Chapter 4: Flame and Wind
"Hehe, what a haul boss. Those suckers were just waiting for an excuse to spend their money." A voice bounced off the walls of a small moving truck that bumped along the road. The voice came from one of two men dressed in military garb. They sat on benches across from a white haired male dressed in a sharp white suit. Erigor. He grinned at the two men with his arms crossed as the truck continued bumping along.
"Oh really? Tell me Kage how much are we talking about." Erigor asked while he began to get out of the suit. The man named Kageyama held up his phone so Erigor could see the donations they had received.
"Those morons donated four hundred thousand jewels."
"Combine that with the seven hundred thousand we got from the bank yesterday, that's eleven million in just two days! This plan was genius, Erigor." The second man spoke while taking off his military disguise and putting on a black and gold jacket with a strange striped hood that looked similar to an Egyptian headpiece.
"Rayule's right boss. I have to hand it to you. Who would've thought this hunk of junk and a small lie could make these fools open their wallets." Kageyama kicked the metal weapon Erigor had dubbed the wind cannon making a loud hollow banging noise reverberate throughout the trailer. Erigor grinned quietly to himself, closing his eyes and leaning back against the wall of the trailer. The truck began slowing down, causing Rayule to stand up.
"What's the big deal? Why are we slowing down Karacka?" He banged on the metal wall as the truck stopped fully. They could hear sirens from outside the vehicle.
"Shit. What now?" Kageyama groaned out.
"Cops. Remain calm. I'll try to talk our way out of this." Karacka's voice chimed from the other side of the wall.
"That won't be necessary. I'll take care of this. Don't forget. I'm the Reaper." Erigor stood up taking off his top revealing his strange tattoos that went from the middle of his chest and around his shoulders, he took out a small silver item from his pocket. It was about the size of a pen, and like a pen he clicked a button on it and in a second it expanded into a scythe. Holding out his hand a blast of wind shot out from his palm, and sent the doors of the trailer flying off.
Meanwhile, back at the mall Natsu was literally snapped out of his thoughts by Erza snapping her fingers centimeters away from his eyes.
"Huh?" Natsu mumbled remembering his surroundings. The rest of the group was all looking at him with annoyed, confused, or worried expressions. They were sitting around a table in some random restaurant. Natsu couldn't remember where exactly they were or when they got there.
"There he is. You've been spaced out for a while now. What's on your mind?" Erza asked, sitting back into her chair across from him, next to Lucy and Levy who were both looking at him concerned.
"Oh. Nothin, I just didn't get any sleep last night so I must've just shut my brain off." Natsu nervously bluffed while running his hand through his hair. Even though the not sleeping part was the truth. In reality his thoughts were racing about Erigor, Eisenwald, the wind cannon thingy, and of course the bank robbery from the night prior. They seemed connected, but Natsu had nothing to go on besides a gut feeling.
"I wasn't aware you ever turned your brain on." Gray muttered, making Gajeel chuckle and Natsu turned to glare at them.
"What ya say you stripper." Natsu growled. The table all glanced at Gray who was shirtless. Juvia's face went bright red. Levy groaned and turned back to face Natsu, Erza sighed, and Lucy just turned away with flush cheeks.
"Crap! When did that happen? I was just warm. My bad." Gray grunted, and ducked under the table to find his long lost shirt. Erza pinched the bridge of her nose, took a deep breath and gave a worried expression to Natsu.
"Are you sure you're okay Natsu? It's not like you to just go quiet like that…" She began. Levy nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, you've been in a funk ever since that cool demonstration from Eisenwald." Levy chimed in. Natsu's face darkened at the mention of Eisenwald.
"It wasn't that cool." Natsu grimaced, and crossed his arms.
"You're crazy man, did you see that cannon thing? It was awesome. Gihee." Gajeel retorted. Natsu just let out a sigh, thankfully he was saved from more questions when the waitress came to their table.
"Welcome to the Blue Pegasus, I'm Jenny and I'll be your server for tonight." She smiled at them as she passed out menus and straws. The group ordered, thankfully Gray emerged from under the table with a sleek white jacket he had purchased earlier in the day when he ordered his food. They made some small talk throughout dinner, and before long they were finishing up. Natsu reached for his wallet, but Lucy reached across the table and snagged his hand. He blinked trying to process the motion, as was everyone else at the table. She gave him a warm, friendly smile.
"Hey don't worry about your bill, I'll cover it." She beamed at him, and Natsu felt his cheeks heat up.
"What? No, I can't ask you to do that. I got a lot. It wouldn't be right." Lucy just giggled and pulled out the stuffed toy Natsu had gotten her from the arcade.
"I'm serious, I'll get it for you. It's my way of thanking you for Plue." Natsu felt his cheeks heat up. Levy, and Erza's eyes were wide as they blinked from Lucy's face to Natsu's to the blonde's hand grabbing his own, and then settling on each other puzzled.
"U-Uh…o-okay." He stuttered.
"Besides I also owe you for getting that Loke guy to leave me alone yesterday, so this will make us even." She removed her hand from his immediately feeling the temperature shift from warm to frigid the second she was no longer in contact with his hand. She snatched his bill, not even looking at the total before taking out a card from her purse.
Back in her dorm room, Lucy closed the door behind her, locked it and flicked the lightswitch on. Other students on campus were crammed inside of tiny rooms, that could barely house two beds and dressers in the. Lucy wasn't like the other students, she was the daughter of Jude, and Layla Heartfilia. Jude Heatfilia was one of the richest railroad tycoons in the entire country. As such Lucy was treated better than most. Her dorm was huge, a large king sized bed sat in the center of the room with pink sheets and fluffy pillows. A big cherry wood desk was pushed along the wall with tons of notebooks, papers and a laptop scattered on it. She had an impressive sized flat screen TV, a bookshelf, an actual walk in closet, and even a private bathroom. It was the type of room a college kid would die for, a room the size of an apartment that most people could barely afford. She hated it. She hated this lifestyle, how people treated her better than they would if she wasn't the daughter of rich parents. Her whole adult life she felt empty, and alone. Her dad had been working harder than ever recently, due to her mother who had gotten very sick the past few years and had been going through many harsh, and expensive treatments.
She stepped further into the room and dropped her bags from the mall onto the bed. Clutching Plue close to her chest she waltzed over to her desk humming to herself and put him on the shelf. She smiled brightly at it, on the inside she had butterflies and felt like kicking her feet and giggling. It wasn't anything special. But it was a gift, a real one that someone had actually put thought into and got for her, because they wanted to. Digging through her bags she pulled out the black dress she had bought, Natsu's words bouncing through her head. Her cheeks heated up as she hung it up in the closet. Soon her smile fell to a frown. She shouldn't feel so giddy about the words of someone she really didn't know that well. Let alone a gift from them, and what was all that stuff about her paying for his dinner. Why did she do that? It was wrong.
"What am I doing?" She sighed looking at her left hand where the ring sat. She played with it with her free hand. She was engaged to Dan. She shouldn't let some guy she just met make her have conflicting feelings or thoughts. After all, It's what her dad wanted her to do. So she had to suck it up, and do what was required of her. She pulled out her phone and dialed her mother. She needed to talk to her, hopefully today was one of her better days where she could feel up to a phone call. Even a short one.
Natsu stretched and let out a yawn as he woke up from his nap in the dark small dorm room he was residing in. Looking at the time on his phone it was now ten o'clock at night meaning he had slept for three hours. It wasn't much, but it did enough to give him enough energy to get up and change into his Salamander getup. He slid his window open just as his phone chimed notifying him of a text. He grabbed at it, and saw he had four missed texts, two from his Aunt, one from Wendy, and a final from Lisanna.
Auntie: Hey sweetie! Just checking in. How's the campus life treating you?
Auntie: Igneel would be so proud.
Natsu's heart ached at the second text. He couldn't help but wonder, would Igneel be proud of what he was doing? "Doing great! Caught up with a few friends! So far so good!" He sent the reply and checked the text from his baby cousin.
Wendy: Carla misses you! She slept in your bed last night, you need to visit!
"Awe, yeah of course I'll come visit you guys, love ya squirt!"
His eyes nearly bulged out of his skull when he opened the final text, from Lisanna.
Lisanna: Mira helped me get a new swimsuit, how does it look?
View: 1 image.
Against his better judgment he clicked on the image and blushed a deep shade of pink when it loaded showing a mirror selfie Lisanna had taken of herself in a lavender bikini.
Wow! Looks amazing!
Natsu clicked a reply and sent a heart-eyed emoji with it. He tried to shake the image out of his head, and stuffed his phone in his pocket and jumped out of his window.
Most nights while he is on patrol tend to be uneventful. Tonight was not one of those nights. Perhaps it was, because of all the parties and it being the first weekend with students on campus. But the city of Magnolia was loud, and bustling. He had been out for around an hour and a half, so far he had stopped: Two would be shoplifters, a couple of degenerates trying to vandalize someone's house, and some creepy perv who was one of his frequent punching bags named Bora. Dude was the son of a judge and was always able to get out on bail or get off without a slap on the wrist, but Natsu was always there to get him away from the teenage girls he seemed to target. Luckily the gas station he had saved from being stolen from was so grateful they gave him some snacks and an energy drink. It was funny, the people of this city either didn't like him, didn't think he was real, or treated him like royalty. He finished chugging his blue bull energy drink, and pulled his scarf back up. His phone made a chime, making him pull it out seeing a new text.
Unknown number: Hey, it's Lucy! Levy gave me this number is this Natsu?
Natsu felt his chest tighten for some reason, and typed out that it was indeed him, and put the phone back away. Far away in the distance there was a loud booming sound that echoed across the city. He sighed.
"Man, I get you're excited to embrace the college lifestyle, and I enjoy parties as much as the next guy, but do we have to destroy things…" He mumbled. Irony lost on him that he himself was very destructive when he let his powers get a little too out of hand. He began moving in the direction of it until he got to the outskirts of the city where he saw smoke coming from a house that was enveloped in a swarm of flames. There were sirens coming this way, but Natsu acted faster than his brain could process the panicking family outside. He leapt down on the ground next to them.
"OUR BABY IS INSIDE! PLEASE HELP!" The mother screamed at him as he wasted no time sprinting inside. Smoke began to fill his lungs, the flames danced all around him. He pulled down his scarf, and took a deep breath before he began to inhale the flames. A trick he learned he could do when he had tripped and fallen face first into a campfire his dad had lit on one of their camping trips. He could for lack of better word, eat the fire. It didn't hurt him at all, and actually gave him a small little energy, and power boost. The flames began to die as he inhaled more, and more of the fire. Soon the fire was gone, leaving only the smell of burning wood, and smoke around the house. He waltzed to the upstairs where he heard crying coming from, and broke down the locked door to the nursery. He fished the crying infant from the crib and began to leave the house. The second he left the front door he was greeted by the sounds of guns cocking and being pointed at him.
"FREEZE!" A police officer with long raven hair, and glasses shouted from behind his car. Natsu sighed.
"Good to see you again Lahar…" Natsu mumbled, and walked over to the parents who were holding each other close.
"Here's your kid, next time grab them before you leave the burning building." He scolded them as he gave them the crying infant. They just nodded and held it close while sobbing.
"I SAID FREEZE SALAMANDER! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR STARTING THIS FIRE, AND ENDANGERING THE LIFE OF THOSE PARENTS AND THEIR CHILD!" The officer known as Lahar shouted. Natsu rolled his eyes.
"C'mon man, you don't really think this was me now do ya?" Natsu turned while holding his arms up.
"Actually I do." He retorted, tightening the grip on his gun directed at Natsu.
"Oh man that stings ... .come on back me up here. Tell them I was just helping out." Natsu begged the sobbing parents behind him. The Dad shot him a glare.
"Get away from us you freak! Officers arrest him!"
"Traitor." Natsu whined, and out of the corner of his eyes saw the policemen coming closer to him. So he did the stupidest thing he has ever done. He lit his hands ablaze and growled out:
"If you take one step closer, I'll barbecue you where you stand." Not smart, because that was the thing the cops were waiting for before charging at him. Natsu groaned, and punched the ground causing flames to shoot out of it like a wall in between him and the charging policemen.
"Damnit." Lahar grumbled, putting his weapon away as Natsu's flame wall dissipated with no sight of him. Natsu watched from a building nearby, and let out a long drawn out sigh. Same story, different day. Lahar had been after him ever since reports of his escapades had begun, and man was he relentless.
He hid out on the rooftop for a few minutes waiting for them to drive off before he decided to call it a night, and began heading back to campus. While he was making the journey back at around midnight he heard some strange voices coming close to a bank he was traveling by.
"Kage, Is the coast clear?" A voice spoke barely above a whisper. Natsu was only able to hear it thanks to his freaky fox-like hearing.
"Looks clear boss." His quiet voice replied. Natsu peeked down at the dimly lit street, and what he saw made his eyes widen. It was the guy he saw at the mall, the guy who gave him an uneasy feeling. Erigor. He was carrying around that strange wind cannon weapon, instead of the fancy suit he had earlier, he was shirtless wearing a black cloak. He was flanked by three others he had also recognized from the Eisenwald demonstration they were the men who were dressed like military personnel.
"Called it..." Natsu muttered to himself. As he watched the men skulk around the bank.
"Okay Karacka, do your thing." Erigor commanded. The chubby man nodded and walked over to the side of the building and vanished into it. He phased through it. Natsu couldn't believe his eyes. Sure he knew he wasn't the only one with powers, but seeing others with them. It wasn't something he had seen in his year as the Salamander. He watched as the previously locked door swung open from the inside.
"Alarms, and cameras are disabled sir." Karacka's voice came from inside the building.
"Perfect, tonight might go even more smoothly than last night. Kage, Rayule. Come with me." Erigor adjusted the wind cannon on his shoulder and he and the three men waltzed into the bank leaving the fatter man known as Karacka to stand guard from their moving truck. A few seconds later a loud blast exploded from the bank, the windows shattered, and the sound of a large heavy vault door slamming to the ground.
"That's my que." Natsu leapt down to the street, and snuck up to where Karacka was standing by the truck.
"Hey tubby, you new here?" Natsu whispered startling the chubby man
"Who the hell?!" He muttered before Natsu reached out and grabbed him by his collar.
"Didn't ya know? I'm Salamander, and this is my city." He snapped and dragged the man against the trailer of the truck. He held him in place with one arm, and lit flames up in his second.
"P-Please...l-leave me alone, I'm not a fighter or n-nothin." The man cowered.
"Good makes my job easy." Natsu held up his fist, but immediately was knocked off his feet by some strange force. He let out a cry as he felt his feet leave the ground, and groaned as he slammed into a brick wall. His head knocked back by the impact smacking the back of his skull against the wall.
"Karacka, who the heck is this?" Kageyama questioned clutching two large bags of cash from the vault. Rayule came out of the building with the wind cannon and an equally large bag. Natsu's vision, which had blurred when he smacked into the wall, returned to normal. Erigor was the first thing that his eyes focused on. The man slowly stomped towards him, dragging a scythe behind him.
"I don't know Kage…he came out of nowhere, snuck up on me and his hands were on fire." Karacka hastily explained as the other two threw their bags inside the trailer.
"Is that so? You three. Get the remains of the vault, I'll handle this nosy fly." Erigor ordered.
"Yes sir!" They cheered in unison. Natsu shook his head and slowly rose to his feet.
"I knew there was something fishy bout your little display at the mall." Natsu cracked his knuckles.
"Now I regret not pounding ya when I saw that weapon." Natsu motioned over to the wind cannon. Erigor snickered.
"Is that so? No matter, we're skipping town after this job anyway." He raised his scythe towards Natsu.
"Not if I knock your lights out first." Natsu lit his fists and charged at the man who grinned and waved his scythe through the air, a strong blast of wind sliced through the air once again sending Natsu spiraling through the air, and smashing into the wall of the nearby building again.
"Neat trick." He muttered, shaking off the impact and rising back to his feet. He inhaled a deep breath, and lowered his scarf as a large blast shot out of his mouth like a dragon roaring. Erigor waved his scythe again and the flames of Natsu's attack were dispelled. The boy quickly pulled the scarf back up to cover his face. Erigor grinned back at him.
"Same could be said to you, but at least my tricks can hit their target!" Erigor ran up at Natsu and slashed at him with the blade of the scythe. Natsu managed to back away from the swing. He shot a blast of flames from his heels, causing him to take off like a rocket and land a solid left hook that connected with Erigor's jaw. The man groaned while taking a few steps backwards.
"BOSS TIME TO GO!" Kage slapped the back of the truck and hopped into the trailer. Erigor sneered.
"Well it's been fun, but time to go." Erigor retreated to the truck leaving Natsu to clench his jaws, and fists.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Natsu sprinted after them. Erigor grabbed the wind cannon and chuckled to himself.
"This hasn't been tested on humans yet. Let's see what happens!" Erigor grinned wickedly. Natsu's eyes widened as Erigor pulled the trigger. A loud blast reverberated through the street. It smacked Natsu dead on, it felt like he had rushed into a tornado, he flew through the air and smashed into the windows of a nearby restaurant. Glass flew through the air and cut him in several spots. He bounced off the tables, and the counter exploded into splintery pieces as he ended up in the kitchen. Every ounce of his body was sore. His motion sickness was a little triggered by the sudden roller coaster through the air he had just taken so he was dizzy, and his world was spinning. He slowly sat up in the pile of wood and glass fragments he had been shot through. His scarf, and hood had been blown off so he took a second to fix them before getting back to his feet even though his legs were shaking pretty bad. He cracked his neck, and back and stumbled out of the rubble to see that lamp posts had been ripped from the sidewalk, dumpsters were overturned. Garbage, and paper were blowing through the air, and there was a chubby man laying flat on the ground groaning out in pain. Natsu's eyes were squinted as he stomped towards the man. It was the man from before. Karacka. He coughed out in pain, he winced in pain.
"Damnit Erigor, why'd you have to go and shoot that weapon while I was in front of it." He groaned out trying to get up. Natsu stomped a leg down on the man's back. Karacka cried out, and slowly turned his head to look up at Natsu in fear.
"AHH!" He screamed out, and began to phase through the ground to get away from him. Natsu growled, and reached down grabbing the man's hair.
"Nuh-uh. You aren't going anywhere, you and I are gonna have a little chat." Natsu spoke darkly, his hands growing warmer.
"Y-Yes…M-Mr. Salamander…" Karacka nodded hastily. Natsu began to yank the man out of the ground by his hair. Sirens in the distance were growing nearer.
"Talk fast, and you might only get first degree burns." Natsu conjured flames all around Karacka who began to cry out in pain.
"OKAYOKAYOKAY! JUST TURN OFF THE FLAMES!"
"Tell me where they're going….NOW!" The flames around Karacka burned hotter.
"ONIBUS! THEY'RE GOING TO ONIBUS!"
"Thanks for the tip buddy." Natsu gave him a swift punch to the gut with enough force that the man faded into unconsciousness immediately.
Chapter 5: Eisenwald