"You think those Eisenwald punks are still here in Onibus?" Gray asked as the group left the train.
"There's honestly no telling, but then again we are here to search." Erza responded.
"Seriously, I wanna go back home now." Lucy whined.
"Uh, guys. Where's Natsu?" Happy asked as the group looked around, saw that Natsu wasn't with them and looked back towards the train they were just on and saw it take off towards the next station.
"Damnit! I was so caught up in our conversation that I completely forgot about him!" Erza said as her anger started to grow. "Natsu despises any type of transportation! One of you must come and strike me for my negligence!"
"Aren't you kinda overreacting a bit?" Lucy asked as Gray and Damien looked off into the distance.
Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Erza noticed a switch labeled "Emergency Brake" and went over to it and pulled it, causing one of the station workers to run over towards her as the alarms sounded.
"You can't pull the 'Emergency Brake' switch without permission, miss!" The worker yelled.
"Please understand. It's for our nakama." Erza said. "Now if you wouldn't mind, could you take our luggage to the motel, please?"
"I'm not a bellhop, lady." The worker said.
"Ok, it's official. Everyone in Fairy Tail is crazy." Lucy said sighing.
"What are you talking about? I'm normal." Gray said a little hurt.
"Right, cause someone that strips their clothes off all the time in public is completely normal." Damien commented sarcastically.
"I keep telling you, I'm not a damn exhibitionist!" Gray yelled as his clothes had seemed to instantly vanish.
"Then explain where your clothes have gone!" Lucy yelled as Erza was able to get their luggage taken to their hotel and was able to procure a Magic Mobile which Lucy and Damien quickly climbed into and a now-clothed Gray, for whatever reason, climbed on the roof of before Erza quickly took off to catch up to the train before it took off again. As they closed in on the now-moving train, Natsu had apparently gotten over his motion sickness enough to grab his gear and jump out of the train. However, he spun around in midair and eventually collided heads with Gray.
"Are you alright, Natsu?!" Erza yelled as she brought the Magic Mobile to a screeching halt.
"Ow! That fucking hurt, you bastard!" Gray yelled as he and Natsu got back to their feet.
"Shut your damn mouth, ya Ice Bastard!" Natsu yelled back. "And why in the hell did you assholes leave me on that damn train?!"
"We're deeply sorry about that." Erza said. "I'm just glad you're alright." She said hugging Natsu to her causing him to cry out in pain as he hit her armor.
"It's fine. But I'm shaken up a bit after getting attacked by some weird guy on that train." Natsu said. "He said he was from some guild called, Ei-sen-wald or something."
"You damned idiot!" Erza yelled as she slapped Natsu across the face with her right hand that was free of armor due to her using it to power the Magic Mobile. "Eisenwald's the whole reason we're here!"
"Huh? This is the first I've heard of this." Natsu said genuinely confused.
"Did you even listen to my story on the train?!"
"He was knocked out by her. Did she just forget that?" Lucy whispered as Erza began berating Natsu for not listening when spoken to.
"Looks that way." Gray whispered back.
"Yeah, she can be kinda forgetful at times." Damien said exasperatedly hoping Erza didn't hear him.
"So, he was on the same train as us then?" Erza said as she got back on the Magic Mobile's driver's seat and placed the Magic Mobile's SE-plug back on her unarmored wrist. "Let's go searching for him then."
"What did he look like anyway?" Damien asked.
"Definitely not someone from a dark guild but he had this weird looking wooden flute that had like a 3-eyed skull on it." Natsu explained.
"A wooden flute with a 3-eyed skull?" Lucy asked as she thought for a second before beginning to shake in fear.
"You've heard of that flute before?" Damien asked.
"Yeah, I have. If I remember right, that flute plays the death song. If so then that means that the flute is the Lullaby!"
"What do you mean 'death song'?" Gray asked.
"I thought it was something only told about in legends and the books I've read, but there are some spells out there forbidden for mages to use." Lucy said.
"Yes. There are forbidden black magic spells out there that can kill the person that they are cast upon." Erza explained.
"If I'm right about Lullaby then, it makes those spells seem harmless in comparison." Lucy said. "According to the stories I read, it was originally a flute that cast simple death curses that would only affect the person it was cast on. But once the legendary dark mage, Zeref, got a hold of it, he manipulated it so that it would kill anyone that heard its melody."
"Damn. Quickly, get in!" Erza yelled as the group quickly complied. Erza took off and quickly began speeding up to try and catch up with the train again.
"Hey, Erza slow down!" Gray yelled not long after they took off as the Magic Mobile was driven over seemingly every bump on the route that Erza was taking.
"You'll burn up most of your magic energy before we even get there!" Damien yelled out one of the windows. "Or rattle this thing to death by hitting each bump at this rate of speed!"
"If Erigor gets his hands on Lullaby, then the sooner we catch up to them the sooner we can prevent whatever he has planned and the deaths of innocent people!" Erza yelled as she pushed the Magic Mobile even faster.
Taking a break from the story so far, we'll travel to the building located in Clover Town where the guild masters are having their conference.
"I'm so jealous of your little mages, Maki. They're so full of energy and so damn cute." Bob, the guild master of the Blue Pegasus guild who even though he dresses like a woman is actually a man, said. "I heard one of the girls in your guild whooped up on some big shot the other day."
"Hmm? Oh you must mean our newest recruit, Lucy." Makarov said. "She's got one hell of a body to boot!"
"You're so naughty, Maki."
"I don't think you should really be joking around like that, Makarov." Goldmine, the guild master of the Quatro Cerberus guild, said. "Your mages may be full of energy, but even you have to admit that they go overboard a lot. Some of the members on the Magic Council have concerns that your guild might level a whole town sooner or later. From what I've heard, I'm not surprised at their concerns."
"Ah, let them worry if they wanna. I don't care." Makarov said. "They're only worried because my mages are on fire right now."
"Is Master Makarov here?" A blue bird holding an envelope that flew into the building asked.
"Over here."
"Ah. I have a message from Miss Mirajane for you."
"Ah, thanks." Makarov said as the bird dropped the envelope into his hand and flew back out of the building. He then traced his index finger around the wax seal on the envelope which caused a pre-recorded hologram of Mirajane to appear.
"Hi Master. It's good to see you made it to the conference alright." The hologram said as the rest of the guild masters gathered around Makarov to catch a glimpse of Mirajane, even if it was just a hologram of her. "I have the most exciting news to tell you, Master. It could be the greatest thing in Fairy Tail's history. Erza, Natsu, Damien, and Gray have formed a team. A spectacular combination, don't you think?" The message continued. "This could possibly be the strongest team ever. I didn't want to disturb you at the meeting, but I just had to send a message out to you. See you back at the guild, Master." The hologram said before it ended.
Rather than being excited about the news of the team-up, Makarov was frightened at the thought of the damage that those four could bring. Goldmine even commented that with that team, the Magic Council had a good reason to worry about Fairy Tail destroying an entire town. Makarov simply fell backwards at the thought and began to hope that he could find the four before anything could happen.
Returning to the group, they stopped on top of a hill overlooking Kunugi Station and overheard chatter about the train they were on not too long ago being hijacked and that it was by Eisenwald.
"Boats and carriages, I could understand hijacking. But a train? That makes no sense." Lucy said.
"Aye. Since it runs only on the tracks, it'd be a poor choice for a getaway vehicle." Happy commented.
"That is true, but trains are quite fast in their own right." Erza said.
"I suppose then that we're the only ones that can find out where they're going in such a hurry and why they want to get there so bad." Gray said as his clothes disappeared…again.
"Will you please put on some damn clothes?!" Lucy yelled as she looked up to the roof.
"Ah, damnit all!" Gray said as he looked at his current attire.
"Well, it looks like the military's already looking into things, so it shouldn't be too long before they get caught." Lucy said returning her attention to the station.
"We better hope that is the case here." Erza said as she shifted the Magic Mobile back into gear and continued to follow the tracks. Not long after leaving Kunishi, Erza began pushing the Magic Mobile for all it was worth and the group eventually made it to Oshibana to hopefully catch Eisenwald before they got too far.
"Damnit, Erza slow down! You're pumping so much Magic Energy out that it's causing the SE Plug to inflate!" Gray yelled as the Magic Mobile quickly rounded a turn that almost took out some civilians.
"If Lullaby's song is played, countless people could die! We have to stop Eisenwald's plan before it's too late! That's why I won't slow down!"
"But if you keep pumping out Magic Energy at this rate, you'll be drained before the battle even has a chance to begin!" Damien yelled concerned.
"If it comes to that, I'll just rely on my hand-to-hand combat skills then!" Erza replied. "At any rate, I have you, Natsu and Gray as my backup should anything happen!" She said as Happy commented that he had something to tell Lucy, but couldn't remember.
"You have me curious now. What was it?" Lucy asked.
"I told you, I can't remember. But I feel that it was important." Happy said as Natsu, still out of commission, weakly said "So fucking sick" which, for whatever reason, made Happy think that was he was supposed to tell Lucy. As Happy continued to try and think of what he was supposed to tell Lucy, Natsu attempted to dive out of the Magic Mobile.
"Watch it, Natsu or you'll fall out!" Lucy yelled as she tried to pull him back in.
"That's the whole point!" Natsu said sickly as he dangled out of the window.
As Happy continued to think about what he was supposed to tell Lucy, everyone else noticed a plume of smoke coming from the nearby train station.
"What is happening over there?" Erza asked no one in particular as she gunned the Magic Mobile and headed towards the station.
As the group stopped near the train station, they saw that a large number of people had gathered there to see what to commotion was. One of the station workers told the people through a megaphone that the station was closed because of a train derailment. As the group squirmed their way through the mass of people, they heard chattering of what people thought it really was.
"Please, for your safety you must not enter the station at this time." The man with the megaphone said as Erza approached him.
"What's happened inside?" She asked him bluntly.
"Who the hell are you?" He asked before he was immediately head-butted by Erza. She asked the same question to two other workers and quickly head-butted them when they didn't give her a prompt response.
"She likes people that respond quickly, doesn't she?" Lucy, with a still out of commission Natsu on her back, said as she started to shake.
"Yep, and you best learn from this for later." Damien said as he and Gray started shaking as well.
"Eisenwald is inside the station." Erza said returning to the group after finally getting an answer. "Let's get going!"
"Got it." Damien and Gray said simultaneously.
"Wait, so I have to drag this around now?" Lucy asked with "this" referring to Natsu as the rest of the group seemed to ignore her and entered the station.
"A unit from the military apparently stormed the station and hasn't returned yet." Erza said as the group ran towards the loading platform. "My guess is they were locked in battle with Eisenwald."
As they got closer to the platform, they noticed the members of the military unit on a flight of stairs lying in defeat.
"They're all out of commission." Happy said as they looked upon the unconscious bodies.
"Their opponent was a guild full of mages. It would make sense that a small unit like this was wiped out." Erza said as the group continued up the stairs and headed towards the platform.
"I see you've finally shown up, flies of Fairy Tail. Welcome to the spider's parlor!" A voice said as the group entered the platform area and saw a large group of people standing next to the train with one member, wearing only a hakama-like skirt and a tattered black scarf around his neck, sitting on top of a light pole.
"I take it you are Erigor the Shinigami, you scoundrel?!" Erza yelled as the man simply gave a chuckle as his answer.
"Damnit, Natsu. Get up!" Lucy said as she tried to shake Natsu out of his weakened state.
"You're not gonna have much luck, Lucy." Happy said. "Going from a train to a Magic Mobile to your shaking him, he's been hit by a massive motion sickness combo."
"I'm not a form of transportation, ya damn cat!" Lucy snapped back.
"Hey, Pinkie!" One of the Eisenwald members that had hair that resembled the top of a pineapple yelled out. "Because of your stupid ass, I got bitched out earlier. Get your ass up and fight." He said as Natsu began to stir.
"None of you pose a threat to any of us!" Erza shouted. "Now, tell us what your plan is and how it involves the Lullaby!"
"So it isn't obvious to you?" Erigor cackled as he began to fly. "Answer me this; what is a constant in all train stations?"
"So, he uses Wind Magic." Damien thought as Erigor landed on the PA speaker tower. "This outta be interesting."
"You're going to use the PA system to broadcast the Lullaby's song?" Erza asked as her anger began to rise.
"There are at least 1000 people out there that have let their curiosity get the better of them all just to try and see what's making such a commotion." Erigor cackled. "It would be a simple task to wipe them out. However, if the volume of the PA system would be increased then my death song could spread through the entire town of Onibus and kill everyone that hears it!"
"What is your reasoning behind targeting the innocents that call this town home?!"
"I suppose you could think of this as a sort of cleansing for everyone that takes the rights they have for granted while staying blissfully unaware of ones like us that had those rights forcibly taken from them!" Erigor said smiling. "They are blind to the injustices happening around them and in the world and in doing so have committed an unforgivable sin. Which is why The Reaper has come to claim their filthy souls!"
"How is this supposed to help you get your rights back, exactly?" Lucy piped up. "If anything, you'll be in a bigger mess than you were before now. Ideas like that are the reason your guild were kicked out of your League to begin with."
"Well, at this point, we don't exactly care much for having our rights restored. All that we wish to have is power. Enough power to cleanse the past sins and take control of events to come in the future!"
"You all are out of your damn minds!"
"We will be the ones to usher in a new Dark Age." The pineapple head laughed. "But I believe by the time that happens, you Fairy flies will be wiped from this earth!" He said as he sent out his shadow to attack Lucy before it was quickly taken care of by a fiery fist from Natsu. "Damn pink-haired bastard." He muttered.
"I thought that voice sounded familiar." Natsu said smiling. "This time around though we're on solid ground, so you won't have the upper hand against me." He said as he looked around at the rest of the members of Eisenwald. "So I see we got us a little party going on in here, eh?"
"These are the guys that we're gonna fight, Natsu." Lucy said.
"Exactly, it's a party. And I think it's about time we crash it." Damien said as he started stretching.
"I hope you're ready to face the strongest team in Fairy Tail!" Lucy yelled out confidently.
"I'll leave these flies to you lot. Make them experience the darkness of the Eisenwald guild and leave them begging for death's cold embrace!" Erigor cackled as he vanished into thin air.