DISCLAIMER: I regret to inform all of you, but I do not own Fairy Tail.
If there is a god, he must really despise my existence. This must be the case, considering there is no other possible explanation as to what is currently occurring before my eyes.
The orange-haired man sprinting behind me increased his speed again. AGAIN. Why couldn't this geezer just act his age and slow the hell down? Oh, right. Because god hates me. I grasped the hundred-carat diamond in my hand tightly as I rounded another corner, desperately attempting to loose this guy that had to be over fifty. I didn't understand. The red-haired cop and the black-haired detective had been relatively easy to secure with the net trap I had set up before my heist had began. BUT NO! There just had to have some old man who seemed to have a sixth sense dedicated solely to locating and eluding all of my traps. Annoying. I sighed. This was getting boring. Time to lose this guy.
As I turned another corner in the museum that was currently being robbed, I gently attached what looked like a sticker to the wall with my fingertip. I took a few more running steps before stopping completely in the middle of the long, narrow hallway.
Three, two, one.
Cue the crazy orange-haired bastard. The man came barreling around the corner, his golden police badge flashing in the moonlight. I grinned. When the geezer saw that I had stopped running, a cocky smirk found its way onto his face.
"Finally stop running, Salamander?" He asked in an confident tone. Tch. The man thought he already won. As if. Now, god might hate me but at least the devil seemed to be on my side.
The voice I replied in wasn't my own. "For the moment."
My answer apparently put him on edge. He surveyed his surrounding slowly. Cautiously. Looking for the trap he knew I had set up. His eyes eventually landed on the sticker that had faithfully stayed in place. He didn't spare it a second glance.
"Ya' know Salamander, when Gramps called off my undercover recon assignment, he said we'd run into a major problem. A problem that had somehow evaded all three of his senior officers, and all of the veteran officers that the Council sent to apprehend you."
Oh joy. He's monologuing.
I reached up and adjusted the mask that covered half of my face, minus my eyes. It was a mask that one might have worn to a masquerade ball. I tried to hold back the yawn that escaped my lips- I really did. But the monologue was just so boring. That, and I needed this guy gone so I could meet the time limit that my psychopath master set for me.
The bastard didn't even notice the yawn. He's more self-centered than I anticipated. Crap. The old man was still a few steps outta range. Gotta get him to step forward.
" -so you can imagine my surprise when this seemingly master thief can take down a military trained detective, but can't ditch an old ma-"
All of a sudden, I rapidly took three backwards steps. He was startled out of his monologue and took just as many steps forward. My unusually long canines glinted in the moonlight when the corners of my mouth turned up. I reached into the black jacket I had on and puled out a small remote with a red button right in the center. With a slide of hand, I simultaneously slipped the diamond into my other jacket sleeve. The old man's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the remote as he turned to look at the small Dora the Explorer sticker stuck to the wall a second time. The sticker was unnaturally thick and barely hanging onto the wall.
I pushed the button.
A shock of electricity rushed out of the sticker and right into the old man's body. Direct hit. He immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to move except in small spasms. Drool pooled in the corners of his mouth. Pathetic, really. I was proud of myself for inventing that one. Master said no one was stupid enough to overlook a sticker in the middle of a heist, but hey, every one outta five, right? I designed that sticker to send electricity into the muscles for temporary paralisis. Genius, I know.
"Hey boss, you need to get to the roof if you wanna meet the deadline the crazy bastard set for ya."
Turning away from the paralyzed body, I presses my hand to the small com link in my ear.
"Thanks for the reminder, Sting. But please, for the love of all things holy, DON'T TALK SO LOUDLY INTO THE COM!" I hope that reply busted his eardrum.
"I must agree with the boss, Sting. Please refrain from talking so loudly into the earpieces. Its painful."
"You're only saying that since you knew he was gonna shout and took yours out. Stupid Rogue."
"Hey now, don't blame your twin for being smarter than you." I said to Sting, smugly.
"You mustn't blame him Natsu. I was born with all of the good genes after all." Rogue said in his usual 'I don't care' voice.
"THE FUCK YOU WER-" Sting started before both Rogue and I silenced our coms, successfully ending the imminent rant. Sighing softly, I left behind the orange-haired man and began my trek up to the museum's roof. Avoiding all of the security cameras, I opened the rusty metal door to the roof and took off my mask stuffing it into one of the secret pockets in my jacket. I saw a figure in a baseball cap typing frantically on a computer he had set up on the concrete, a faint glow from the technology lighting up his face.
"Rogue, toss me a bag, would ya?"
The figure now identified as Rogue threw over a small plastic bag without having looked up from his computer. I dropped the diamond inside and sealed it shut with my bandaged hands.
"They trying to get access of the cameras again?" I asked him.
"And almost succeeded while I wasn't looking." The red-eyed hacker replied. "It must be Levy. She's Fairy Tail's intelligence agent and resident hacker. She's good at it to. Girl is de-coding all the viruses I uploaded into the cameras."
I clicked my tongue. "Damn Fairy Tail agents. Anyway, you can let em' have the museum cameras, just cut the feed for the ones surrounding the building."
He nodded in confirmation. I sighed again. Usually on heists, the Fairy Tail Police Department only sent a few incompetent agents, like the red-head, to come and pick me up. Seeing as that didn't go as planned, for the sixth time in a row might I add, they sent the geezer bring me in. Unfortunately, that didn't work either. I looked forward to watching the news as the Chief of Fairy Tail apologized again for his officer's sake. They apparently caused a lot of damages.
"I'm done here. Sting you can go get the truck." Rogue said into the coms. He nodded at me as he packed up his gear. I took my com off of silent.
"Any reinforcements yet, Wendy?" I asked into the coms.
"Lucy and Gajeel are headed your way but that's all for now."
"Thanks, Wen." I said with a smile. The youngest member of my crew laughed softly.
"Sure Natsu. Its the least I can do for you guys, after all." Wendy replied merrily.
"How you doin' over in that neck of the woods, Wen?" Sting asked over the coms, worry etched into his tone.
"Fairy Tail really isn't that bad. They have this medic called Porlyusica and she's a real genius. She's teaching me so many things, and I get to help out with Erza and Gray's injuries sometimes. Also, thanks for not yelling into the com that time, you guys almost gave away my cover with all of your shouting. Porlyusica was all like,'What's that small annoying voice?' And I was like,'It's probably just your conscience.' And then she flipped out."
Natsu laughed joyously into the earpiece. Wendy was getting sassier every day and it amused him to no end.
"Whelp. on that note, Rogue and I need to high-tail outta here, I can see the red and blue lights getting closer."
"Copy." I laughed at the simultaneous response all three of my crew members gave.
"Please tell me you didn't practice that."
"Bye, Natsu." Wendy said, brushing me off.
"Ciao."
Bending over the edge of the roof, I watched the lamplit street for any signs of a blue pickup truck.
"There he is." Rogue said pointing to an approaching vehicle.
"Right you are, my boy." I reached into Rogue's bag and pulled out a rope and grappling hook.
"Not again." Rogue sighed. "You are aware that heights scare me, right?"
I secured one end of the grappling hook to the edge of the roof. "What's that one quote Rogue? 'He who has overcome his fears will truly become free.' Right? Don't ya' wanna be free Rogue?"
"First of all, don't quote Aristotle. Second, in this day and age, no one is free." I got onto the railings that guarded the roof.
"It's all a matter of perspective." I jumped.
It was a free-fall for about four seconds before the rope around my waist tightened, slowing my descent into the bed of the pickup truck.
"Crazy bastard!" Sting laughed from inside the truck. I untied the rope from my waist.
"Come on Rogue! Now or never!" I yelled up at him. We heard the faint sound of police sirens.
"You are aware that heights scare him, correct?' Sting inquired. I laughed.
"You two really are twins." I snickered at his questioning look. Suddenly, Rogue took the rope into his hands and pushed off the wall with a powerful thrust from both legs. When his momentum carried him back to the building, he let the rope slide through his hands a bit before pushing off of the wall again.
"He's cheating." I sighed.
"He always does that when you make him jump off the roof." Sting chuckled. It wasn't long before Rogue made it into the bed of the truck. Natsu immediately started on hounding him.
"Sloppy precision, but we'll make due. Gotta tell ya Rogue, every time you do that a part of me dies."
"First, that's scientifically impossible. Second, if you died, you'd be doing Fairy Tail a favor."
"You wound me Rogue!" I called out dramatically slumping into the bed of the truck after Rogue had detached the grappling hook and rope from the roof. "You'll make due." Sting began driving away from the museum.
"Talk about it later guys! I wanna see the diamond!" Sting called back to us.
"Are you serious?! No way! Obey the law and keep your eyes on the road!" I yelled up at him.
He sent me a 'seriously' look through the rearview mirror. Rogue snickered.
"Hey, Rogue?" Sting directed his attention to his brother.
"Hm?"
"How many of the city cameras did you black out? I need to know what parts of town to avoid."
"I went ahead and set all the cameras in Magnolia with the same image, so you should be fine driving anywhere."
"Okay, thanks."
"Overachiever." I coughed. I put a hand onto my chest. "Excuse me."
"Go die." Rogue said turning his head away.
"Seriously?" I said trying not to laugh. "Aw, come on, I'm sorry Rogue."
"Whatever." He grumbled.
After a while of driving, Sting pulled into the driveway of a run-down hotel.
"Well, this where we part ways. So long my dear friends." I say with a two fingered salute.
"Yeah sure." Sting says with a small smile. "Hey! Make sure you get that thing straight to Invel! No slacking!"
"As if you can talk." Rogue grumbles.
"Natsu, I would like to sincerely thank you for turning my brother into a reincarnation of the devil. My deepest thanks." Sting said sadly.
"Anytime, Sting." I say happily.
"Until next time, Rogue!"
He grunted back.
"Hey, didja make sure to get a few pictures of the lake over in Crocus for your cover story?" I asked Sting. He waved a few photos on front of my face. "Got em' right here."
"Good, make sure you show them. Be extra obnoxious you know... the usual."
"Aye aye captain." Sting replies. "Fairy Tail will literally believe anything we tell them, you don't need to worry about our covers, they're solid."
"I know, I know. Just be careful. Do you remember what you're supposed to tell them?"
Sting sighed. "Me and my darling twin went on an amazing vacation to Crocus! The beach was nice, Rogue wasn't, and I've never been happier in my life! Here's some pictures!" Sting looked at me annoyed.
"Good! Be safe and play nice boys!"
"Yah, yah. Goodbye mother!" Sting said while reversing the truck.
"Goodbye my precious children!" I called back to them. Rogue was actually smiling now, so that was an improvement.
I walked up the crunchy gravel driveway towards the double doors that were blocking the entrance. I pulled out a few tools and picked the lock within three seconds. Practice makes perfect after all. I pulled open the heavy wooden doors and walked through the old, dusty main room. I knew this place by heart. A fact that I wasn't proud of. Turning a corner I walked into a room at the end of the hallway. Opening the door I recovered the diamond bag from my pocket and tossed it onto the massive desk that sat in front of Invel.
He startled awake from the noise. "Ah, Natsu! I wasn't expecting you to come so early in the day!" He exclaimed in a sleepy voice, bage under his eyes.
"Um, Invel?"
"Hm?"
"It's three in the morning."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Are you okay?"
"Yup, just still processing that." Natsu sent him a suspicious glance.
"Soo, what have you been doing in here anyway?" Invel quickly developed a worried expression before trying to sweep every paper on his desk into one of his drawers, which in all fairness, was a daunting task.
"Don't bother, I've already seen them."
Invel sighed. "He's at it again?" A nod. "Wonderful."
"Well, I'm off to face a demon." Natsu said dejectedly.
"A child shouldn't say that about his father." Invel scolded.
"Adopted. And can he say it if the man is a killer?" That shut Invel right up.
"Thought so. Anyway, examine the diamond for me wouldja? Should fetch a pretty penny." With that he closed the door.
Invel sighed. "That boy should have learned by now."
Natsu walked through the mostly abandoned hallways of the old hotel, his footsteps echoing through the empty corridors. He always dreaded talking with his dear ol' dad, but there's nothing he could do about it. If his master wanted a report, then he would get one. If he wanted a million dollars he would get it. That's just how things were with his old man. He reached the end of the third story hallway. Deep breaths. In and out. He pushed open the solid black double doors that stood before him. Moonlight rushed into the hallway from the open window on the far side of the room.
A tall black-haired man stood in the middle of the room, hands clasped tightly behind his back, moonlight shining directly on him.
"Ah, my protégé. I assume your venture was successful?" The figure asked.
"It was."
"Time?"
"Ten minutes."
The figure clicked his tongue. "You should only have needed five. You had trouble?"
"In the form of a fifty-year-old orange-haired man. And two idiotic brats"
"Ah. And who would they be, son? I assume you know everyone from Fairy Tail, considering-"
"Gray Fullbuster-eighteen years old. Erza Scarlet-nineteen years old. Gildarts Clive-forty-five years old. I honestly figured he'd be more skilled than he was. I was... disappointed."
The man laughed. "As was I when I heard you'd brought that toy along with you."
"That toy as you call it took down Fairy Tail's so called 'unbeatable man', so I wouldn't judge it just yet."
"Really? Maybe Clive really is just a mascot then."
"If were done here then I'll be goin-"
"How is the rest of your crew doing? Did you see to it that their infiltration is going smoothly?"
Natsu sighed. He wasn't getting out of this.
"Yes. Their infiltration is going as planned. The Fairy Tail officers suspect nothing."
"Glad to hear it."
"I have a question."
"Ask away." His master said, still facing away from him.
"Who did you kill this time? And why?"
"Natsu my boy, everything I do, I do for a reason. That includes adopting you and that other girl. What was she called again? Lisa, was it?"
"Lisanna." Natsu hissed. He realized his father was dodging the question and decided not to comment.
"Ah, that's right. A beautiful name. Truly a shame I can't seem to remember it."
Deep breaths.
"How is she doing? You said you wouldn't kill her as long as I completed the plan."
"And seeing as to how the plan isn't complete yet, she remains breathing."
Natsu let out a sigh. So he hadn't killed her yet. That was good.
"Let me see her."
"Only if you ask nicely."
The bastard is toying with me.
"May I please be granted the extreme honor of seeing my dearest friend, Master Zeref?" Natsu asked sarcasm lacing his voice.
Zeref turned around to look at his adopted son, moonlight illuminating him from behind and amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Hm... That was polite but lacked etiquette. Maybe tomorrow. Now leave me. I wish to be alone."
Natsu left the room and slammed the doors behind him. He hated himself for giving the bastard what he wanted. He couldn't care less if the beast of a man was his father. He forced had him to become a thief. Having his son steal riches for his own personal gain. How low could you get? And to top it all off, he dragged Lisanna into it too. When Natsu had been adopted, Zeref had also gotten Lisanna. When he learned of Natsu's potential, he had dragged Lisanna somewhere and locked her up. But that was five years ago back when Zeref had just taken the children from the orphanage.
To be honest I am starting to doubt whether Lisanna is still even alive. But I can't just leave. If there's even the slightest chance that Lisanna is still alive, I had to stay. For her sake.
I sighed. What a life. My friend is locked up, maybe dead. I'm a master thief and on every Police station's Most Wanted list, and I'm constantly being chased by police officers who want nothing more than to slap some metal bracelets on me and march me off to the slammer.
If there is a god, he must really despise my existence.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the story:) Please tell me what you think!