Work Text:
Natsu was the only one still conscious as the dark guild ran away laughing. All his guildmates are on the floor and most are bloodied or gravely hurt. They were attacked by a dark guild that came from nowhere. They were stronger than what was reported and unfortunately the guild was not prepared. Everyone was severely injured. The worst looking injuries however are on Lucy's body.
He crawled over to her as his legs were not strong enough for him to walk or run. He trembles as he sees the bloody wound in her side and across her chest. Her arm was twisted at an odd angle which was a sign it was most likely broken. She had some bruieses and other injuries littering her place skin. He shook her trying to wake her but she remained limp and lifeless. He couldn't even see her breathing.
"Lucy! Luce, wake up." Natsu cries. When she still hasn't stirred he gets more desperate. "Lucy, Please just open your eyes." He tries again. Still not getting any sign of life from the blonde he panics. "Wake up! Somebody! Anybody?" His tears flow as no one moves.
He screams in pain and rage as he believes he lost the only family he had left. The flames surround him but he pays them no mind as his mind gets consumed by darkness. He had snapped and now END has come out to play.
Madness was all that he knew now. He destroyed anything in his way as he tracked down the dark guild who hurt his friends. He found them and they were no match for him. He burned the whole guild to the ground. He showed no remorse nor mercy. After that he just spread his destruction far and wide. While this was happening, there was the human side of Natsu grieving deep within. He watched through E.N.D.'s eyes and couldn't find the strength to break free.
While this happened the Fairy Tail guild had healed from their injuries and got back to their full strength. They heard of Natsu's rampage and were preparing to go get him and bring him back to his senses. They didn't bring the whole guild, just a group of the ones closest to him and some stronger members as well. The team consisted of Gajeel, Laxus, Gildarts, Lucy, Gray, Erza, Wendy, Cana, and Juvia. Happy and Carla joined since Carla refused to leave Wendy's side and Happy was very worried for Natsu. Pantherlilly wanted to join but Gajeel asked him to stay behind to keep an eye on Levy.
Natsu had decided to set up his territory in the mountains. They had to navigate the rough terrain to reach him. "I really hope we don't have too much of a fight from him." Lucy says as they climb, worried about hurting him.
"It would be great but I feel that's not the case here, Blondie. He might be too far gone." Laxus tells her but she can tell they are all worried about Natsu.
"Well if anyone can get through to him it would be us. I feel Lucy and Happy especially with how close you three are. However, that means we may have to fight him off till he's ready to listen so we just need to be cautious. You two will stay back at first. " Erza explains with a grim look on her face.
"I was given the power to slay demons from my dad and now I think it's to keep that Flame Brain in line. I can at least subdue him if nothing else." Gray chimes in looking thoughtful.
They decided that Gray, Gajeel, Gildarts, Cana and Laxus would go in first. Gray would try to reason with him as would the others but were also to subdue him if he attacked. Next Would be Erza, Juvia, Wendy, Lucy, and the exceeds. Wendy and Juvia would be in charge of first aid and support in the fight. Lucy and Happy would try to make Natsu snap out of it.
Natsu in his cave however is facing his own crises. Every time he looks into the water or a reflective surface he sees his human self. He feels the guilt and remorse of that Natsu but refuses to let himself feel that hopeless ever again.
It was better to be this way because it won't hurt. It won't make him desperate; he couldn't bear the pain of losing his guildmates. He doesn't know they are alive. He has slaughtered all who came close to his hideout and occasionally went to destroy something but it's usually a dark guild or someone bad anyway. Though he is still Natsu, he goes overboard and sometimes causes more destruction than necessary but now he no longer cares about that.
They feel the dark aura of magic power before they reach the cave. The temperature seems much hotter the closer they get as well. Gray, Gajeel, and Laxus enter first and a loud rage filled roar echoes around them. They see him at the back of the cave. His demon form is completely over his body.
The cave system stretches out to look like a cityscape in the back. There is a small pond near the front of the cave city. Natsu is in the center of it all, but it's no longer the Natsu they knew. The horns and darkness seeping off of him was proof enough.
"Leave now, Apparitions!" His voice was rough and growly. "Whoever sent these copies of my Friends should watch their back. I'll come for you next if you dare try this trick."
Gray froze the floor beneath him. "Is that enough to convince you we are real, Flame for Brains? Snap outta Natsu and let's go home." Gray tries to reason.
Natsu snarls darkly and charges them. "How dare you impersonate my family and their magic!" He growls in the same voice as before. A twisted sense of how his voice used to sound to them. His flames that he is now gathering around his fists are darker and seem hotter.
Laxus tries to join in on the action. "Natsu, You're better than this. Fight it." He makes it sound like a command. Natsu doesn't respond and just roars his flames shooting toward Laxus. He dodged it but just barely. He clenched his fist and lighting dances around him.
Gajeel tries one last time to talk sense into the demon. "Go back to normal Hot Head so we can go home. We never died, you dimwit! We were just unconscious and badly wounded." Gajeel explains hoping that'll break through to him. It doesn't work as flames head in Gajeel's direction this time.
Gildarts and Cana join them hearing the commotion from outside the cave. Gray's skin grows dark as his demon slaying magic becomes apparent. He starts building walls of thick ice around Natsu. He breaks them just as fast so Gray switches to direct attacks. Ice and fire collide, Natsu just barely getting the upper hand.
Cana and her father stay back. Gajeel joins in when Natsu kicks Gray and sends him flying. Iron and lighting both join the fight, Laxus deciding he might as well get some punches in. Attacks fly in all directions in a flurry of movements with Gray recovering and joining the fray.
Natsu quickly overpowers the three guys. Gildarts steps in and tries to talk him down. "Natsu, What happened to you? You never wanted to be evil. What happened to all the good you wanted to do? The ones you wanted to protect." Gildarts thinks he sees a flash of emotion but it is quickly gone as he attacks and gildarts blocks it easily. Still stronger than Natsu even as a demon.
He glances behind him and sees everyone is here now. Erza and Juvia stand guard while Wendy heals the men Natsu got the best of. Happy and Lucy are back with Cana. He keeps Natsu busy hoping he doesn't notice the others.
Unfortunately he does and turns his attacks on Erza. She requips and fights him as she always does, his strength greatly increased makes it obvious who is winning. Juvia helps her friends. Wendy is done healing them and has gotten into a defensive stance. The injured are still in no condition to fight him.
Cana jumps in with her card magic. Happy decides he wants to try something that flies over with Lucy. They wait for an opportunity to get close. Gildarts attacks make him stumble. He cringes from Juvia's magic induced puddles.
Lucy notices why, thanks to being up high. Natsu's reflection showed the Natsu they knew and loved. Erza calls out to Natsu. Hoping it'll stop him or slow him down. "Stop this Natsu. You don't usually want to hurt your friends. Although you just did so to Gray, Gajeel, and Laxus. Snap out of it!" She dodges more flames, though they are less intense this time.
Happy and Lucy put their plan into action. Happy drops Lucy close to the ground and flies straight to Natsu calling his name. It makes the demon pause as the human side tries to regain control. The water he's surrounded by shows his human reflection. Lucy comes running up and embraces him.
"Natsu, come back to us." Natsu goes rigid. Had they broken through to this side of him? He shakes her off and grabs the sides of his head as a pained roar echoes through the cave. Everyone watches as they glimpse a small hint of their Natsu. It's gone in an instant and he shoots fire at them. They defend against his attacks.
She steps in front of him and forces him to look at her. She smiles at him sadly. "Oh Natsu, why are you being such a troublemaker? Everyone is worried for you. Happy is sad and scared. I'm even sad. I'm not scared though. Not of you though, never of you. The scary part is not knowing if I'll ever get my Natsu back." She tells him sweetly. He freezes and his fire dims.
"Lu....cy?" He tries to say and then screams again this time the wave of fire burst from him in all directions. Lucy screams in pain as she gets burned and collapses to the cave floor unable to stand any longer. She's covered in bad burns some worse than others but she definitely got it bad from being so close to him. He falls to his knees and looks at Lucy in shock.
"Lucy! No no no! Luce! Wake up! What have I done!" He babbles as he gently tries to rouse her. Wendy cautiously approaches since he sounds much closer to his humanity in the moment
"Natsu, I'm gonna heal her now." She says gently. He lays Lucy back down and sobs into his hands. He walks into the pond and everyone sees his human form in the light reflection on the water's surface. He screams in agony but this time it sounds much more human than it did beforehand.
Wendy is healing Lucy slowly. The burns start recording leaving behind healthy skin. Lucy groans and starts to get up after hearing Natsu. Wendy pushes her back down. "Oh no you don't. I'm not done healing you. So stay down for now. Rest up." Wendy scolds her sternly.
Natsu sees that Lucy is fine and fights harder to regain his humanity. He screams as the demon fights back for control but eventually he wins out. He sways on his feet as the horns retreat, his skin goes back to normal, and he isn't covered in darkness any more. He was back to normal finally. He promptly loses consciousness and falls into the water. Juvia retrieves him in one of her water locks that she releases once he's out of the water.
Wendy finishes up her healing on Lucy and helps her up so she can join the others. Happy flies into her chest. "Lucy! I was so worried about you." He sobbed as he clung to her.
"I'm alright Happy. Look, we did it. We got our Natsu back didn't we?" She reassured him. They both went to him. Wendy was already healing him up too.
"He always has a knack for overdoing it, doesn't he?" Wendy joked. Everyone laughed and remembered their favorite moments with the reckless man. She stops her magic and steps back. Everyone waits for him to wake up finally.
He opens his eyes and groans. "What happened? I feel like I was hit by the whole guild at once." He grumbles. He sits up and looks around in surprise. Then the memories rush back in and he tears up. "Shit! I'm sorry guys. I didn't hurt anyone too seriously did I?" He asks in a rush.
"Just Lucy but Wendy got most of her burns and the rest have been treated." Gray says from where he was leaning against the wall. He walks over to Natsu and helps him stand. "Don't scare us like that again, Flamebrain." He says quietly to the dragon slayer.
Everyone gets up and gets ready to head back to the guild now that they got Natsu back. Laxus looks him over and smirks. "We're having a rematch once we are back home and fully recovered. I wanna see you try that again without the demon boost. Not like you'll win but it'll be entertaining." Laxus messes with him.
Gajeel also jumps in, seizing the opportunity. "Yeah I think I need a rematch with the fire breather too. No way my metal can't beat your fire." He says loudly. Natsu immediately accepts both their challenges when another voice joins in.
"I also would like to spar with you once we return. I'm sure it will be interesting." Juvia says off to the side smiling in determination. Gray is staring at her like she grew a second head.
"Why do you wanna fight him?" Gray asks with confusion, lacing his voice. Juvia just simply raises an eyebrow at him and tilts her head in confusion.
"Is that not how we show our friendship with Natsu? That's what you and most others do with him." Juvia replies having come to this conclusion by observing the others.
The guys chuckle and Natsu grins widely and lights a fist on fire. "You're on, Water woman. Don't hold back on me cause I'm all fired up now." He accepts her fight request as well.
The trip back was relatively quick and Natsu was happy to be back with his family. The guild celebrated as they were finally reunited with their favorite fire dragon slayer. Cana made sure most of the guild ended up passed out after challenging several members to drinking contests.
Natsu stayed close to his team for most of the night but he's pretty sure he talked to everyone in the guild at least once tonight. He will still have to heal from the emotional fallout from being stuck in demon form for so long but for tonight at least he is gonna enjoy his time with those who matter to him most.