A/N: Many thanks for the kindness, followers! And thank you for the review!
Short chapter today
An explosion rocked the ground they were standing on, turning the air around them into a huge ball of fire. Natsu hurried to protect the others, but Juvia and Levy had already jumped in front, Juvia putting up a wall of water backed by Levy's stone one. Even combined with Gajeel's steel reinforcements, their rushed magic couldn't contain the force of the blast. Natsu sucked up much of the fire, but Juvia and Levy had already borne the brunt of the explosion and were knocked to the dirt. Lucy was on the ground protecting Happy from the force of the blast, and Natsu breathed a sigh of relief knowing his best friend was okay.
"Everyone okay?" Gajeel called, eyes darting around looking for the culprit.
"I'm fine," Natsu said, moving toward Lucy and Happy. "You guys?"
"We're okay," Lucy said, though she sounded as though the breath had been knocked out of her.
"Aye," Happy agreed.
The three of them looked back at Levy and Juvia. They weren't moving. Natsu could faintly see them breathing, which allowed him to relax a little at the reassurance that they were alive, but taking on the full force of the explosion like that had apparently knocked them both unconscious.
"Levy!" Lucy cried, scrambling to get up.
"Oh? You all survived?"
They all froze. Natsu could make out a figure standing in the middle of the smoke, and as the dust cleared, he could make out a spotted face and feline features. Definitely not Ivan.
"Who are you?" Gajeel growled.
"Who I am isn't important," the stranger said, a slow grin crossing his face that reminded Natsu way too much of Zancrow's gleeful arrogance. "You're all about to die anyway."
"Where's Erza and Wendy? Where's Gray? Where's Ivan?" Natsu demanded.
"Oh, you know those fairies? Even more reason you must die. No, don't try to leave," he said quickly when Gajeel picked up Levy and Juvia. "It's pointless. I've already set up bombs on your retreat. Just stand still and let me finish this quickly."
"Natsu?" Gajeel said.
Natsu nodded. "Got it."
Gajeel sent a barrage of scrap metal across the ground behind them, triggering a huge chain of explosions when they set off the planted traps. This time Natsu was prepared, so he easily sucked up the resulting fire while Gajeel took care of the schrapnel. Path cleared, Gajeel made a sprinting retreat with one unconscious woman under each arm.
By the time Natsu turned back around, their enemy was standing in front of Lucy, that same stupid smile on his face even though Lucy's whip was wrapped around him, trapping him in place.
"Oh, so you're a fire dragon slayer. Interesting," he said. "I'll catch those three later. I think I'll play with you a bit."
"What did you do with the others?" Lucy demanded, yanking him toward her using the whip. He barely stumbled a step before explosions rippled down the length of the whip, Lucy just barely letting go in time to keep her hand from being blown off.
"Lucy!" Natsu cried, tackling her to the ground to get her out of range. He looked up at the enemy and growled. "Who are you?"
He sighed. "If you really care so much, I'm called Jackal. Your magic has no effect on me, I'm afraid. Even the strongest of magic doesn't hold a candle to curses."
"Curses…" Lucy muttered. "You're a demon! Tartarus!"
"So you do know who I am," Jackal said. "Even more interesting. It's a shame I have to blow you to pieces."
Another round of explosions rocked the air around them. Natsu stood in front of Lucy, sucking in all the fiery parts, trying to stand strong against the force of the blast pushing him backwards.
"Lucy, you need to run," he said.
"I'm not abandoning you to attack this guy alone."
"Gajeel will come back."
"Yeah, but what if Jackal has an ally in the area?"
"Shit."
"Until Gajeel comes back, I'm not letting you take this all on yourself." She stood up and brought out her keys. "I might not be able to eat fire, but I'll come up with something. That's what my magic is all about."
"But how can you attack without touching him?" Natsu said. The smoke was clearing, and they had to act fast before Jackal's keen nose sifted through the debris to find them.
Lucy responded by pulling out the key for Libra and altering gravity to knock Jackal back into the house. She turned to him and smirked as if to say, "That's how." The sounds of Jackal cursing echoed from under the pile of debris collapsed around the fallen roof
"I think I saw a fountain in the backyard garden," Lucy said, running off. "Get him back there and I'll take care of the rest."
Natsu nodded and ran in the opposite direction, toward Jackal. Apparently they weren't going to count on Gajeel; they weren't even going to hold down the fort until he managed to return. They were going full-force, just the two of them. They'd been a great team before, and Natsu was more than willing to play this role.
Keeping enemies busy by beating them up was his specialty. Well, it was one of his specialties, but he and Lucy each had their own strengths when it came to battle strategy. If she had a plan, it was sure to be a good one. Better than him trying to hold off Jackal's explosions alone while he waited around for Gajeel to show up as backup.
Natsu was thrown back when Jackal surprised him with another bomb. He wiped the dust from his brow, growling. These explosions were getting real old real fast. And he couldn't do anything about them other than eat the resulting flames. But this demon was sure to be physically stronger than most humans. After all, he was a literal demon.
"Fight me to my face, you coward," Natsu shouted at the clouds of dust.
Jackal burst from under a fallen column, launching at Natsu himself. Natsu quickly put up a block, only to have his heart skip a beat in panic when he realized that Jackal's touch had turned his own arm into a bomb.
As Jackal cackled, he grabbed that section of his arm, and felt the curse pulsing underneath. Locating the central source of the curse, he focused his magic onto it and imploded.
Natsu grinned. It hurt like hell, but if Jackal knew the curses couldn't work on Natsu directly, maybe it would be a bit intimidating.
Apparently it was intimidating, because Jackal's jaw dropped. "You…it didn't affect you?"
"I'm a dragon," Natsu said with a shrug. He lowered his gaze into a sneer. "You underestimated me."
"No, you underestimated me," Jackal cried, creating a bomb in each hand and trapping Natsu between them.
Ughhhh, that hurt. Where was Gajeel? He was taking forever.
At least he had Lucy. And he'd have to do his part so whatever Lucy's plan was would succeed. He didn't know what was up with the thing about water, but it obviously meant something to her if she was willing to run off like that after making that bold statement about not leaving him to fight alone. He had to hold up his end of the bargain.
In the next explosion, Natsu took hold of the fire and pushed it back toward Jackal, hurdling him through the wall. Plaster and stone crumbled around them, and light shone through the dust. They had just busted open a hole to what appeared to be a rather spacious backyard complete with topiaries and fountains. Acres of manicured lawn sprawled out behind Jackal, who was rising back to his feet.
A flash of gold struck Natsu's eye, and he saw Lucy standing ankle-deep in a small pond. She held something in her hand, and Natsu realized it was a key. Lucy found water. Okay.
"I open the gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"
A mermaid-like being burst from the water. Everything about her was blue, from her bikini top to her hair, which was held flat to her head by a golden circlet. She held a huge urn in both hands, and didn't waste a moment before using it to fling a massive wave toward Jackal.
"I was in the middle of a date, you bitch!" Aquarius shouted, sweeping Lucy up along with her tidal wave.
"Not me, Aquarius!" Lucy complained.
Natsu sprung into action. Jackal's explosion curse suffocated by the flood, Natsu was able to throw punches without worrying about being turned into a human bomb. And the water suppressed the force of the explosions almost entirely. Jackal was helplessly washed in Natsu's direction, straight into his fists.
"Without your bombs, you're kinda weak, aren't you?" Natsu taunted, landing a punch to Jackal's jaw.
"I'll say," Lucy said. Natsu realized that the water had brought her in this direction as well, and she'd already managed to snag her whip around Jackal's body, pinning his arms to his sides.
"Ready?" Natsu said.
Lucy nodded. "Three…two…one…"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Lucy Kick!"
They connected with Jackal's body at the same time, sending force through their opponent from opposite sides. Jackal gasped, the air squeezed from his lungs. Like this, with his curses dulled and his arms tied to his sides, Jackal was an easy target for their physical attacks.
They were swept underwater for a moment, and then the wave subsided, leaving them lying pathetically in the soggy grass.
"Again, Aquarius!" Lucy shouted. "Bring us underwater!"
"Don't order me around," Aquarius said, but quickly cooperated, pulling the water back in her direction and dunking them straight into a pool connected to the fountain from which she was summoned. Then she disappeared.
It wasn't a particularly deep pool, but it was deep enough for Lucy to hold Jackal underwater with her whip while Natsu railed against Jackal. He didn't know what it would take to subdue a demon, but maybe if he punched Jackal hard enough it'd knock him out. Both Jackal and Natsu's powers were neutralized underwater, and above water they canceled each other out. So subduing him with physical force was the most obvious option.
After being knocked around by Aquarius, Jackal slowly regained his composure and began to fend off Natsu's punches. Demons had some impressive durability, rivaling even dragon slayers', Natsu was noticing.
Jackal kicked off the floor of the pool and rocketed to the surface, dragging a weakening Lucy along with him. Natsu followed after, ready to eat Jackal's flames. But, to his surprise, Jackal simply grinned and began to glow.
"I won't let you get away with defeating me unscathed. I always go out with a bang," Jackal said ominously. Realizing that an explosion bigger than all the rest was about to happen, Natsu grabbed Lucy and wrapped himself around her underwater, bracing them for impact.
The explosion was huge. When the debris cleared, the entire garden had been flattened and half the house was reduced to rubble. Natsu and Lucy climbed out of the water, ears ringing and throats filled with dirty water. And no matter where they looked, the only things left of Jackal were scraps of his clothes.
"I…I guess we defeated him," Lucy said.
"I guess so," Natsu said. "He must've turned himself into a bomb. I can smell him everywhere around here, like he turned into the dust or something."
"I'm just glad it's over. I hope the others are safe."
Natsu took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm sure they are. Come on, let's go find them."
A/N: Unfortunately for you all, I may have just decided to work on my Pokemon fic for NaNo. I have like ten projects ongoing at once right now help lol I'm going to regret that in the morning. But I already entered it as my novel for this year, so there's no turning back now! I gotta do something.
I'm counting TCS toward my wordcount too, so this'll still get worked on lots. And I already hardly edit it so the quality shouldn't be too different haha. Good luck to anyone out there who's also doing NaNo! I'm bluebirdeyes on there as well if you want a writing buddy
