Chapter 33: Salamander vs Zero!
The only sounds coming from the hallway inside the collapsing, abandoned prison formerly known as Nirvana were the low pitched growls that escaped Natsu's throat mixed in with the crackling flames that danced around his body. To say that Natsu Dragneel was mad was the understatement of the century. He was fuming, he was irate, furious, and various other synonyms. The blood running through his veins boiled as he tightened his fist, clenching them so hard they cracked. The scales that covered his body were uncomfortable, and itched in several different places, but he ignored it. The discomfort was a minor downside to the power he was granted in this form, he felt like a bottomless well of fire and raw power that he was oh so willing to use against the man standing across from him. Zero stood there silently with his arms crossed behind his back as he often did, his signature wicked grin plastered on his face while his blood red eyes stared directly into Natsu's reptilian-like green eyes.
The silence between them spoke more than words ever could, each of them having nothing short of pure unadulterated hatred for the other. Zero had to have his entire face reconstructed, the blood vessels in his eyes had burst resulting in the horrific all red eyes he had now. Natsu had a list of reasons to hate the man in front of him, from imprisoning and torturing him, for what he did to Lucy, and now for killing Daphne. A woman who didn't deserve the life fate had given her. That wasn't how her life should have ended, she should have been able to see her son again, should have been able to make it out of here. She shouldn't have had to die saving the life of the kid her loved one ditched her to raise. Natsu was flooded with an overwhelming feeling of guilt and sorrow which only helped fuel his anger with the man he was about to fight against.
"If it's all the same with you Prisoner Eight….I don't want to stand here all day so if we're going to fight...I suggest you stop waiting around and do something…." Zero chided, Natsu's facial expressions darkened.
"So be it…" Natsu began sprinting at Zero who watched as he grew closer, the smile on his face growing.
"TAKE THIS!" Natsu yelled as he jumped into the air throwing a punch that Zero easily ducked. Natsu grunted and spun himself in the air aiming a blazing kick to Zero's head. Once again Zero easily dodged it, without removing his hands from behind him he leaned backwards and while Natsu was still in the air he delivered a harsh headbutt that sent Natsu into the wall of the tight hallway they were in. Natsu winced as he rolled out of the way of Zero's big boot that was aiming for his chest while he was pinned against the wall. His eyes widened when he saw that Zero had kicked the wall with so much force that it left a dent in the metal wall, just how strong was this guy?
"I must say, it has been ages since I have had to use my own strength in a fight….But of course I have no more servants to do my bidding thanks to you." Zero chuckled and Natsu stood back up, the flames that danced around his body sparking alive once more as Zero's words struck a nerve with him.
"Servants? That's how you view them?...THEY ARE PEOPLE DAMNIT!" Natsu charged forward and sent a punch at Zero who blocked it with his forearm. The two stood there fighting for dominance as their forearms clashed with the other's.
"Don't make me laugh….Those pitiful sheep were here so that I didn't have to lift a finger, but with the disbandment of the Seis, the Balam Alliance betrayed me and cast me out!" Zero used his opposite hand to send a strike at Natsu who blocked it with his own free hand, leaving the two in a grapple for the upper hand, both of their hands interlocking with the other one's.
"You really are just plain evil aren't you?! People are more than sheep, or experiments! Each and every one of them have thoughts, feelings, dreams….Just like Daphne before you took that from her!" Natsu snapped as his fire swelled around him, he started pushing Zero backwards as the battle started to lean into his favor. Their strength contest was no longer in a deadlock and Zero recognized this as his feet began sliding across the floor. He glared down at the young boy who was easily shorter than him by a few feet.
"You're pathetic." He spat before shooting his knee off the ground and right into Natsu's gut, breaking the grapple they were in and lifting Natsu into the air who had just gotten the wind kneed straight out of him. Zero grabbed Natsu out of midair and threw him into the steel wall leaving a Natsu sized dent in it. Natsu landed hard on the ground cringing at the pain.
"It's thoughts like that, that prevent you from becoming stronger, people are worthless and stand in the way of true power…" Natsu rolled out of the way as Zero walked over and brought his boot down from where he used to be, once again the metal warping around the large boot.
"YOU'RE WRONG!" Natsu yelled as flames shot out of the bottom of his feet propelling him through the air like a rocket. Using the boost of speed he flipped a few times in the air, creating two long strings of fire in both of his hands and used them like whips. Zero wasn't ready for this and was sent stumbling backwards by Natsu's attack. Natsu landed on the ground and ran at Zero who was trying to regain his balance and sent a strong fiery punch to his chest. Zero bent over, some saliva shot out of his mouth as he gasped.
"PEOPLE ARE NOT YOUR PLAYTHINGS! THEIR LIVES AREN'T WORTHLESS" Natsu delivered more and more flaming punches, each one harder than the last. Zero had been put on the defensive as Nastu was unrelenting in his assault, combining a flurry of punches, kicks, even some headbutts. His dragon force increases his speed, strength, and senses to the point where Zero could do nothing else, but try to block and dodge.
"YOU DON'T GET STRONGER BY THINKING YOU ARE BETTER THAN THEM! YOU GET STRONGER BECAUSE OF THEM, THE CONNECTIONS AND BONDS YOU FORM! THAT"S WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN!" Natsu delivered one final punch before puffing up his chest and cheeks and delivering the largest blast he has ever mustered from his mouth. Zero's eyes widened as he threw up his hands to block the large attack, but it didn't help much and instead he was sent flying down the hall and smacking into the large sliding door that led into the garage. Natsu sprinted down the hall after him gaining speed until he was able to launch himself in the air once again shooting flames out of his feet as a turbo boost. Flames engulfed his entire body. Zero barely had time to recover from Natsu's previous attack before Natsu's head crashed into his torso with enough force, and speed to temporarily make him black out. The sliding door couldn't handle the attack either, it shattered sending Zero and Natsu through the large hole and into the garage which was in even more disarray than the rest of the building thanks to when Jellal used his Grand Chariot attack inside the large room. Zero laid flat on his back while Natsu rotated himself to land gracefully, sliding across the floor on one knee with his hand down to stabilize himself.
"Get up! I'm not finished with you!" Natsu barked out the command as he rose back onto his feet, Zero stirred slightly on the ground and soon got back to his feet, his green military top had a hole burnt into the stomach from where Natsu's flaming headbutt had connected. On top of that he had several bruises and burn marks from the numerous fiery punches and kicks he had been on the receiving end of. He stood back up completely and cracked his neck before turning around to face Natsu completely.
"Be careful what you wish for…" He hissed and simply raised his hand, holding it out in front of him as if he was a Jedi trying to use the force. Natsu looked at him wondering what exactly Zero was up to. He didn't have to wait long at all to find out, in fact the mere second Zero had outstretched his palm Natsu felt a heavy weight pushing down onto him once again. It wasn't nearly as immense as it was before, but it still was enough force to prevent Natsu from moving.
"Cheap move...COME ON AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" Natsu snapped angrily as the gravity around him continued increasing and pushing down on him. Zero chuckled and began walking forward completely unaffected by the change of gravity.
"Foolish child, I'm merely only using the gifts I was born with, just like you….It's no secret that I am not going to beat you hand to hand….I might be vastly stronger in the physical department, but I cannot dream to keep up to your speed….I've done my research on you...there are few quicker than you….So it's obvious the only way to beat you is to slow you down." Zero explained as he slowly stalked over to Natsu who was struggling against the heavy weight pushing down on him. If he could somehow just break Zero's focus, and free himself he'd be fine. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do as Zero stopped right in front of him and punched him in the jaw with a large fist. Natsu felt his face swell and throb as Zero continued his methodical attack, a brutal knee shot to his gut made him lose his balance and succumb to the altered gravity. Natsu landed on the ground hard, and was helpless as Zero lifted his large boot and stomped down on his back causing him to cry out in pain.
"Yes….Let me hear you scream!" Zero taunted as he repeated the motion stomping down on Natsu's back again, and again. Zero slowly began curling his opened hand into a tight fist, as he did this the invisible force pushing down on Natsu began to grow heavier, and heavier. Natsu cried out as the feeling of being turned into a fleshy puddle was too much to handle. Zero then decided he wanted to have fun and opened his fist back up, the gravity decreased allowing Natsu a momentary breather, but he didn't get too long to recover, because with a snap of Zero's fingers he suddenly felt weightless and began floating into the air.
"W-what's happening?!" Natsu asked as he struggled to control his movements while he floated up into the air. Zero grinned.
"I lowered the gravity around you, instead of pulling you down to the Earth's core, it's bringing you up into the atmosphere!" He chuckled. Natsu didn't really like the sound of either, so he decided to fight against gravity itself. He shot flames out of the bottoms of his feet yet again, and held his fists at his sides with a jetstream of fire coming out of them as well, the result saw him flying down, pushing against the gravity that was pushing him up into the air and heading for Zero's direction. Zero watched him in amusement and snapped his fingers again which caused the gravity to stop pushing him up and instead pulled him back down. The switch of the gravity mixed with Natsu's fire acting as jet engines lead to him flying into the ground fast, he closed his eyes awaiting the pain that awaited him, and instead of landing flat on the ground like a pancake he crashed straight through the floor. Natsu came to a crash landing inside a bathroom that was directly under the large garage.
"Owwww…" Natsu moaned, he slowly stood back up to his feet noting the fact that he was no longer being affected by Zero's altered gravity. He must have stopped using that move, which Natsu was secretly very thankful for, because there is something about having no control of your body that is horrifying. Natsu looked up at the hole he had created when he flew through the steel floor, and leapt through it returning to the garage.
"Oh shit!" Natsu exclaimed the second he landed back in the large room, his eyes went wide as he saw the familiar green beam that Daphne had been hit with heading in his direction. He tried to move out of the way, but it was no use Zero had once again changed the gravity so that Natsu couldn't move. He couldn't even raise his arms in front of him to block the attack, he just had to take it. Which hurt, a whole lot. Natsu let out a cry as he was hit with the full force of the attack coming from Zero's hand, his jacket ripped in several places as did his pants. Luckily his scarf had been unaffected, but it still unraveled and flew off his neck. The attack soon dissipated and Natsu fell to the ground, the gravity once again pushing down on him with a lot of force. Natsu cried out as his jacket continued to be torn to shreds. Zero cackled and walked forward toward Natsu, the gravity reverting to normal, but Natsu was in so much pain to stand back up, his vision blurred and his scales reverted back into his skin leaving him regular old Natsu.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk...Look at you...What happened to all that tough talk you were spewing…" Zero crouched down and gripped the back of Natsu's hair, yanking it up so that Natsu was forced to groan and look at Zero's ugly mug. Zero took pleasure in seeing a drop of blood slide down Natsu's cheek from a cut that had formed on Natsu's cheek.
"To think...with how much work I put in to break you with no success….All I needed to do was to unleash my powers….Now….Let's play a game Prisoner Eight….What breaks first….Your bones? Or….Your will to live?...I'm curious to find out…" Zero began laughing maniacally as Natsu struggled to love, but couldn't his body was too sore and battered. Zero proceeded to pick Natsu up by the back of his hair resulting in Natsu crying out in pain, his hands shooting up to grab onto Zero's arm to try and get him to let go. Zero just grinned and lifted Natsu over his head before slamming him back onto the floor face first. Natsu let out a muffled scream as his nose began to drip blood along with a new cut on his forehead. Zero lifted Natsu up in the air by his hair again and snapped his fingers, once more increasing the gravity and used the momentum to spike Natsu down again. Natsu let out another cry as Zero toyed with his helpless victim, without his dragon force Natsu knew he was no match. He was still so weak, a tear fell down his face as he had been picked up into the air only to be slammed down again. How could he hope to take on Acnologia, or protect his friends when in every fight he has been in he is too weak to do anything. Against Gajeel he had needed to absorb flames from an explosion he had created, because he had run out of energy. Against Laxus, him and Gajeel were horribly outmatched, and now against Zero he had one good stretch of offense before his dragon force deactivated leaving him at Zero's will.
"AHHH!" Natsu screamed out as Zero had thrown him across the garage into the front of a parked black van that was still in there. The windshield shattered, the glass shards piercing Natsu's skin and ripping at his clothes. Blood trickled out of the back of his neck from where a sharp piece of glass had impaled him. Tears continued streaking down his face and his vision blurred. He was done for, Zero was finally going to get what he wanted, he was going to kill Natsu, he was going to break him, just like he had wanted to all those months ago. Natsu shut his eyes ready to accept his fate, when a voice called out to him. A very familiar and angelic voice that he held so close to his heart.
"Natsu! What do you think you're doing?! GET UP!" Lucy's voice rang in his ears, causing Natsu's eyes to shoot back open and look around for her, but she was nowhere to be found. It was just in his head. He shook his head and slid down the hood of the van standing across from Zero. He knew he probably wasn't going able to win, but he wasn't going to give Zero the satisfaction of breaking him, after all this man had so much to answer for, Natsu was going to avenge Daphne's death if it was the last thing he did. He tore off the shredded remains of his one-sleeved jacket, at this point it was just black, and gold fabric that had been put through a meat grinder. His white pants had a leg that had been completely torn off from the thigh down. He still had his black boots on which he was thankful for as there was now shattered glass all over the floor. Zero began walking towards him slowly, as Natsu picked up his scarf from the ground and tied it around his waist so it didn't go flying away again. Once he did that he turned to face Zero, ignoring the pain his body was in, ignoring the blood dripping down his skin, and the scrapes that covered his upper body and leg. He was beat up for sure, but he was far from dead.
"You're strong that's for sure….But I'm sorry to disappoint you….you ain't breaking me….Not now…..not ever! As long as this heart of mine is beating! YOU WILL NEVER DEFEAT ME!...NOT WITHOUT ME TAKING YOU DOWN ALONG WITH ME!" Natsu yelled and ignored the limp he was running with as he ran right at Zero who looked shocked that Natsu was still standing let alone fighting. Zero easily ducked under Natsu's punch seeing as he was considerably slower now that he wasn't in his dragon force state. Natsu landed behind Zero and was barely able sidestep a kick that was aimed at his head. Natsu built up flames under his feet and created an explosion under them that shot him at Zero. Fire danced around his legs as he spun around in the air delivering a devastating spin kick to the side of Zero's face. Zero stumbled backwards and spat out a tooth that Natsu had popped out from Natsu's kick.
"You brat…" Zero muttered, but Natsu didn't even bother listening as he had shot himself into Zero's chest yet again. Zero coughed out some blood while Natsu began unleashing a flurry of punches. He may have been weaker and slower than he was in dragon force, but he was still leaps and bounds faster than Zero, and right now that was helping him out a ton. Zero reached down to grab at Natsu's head, Natsu ducked it and while he was crouched down he swept Zero's legs leading to the larger man falling down onto his back. Natsu flipped up into the air forming a fireball the size of a yoga ball in his hands.
"TAKE THIS!" Natsu yelled before he threw it down at his enemy who was laying flat on his back. Zero was unable to avoid the large ball of fire and was sent flying when it exploded on contact with him. Zero groaned as he stood back to his feet, the sleeves of his jacket completely burnt off from where he tried to block Natsu's attack. Natsu landed back on the ground and breathed heavily having just exerted a lot of power, and energy. He needed some fire to absorb to refill him, because he was pretty sure he was running on fumes. Zero seemed to notice Natsu panting and not making an effort to continue his attack, and grinned.
"All that….for a few scrapes?" Zero taunted, and Natsu just glared at the white-haired man before falling to his knees. A sight that brought joy to Zero's blood red eyes, he began laughing as he looked at his young enemy who was dead to rights. Holding up his hand a dark purple glow shone from his fingertips and began to manifest in the form of purple smoke that swirled around his hand.
"I'll do you a favor Prisoner Eight….I'll make your death quick….not necessarily painless, but quick nonetheless….This is my most horrific power...when I use it the victim I choose to use it against becomes nothing...not only will their soul be erased from this world, but their existence itself would be forgotten. You will be reduced to nothing….I call it….Genesis Zero…." As he finished explaining this, Natsu watched in fear as thousands of shadowy figures that looked like ghosts began swarming around him.
"These phantoms will end your entire existence...This is goodbye….Mr. Dragneel…." Zero snapped his finger and at once the phantoms all shot themselves at Natsu, who could do nothing as they surrounded him and dragged him away, he let out a scream as they pushed him into a crack of white light that had formed in the ceiling. Zero watched gleefully as Natsu was dragged through the crack along with every last phantom. His arms crossed behind his back and a grin formed on his face. Soon the crack itself vanished from sight.
Natsu cried out as he was dragged deep into a pitch black void forced to watch as he got further and further away from the crack that he had been pushed into. Soon the phantoms around him faded away leaving him floating by himself in the dark void, he looked down at his arms and saw that they were becoming translucent, he was fading away, just like Zero had said. Natsu's eyes shut as he was once again forced to face that this was his fate, he had tried to fight it, but in the end all it did was give him a few more minutes before his world ended.
"This isn't the end is it Natsu?" A deep voice echoed around him in the void, it took Natsu a second before he was able to recognize the voice of his father.
"DAD?!" He called out looking around for him, but the voice of his father didn't respond instead it was the voice of Lucy's father Jude.
"Are you really just going to give up like that?" Natsu looked down at his disappearing figure, he didn't want to give up...But what choice did he have?
"Sheesh, I always knew you were pathetic….but I never expected you to lie down and accept death…" Natsu's face darkened as he heard Gray's icy voice even now at the end of it all taunting him.
"The Natsu I know would fight to the very end, even when he was faced with death itself he would never give up!" Erza's voice replaced Gray's, his eyes closed and a tear slid down his face, he had lost, he had to accept that. No matter how much he wanted to listen to the voices that echoed around him, but they weren't real. He knew that much for sure, he was alone and the disembodied voices of his friends were not going to save him or get him out of this fate.
"Hey Natsu…" His eyes shot open at this voice, it was different from the others. It wasn't just in his head it was coming from in front of him. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Lucy floating in the void right there with him. She floated across from him, her hair moving around as if they were underwater, her warm brown eyes lovingly staring into his.
"Luce?" Natsu asked plainly, and she smiled brightly at him.
"Did you forget your promise? You said you would always find a way to win, because nothing could keep you from coming back to me….Did you forget that?" She asked softly, and Natsu remembered the conversation the two of them shared after he had woken up in the infirmary after his fight with Laxus.
"No...I didn't forget...But Lucy…..I just don't know if I can win...Not this time…." Natsu sighed looking down as his body continued to vanish into nothingness. Lucy frowned at him.
"Bullshit….I'm sorry Natsu I really am, but that is just wrong…..You can win! You just need to believe in yourself….the power is there within you…..Just let it out!" Natsu blinked at her before giving her a stunned look at the tone she had used with him.
"L-Lucy…."
"Please Natsu….come back to me…..just believe in your own power…." Lucy soon faded away leaving Natsu alone to absorb what had just happened. His fists tightened, he felt his power surge within himself and let out a cry as he released all his power at once. Suddenly his body reappeared as fire danced around him, his scales returned as he entered dragon force once again. He continued letting out his power and soon the void around him seemed to shatter, and fade away. Zero watched stunned as the crack in the ceiling returned, his jaw dropped as the ground began to shake.
"Wh-What's happening?" He asked himself looking around, his eyes shot back up to the crack which grew larger and larger before Natsu burst through it, flames dancing around him as he flew right at Zero.
"ZERO!" He yelled and delivered the strongest fire assisted punch he has ever delivered, rivaling even the one he used against Laxus when he had used his father's power to beat him. Zero was sent flying backwards looking up to see Natsu coming at him once again.
"H-How did you escape?" Zero asked, stunned, Natsu let out a yell as his the flames around his fist swelled.
"BECAUSE OF MY...FRIENDS!" Natsu yelled, connecting with the large punch. Zero winced in pain, while Natsu lifted his leg and kicked at the side of Zero's body.
"BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THE BOND WE SHARE!" The kick made contact and sent Zero into the large door of the garage that led to the outside. Natsu sprinted at him, forming a fireball around his fist.
"THIS IS FOR DAPHNE!" Natsu yelled, connecting with the large punch that resulted in an explosion that sent Zero flying through the garage door, and into the outdoors. While he was flying in the air Natsu puffed his chest and released the fire that had built up inside his chest, Zero became engulfed by the flames and fell to the ground completely fried, and beaten. Natsu stood over his body victoriously, his scales fading away leaving him bare chested, minus the wrapping around his arm, his pants that only had one leg still intact, and his boots. Natsu let out a deep sad sigh as he looked down Zero, reflecting on the effects this night had on him.
Lucy let out a small yawn and rubbed her eyes from the couch where the movie they had been watching had come to an end, well actually it was the third movie they had watched. The rest of her friends were all asleep leaving her as the only one awake. so she decided to flip through the TV channels to see what else she could watch that was interesting. Truth be told she had barely paid attention to the last two movies, after the incident with Dan her mind was focusing solely on Natsu, and the way she felt like she had hurt, and betrayed him. She hadn't seen him in roughly five hours now, ever since he had locked himself in his bedroom. As she thought that his bedroom door clicked and swung open, which made her and the rest of the gang whip their heads at it's direction. Lucy gasped at what she saw when Natsu stepped out into the living room.
"Natsu! What happened to you?!" Lucy asked horrified as she shot up from the couch and ran towards her best friend who looked at her sadly, she wrapped her arms around him tightly.
"I'm fine Luce...I just need a shower…" He muttered quietly and limped past her and locked himself in the bathroom, leaving Lucy to stare at the direction he had walked off in.
"What's his deal?" Gray asked annoyed that Lucy's yelling had woken him up. The others had stirred awake and turned to Lucy for an explanation, she just frowned.
"I-I...don't know…" Lucy replied, just as she had turned to face them the show she had turned on had been interrupted by a breaking news report. One they all paid close attention to.
Natsu locked the door behind him and started the shower, he took off the tattered remains of his pants, along with the rest of what he was wearing before stepping into the shower. Images of Daphne flashed through his mind and he had begun crying without knowing it. He clenched his fist and punched the wall of the shower and fell to his knees.
"Why?...It's not fair…." Natsu whispered as the tears fell from his eyes.
"It's not fair…" He repeated as he closed his eyes feeling totally defeated. How could someone die sacrificing themselves for someone like him, someone who shouldn't be alive to begin with? Someone who should have died all those years ago when Igneel found him in the woods.
"It should've been me..." Natsu whimpered.
Chapter 34: The Helpful Stranger