Chapter number 5 is up! Hope you all like it as we see some more action! Be sure to leave a review!
(Night Raid Hideout)
Sheele was sitting in the living room, reading her usual book of dealing with airheads. Mine was relaxing in the hot springs, using the mineral waters to heal her broken arm. It was a slow process but the sniper was strong and would heal soon. The only other people currently in the hideout besides her and Mine was Najenda. Leone was still out on patrol and the rest were on a mission to find the Night Raid imposter.
"Hey" A voice said. Turning her head away from her book, Sheele saw it was Natsu. He was poking his head into the room. "Do you guys have a bathroom I can use really quick?" He asked.
Sheele blinked while staring at Natsu. She had not sensed his presence at all and didn't even hear him enter the hideout. However, he did save Mine from being crushed and he did not give off any evil intentions, so the purple haired woman saw no problem in letting them use their toilet. "Sure" Sheele replied with a kind smile. "Just go down the hallway and then make the first right." She explained.
"Ah, thanks!" Natsu replied with a fanged grin before walking away.
As he walked away Sheele returned to her book. A few minutes later Leone, still having her Teigu active, came rushing in. She quickly spotted Sheele sitting on the couch. "Oi, Sheele! Where's the boss? I got big news!" Leone exclaimed.
"Calm down Leone, I'm right here." Najenda said, entering the living room. She had a cigarette in her mouth and her jacket was gone, leaving her only in a black tank top. "What happened? Did you run into Esdeath?" She asked the blonde.
"Yeah but not just her! That Natsu guy was also there too!" Leone exclaimed.
Najenda's eyes widened. She had not expected that. "What was he doing there? Wait, are you saying he was with Esdeath?" The silver haired beauty asked, wondering what happened when those two met.
"Not exactly, he was actually walking past her while I watched from the roofs. But it was definitely him, the feeling he gave off was same one when he fought him in the forest." Leon explained, shivering slightly as she remembered the feeling of Natsu's presence. It was strong and dominating…and slightly arousing though the blonde did not say that out loud. "I think Esdeath also felt something because she tried to reach him. But when she did I saw her recoil, like she got burned. And before I could blink he vanished. I decided to high tail it out of there while Esdeath was looking the other way."
Najenda rubbed her chin before letting out a frustrated sigh. "This Natsu fellow is a very complicated person. None of his actions make any sense at all. He hates the Empire and yet does not do anything like joining the Revolutionary Army. Yet he saved Mine and Sheele despite having no reason to do so, especially when we attacked him not too long ago. He later disappeared only to return to the capital and was briefly confronted by Esdeath. And then there is that incident yesterday…"
"What incident?" Leone asked confused.
"A team of Imperial Assassins were spotted heading towards a village that had been trading with foreign mercenaries, most likely to kill them. However, according to witnesses, a young man with pink hair protected the villagers as they fled. He was seen manipulating flames and single-handily slaughtered almost the entire team, forcing the survivors to retreat. I have no doubt that it was Natsu." Najenda explained. "As I said he is a complicated enigma and I have no doubt that word of yesterday will reach the Revolutionary Army HQ." Najenda commented. "Anyway, you look pretty freaked out, though I don't blame you after seeing Esdeath for the first time. Why don't we get you a drink?" The Night Raid Leader suggested.
"Damn straight! I could use one right now." Leone replied as she followed the silver haired woman. That just left Sheele alone once more reading her book. She had been half reading and half listening to the conversation but decided not to speak since Leone and Najenda finished up rather quickly
A minute or two later the sound of flushing could be heard. Then Natsu reappeared, looking refresh. He turned to face Sheele. "Thanks for that. See ya!" Natsu said while waving, already making his way out of the base.
"Your welcome" Sheele replied as she waved back politely and went back to her book.
(With Natsu)
A while later Natsu was walking through the forest, far away from the main road. He always did prefer walking through the forest and other places untouched by man. It brought about a sense of peace to the Etherious. However even when he was deep within the forest he could feel the coming of change. Even as he lazed around these past few days, Natsu had kept in the loop of what was going in the world. Last he heard the forces of the Northern Tribes were beginning to move, having been urged on by his attack on Esdeath's army. The armies of the Western Tribe were slowly accumulating their forces while doing skirmishes with imperial forces. Natsu heard no news about the Revolutionary Army but he had a feeling they would be making their move soon, most likely waiting for the perfect opportunity to move. None of those were Natsu's concerns though, as right now he had to be prepared for-
"ROAR~!" A monstrous voice could be heard in the nearby vicinity. The trees shook as birds flew away in fright, followed the ground shaking as something big was approaching Natsu's location. The pinkette had a good guess on what it was. "And it begins…" He muttered as the oncoming figure jumped forward.
It was a large Danger Beast that towered above Natsu. It looked like a cross between several animals yet held a humanoid appearance. It had a pair of long deer antlers sticking out from the sides of its light brown mane, which reached its lower back. The beast's eyes were hugged along with its mouth, which looked like it could swallow a human whole. It had yellow skin with darker yellow fur covering its arms and legs. Sticking out from its rear was a long, yellowish-white snake tail extending, with a head at the end of it. In place of human feet, the creature had hooves instead. It was currently growling, glaring down at Natsu.
Said person did not seem to the least bit faze by the towering creature, a bored look on his face. "Chimera, a rare Danger Beast even amongst Ultra-Class Danger Beasts, well known for its impressive strength and speed and unique ability to alter the size of its body or parts of it for increase of physical capabilities." He commented.
Just as he finished his sentence, the Chimera let out another roar before swiftly striking Natsu with its fist. The impact released a shockwave, shattering the ground and sending debris and smoke flying. But when it cleared, the Chimera saw that Natsu was still standing in the same spot. He was perfectly fine and holding onto the Chimera's fist with a single hand. With ease, Natsu threw the Chimera over his shoulder, sending the large Danger Beast crashing hard.
"Oh come on! That can't be all?" Natsu asked, hoping for a better fight after so long.
In response, the Chimera roared in anger as it quickly got up and lunged at Natsu, swinging its fists. The Dragon Slayer avoided each blow as the ground around him was pulverized by the Chimera's punches. Natsu than sent a strong upper kick to the Danger Beast's chin, stunning it. That allowed him to send a punch to the cheek, which caused the Chimera to tumble across the ground.
Natsu just looked on in disappointment. He was kind of hoping that it would be more…impressive, at least a warm up until the Zenith-Class ones came. Though from a human's view, the Chimera would be more threatening and challenging so he really couldn't complain.
His thoughts were broken as the Chimera got back up and did a low punch. Natsu stepped to the side and avoided the strike, watching as tons of dirt and earth was sent flying because of the shockwave. Natsu casually released a fire ball from his hand, hitting the Danger Beast in the face, making it roar in pain while reeling backwards.
Fully infuriated, the Chimera stood up and raised both its arms. Natsu watched as the arms began to shift and get larger. The rest of its body also began to grow in size but were small in compared to the now humongous arms the Chimera now possessed. By the time it was done increasing its size, the Chimera head could be seen over the trees. It growled down at Natsu, saliva coming out its mouth from rage. Without even giving Natsu a chance to act, the Chimera brought down both of its enlarged fists down on top of the dragon slayer. The shockwave from the blow kicked up a large dust storm and sent the trees and dirt scattering everywhere. But at the center of the crater, there was now body or blood.
"Too slow" Natsu's voice said. Having jumped upwards at an incredible speed, Natsu was now directly above the Chimera. With his hand now infused with flames, Natsu delivered a swift downward motion, decapitating the Danger Beast's head from its neck. He did not seem to pay any attention to the blood flying everywhere as he let out a disappointed sigh. Looking at the sky, Natsu had a distant look in his eyes. "I miss the good old days when things were a challenge." He said sadly. Natsu than looked down and stared at the Chimera's corpse. "I wonder if this tastes any good."
(Elsewhere)
Akame's body suddenly went rigged, startling Lubbock who was on a nearby branch. The two were watching their target, an official who might be attacked by the imposter Night Raid. "Oi Akame-chan, what's wrong?" Lubbock asked. It was very rare for Akame to act like this and most of the time it was because she sensed something.
"I-I feel something amiss, as if someone was having a great feast. Eating some of the most delicious meat." Akame began, her hair shadowing her eyes. "And I missed it!" She roared, her eyes now filled with furious flames causing Lubbock to jump in surprise. Her scream nearly caught the attention of the nearby people, if not for Lubbock's quick thinking. He slammed his hand on top of Akame's mouth, silencing her. However, both of them lost their footing and fell into the snow covered ground below.
(Few Days Later)
"I'm bored" Natsu muttered to himself as he sat on one of the many roofs of the Imperial Palace (honestly it was just too easy for him to sneak in there, and he used to be loud and reckless, time sure changes a person).
After that 'fight', little had happened over the past few days nothing happening in either the capital or in the area around it. Although there had been several Teigu users entering the capital yesterday so clearly something was going to happen. Besides that, Natsu was completely bored out of his mind, desperate to find something to amuse him. It was than his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of cheering. Turning his head Natsu noticed it was coming from the stadium not too far away from the palace. Curious, the Dragon Slayer decided to check it out. It was better than just hanging around the palace with the fat man here, stinking up the place. With that in mind, Natsu ignited flames under his feet and shot off towards the coliseum to check out the action.
As he was heading towards the stadium, there was something going on in a specific room in the palace. This room was notable for being the main office of Great General Budo, the man who commanded the Imperial Guards and held the highest military rank. Said person was a large man with tan skin, blonde hair, a muscular body and wore armor underneath a large red cape. Over his arms was a pair of gauntlets with pistons sticking out of them. He was sitting at his desk with a serious look on his face.
"As always, the palace has such a wonderful view of the city." A voice said. "If only it was not filled with such darkness it would be a lot better."
Turning his head, Budo looked at the source of the voice. The source was an elderly man looking out the nearby window. He was a tall man but was still shorter than Budo. His white-grey hair reached the center of his back but was tied into a ponytail. Along with that he had a thick beard and brown eyes. His attire was a simple male white kimono with yellow lines, a blue Obi wrapped around the waist. Over the kimono was a long black haori with white lines around the wrist collars and bottom and had the kanji for "Bright" on the back of it. He also had prayer beads around his neck and finally wore a pair of Geta sandals. Despite his elderly appearance, an experience warrior could clearly tell that this man was not someone to be underestimated. And you could slightly make out his muscular body underneath his clothes too.
"Hmph, blame the Prime Minister for the Capital's, as well the whole Empires', state. His poisonous words have completely corrupted the young Emperor and thus the decline." Budo explained, spitting out the words 'Prime Minister' as he said the title.
"Heh, you got to take some of the blame too Budo-kun. You let that pig take over the government and control the young Emperor." The elderly man said.
Budo sighed, knowing that the man was right. But it was still hard to accept. "That's why I asked for your help. Out of everyone I know you have influence that even exceeds that of the Emperor and that fat toad, former Great General Nikolai." Budo said.
Nikolai chuckled while stroking his beard. "Still it seems like it was the right choice to answer your call. Not only has END reappeared, but it seems like little Esy has created a new team of Teigu users to combat this Night Raid was it? Led by little Naje?" Nikolai asked.
"Indeed though I am a little uncertain of trusting someone like Esdeath with such power. However so long as she focuses on eliminating Night Raid, that will be good for the Empire and demoralize the Revolutionary Army." Budo replied.
"And then you'll focus your sight on the Prime Minister correct." Nikolai added.
"Indeed though it will be troublesome if Esdeath gets in my way. I hope I can rely on your assistance when the time comes Master." Budo said.
"Don't worry I'll be there to help ya. You're not the only one who would like to see that pig brat put down Budo-kun." Nikolai replied before heading towards the door. "Now I assume you already made a room for me?"
"I arranged one the moment I received your reply. One of my Imperial Guardsmen will escort you there." Budo replied as he opened the door for Nikolai, revealing two guardsmen waiting outside.
"Good, good. I swear this place keeps changing every day. Feels like I'm in a damn maze." Nikolai muttered as one of the Imperial Guards escorted him to his room.
Meanwhile the remaining guard looked at the Great General. "Budo-sama, that man, is he…?" The guard asked.
"Yes that man was Nikolai, a former Great General before he handed it over to his successor, my predecessor. Despite his age, he is still regarded as the 'Strongest Human'." Budo answered. "We were quite fortunate that he agreed to come out of retirement and help us. I have a feeling we will need him in the upcoming battles and getting rid of that pig Honest." Budo said, getting a nod of agreement from the guard. It was no secret that the Royal Guard and Imperial Guardsmen were loyal to Budo and him alone. And many of them shared his distaste of the Prime Minister and how his actions have harmed the Empire.
Back with Natsu, he had just arrived at the stadium, sitting on top of the VIP box section, completely unnoticed by the audience. Their attention was instead focused on the combatants below. One was a large, muscular man that vaguely reminded Natsu of Elfman and wore a bull mask over his face. The other was the brunette that Natsu had met a few days ago. 'Strange, I feel the aura of a Teigu on his person. Maybe he acquired one since the last time I saw him.' Natsu mused to himself as the announcer shouted for the match to start.
Well it wasn't really much of a match. In just two to three minutes, the brunette easily overpowered his larger foe. The kid ended it with a powerful kick to the head, knocking out the bull mask wearing man. The reaction from the audience was what Natsu expected; they were all speechless at the unexpected outcome. But the moment the announcer declared the brunette the winner, the whole crowd let loose cheers for the young winner and Natsu couldn't help but be impress of how quickly the kid changed from when he last saw him. When Esdeath came down a minute later and clicked a collar around Tatsumi's neck before dragging him away, Natsu couldn't stop from laughing at the total disbelieving looks on the crowds' faces. When he finally calmed down he decided to follow after Esdeath and see what would happen next to the poor boy.
(Later that Afternoon, Imperial Palace)
And Natsu was correct. In fact, what he saw was so funny he had to resist the urge not to burst out laughing at the scene.
Peeking through a window, Natsu watched as Esdeath introduced Tatsumi to Jaegers as her new lover. Said lover was currently tied to a chair with the collar around his neck. Though he could not see his facial expression, Natsu could guess that Tatsumi was extremely uncomfortable and annoyed in his current situation. He nearly lost it when one of Esdeath's subordinates, a young blue haired man who reeked of fish, and a blonde young man with a pretty boy face, suggested removing the collar so Tatsumi looks less like a pet and more of a lover.
Natsu's attention was quickly diverted when he sensed something. It was nearby and in the palace but he could not quite pinpoint its exact location. But Natsu could definitely feel it, a feeling he had not felt in a very, very long time: Magical energy. Natsu nearly lost his grip on the wall upon recognizing the energy. He had never thought he would sense magical energy, especially from a human after so long. 'It feels like the person is doing a good job of concealing it, releasing only a minimal amount. But even then, I can tell that this person has an incredible amount of magical energy, perhaps on par with August and Irene combined. Though it does feel odd but I can't put my finger on it." Natsu thought as excitement began to course though him. The realization of fighting another mage after so long was starting to sink in that he could barely control himself. In truth, all Teigu users, both past and present, had magical energy, which allowed them to use Teigu. However, they never had enough power or knowledge to bring it out, though some like Esdeath and Budo were close though they did not know of any magic.
Before Natsu could investigate further, his attention shifted back to the Jaegers. Apparently, they were about to have their first mission: eliminating a nearby bandit base. It would also give Esdeath a chance to see the potential of her new subordinates. However, that also gave Natsu an idea; he was also curious in seeing what these humans could do as well. "Perhaps I'll give them a test of my own." Natsu mused before silently taking into the air, making his way towards where the bandit base was located.
(Outside the Capital, near Bandit's base)
Tatsumi and Esdeath both sat at the edge of a cliff that overlooked the bandit's base. Down below were the rest of the Jaegers, preparing for their assault on the bandit's camp. "We should be able to see the show from up here. It will be quite the spectacle." Esdeath commented.
"I wonder if it's okay for me to be the only one to be relax?" Tatsumi muttered to himself, before a thought came to mind. 'Ah, isn't this a good chance for me to escape?' However, that plan was quickly crushed as a blushing Esdeath gripped his hand with hers. 'No! I can't possible escape now!' Tatsumi thought in defeat.
Boom!
A loud explosion startled Tatsumi and even Esdeath. The two looked up to see a large plume of smoke rising from bandit's camp, which was currently ablaze. At first Esdeath had thought it was caused by her team, only see them still walking towards the camp. She narrowed her eyes, contemplating whether or not to go and investigate. Eventually she decided not to, as this would still present a good opportunity to see her new team in action.
Back with the rest of the Jaegers, they had already seen the explosion coming from the bandit camp and immediately picked up their pace to investigate. When they arrived, they could see the destruction done to the base up close. The flames could be seen over the wall that surrounded the base, with the smoke rising high up into the sky. A few corpses lied near the entrance, either burned to the bone or ripped apart into bloody pieces. It was quite the grueling sight.
"Who, or what, could have done this?" Wave, a young man from the Imperial Navy, asked.
"I never read about any Teigu that could be capable of such destruction." Run, an attractive blonde young man, said. He gazed deep into the fire, trying to see any movement within.
"Wait! I can see something moving!" Bols, the largest member with a muscular built and wearing a gas mask, informed.
The others readied themselves as the silhouette of a person could be seen within the flames. Seryu, who was now sporting metal arms, stood protectively in front of Dr. Stylish, a flamboyant looking man wearing a lab coat.
Coming out of the burning camp was none other than Natsu. He looked perfectly fine as he walked through the fire covered base. "Ah, those guys were no fun. I guess I could give the food and gold I found to the slum folks, so it wasn't all pointless." Natsu said to himself, before realizing that he was facing the Jaegers. "Hello" Was all Natsu said.
Wave blinked, not expecting this. After all, who comes out of a burning base, completely fine, and the first thing they say is "hello"? It made no sense to the sailor.
"You!" It was Kurome who responded first. Drawing her sword, the assassin attacked Natsu before any of the Jaegers could speak. The pinkette merely blocked the blade with two fingers easily.
Natsu gave Kurome a bored look. "Er, have we met before?" He asked, genuinely confused.
Of course, that only angered Kurome further, as she tried to aim a kick at Natsu's head. But the young man easily dodged the blow, followed by a palm thrust that sent Kurome flying backwards. She was saved from violently crashing by Wave, now wearing his armored Teigu, Grand Chariot. Having come to the conclusion that this new person was an enemy, the rest of the Jaegers sprang into action: Run activated Mastema, its wings popping out from the disks on his back, and the blonde took to the air. Bols readied Rubicante, the flamethrower pointed at Natsu. Dr. Stylish stepped back, preferring to watch the scene from a safe distance. Seryu charged straight towards Natsu, a mad grin on her face, now distorted into a feature of insanity.
"Face justice, evildoer!" Seryu called as she raised her new metal arm, fully expecting the blow to tear Natsu's head off. Instead, Natsu swiftly caught the fist with one hand, much to Seryu's shock. With little effort, Natsu threw Seryu back, then turned his attention towards Koro, who had now changed to his large form, including his arms. The biological Teigu charged forward, preparing to pummel Natsu into the ground.
But before he could do anything, Koro paused as he finally recognized Natsu from a few nights ago. A look of fear formed on the Teigu's face as Natsu lit his right hand in flames. "I thought I said I didn't want to see your face again." Natsu growled as he delivered a powerful, burning blow into the petrified Koro's stomach. The impact created an explosion that not only damaged Koro heavily, but sent him crashing into the nearby trees.
"Flames from his fist! Does he wield some kind of Teigu?" Run wondered as he watched the scene from above.
"Doesn't matter, let's get him!" Wave cried as he charged towards Natsu, an armored fist already at the ready. Natsu, though, merely dodged the punch before stopping a follow-up kick with his bare hands. "What?!" Wave shouted, shocked that someone so easily blocked one of his blows, and while wearing his armor too.
"You're pretty hot-headed." Natsu mused before delivering a powerful punch to Wave's stomach. The formed a crack in Wave's armor and sent the naval officer flying backwards. The Teigu user just barely managed to recover, stopping his flight by digging his armored fingers into the ground. "Though, I'm also kind of like that too."
The sound of several objects whizzing through the air caught Natsu's attention. Looking up, he saw a barrage of feathers diving straight towards him. Behind them, he saw Run preparing to fire another volley. With a single hand gesture, Natsu released a wave of a flames that instantly incinerated the feather projectiles. The flames continued going upwards, forcing Run to fly out of the way.
"Number 7: Taizan's Cannon of Justice!" A voice cried, catching Natsu's attention. Turning around, he found himself facing Seryu, holding a large cannon pointed right at him. The girl had another insane face as she fired the weapon. The shell hit Natsu head on, consuming him in an explosion.
"Justice always prevails!" Seryu declared, Koro letting out a bark in agreement, the Teigu happy to see the scary pinkette gone.
"Well done, Seryu-chan! As expected of you, you handled my weapon very well!" Dr. Stylish exclaimed as he approached the girl. His compliment pleased the girl, as she had a cheerful smile on her face.
"Still, who the hell was that guy?" Wave asked as he dismissed his armor. Meanwhile Run had landed beside him while Kurome sheathed her sword, a frown on her face, most likely being that she wanted to be the one to kill Natsu. Bols soon joined them.
"Well, we'll never know now." Run said as he stared at the column of smoke caused by Seryu's attack. "Anyway, seeing how the bandit camp is destroyed, we should return to Esdeath and-"
His voice was cut off when the sound of suction filled the area. Turning around, the Jaeger members watched in astonishment as the smoke and flames were starting to shrink, as if being sucked into something. They soon saw that it was Natsu, unharmed as he sucked in the flames into his mouth, like a vacuum.
"Mmm, I haven't had such tasty flames in a long time." Natsu said with a pleased smile on his face.
The Jaegers though, were quite the opposite. They could only stare in shock and horror as this 'man' had done the impossible, surviving an explosion unharmed, and sucking in the flames like one would do with food. "T-that's not possible…what the hell are you?!" Wave exclaimed as he tried to comprehend what he just saw.
Natsu smirked as he raised his hand. "Well as blondie there said…you'll never know." He said as he suddenly fired a large fireball straight towards the Jaegers. It was moving far too fast and they still had not fully knocked out of their stupor, they would not be able to get out of the way. But just as they thought they were goners, a wall of ice appeared between them and the fireball. The flames hit the ice head on, managing to melt it quite a bit, but nevertheless the wall stood firm.
"It seems that you've been giving my subordinates a hard time." A voice said.
The Jaegers instantly recognized the voice and their hopes soared. "Commander!" Seryu shouted.
Esdeath paid no heed to her subordinates. After seeing the explosion of the bandit base a while ago, followed by the sounds of battle afterwards, she decided to investigate, dragging a reluctant Tatsumi with her. Riding on a floor of ice from the hill to the current location, Esdeath arrived just in time to protect her subordinates from what would've been a fatal attack. She elegantly landed on the ground, with Tatsumi beside her. Taking a quick look at her ice wall, the General was a bit surprised of seeing it half melted, a rare feat as her ice could withstand even cannonballs and other projectiles with ease. Esdeath than looked at the mysterious attacker, and was a bit surprised that it was the same pinkette she saw a few days ago. Once again, the strange feeling she got began to stir.
She wasn't the only one who was reacting to Natsu's appearance. Having seen the explosion, Tatsumi had thought this would be his chance to escape, but was proven wrong when Esdeath dragged him with her. Imagine his surprise when he saw that it was the same person that Night Raid had fought a while ago. The same person that had saved Sheele and Mine from Seryu and her dog. Tatsumi could only hope that Natsu would not reveal his affiliation to Night Raid, because if he did than Tatsumi was screwed.
Back to reality, Esdeath drew her rapier and pointed her blade at Natsu. "I don't know who you are, but for attacking my team, I'll be taking you to the torture chambers for interrogation. I do hope that you give me a good fight, though, as you costed me the chance of seeing what my new subordinates could do." The Ice General said.
Natsu said nothing, instead of opting to give both Esdeath and Tatsumi curious looks. After a few seconds, Natsu raised his right hand before making a sweeping motion. At that moment, a moderate size fireball appeared to Esdeath's left, much to her surprise.
Reacting on instincts, Esdeath immediately formed a shield of ice to block the flaming projectile. It deflected the major damage, but the intense heat caused her left sleeve to incinerate, and burn her arm a bit. 'What incredible heat! It's just like END's flames!' Esdeath thought.
As the fireball finally dispersed, Esdeath attempted to attack Natsu…only to be surprised when said pinkette appeared in front of her. With a smile on his face, Natsu delivered a hard punch to the stomach. The impact caused Esdeath to cough up blood was she was sent flying backwards, crashing through her own ice wall and several trees.
The Jaegers were in a state of shock. They just witnessed the Esdeath, the Empire's Strongest, not just get hit, but also sent flying with ease. Such a feat was considered impossible. However, Tatsumi's focus was on Natsu, who was now looking at him. However, judging by the look in his eyes, the pinkette's thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, as if he was having a debate with himself.
'Shit, shit! What should I do?' Tatsumi thought desperately, sweat going down his face. 'Esdeath is finally away from me, so I could try to escape. But there is no telling what this guy might do? Should I fight? No, I won't stand a chance against this guy if he was able to take on all of Night Raid by himself, and send Esdeath flying like that. I might have a chance if I use Incursio, but that will blow my cover, and I haven't fully gotten use to using its invisibility.'
Tatsumi's thoughts were broken when Natsu's hand suddenly circled around his throat. Though it wasn't a tight grip that he was choking, it was strong enough that Tatsumi couldn't escape, just uselessly struggle as Natsu lifted him up. With his feet dangling off the ground by a few inches, the brunette saw a different look in Natsu's eyes, one that showed he made a decision.
"You'll make a good candidate, I can tell that for sure." Natsu mused. His hand that was holding Tatsumi by the throat began to glow red, with smoke trailing off of it as Tatsumi felt heat begin to touch his flesh. It was so intense that the brunette could not hold back a scream of pain that left his lips.
At that moment, something rocketed out of the woods, past the Jaegers, who were still frozen in shock, also they could not reach Natsu with the ice wall in the way. Jumping through the hole on the ice wall she had made earlier, Esdeath reared her fist back, a look of fury on her face. A good fight she enjoyed, but she will not tolerate anyone who hurts what's hers. "Get your filthy hands off Tatsumi!" Esdeath growled as she thrust her fist forward, straight towards Natsu's head.
Without even looking, Natsu caught the punch with his other hand with ease. Turning his gaze slightly, Natsu looked at the shocked Esdeath, before saying, "I guess you'll also make a good contestant." Before the same red glow began to emit from his hand, causing Esdeath to shout in pain at the burning heat hitting her flesh.
After what felt like an eternity, the searing heat finally left as Natsu released them. Both Tatsumi and Esdeath collapsed to their knees, panting heavily while caressing their neck and hand respectively. Not even looking up, they heard Natsu say, "I hope you two are prepared for the new battles your about to face." And then vanished into flames just as the Jaegers finally got through Esdeath's ice wall. At the same time, a mark began to appear on the right side of Tatsumi's neck, and the back of Esdeath's hand. A black mark in the shape of a downward pointing pentacle. Neither of them would know the significance until much later.
So, there you have it! Chapter 5 remade and longer. Also check out chapter 3 and 4, there have been some changes. Anyway, please review!