Chapter 50: I am The Salamander!
A feeling of uneasiness overcame Natsu as he walked closer, and closer to the sadistic laughter that was growing louder and louder. Through the smoke Natsu could make out the shadowy figure. Before long he could see spiked up blonde hair. No wait, it wasn't spikey. It laid flat on the man's head going down to where his neck and shoulders met, and bangs in the front that blocked out one of his eyes. What Natsu had originally thought to be spikes were….ears? There was no denying it on top of his head were ears similar to some kind of dog. Natsu was now close enough to see he was wearing a green striped tank top, and extremely baggy white pants. A beige cape thing was tied around his waist, aside from the wardrobe this guy had other prominent features that Natsu immediately noticed. For starters he smelled terrible, like a combination of sulfur, and burning ash. He had strange black spots on his face around his eyes, and his forearms, his hands were entirely black, and perhaps the weirdest part yet. A tail. Yep, a yellow tail that matched his hair color stuck out from the back of him.
The man stopped his laughter when he noticed Natsu walking towards him with an intense look on his face. Igneel's scarf blowing in the wind along with his pink hair. Natsu kept walking until he was mere feet in front of the man.
"Who the Hell are you?" The blonde growled as Natsu stood still glaring at him.
"I can ask you the same thing….I take it that this is your handy work." Natsu muttered back to which the man grinned devilishly.
"As a matter of fact, yes! Hehehehe! Do you like it?!" The man began cackling like a psych ward patient. Natsu's blood ran cold as a throaty growl escaped his lips.
"Damn you….WHY?!...you were lucky enough to be born with powers, and you use them to cause so much pain, and destruction!" The man's laughter immediately ceased at Natsu's words. He held his hand up in Natsu's direction.
"Why? Because this is what I was created for! Hehehehe! My name is Jackal, one of the demon gates of Tartaros! And my sole purpose is to raze this world, rid it of you human scum! And make way for the age of the Etherious!" Natsu's eyes shot open as a large blast of wind shot out of Jackal's palm and sped towards him. Luckily he was able to side step it, as it made contact with the nearest building behind Natsu it went up in a giant explosion, the shockwave of which was so powerful Natsu stumbled forward as the building collapsed shooting it's wreckage in every direction. Natsu glared at Jackal furious. Tartaros? Etherious? Why did all of those sound so familiar! Then a memory from so long ago hit him. After his first confrontation with Erigor the reaper he mentioned something about gates as well as E.N.D. His hand shot to his bandage wrapped arm where Igneel's power lay dormant. Natsu was knocked out of his thoughts by Jackal's maniacal laughter.
"Not bad kid!-" Jackal got interrupted by the sound of sirens, lots of them. Through whatever smoke hasn't cleared up red, and blue flashing lights surrounded them. The sound of many police officers running towards and circling them caused both Natsu and Jackal to get annoyed at the interruption.
"Idiots…it's too dangerous to get out of here!" Natsu snapped at them, but nobody listened to them. Instead they all pulled out their weapons and directed them at the two.
"Freeze both of you and put your hands up!" One of the cops yelled to which Natsu sighed and obeyed the command immediately. Jackal grinned wickedly.
"My, my what a ruckus pathetic fools! You have no business here…now scram!" Jackal snapped at them. The sound of a gunshot could be heard, but Jackal just chuckled and moved his head allowing the bullet to pass by with a whiz. It was at this point that Wendy and Levy had snuck up, and hid behind a car to get a view of what was happening.
"Crap they probably think Natsu had a hand in this….and if I had to guess that creepy looking blonde guy is the one who really did all this….but it's insane to think that all of this destruction was caused by just one guy….." Levy mumbled, but Wendy glared up ahead.
"That guy is no mere guy….his scent smells nothing like that of a human…..like he is something else entirely."
"How can you get all of that just by a smell?" Levy whispered back. Before Wendy got the chance to reply a loud whining noise could be heard from above, accompanied by a strong gust of wind the two girls looked up to see a news helicopter. Great, this was about to be broadcasted. Sure enough up in the helicopter a lady holding a microphone looked down at the commotion.
"Are you getting this Shiki?" She asked the cameraman.
"Yep! Going to live in five, four, three, two…and we're live!" He pointed to the reporter giving her the cue to start.
"This is Rebecca Bluegarden coming to you live from the city of Shirotsume where there has been another terrorist attack similar to the one that happened in Minstrel just a week ago." The cameraman pointed down to show off all the destroyed buildings, and chaos in the streets.
"Police currently have the two suspects surrounded!" The cameraman then showed the gigantic swarm of policemen that circled around Natsu and Jackal.
Back at the guild a glass shattered to the floor as Lucy stared up at the television in disbelief at what she was looking at. The rest of the guild was very much in the same boat as her.
"...N-Natsu?..." Lucy whispered shaky. She remembered he said something about going to Shirotsume with Wendy and Levy…What was going on? Across the bar Gajeel sat there stunned and motionless with a drink in his hand that he was squeezing so tightly it was about to shatter.
"Levy….damn it why didn't I go with you….I hope sure you're okay….Salamander you better keep her safe or I'll kill you." He grunted.
"I can't believe it….." Erza mumbled while Gray sat next to her stunned as he watched the television. Fairy Tail wasn't the only place watching on intently. Whether it was students who went to school with Natsu and recognized him, the Sabertooth guild. The three members of Crime Sorciere, Gildarts, at some random pub. Everyone was waiting to see what was going to happen next. Luckily nobody had to wait too long as within seconds of the camera showing Jackal and Natsu, Jackal slowly raised his hand. Natsu's eyes widened.
"GET DOWN NOW!" He shouted, but none of the police officers listened to him. Jackal laughed as he spun his hand and a giant explosion made quick work of all of the officers at once. Sending them flying into the air only to crash to the ground with a thud. Natsu watched on horrified as did everyone watching their TV's. One thing was for sure. Jackal made sure there were no survivors. Blood flew through the air and splattered on any surface including Natsu who stayed still on the ground kneeling frozen in fear. He had fought horrible people before, but this thing was no human….he was a demon. Jackal cackled and licked the blood that had splattered onto his face with glee.
Mirajane suppressed a cry by covering her face. Erza, Gray, Gajeel, Laxus, Makarov, and so many others in the guild just stood there shocked, furious, disgusted. Lucy felt her knees shake, luckily Cana was standing next to her and caught her.
"Woah girly…here let's take a seat…" Cana tried to usher the blonde girl to a stool. Lucy just plopped down onto it staring at the television in disbelief. Her eyes never flickering away from her boyfriend who even through the grainy picture she could tell was shocked to his core, and sat on the ground littered with debris from the destroyed buildings and the bodies of all the cops Jackal had just massacred. The sound of Jackal's laughter coming through the speakers put her on edge. He had just taken care of well over thirty armed police officers like they were nothing more than blades of grass needing to be trimmed. And her boyfriend, the one person in her life she was sure she couldn't live without, especially after everything was the very same person standing next to the psychopath. Her blood turned to ice when Jackal turned to face Natsu with a large grin plastered on his face.
"Natsu….get up! Get out of there…." She begged, Cana sat herself next to the blonde and gripped her hand tightly. They turned their attention back to the screen where Natsu growled, his fists clenched tighter and tighter as he stared at the ground.
"To all those watching at home, we do apologize for the tragedy you just had to witness…..our thoughts and prayers are with those brave officers' families…" The news reporter stumbled her way through her own shock. Natsu's entire body shook, he couldn't move an inch, couldn't wiggle a finger. He couldn't get up and run if he had wanted to. He stared down at a puddle of blood that stained his hands red. He was on the verge of a panic attack. His vision turned fuzzy as he remembered staring down at Daphne's lifeless body after she took a blast from Zero for him. Here he was again, on the ground staring at some other innocent person's blood on his hands after a lunatic ended their life for no good reason. He felt useless. He was so lost in thought he didn't notice Jackal had slowly waltzed up to him. Jackal crouched down so that he was at eye level with Natsu. The two locked eyes and Jackal began laughing once again.
"Oh man….if you could see the look on your face! It's priceless…..here let me do you a favor..." Jackal held his hand in front of Natsu's face, Natsu could do nothing. He was stuck in place as he stared at the black as night palm in front of his eyes. A gold circle with strange symbols flashed before his face.
"Ya know….I never got your name, after all I introduced myself to you….didn't you ever get taught manners….not like it matters anyway….say goodnight….permanently hehehehe!" Jackal laughed and then an explosion erupted from his hands right in front of Natsu's face sending him flying backwards into a car. The steel doors dented beneath his weight and the windows shattered. The car's alarms started going off. Back at the guild the onlookers were stunned.
"NATSU!" Erza of all people screamed, breaking out of her normally stoic personality. Several of the lower members of the guild stared at the redhead's outburst. Gray punched the table he was sitting at.
"Damnit….fight back Natsu!" He hissed.
"Yeah that's right! Be a man! Get up!" Elfman roared. All the yelling made Lucy tense up, Cana felt this and gave the blonde a gentle squeeze.
"WILL YOU ALL SHUT UP! HE CAN'T HEAR YOU! SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF YELLING!" Cana snapped. Lucy tried her best to ignore them but watching Natsu struggle to move after flying into a car was too much to bear. Her heart plummeted into the pits of her stomach. The guild went quiet and watched as Jackal looked up at the helicopter. He spread his arms out to his sides.
"Hello world! You may know me as the terrorist responsible for the destruction of Minstrel…but allow me to introduce myself…..hehe….my name is Jackal! And when I am done bringing this city to the ground you better watch out, because your hometown could be next….after all I plan on bringing all of Fiore down to the ground in a heap of ash….so enjoy your pitiful lives while you still can! Because they will come to a painful end real soon!" After his speech Jackal ran his hand through his hair and burst into laughter again. Natsu regained consciousness after temporarily blacking out from the hit he took. He cracked his neck and stared down Jackal.
"M-monster…" He croaked out, not loud enough for the camera recording them to pick up, but Jackal's large ears twitched and he turned to face Natsu smirking.
"I take that as a compliment. How the Hell are you still alive and kicking? You must be different then these pathetic meatbags called humans..." Natsu coughed up blood as he slowly and hesitantly rose to his feet, using the dented car behind him for support. Too many people had died, too many people had gotten hurt all on his watch. No more, he was done being scared, he was done letting people get hurt because he was too weak to prevent it.
"...I guess you can say that…you're right…I never introduced myself…" Natsu stripped out of his button up shirt leaving him in his jeans and undershirt. His scarf tied around his neck. He turned and showed Jackal his red guild mark.
"I am a member of Fairy Tail….the strongest guild in the world….and my name is Natsu Dragneel!" Natsu shouted, a flicker flashed in his eyes and in an instant his arms became shrouded with fire.
"The Salamander of Magnolia!" Natsu finished and slowly walked up to Jackal who had stopped laughing. Instead he looked more intrigued. He walked towards Natsu as well, and soon the two stood inches apart. Jackal smirked down at Natsu, while Natsu glared up at him. Staring each other down like pro boxers before a big championship match.
"Ooooh I'm so scared…let me guess you want to fight me, well I should give you a warning…." Jackal chuckled quietly.
"If you fight me then I will obliterate you!" Jackal taunted, but the look on Natsu's face caused him to stop mid laugh. Instead of any type of fear Natsu's face showed the opposite. He smirked.
"That's funny….cause I was gonna say the same thing!" Natsu yelled before making the first move, a solid left hook to Jackal's jaw, his flames crackling around his fist as he launched Jackal into the air.
Levy grabbed Wendy's arm and yanked her away from the fight.
"THAT'S ARE CUE TO GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!" Levy shouted.
"B-But w-what about Natsu?!" Wendy yelled back. Levy frowned.
"He can take care of that monster….I hope…"
Jackal flipped in the air after Natsu's punch to land on his feet, but Natsu caught him with a kick to the side in mid-air. Natsu was going all offense right off the bat. Something Jackal obviously wasn't expecting. Jackal landed on the ground just in time to be hit by a fiery elbow that caught him on the side of the head. Natsu spun after the contact and delivered a quick knee to Jackal's stomach which made him double over.
"W-Wait….You might want to know something about my curse…" Jackal started, but Natsu didn't listen.
"SHUT UP!" He yelled and punched Jackal square in the nose, Jackal backed up and Natsu ducked down and swept Jackal's feet. The demon stumbled onto his backside while on the ground his eyes widened in horror as Natsu leapt into the air and was about to drive a flaming heel to Jackal's skull. Jackal punched the ground and an explosion formed allowing him to jump out of the way. Natsu's heel cracked the street upon impact, distracted by the mini explosion Natsu had lost sight of the blonde freak. He sniffed the air, and turned around just in time to roll out of the way off a wild swing from Jackal which left him wide open. Natsu focused his flames to shoot out of the bottom of his feet, propelling him through the air like a torpedo and spearing Jackal into a partially destroyed building's outer wall. Jackal coughed as he lost his breath and collapsed onto the street, leaving Natsu standing. The news reporter slipped into the role of commentator as they recorded the fight.
"Unbelievable! The boy claiming to be the infamous Salamander from Magnolia has just put the hurt onto the terrorist known as Jackal. It looks like Salamander has the upper hand…."
The guild hall erupted into cheers as Natsu stood over Jackal who was panting on all fours.
"YES! THAT'S HOW A REAL MAN FIGHTS NATSU!" Elfman shouted while hugging his big sister who giggled with him.
"Never doubted him for a second." Gray smirked cooly, Juvia just stared at her boyfriend with a blush.
"That's my beloved Gray….so confident in his friend's power…he is so sweet." She muttered, her face burning warmer. Erza let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in, before a proud smile formed on her face. Natsu never ceased to surprise her. Even Lucy who had been a nervous wreck moments ago was celebrating with Cana, the two girls high-fived each other and hugged. Jet and Droy wrapped their arms around the other and leapt up and down.
"YEAH NATSU SHOW THAT FREAK THE POWER OF FAIRY TAIL!"
"AND BRING LEVY HOME SAFE!" Gajeel rolled his eyes at the two's antics, but agreed with their sentiment. The only one not celebrating was Makarov, who glared at the screen darkly. Meanwhile at Sabertooth things were similar to Fairy Tail.
"Oh wow Natsu is so strong!" Yukino smiled brightly. Sting threw his arm around her shoulders.
"That's putting things lightly! He's so awesome!" Sting watched on idolizing the fire user. Rogue rolled his eyes at his cousin's antics. But he couldn't deny the sentiment. Across the world Gildarts lowered his drink and frowned at the TV.
"Natsu…..If this is the same demon I think it is…you have no idea how big of a mistake you made….DAMNIT!" He slammed his fist against the pub's counter.
"Why is this happening?! A demon….from Tartaros….much less that one..." He glared at the screen remembering Jackal's face from all those years ago…the last time Etherious walked the Earth.
Natsu grinned cockily down at the demon on his hands and knees below him.
"You had enough yet?!" Natsu snarkily commented.
"NOT QUITE" Jackal shouted and launched up at Natsu, throwing a punch that Natsu saw coming a million miles away, and caught it. He squeezed Jackal's fist tightly, and with his free arm delivered a swift uppercut to the underside of Jackal's jaw making him stumble backwards, but because of Natsu's tight grip on his hand, he couldn't back away too far before Natsu pulled him back towards him, and judo flipped him over his shoulder. Jackal cried out as he crashed into the pavement. Natsu picked him back up before delivering a swift, not to mention fiery combo that would have made a mixed martial artist fall to the ground. Jackal kept backing away, but Natsu lit his fists ablaze, and with a running start delivered a crisp punch that sent Jackal crashing into a semi truck.
"Damnit….DAMN YOU!" Jackal screamed and blew up the semi truck using it as a boost, speeding towards Natsu, he flung a punch that Natsu ducked and a kick that Natsu blocked. Natsu grinned and cocked his head back before delivering a rough headbut that made Jackal once again fall to the ground shaking.
"AMAZING JACKAL HAS NOTHING TO MATCH SALAMANDER! THIS FIGHT IS TOTALLY ONE SIDED!" The reporter screamed into her microphone. Just like before those watching at the guild hall cheered louder than before.
"HELL YEAH! GO NATSU SHOW THAT MORON WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CROSS A MEMBER OF FAIRY TAIL!" One of the newer members named Warren shouted as he fist bumped the air. Lucy, and Cana were joining the celebrations as the two girls laughed while hugging each other.
"THAT'S MY MAN! GO GET THEM BABE! SHOW HIM HOW STRONG YOU REALLY ARE!"
"HECK YEAH! KICK HIS ASS!" Cana chuckled and cracked open a beer to celebrate.
"Man he's making this look too easy." Gray mumbled with a smirk.
"GO! NATSU! GO! GO! NATSU! GO!" Erza chanted, having requipped into a cheerleader uniform which made Gray raise an eyebrow at her behavior.
"Uhhh Erza?" He muttered. The redhead turned to face him with a puzzled expression.
"What? It is important to cheer on your comrades, not to mention friends….Here why don't you join me." She held out her hand to Gray offering him one of her fluffy pink pom-poms.
"NO THANKS!" Gray snapped, his face flushed in embarrassment. Juvia looked at her boyfriend and gave him pouty eyes.
"Please Gray my love….I think you could totally pull off the cheerleading outfit…." She pleaded, but Gray just crossed his arms.
"Not. Gonna. Happen." He mumbled.
"There you go Salamander….that's more like it." Gajeel grinned.
"I have a bad feeling about this….I think this fight is far from over…" Gray muttered to himself and sipped on his tea hoping that he was wrong about this hunch he had.
"Huh? Did you say something Master?" Mira turned to look at the shorter, old man. Who looked at her and sighed.
"Nope…I just have a bad feeling that we are getting too ahead of ourselves." They turned to the screen where Natsu stood triumphantly over Jackal's shivering body.
"Get up ya wimp…I'm far from done with you…you have a lot to pay for….so many deaths, so many people hurt….I will make you pay for all of it." Natsu growled. Jackal's whimpering soon started to turn darker. Soon he wasn't shaking, and whimpering….his body was shaking with laughter.
"WHAT'S SO FUNNY!" Natsu yelled. Jackal's spaztic laughter grew louder, and more unhinged.
"Oh…nothing…nothing really…." He muttered as he rose to his feet standing in front of Natsu with a wicked smirk.
"I just think that it's amusing that you believe you are winning…" Natsu raised an eyebrow at this comment.
"Uhhh dude….I don't know what butt-kicking you've been paying attention to but you haven't hit me once…" Jackal burst into laughter again.
"There is more to a fight than which one lands the most hits, like for instance power sets….if you would've let me finish what I was gonna tell you prior to attacking you would've known something about me.."
"Like what?" Natsu rolled his eyes, figuring that Jackal was just stalling to catch his breath.
"LIke the fact that I am an Etherious…not a human….we are a superior race born with curses, not powers. My curse is that everything I touch…goes kaboom…."
"Yeah so what?!" Natsu growled, taking a step closer to Jackal before several gold spots glowed on his body.
"W-what the Hell…" Natsu muttered looking at the shimmering gold spots .
"I don't think you understand….everything I touch becomes a bomb….that is the same with things that touch me….or stupid idiot human's that hit me….they all go…" Jackal slowly raised his hand and snapped his fingers, causing each and every one of the golden spots on Natsu to explode at the same time. Natsu screamed out in agony, as it felt like the explosions went on for an eternity, Natsu's vision went white and he fell to the ground.
"Boom." Jackal whispered before breaking into one last fit of chaotic laughter which was the last thing Natsu heard before his sight went dark.
Chapter 51: Sky Dragon!
I hope you guys have been liking the recent updates! It makes me happy to be able to return to writing this story making me, and hopefully you guys happy! Please leave a review on how you've been feeling about the recent chapters! Reading your guy's positive comments always inspires me to keep going! HAPPY NEW YEAR AND I LOVE YOU ALL!