With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilty

Chapter 3

Natsu crept as silently as possible, trailing the suspicious-looking man into a shadowy back room. Inside, the air was damp and heavy with the scent of animals. He froze as he took in the sight before him: cages and tanks lined the walls, each one housing a different creature. Birds, rabbits, frogs, snakes, bats, lizards, mice—even some fish.

What the hell is this? Natsu thought. What are they doing with all these animals?

Suddenly, a deep roar followed by a hiss jolted him. Spinning around, he spotted two larger cages at the far end of the room. One held a massive Komodo dragon, the other a Sumatran tiger, both pacing restlessly behind the bars.

"What the hell?" Natsu gasped, heart pounding in his chest.

Then he heard a voice nearby. Acting fast, he ducked behind a stack of crates.

"Yes, sir, I'm in," said the man Natsu had followed. He wore a lab coat and spoke into a phone as he approached the cages.

"Yes, the dragon and the tiger are here... You want me to what? But isn't that a little risky?... No, no—I haven't forgotten how much you're paying me. I'll do it. I just hope you know what you're doing."

The man ended the call and reached for a ring of keys.

Natsu's eyes widened. He's going to open the cages?

"Hey! What are you doing?" Natsu called out, stepping from his hiding spot.

The man flinched. "Get out of here, kid! This has nothing to do with you!"

"You're not seriously letting those animals loose, are you? They'll kill someone!"

The man didn't respond. With a click, he unlocked the Komodo dragon's cage. The massive reptile lunged forward, finally free. Panicked, Natsu turned and sprinted toward the exit.

"Run! Everyone, RUN!" he shouted as he burst back into the main hall.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Gildarts asked, alarmed.

"There's a guy in the back! He opened the cages! A dragon and a tiger—he let them loose!"

"What? No!" cried Acnologia, his face turning pale. "My experiment!"

Just then, the Komodo dragon and the tiger burst into the room, snarling.

"Everybody OUTSIDE, NOW!" Gildarts bellowed.

Chaos erupted. Students screamed, pushing and tripping over each other in their panic. In the middle of the stampede, Lucy fell. By the time she scrambled to her feet, she was staring directly into the Komodo dragon's eyes.

She screamed, frozen in terror.

Only Natsu noticed. His eyes locked onto hers as the dragon opened its massive jaws to strike.

"Lucy!" he yelled, charging forward. He threw himself at the creature, grabbing its jaws just in time.

"Run, Lucy!" he shouted through clenched teeth. "Now! Before—AAAGH!"

The dragon bit down, its teeth sinking deep into Natsu's hand.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, horrified.

"I'm fine!" he growled, seething in pain. "Just GO! I'll be right behind you!"

Trusting him, Lucy turned and fled.

Natsu tried to follow, but the dragon's bite was too strong. The pain overwhelmed him, and everything went black. The Komodo dragon eventually let go, slithering away—apparently unimpressed by his taste. But the tiger wasn't as picky. It crept toward Natsu's unconscious body, eyes gleaming and lips curled back in a hungry grin.

Just before it pounced, a glass test tube flew through the air and shattered at its feet.

"Hey! Over here!" shouted Gray, standing near a counter. "Here, kitty kitty... Come and get me!"

The tiger's attention snapped toward him, and with a snarl, it lunged. Gray tried to dodge, but the tiger caught his arm with a clawed swipe. He crashed to the ground, clutching his bleeding arm, eyes shut tight, ready for the end.

A gunshot rang out.

Gray opened his eyes in shock. The tiger lay motionless beside him.

At the door stood a squad of police officers. One lowered his smoking rifle. The others rushed in and fired again, this time hitting the Komodo dragon just as it was slipping toward an open window.

Sirens wailed as ambulances pulled in seconds later. Paramedics loaded Natsu and Gray into separate stretchers and rushed them to the hospital.

Natsu's father arrived faster than a speeding bullet. But Gray's father didn't come. Or rather he couldn't.

Gray had lost his parents when he was just eight years old. They'd died in a plane crash while returning from their second honeymoon. With no other close relatives, he'd been taken in by his mother's older sister—Ur Milkovich—who had raised him as her own ever since. She lived next door to the Dragneel family, and Igneel brought her with him to the hospital.

They found Gray sitting up in a hospital bed, his arm wrapped in bandages.

"Oh, Gray—are you alright?" Ur asked, rushing to his side and hugging him tightly.

"I'm okay, Aunt Ur."

"Is anything broken? Do you have a fever? Are you going blind?"

He gave her a tired smile. "Aunt Ur, it's just a scratch. I'm fine. They're sending me home tonight."

"Oh, thank goodness."

Gray couldn't blame her for panicking. He was all she had left.

He still remembered the day she told him about his parents. He had come home from school, bouncing with excitement, eager to see them again after their trip. He'd begged to go with them, but they said no. If he was good while staying with Aunt Ur, they promised, they'd take him out for a full day of fun the moment they got back.

But instead, he walked into the living room and found Ur sitting on the couch, crying.

"What's wrong, Auntie?" he'd asked. "Why are you crying?"

She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Come here, Gray. We need to talk."

He was in tears before she could finish telling him. She rocked him all night like a baby, holding tissues to his eyes and nose, whispering promises that he'd never be alone.

He'd never forgotten that night, and he'd never stopped being grateful to her for it.

"How's Natsu?" Ur asked gently.

"I don't know," Gray said, glancing down. "They said he's still unconscious. I hope that lizard didn't inject him with venom."

But Natsu had been infected—just not with venom. And so had Gray. What they didn't know yet was that the animals that attacked them weren't ordinary animals.

Not even close.