**I don't own Fairy Tail. I don't own the characters. I just write about them...
So here's the next chapter. Sorry for those who were looking for more fluff, but these next couple chapters will be a little darker.**
"Gray, something's wrong…" Juvia whispered. "I don't sense any magic power…"
"I don't sense any either," Gray said, frowning. "But Master Makarov was sure that there's some dark guild involved in this."
Across the room from them, a tall, older man with blonde hair picked up his first mug of beer. Cana, sitting close to him on a wooden barstool, picked up a keg.
"You're a confident one," the man grinned.
"If you can't at least drink by the keg, this'll be easy." Cana grinned back.
Then she glanced toward the corner table where Gray and Juvia were sitting. Gray pulled his hood a little closer around his face, and Juvia turned her head to the side.
"You don't think she saw Juvia, do you?"
"Nah.." Gray responded. "If anything, she's probably wondering who the two weirdos with cloaks in the corner are."
Juvia blushed. "Juvia told you we should've just worn different clothing…"
"That would've been way too risky!" Gray exclaimed in a whisper. "She would've recognized our faces for sure!"
Juvia suppressed a giggle. "Juvia could've gotten magic disguises. Shops sell them all over Fiore and they don't cost much…"
"But we didn't have time to stop and get them…"
"Cana spent two hours pregame drinking in that restaurant. Juvia could've picked something up…"
"Ok, ok. I just think the cloak is cool, ok? Get off my back!"
"Juvia isn't on Gray-sama's back, but if Gray-sama wants Juvia will climb on Gray-sama's lap," Juvia said.
"I don't need that!" Gray broke the whisper.
"Gray-sama blew our cover!" Juvia squealed, as the two looked to the bar. To their surprise, Cana wasn't on her stool anymore, but passed out on the floor.
"Take her to an empty room," the barkeeper said. Two other people who were nearby carried Cana to a room a couple doors down the hall. "Man she's heavy," one commented.
"Something's very wrong, Gray-sama." Juvia said quietly.
"Yeah – that idiot did too much 'pregaming' and lost the request." Gray fumed quietly.
"Juvia's seen Cana drink way more than that." Juvia said. "Cana drinks 10-15 kegs a day at Fairy Tail."
Gray let that sink in for a moment. "You're right. Even with her pregame drinking, she shouldn't be down after just one keg."
"But there were no mages in the bar!" He objected a minute later.
"Juvia knows…" Juvia had a very perplexed look on her face. "Perhaps Master Makarov was wrong?"
"Unlikely," Gray said. "Or this is pure coincidence. Sure, someone could get Cana with drinks. But what about Lucy? Or Jet and Droy?"
Just then they heard the sound of a stagecoach behind the tavern. The two looked at each other before dashing outside. They saw the two men who had carried her to the room going back to the tavern through a side door.
"Don't tell me…"
"Juvia thinks we need to follow them!" Juvia said, sprinting after the stagecoach.
Gray sprinted after her, not arguing for once.
~~~Natsu's Team~~~
"Alright, let's get moving again!" said Erza.
"We should probably wait for Natsu and Mira," said Mavis.
"Where are those two jackasses?"
"They disappeared back into the hall a minute ago…" Wendy said with a slight blush.
"Damn it! They'd better not be…"
"OH FUCK NATSU!" "MIRA!"
Erza's face turned redder than her hair... partly from embarrassment, but mostly from anger.
"WE'RE GOING FORWARD, NOW!" She yelled, and started moving immediately.
Mirajane rejoined them almost immediately, with Natsu taking a little longer to catch up. Erza suddenly stopped, then turned to glare at the two.
"I know you two are married, but for fuck's sake KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS!" she screamed at Natsu.
"Actually I pulled it out for fuck's sake…" Natsu whispered to Mira as Erza turned around, causing the other mage to giggle.
Erza turned to glare at them again before they proceeded through the next door.
The room they came to next was smaller, and darker. There were no lights on, and as they continued through it they began to sense immense magic power ahead.
This time, instead of busting down the door, Natsu put his hands on it. There was a brief second where nothing seemed to be happening. Then the door dissolved into a puddle of liquid on the ground.
The room they walked into next was an enormous cavern, large enough that they could go all out and not cause much damage. There was no light except the remnants from the other room streaming through the door behind them.
"For 4 of you to take out my gate guards, you must be pretty impressive…" A female voice spoke from the shadows. "But this is as far as you go."
"How many are there?" Erza hissed at Natsu.
"I smell 3, but the one in the back is pretty weak… only a small amount of magic power." The dragon slayer replied.
"So two that we really need to worry about," Erza said. "Great. That'll make this easy to divide up."
"Of course, Natsu and I will take the first one. You two can have the other." Mira said.
Erza growled angrily, but the couple were already moving toward their target, who was on the left. "How about a little light, Natsu?" Erza asked as she couldn't see where her target was.
"Oh right." Natsu said. "Fire Dragon's Enduring Flame!"
Suddenly the entire floor lit up, covered with fire. This caused everyone – friend and enemy alike – to jump back with a shriek. Erza's shriek was the loudest of all. "Natsu! I SAID LIGHT! NOT TRY TO KILL ME!"
"What's the big deal? These flames won't burn you," Natsu blinked. "They're barely even warm…"
"You could warn me next time…" Erza growled, embarrassed as she realized he was right. The flames didn't actually hurt at all.
The scene before them was now clear to everyone. The mage that Natsu and Mira were approaching was clothed all in white and blue armor. He carried a large, black staff that seemed contradictory to his knightly attire. A ways off to the right was a short mage, clad entirely in purple and black. She bore no weapons, but possessed a visible aura that appeared dark purple.
Behind them stood another person, the weaker one that Natsu had commented on. She was dressed in a sharp, pink business suit with coordinated shoes and even a tie. She must be the head of this operation, Mavis thought.
~~~Gray and Juvia~~~
The stagecoach came to a stop at a seeming random point in the woods, and a couple men pulled Cana out and started carrying her into the thick forest.
"Man this sucks… how long do we have to carry her?"
"The instructions were to bring her to a clearing about half a mile off the street."
"Half a mile? Why'd she have to be so heavy?"
"Guess the client's not into petite women."
This comment caused the others to snicker. Gray and Juvia wanted to attack and save her immediately, but they now knew there were more people involved.
"So this is all the work of some pervert?" Juvia whispered to Gray.
"Sounds like it," Gray said. Or at least, that's what these guys believe…
Suddenly Juvia stopped. "Juvia has a bad feeling… we should get Cana back now."
"We don't know who they're working for yet."
"But Juvia knows something bad is gonna' happen soon."
"Look Juvia," Gray sighed. "We don't know what happened to Lucy, Jet, and Droy yet. We can't leave till we find out. Don't worry, we won't be discovered."
"Juvia's not so sure…"
"Come on – we'll lose them if you keep this up."
Finally Juvia allowed herself to be pulled farther on. Eventually they came to a stop in a unique, rather large clearing. The men dropped her there and picked up a bag of Jewels in the middle of the clearing.
"Well, let's get out of here." One of the guys said. The other nodded, and they took off.
Several minutes passed as Gray and Juvia waited in the shadows.
"Maybe nobody's coming…" Gray whispered.
"No… Juvia can feel someone coming…"
"What do you mean? There's no one…" Suddenly Gray froze. There was a presence approaching. One with an enormous magical aura.
They watched as a tall man with gray hair and glasses walked into the clearing. Juvia gasped audibly, while Gray barely bit his own startled reaction back.
"It seems we have rats…" Another voice said. Gray and Juvia couldn't see the source, but they knew it was time to attack.
"Ice Make: Lance!"
"Water Slicer!"
Barely were there attacks underway when they slammed to the ground. Their bodies were suddenly incredibly heavy. Even pushing their heads up off the ground was excruciating.
"Juvia remembers this magic…"
"Bluenote… Gray growled, pushing himself up to his knees. "Ice Make: Ice Cannon!"
Suddenly the ice mage was hit hard in the head with a steel projectile. He fell under the effects of gravity, knocked out.
"Well would you look at that," Rustyrose said as they cuffed the mages. "3 for the price of one…"
"What do you want with us?" Juvia asked, sitting up as the gravity was released.
"Oh, nothing much…" Rustyrose smiled at her, but there was something demonic in his smile. "Just to make you and your whole guild suffer for what you did to me… before we kill you."
~~~Later, in the cages~~~
"I'm sorry Juvia," Gray said, groaning as he sat up. "I should've listened to you."
"Gray-sama! Juvia is just glad you're alive!"
"Gray, Juvia, is that you?"
"Lucy?"
"So you're here too…" Gray said.
"Us too," Jet and Droy chimed in.
"Seriously, all you guys?" Gray said. "And now Cana… and us…"
"Hey guys," Rustyrose said with his evil smirk. "My partners and I are getting bored of just watching you sit in cages… so pick someone to duel me."
"Umm… Juvia thinks Gray-sama is the strongest."
"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "Gray should go."
"Alright!" Gray grinned. "I can't wait!"
Rustyrose opened the cage and pulled him out into the clearing. Then the other cages were turned suddenly so that they could watch.
"Umm…" Gray held out his cuffed hands expectantly.
"Oh, you didn't think I'd let you use magic, did you?" Rustyrose grinned as several metal balls and blades appeared around Gray.
"Oh shit…"
~~Several minutes later~~~
"Well that was fun. Who's next?" Rustyrose grinned as Bluenote dragged a battered and bleeding Gray back to the cage.
"What, no volunteers? Well, let's take our first prisoner then." He motioned, and Lucy was dragged out…
~~~Natsu's party~~~
"Dimension Door, City of Pain!"
Natsu and Mira found themselves in a totally different environment. They were in a city street, except there were no hard roads, only spikes that cut their feet. There were no buildings, only enormous swords, battle-axes, bows, and other weapons. The other mage was a long way down the street.
Mirajane instantly transformed into Sitri, hovering above the street. Natsu used his flames to propel his body upward, floating above the painful spikes.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shot a huge stream of flame out of his mouth. To his surprise, the flame only made it about halfway to the mage before fizzling out.
"Dark Apocalypse!" Mirajane cried, and an enormous bolt of dark energy headed for the mage. It made it only about half as far as Natsu's roar, before hitting the ground, causing an explosion that was much smaller than it should've been.
"What the fuck?" Mira dodged one of the giant weapons that suddenly came crashing down on them. Next to her, Natsu also jumped out of the way of one of the weapons that took a slash at him.
"You should be honored. There are few mages whose power I respect enough to show them my city of pain…" The mage said. His voice was so loud that it hurt their ears. "You will find everything is warped here. Your sense of distance, your sense of proportion…"
Mira and Natsu dodged more weapons and flew up high above them. "This'll make it easier," Natsu grinned.
Suddenly several of the weapons floated up off the ground, slashing and swinging at the duo. Natsu was almost sliced in half by a sword that Mira had just dodged after dodging an axe himself.
"I think we should split up," Natsu grunted as a mace aimed at him narrowly missed Mirajane.
"That's surprisingly good thinking, Natsu." Mirajane grinned.
"Thanks, I think…" The dragon slayer retorted, as the two headed away from each other to avoid accidental death.
"Yes, that's it… Dance, my puppets…" The enemy mage grinned darkly, his polished armor shining like the sun in his death trap.
~~~Erza and Wendy~~~
"Natsu!" Cried Erza as the dragon slayer and Mira suddenly disappeared from the cavern, along with the other mage.
"You should focus on your own battle," a dark voice spoke in her ear, and she dodged as a ball of black electricity flew past her, narrowly missing her head.
She turned to face her opponent, but suddenly was hit from behind by several blasts of black electricity. Each hit racked her with excruciating pain, as though every bone in her body was being cracked repeatedly.
Wendy was also hit with the effects. By the time the immediate pain was gone, Erza could only dodge as another ball of black electricity sailed past her. She watched as it hit the wall, then exploded into a veritable shower of electric charges that raced back at her and Wendy.
Quickly she put on her Adamantine Armor and got her shield up. Just in time, she was able to protect both herself and the sky maiden from the approaching blasts. Wendy was panting hard, her face still contorted from the painful assault.
Suddenly a sharp pain stabbed into Erza's back. It felt as though someone plunged a hand through her skin, grabbed hold of her spine, and ripped it out her back. "AAAAHHHH!" She cried out, doubling over in pain.
Next to her, she saw Wendy suffering similar effects. The young dragon slayer was screaming and writhing, her face contorted in suffering.
"You'll pay for that," Erza growled at her opponent.
"Well, aren't you the sturdy one?" The mage's dark voice laughed as she raised her arms again. "I can see why the gate guards were defeated…"
~~~Natsu and Mira~~~
"Now let's start with you, Pinky," the mage's evil grin didn't disappear as he pointed his staff at Natsu. Suddenly something akin to a swarm of wasps encircled the dragon slayer, but these were sharp metal projectiles that tore at his skin and clothing. "AAAHHH" He screamed as cuts appeared all over his body.
He increased the heat of his aura, and soon a thousand tiny metal drops hit the weapons and spikes below them.
"Interesting…" The mage said, pointing his staff at Natsu again. This had the same effect, except his time the dragon slayer dropped below the falling molten balls to eat them as they fell.
"Thanks for the meal," he grinned. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
His attack still didn't reach his opponent, who was now taking the battle more seriously. "It seems I won't be able to toy with you, as I thought."
~~~Back in the forest, deep in Fiore~~~
"Who's next?" Rustyrose grinned as Juvia was tossed in the cage next to Gray, her body that wouldn't have even been touched by his blades if she had her magic battered and bleeding.
"She's the last one, and she's not even awake yet…" Bluenote announced.
"Well that's no fun. I have to be able to hear them scream," the gray-haired mage sighed.
"Alright, from this point on it's almost certain to be harder. Fairy Tail suspects something, so they're not just going to keep taking simple bait."
"So what do we do now?"
Rustyrose smirked. "Phase two…" he made sure all the conscious Fairy Tail mages could hear. "We find out what quests they're going on and ambush them…"
**Alright. I haven't fully decided yet, but I'm probably going to start writing my Natsu x Erza fic while I'm finishing this one up. I can't say for sure yet, but I'm thinking this probably has no more than 4 or 5 chapters left. And my fickle writer's heart is telling me it needs something new to write to keep things interesting...
Till the next chapter, Read and Review if you like please :)**
