Hey Jet, look at this." Droy handed the fast mage a request from the board.
"You thinking team shadow gear?" Jet asked, looking at the request.
"I think you and me. We need to prove to Levy that team shadow gear needs to stay together. It's a pretty simple quest."
Jet read the request. The client wanted them to take out a small group of bandits that were blocking travel out of one of the small northwestern towns in Fiore. The flier said none of the bandits were magic users.
"With this we can surely prove to Levy that she can stay with team shadow gear!" Jet said.
"Let's go!"
And the two headed out.
~Searching for the experimentation house~
"This is taking forever…" Natsu groaned. A whole day had passed, and so far they had been unable to locate the facility.
"I don't understand it," Mavis said. "We've been through every inch of this place. Somebody should have run into the facility by now…"
Natsu glared. "Alright, I'm done with this… time to make the searching a little easier."
"Fire Dragon King Mode!"
"Natsu wait!"
"Roar of the Fire Dragon King!"
Everyone gaped as an entire square mile of forest disappeared. Then another as Natsu rampaged off. Soon another square mile evaporated.
Before long, the smoke was clearing from over 2300 square miles of what used to be thick forest. The guild members looked on, speechless.
"What's that?" Erza pointed. In one crater, probably a mile from their location, a few lone trees and lush forest fauna stood out from the desolation around it.
Mavis squinted. "Either Natsu missed a spot, or…"
Instantly they rushed toward that location, where they were met by the exhausted dragon slayer.
"Man, that really wore me out."
"Of course it did baka!" Said Mirajane. "You just destroyed practically a whole forest…"
Except for this one little green patch…" Mavis said, walking straight into a tree… And then through it.
"Woah!" Everyone exclaimed as the illusion shattered. The trees and foliage disappeared, revealing a large, metal trap door that was untouched by the widespread destruction.
"Now to get it open…"
~Miles away, deep in a forest~
Laina successfully batted away each of the iron balls as they attacked her. Her target was only 10 feet away. Now 5. Now within reach.
With a burst she plunged her dagger to the heart of her target, but the iron figure moved, turning its chest and deflecting the blow off-target with one arm. She followed with her other dagger, underneath the arm, but this was also deflected for little damage.
Frustrated, she knocked another iron orb away, then another. Then she tried again, attacking the target before her.
Again her blows were deflected with expert speed and skill. Frustrated, she pressed the attack, striking another blow up under the armpit. The knife was deflected so it just grazed the target, but her other was already coming over, aimed at the left breast area.
The iron person deflected that blow as well, though it gouged the shoulder. Before she could press the attack, she had to pull back to partially deflect an iron ball. It missed her vitals, but slammed into her stomach hard.
Soon she was on the defensive again, struggling just to deflect the 4 iron spheres that were assaulting her.
Lucy couldn't see what was going on, but she could hear the mages training. Other than their identities, she realized that she really didn't know much about them. The one thing they seemed to have in common was their hatred for Fairy Tail.
"The trap is baited," The voice belonged to Ivan Dreyar. "Now we just have to see who bites."
"You hear that girl?" Rustyrose's voice. Lucy didn't respond.
"I know you're listening," he said after a couple moments of silence. "You should be happy – you'll have company soon."
"Why are you doing this?" She asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Rustyrose's smirk was evident in his voice. "I'm going to repay Fairy Tail for all the pain you caused me…"
"Pain?"
"Yes, pain." He raised his voice ever so slightly. "10 years ago I was part of one of the strongest, most feared dark guilds. We could get anything we wanted. Nobody could stand in our way…"
And then we ran into Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail mages took us down, one at a time, and finally, unthinkably, even defeated Master Hades… If it weren't for you, I never would've been humiliated by Tartaros. Our plans to revive Zeref would've worked out the way they were supposed to. We'd be ruling the world right now, instead of wandering the forests of Fiore, hiding from the magic council."
"So I'm going to round up your teammates. And once I have them all, I'm going to get your master. Then he can watch you die, one at a time, until his turn comes…"
"You won't get away with this!" Lucy said.
"Watch me."
~In another part of Fiore~
Natsu's fire lit up the dark hallway that led deep into the earth. The others followed along behind the dragon slayer, looking at their surroundings.
So far there had been no doors opening to the left or right, but they were definitely in a manmade structure. The metal walls were smooth. The floor level and even. Natsu's keen sense of smell could detect the presence of humans further down the passage, though it was impossible to tell exactly how far.
Erza was glaring at Mira, who was clinging to Natsu's arm as they walked. Wendy was walking next to Mavis, who was cheerfully evaluating their surroundings.
"Somebody went to great lengths to discourage visitors," she was saying as they walked along. "And whoever it was had a lot of money and magic power backing them."
"We're close to someone," Natsu said suddenly, stopping and sniffing the air. "Or someone is closing in on us…"
"How close, Natsu?" Mavis asked.
"Very… almost on us now."
"I don't see anyone," Mira said peering around.
"Nor do I…" Erza squinted into the darkness ahead. "Are you sure your nose is working right Natsu?"
Suddenly Natsu grabbed Mira and jumped back almost into the first master. A portion of the wall to their right became a jagged spike and missed skewering the dragon slayer and his mate by millimeters.
Erza saw another jagged spike appear above her and managed to move just fast enough to avoid it.
Another piece came out and hit the dragon slayer full on, but the metal melted as Natsu increased the heat his body was giving off.
"Sorry everyone," he muttered as the temperature increased. Clothes began melting off as the metal around them also melted, dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls. The walls jiggled in places, as though trying to move but unable to take form, and then they stopped.
Instantly it cooled down, leaving everyone except Natsu, and the first master's spirit body, naked. Erza flushed scarlet and requipped instantly. Wendy tried to cover herself. Mira just smiled and clung to his arm. "Why Natsu, if you want me to get naked you should just ask."
Wendy continued to blush in the back, her whole body turning as red as Erza's hair. "I wish Lucy were here… her celestial spirits would be a great help right now!"
"Here…" Natsu threw her his vest. "It's not much, but it'll help till we can find you something better."
"Do you think he'll come back?" Wendy asked after she put Natsu's vest on, holding it closed over her breasts with one hand.
"I dunno," Natsu shrugged. "Probably not here, at least."
"Why didn't he come out of the walls?" Erza wondered.
"He couldn't," Mavis said. "I'm not sure if it's because of Natsu's heat, or because the mage has permanently become a part of this structure, but he couldn't leave the walls. I could sense it."
"So now what?"
"We keep going, of course!" Natsu grinned, increasing his flame to light the way for them.
"By the way Natsu," said Mira. "How did Happy feel about being left behind?"
"He seemed to be ok with it," Natsu grinned. "Said he was gonna' spend time with Carla or something…"
"Oh… Ok…"
~In a forest, far away~
Lucy woke up suddenly as the doors were opened. A skinny mage and a large, overweight mage were tossed into the cell with her.
"Jet! Droy!" Lucy said, recognizing the two. "You guys were captured too?"
But the unconscious mages didn't answer. "Of course…" Lucy mumbled, remembering that she had also been tossed in unconscious. "You guys could be better company…"
She looked at her keys despondently. "I can't even summon Plue…"
"AAAAHHHH!" Laina had one knee up, and was trying with all her might to push the other leg up and stand. She got about halfway before she collapsed to her hands and knees again.
One more time. She groaned with effort as she pushed one of her legs up, bringing her torso erect. She started to straighten out her leg, rising slowly under the effects of Bluenote's gravity, but then collapsed again.
Once more. She tried again, but couldn't make it quite as far this time.
A few minutes later, she collapsed all the way to the ground. Bluenote's gravity effect stopped, and she lay there, exhausted and numb.
After she'd rested for a few more minutes, it was time to begin her agility training.
~Fairy Tail guild hall~
"Lucy's been gone for a while…" Levy muttered, at the table with Gajeel. "I hope everything's alright with them."
"Of course it is – why wouldn't it be?"
"I just have a bad feeling is all…."
Suddenly Cana, who had been staring at the board for the last several minutes, squealed in delight. "Oh! This one's perfect!"
"What is it Cana?"
"This guy's looking for a mage who can beat him in a drinking contest. He's willing to pay 300,000 jewel if you succeed."
"Wow…" Juvia sweat-dropped.
"It's almost like someone made that quest just for Cana," Gray said.
"Alright! I'll be back soon – with 300,000 jewel." Cana grabbed a huge jug for the road and took off.
"Man, with everyone starting to go out on quests this guild's feeling a little empty…"
"Tell me about it," Gajeel slumped on his table. "It's downright boring around here."
"Still," Levy said, still concerned. "Lucy's been gone a long time… She should be done with her request by now."
"Maybe she had trouble finding the creature," Gajeel said. "It's wild, after all."
At the bar, Makarov was pondering some of the recent events. He agreed with Levy that Lucy should be back by now. Also, there was something that seemed off about the request Cana had taken. It was the third request in quick succession that offered a pretty high reward for a fairly low-level request.
He sighed again, turning back to the bar. Hopefully this was just paranoia setting in…
~~~At the experimentation facility~~~
Natsu stopped again, so suddenly that Mavis, Erza, and Wendy all ran into his back. The group went down in a tangle of limbs.
"What's wrong Natsu?" Erza asked as they untangled themselves.
"There's a large group waiting for us around that corner." Natsu replied.
"Great," Wendy said with a smile. "Then we've finally reached the end of this hallway…"
Mavis looked serious. "How many, Natsu?"
"At least 10," the dragon slayer replied. "There are 10 unique scents in there."
"Well, they already know we're here…" Mavis said, looking at Natsu's flames lighting the way. "But I thought when we got to the main structure it would be lighted.
"Maybe it is," Mira said. "There could be a door up there that's blocking us from seeing it."
"Of course," Mavis mumbled. "Why didn't I think of that?"
"At any rate, let's see what's awaiting us." Erza said, and the group moved forward again around the corner.
There was indeed a door, made of the same metal as the passage they were currently in. There was no way to tell how thick it was, but it looked like it was designed heavy and thick to keep people out.
"Let's knock then, shall we?" Natsu grinned.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" The door was blown away into the room beyond as light came flooding into the hallway. As the group charged forward, Erza counted 9 mages forming a semi-circle around the door area.
"I thought you said there were 10," she said to the dragon slayer as they came to a stop, just inside the door. "I only count 9."
Just then the door, which was slammed against the opposite wall, was thrown aside, and a glaring mage with a steel body leapt forward to join the fray.
"10…" Natsu grinned. "I'm all fired up."