yelled and grabbed Happy.
"Hold on a sec young man." Vigo said and Natsu peeked back- suddenly getting a bad feeling. Vigo seemed to be thinking of something- staring at Natsu. "No- never mind, you should get back- thank you for your help Salamander."
Natsu nodded- taking his reward and Happy- then he took off.
...FT...
Makarov stared up at Natsu, "How is this possible?"
Bisca lowered her gun, "Natsu?" She whispered, "When the hell did they get ahold of him?"
"They didn't." Cana answered, "Macao would at least have sent out a distress signal."
"Very true." Said a new voice. The light guild members turned, seeing a dark mage standing behind them, "If you're here to save that dragon-kid then you might want to kill that fast." He said gesturing to the Natsu behind them.
"What?"
The man laughed, "Don't be a fool- that's not your friend- that's a copy that we're creating from the blood we stole from that brat years ago." He said, "The stronger this copy gets the weaker yours becomes."
"This will have the powers of the Salamander-" A second dark mage said as he approached, "-but without all those useless memories that the original Salamander possesses, this will be a powerhouse with the intent to kill."
Makarov frowned, he knew that sooner or later a Dark Guild would come after Natsu for his enormous power- he didn't think that they had already been targeting him for years.
"This should be interesting-" a third one said, "We've never had a copy made before when the original is still alive-"
"So you've done this before?" Cana yelled up.
"Oh yes- you'll find that most of us here are copies. As I was saying- should be interesting to see what happens when this one wakes up, which should be any second now-"
There was a huge explosion behind the Fairies and they peeked back seeing the container holding the Natsu copy was on fire. "What the?" The glass melted and the water vanished and everything exploded in steam. Silencing the entire room- Makarov peeked over, seeing the grins on the Dark Mages face and knew that it wasn't good for them. Then he turned back to the steam.
The mages tried to focus through the steam- the steam was thinning out and they were able to see the shape of a person. Then with one gust of hot air the mist cleared showing the copy of Natsu standing up- his eyes slowly opened and he stared at them with no expression on his face.
...FT...
Natsu's eyes slowly opened, "You're awake!" Happy exclaimed cheerfully.
Macao leaned over Natsu, "Good to see you're awake kiddo we thought-" He stopped, seeing the expressionless look on his face, "Natsu?"
Suddenly the room exploded in fire and the next thing he knew he was kicked back into the wall by Natsu. "What are you doing Natsu?" Happy cried out, "That's Macao!"
Macao sat up and looked at Natsu, "Happy get back!" He yelled, "That's not Natsu!" He yelled just in time for Happy to dodge an attack. Macao pushed himself up- he knew that he was going to have to pin down Natsu, but he couldn't use his fire magic, even if this wasn't Natsu he still knew his magic since he attacked with fire earlier- meaning that he could just take Macao's fire and use it against him. "Damn it." He cursed as Natsu came in for another attack, "I swear I'm gonna beat the crap out of that Dark Guild." He growled as he blocked a fiery punch and jumped back.
Suddenly Wakuba attacked Natsu from behind him- knocking him down and Macao moved as fast as he could using his own body weight to pin him down, "Just stay calm kid- you're going to be alright. It'll soon be over." Then he looked over at Wakuba.
"Turns out the source is a copy of Natsu the Dark Guild made, the others are fighting it right now- in fact their fight started at the same exact time that our's did." Wakuba said and carefully approached- looking down at Natsu, who wasn't even struggling. "You sure you got him?" He asked and Macao nodded.
"Go let the other's know what happened, it seems that our Natsu is reacting with the copy." Macao said- Wakuba nodded and rushed out of the room.
Happy landed next to his friend, "Natsu."
"Don't worry he'll be alright." He said then looked down at Natsu- getting a weird feeling off him, he was silent and wasn't even trying to struggle- but he still had that blank look in his eyes, "Stay calm kid-" Macao reassured him- not even knowing if the Dragon Slayer could hear him, "Every things gonna be alright."
...FT...
Gajeel blocked an attack from the copy Natsu and threw him back- where he easily landed on his feet once again and came in for another attack, punching Gajeel- throwing him back and being able to break his iron scales. The Iron Dragon Slayer wasn't sure how long he had been fighting him- but he knew that something was wrong, the Salamander copy wasn't fighting as hard as he could've been for somebody who's only supposed instinct was to kill. "Damn it." Gajeel cursed and Natsu attacked again, kicking him back into a wall- then he spun around to attack him. Gajeel quickly moved out of the way- but was still hit by the copy's flaming kick.
Gajeel landed then moved to dodge another attack, "So you really are holding back? Salamander's kick hurt more then that when I was in Phantom." He said as he was able to catch a kick and threw the copy back.
He could see the copy get up and look back at him, and now that I'm thinking about it- this copy is keeping this fight one on one. He thought- looking around at the other guild members fighting some more Dark Mages that had come in. This is a fair fight- again, not something I would imagine from a mindless killer- he looked up just in time to be thrown back by another punch from the copy.
He landed, looking up at the copy as he landed- again, he held back…
The copy stood up looking over at him with an odd look in his eyes- he almost seemed to be pleading. The Gajeel felt the copy's power level start to rise as he approached him- still with that same look in his eyes. Finally Gajeel knew what that look was for-
The copy attacked with Salamader's Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame attack throwing Gajeel back. He would have received worse burns if it hadn't been for his iron scales.
Then the copy ran forward for one more attack.
Gajeel looked up just in time to see the hesitation- the doubt in the copy's eyes.
"Damn it, Iron Dragon's Iron Club!" Gajeel yelled and struck the copy square in the chest- shooting him back and into a wall. Gajeel scowled as his club retracted watching as the dust started to settle, to reveal the copy unmoving.
"You hit him!" Jet called over.
"Don't be an idiot- he let me hit him." Gajeel said, then he turned to a Dark Mage nearby, "Now that's a sick thing to do." Gajeel growled, and pointed to the unmoving copy of Natsu his anger growing with every word, "The copy didn't even want to fight us- he let me hit him because he had no other choice- either that or he had to kill us."
"Intuitive." The Dark Mage sneered- looking over at the copy with a look of disgust, "Looks like since the original is still alive the copy was able to retain some of his basic feelings. Seems that the only way to get what we want is to kill-" He never got to finish his sentence due to being frozen in a block of stone.
Gray stepped forward, "Kill who exactly you sicko?" He snarled.
Erza ran past him and up to the copy of Natsu- who lay on his back, struggling to breathe. She knelt next to him- and surveyed the damage. His ribcage was smashed- most likely destroying his lungs and most possibly the majority of his organs, left like that he wasn't going to last long.
Makarov stepped up and knelt on the other side of the copy, gently touching his forehead to keep him calm, "Shush child, you're going to be alright." He told him in a soft voice. His voice seemed to keep the copy calm- as if he recognized his voice.
Erza saw Gray approach from the corner of her eye- behind him stood Gajeel.
The Master continue to stoke the copy's hair back in a comforting gesture, keeping his voice calm- telling her that even if they did call Wendy, there would be nothing she could do.
Natsu's copy took a shaky breath then he gave a small smile- as if telling them that it was going to be OK. Then he stopped moving and his body went limp.
The group was silent for a moment as they slowly took in what just happened, none of them moving or even breating.
Erza slowly stood up- he body shaking-a sword appearing in her hand, "You!" She screamed her magic power flaring just like her fury then she requiped into her Heavens wheel armor, "Heaven's Wheel! Circle Sword!" she screamed.
"Duck!" Cana yelled- which was a good call, because not even a moment after a circle of swords formed around the Fairy Queen and they shot out- striking down any Dark Guild member in her range.
"I don't get it-" a dark mage sputtered, "Now that the copy is dead your friend should be waking up any moment- so why are you so angry?"
Before Erza could react, the dark mage was shot with ice, "Shut up." Gray snarled, "Doesn't matter what he was! A life's a life and you have no right to play around with other's lives!" He yelled his angry voice echoing through the base- making the dark mages flinch in fear from the anger in his voice, "You bastards pissed off Fairy Tail! YOU WILL REGRET THAT MISTAKE!"
From the outside the only thing a common citizen could see was a huge flash of light and the whole building being demolished in mere seconds by dozens of attacks.
...FT...
Natsu's coughing startled the four of them, for a little while he had stopped moving and was having a hard time breathing- sensing no trick Macao had sat him up- but now he was clutching his shirt and coughing deep coughs. "Natsu?"
The Dragon Slayer opened his eyes- this time they were filled with pain and he coughed even more- scrunching up, as if he was trying to block out the pain. He continued to cough- his coughs getting worse and worse with each one.
Macao's gut twisted in fear and his heart nearly stopped when Natsu started coughing up blood- pulling out of his arms, so the blood splattered on the ground. "Natsu!" Lucy yelled grabbing her friend's shoulders as he coughed, but stopped- his coughing was getting lighter and soon he was sputtering.
"No." Natsu's weak voice whimpered then he collapsed- Lucy catching him so he wouldn't fall into his own blood.
"Natsu!" Both Happy and Lucy yelled and Macao moved, checking his pulse first- it was steady. Then he checked his breathing and was surprised to find it calm. He immediately moved to check his temperature- he was cold, but was warming up, "They did it!" He laughed.
Happy cheered and immediately hugged Lucy who also laughed- it was over, they made it. She looked at the unconscious Dragon Slayer in her arms, "Thank you." She whispered then smiled at Happy as he spoke excitedly.
...FT...
Makarov looked down at the body of the Natsu's copy- he never did like seeing his children hurt, even though it was only a copy-
To put it shortly- he didn't even think of stopping the Fairy Tail members from obliterating the Dark Guild Hall for a reason.
The body of Natsu's copy started to glow and turn transparent- like water, making it almost ironic. "Rest well my child." Makarov whispered as the last remnants of the copy vanished into the air. Makarov stood up and walked past Gajeel- who hadn't moved. "You saw it yourself- even as a copy he knew what he was being forced to do was wrong. He would have gone only through worse pain had he lived knowing that fact."
He looked over at Gajeel, "Do not despair, you did what needed to be done, he would have been killed some day, and I can promise you the Magic Council would not show any mercy to him- you saved him from that fate."
"Yeah I know-" Gajeel said and turned away, "But it still doesn't feel right."
"No and it never will." Makarov said- after a moment Gajeel nodded and walked away. Makarov sighed and looked back at where the body had been- it was cruel, but at least he died being treated like a human.
...FT...
Once again time passed by, it had a least been a week since the copy's death. Lucy sat up in the infirmary waiting for Natsu to wake up- his body temperature was back to normal and his magic power had returned a few days before, making the only thing he needed to do was wake up.
"You need to hurry up and wake up." Lucy said, "We're a team right? I can't take a job until you wake up." She rested her head on the side of Natsu's bed, thinking about all that happened since she joined- to be honest, it was a little too much for a girl's comfort.
But on the other hand, each fight made her grow stronger as a wizard and she knew that, even though she pointed out frequently that there were other ways to get stronger.
Before she knew it, exhaustion had taken over, and her eyes fluttered closed- taking her to the world of sleep.
...FT...
Thank you for your help, Salamander.
Natsu opened his eyes and looked over at the blue cat standing on the bed next to his shoulder, "Happy?"
Happy teared up, "You're ok!" He cried and tackled his friend, "Don't you ever dare do that again! If you do I'll- I'll-"
He broke into full sobs, "I'll tell Erza you smashed a perfectly good strawberry cake!"
"No need to do that!" Natsu yelled and looked at the door- glad to hear that Erza hadn't been in listening range of Happy's comment- everybody knew how terrifying she could be when someone ruined her precious strawberry cake. Then he turned to Happy with a serious look in his eyes.
"What is it Natsu?"
He put his legs over the side of the bed, careful not to disturb Lucy- he had just noticed her there and was amazed that she didn't wake up during the commotion, "I need to speak with Gramps." He tried to pull himself up- but was way too weak to even stand, "Dammit."
"Wait here." Happy told his friend, "I'll go get him." Then he flew off.
Natsu sat silently and after a moment Happy returned followed by the Master, Gray, and Erza.
Lucy woke up, "Natsu you're-" she stopped.
"What is it my boy?" Makarov asked.
Natsu looked over at him, "I need to speak with Vigo Dyestar."
"Why him?" Lucy asked.
"He may be more involved then we think-"
"Natsu." Erza spoke up, earning his attention (not that he ever had much of a choice when it came to Erza), "Vigo was concerned about you when he found out what happened-"
"He called me Salamander when I left the job nine years ago." Natsu cut in looking back at the Master.
"Why is that so important?" Gray asked, folding his arms.
Natsu didn't look at him, "Because I introduced myself as Natsu- I never told him my nickname was Salamander."
.
.
.
.
.
Chapter four is done! There should only be one more chapter, this has been really fun to write and I thank everybody for their supporting reviews!
Speaking of- feel free to review!
No flames plz!
I'll make sure to update soon!