Previously

Natsu, Sting, Gray and Mirajane just rescued Lisanna who had been kidnapped, drugged and replaced by a fake. Just after they did so, they were ambushed by three mysterious enemies – Josie, Mikhail and Johann – who were defeated by Mirajane and Natsu. Afterwards the enemies disappeared leaving behind a part of Josie's sword which Gray took. The group was last on their way back to Fairy Tail to talk to the master.

...

-Bindweed Archive-

…

-Chapter 4-

…

-People Archive-

…

Black Lotus

Emery Bindweed was not happy. She stared down her three supposedly loyal servants and turned her back to them, running her hand along the long wooden dining table as she shuffled down the grand hall. Her slippers made a ridiculous scuffing sound against the cold stone floor making her seem innocent yet even more threatening.

"You have failed me!" She screamed, "I send you on a simple ambush mission and you all get defeated. I feel ashamed of myself."

Josie hung her head in shame. "They were too powerful, three of them didn't even fight us..."

Emery wasn't having any of this. She threw a silver platter off of the table in a brief spat of frustration, causing Johann to flinch back. "You don't get to talk! You dropped Duskfang and now they have their hands on it."

"But it was just an archive copy!" The swordswoman pleaded.

"So? How are you supposed to fight now?" She slammed her fist onto the abused dining table.

"Isn't it your fault for failing to upload both Duskfang and Dawnfang? I mean they were joined together at the time." Mikhail interjected without a hint of fear in his voice. The teenage girl's eye twitched and she paused, deciding on what to do next.

Mikhail, Josie and Johann were sent through the void and came crashing into the wall as Emery held held up an open palm that caused the air around it to pulsate in waves, letting out low humming noises. Each little wave pushed plates, platters and cutlery off of the once neatly spread table. She was taken completely by surprise to see Mikhail climbing to his shaking knees.

"You know you can't keep controlling me forever. Your system isn't perfect." He winced and fired off some chains at Emery to prove his point. She dodged them all easily and propelled herself into the air with the same pulsating energy around her feet.

"You're so pathetic." To follow up the insult she took out a mini lacrima device from her pocket and rapidly typed a command. After that she was alone in the dark, chaotic hall.

Fairy Tail

The group certainly did receive a few odd looks as they trudged into the now mostly full guildhall. At this point, a lot of gossip had circulated the town of Magnolia about the noise which woke everyone up, most of it ending up at Fairy Tail. The fact that Gray was carrying an exhausted looking Mirajane as well as the whole group looking a bit dirtied and beat up was enough for the members to each draw their own personal conclusions. Natsu decided to ignore the whispers emanating from the crowd and just walk straight to Makarov's office who should already be waiting thanks to Happy and Lector.

"You guys go ahead I've got to ask Erza about this sword." Gray placed Mirajane on her feet since she could definitely walk now.

"Actually I think Erza should know about this now." Makarov surprised everyone with his unannounced presence.

Natsu and Sting both felt an iron grip on their shoulders and turned their heads to see that Erza had been behind them for a while. "I should know about what?" She chimed in with a voice which promised pain if she did not receive a straightforward answer.

Later

"Wait, so why did the fake Lisanna start attacking you in the first place?" The knight asked.

"Well, after the first meeting Master and I had with Sting and Natsu, when I left the office I saw Lisanna was sitting at the bottom of the stairs using a bat takeover probably so she could eavesdrop on us. Of course she changed immediately after she noticed me but when I confronted her about it the next day she just attacked me. Fortunately Sting and Natsu found me..."

Makarov sighed deeply and drummed his finger on the wooden desk. "Do we have any evidence that these guys are linked with Bindweed? I'd like you to describe the enemies you encountered."

Mirajane paused while recalling what they looked like. "Well, I can't really remember what they looked like, it was pretty dark in that vault. But, their names were Johann, Mikhail and Josie. Also..."

"Wait I think I know who those people are!" Makarov interrupted, "If I recall, those are the Bindweed siblings! But they're supposedly dead. Assassinated nine years ago... "

"What?" All present shouted. Master Makarov stood on his desk chair and leaned forward. He started scribbling away at what appeared to be a letter. The others sat at the desk began fidgeting as they were very anxious to hear what Makarov had to say next and why he was writing a letter. They stared at him but he just continued.

"Master?" Mirajane pressed.

"Oh, sorry. I believe I've figured it out." He dropped his pen, "Think about it. The fake Lisanna spoke about 'uploading' then when you were attacked you fell into an archive server vault. The Bindweed siblings are supposedly deceased and yet you saw them alive and well before they disappeared in the same manner as the fake Lisanna."

"I don't follow..." Gray said.

"Quiet brat!" Makarov scolded, "I believe that Bindweed now has the ability to upload and store people on the archive."

"But that's..." Sting trailed off.

"No way..." Erza covered her mouth with her hand in astonishment.

"What do you mean Jii-chan?" Natsu was unfazed by the revelation.

"What I mean is – well I don't know the details but they were able to recreate Lisanna and the dead Bindweed children. They have their hands on some kind of 'people archive' if I may call it that. Also since they gave you their names it means that Bindweed Corporation no longer cares that we know they're up to something. We do not want a repeat of the Lisanna incident so we must - "

"Destroy the rest of the server vaults around Magnolia." Erza finished his sentence.

"I agree. We won't be able to know if anyone else is a copy so we shouldn't consort with anyone else who isn't present here either." Sting reasoned.

"But how will we do it?" Natsu asked.

"Don't Dragon Slayers have extra sensitive hearing? Couldn't you find them using that magic you used earlier?" Gray suggested.

"No, even with equilibrium that would be impossible..." Sting replied defeatedly.

Natsu however did not look so defeated. "I know someone who could!"

Erza understood where the Dragon Slayer was going with this. "Master, we may need some help from Crime Sorciere and a certain someone within the council." Yes, I might be able to see Jellal again! Erza squealed internally. Makarov raised an eyebrow since he knew exactly the person that they were referring to.

"That's why I was writing a letter. Now everyone get out! I'll call you back when needed."

Black Lotus, Engineering Department

The Bindweed Department of Engineering was one of the biggest buildings in Black Lotus. It sat adjacent to the the towering Black Castle in the middle of the square shaped city. While the norm for this place was dark neo-gothic, the Department of Engineering was an unusually futuristic looking tower with sweeping curves and smooth glass windows. The building was connected to the Black Castle via an enormous bridge which is where Emery was talking to the chief engineer for the Bindweed Corporation.

"Morgan? You know how you're my best friend?" Emery slurred.

The other girl sighed. She was around the same height and age as Emery but whereas Emery had short brown hair, Morgan's was blonde, wavy and went down to her hips. It whipped around due to the high altitude wind. She was also dressed in a white lab coat rather than pyjamas. "What is it this time?" She huffed.

"I need a report on attack readiness."

"Oh well, I've been meaning to show you some of our latest developments." Morgan grinned sadistically.

"I know that look. It's gotta be something good." The two stopped where the bridge connected to the Department of Engineering and entered a circular glass elevator which lead them deep underground. When they emerged they were in a large, cavernous bunker filled with engineers milling about, working on various large scale projects.

Morgan lead Emery to a room to the side of the bunker in which tall, glass, liquid filled tanks held many different experimental specimens. The blonde pointed out to a specific tank in the centre of the room, earning her a favourable reaction from the brunette.

"I call this one 'Troll Candy'. It's part of a series I've been working on."

"I like it. How many can you produce by next week?"

"Oh... several hundred..."

"And on the mechanical side of things."

"That's all finished."

"Then next week we move on Fairy Tail." She began tucking in to a pack of ginger snaps, dropping crumbs all over the sparkling laboratory floor.

...

-End of Chapter 4-

…

-To Be Continued-

...

Yay for fast updates! But really I must stop for now, seriously I am too obsessive. I wonder who they could be talking about, who could possibly track things down by sound? Yeah that's actually pretty obvious. Anyway that was a pretty short chapter... You have Troll Candy to look forward to. Can anyone guess what kind of magic Emery uses?

As always reviews are very much appreciated.

OC content so far:

Johann: youngest Bindweed child. Magic: Luck Magic

Mikhail: middle Bindweed child. Magic: Silver Chain Magic

Josie: oldest Bindweed child. Weapons: Dawnfang/Duskfang

Lokar Bindweed: CEO, server upload. Magic: None

Emery: mysterious fourth sibling. Magic: Unknown

Morgan: Chief Engineer of Bindweed Corporation. Magic: None