Chapter 99
The First Strike
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic"
Flashback
Location / Date / Time Skip
Natsu and Jackal stared each other down, anger in their eyes. "He destroyed my house!" Michello shouted in anger.
"Forget about your house! He's from Tartaros!" Rose shouted.
"He has to be the one behind the attack on Era!"" Carla added.
"Get out of here! He's here for you!" Lucy shouted as the short man ran past her.
Jackal smirked as he waved his arms, a swirl of wind flying around him. "Get down!" Natsu shouted before a spiraling blast erupted not in the house, but the city.
People ran for their lives as their homes blew up. "The people here have nothing to do with this."
"Bastard…" Natsu growled before launched himself at the blonde.
Jackal held out his hand and blasted Natsu, scaring the old man. "He'll be fine." Laki said with a smirk. "He's playing right to Natsu's hands." The flames of the blast were sucked into Natsu's mouth, shocking Jackal.
"He ate the explosion!?" The blonde was stunned just long enough for Natsu to punch him in the face. Natsu chased after him, but Jackal blasted past him. "Stupid brat." He chuckled before Natsu raced through the smoke. "You gotta be fu-" A knee to the jaw cut him off.
'This is my first time watching a Fairy Tail fight up close…' Michello thought in a panic. 'To think it would be like this!"
Natsu punched Jackal back and he slid across the ground. "You're an interesting kid,…" The blonde chuckled as Natsu charged him. "But there's something you should know." Pulling his fist back, Natsu unleashed an onslaught of fists that pummeled him in the face over and over, dragging him through the ground.
"This is…" Michello mumbled in fear.
"He's really going out this time…" Wendy whispered.
"He's got a lot of pent up anger to let out." Laki chuckled.
"Wait, wasn't he about to say something?" Lucy asked.
'If their aim really is Face… then that would be truly catastrophic…' Michello mumbled. 'The white inheritance that few even among the Council even know about. How did they even know about it!? I need to focus on hiding!'
"You're not going anywhere." Laki said, grabbing the man by his tail. "If you know something, you better explain now."
"I don't know anything!" He shouted back.
"Liar…" Jackal groaned out, pushing himself up. "You might have been spared a horrible death of you shared what you knew."
"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" Michello shouted. "Go ask someone else!"
"Guess you're gonna die horribly then." Jackal chuckled before turning to Natsu. "And you really need to let people finish when they're talking." His entire body started glowing, scaring everyone. "My Curse gives me the power to turn anyone dumb enough to touch me into a living bomb. How many times did you touch me, again?"
"Get out of here, now!" Natus shouted in a panic before he detonated.
"You dumb shit!" Jackal chuckled as Natsu fell over. "I'm surprised you're even in one piece!"
"No… we're doomed." Michello mumbled in fear.
"Just give me the information and I'll let your granddaughter live." Jackal chuckled. "I'm not a monster, after all." He took one step forward and Michello ran like a coward. "Not gonna happen!"
"I'll find him! Hold this guy off!" Laki shouted as she raced into the city.
Got it!" Wendy and Lucy replied at the same time.
"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy shot a tornado out of her mouth, only the blonde to unleash a blast that negated the attack. Lucy summoned Scorpio, who unleashed a sandstorm out of his tail apparatus.
"There is one thing I forgot to mention." Jackal chucked, staring at the oncoming storm. "The members of Tartaros don't use 'Magic': We use curses." He waved his arm back and smirk. "You humans can't beat us! Explosive Spiral!"
A twisting explosion ripped through the storm, destroying more rubble and sending Scorpio back to his world. The girls fell to the ground and Jackal laughed before running into the city.
Lucy and Wendy pushed themselves up before the blonde started limping after Jackal. "Wendy, take care of Natsu! I'm going after that guy!"
"Got it!" Wendy hobbled over to Natsu and her hands started glowing.
Michello panted as he ran for his life, the people of the town looking at him in confusion. A hand reached from behind and grabbed his shoulder, making him panic. In blind fury, he turned and raised his stick to strike, only for Laki to catch it. "Would you calm down!?" She shouted. "What is wrong with you? You just left us all behind to fight YOUR battle!"
"That's what you wizards do, isn't it!?" He roared back. "You're whole job is to protect people!"
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Jackal chuckled as he looked down at the two.
Laki turned to fight for her life whilst Michello collapsed and started crawling away. "Please, I don't know anything! I just want to live in peace with my granddaughter!"
"Weren't you the one who ran like a bat out of hell, leaving her behind?" The blonde chuckled as the old man crawled into a river. Laki picked him as Jackal glanced to the side. "Don't even think about it."
Lucy froze in place as a strange seal carved itself onto the ground. "What is this?"
"A landmine curse." The demon explained. "One wrong move and 'ka-boom'." A swarm of humans started gathering around, making Jackal smirk. "Let's have some fun." He raise his left hand and Laki and Michello were encased in a glowing yellow orb. Jackal did the same with his right, this time trapping a woman. "Two bombs."
The people panicked and ran for their lives while Jackal turned to Lucy. "Go ahead and choose."
"Choose what?"
"Who's bomb won't explode." He answered, shocking Lucy.
"Please, I'm pregnant!" The woman begged.
"You came here to protect me, didn't you!? Save me!" Michello shouted.
"Will you think about someone other than yourself for once!?" Laki scolded him before turning to her friend. "Forget about us, Lucy! Let her go, we'll be fine!"
"No, it has to come from her mouth." Jackal chuckled as he jumped down. "Time's running out. Whose it gonna be: your friend and mission, or an innocent woman?"
"We pick you!" Both blondes turned to the side and saw Natsu punch Jackal square in the jaw. The orbs and mine faded away as Happy and Rose carried the future mother away.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Michello shouted at Laki. "You can through your own life away if you want to, but mine is-" Laki punched him in the head, knocking him out.
"Thanks, that was starting to annoy me." Natsu said as he hopped into the river after Jackal.
"You really don't learn, do you?" Jackal chuckled. "You just touched me again."
A glow appeared on Natsu's fist, making him smirk. "I know a trick too." He chuckled before the bomb went off. Natsu opened his mouth and ingested the blast, shocking the demon. "Now I'm fired up."
"No way… impossible…" Jackal mumble in fear. "Who the hell are you?"
"Natsu of Fairy Tail!" The pinkette declared before smashing another forearm into the blondes face.
"You touched me again." Jackal chuckled as he pushed himself up. "Blow up!"
Natsu noticed his glowing arm and once again swallowed the blast. "I said I figured our your trick." Natsu declared. "It won't work anymore."
"What trick?" Lucy asked in confusion.
"Explosions are mostly fire and energy." Laki surmised. "Natsu must be eating the fire and tanking the energy."
"He can't do that forever." Wendy said.
'What's with this guy…?' Jackal asked himself before noticing his shaking hand. 'Am I… shaking from a human? No… he can't be human… No way!'
His body started shaking as he began changing, making Natsu stop in his tracks. His clothing was shredded. Fur started covering his body as his jaw extended and turned into a muzzle. "Well, now we know how he got his name." Natsu mumbled in fear befire the transformed being charged.
With a howl, Jackal swung his arms and pushed Natsu back. An explosion rocked the town, and destroyed a huge chunk of the town. "Is he mad!?" Natsu shouted as he took another blast. Jackal pushed down and Natsu smashed into the ground.
"Humans can't compete against us demons!" Jackal howled out. "Disappear, human!"
"You're all demons?" Natsu asked. "Well let me show you why we humans fight!" Pulling his arm back, lightning sparked off his hand. "Lightning Flame Dragon Firing Hammer!" He slammed his fist forward and sent the were-creature flying into town, crashing into a brick tower. The tower collapsed and buried him as Natsu panted in exhaustion.
"In the end, he destroyed the town anyway." Lucy chuckled.
Another explosion hit Natsu and he fell over. "Looks like he couldn't tank any more blasts." Laki said as he she caught her fiancé. The Exceeds returned to town and smiled at the victory.
The rubble started moving and the three girls looked over in a mix of worry and shock. "Well, that was quite a match…" Jackal chuckled, now back in his humanoid form. "It's been a long time since someone could beat me like this. Huess I have no choice…" The ground of the city itself began glowing, scaring the wizards. "Sorry, Kyouka. But if I have to die, I'll at least take you with me."
"Is he trying to blow up the whole town!?" Carla asked in horror.
"No way to stop this blast. I'M the bomb." Jackal added. "It'll still explode even after I die. See you all in hell!"
"Not gonna happen!" Happy and Rose flew forward and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"You damn cats!" The blonde growled as they flew him into the sky.
"On three!" Rose shouted. "One!"
"Two!" Happy went along as they reached beyond the tallest mountain in the distance.
"THREE!" Both threw him as hard as they could just before the body exploded.
Dust and fire filled the air as everyone stared in shock. "Happy… Rose…" Carla whimpered with tears in her eyes.
The smoke cleared and the two flew down into view, supporting each other with their one wing. "That was too close." Rose chuckled.
"We did it…" Happy said with a smile as they landed on the ground.
Fairy Tail Guildhall
Makarov stared at the spherical lacrima as an image of Gray and Juvia came into view. "We were too late…" The man mumbled in shame. "He's already…"
The old man glared in horror before Juvia spoke up. "Someone went crazy in the streets… It looks like a horror show…"
"Gajeel and the others!?" Cana asked as she shook the orb. "What about old Verno?"
His image came onto view with a grim expression. "We didn't make it…" He growled in annoyance. "Shit! If we'd only come a little sooner!"
"The only ones left to protect are Michello and the one with Elfman's team at old man Yuri's…" Cana mumbled.
The image on the orb changed and Laki came into view. "Finally, we got through." She cheered. "We lost the lacrima you gave us, so we had to use one from town."
"Laki!? Lucy!? What's happening!?" Makarov asked.
"We saved Michello." The blonde reported, making the others smile. "Natsu took a bad beating, but he beat a member of Tartaros."
"I still won." He but in.
"The town is in bad shape, too." Carla added.
"Have you gotten any information from Michello?" Makarov questioned.
"About that…" Rose glanced over to the mumbling grandfather. "He keeps going on about something called 'Face'."
"Face?" Makarov repeated, only to get a mumbling response. "This isn't a time for secrecy! What is Face!? You have to tell us!"
"…Face is a anti-magic pulse bomb." The cat eared man replied. "It's a weapon that can annihilate the magic of a whole continent."
Everyone instantly understood the implications of what a weapon like that could do in a world of wizards. "Where is it!? We need to destroy it!" Laki asked, shaking the old man.
"I don't know. The old man replied. "The sealing method involved a magic link between three people, but only the ex-chairman knows for sure."
"Everyone, start looking for the ex-chairmans home! Now!" Makarov ordered, sending the guild into a panic.
With Elfman and Lisanna
Elfman shook his head to the side, shocking Lisanna. "He's not breathing anymore…" He replied. "Better prepare the communication lacrima we got from the others."
"R-right…" She mumbled, reaching into the bag. "But how did they kill him?"
"I have no clue. There's not a scratch on him." Her brother said with an examination. The old man's eyes suddenly snapped open, shocking Elfman backwards. "You're alive!?" Yuri said nothing as he raised his hand, pointed his finger at Lisanna and a blast of magic destroyed the orb.
"What are you doing!?" Elfman roared before the body slumped to its knees and fell over. "Wh-what the hell?"
"Macro doesn't seem to work on the dead." Both siblings turned around to see a horned demon sitting in the library, reading a book.
"Who are you!?"/"What did you do to Yuri!?" The siblings shouted respectively.
"I did nothing." Sayla replied, turning the page. "He was already dead when I came in. I was about to leave when you two burst in."
"You expect us to believe that!?" Elfman shouted.
The horned girl sighed as she closed her book. "Human stories are so boring. I suppose I'll just have to write my own."
"Be careful, Lisanna!" Elfman warned before the two were surprised to find his hand wrapped around her throat. "Wh-what?"
"What are you doing?" She gasped out as he started squeezing.
"My body is…" He started before turning to the demon. "What did you do to me!? Stop it!"
"In the story of demons, there is no room for the word 'pity'." Sayla replied.
Fairy Tail Guildhall
"Have you found anything!?" Makarov asked.
"Yeah, we found the addresses of more than 16 ex-council members." Warren said. "The ex-chairman is among them."
"Send someone there now!" The master ordered.
"Already ahead of you." Max chuckled. "We sent the two most reliable wizards we have here."
A large deer raced through the woods a blinding pace, Erza and Mirajane sat firmly on the back.
Talk about an explosive start to the war… sorry for the bad pun. Seriously, Jackal was an insane first round match up for FT, and it's only going to get more insane from here on out. I do not envy then one bit in this. And then we talk about the psychological bit from Elfman's angle. Sick stuff. Next time is going to be… interesting. See ya then.
Beta read by General Feng Xiang.