Chapter 27
Ensnared
"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!"
"PITCH BLACK HAMMER!"
Natsu and Neo Leo's attacks collided together in an explosion of red and black fire. The impact it gave off forced both the Dragon Slayer and Dark Zodiac Spirit to leap backwards and away from each other. As soon as he had recovered, Natsu lit fire around his feet and darted towards Neo Leo again. The Dark Lion Spirit mimicked Natsu and lit his Dark Regulus around his own golden boots. The two jumped forward at the same time and attempted to kick the other in the face. This only lead to their attacks colliding again. Once again, the impact sent them backwards as it exploded.
Needing to come up with a plan, Natsu landed on his feet and began to run around the interior of the cave, his eyes solely focused on Neo Leo as the Dark Spirit attempted to attack him. Natsu knew from past experience that it was dangerous to stand still in the middle of a fight, especially if he wasn't fighting his opponent. He had to keep moving and come up with a plan to stop this guy.
As he thought of this, Natsu's stomach gave a big growl and clenched painfully. It reminded him that he had been on his feet almost all day and hadn't eaten anything. Not even so much as a flame. He had to get some food or fire in him soon.
Fortunately, there were torches of fire all around the room. As he ran past one, he jumped up and snatched it off its stand in the wall. He then shoved the thing into his mouth and swallowed the flame. It might not have been much, but Natsu could feel his power coming back as the fire slithered down his throat and into his stomach, filling it up almost instantly.
"Oh yeah, now I've got a fire in my belly."
Natsu threw the stick away and slid to a stop before darting towards Neo Leo again. He jumped up and made it look like he was going to hit Neo Leo again. Neo Leo jumped up and prepared himself to meet Natsu's attack. However, at the last minute, Natsu grabbed hold of Neo Leo's arm as the Dark Spirit attempted to punch him. The Dragon Slayer then hoisted himself up above Neo Leo, did a mid-air backflip, and using his heel, kicked the Dark Spirit down to the ground, where he crashed with a loud "BOOM".
Seeing his chance, Natsu turned his attention to Ivan. Lighting up fire around his fist, he shot straight downwards toward the wicked man.
"WHERE'S ALU, IVAN?!" Natsu shouted. "TELL ME!"
Ivan just grinned maliciously. Instead, he responded by sending out a black tentacle straight towards Natsu.
Natsu saw the attack coming and managed to twist his body so that it narrowly missed his chest. He then tumbled through the air and landed on his feet, just a few yards away from Ivan.
"You still worried about that worthless brat?" Ivan taunted. "You should be more concerned about yourself. Especially since you're about to be outnumbered."
Ivan pulled another red key off of his key chain.
"Open, Gate of the Dark Bull!" he commanded. "Taurus!"
Natsu gasped when a Neo version of Taurus appeared before his eyes.
"Taurus, take down this Dragon Slayer." Ivan commanded. "But keep him alive."
"As you wish, Master." Neo Taurus replied obediently.
As Neo Taurus charged at Natsu, the Dragon Slayer leapt out of the way, flipping over onto his hands. He then hand-sprung himself up into the air and took in a deep breath.
"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!"
A stream of intense flames shot from Natsu's mouth and hit Neo Taurus. For a moment, Natsu grinned when he saw his flames engulf the Dark Spirit. However, his face soon changed to concern when his flames suddenly burst apart and faded. Neo Taurus had used his book to summon a small version of the real Taurus's axe. With it, he cut through Natsu's fire like it was nothing more than softened butter.
"Pretty impressive, Dragon Slayer." Neo Taurus said condescendingly. "But I'm afraid it'll take more than that to incinerate me."
Neo Taurus rushed at Natsu again, closing in too fast for Natsu to dodge. Natsu bent over backwards as that axe swung directly over his face, just barely missing his nose. He then tumbled to the left jumped back up onto his feet.
By this time, Neo Leo had recovered from his face-plant to the ground and was up again. Enraged from being injured in battle, he summoned Dark Regulus to both of his fists and charged towards Natsu.
"You're mine, Dragneel!"
Natsu glanced over to his right and saw Neo Leo approaching him. He then glanced to his left and saw Neo Taurus charging at him, too. Thinking quickly, he waited for just the right moment, when both Dark Spirits were about to strike him. At the very last second, just as they were about to reach him, Natsu jumped up and out of the way. Neo Leo and Neo Taurus couldn't stop themselves in time. They collided head on with a loud "BANG" and fell to the ground. Neo Leo moaned and cursed as he rubbed the aching bruise on his head. Neo Taurus just laid down on the ground, dazed and dizzy from the impact.
For added karma, Natsu deliberately landed on top of their heads with as much force as he could, slamming their faces even further into the ground. That attacked was enough to put the Spirits out of commission for a while. As soon as Natsu jumped off of them, they disappeared in a glitter of purple and black lights.
"Too easy." Natsu snarled.
Ivan gritted his teeth as he watched all of this. By now he could see that he wasn't going to capture his prey with brute force. It was a form of combat that the Dragon Slayer was accustomed to. Not to mention, the Dragon Slayer seemed to adapt to any kind of attack that was thrown at him.
Ivan would have to use trickery to take down the sakura haired man. And for Ivan, trickery was something he was an expert at.
Ivan grabbed four keys off of his belt. Natsu turned back to face him, and was shocked to find three more Neo Zodiac Spirits appear out of their own gates. The Spirits were of Virgo, Libra, Aries, and Ophiuchus. And just like with the other Neo Spirits, they looked drastically different from the real Zodiac Spirits.
Neo Aries's skin was tan, her hair was straight and longer, and she wore a tattered wool dress with a large chain around her neck. Neo Libra's hair was green and puffed up like cotton candy. She was dressed in a black, skin tight suit with a matching blind fold, and large, pointed gold boots.
"Ivan can pull off six gates in a row?!" Natsu said to himself. "It took Lucy years before she could do that! Where's he getting all this power?!"
"My faithful servants," Ivan said to his Spirits, "subdue the Dragon Slayer at once."
"Sure thing, Master." Neo Aries sneered. "This'll be fun."
"I've been waiting to dish out some punishment." Neo Virgo said, licking her lips.
All at once, the four newly summoned Spirits charged at Natsu.
"Holy crap!" was all Natsu could say before they attacked.
Natsu only barely managed to avoid being kicked in the chest by Neo Libra by jumping out of the way. At the same time, Neo Virgo summoned her whip and attempted to capture him in its grip. Luckily, Natsu was able to dodge it in midair by bending his body back. However, the moment he landed back on the ground with his hands and sprung himself back onto his feet, Neo Ophiuchus sent out a plethora of stethoscopes and tried to entangle him in them. Natsu saw that he couldn't dodge them all in time. Instead, he lit his whole body up in a blaze of Dragon fire to create a shield around himself. As he had hoped, the stethoscopes all burned up the moment they made contact with the flames.
However, Neo Aries ran around behind Natsu while his attention was focused on Neo Ophiuchus. As Natsu's fire disappeared, she took the chain off her neck and threw like a lasso at him.
The next thing Natsu knew, a metal clasp snapped around his neck and he was yanking back. The sudden pull made him choke as he fell. He grunted in pain as his body made contact with the rock ground. He quickly reached up and attempted to melt the chain off with his magic when a set of cuffs and chains suddenly appeared around his wrists and ankles, forcing him to lay spread-eagle on his back. Natsu looked over and scowled when he saw that Neo Virgo had a set of glowing cuffs in her hands. They matched the ones that were around his limbs.
"These chains can't hold me!" Natsu shouted defiantly.
Natsu growled and summoned forth his Dragon Slayer Magic to melt the chains…
…and then suddenly all the strength went out of him.
He went limp with shock, pain, and fear.
Just seconds before, Neo Aries and Neo Virgo chained the Dragon Slayer up, Neo Ophiuchus had summoned her syringe. It was filled with some kind of dark purple liquid. The moment Natsu was flat on his back, and just as he was about to set himself on fire again, Neo Ophiuchus stabbed the needle of the syringe right into Natsu's abdomen. It pierced through his jacket and went straight into his navel.
Natsu couldn't move. He could hardly breathe. This had caught him by surprise so bad that his mind shut off for a moment. Only his eyes moved, and they moved to look at the spot where he had been stabbed.
"Sorry about this," Neo Ophiuchus sneered, "but it's time for you to be put you under for now. This might hurt a little, so try to stay conscious."
Neo Ophiuchus then pushed the end of the syringe down. Natsu screamed in agony as the purple liquid was injected into his body. It was like a million icy needles were stabbing at him from everywhere inside him. His belly swelled and distended for a moment before Neo Ophiuchus pulled the needle out. His stomach returned to normal, but the pain that injection left behind didn't go away.
Natsu coughed and panted for air. His whole body felt heavy like lead, his limbs ached, his heart thumbed erratically fast, and his abdomen felt horribly stretched. His eyes had a glazed look in them, like he was almost dead. He didn't have the strength to summon his Magic. Whatever Neo Ophiuchus had injected into him had completely sapped him of any strength.
He couldn't move at all.
"Nicely done, my servants." Ivan said, clapping his hands together. "Now chain him up to that shrine."
Natsu was dragged across the ground and up to the alter, unable to fight back. As much as he wanted to fight back, he just couldn't. That poison had worked its way into his system. He was paralyzed, weak, and unable to summon his Magic. All he could do was let these Dark Spirits tie him up inside the middle of that rock circle shrine.
In a matter of minutes, Natsu was chained up like the prisoner he was. His head hung down and his arms and legs were stretched to their limit in the shackles that were bound to the outer ring of the circle.
He was ensnared. Captured.
"Thank you." Ivan said to his Spirits. "You're all dismissed now."
With a swipe of five keys, Ivan closed the gates of the Dark Zodiac Spirits. They all disappeared in a glitter of black and purple lights.
Ivan then turned his attention back to Natsu. He walked up to the Dragon Slayer with a wicked grin on his face. By now, Natsu had sweat dripping down his pale face, and he was still breathing heavily.
Seeing one of the most powerful Fairy Tail wizards in this state made Ivan feel triumphant. So much for the powerful Salamander.
Now that his target had been capture and rendered powerless, Ivan decided to take this moment to gloat.
"I finally got my hands on you," he said evilly. "Oh, what's wrong? Is my Ophiuchus's poison getting to you? That must've really hurt. Not only does it numb your strength, but it also paralyzes your Magic. You should feel the way you do."
Natsu didn't respond. His bangs fell over his eyes and hid them with shadows.
"You know," Ivan continued, "I was planning on storming Fairy Tail and taking a Dragon Slayer by force. But it appeared that luck was on my side. Who would've guess that I would run into the daughter of a powerful Dragon Slayer? All I had to do was snag a piece of her clothing, and you came running without a moment of hesitation. It's laughable that you were so easily duped."
"Alu."
Ivan stopped his gloated and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Natsu had spoken. His voice was weak and rough, but he had spoken nonetheless.
"Alu." Natsu repeated, trying to raise his voice. "Where's…Alu? Tell me."
"You're still worried about that brat?" Ivan questioned, genuinely confused. "You're about to have your soul stolen and all you can think about is the girl? I don't understand why you care about that little misfortune anyway. She's hardly worth anything if you ask me."
Natsu gritted his teeth. Those words only added fuel to the fire he was feeling inside him.
"A little weakling like her didn't deserve to be in Fairy Tail or any other guild." Ivan said. "Wizards are only useful when they have power."
"Is that why you implanted a lacrima inside your own son?" Natsu growled savagely. "Just because Laxus was weak back then, didn't mean he was useless."
"You're one to talk, Dragon Slayer." Ivan replied. "I bet you and that blonde wizard had a Dragon Slayer lacrima implanted in your daughter before she was even born."
"Never!" Natsu tensed, his shout was weak. "I would never do that to Alu! And neither would Lucy! The power Alu has is hers alone! It's always been in her blood!"
"So, you're perfectly content with having a dead-weight of a daughter?" Ivan sneered.
"Alu's not dead-weight!" Natsu shot back. "She was never dead-weight to me, or Lucy, or anyone else in Fairy Tail!"
"Of course," Ivan grinned mockingly, "because everyone in Fairy Tail 'loves' their members no matter how pathetic they are. You know that keeping weak members in strong guild will only put you in peril. Just like now."
"How's that?" Nastus snarled. He was really getting annoyed at this point.
"C'mon," Ivan replied, "it's because of that little brat that you're in this mess. You just couldn't abandon her even if you wanted to. Because Fairy Tail never leaves any of its members behind. And that's what got you ensnared in my trap."
There was a short silence.
"You shut your mouth." Natsu glowered. "All this garbage you're spewing is makin' me sick. I came after Alu because it was my choice. And I have no regrets."
Finally, Natsu lifted his head up so he could look Ivan straight in the eye. The expression on his face was full of determined sincerity.
"I never once saw Alu as a misfortune," he said. "And I defiantly never saw her as a commodity. All that stuff you say about her being weak and useless is a load of crap. You don't know anything about her. She's one of a kind. She works hard. Puts her heart and soul into everything she does. And she never gives up, no matter what. She may not be strong in Magic, but she has the most powerful heart I've ever seen. So what if she has a Magic Deficiency? That makes no difference to me. I wouldn't even care if she was born without Magic. I'm just happy to have her in my life. Nothing can ever change the love I have for her. I'm more than proud to call myself her father."
There was another long silence. Natsu didn't lift the conviction from his face for even a second. Not even the weariness from the poison made him lose spirit. He meant every word about what he said. Nothing was going to change his mind.
Finally, Ivan gave a snarled.
"Well, aren't you sentimental," he said harshly. "But you're also delusional. And I've grown tired of this idle chat. Say good night, Dragon Slayer."
Natsu braced himself for what was to come as he watched Ivan leapt back and summon a black tentacle. He then released it, and it headed straight for Natsu's heart.
Just a few more seconds, and Natsu would be soulless.
However, before that tentacle connected with Natsu's chest, there was a loud explosion. Something burst through the ceiling of the cave and shot straight down through the rain of falling rocks. White fire cut the soul-stealing tentacle in half just in the nick of time. The part that was severed away from the main body writhed for a moment like a dying snake before disappearing completely.
Ivan staggered back in surprise before looking back in time to see a pink and green haired girl land gracefully on her feet in front of the Fire Dragon Slayer. Natsu gasped in shock when he saw the person who saved him stand up, wipe away some tears from her face, and place herself protectively between him and Ivan.
"Alu!" Natsu exclaimed.
It was Alu. No doubt about that. But how did she come from?
"Oh, it's you again." Ivan glared at the little female wizard. "Guess I shouldn't be too surprised, seeing as how stubborn you are. Though I must say, you're looking kind of different. You certainly didn't have that eye before."
Alu just scowled viciously at Ivan, ignoring his comment. It was clear to see that she was very, very angry.
"If you or your Spirits ever lay a hand on my dad again," she growled fiercely, "I'll kill you!"
"You really think you can take me on, girl?" Ivan scorned. "I can easily destroy you in less than a second if I wanted to."
Alu took a firm fighting stance. She wasn't going to back down.
"Hit me with your best shot!" she challenged. "I can take it! I won't let you steal my dad's soul!"
"Then let's see if you can stand up to this!" Ivan shouted.
Ivan took grabbed two keys off his belt and swiped them through the air.
"Open, Gates of the Dark Maiden and Ram!" he commanded. "Virgo and Aries!"
In an instant, Neo Virgo and Neo Aries appeared. Alu kept her wits and got ready to attack.
"Alu, no!" Natsu strained to yell. "Get out of here!"
"No way!" Alu refused. "I didn't come all this way just to leave you behind! I can take these guys!"
"Heh," Neo Virgo grinned wickedly. "I'd like to see you try, little Dragneel. Let's see how long you can hold out before you beg for mercy."
Alu narrowed her eyes.
"Bring it on!" she goaded. "I'm all fired up!"
Alu leapt into the fight without a second thought.