The Beast Chapter 8: immunodeficiency, a fairy tail fanfic

The Beast

AU: Forgot to mention, everything past chapter five was re-written.

Chapter Eight,

Immunodeficiency

'Failure of the immune system to protect the body adequately from infection"

Eight hours earlier

He had been awake the entire night, and the doctor's words bounced off the inside of his skull. She still hadn't awoken after what they did to her. His eyes glared at the pool of dark liquid that lay below her. The gown she wore was stained from the surgical precision cuts the doctor had made.

She'll be dead soon. It isn't your problem anymore. Ignore it.

He then heard the door open. He watched as a man walked and stopped in front of her cell. He was disheveled and out of uniform, he was emotionally disturbed at the moment. He was careless. He was an opportunity.

And then he pulled out the remote. The shock was instantaneously administered. He felt her wake immediately as she cried out. She looked between the man and Natsu, who had risen from the ground in his cell. He felt her call out to him in his mind. Something was different. She was different. There wasn't a guard. No holding back. She wanted him to help her. And he couldn't.

"You took her away from me."

ZAP

"Reinholt lost a daughter, but I lost my future because of you."

ZAP

Natsu watched as the man stepped back from Yukino. He was deftly still.

ZAP

He watched as she convulsed. He was grieving. Another step backward

ZAP

"I'm going to watch you die," he stated before he flipped the switch on and tossed the remote to the ground in front of her cell. She cried out, spittle erupting from her mouth as she clawed at the collar. And then he took another step back to watch. Which was close enough.

In an instant. Natsu plunged his hand into the shield wall, his arm piercing the field of energy, though his flesh burned upon breaching, the guard turned just before Natsu was able to grab him by the throat.

He brought the guard to the edge of the wall and slammed him against the frame of the shield. He did it again and again but the thing wouldn't open. Natsu cried out in frustration and shot his other hand through the shield. The nerves in his arms were fried in an instant as the shield cooked his flesh to the bone. The man's face was shattered, bone and blood ran down his battered face. His body was jerking. Natsu then began to pull the man through the shield.

The vapor from the blood evaporating from the energy shield did nothing but double Natsu's efforts. The smell of burned hair and flesh would have once caused him to recoil but he was so hungry. He stopped when he had pulled the guard halfway through the shield, with his legs and torso violently thrashing around.

Natsu wasted no time lowering himself to the man's neck before he bore his jaws just as the lights flashed red. All at once, Natsu was exposed to just how weak he had been. He felt his senses sharpen, his strength increasing tenfold as the crimson liquid and ashen flesh rushed down his throat.

He heard more guards break into the block before he grabbed the infernal collar and pulled it away, the device breaking from his strength like porcelain. Natsu threw himself into the barrier just as the guards rounded the corner. The wall gave way immediately.

Natsu dispatched the first guard with a talon as it cut through the armor the knight wore, cutting the knight from the stomach up. He felt a blast of fire hit his back and turned and removed the hand of one of the knights to his left before stabbing the man through the leg, breaking off the talon inside the man.

The remaining two knights attempted to use their staffs but were stopped when a tendril from Natsu's back rose and slashed across the knights. One lost his fingers in the attack. Natsu blitzed toward the uninjured knight and forced his head into the wall, the helmet erupted in a crimson explosion that covered the two remaining individuals.

Natsu was paused in his assault when the remaining knight shot his hand out and a purple blade of magic shot from his palm and severed the burnt arm at the elbow. Natsu responded by hitting the knight hard enough in the side of the head to cave in his helmet. The dragonslayer ripped the metal off and brought his fangs to the exposed flesh of the neck. He drank his fill until he regenerated his missing arm. He then attempted to do the same with his other damaged arm but found that the damage was deep. Grabbing his damaged hand with his own, Natsu breathed in before he screamed and ripped the damaged arm from its socket, sending black blood flying across the hallway.

He then shot his attention at Yukino who lay on the group of her cell. She was still breathing but the convulsing had stopped. She just laid there. Tears run from her eyes and drool from her mouth. She was speaking, but it was nonsense. She just babbled. Her chest heaved as she did so. Natsu could hear more guards approaching. He turned to run through the door, to freedom. But he couldn't.

He stopped just before he passed Yukino's cell. Just go, he reasoned with himself. She would only slow you down. She wasn't worth the effort. But all of those thoughts didn't stop him from slamming his newly formed arm into the panel on the wall.

It didn't stop him from cradling her in his lap. The act caused the woman to coo, she smiled despite the tears that ran down her face. She was weaker than him. But that only meant that he should be responsible for her. Taking his thumb, he reshaped it into a talon and cut three inches of flesh up his wrist. The result was a bleeding wound that he had to concentrate on to not immediately heal. He brought the wound to her lips and ran his other hand through her hair.

"Drink."

He ordered, and she obeyed. He felt the pressure, small at first, then as it increased he felt her teeth graze his skin. She never bit down, however. He watched as her eyes lost the hazy look, her face began to fill, and her grip on his arm tightened. Her scares began to fade from her now pristine skin. He felt himself slip a little looking at her but was only brought out from it when her other hand, the golden one, shot out and sent a wave of energy behind him.

He watched as the guard he stabbed in the leg fell over, dropping his sword as he cradled his hand. Natsu responded by rising up from his spot on the floor and throwing the man against the wall before he used fire to incinerate him.

Yukino watched her hand before looking back at Natsu.

"Come with me," he said with an outstretched hand. She immediately took it with no hesitation. She trusted him completely.

The duo left her cell and ran towards the exit as a knight rounded the corner before Natsu slammed his fist into the guard. He felt the spine break against the wall and left him. The betas will finish him.

The duo emerged from the cellblock to find absolute chaos. He watched as betas were running rampant as knights attempted to contain the outbreak. Natsu was confused for a slight moment before he caught sight of him on top of the barracks. It was the first time he saw Rogue in person and Natsu felt that familiar rage boil to the surface as he transformed.

The creature was smaller than him now, though it was difficult to clearly see the creature as it had a dark miasma that surrounded it. A storm of teeth and eyes surrounded it before they would disappear and be replaced by dozens of new ones. The moment he saw Natsu the creature roared as the betas that weren't attacking the staff shifted to focus on Natsu and Yukino.

Natsu couldn't focus on her at the moment though. All he had in his head was taking down Rogue. It consumed him. He was foolish to think that he could fight this feeling, this urge. Rogue shot into the night, his form disappearing in the infinite black of the night sky.

Natsu unhinged his maw and shot a burst of fire into the sky, but was quickly consumed by a dark cloud that would naw and cut him. He swiped his claws out but couldn't connect to anything. He felt Rogue's teeth bite into him from every angle. No matter if he jumped or ran he was stuck inside the prison of darkness. Soon he found himself at the barracks, the cloud of teeth gnashing on him the entire way. Natsu burst through the wall and turned to face his current opponent who hovered just barely outside the breach in the wall.

The smoke was thick, and with his large size, he struggled to see through it. He had caught Rogue hesitating to charge in, but now his opponent was nowhere to be seen.

She walked down the hallways hearing their cries. The guards were busy fighting everywhere else. They couldn't be everywhere. She didn't have any trouble from the others that turned, only the ones that pricked her, the ones that cut her.

They would cry, and scream, for help. For someone to come and help them before they were torn apart. She could have helped them, she supposed. But where were they when she needed help? They were the ones who tormented her in the first place!

As if sensing her distress, she watched as the ones that turned were even more invigorated. They hunted her abusers with even more reckless abandon. She watched as a woman who pulled something out of her just a few days ago was currently having the debt repaid. She had tried to feel sorrow or disgust at what was befalling the staff here. But as she watched two of the staff get overran and cry out the more she felt a morbid sense of satisfaction. These people, every single one of them, were the real monsters. They deserved no such mercy when they weren't willing to show her the same kindness.

Kindness.

There was only one person that had ever shown her kindness and she would follow him anywhere. She knew he would want this. She could feel it rolling off of him every time one of them came to talk to him.

He hated them. And if he hated humans, then she would wipe every last one of the monsters out. She would do anything for him, for her... What was the word he used?...

Alpha.

She would do anything for Alpha.

But before that, she needed to find the Doctor. She paused her inner thoughts when she smelt them hiding beyond the doors she was passing by. She slowed and gave the knob an experimental turn. Locked.

Hmm.

With a full grip, she ripped the door from its hinges. Inside she found five terrified staff members. None of which she was looking for. She released the door and allowed the hoard to swarm into the closet. The terror-filled cries did nothing to hinder her movements.

She made it to where she could feel most of her helpers. It was a lab. Of course, he would be here. She walked towards the crowd without care. She moved through the amassed spectators and found him there, with what she assumed to be the remaining staff. They were all afraid. Good. let them be afraid. There was a guard in there with them, a hand with the same color of light as the magic shield stood beside the Doctor.

The man's eyes snapped to hers immediately.

"Agria please, see reason! You have been put under his spell! He has manipulated you!"

"Manipulated me? Doctor, he has only ever told the truth, I was just too naive to listen to him," she said, feeling him come closer, just as she had asked. It was good that he still listened to her.

"Did you know that I don't even remember meeting you? I just remember the pain. And the hate. For everyone here. For all of you. Natsu was right. He said that all of you didn't care what happened to us-"

"We couldn't risk an outbreak Agria! If this ever made it further inland it would be disastrous. You understood that when we brought you here-"

"No! You killed the woman that said that. You kept taking and taking until there was nothing left! You made me this way!"

She felt hot tears run down her face, and she laughed. She laughed and laughed until her throat felt dry. She felt him at the end of the hall now. Slowly, she turned her head over her shoulder to see the mass of shadow race down the hall before it enveloped her.

She had felt his comfort, his concern. Black tendrils danced around her rejuvenated form as she glanced back at the doctor. The elder man looked between the two as it seemed he finally understood.

"It… was you. Not Dragneel. You were the one keeping him agitated!"

"I didn't understand it at first. I could always feel him, like an itch on the back of my mind. When I was scared I would focus on that itch, and it would want to protect me. To keep me safe. It was confronting. In a way."

She paused before willing Rogue off her and to manifest.

He was listening in, she could feel his gaze on her now. She supposed he was still hunting Rogue. She would have to hurry. She looked back at the Doctor before she took note of the room they had chosen to hide in.

"I wonder if your shield can hold out from Rogue. After Natsu brought me back, I feel stronger than ever. I can only imagine how strong he feels. And we haven't even talked about my Natsu."

She said before she looked the Doctor up and down while placing a finger below her chin. Seeming to be pondering an idea.

"I'll tell you what. You were only trying to be a good Doctor when you cut me open. You were trying to save others, right?"

"YES! Yes! That is what I have been trying to tell you! I let my own emotions get the better of me tonight and that was unacceptable. I was foolish, Agria. Please don't make these people pay for my mistakes."

"If that's how you feel," She paused before turning to see Natsu, back to his original form, standing impassively behind them, blood dripping from his chin. His red eyes watched her every move. She turned her back to him, taking his inaction as a go-ahead.

"Then I'll give you the same option that you gave me. Do what you wanted me to do, Doctor. Allow the kind staff here to tear you open. Or better yet!" Her voice rose, feeling the sense of control start to work her way through her veins. Was this what he felt when he would look upon her as the knives descended and cut her? "Don't wait on him, You all get to decide for him. You should know though, I won't wait forever! In fact, let's say two minutes. One life to save everyone else!"

While she watched the group begin to argue over the dilemma she felt Natsu invade her mind. He kept quiet as he watched her. She wished that she could know what he was feeling, or anything about him. But he was always like a phantom when he was like this. It didn't bother her, it was his choice.

I won't fight you, on anything. You saved my life. I owe you everything. I just want to help you, forever.

She spoke to him, trying to convey her emotions as best as she could. She felt his presence lessen, and disappear entirely. She didn't turn around though. Her eyes were glued to the table that they had hastily cleared off before dragging the doctor to the table.

She saw him as he stood next to her, the two watching as they cut the doctor open. Fear and desperation were prominent on the group's faces. Some tried to stop them, but they were held back. The guard who was keeping the shield up begged them to find another way but they wouldn't listen.

"You know that you can never go back to them now. Whoever you were before, that person is dead, gone," he spoke as blood splattered across the tile.

"All I know is that you were the only one that cared about me, Natsu. That's all I need to know. I'll be whoever you need me to be. Whatever you need."

"And what If I need you to be a monster?"

She turned her gaze from the graphic scene inside the lab to the pink-haired man next to her. He turned to meet her gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"Rogue,"

she spoke while searching his crimson eyes. They searched hers for any sign of doubt or restraint. She watched as his face was briefly illuminated by the flash of the shield breaking. She didn't turn to watch the carnage, to see her revenge. She kept her gaze squarely on the man beside her.

Natsu watched her for a moment before he turned, and walked back down the hallway. Recalling Rogue, she hurried after her Alpha, not before removing a cloak from one of the downed guards so that Rogue could be protected from the sun when it rose.

They had been walking for hours now. He had heard the sound of thunder an hour or so ago. He assumed that they were near and he was right. He heard the scout first. And when the flare went up he had to choose a clearing so that he could fight them on the field, it would make it easier to slaughter them.

The snow had lessened to a small flurry. He didn't really care for the cold, but he had missed the island. Waking up as the sunset over the ocean, strolling the beach with Sayla and Ki… he shook his head, he had to stay focused.

He heard them long before he saw them. Anything that wasn't natural was so easy to pick up on out here. He didn't know that they could fly… that could be an issue.

"Any ideas?"

He asked her as the airships closed in on them. His gaze briefly looked towards the sky, the heavy cloud cover was starting to dissipate, and changing into the berserker would be risky. Though there was plenty of food up there.

"I could send Rogue up, cause a bit of a distraction."

The ships overhead began to circle around them. Like vultures. How… what would Sayla call it? Poetic?

"Dragneel!"

Ah, Lahar was here. Excellent.

"Send Rogue after them, Yukino."

He watched her begin her throw before he began to transform. The result was instantaneous, and for a moment the world slowed as Natsu emerged, reborn in the flesh he wore. He saw an attack barreling down on them, more thunder, he rationalized. These projectiles impacted all around him. In an instant, he would be engulfed in the ensuing inferno. Before he even realized he moved, he felt himself bring Yukino in to shield her. As his body felt the heat all around him he was struck with feeling.

Before he could stop himself, he felt his maw open and closed his eyes. Then he felt the burning. The flesh in his mouth was burned and immolated in an instant, and the skin around his face blistered and cooked from the inferno. But then the light died, and Natsu felt his body begin to repair itself.

The smoke began to clear just as Natsu saw the first ship. Releasing Yukino from his hold, he opened his jaw once again, the lower jaw splitting down the middle, and unleashed the inferno back at his aggressors. The beam of fire struck through the bottom of the vessel and exploded out through the topside.

He watched as more of the ship began to fall, and turned his gaze to the remaining ship. He took off towards the ship, slow but continuously gaining momentum. He took one hop, and then another, and then he launched himself into the air. The ship itself attempted to correct its path but it was no use as he landed on the hull of the aircraft.

A knight appeared above him and shot a blast from his staff that grazed his outer shell. Natsu responded by reaching up and throwing the knight from the edge. He quickly pulled his mass up and over the railing. He watched as knights swarmed from below deck to meet him in combat.

He was constantly bombarded by their attacks, or sealed off by their shields.

And he was able to shrug all of it off. Was this really all that they were capable of?

The thought that he allowed such lesser creatures to contain him for so long caused rage to flow through him. In a fit of rage, he reached out and grabbed one of the knights that had ventured too close to him and wrapped his enlarged hands around the knight's torso, crushing it in an instant. He took an arm off with a bite, and cleaved through several with his claws. Their numbers lessened and lessened before he was blasted with a bolt of lightning that stopped his rampage.

He turned to the source of the blast to find he had finally made it to Lahar. The captain seemed panicked, but not fearful, no he had nothing but rage in his eyes for the dragon slayer. The man went to use his staff again but a quick swipe of his claws put an end to that. He grabbed Lahar before the man could dodge his grasp

He could have put an end to the knight there, a squeeze and he would have popped. But instead, he turned and jumped towards the crow's nest, he climbed the mast and reached the top in less than five seconds. He placed the knight within the nest before he stood on the beam next to it. The flesh that made the berserker began to melt away, dropping to the battlefield below.

Natsu used what little control of the larger body he had to better cut himself out before the rapid decay separated the tendons that allowed him to do so. He had thought that Lahar would have tried to attack him, but the man seemed frozen in place.

Natsu finally breached the wall of flesh and gasped for air before running a hand through his hair, the filth, and decay weighing down his pink locks.

"I had planned on eating you," he stated while observing the carnage he unleashed below them. His eyes went to the two downed vessels, his eyes being able to make out Rogue's shadow as it ripped and chewed through any of the survivors.

"But that wouldn't solve anything, would it? There would just be another Lahar to take your place. And just to be clear, I have no problem dealing with every Lahar I run into. But I have questions, ones that I hope you can answer for me."

"Fuck you." he spat, lunging for the pink-haired man in front of him. Natsu caught the man with a single hand and roughly pushed him back into the nest, Lahar gasped and cried out when Natsu used his prone state to kick the man in the side, hearing a snap.

Natsu pushed his hair out from his eyes, his crimson glare digging holes into Lahar.

"Let me try again," he said before he dropped down, out of sight from Lahar.

The man remained propped up against the side of the nest, coughing up crimson liquid in the process. Natsu was back in nearly an instant and tossed an object at Lahar, who couldn't raise his arms from his wound. The helmet bounced off his chest and landed in his lap, the soldier's eyes seemed to follow his own. Lahar bit back his disgust and anger and shot a glare at Natsu, who was currently licking his fingers.

"I will eat every. Single. One. if you don't tell me what I want to know. We're both leaders, Lahar. They made me so when they took her from me. I know that you care for their safety. Do this for me and I will do right by you."

He waited, the sounds of the betas below him rising above the winds as the crew attempted to fight them off.

"You know where my Alpha is, don't you?"

Lahar gasped before spitting out more blood.

"...Not...where…"

Natsu leaned in, he shouldn't have hit him that hard. He needed to be more careful. They were fragile.

"I...told...you. I… don't… know."

Natsu bit his lip in frustration. If he didn't know, then what was the point?

"But."

"But what? Speak up Lahar."

"One of… the men you described… he matched the profile of one of… the members of… a dark… guild. Tartaros"

Natsu felt his temper boil over.

"I don't know what that is! Speak clearly!"

He roared, lifting Lahar up from the floor. The knight choked up more blood, spattering on the dragon slayer's face. He watched as Lahar mumbled something under his breath that even he couldn't hear clearly. Natsu pulled the knight closer to him and turned his ear to hear the captain.

" Got you."

Natsu recoiled from the piercing pain that exploded from his neck, dropping the rune knight and grasping the small blade that was buried in his esophagus. Natsu removed the weapon but felt Lahar kick him center mass sending him tumbling over the edge of the nest. Natsu felt his throat repair and let out a roar before his back collided with the wooden railing, shattering in an instant. He felt the air leave his lungs as his mind went white from the pain.

He watched helplessly as his limp body slid from the side of the ship to plummet to the ground below. His back was already reconstructing itself when he hit the ground, he felt several of his ribs snap as the bones ripped through him and breached the broken mass of flesh and bone on his back.

Despite his injuries, he raised himself just high enough with his reformed arm to watch the ship begin to retreat. If he hadn't bitten through his tongue he would be screaming. That didn't stop him from willing his other hand back together to hold his broken jaw in place while the tendons reattached.

He continued to spit the black blood from his mouth as he brought himself to a kneeling position. He watched with vengeful satisfaction as the ship began to lean towards one of the rocky mountain faces that lined the valley.

The alpha watched as the ship crashed in the distance, he tried to let the joy boil to the surface. To feel accomplished. But every time he tried he was reminded of Lahar getting the better of him. Had he been starving, the damage would have been enough to kill him. He didn't win his fight, and now the victor was turned to paste on the side of the mountain.

"Natsu?"

His crimson eyes shot to Yukino, her golden hand dripping in crimson blood while a dark-haired man stood next to her, gnawing on a detached arm. That must have been Rogue, good to know.

He stood to his full height, before bending over and expelling the blood that had temporarily drowned him after he was stabbed.

"Should we go after them?"

Natsu turned his head to the side, his throat burning from the acid slightly. He studied her features, and she was happy. Excited even. Her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. The dragon slayer rose again and turned his gaze towards the wreckage of the ship he fell from.

"... No."

"But- why not?!"

"Because I said so, we need to get moving."

"We should go after them! What if they survived the crash?!"

"If the Betas don't finish them then the weather will. Their bodies are battered and won't survive the cold"

"We should vote."

Natsu stilled in his movement, his raised foot slowly crushing the snow under him. He turned to look at her before he took two steps toward the woman. The gap between the two was non-existent. He cut his eyes to Rogue for a brief moment before he gave Yukino a half-smile, his teeth stained with his own blood as it clung to his gums.

In an instant, his hand was around her throat. A stream of fire engulfed Rogue from his left hand while his right lifted her off the ground. She cried out as she kicked her feet and grabbed onto his outstretched hand. He looked over her as she gasped for air, fighting for every breath.

"You misunderstood something. When I say something, that is the end of the conversation. If I tell you to rip off your arm you do it without hesitation. If I say we are staying, then we stay. If I say we are leaving, we leave. Understood?"

He watched as she frantically nodded along to his demands. He released her as she fell to the ground and doubled over as she held her throat. She looked up at Natsu with teary eyes, fear evident.

Natsu felt his glare soften at the sight and lowered himself to one knee beside her, all the while keeping a reforming Rogue in his sight. He outstretched a hand to her and watched as she flinched.

"Hey."

He spoke as his palm cupped her cheek, her face freezing for a moment before she melted into his touch.

"I was hurt pretty bad because I didn't think things through today. If I would have taken that much damage yesterday I would have died. I have to look out for us. The people who took my Alpha were much stronger than the humans we fought today. We can't afford to act carelessly. You are too important to lose Yukino."

She adopted a shyness as she placed her hand over his. Even though she didn't look at him, she nodded.

"...I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Natsu nodded before standing to his full height and offering a hand to the woman. She reached out and allowed Natsu to pull her up. His gaze went from the two other individuals with him before he turned to look at the shipwreck that was closest to them.

"First thing's first, let's pick up something for the road."

As carefully as she could, she removed herself from Kyoka and moved silently across the room, careful not to make a sound. She made for the door and silently pulled it open before slipping out. She took a moment to breathe before she set off with her destination in mind.

Her hands went to message her wrists as she was lost in thought. Kyoka was unusually… rough with her tonight. She had always been a passionate lover but tonight… was different. Not to say that she hadn't experienced that sort of treatment before, but so soon after this body was recovered? There were plenty of times in the past when she would inadvertently ruin a vessel in her haste for pleasure but that took months, and plenty of scares before she would go that far. She was found marking her territory and would grow bored if she ran out of canvas to mark.

Since she had awoken she had found many odd things around their guild. There was tension around every corner. Keyes had yet to leave his lab, Jackal and Ezel wouldn't look at her while the former glared at her every chance he got. And finally, there was Kyoka who had insisted on taking her to her chambers every night since she was released from the pod. Speaking of the pod, because of her inner monolog she had failed to notice she had arrived at Hell's Core.

She eyed the expansive lab before she walked and observed the occupants. She watched as several Lamy's zipped up and down the lab floor, each doing their own goal it had seemed. Then her gaze cut to the two currently residing inside two growth chambers. Both were two new additions to the guild. The first appeared to be a woman, her horns forming two crooked hooks atop her head, though it seemed that she had lost her eye in the transformation. This one was Minerva, she had heard Kyoka talk about this one. She had said that she showed promise. That would remain to be seen.

Strangely enough, the second one was another one of Keyes' additions. Silver had been surprisingly loyal, if not cold. While he had paid off, she was not sure what to make of the blond-haired man that floated inside the tank, his body covered in silver and white scales.

She pressed on from the new recruits to the pod she had awoken from. Her hand pressed against the glass casing as a frown crossed her soft features.

"Lose something?"

She jumped and removed her hand from the pod, turning to see Keyes leaning against his staff. Before she could question him though, the necromancer spoke.

"I see that Kyoka has been… passionate."

Sayla raised a hand to cover her neck, the bruising aching slightly from the contact.

"Wh-what is the meaning of this, Keyes? What do you want?"

The skeleton rolled his shoulders before straightening to his full height. With a sweeping gesture, he invited her to walk with him. Normally she wouldn't humor his request but something egged her on in the back of her own mind.

Silently, the two left the pod and began walking down the corridor. Sayla contemplated asking one of the several questions that she had on her mind but every time one neared the surface it disappeared.

"You wish to know what happened in your time on that island, yes?"

Sayla narrowed her eyes but nodded nonetheless.

"I'm afraid I, and the others for that matter, have been barred from telling you."