Natsu POV
I jumped up, "Stripper! We're down here!"
"Pyro?" he yelled back from the top of the stairs.
"Yeah! I've got Lucy down here too! She needs a doctor!"
"Guys! I found them! I need help though, Lucy needs a doctor!"
Footsteps pounded down the stairs and in came everybody. Fairy Tail, Sabertooth and every other guild I had ever helped/destroyed.
Erza took one look at our small cell, and began shouting orders, "Chelia, get behind me, get ready to rush in and start healing Lucy. Gray, on my left; Gildarts, on my right. We're gonna blow the crap out of these bars on three. Natsu, make sure Lucy isn't hit."
We all nodded, and went to our respective places. I crouched over Lucy and gazed into her fading eyes. "Don't worry, your gonna be safe now."
She gave a weak nod, then closed her eyes. The explosion went off, and pieces of metal hit my back, but I didn't care. Quickly, I got out of the way so Chelia, from Lamia Scale could get to Lucy and heal her.
Sure enough, the small girl ran in front of me and placed her hands over Lucy, a blue glow coming from them.
My knees began to quake, but I wasn't done yet. "Natsu, help us get Lucy onto this stretcher."
It took five of us to get Lucy securely onto the stretcher, not because she was heavy, but more because we couldn't risk opening her wounds with a small slip or screw up. Gray, Sting, Rogue, and Gajeel carried the stretcher with the lovely blonde up the stairs and outside of the metal base. My legs carried me along behind them as I tried to keep contact with Lucy's face, only to get left behind.
Even though I hadn't been physically tortured, I felt drained. Like something or someone had...
Byro.
Glancing around quickly, I determined no one was keeping watch of me so I could run off and do as I please. Another quick look gave me all the information I needed; Byro was hiding off in the bottom floors somewhere.
And I knew exactly where.
Against all my instincts and better judgements, I went back down the steps, past the cells and into the torture room. My pace finally slowed, my hearing increased. Sniffing the air, I smelled a rat further over and knew, my target was close.
I tiptoed closer and closer to the open doorway that no sane prisoner dare enter, not even the stupid ones like me. Why?
Because that's where the horrible shit goes down.
Past the torture chamber, is the extraction chamber. The chamber they use to suck magic, life and energy from lifeforms of any kind. I could smell the death, decay and broken energy, along with the unmistakable stench of cowering skunks.
I put one foot in the dark room, then another, gingerly taking one step forward, trying to see what lurked right in front of me in the midnight black.
A voice suddenly came from above me, "Back for more, Dragneel?"
I growled, "Maybe. Whatcha got?"
"This."
Lisanna POV
"Gray, where's Natsu?" I screeched over the sound of battle into the midnight haired boy's ear.
"Huh? He was right behind me. Maybe Erza found him," he shrugged me off, following the small parade of people with Lucy outside.
"No, something's off. He's not here. Erza would've taken him out here to make sure he was okay," I pressed further.
"Lisanna, I'm sure he's fine. She might be telling him what's going on. His first priority is Lucy. He wouldn't leave her."
"He wouldn't leave her unavenged."
He finally stopped at this, turning to meet my gaze, eyes wide. "Go find Erza, I'll find Gildarts and if either of us finds him, drag him back out here to the med staff."
I gave a stout nod, then ran off, dodging magic blasts and canons as the battle wore on.
Natsu POV
I grunted as a piece of ice cold metal was attached to my wrists, an old man laughing on my back, "You shouldn't have come back here, even though we were waiting on you. Every night, we were draining your magic power in secret, hoping to get enough before the military came, but we didn't, but we'll get enough now."
I could already feel the handcuffs sucking away my life energy as three guards hoisted me up onto the giant rock that Wendy was on in the picture they sent so many days ago. Chains held me up by my wrists and attached me to the floor by my ankles, and still, that pain was nothing compared to the feeling of being drained.
"You stupid dragon slayers, you're all the same, running head first into or out of danger, never thinking about anything. Did you never stop to think that we blocked the signal of your tracking device so the military would have to come investigate? Or that we could do this anyway without breaking either of you? We knew all you'd want is revenge for us hurting the girl, and you'd come running back here with no plan. All we had to do, was be ready to get you.
"And so we did. We drained you slowly for two nights, just enough to lower your fighting speed and stamina, so we could nab you when you came running back to avenge your poor friend. Only your other friends showed up sooner than expected, so we're gonna have to do this fast."
I looked up, to find the short, balding man standing below me with a remote in his hand. I spat some blood out of my mouth, "You... Bastard."
The man simply laughed, "This might hurt a bit." And pressed a button on the remote.
Gray POV
Breathing heavily, I ran up to Lisanna, "Anything?"
She shook her head, also breathing intensely, "Nothing. Erza hasn't seen him. I don't know where-"
Suddenly, a flash of dark blue grabbed both Lisanna and I with tiny hands and pulled us along, "C'mon! I know where Nat-san is!" The person shot us a glance with hazel eyes.
I was the first to get on to the small dragon slayer, "Wendy! You should be resting! We can handle that flame brain!"
"They're going to kill him! Listen!"
We came to a sudden halt by the stairs where we had originally found Lucy and Natsu and stared down the dark corridor. Silence.
Just as I was opening my mouth to say something, I heard it. A scream. Not just any scream. A male's blood curdling, 'Lord help me' scream.
"Shit, is that...?" I questioned.
Wendy shivered then nodded. "They got Nat-san. I heard it from the house. I knew no one else could hear it though. We have to save him!" She grabbed our arms yet again and dragged us down the long tunnel, of course, we didn't need any convincing this time.
"They're draining his magic power," she explained as we ran, "They're taking it and storing it to make a powerful weapon with. They got some from me, and now, they're taking his."
We passed door after door, until finally Wendy came to a halt in front of a rather scary looking, blood spattered, metal door. "This is the entrance to the torture room. Beyond that, is the extraction chamber, where they have Natsu."
"Shouldn't we come back with more people?" Lisanna expressed the caution we were all feeling.
Wendy sighed as another cry filled the air, making me cringe. I had never heard Natsu like that. "We don't have time. They're going to kill him if they keep draining him like this. They're taking his power too quickly and it's going to suck his brains out."
"Gray-sama! Juvia followed you to help! Why did you leave?" a high squeal came from behind us, and for once, I was excited to hear it.
"Juvia! We need your help!"
The water mage's eyes lit up like fireworks, "Gray-sama needs Juvia's help? This is the best day Juvia will ever experience!"
I rolled my eyes, "Glad your happy. Look, these creeps have-" Another cry of distress filled the stale air and made Juvia's eyes widen.
"Is that...?"
I nodded, "Yes, and he's just beyond these doors. We have to work together to save him."
The blue haired girl nodded, but said nothing. In fact, none of us seemed to have anything to say.
Lisanna grinned, "I may have a plan."
Natsu POV
As the feeling of death washed out of my veins, I took deep breaths, heaving and huffing to try and feel my extremities again. Were they even there? Had they fallen off?
The old doctor's assistant laughed harder has he saw me struggling to feel anything. "Does it hurt? Oh, I'm sorry. You should've thought of that when you bit the crap out of my hand a few years ago, and now this, is for that, you little twerp."
I braced myself for the pain; a pain that I couldn't describe except as death in short bursts that wouldn't let me die.
It hit me all at once, first came the electrocution, the pain that was by no means tolerable, but was livable. It set all my limbs flailing and tensing at once as I tried to push it out of my system involuntarily. Next came the draining feeling, along with the pulses. The electrocution stopped for not even a millisecond, then hit again, even stronger and harder, as if it was ripping all of my limbs apart and then pulled them all back together. But it didn't stop there. It kept pulling until I couldn't be compressed any longer, then it repeated the process until that bastard pressed the button for it to stop.
I couldn't hear myself scream because my heart was beating in my ears, loud and fast. Too fast.
I wasn't going to last much longer.
Lucy POV
Hang on, Natsu.
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Hey guys. Sorry for the long update time. Can I just say: college is the most sadistic torture ever? I'll try to make reasonably spaced updates but... Damn, man. Midterms.
~MelodyElaine