Chapter 3 - The Exploding Demon
Happy flew across the island to find Natsu, having splitting off from Carla earlier to find his partner. But had no luck.
"Where are you, Natsu?" Happy thought, before seeing the barrage of explosions in the downtown area.
Going on a hunch his best friend is there, Happy flew in that direction.
XXX
Zoro chopped down the last robot and panted a little.
"If another robot gets the jump on me, I'm gonna lose it." Zoro muttered, before he heard the explosions going off and the violent burst of wind hitting the sky.
Zoro quickly shielded his eyes and stood his ground before the wind died down.
"That can't be good." Zoro said, running off in the direction the wind came from.
XXX
Nami, Robin, Lucy, Yachi, Erina and Hisako just finished their battle once the last robot broke. They were also able to tend to anyone that were accidentally wounded in the fighting.
"Think that's all of them." Lucy said.
Yachi finished healing an elderly citizen with her Healing Hands ability, which the elder thanked with a nod.
"I wonder… who was responsible for this attack?" Robin asked, fingers on chin.
The other girls were wondering that too, but felt the same violent wind that made its' way to the hotel, forcing them to brace themselves.
"W-What is this?!" Erina asked, shielding her eyes with one arm and the other protecting Hisako, who was doing the same thing.
Shielding her eyes, Lucy suddenly felt a very bad feeling as to the being capable of such power if used to create a devastating current.
"Oh no… it's him!" Lucy thought.
XXX
Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma were seeing Jackal in his battle-crazed glory for destruction.
"It's wonderful to see you again, Salamander." Jackal said.
"I owe you, that blondie, and fur ball a world of hell." Jackal added, cracking his fingers again.
Natsu glared with intensity. But suddenly, Luffy was laughing like crazy, surprising the other four and irritating Jackal.
"He's like a dog person!" Luffy laughed, annoying Jackal even more.
"DO I LOOK LIKE A GODDAMN DOG!?" Jackal snapped.
"Well, you have the ears and bushy tail to prove it." Natsu plainly said, annoying Jackal more and more before he quickly calmed down.
Ruby, Hinata and Soma, recovered from their initial surprised, started to laugh hard too.
"Yeah! He even barked like one!" Ruby hollered, holding her stomach.
"And wearing an outfit doesn't suit him!" Hinata laughed, rolling on the ground.
"He even smells weird. Almost like a wet dog!" Soma commented, kneeling and slamming his fist on the ground.
Red tick marks began popping on Jackal's head, literally angering him. "QUIT IGNORING ME, YOU IDIOTIC HUMANS?!" He snapped, his teeth sharp, which got the five silent for a bit.
"Allow me to introduce myself before you all die." Jackal said, now being calm.
"He went from pissed to cheerful." Soma thought, now having a sweat drop on his forehead.
"I'm Jackal, one of Tartaros' Nine Demon Gates! And I'm back to take your head, Natsu Dragneel!" Jackal declared, a crazed grin shown on his face.
Natsu gave a different kind of glare that isn't out of hate, but more thrilled while cracking his knuckles. "I was wondering if any of you Tartaros jerk-offs were still alive?"
"That's perfect for me, since you bastards have a beating coming for what you've done to Fairy Tail!"
Natsu rushed at Jackal to strike close. But Jackal smirked and with his arms moving in slow motion and pulling one leg back, he used one swipe to generate an explosion, engulfing Natsu. Luffy, Ruby, Hinata and Soma were shocked.
Jackal laughed at the sight. "Too easy."
But to Jackal's surprise, Natsu was immediately eating the heat of the explosion and totally unharmed. Luffy, Ruby, Hinata and Soma were surprised to see Natsu do such a thing.
"Did he just eat that explosion?!" Ruby, Hinata and Soma exclaimed in unison.
"AWESOME~!" Luffy shouted, getting excited.
"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu shouted, delivering a swift right roundhouse kick to Jackal's stomach that made him cough a little blood.
But Natsu wasn't done. He attacked without rest, delivering a flurry of fiery punches that Jackal couldn't defend in time. Jackal was overwhelmed when he attempted a cocky smirk. But that smirk faded with Luffy came above Natsu with arms stretched back.
"Gum-Gum… BAZOOKA!" Luffy shouted, pulling the arms forward and delivering a dual palm strike that slammed Jackal to the ground.
Jackal quickly recovered before Luffy punched him in the face, with Natsu following behind with another Fire Dragon Talon to the chest.
"You two are good, but you should be warned my curse po-" Jackal said, but was interrupted when Ruby, Hinata and Soma jumped into the fray now.
"H-Hey, wait a-" Jackal attempted to talk, but unfortanetly he didn't have the chance.
"Petal Burst!" Ruby shouted.
"Spike Slash!" Hinata shouted.
"Soaring Dragon Fist!" Soma shouted.
Ruby, Hinata and Soma combined their moves for a triple attack to injure Jackal more, then Luffy and Natsu jumped in for the finisher.
"Gum-Gum Rifle!" Luffy shouted.
"Fire Dragon Sword Horn!" Natsu shouted.
Luffy and Natsu dealt the finishing blow that knocked Jackal out.
"Whew! That was fun!" Luffy commented.
"Much as I wanted to do this myself, beating the crap out of him with you guys is tons more fun!" Natsu commented.
"Natsu~!" Happy shouted, causing Natsu to see his best friend flying towards him.
"Yo! Happy!" Natsu hollered, waving before catching Happy to hug him.
"A talking cat?! So cool!" Luffy and Ruby hollered in unison, excited once more.
"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder." Hinata and Soma said in unison, not at all fazed by Happy's appearance.
"Natsu!" Lucy hollered, arriving with Nami, Robin, Yachi, Erina and Hisako just in time.
"Nami! Robin!" Luffy hollered, happy.
"Toka!" Hinata cheered.
"Erina! Arato!" Soma hollered, waving.
"Where's my team?" Ruby thought, a little depressed no one from her side came to greet her.
Happy released his hug from Natsu and saw the unconscious Jackal, now screaming. "That's the demon from Tartaros!"
"DEMON?!" Luffy, Ruby, Hinata, Soma, Nami, Yachi, Erina and Hisako exclaimed in unison, now totally surprised by what they're seeing.
"So that's what caused that explosion, huh?" Robin asked, not at all fazed.
"W-What is he doing here?!" Lucy questioned, not really wanting to see him, let alone anyone from Tartaros, again.
"Don't know, don't care. But I got a bad feeling he's not out yet." Natsu said, stepping forward.
A nasty crackle was heard as everyone saw Jackal starting to stand on one knee, which shocked Ruby, Hinata and Soma.
"He's still up after all that?" Hinata asked, in disbelief.
"If I were you idiots, you should've payed more attention on what I was gonna say about my curse power." Jackal explained.
Natsu quickly realized and notice a glowing symbol appearing on his body, and it was just him. Symbols appeared on the bodies of Luffy, Ruby, Hinata and Soma which began to show the horror in Lucy and Happy's faces.
"Don't tell me…" Lucy said.
"The moment you touch me, you become a living bomb!" Jackal hollered, as the symbols on Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma started to appear more and more and shocking not just them, but also Lucy, Happy, Nami, Robin, Yachi, Erina and Hisako.
"D-Did he just say a living bomb?!" Yachi cried out.
"EVERYONE BACK!" Luffy yelled, before a massive explosion erupted, sending the others flying.
XXX
The explosion was heard around the whole island, as everyone else in their respective areas were getting a terrible feeling.
At the water park, Usopp, Copper, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Carla (who recently joined up with her partner), Juvia, Evan, Weiss, Yang, Kageyama, Megumi and Takumi saw the explosion, which that level caused dread in Gray, Erza, Wendy, Carla and Juvia to know the caster behind it.
"We need to hurry! Now!" Erza hollered, which the others replied without question.
XXX
At the food stalls, Sanji, Blake, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Akira saw as well and began to move towards the beach area without haste.
XXX
The same is said for Franky, Brook, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Levy, Ryo and Alice at the aquarium, and quickly bolted out.
XXX
Lucy, Happy, Nami, Robin, Yachi, Erina and Hisako slowly got up and to their disbelief and horror, Luffy, Natsu, Ruby (with her Aura completely drained), Hinata and Soma taken out of the fight and knocked unconscious; Yachi and Erina were the most horrified to see their respective boyfriends defeated this badly. Jackal was standing in front of them laughing manically before he immediately saw Lucy and Happy, with his sadistic glare cause the two to be in fright.
"Well, well… this is my lucky day to not only off Salamander, but his two buddies as well." Jackal said.
Snapping his fingers, yellow spherical containers around not just the five fallen heroes, but managed to get Nami, Yachi and Erina.
"Nami!" Robin hollered.
"Erina-sama!" Hisako hollered.
"Stop it!" Lucy angrily demanded, attempting to stop the caster, but she heard a beeping noise and realize too late she was on the same yellow symbols the last time she and Natsu fought Jackal.
"Now welcome to my game, little humans~!" Jackal declared. "Several of my Bomb Curses will detonate. Your goal is to decide which four out of these eight will be saved and which will die. If you so much dare to move out of my landmines, then you and the others under it along with my bomb orbs will go boom, blondie!"
Lucy, Happy, Nami, Yachi and Erina reacted in horror.
"So much as try and I'll snap your neck before you could detonate any. Put them down now." Robin threatened, getting ready to use her Devil Fruit powers to stop Jackal.
"If you even touch a hair on Erina-sama or any of these innocent girls, I'll skin you alive!" Hisako threatened, showing a furious face with her kunai armed.
"Don't bother. Even if either of you ladies kill me, they'll detonate automatically." Jackal sneered, causing Robin to lightly growl while Hisako closed her eyes in shame.
"Monster! You think people's lives are still just a game to you?!" Lucy questioned, gripping her fists in anger.
"Yeah, jerk! You always play dirty!" Happy hollered, forced to watch on the sidelines.
"To us demons, you humans are no different when your true colors show at the risk of your lives!" Jackal mocked. "You've got ten seconds to decide before they all go boom!"
Jackal laughed manically with Lucy closing her eyes and gritting her teeth in total frustration to be in the same situation again. Happy couldn't bear it either. Robin and Hisako were forced to watch and incapable of doing anything to help. But the most powerless were Nami, Yachi and Erina, incapable of doing anything but don't wish for Lucy to put herself in a position to save them at the risk of their friends and vise versa, nor sacrifice herself for their sakes.
"Is there anything we can do?!" Yachi thought, being close to tears.
"Someone… help…" Erina thought, starting to feel weak again for not protecting those she deeply cares about.
"This is wrong! Just WRONG!" Nami thought, disgusted with Jackal's cruelty.
"Six seconds! Who's going to be in a body bag?" Jackal asked, in a mocking manner.
"How about yours?" A voice answered, causing everyone to widen their eyes.
"One Sword Style-Draw… Death Lion Song!" In a flash, Zoro came out of nowhere and unleashed a devastating sword unsheathing attack that slashed Jackal's chest, causing blood to spill out as the latter's eyes widened in shock.
Zoro's attack on Jackal caused the orbs and landmines to disappear, thus saving Luffy, Nami, Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Ruby, Hinata, Yachi, Soma and Erina.
"Oh god, that was close!" Yachi hollered, feeling relieved to be alive.
"Where the hell were you wandering off to before, Zoro!?" Nami questioned, now peeved he showed up after being lost.
"Quit your complaining! Better me than the shit cook!" Zoro snapped.
Jackal managed to brush off the pain and crackled manically. "Bad move."
Zoro was confused until he saw the glowing symbols on his arms.
"Zoro, watch out!" Robin hollered, but her warning reached to deaf ears as Zoro was caught in the explosion to the shock of Lucy and the others.
Jackal snickered in believing he got his victim, but was horrified to see Zoro emerging from the dust totally unharmed. That shocked even Lucy, Happy, Yachi, Erina and Hisako. But Nami and Robin weren't surprised, already confident on how tough Zoro is.
"B-But how?!" Jackal asked.
"That was nothing compared to that time on Thriller Bark." Zoro answered, remembering the time he endured all of Luffy's pain from the Devil Fruit powers of former Warlord Bartholomew Kuma.
"And you should worry less about me, freak." Zoro continued.
"Because they are gonna beat you." Zoro finished, turning his back on Jackal.
"What did you s-" Jackal didn't finish because he was met with a black punch to his face, sending him a few feet back.
He looked up to see Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata and Soma back on their feat and ready for the second round. Their faces now more confident despite the anger that is towards Jackal for his sadistic game. Jackal tried to keep his cool with a nasty grin.
"Did you forget, you straw hat idiot? Touch me and you go boom!" Jackal hollered.
A glowing symbol appeared on Luffy's body and an explosion occurred once again, but this time Luffy was unharmed, and so were the others. Jackal couldn't believe his eyes.
"B-But how?! Even if Salamander can absorb his own explosion, there's no way he could save the others in time!" Jackal hollered.
"Well, guess you could say I used this baby." Soma said, showing in his right gauntlet hand a blue gem that was shielding him and the other four from Jackal's Curse.
Erina and Hisako instantly recognized the stone in Soma's hands, but from a difference source.
"This thing lessens the impact on a group for a limited time," Soma explained as he grips the stone. "Though we were knocked out for a while, embarrassing as it is."
Hisako sighed out of relief, not at all surprised by the young Yukihira's frankness. But Erina was totally relieved that Soma's quick thinking saved him and the others in time. One of the things she loves most about her boyfriend: his selfless nature for others.
"You gotta stop making me worry, you big dummy." Erina thought, blushing with a smile.
Zoro, Nami, Robin, Lucy, Happy and Yachi were also relieved to see Luffy, Natsu and Hinata safe and sound too.
Jackal growled as he got up with rage. "Now you've all done it! I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER YOU HUMANS!"
"Not gonna happen, dog breath. It's payback time!" Natsu declared, his fists ignited in fire and much stronger than before.
Getting into a familiar stance, Luffy said only two words. "Second Gear!"
"Get ready…" Luffy said, as not only Natsu, but also Ruby, Hinata and Soma were now serious with their weapons armed.
"Because we're gonna kick your ass!" Luffy hollered, before charging at a speed faster than the eye can follow and attacked Jackal with a hyper-fast punch to the face.
The battle against Jackal is now reaching a new level!
Next time: Chapter 4 - Fierce Clash!
This covers the first half of their battle against Jackal, and now they need to pull out all the stops now that he's seriously hellbent on killing everyone in his path!
