Chapter 52: Powers Unleashed
"What's this?! It looks like we have a couple of newcomers joining the fray!" The reporter announced while those at Fairy Tail gawked in fear as Wendy and Levy rushed to check up on Natsu, all while Jackal stood fuming across from them.
"L-levy…" Gajeel stared in disbelief as the petite blue haired girl he had grown attached to was kneeling by Salamander's side. Putting herself in harm's way.
"LEVY GET OUT OF THERE!"
"NO LEVY!" Jet, and Droy shouted as they turned away from the TV. Cana was too preoccupied with her blonde best friend who was on the verge of a mental break at the sight of her boyfriend motionless from the beatdown he received from Jackal.
"Wendy….please run out of there…" Porlyusica frowned, but forced herself to look back at the screen.
"Here Natsu hold still!" Wendy instructed as she held both her hands over the boy while Levy supported his head in her lap. Wendy's hands became surrounded by a green light, and slowly Natsu's bruises began fading off of his skin. Jackal raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in puzzlement at this. Natsu groaned and slowly his eyes fluttered open.
"W-Wendy….L-Levy? What are you doing here?" He croaked out weakly looking at the two girls who just smiled at him waking up. He attempted to sit out but hissed in pain, and slumped back to the ground.
"Natsu….hold still…..you're still hurt." Levy laid him back down gently.
"How is he?...YOU THERE!" Jackal pointed at Wendy growling.
"What exactly did you do?! He shouldn't be able to open his eyes let alone be able to sit up after what I did to him!" Jackal sneered, as he walked closer to the trio. Natsu moved to stand up, but Levy again held him down to prevent reaggravating some of his worse injuries that Wendy was unable to heal. Wendy gulped as she stood up to face Jackal.
"Levy….Natsu….I'm going to buy as much time as I can, so please heal up…" Wendy muttered bravely, Levy's eyes widened in horror while Natsu growled and struggled to sit back up.
"N-No way….you two….need to get out of here…look at me Wendy….this guy is dangerous…you need to run." He pleaded, but Wendy stood her ground. Fighting back her nerves she took a deep breath.
"Not going to happen! I won't ever run away from a friend who needs help….no matter how dangerous it is…." She turned away from Jackal who was still just watching everything unfold to look at Natsu who was staring at her stunned.
"You're the one who taught me that….so please, stay down and rest up…I'm not sure how long I can hold him off…the truth is I've never been in a fight before, but I still have to try! I am a member of Fairy tail after all!" Wendy flashed Natsu a grin who stared at the girl in disbelief that it was the same little girl she met several months ago. Sensing that she wasn't going to budge on the subject he flashed her a weak grin.
"Fine then, show him what a dragon from Fairy Tail can do!" He encouraged her before closing his eyes and laying back down. Wendy smiled back at him before taking one final breath and turning to face Jackal who had broken into a fit of laughter.
"You're kidding me! I'm supposed to fight some child! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Fine then bring it on girl! Let's make this quick so I finish off that twerp behind you for real this time!" Jackal laughed, and wasted no time charging at Wendy who wasn't ready for this. Jackal laughed the entire time as he got closer. Wendy panicked and jumped backwards narrowly dodging a wild punch from the Etherious.
"WENDY BE CAREFUL! KEEP YOUR GUARD UP!" Levy shouted, while dragging Natsu behind some cover to get out of the way of the fight. Jackal's punch ended up forming a crater in the middle of the street.
"That was too close…" Wendy muttered, as she watched Jackal compose himself, never ceasing with the laughter. Obviously he was just toying around with Wendy. She wasn't an idiot there was no way he saw her as any kind of threat. Once again he charged at her, but since she was expecting it she didn't need to doge instead she just reached her hands out in front of her and summoned a strong burst of wind that sent Jackal skidding backwards.
"What the…." He muttered looking at the girl puzzled. He shook off his shock and went back on the attack. Wendy stood her ground and waited for him to make a move. Instead of rushing her this time he held his hand out and shot out a series of explosions from his palm. Wendy wasn't prepared for a ranged attack from Jackal so by the time she was able to process the explosions coming at her she couldn't side step it and was launched into the air after getting hit full force.
"WENDY!" Levy shouted, causing Natsu's eyes to shoot back open, he hissed in pain as he tried to sit back up.
"W-What's goin on?" He muttered. Levy frowned and once more pushed his head back down.
"Don't worry about it…just rest while you can you might need to tag back in sooner than later…" Wendy fell to the ground with a thud, she cried out upon the impact. Jackal slowly moved in towards her, a yawn escaping his lips.
"Oh come on, what a bore….then again I don't know what I was expecting…all you humans are trash…." He stopped in front of Wendy lying on the broken street. She struggled to stand up, watching this Levy looked down at Natsu and took a deep breath. If Wendy could be brave then so could she! She had the Fairy Tail emblem as well so she also could help. Looking around near her she found a sharp piece of metal from a car that was laying on the ground near her. She moved to pick it up.
"L-Levy….what're you doing?" Natsu mumbled weakly. Levy held up the piece of metal.
"Stay down….rest, it'll be up to you soon enough…." Levy began to sneak away before taking one last look at her childhood friend.
"Lucy will kill me if you don't come home safe…so whatever happens just be careful…" With that she snuck off leaving Natsu alone on the ground.
"W-Wait….come back…you'll get hurt…" Natsu frowned, he needed to hurry up and get well enough to fight again before his two companions got seriously hurt. Jackal meanwhile was standing above Wendy as the poor girl struggled to her feet. Levy snuck up behind Jackal who was starting to snicker while he watched Wendy slowly get up to her feet. Taking a deep breath Levy sped towards the demon, raising the sharp piece of metal and thrusting it right into Jackal's back before he even realized she was coming up from behind him. Jackal screamed out in pain as Levy stabbed him. She quickly backed away as the metal piece began to glow gold, Jackal fished it out of his body and threw it away before it exploded. He hissed, looking down at his chest he saw that he now sported a painful looking wound with a shimmering golden liquid pouring out of it in replacement of blood.
"You brat…" He hissed as he turned to face Levy who slowly backed away.
"You're going to regret that…" He mumbled and slowly stalked towards Levy who kept walking backwards until she tripped, she fell onto her backside. Jackal stopped in front of her and held his hand in front of her face, he was about to send an explosion out of his palm but before he got the chance he got sent soaring through the air. Levy bolted up to her feet and scrambled to find a place to hide, her heart beating a million miles a second. Jackal flipped in the air and landed on his feet glaring at Wendy's direction where she was breathing heavily on shaky legs, her hands held out in front of her from the powerful blast she had just unleashed. Jackal growled.
"ANNOYING PESTS!" He shouted and wasted no time speeding towards the girl, Wendy waited until he was close to her before unleashing another powerful gale out of her fingertips, that made the demon speeding at her soar through the air a few feet backwards. Jackal backflipped and with a roar, he shot out an exploding blast at Wendy who luckily saw it coming this time around and lept out of the way. She slid on her hands and knees inhaling a deep breath through her mouth, her chest puffing out before she released all of it in a powerful roar attack similar to the other dragon's. Jackal's eyes shot open as a powerful vortex came at him. He reacted quickly and attempted to punch it, but he was just swallowed by the twister and sent packing into and through a building exterior wall. Wendy waited for a second before a loud demonic scream could be heard coming from the building seconds before it erupted shooting pieces of wood, glass, and brick all over. Levy hid behind a car listening to each piece of rubble crashing into the metal body of the vehicle. Wendy was not so fortunate, she threw her arms up in front of her face but was still getting scratched, and sliced up by the sharp flying objects. Jackal stood there huffing, and puffing in the interior remains of the building he had been pushed into. He was beyond annoyed, he was fuming. Along with the gash in his torso from Levy stabbing him, several scrapes and cuts covered his skin. Small drips of his gold blood dripped off his skin.
"Stupid….insignificant….pests…" He seethed through his clenched teeth. He slowly stepped out of the building, and marched towards the girl who was now panting, her strength failing her. She was still young, and had never been in a true fight after all. It's only natural that she doesn't have the stamina or energy to make it longer than a few minutes. Despite this she didn't make any attempt to move out of the way of Jackal who was stomping so furiously towards her, each step left a tiny explosion behind him. Glancing behind her Wendy noticed Levy still ducking behind the car, and Natsu laying on the destroyed concrete fighting to stay conscious. It was still up to her, she had to stay strong. She took a deep breath, and waited for Jackal to get close to her. Just like last time she threw her arms out in front of her, and attempted to once again blow Jackal back. She wasn't fighting to win, she was trying to buy as much time as possible. As the gust of wind left her hands Jackal sneered, and watched the blast come towards him.
"Not this time." He muttered, and held a hand out in front of him. He made a small explosion that was still strong enough to disperse the entirety of Wendy's attack. The young girl gulped as the demon's sneering face morphed into a sinister grin. He charged her once more and this time she couldn't summon enough strength fast enough to prevent him from reaching her. He grabbed her by the jacket collar and lifted her off the ground.
"LET ME GO YOU BIG JERK!" Wendy cried out as she tried punching, and kicking the Etherious to get him to release his grip on her. The Etherious just stood there unaffected, smirking as golden circles formed along the small child's body.
"I'm done playing your game." He muttered and threw her into the side of the pickup truck that she bounced off of. She led out a yelp of pain as all of the golden circles along her arms and legs erupted at the same time. Stumbling to the ground her vision blurred. Both of her pigtails came undone, she was so worn out, and in so much pain that even though she knew she was falling over she never felt the impact.
"WENDY NO!" Levy screamed as she watched the girl fall to the ground, Jackal ignored Levy as he stomped over to Wendy obviously not done toying around with her.. Scanning the area for anything she could use to help her save the girl, that's when her eyes scanned over where a police officer laid deceased, their pistol beside them. Quietly, and carefully she snuck over to where the police officer laid, which wasn't too far away from her, but still felt so far away. Luckily Jackal either didn't notice her, or was indifferent at the moment. His sole focus was the young girl who was quickly giving him a headache. Wendy struggled to her feet, looking up at the demon.
"Just stay down girl….at least the pink one put up a fight…you are just an annoyance." Jackal grumbled, but Wendy just flashed him a dirty look.
"N-No….w-way….I'm a member….of…F-Fairy Tail….so I won't give up!" Wendy choked out, each word causing her to flinch. Her ribs were definitely messed up so even breathing was hurting. Jackal closed his eyes and took a deep calming breath, he stood in front of Wendy and suddenly backhand slapped her cheek with so much force that she got lifted into the air.
"THEN DIE!" He roared, and grabbed her leg while she was in the air preventing her from getting too far away from him. He spiked her into the ground, the poor girl cried out in agony as explosions went off on her cheek and leg. She laid on the ground motionless, as the Etherious towered over her. Lifting his leg to stomp down on her to recreate what he had done with Natsu, but before his leg came down onto Wendy a loud bang echoed from behind him, and a piercing pain resonated in his arm. He screamed and held his arm that was oozing golden blood. While he stumbled he whipped his head around to see Levy standing there on shaky legs, her arms quivering while she held the literal smoking gun in her hands.
"YOU AGAIN?!" Jackal roared. He turned to stomp towards Levy who was standing there in fear. Another gunshot sounded in the empty city as Levy panicked and attempted to hit him again. Jackal simply stepped out of the way, he clutched his arm tighter, his breathing becoming more and more unstable.
"You disgusting maggot….how DARE you injure me!" He muttered, Levy backed away slowly. Attempting to shoot him again, Jackal once again moved out of the way. She shot again, he dodged again, and again, and again, and again. Repeatedly until she pulled the trigger and instead of a bang she heard a click. She was no gun expert, but she had seen enough movies to know that meant she was out of ammo. Freaking out Levy did the only thing she could think of. Throw the gun and run. So that's what she did, she whipped the gun towards Jackal who caught it with his demonic hands and crushed it. Levy swallowed the lump in her throat, and tried to back away, but something prevented her. She had backed up into a wall.
"Crap…" She muttered, looking up in fear as Jackal stood right in front of her now.
"This will be the last time you make the mistake of getting yourself involved…." Jackal whispered, sending a cold shiver down Levy's spine. The cold shiver was followed by an immense pain in her gut where Jackal had delivered a swift yet forceful punch to her stomach. Levy coughed out, the wind leaving her she doubled over, and fell to the ground at Jackal's feet. He smirked and kicked her, with an explosion giving the kick enough force to shoot her into the sky.
"LEVY!" Natsu, who had been watching in horror, cried out, and using whatever strength he could muster launched himself onto his feet, and fought through the pain to jump into the air and catch Levy before she made a painful impact with a wall, or a car, or something else that could cause immense harm. He fought through his own body crying out in pain to turn them in the air so that when they crashed onto the roof of a sedan he took the full force of the impact. They bounced off the vehicle and landed on a sharp pile of rubble. Levy was out for the count Natsu had used what little strength he had left to catch the poor girl, and was clinging onto not only consciousness but what felt like his life as well.
"Oh…you're still kicking…well I'll fix that in a second…but first that annoying brat needs to learn that kids don't have any business in adult matters…" Jackal mumbled before glancing over at Wendy who was still lying on the ground.
"L-leave…her…alone…" Natsu weakly cried out, but Jackal ignored him and kept walking towards Wendy. Up in the helicopter the reporter covered her mouth.
"This is absolutely terrible….I'm not sure anyone can stop this monster….after being stabbed, shot, burnt, sent flying through buildings….he is still standing as if he is unfazed. If there's a God it's safe to say he has abandoned us as a demon roams the Earth causing death, and destruction wherever he sets foot…"
The guild was silent while she spoke this. Nobody said anything, everyone was so lost in their own minds. Gajeel sat staring at his hands that were balled tightly into fists.
"Why?...Why…didn't I go with you?" He muttered silently to himself. Having watched what just happened to Levy he was in the same state of Lucy who stared at the screen looking at her best friend, and boyfriend fighting for their lives. All while Jackal stalked towards the young girl she had adored so much. Erza, Gray, and Juvia stared blankly at the screen before Gray cursed under his breath and slammed his fists on the table.
"That stupid reporter doesn't know what she's talking about!...Natsu will be able to pull through, he has too….he always does…." He muttered. In his mind he couldn't stand to think that Natsu, the same person who had beaten Erigor, Gajeel, Laxus, Sting, Rogue, Zero….the same person he was jealous of. Jealousy that stood from the fact that while he felt that he wasn't growing in strength Natsu was soaring past him, Gray used to be stronger, they were never equals. He didn't know when or how but Natsu surpassed him and never looked back. So how? How could he lose, how could he be defeated by this monster? Juvia tried to comfort him by squeezing his hand, but pulled back slightly at the cold look Gray gave her.
Erza watched Gray's outburst in surprise, but didn't say anything. She wasn't in any better state of mind. She was considered one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail, yet while all this was happening…she was here watching it. Watching her friends, and basically her little brother struggling just to survive….how could she call herself a proud member of this guild while watching this and not doing anything to help. Not that she could help. They were so far away, even with Jet's speed there would be no way they would get there in time. Jet, Droy, Cana, Elfman, Mira, Warren, all were quiet. Some had tears coming out of their eyes, streaming down their faces. Others were lost in thought, or just struggling to keep sane while making sure others don't completely fall apart. Makarov surveyed all his children in agony. It destroyed him to see them in such a sorry state, it was even worse to see what his other children were going through at the fate of Jackal. Porlyusica fought back her tears as she watched her adopted daughter go through this immense pain. Thoughts of how she haid failed Grandeeny circled around her mind.
Jackal stopped in front of Wendy who was slowly getting up again. She coughed up blood and slowly looked up at the intimidating figure. Fear traveled through all of her body, and mind.
"Y-you….monster…" Wendy choked out. Jackal just chuckled and flashed a signature wicked grin.
"Oh girly….while I am flattered by the compliment…you have no idea how right you are." He began laughing maniacally.
"You know what? I'm getting bored…..maybe I should cut loose, let my true form take control…." He scratched his head as if he was contemplating something. Wendy raised an eyebrow.
"W-what is that supposed t-to mean?" She questioned which got a smile sent her way that chilled her bones in response.
"Oh…what the heck, why not?! It's been decades since I walked this Earth…I'm allowed to have fun!...You're still going to die….but now I'll make sure it hurts even more…" Jackal burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter that started off high pitched, but progressively grew deeper. Wendy, and Natsu watched on in horror.
"W-WENDY RUN!" Natsu screamed, but Wendy was too weak to move her legs and escape. So she was forced to stand in place and watch as not only did Jackal's laugh morph into something else….so did his body.
"PREPARE YOURSELF GIRL! FOR MY TRUE FORM! MY ETHERIOUS FORM!" Jackal shouted through the laughter in a voice that no longer sounded like his own, it was several decibels deeper. His muscles bulked up, and soon he seemed to grow bigger. Like way bigger, when he was first slightly taller than Natsu, he now grew to the point that Wendy didn't even make it up to his knee. The whole time Jackal was making disturbing and grotesque grunting noises. His tail also grew longer, and bushier. In fact his entire body began growing golden fur. His black demonic hands grew into large claws, and his feet burst out of his boots. His face contorted after several horrible moments where Jackal had once stood looking somewhat human minus a few key differences now towered a gigantic golden werewolf looking monster. He let an animalistic growl escape his throat as he glanced at his body. He was now covered in fur that matched his hair color previously and still sported his signature black hands. Wendy looked up in terror. She was curious about what Jackal was talking about, but now that she knew….she wanted to travel back in time to forget about this monster. Jackal puffed out a warm breath of air from his nose and ran a clawed hand through the mohawk that he now sported on his dog-like scalp.
"OH yeah…this is soooo much better!" The new voice of Jackal cooed as he stretched out his muscles before looking down at Wendy with a smirk.
"Now this is where the fun begins…." He muttered, and reached his arm back preparing to punch the poor girl. Wendy attempted to let out one last desperate burst of wind that hit Jackal in the chest, and he was completely unfazed. Wendy gulped, and looked up in time for her face to be connected by a hefty punch from the new form of Jackal, that definitely carried more force with its punches than his more humanoid one. Natsu watched silently in disgust and fear as Wendy was knocked out cold by the punch, but Jackal didn't relent on his attack. He grabbed the girl's head, and threw her into a wall with such force that Natsu was sure he heard Wendy's skull bounce off it. She didn't cry out, or scream. She was completely out, and subject to the demon's torture. He was doing this out of his own enjoyment now, and not to hurt her. Natsu struggled to get to his feet, he had to do something. Warm tears dripped out of his eyes. Why was he so useless? She needed him. He had to do something….Why did he have to play hero again? Every time he did this exact thing happened, someone he cared about got hurt….because of him, it was Sabertooth all over again. It was his hubris.
"I HOPE YOU'RE WATCHING SALAMANDER! ONCE I BREAK EVERY BONE IN THIS CHILD'S BODY, I WILL THEN RIP THAT BITCH WHO SHOT ME TO SHREDS! AND THEN ONCE I TAKE CARE OF HER! I THINK I'LL PAY YOUR HOMETOWN A VISIT! WHERE WAS IT AGAIN? MAGNOLIA RIGHT! YEAH….I'LL DESTROY EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING IN THAT CITY!...AND THEN AND ONLY THEN WHEN YOU HAVE WATCHED ME DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT WILL I PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY!...THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU THINK YOU CAN STAND UP TO A DEMON GATE OF TARTARUS! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Jackal shouted at Natsu before throwing a broken and beaten Wendy at him. The girl landed right in front of him, but Natsu didn't hear the impact. He laid there motionless staring at Wendy's unconscious form. Images of her innocent face flashed in his mind, followed by Levy, and the others at Fairy Tail that this monster had just threatened. There was a ringing in his ears, as his heart began to race. He slowly reached out his arm and took Wendy's hand, that's when his eyes widened he glanced at his arm that was wrapped in bandages….remembering the conversation he had with Wendy on the train ride here that felt like a lifetime ago something surged through him. Jackal's laughter snapped him back into reality. He grabbed a small rock next to him and chucked it at Jackal's face. It bounced harmlessly off of the demon, but the message was sent. Jackal stopped laughing and gawked at Natsu who was fighting every part of his body that was telling him to lay back down and play dead. He was in so much pain, but that didn't stop him from rising to his feet. Wendy and Levy were prepared to give their lives to buy him enough time to recover enough to get back into the fight, and he wasn't going to let it go to waste.
"Will you just shut up…" Natsu mumbled before throwing another rock at Jackal's direction, this one missed a football field but he didn't care. Jackal stood there shocked that after everything he put Natsu through, he was on his feet again. Natsu grabbed a shard of glass by his foot and slowly raised it to his arm.
"Your trail of destruction ends NOW!" Natsu yelled and raised the shard to his arm and sliced the bandage arm and cut his arm open opening the dragon mark seal that contained his father's power. The second it was cut open an immense warmth filled him and the surge of power coursing through him boosted his adrenaline making him stand up straight. It was almost too much power for him to stand, causing him to let out a blood-curdling scream as his dad's red and black flames circled around his arm, and began to swarm around his entire body. The fire burned much hotter than his normal ones, these flames were so hot that he could feel them burning his skin. The flames soon swallowed his entire body and a large fiery pillar shot into the sky, the blueish-gray sky turned orange. The flames were so intense that glass from buildings was starting to melt. The helicopter where the news reporter was up began to malfunction due to the heat, and went down. This led to the live footage getting cut, Natsu screamed as the surging energy consumed him. The only time he used it, he lost consciousness right after, this time he was fighting to stay on his feet and concentrating as hard as he could to gain control of the flames. Jackal took several steps backwards out of shock, and fear as he stared up at the large red and black flame pillar that had engulfed Natsu. Even though they weren't standing close to each other he could still feel his skin burning.
"Wha-what…the Hell?!" Jackal stuttered. Natsu let out a scream that morphed into a loud, sinister draconic roar. His two canine teeth began to grow larger and sharper turning into fangs. His skin was no longer affected by the intense fire thanks to the crimson scales that were morphing from his skin thanks to his dragon force which must've kicked in. His innocent green eyes turned reptilian, and piercing. Finally he gained control of the flames and the swelled down, but still burned hot. When the flames died down allowing Jackal to see Natsu again he was caught totally off guard at the transformation. The remains of Natsu's shirt burnt up revealing that the scales on his arms and face also stretched onto his torso in certain spots. The red, and black flames continuously burned around him as the mark on his arm glowed red. The tears that dripped down Natsu's face that he hadn't even realized he had cried were evaporating into steam off his cheeks. His reptilian eyes locked with the demons, Natsu clenched his fists tightly leading to the flames around him to get more intense.
"Round three Jackal…one of us is gonna die…." Natsu growled darkly, leading Jackal to sneer at the teenager, but then Natsu's intense stare grew into a dark smirk that put Jackal…a literal demon on edge.
"So who's it gonna be? You….or me?!"
Chapter 53: Igneel