Destiny's Demise
Chapter 12: The Revelation
"It was you." Natsu rumbled, coiling his fingers into the tightly crushed fists. Veins protruded from his skin, pushing the drip in his neck with such force, the IV drip shattered. Grey liquid splattered across the floor with shattered glass falling around it. Muscles wound up to the point that they might tear. Blood boiled with rage and anger in his veins. Heat burst across his body, instantly breaking his skin out into a glass of sweat, rolling down his skin.
"Uh oh," The scientist said in a dull concern tones, but showed no signs of fear on his face.
"What's he doing?" Mercury asked with haste, creeping fearfully around the back of the black chair.
"He's rising the temperature of his body in order to burn off the magic suppressant in his veins." The scientist explained with more intrigue than his voice than actual concern.
"What?" Mercury exclaimed in fright. "How can he do that?"
"Don't underestimate a dragon slayer with a three year long grudge." The scientist chuckled, watching amusingly.
"This isn't funny!" Mercury whimpered.
The creaking wail of the metal reverberated through the air. Scales ran along the dragon slayer's skin. Sparks jumped and flickered around his fists. White canines, much bigger and stronger than the cat's, protruded from his tightly clenched jaw. A trickle of blood ran down from the edge of his neck, squeezed out from the pressure of his veins.
Sudden flames burst up like a soaring blaze. Metal fire balls were sent flying through the air, clattering against the stone floor. One laded and rolled up to the black boots of the scientist. Glass-covered eyes regarded the black charred metal as it melted into a bubbling puddle at his feet. Mercury let out a squeal of fear, ducking to dodge another flying cuff.
Bare feet dropped against the stone, sending a ripple shaking through the Earth. Cracks exploded from his feet, skating all the way up the walls and ceiling. The thick concrete floor reacted to the pressure like he was walking on thin ice. It creaked and wailed under the force of the heat. The thermometer on the other side of the room broke, glass dropping against the floor. However, not even a single drop of sweat came from the scientist's pale skin, patiently watching the dragon slayer approach. Mercury had become a cat that looked like it had a bucket of water thrown over it.
"You made through my guild, my team, and Lucy go through all that pain." Natsu growled a black silhouette amongst the ocean of flames cloaked around him. "Now I'm going to return it to you a thousand times over.
Slowly, the dragon slayer lowered his body to the ground in a crouch. Glowing red eyes pierced through the swallowing flames like a beast's, locking straight onto the man in the black chair.
A sonic boom burst through the air, blowing Mercury back, rattling the metal chains, throwing the metal divider almost completely off its hinges. Flames moved at the speed of light, heading straight towards the man like a meteor, ready to destroy anything in its way. "Iron fist of the-" Natsu bellowed, moving too fast to see.
Suddenly flames went up in the smoke as the slayer was shot out of the sky. Rubble burst outwards like a tidal wave under the force of his body crashing back down into the concrete. Two feet slammed down on his back, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
A sharp, hot blade touched the back of his neck in a flash. Just as it was about to cut into his skin, it began to metal into black bubbling ink. Like a tattoo the blade moved down the skin of his neck with a boiling hot burn at the push of the blade. Once it reached the edge of his skin it turned solid again, locking his neck against the concrete. "Move and you'll kill yourself." An unfamiliar voice warned.
The sensation of hot ink bubbling over his skin moved over his ankles, wrists, thighs and chest. Natsu bucked his back but the person on top of him didn't budge. Flames swallowed his hands in a glove of fire, spreading it down to his wrist, but no matter how hot he made his fire, the metal wouldn't melt. He tried to move his head, but just as his skin touched the blade, a hot burning pain cut into his skin. There was no blood but the hot pain travelling down his neck was so intense he could have passed out. It was an even sickening revelation that the air smelt of charred flesh.
"Saturn," The scientist greeted cheerfully. "When did you wake up?" The surprise at his ally's appearance surprised the dragon slayer. The man in the lab coat didn't even flinch when Natsu came at him, and showed no signs of fear at his rage; he had to have known his ally was coming. There was no way he could have kept such an impervious composure and not know his safety was guaranteed. Could he?
"He woke up a few minutes ago." A second voice appeared from the doorway. Dark eyes flickered up, noticing the tall black cat stood by the man's side. He hadn't even seen him move.
"Thank you for bringing him to see me, Venus." The scientist grinned. "You are so loyal."
"Of course, Master." Venus bowed, showing his gratitude for the complement.
"Now, back to what I was saying." The scientist continued, revealing the bullet again from his closed fist. A sharp glowed rumbled from between the slayer's teeth.
Saturn's fist crashed into the back of the dragon slayer's pink head, slamming it against the concrete. Blood dripped from his nose and his split lip which added a bitter sting. "Don't disrespect my master." Saturn hissed.
"Calm down, Saturn; It's quite alright." The scientist coaxed the easily tempered mage. "With his emotions, he's so different from the cold, quiet old Saturn. I like this one better though."
"Yes, Master." Saturn responded, reluctantly drawing his fist from the back of Natsu's head. The slayer spat out a mouthful of blood, glaring up at the white coat man.
"I was able to use the blood from this bullet." The scientist presented the crushed piece of metal again. "This is the only substance other than the brain that can have memories extracted from it. Doing such allowed me to transfer them to an accessible section in Mercury's brain and reform his mind until he is almost completely become that person. There is only the conscious awareness of his true self which is left.
"Luckily that guy's such an idiot he wasn't even suspicious that they were three years old." Mercury added, returning around the opposite side of the chair. He caught eyes with the taller black cat. "What took you so long?" He scoffed, exposing the obvious contempt in their relationship. Venus' eyes narrowed on the half-cat for a moment before turning away with nothing said.
Natsu let out a sharp hiss at the yellow cat instead, causing it to jump back in shock. A smothered flicker of a grin passed over Venus' mouth.
Mercury hissed, regaining his composure. "Can I kill him, yet?"
Brown hair was pushed away from the glasses again, turning back to the pink-haired boy. "Not quite yet." The scientist replied.
"Let me guess," Natsu sarcastically chuckled. "You're going to take my soul in order to create another monster right?"
"You're such a genius, dragon slayer." Mercury growled, laying it on thick with the sarcasm. "But, we don't need you little soul as much as you think." Onyx eyes snapped to the cat with a glare, making him draw back. They then turned to the man in the black seat.
"My plan never included taking your soul, Natsu." The scientist admitted. "Although you have been a very important piece to me.
"Plan? Piece?" Natsu scoffed. "What plan? We attacked you; You had no plan."
"But that was a part of my plan. All of it has been a part of my plan all along." The scientist argued.
"What are you talking about?" Natsu growled.
"Everything that has happened has all followed my predictions. From the very second I pulled that trigger, all the way up to this conversation." The scientist smiled.
"That's impossible." Natsu snapped. However, there was something about that smile that told him he was about to be forced to believe it whether he wanted to or not.
"Hurting one of the members of a loyal guild with a team with the strongest bonds, taking out the piece that would create the strongest influence on the strongest pieces, letting those emotions fester.
Kidnapping children, creating monsters, catching the eyes of the fire troupe. Creating such a powerful evil that only an army could defeat, making the fire troupe heroes, then having them defeats my underlings to create fame and support of the people.
Creating a job at the right point of your emotions to bring team Natsu back to the town covered in fire troupe logos everywhere, leading Erza, infamous for her peculiar shopping habits to buy t-shirts with the troupe emblems for later.
Your meeting with the nosiest member of all; the whippet. Your emotions, anger, pushed by the old lady Charlotte's story.
Catching the attention of the notorious man-hater, Fira. Crossing paths with the Fire troupe, temporarily under Fira's control. Her undying loyalty to her leader, causing her to attack your entire team and hold them captive. The protective instinct of threat towards her leader's position and authority forcing you and fire troupe's leader to meet.
Your infamous stubbornness to uphold Fairy Tail's name and complete you mission forcing you to reject her offer, forcing her to march on early in order to protect the dragon slayer souls; a rumor I created. Did you think Natsu-sama was able to get across that battle field so easily because of her strength and skill? Oh no; It's because I allowed her to do so. He knew you would head straight for the castle leaving who in charge? That's right, her most trusted second in command.
You were able to escape out of her conditioned barrier with the shirts Erza had previously loaded. Mana, concerned for her leader, leaving an aid to guide you of some kind, a horse most presumably.
After your escape, you would arrive approximately when Natsu-sama was almost completely through enemy lines. Your hot=headed infatuation with her lead you and your blue feline companion to head after her.
Your team, lead by the spy I had purposeful given to the Fire troupe for capture, would then lead you to rendezvous with Fira and supply help. Erza, being the stronger fighter, would be sent to back up the right flank in the loosing fight. Gray would help the left, crossing paths with the priest, Valentine, Fira's Fiancé.
Later Venus was to intercept Mana and Carla for leverage against Fira. Fira, as noble as she is, would allow the others to escape and be killed by Venus.
Wendy would head to Erza, knowing she was being targeted. Mana would head to Gray.
Wendy and Carla would be intercepted and dealt with, later followed by Erza after Saturn's awakening.
Mana, having reported the broken card found in the tent, would lead Valentine and Gray and Mana to separate from the army and head in pursuit of the castle for revenge.
Natsu would defeat Uranus and Neptune and carry on through the house. A whole would open up straight to the underground tunnels. Natsu, enticed by Natsu-sama's scent would follow. They would find Mercury, disguised as the cryogenic frozen Lucy. They would help her escape.
Gray, Valentine, and Mana would find the broken machine and follow, confused by the computerized message and become contaminated by the water, except for the speed child.
You were to be betrayed by Lucy, a.k.a Mercury, who manipulates your memories, thinking you've been stabbed and collapsing from the pain. The feline has a delayed capture until he runs into the ice mage, lowering his guard.
At that point, Venus takes the opportunity to incapacitate Gray while Mercury catches the cat and bring you here. Meanwhile, Venus takes Valentine and Gray, and Mana escapes.
This brings us to here where you found out the truth and tried to attack me, to which Saturn intercepts."
"No way…" Natsu uttered in shock. He had recited and explained everything, even the things he could even possibly know. Was it even possible to predict something so complex to the exact detail? Natsu was beginning to have a harder time saying 'no.'.
"Yes way." An old familiar voice caught his ear. Natsu looked up, meeting two black beady eyes on a head with long hair that never seemed to end.
"Madam Charlotte?" Natsu grumbled.
"Wrong!" Mercury buzzed, his body shifting back into his own.
"Guess who now! He continued, shaping his body to be round and a little shorter, with big hairy arms displaying a flaming tattoo with a toothy grin and hearty laugh.
"Mr. Tanaka too…" Natsu grumbled in disappointment. It was mostly at himself, scolding himself for not realizing sooner.
"You wanted to find Madame Charlotte's lost son?" Mr. Tanaka grinned with Mercury's sadistic smile. "Well here he is." Wide hairy arms opened wide gesturing to his body. "The real one that is. I used the memories of these two in order to perfectly create my illusion."
"Why are you doing this?" Natsu exclaimed with frustration. Dark curly hair grew back into short gold hair all across his body, the half-cat appearing again by the scientist's side. The scientist looked to the dragon slayer and gave patient thought on how to best explain it.
"Do you know how many people died from both our sides on that field?" He asked, deciding a question would be most appropriate to describe his reasoning. "Almost a thousand; most of which were on my side. The monsters I had created are nowhere close to my true aim; to create synthetic life. My present creations are only recycled lives. My intention is to be able to scientifically create a life. And I have developed a method how. Using the glorified souls of those who died in battle, the purist kind of soul, I can power a machine to do this."
"So that's why you need this fight; to create the right conditions to harvest those souls." Natsu hissed, feeling sick to the pit of his stomach at the thought.
"They believed they were fighting to protect something, and those kinds of souls are beautiful." The scientist sighed.
"What did you possibly offer the people that died in the battle for you, in order to be that pure?" Natsu snidely remarked, bearing his dragon slayer canines freely.
"I told them of a new world with new life." The scientist answered. "It was just a little fantastical thing, but humans don't need to be told much to have hope."
"What does creating fake lives do for you or anyone else in this world?" Natsu asked, finding himself at a loss for an answer.
"I'm purely going it for the name of science," The man shrugged, rising out of his leather black seat. Mercury took the opportunity to and slid into it, earning a glare from Venus, and from what he could tell through the feet on his back, Saturn as well. Mercury just grinned, snuggling into the seat with a satisfied purr.
"Everyone else?" The scientist continued. "I have no idea; they could be reborn again in a new living body, be young again or have the child they could never have. Something like that; Humans are greedy creatures after all."
The scientist gestured to the black cat and the right metal door. Black paws were already on the broken door by the time Natsu looked over, disappearing from the chair's side faster than a second. They tore the door down like it was paper, revealing an even more shocking sight.
A large bronze, mechanical device fixed against the wall at the height and width of nearly the entire town of Magnolia. Onyx eyes stared up in horror at the intricate circle plates shrinking in size the further down it went. It shrunk all the way down and over a fine needle, hovering over a pool of green sparkling liquid. Two black bars with electric transponders hovered over the pool edges.
"What the-"Natsu gulped, almost speechlessly looking up at its enormous size.
"You said you were looking for the 'Earl' right?" The scientist gestured up to the contraception. "This is it."
"That's the 'Earl'?" Natsu uttered. All his fingers and toes went numb, the blood pulling itself in, trying to get away as far as it could. Everything in his mind screamed danger, yet his heart didn't even have the energy to pulse.
In the shadow of its looming evil mechanics, Natsu could barely whisper a breath.
"A bath full of cells…" The scientist began to explain, climbing the few steps up to the pool of bubbling water. An empty hand gestured to it. "…stimulated with electric jolts to divide he cells while simultaneously transferring souls into the forming embryos."
"I don't understand what you're saying…" Natsu growled in a deep threatening voice. Pink air fell over the dragon slayer's face, shadowing his dark eyes from view. Canines protruded from his tightly clenched jaw. Fingers curled up into fists, turning his knuckles white. "But I won't let you take those souls!" Natsu roared, flames exploding from his body.
Saturn leapt backwards, missing the flame by a fingers breath. The hot disks sealing Natsu to the ground evaporated into the air, setting the dragon slayer free. Before anyone could take a breath, Natsu was gone.
Feet crashed angst the thundering earth. Black charred concrete was left in his wake, showing the only sign as he tore through the distance in a flash. Flames, fuelled with rage, flickered to dust at the speed only to relight again a moment later. No one could catch him; no one could stop him from showing the scientist what he truly thought of his plan. No one. Except one.
A bar of metal was already wrapped around his waist before he could notice, marking the end.
Skin hit concrete with bone shattering force. Rocks spat up in rubble, cracks shooting out of the ground in a wall shaking crater. In the centre, was the semi-conscious body of the pink-haired dragon slayer, unable to lift a finger.
Two boots stood on the concrete next to his vision. Onyx eyes slowly crawled up to the black trousers hanging over the dark shoes, all the way up his gold tinted skin, covered in black circular tattoos.
Creamy warm eyes stared down at him, not with the anger her first displayed in his voice, but with pity and only very slight, guilt. Pity he could understand, but why would he feel guilty?
A sharp clatter of metal awoke the dragon slayer to his surroundings. Metal loops began to turn in alternating directions, folding and moving over each other, contracting and expanding around the core. A buzzing hum vibrated through the air as the electric rods below the pool prepared for the incoming shock of electricity.
Screens suddenly appeared midair with a big white bar, slowly filling up with a red line. Words written in white read:
'0 souls gathered'
Before Natsu had a chance to wonder, glowing balls of light began appearing form the walls. They were like little orbs of white incandescent light moving through the earth light it was water, surrounding the underground warehouse. The zero on the screen disappeared with a rapid increase of fluttering numbers 1 to 10 to 20 in a matter of seconds. The orbs got suck in through the top like a sieve, raising the number one soul at the time.
"What have you done?" Natsu hissed. Cut lips pulled back in a blood stained snarl.
"Do you know why they call me the sun?" The scientist said, not turning from his screen, just passing eighty. "I will lead the world into a brighter future of science." He answered himself, turning towards the dragon slayer. Natsu said nothing, struggling to grasp the concept of the souls flying past him.
"I will now also pass light onto you." The scientist said, catching the slayer's attention. "You can think of it as my thank you gift for bringing my plan to completion." A horrible bitter taste, aside from the taste of blood, was left on Natsu's tongue, trying to swallow the disgusting words he was just fed.
"What light would I want from someone like you?" Natsu growled.
A soft gentle and pitiful smile sat on the man's lips, pushing his glasses further into his face. "You asked me a question earlier. I will answer it for you." The scientist proposed, pacing across the room with Venus at his heels.
There had been many questions the slayer had asked through the endurance of their conversation, and Natsu could be sure which one he was referring to.
Dark eyes follow the man closely, turning his aching neck. A startled gasp chocked in his throat when he saw what the man was heading to; the metal frame.
Because of the angle of the chair, Natsu hadn't been able to see what exactly was on the frame behind the black chair. However, he had moved a long distance passed it, and the view had become clear.
Long salmon-pink hair fell down in wavy curves over the bruised, beaten and pale body. Cut. Bleeding arms and legs were strung to each corner of the frame. Long silver chains ran from the chair up and around her body; one around the neck and one over her chest; one pull of the chains and excruciating pain would be dealt.
"Natsu-sama…"
Next Monday; Chapter 13; The Loyal
As hidden loyalties are put to the test, the truths masked in lies begin to come to light at a deadly cost.
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-A-ccentric
