With Great Power Comes Great Responsibilty

Chapter 36

After leaving the jewelry store, Natsu tried to find the robber but he had just disappeared. He patrolled the city for a couple hours then decided to call it a night. He had just changed out of his costume when he received a phone call.

"Hello...Oh hey Gray what's up?...Yeah I'm at my apartment so?...What about the news?...Okay I'll turn on the TV."

Natsu turned on the TV and changed it to the news channel. There was a story about the robbery and the shooting but they were saying that it was Red Dragon who had done it.

"Red Dragon did it! I'm sure of it!" Gajeel said when one reporter interviewed him. "So sure that I'm offering a million dollars to anyone who brings him in! One million dollars!"

"I don't believe this! Is he for real?!" Natsu cried over the phone.

"Definitely." Gray said.

"Gray you know I didn't do this."

"Of course I know you didn't do it. By Laxus has photos that say you did."

"Laxus?"

"Gajeel hired him to be a photographer because he said he could get evidence of us commiting a crime. Looks like Laxus isn't as stupid as we thought he was."

"What pictures did he get? He must've doctored them or something!"

"That's what I'm thinking. Which is why I'm going to get those pictures examined before they hit the press. In the meantime maybe you should just stay out of the costume for awhile because with this hit out on you, you'll been targeting by everyone in the city. Save for me and Juvia."

"Juvia doesn't believe it?"

"Ur and I are with her at the hospital right now and we just finished talking. She doesn't buy Laxus's bull crap for one minute but she won't say anything to Gajeel because of his 'delicate condition' right now. Not that I blame her. I'm pretty sure if I said something to defend you at the moment I'd be fired."

"That's not exactly helping bro."

"Just stay calm and stay hidden. I'll sort this out. I promise."

"How soon can you start?"

"Not tonight but first thing in the morning."

"Why not now?"

"Come on man you know why. A good friend of mine needs my support now."

"You're actually helping Gajeel! The guy who put a reward on my head?!"

"Not him! Juvia. She's an emotional wreck right now. You know she blames herself for Levy getting shot? Tonight I'm gonna stay with her at It's house and we're going to try to comfort her. You can understand that right?"

"Yes I can." Natsu sighed. "I'm sorry. You're right. I didn't think about her feelings. She really means a lot to you doesn't she bro?"

"Yes she does. But believe me when I say I will clear your name. Somehow. Just trust me."

"Alright."

"I have to go now. But I'll talk to you tomorrow morning."

"See you there."

Natsu hung up the phone and started to get ready for bed. But he had a difficult time falling asleep. He was just so angry at how everything turned out tonight. First some low down thug managed to get away by killing a man and seriously injuring an innocent woman, then he got framed for a crime he didn't commit, and to top it all off now there's a million dollar reward for anyone who can catch him.

If he wasn't getting hate before he definitely was going to get it now. Everybody in the whole city was going to hate him now. Everyone except Gray who knew the truth and Juvia who still believed that he and Gray were heroes. It was a relief but he was terrified of what Lucy would think once she heard the news story. Would she believe this crappy story? Would she hate him like so many others would? This sucked. This really sucked.

Eventually he managed to go to sleep. But as the saying goes, you should never go to bed angry. Because Natsu's extreme anger had attracted something to him. That something was the black ooze that had latched on to his costume. As if it had a mind of it's own, the ooze moved from his costume and toward his bed. It then latched on to arm and started to move all around his body.

As this went on Natsu had a disturbing dream. He dreamnt that he was in a dark alleyway and surrounded by two dragons. One was the misunderstood and underappreciated but honorable, selfless, and true red dragon. The other was the ten times more powerful and strong but destructive, merciless, and cruel black dragon. They seemed to be fighting over him. Natsu felt like he should go to the red dragon but something was drawing him toward the black dragon. Next thing he knew he was being consumed by the black dragon.

When he finally woke up from his dream he saw that he wasn't in his bed. He wasn't even in his apartment. He was outside and on top of a building.

"What the heck?" He thought. "How did I get out here? I was in bed. Was I sleep walking? Then again who sleep walks this far?"

He looked down and saw that he wasn't wearing what he slept in. Instead he was wearing an all new suit that was all black.

"Where did this come from? Am I losing my mind? Is this a prank that Gray's doing to me?"

"Hey look it's Red Dragon!" Two men had walked up on to the roof top.

"Are you sure? It doesn't look like him." The second man.

"He changed his costume to fool us! Get him!" The first guy said.

They lunged for him but Natsu quickly jumped off the rooftop.

"Wait a minute! Why did I jump?! I don't have super agility like Gray!"

But to his surprise he did have super agility. He ended up doing a few back flips and ended up landing on his feet.

"Cool." Natsu said in amazement.

He decided to do a little more with this suit on and to his furthered astonishment he found that he had become stronger, faster, more agile. It was like he had been reborn into a more powerful individual."

"This is amazing! But what is this? What kind of suit is this?"

He pulled at the sleeve only to discover that it wasn't made from fabric. It was made from so ooze that regenerated itself.

"That's weird." He thought. "But who cares. It just means I don't have to worry about tearing it. Oh man! I can't wait to show Gray this."