Chapter 51: Sky Dragon!
"Oh my….I'm not entirely sure what I just witnessed, but Salamander just fell to the ground and is now laying unmoving on the ground…" The reporter's voice rang through the television's speaker at the guildhall that just seconds ago was rowdy and cheering in excitement as it appeared that Natsu had the fight in the bag. Now it was so quiet you could hear a feather hit the ground. Lucy and Cana who had been jumping up and down were now just staring at the screen mortified. Makarov glared at the screen, very visibly upset that his bad feeling came true. Erza was covering her face with her pom pom, absolutely stunned that Natsu had just collapsed out of nowhere after dominating the fight up until this point. Juvia clung onto Gray's arm who sat there mouth agape.
"W-what….just happened?" Jet asked Droy who looked just as dumbfounded as everyone else and shrugged.
"I don't….know? Maybe he just tripped?" Droy suggested. Warren, a newcomer to Fairy Tail with the power of telepathy, shook his head.
"No man….I'm afraid it's worse….that guy Jackal's powers turn everything that touches him turns into a bomb…..I guess that includes the body parts of people…" He sighed. At the bar Mira frowned and looked down at her glass. Gajeel sneered, but rose to his feet.
"GET UP SALAMANDER, YOU USELESS BUM!" Gajeel yelled at the screen causing everyone to look at the fuming iron dragon. After his outburst the guild returned to silence as everyone turned their attention back to the screen. The only sound that filled the building was that of Jackal's bone-chilling laughter. As if he was some kind of Hyena that just couldn't control himself. Lucy felt her legs begin to wobble as the terrifying demon strutted over to Natsu's prone form on the ground, the momentary ecstasy she had felt seconds ago. If Natsu was going to end up victorious….it wasn't going to be as easy as they originally had hoped. She slowly retook her seat at the bar and crossed her hands together.
"Come on Natsu….I believe in you…." She muttered, Cana once again supported her friend, and began rubbing circles on her back just to let Lucy know everything was going to be okay, at least Cana hoped it would be okay. While silence had taken over the Fairy Tail guild hall, the small pub Gildarts was occupying was anything but.
"DAMN IT!" Gildarts pounded his fists onto the bar he was sitting at leaving it cracked, and splintering.
"It can't be….I thought Igneel killed him….how did he come back to life….." He muttered, he looked up at the screen slowly remembering the twisted, demonic face of Jackal from several decades ago. He was driven out of his thoughts by the reporter.
"What's this? It looks like Salamander is stirring, hang on folks….I don't think this fight is over yet!" Sure enough Natsu slowly gets onto his hands, and knees with a grimace. He coughs out blood. His entire body is sore, and with each little movement he hisses at the pain. His fists were bloody, he had several bruises all over his body.
"Oh good you're still alive…I was starting to think that this fight was over before I got some payback." Jackal taunts, as Natsu slowly rises to his feet. He groans as a shock of pain flashes through his body the second he is fully upright. The sight of which makes Jackal grin.
"That's…some cheap trick ya got…" Natsu mumbles, which made Jackal's grin grow larger, but his smile immediately evaporated off his face when he noticed Natsu wasn't scared….in fact he wore a grin that made Jackal's look like a friendly clown. On instinct Jackal took a step back as Natsu cracked his neck, the wicked grin on his face never leaving.
"I was starting to think that this would be boring….you got me for a second, I thought you were all bark no bite for a second….but now….I'm getting fired up….so let's go! Round two, no holding back!" Natsu's flames engulfed his entire arms, the rush of adrenaline helping him work through the pain. Jackal was taken aback, but not for long. A low rumble left his throat before he rushed at Natsu.
"How dare you! Stupid human scum! Your entire race disgusts me!" He swung at Natsu who ducked under the punch and rolled out of striking distance. If Natsu was going to win this he had to stay at a distance, and used more ranged attacks….which was not his forte at all. His father trained him in hand to hand combat, after all Igneel was a world famous Mixed Martial Artist.
"GET BACK HERE!" Jackal shouted and leapt at Natsu with balled fists, Natsu waited for an opening and evaded the right time causing Jackal to strike the building behind him with such force that Jackal's hand went straight through the brick wall. Natsu took the time to charge up a decently sized fireball in his two hands, he whipped it at Jackal who retracted his hand from the wall at the right time to leap out of the fireball's path. The wall promptly explodes due to Jackal coming in contact with it. The rest of the building crumbled leaving a good amount of dust in the air. Natsu uses this as a chance to run out of the little plaza they were in, he runs into a nearby coffee shop, ducking into the kitchen. From the TV feed nobody watching could see anything which gave everyone a strong sense of anxiety.
"This is scary….Natsu's combat strength is close quarters….his power's aren't really designed for fighting at a distance…." Gray mumbled, nobody responded due to the smoke clearing out from the area and all eyes stayed trained on the television. Jackal cursed under his breath.
"COWARD! WHERE DID YOU RUN OFF TO?!" Jackal snaps, he sniffs the air and with a grin follows the scent of Natsu to the coffee shop where Natsu was camped out in. He strolls to the outside of it, and comes to a stop.
"I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!" Jackal shouts through the doorway, before clapping his hand onto the door causing a gold circle of form on the building, and within seconds a loud explosion could be heard as the building went down like so many others that had turned into rubble around them. Natsu scurried out before it came down on him, the only exit was to run through a window near the back of the store which he wasted no time sprinting through. The momentum of jumping through the window with enough force to shatter it caused him to slide against the harsh ground, leaving pretty bad scrapes on his arm and leg. He rolled onto his knees to stop his skid. Coming to a stop a few feet away from the space where a coffee store once stood, and now a pile of rubble laid where a certain blonde demon stood on top of.
"Why are you running away! What's the matter, too scared to hit me! I thought you wanted a fight! You can't escape me! I now know your scent, I will find you no matter where you go!" Jackal slowly walked towards him. He had a point, Natsu wasn't going to be able to try and use stealth…that was probably the thing he was worst at. Natsu held his arm that was all scraped up as he rose to his feet.
"Crap…." Natsu muttered as his body cried out in pain once he was fully standing up straight. He took a deep breath, and then charged.
The guild let out a collective horrified gasp as they watched their pink haired comrade blindly charge at the monster.
"IDIOT WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Gajeel shouted at the screen. Makarov's face soured and closed his eyes not wanting to watch the outcome of this fight.
"THAT WON'T WORK NATSU"
"NATSU YOU CAN'T FIGHT HIM LIKE THAT!"
"MASTER! HE NEEDS BACKUP! WE NEED TO GO HELP!"
"HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT?! THEY ARE SIX HOURS AWAY! ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE COUNTRY!" Erza, Gray, and Lucy were the only ones who stayed silent as they watched carefully.
Jackal grinned as Natsu rushed towards him.
"That's it, come face your demise." He snickered as he readied his fist. Natsu wound his arm back ready to throw a punch, but never threw one instead at point blank let a large fireball leave his hand right at Jackal's face. Jackal got thrown backwards, stunned Natsu stayed on the attack. He formed two long fire whips, and slashed at Jackal who was still too shocked from Natsu's surprise fireball. Jackal got hit by Natsu's flaming whips and stumbled onto his knee. He shook his head regaining his composure and sprinted at Natsu who wasn't prepared for just how fast Jackal was. He managed to backstep away from the first of Jackal's strikes, but since he was on the backfoot it was nearly impossible to evade the humongous kick to his ribcage. Natsu cried out, not a second passed from the kick before a gold circle formed and exploded on Natsu's side.
"Now you're mine you stupid human brat!" Jackal prevented Natsu from collapsing from the explosion on his side with a violent elbow to Natsu's cheek. Natsu fell backwards onto his bottom before a circle formed on his face and just like the other times blew up. This made Natsu fly backwards into a car. Jackal slowly walked over to him and placed his hand onto the car's gas tank. Natsu's eyes widened, he tried to scurry away before the car erupted, but there really was nowhere to escape. The force of the car's explosion flung Natsu into the air and made him land awkwardly bent over the pile of glass, and wood from the coffee shop. Jackal walked out of the smoke that was coming from the car and towards Natsu who was struggling to get back to his feet. Jackal sprinted at Natsu looking for a huge punch, Natsu reached beside him. Picking up a thick plank of wood, he rose to his feet just in time to block the punch from Jackal. A gold circle formed on the plank where Jackal's punch had landed, before it exploded Natsu used it as a weapon getting a good hit on Jackal who was pushed backwards by the swing of the plank. Just as a second circle formed on the piece of wood Natsu thought on his feet and chucked it at Jackal who was just recovering from the hit. The plank exploded right in front of Jackal's face, knocking him off balance.
"MY TURN!" Natsu shouted as he puffed up his cheeks. A surge of flames coursed inside of him before exiting through his mouth as Natsu unleashed one of his most intense roar attacks he had ever done. Jackal obviously wasn't expecting this and couldn't do anything to block he cried out as the large blast of intense heat collided with him. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as Jackal got pushed back with the blast. Before Jackal could catch his breath Natsu picked up two long pieces of wood from the ground and rushed towards the demon.
"What the-" Jackal muttered before being struck in the face with one of Natsu's improvised weapons. Natsu used the second one to strike Jackal's ribcage to get back at him for the kick that he gave Natsu's side. He was able to get two more hits in with each of the pieces of wood before he felt like they were about to explode, so he threw them away. Sure enough mere moments after leaving his hands they exploded, turning into dust. Natsu knew he had to stay on the offensive while Jackal was still left in a state of shock from Natsu's assault. Looking down at the ground he saw a sharp glass fragment. He reached down to grab it, and stabbed Jackal's leg. The demon cried out in pain and fell to a knee clutching the leg Natsu had just stabbed. Natsu held his hand out directly in front of Jackal's face.
"Bastard…" Jackal seethed, he tried to move but Natsu just let a large blast of flames shoot out of his hand and sent Jackal flying back. The demon grunts out in pain as he crashes to the ground.
"AMAZING! SALAMANDER UNLEASHES A WICKED COMBO TO GAIN THE ADVANTAGE IN THIS FIGHT ONCE MORE! IT LOOKS LIKE THE DEMON JACKAL IS DOWN, BUT IS IT FOR GOOD?!" The reporter announced through the guild's tv speaker. Once again several members were celebrating.
"ALRIGHT NATSU!"
"THAT'S HOW A REAL MAN BEATS A DEMON!"
"WOO! YEAH NATSU KICK HIS BUTT!"
"That darn boy….so dense until you're in combat. I will never cease to be amazed by you…" Makarov mumbled to himself, but then smiled softly as he looked at the screen watching as the camera zoomed in on Natsu's stern face. He remembered the kid he and Gildarts had recruited what felt like a lifetime ago. He had watched that young boy who could barely use his powers grow into the young man he was today.
"Well I'll be damned….he always finds a way doesn't he…" Gray muttered with a smirk. Erza matched his smirk with a sly grin of her own.
"Of course, but then again I guess we shouldn't be surprised….he never has been one to just give into adversity."
"Wow Luce! Your boytoy is kicking butt!" Cana chimes taking a sip of the rum she had poured herself. Lucy blushed at the comment, looking at her boyfriend on the TV give a cocky smirk as he walked over towards Jackal.
"...Yeah….he is…." She agreed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Jackal slowly got himself onto a knee and punched the ground, the concrete cracking under his fist.
"D-...D-DAMN YOU!" Jackal shouts at Natsu who comes to a stop in front of him. Natsu doesn't react, instead he just glares at the demon.
"Why are you doing this?...What is your goal with killing all these innocent people and destroying cities?" Natsu questioned him. Jackal just glared back at him.
"Why should I tell you?" He snarkily replied, and plopped down into a sitting position. Though one look at Natsu's serious expression made Jackal sigh.
"It's simple really….I am an Etherious of Tartaros…a demon with ethernano running through my veins instead of blood…..my mission is simple…" He gave Natsu a bone-chilling grin.
"To destroy this world! To rid it of you human trash, to pave the world for the age of Etherious! The better lifeform! Absolute perfection! We can't die of natural causes! We don't get sick! We are perfect! You humans are like ants to us!"
"Us? You mean there are more of you?!" Natsu growled, and Jackal began to laugh.
"Oh…yeah I forgot to mention that huh?!...There are nine of us in total! Each one is stronger, or stronger than me!" Jackal's laughter grew more chaotic. Natsu was floored by that revelation, Jackal noticed he was frozen in shock, and took that as an opportunity to attack. He ripped the shard of glass out of his leg and threw it at Natsu who didn't notice it until it was too late, and the sharp glass piece went right into his chest. Natsu cried out in pain, and grabbed at it, but because Jackal had touched it, it became a bomb, and it exploded while it was embedded inside his chest. Natsu screamed out in pain, as blood shot out his chest, Jackal wasted little time charging Natsu. Delivering a swift, and hard punch to Natsu's gut. Natsu doubled over, and Jackal smashed his knee into Natsu's face. Stumbling backwards Jackal took a hold of Natsu's collar and tugged him back up. Jackal proceeded to cackle as he began brutalizing Natsu. Punch after punch, after punch after punch. Natsu just kept groaning out, his body failing to do anything to prevent Jackal's assault. Jackal was the one who decided when he was done, after a solid minute of Jackal holding Natsu up by the collar and punching him the demon lifted Natsu off the ground and tossed him up into the air.
"Boom." He muttered and with a snap of his fingers dozens of golden circles appeared on Natsu's body where Jackal had hit him each and every one of them blew up in unison spiking Natsu into the ground forming a crater upon impact. Natsu yelled and his vision blurred. He struggled to get up, but Jackal was on him the second he was back onto his feet.
"Oh? You want more huh?! Then take this!" Jackal held out his hands where a golden orb formed. He yelled it in front of Natsu's face and it detonated right in front of him. Natsu stumbled, his face bloodied, and bruised. The undershirt he wore was ripped to shreds. His pale skin was red, blue, purple, and various other colors from the bruises, cuts and scrapes that he had received throughout the course of the fight.
Natsu caught his balance and with a growl threw a flaming punch at Jackal, gone was his ability to strategize. This was now a battle for his own survival. Jackal caught the punch and twisted Natsu's arm. Natsu screamed as the pain was becoming unbearable. Jackal formed another golden grenade in his palm and this time put it into Natsu's stomach. When it erupted Natsu fell to the ground, but Jackal still had a grip on Natsu's arm. He smirked from ear to ear as he twisted it even more. Natsu was now screaming out in pain. He needed to do something, but he couldn't even move a finger. Jackal's laughter throughout his beatdown of Natsu just became more and more unhinged, even more psychotic. He only stopped twisting his arm to pick him up by the hair. He once again just relentlessly punched Natsu in the face, before dragging him up to his feet. Once Natsu was on his feet he lifted him in the air and slammed him right back down to the ground. The explosions that flashed this time weren't even felt by Natsu, he was in too much pain to feel them. His whole body was numb with pain.
"DON'T DIE ON ME YET! I WILL MAKE YOU AN EXAMPLE FOR ANY PATHETIC HUMAN WHO THINKS THAT THEY CAN DEFEAT ME, OR ANY OF THE TARTAROS GATES!" Jackal screamed as he began stomping, and kicking Natsu who lay prone on the ground. The only thing Natsu was able to do was cry out and scream. After every kick an explosion followed. The sounds of his screams, mixed with the explosions echoed throughout the empty city. The reporter and cameraman who were still broadcasting the brawl from their helicopter looked horrified.
"The brutality….of what we are witnessing right now…..it's indescribable…" The reporter spoke into her microphone melancholically. Through their TV Gray's aunt Ur watched through her hands that covered her face. Having known Natsu since he was a boy growing up with her nephew it was impossible to watch. Lyon sat next to her fists clenched and wincing at every scream that came from Natsu. Sherria sat on the floor holding back tears.
At Sabertooth, many members were actively looking away trying not to watch what was going on, but there was no escape from the screams. Sting, Rogue, and Yukino were watching mortified as the person they thought stronger than anything else was rendered useless by some maniac.
At the pub Gildarts was fuming, his knuckles were ghostly white from how tightly he was squeezing his fist. The rest of the occupants in the pub were no better. Gildarts had seen one woman actually faint.
"N-Natsu…." He mumbled a tear escaped his eyes at the thought of what his godson was going through.
Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear of Crime Sorciere were appalled at the events, Jellal and Ultear who had already been forced to watch from front row seats the very same boy at Jackal's mercy go through just as much pain and torture when they were in Nirvana. It wasn't fair.
Laxus and the Thunder Legion were also watching even though they were currently on a job out of town, they were gathered around the hotel's tv watching this. Laxus' anger boiling inside of him, there was no way the kid that beat him in a fight was getting his butt kicked this badly.
Other people Natsu had met along the way were all watching the scene in front of them unfold, listening to his screams come out of the television set they were around. From Kagura, Ichyia and his posse, the three elemental users of Phantom Lord sat near Erigor, and his gang in prison. Lahar, and Doranbolt who had suspected Natsu from the very start of being Salamander, were gearing up with a large group of men to travel to Shirostume. Even Dan Straight was sitting cross legged on his couch next to a framed photo his mom took of him and Lucy the day of prom before she ditched him. The Oracion Seis, and last but certainly not least the Fairy Tail guild that he now called family.
Nobody there could stomach what they were seeing, Mira was rendered to tears while Elfman held her close, and tried to avoid listening to his friends cries of anguish as Jackal kept brutalizing him, refusing to let Natsu fade out of consciousness. Jet, Droy, Warren all were looking at the table they were sitting at, unable to look up at the screen. Porlyusica, though she wouldn't show it outwardly, was also there watching, and on the verge of losing her composure. Sure the brat annoyed her, but nobody deserved the fate he was receiving at the hand of Jackal.
"Damnit…AND-Natsu get up…" Erza muttered to herself, her voice barely a whisper. Her stoic composure was breaking at the sight of one her oldest friend's in such a sorry state. Gray stayed silent but he was silently thinking about how he wished he was there, and blaming himself for not being able to help. Juvia probably sensed this, she didn't say anything to him, only placed her hand on his to let him know she was there. Makarov refused to watch, he couldn't stand witnessing one of his children subjected to this at the hands of a demon. Gajeel was angry at himself for not going when he had the chance, maybe if he were there Natsu would stand a chance…and if Natsu were to lose, who would protect Levy and bring her home safe. Whatever buzz Cana had was long gone. She was one of the only ones watching the screen, unable to take her eyes off of it no matter how much she tried. After all that was one of her best friend's boyfriend, and a dear friend that had put the guild on his back time and time again. Yet here in his moment of need….they couldn't repay the favor. Finally able to pull her eyes away after a particularly violent stomp to Natsu's stomach that resulted in a huge cough of blood to shoot off into the air like a geyser. She turned to look at Lucy who had gone paler than the color white. She was staring unblinking at the TV, obviously dissociating and was on the verge of a mental breakdown. Cana couldn't blame the poor girl so she did the only thing she could think of, pull her in for the tightest hug she could. Lucy didn't even notice the brunette enveloping her in the hug, after all how could she? Her breathing was short, and sharp. Her heart was pacing, she was in total shock. Tears had started leaking from her eyes, and down her cheeks without her noticing. This was a pain worse than anything she could ever imagine. Even though he was alive, watching her partner in life, her best friend, her roommate, her boyfriend, her safety net, and various other descriptors go through this…was honestly worse than losing her parents. At least they weren't in pain.
Back in the city hundreds of citizens were listening in horror as the screams coming from Natsu bounced off the empty buildings and carried over to the train station where they were attempting to flee. Wendy and Levy were amongst the crowd listening on in horror. Levy closed her eyes tight, and covered her ears dropping the signed box sets that they had come here for, never in a million years had she expected this day to go this way. She wanted it to be a bad dream. She wanted to wake up back in Magnolia where the boy she had grown up with wasn't screaming out in pain loud enough for an entire city to hear it. Wendy just stood there frozen.
"Na-Natsu…." She mumbled once another scream mixed with an explosion could be heard. Her head flashed back to the time they first met, the time when Phantom Lord attacked, and he rushed into the guild to rescue her cat Carla. How in Nirvana even though he was being put through Hell he still rushed to protect her when a guard threatened her. Looking down at her hands she felt tears start to form. Why did she have to be weak? She was a dragon like him, but she couldn't fight…She admired how strong Natsu was, how courageous, kind, and caring he was. She made her decision immediately she began sprinting away from the crowd at the train station and into the city.
"WENDY COME BACK!" Levy shouted chasing after her once she realized the girl wasn't at her side.
"I HAVE TO HELP HIM! AFTER ALL….It's what he would do if someone else were in his shoes…" Wendy argued.
"Sure, I'm not as strong….sure I've never been in a fight, but I can't let that stop me….Natsu would never let someone suffer this fate. So I won't let him!" Even if she was able to hold Jackal off for long enough that he regained his strength it would be worth it. The small girl rushed towards the part of the city where the sounds of Natsu's torment only grew louder. Levy followed close behind. Soon Jackal was in site as he stomped on Natsu repeatedly, making both of their hearts fall to the bottom of their stomachs.
"I have to help…." Wendy whispered and without thinking rushed in summoning all her strength, and focused all her might into a strong gust of wind that came from her hands.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" She shouted as she blew the attack at Jackal's direction who was caught off guard by the intrusion, and got caught in the blast he was sent flying through the air. He landed on his feet, and glared at her.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Jackal sneered at Wendy sending a chill down her spine, she took a deep breath to find courage.
"MY NAME IS WENDY AND I'M THE SKY DRAGON!" She yelled as a green energy surrounded her, with wind picking up around them.
Chapter 52: Powers Unleashed