OKAY...SO I KNOW I'M POSTING 3 DAYS IN A ROW, BUT THERE IS A VALID REASON...
I'M GOING ON A BUSINESS TRIP OVER THE WEEKEND AND I'M NOT POSTING AGAIN TIL MONDAY!
THIS CHAPTER IS ALSO ACTION-PACKED AND SUPER-CHARGED...HOPE YOU ENJOY IT!
SURPRISE ME! LET'S SEE HOW MANY COMMENTS AND LIKES WE CAN RACK UP! I'LL REPLY TO IT ALL ON MONDAY!
~SHANAHOLLOWS~
Gray hopped over the handrails of the dock silently, using the shadows to disguise him. Dan and Samuel were on the other side of the storehouse with two of their goons. He glanced down into the water. There was a sea plane there. A beautiful young woman sat in the pilot's seat, playing with her cell phone.
The getaway pilot, he realized.
There were still a few minutes before midnight. He wanted to see if Juvia was in the storage shed and get her to safety before trying to sabotage Dan and Samuel's escape. Flitting to the door of the storage unit, he noted the heavy locks on the door. He would have to find a way to break them. He used the shadows to flit inside a slightly ajar window. Juvia was lying on the floor. Her hands and feet were bound, but she wasn't moving anyway.
He couldn't untie her in shadow form. And it might really creep her out if he did it in transparency. Taking a deep breath, he stepped out of the shadows in solid form, stooping to examine her.
Her face was a mess. She had an ugly gash on her forehead. A vest enveloped her torso with a ticking clock. He froze, realizing the clock was down to 15 minutes. He wiped a smear of blood from her face.
"My Mavis, Juves…what have they done to you?"
He worked on her bindings, releasing her before scooping her up into his arms and giving her a firm hug. Her breathing was shallow. He was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to see his face in the darkness.
"Wake up, Juves," he urged softly.
She stirred, crying out as she realized someone was holding her. She struggled, trying to push him away. Her strength was minimal though. Gray realized she was very injured. "It's okay," he soothed, sending presence through her, "I'm here to help you."
"I can't see you," she whimpered. Her head still ached, although it was a lot better than before. She guessed it was more the bruising that she had sustained, "Who are you?"
"I'm going to get you out of here," he promised, "I have to leave you for a few minutes. But I'll be back as soon as I can."
She whimpered again, her hand clenching his shirt.
"I'll be back for you," he promised. He laid her down on the floor as gently as he could and flitted back out of the storage house.
He wouldn't be able to get her out of the locked room. Gray had to find a way to break the lock in order to get her out. Without alerting the plane pilot and the men on the dock.
Crime Sorciere was getting impatient. Erik was still scanning the city, looking for any clue that might indicate a bomb or a hostage was nearby. They were completely stumped. Wendy had just rejoined the group, informing them that at least one of the bombs were diffused. It was not very much cause to celebrate. Time was running out.
"Call Sting," Jellal said, "We're getting too close to the deadline. We've got to consult with him over likelihood of casualties. If bombs start to go off, they have to be ready to deal with the aftermath. We also need to get back to the house. We might need Lucy and Levy here, whether Natsu approves or not."
Gajeel pulled out his phone to dial the number, frowning as he saw the blinking light, "I missed calls from Shrimp and Gray."
"Well, retrieve your messages then!" Minerva rolled her eyes. Crime Sorciere were constantly picking on Gajeel, who had a reputation for being hard to reach.
Gajeel dialed into his messages. The rest of Crime Sorciere gathered around as his eyes got wider and wider.
"Gray knows the whereabouts of the hostages," he said slowly, "There's a garbage bin at the mall…and a cabin somewhere out in the woods, close to town. He thinks Juvia is on the docks. He's going after her. Shrimp says Lucy has disappeared and she and Natsu figure she's headed for the docks too. They're on their way there now."
Jellal sighed in frustration. None of them listened to orders well. He motioned to Erik and Wendy, "See if you can pick up fresh trails out to the woods somewhere. Look for a cabin. Wendy, you go with Erik. Gajeel, take Minerva and head for the mall. Start checking dumpsters. Erza, we need to get to the docks."
They broke apart, each pair running in a different direction.
"We need to find Gray, Natsu and Levy," Jellal yelled back to Erza as they ran, "and we've got to stop Lucy from doing something really stupid!"
Her steps were shaky as Lucy made her way onto the docks, hoping Dan and his goons were already there. It was 11:45pm. She knew the others would be following behind her shortly. She needed to make the deal now before they could stop her.
"Lulu!" Dan exclaimed as she can into view, "You look so beautiful! Your eyes! Your lips! Your body!"
"Shut up!" Jackal rolled his eyes, glancing at Samuel, "Seriously…how do you put up with him?"
Samuel nodded, prompting Ezel and Jackal to go grab her arms to keep her still.
"Don't come near me, "Lucy warned, "You need to listen to what I have to say first," she pulled out Gajeel's gun, pointing it to her own head, "If you don't listen, I'll kill myself right now. And your chances at the gold bars die with me."
"Clever girl," Samuel mused, "You do acknowledge you'll die at some point, right? If you kill yourself, we'll just search your body for the keys and get the bars anyway."
Lucy shook her head, "But you'll never know where the gold bars are hidden. I didn't bring the keys with me. I'll tell you where the keys are, and you can have the gold bars, but we're going to do this my way."
Samuel and Dan exchanged looks. Both Ezel and Jackal were itching to get to her, but they stayed still as Samuel's halting hand came out.
"We're listening, Lulu," Dan said.
"Release the hostages," Lucy said, trying to hide the tremor in her voice, "I have to have acknowledgement that they're all free before anything else happens."
"No chance," Samuel half-yelled, "You'll get acknowledgement and then you'll disappear on us."
Lucy lowered the gun, letting out a heaving sigh, "I'll go with you willingly. Me and the gold bars in exchange for their lives. Your goons release them and return to the docks without them. Each girl calls in on my cell phone to confirm that they're free. Then I'll go with you. That also means you can't come after them when this is over. Or Levy."
"You're asking us for an honour pact?" Samuel laughed gleefully, "You're pretty stupid if you think we won't go after Levy, just to shut her up. She knows too much. We'll kill the other bitches just to spite you."
"That's the deal," Lucy said, raising the gun again, "Levy doesn't know where the gold bars are. If I die now, the secret dies with me."
Erik had found some recently used paths on the east side of Magnolia. They were following the Aura path. Two of the paths had ended up being dead ends. They were on a new path now…one that had Erik excited because he recognized the same Aura from Juvia's apartment amongst several new Auras.
"There it is," Wendy pointed.
There was a small cabin up ahead. The lights were on inside. A chimney had smoke rising from it.
Erik motioned for her stay there for a minute as he surveyed the area. He could see the infrared glares from certain trees.
"We'll transport in," he told Wendy, "They have infrared lights all over the outside here. We need to identify who's in there, where the hostage is, and then we'll need to split up. You get the hostage out of here. I'll try to save the kidnapper."
She nodded, getting ready to use transport.
"Wendy…" Erik said quietly.
"I'll be careful that she doesn't see me," Wendy promised.
They transported inside the cabin, appearing in the kitchen. Erik nodded to Wendy and she took off, checking closets and closed doors by transporting in and out of different rooms. Finally, at the end of the hall, she found the room with the purple haired girl in it. She was bound and gagged with another one of those vests strapped onto her. Wendy transported back out to the hall and unlocked the door from there. The girl was struggling, sheltering her face from what she was sure would be another brutal attack. Wendy frowned, noting the bruises on her face. She bent down by the girl, stroking her hair soothingly as she used presence to calm her.
Laki didn't understand why the door was open suddenly. Or why her bindings were coming undone. But she wasn't about to question it.
She got to her feet, glancing about nervously, then left the closet. The exit to the side was pad-locked shut. She would have to exit through the kitchen, which was probably where her captor was. Laki took a deep breath and headed for the light at the end of the hall.
Erik found Sorano in the kitchen. He used presence on her, and then whisper and compel.
You don't have to do anything bad here. You could let the girl go.
Sorano glanced around, wondering why she would think such a thing. She took another sip of her coffee and went back to her crossword puzzle.
Erik and Wendy exchanged worried glances as Laki peered at Sorano around the corner of the kitchen.
"There's four of us and one of you," Jackal taunted, "We'll take you down and make you talk. Besides, you don't have the guts to pull the trigger on yourself."
Lucy's hand was shaking as she cocked the gun, "Try me. Let's see how close you can get before I pull the trigger."
Samuel exchanged glances with Dan, Jackal, and Ezel. They spread out around her, not coming closer, but definitely surrounding her.
Gajeel and Minerva were working fast, methodically checking every dumpster they came across surrounding the mall.
"I've got her!" Gajeel yelled, "This is the only dumpster that's locked!"
Minerva ran to the dumpster that Gajeel stood at. He was examining the lock.
"Can you get it open?" she asked.
Gajeel nodded, his hands transforming into a crowbar, "Stand back."
He smashed into the lock and pried it, cracking the lock apart. They removed the chains quickly and opened the lid.
Virgo was struggling inside the dumpster. She was blindfolded and her limbs were bound. She wore a vest similar to the one Lisanna had worn. She had cuts down her arms…straight ones and jagged ones. He frowned. What had they done to her?
"I'm going to let her see me," Gajeel said, "She needs to know we're here in order to get that vest off of her. Back me up with presence."
Minerva nodded. Gajeel jumped up onto the edge of the bin and jumped down inside, going solid.
"Hey," he said gently, removing her gag, "My name is Gajeel and I'm here to help you."
Virgo screamed as the gag came off.
He sent out a presence vibe, "I'm not going to hurt you," he promised.
He took off her blindfold. She couldn't see him well because of how dark it was, but she turned her back to let him undo her arm bindings.
"What's your name?" he asked softly.
"Virgo," she replied, panic in her voice, "I don't know how you found me…but there's 3 other girls kidnapped. We all have bombs attached to us. They're going to kill us!"
"Shhh!" he soothed. He undid the bindings at her ankles, "My team is retrieving them as we speak. We're going to concentrate on you, okay?"
Virgo nodded, a peace settling over her.
"I'm going to get this vest off," Gajeel said, "You're going to have to trust me, okay? Close your eyes. Don't open them for anything."
She nodded.
He inspected the vest. It was exactly like the one Lisanna had had on. He remembered Wendy's story of using transport to help Lisanna get out of it.
"How did you get those cuts on your arms?" Gajeel asked.
"The people who kidnapped us," she said softly, "They were angry because we broke a glass and tried to use the shards for protection. They used me as an example of what will happen if we try something like that again."
He went to her back, enveloping her in a hug.
"They won't hurt you anymore. I promise," he said.
Her body was tense and her heart was racing. The strange man was enveloping her body completely. In any other circumstance, she would kicking him into next week.
"I'm going to count to 3," he said into her ear, "At 3, you're going to be outside of the dumpster and the vest will be gone. I'll toss your clothes out to you. Get dressed and run – don't walk – to the police station. You know where it is, right?"
Virgo nodded, her eyes still closed. Wait…why would my clothes come off?
"1," Gajeel counted.
"Hey Mister, what are you going to do? Why would my clothes come off?"
"2."
Virgo tried opening her eyes. Gajeel covered them lightly with his hands.
"Seriously - what kind of help is removing my clothes? How is that going to help?"
"3."
Instantly, she found herself outside of the dumpster, but she had no bomb vest and no clothes on. True to his word, he tossed her clothes overtop.
Virgo was thoroughly confused, but she didn't question it as she put her clothes back on quickly.
"Go to the police station," he reminded her, "and don't look back."
She nodded, dashing off in the direction of the police station.
Gajeel reappeared beside Minerva.
"Let's follow her to make sure she gets to the cop shop," Minerva said, "Then we head to the docks."
Gajeel nodded, taking off after Virgo down the alley.
Gray moved into transparency, knowing the men surrounding Lucy would see him as he charged since the dock was covered in infrared light, but he had no choice. Lucy was slowly squeezing the trigger as they came closer. She was shaking, tears flowing freely down her face. She had really hoped they wouldn't call her on her bluff, and now she had no choice but to follow through.
Gray realized the one called Ezel was pulling his own gun, intending to shoot Lucy in the leg. It would keep her from killing herself, but would also disable her enough that they could force her to tell them about the gold bars. Gray charged at full speed, barreling into his hand. The man was huge though – he didn't even flinch. But the sudden appearance of someone from absolutely nowhere was shocking enough that the bullet that he shot missed Lucy by a long shot.
Gray turned full circle, knocking the gun out of Ezel's hand with a round house kick. Another charging presence had barreled into Lucy, knocking the gun from her hand. A third presence picked Lucy's gun up, uncocking it, then throwing it over the edge of the dock into the water. She scrambled for Ezel's gun, pushing it over the ledge of the dock as Ezel bore down on her.
"Natsu! Levy!" Gray exclaimed.
Natsu was in the centre of the men with his arms around Lucy. Gray was on the edge between Dan and Samuel. Levy stood about 10 feet back at the edge of the dock, Ezel poised over her, ready to stomp on her head. The men all stared wide-eyed as Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and backed up against the storage house.
"Ghosts," Dan whispered, wide-eyed.
"GET THEM!" Samuel yelled, getting himself together.
"Let go of my Lulu!" Dan screamed, going after Natsu with a raised fist.
Natsu stood in front of Lucy, going transparent.
Lucy's eyes widened as he pulled back a fist, blocking Dan's attack on him. He blocked a second punch, then turned around to get out of Dan's grasp.
"Hey Ghost!" Samuel yelled, noticing Gray had disappeared again into the shadows. Jackal cracked his knuckles, "How about coming out to play?"
Gray glanced toward the storehouse, taking a deep breath. He'd have to get back to her later.
Jackal took out a gun, aiming it at Natsu. He swore as he watched the bullet pass through his body, landing somewhere in the water behind him.
Levy used transport, managing to move before Ezel's foot stomped down where her head had been only seconds ago. She reappeared behind him, jumping onto his back. He reached for her, unable to find her behind his back.
"Ghost!" Samuel called, still looking for Gray, "I don't know what your game is, but we have business to settle."
Gray needed to keep him away from the storehouse. He appeared down the dock toward Magnolia, then disappeared again. Samuel growled, following Gray.
Jackal had been standing back in a stupor. What in the hell were these people? He didn't believe in ghosts, yet these people had been disappearing and reappearing at will.
Natsu had let go of Lucy and was circling Dan. Dan's eyes were wild with anger.
"Stay away from my Lulu!" he growled.
"She's not yours," Natsu replied.
Jackal held his gun poised, watching for the right moment, then aimed for Lucy, who was currently unattended. Suddenly someone was standing in his line of fire. He looked up, right into the eyes of Black Steel Gajeel. Minerva stood beside him, both of them eyeing him in challenge.
Levy was still on Ezel's back and he was still swinging at her.
"You take this guy and I'll go help Levy?" Gajeel asked.
Minerva nodded, eyeing Jackal. Gajeel went to face off with a man that was even larger than he.
Sting and Rogue were watching carefully the empty road ahead of them. Nothing was happening, but they were hardly expecting anything to happen...they were 2 blocks away from where things would happen. According to their new 'friends', they should stay back and wait to be told to react.
"This is stupid," Rogue said, slamming his hands on the dashboard of the truck, "Laki is out there. I need to find her instead of sitting here on the orders of some guy we don't even know!"
"I understand your frustration, Rogue," Sting sighed, "But they've been right about everything so far: the evidence and getting the employees to the police station. Plus, they got Lisanna out of her vest. I don't know how, but they did it. I know it's stupid…but I'm beginning to trust them."
His cell phone went off. He bent down, reading the text message, then sighing with deep relief.
"Virgo just got to the police station. She's safe and bomb-free," he announced.
Rogue let out a sigh of relief too, but his mind was still on Laki.
"Shots fired at the dock," a voice said over the police intercom.
Rogue and Sting exited the vehicle and crouched in the shadows of a nearby building.
"We need to move forward," Rogue urged.
"Not yet," Sting said, "Give them just a little more time."
Laki was working hard not to breathe heavily as she regarded her captor at the kitchen table. Both Erik and Wendy were trying to figure out the best way to get her across without being noticed.
"We should get the bomb off first," Erik whispered to Wendy.
"I can get the vest off," Wendy confirmed, "but the guard will hear us. We need to ease her first. She's going to be one of tonight's victims."
Erik didn't question her on it. As it was Wendy's job to help ease people into the next phase of life, he accepted her analysis. Sorano would die before the night was over. They needed to try to save her.
She appeared in solid form, stepping out into the kitchen. Both Laki and Sorano tensed, noting her.
"Hello Sorano," Wendy said softly, "My name is Wendy."
Sorano whipped out her gun from behind her back, keeping it pointed at Wendy as she backed toward the hall where Laki waited for an opportunity to escape. Erik appeared in front of Laki, blocking Sorano's view of her.
"You're going to die tonight, Sorano," Wendy continued, taking a step toward her.
Sorano let a bullet go, eyes widening as it passed through Wendy's body.
"I'm here to help," Wendy said softly. She was also in front of Sorano, "You don't have to die a bad person, Sorano."
Sorano's gun was shaking in her hand, "Why would you say I'll be the one to die?"
"I'm an Angel," Wendy said, "I'm here to give you a choice: repent of your sins and pledge to pay the price for them and you'll be allowed to take your place in Heaven. I can see your heart, Sorano. I can see how killing is starting to bother you. You don't want to do it anymore. There's still time. Repent of your sins."
"And if I don't?" Sorano asked, backing away as Wendy kept approaching.
"Then the only option is hell," Wendy said sadly.
Erik was edging past the two women currently standing off against each other, cloaking Laki as they moved toward the door.
Sorano's eyes filled with tears, "I don't know how to live any other way."
"We'll teach you," Wendy said softly.
Sorano shook her head, trying to make sense of what was happening. It made no sense.
Erik pushed Laki out the door, grabbing her hand to guide her into the forest.
"Please Sorano. Give me the gun," Wendy urged.
"I can't!" Sorano cried, tears flooding her eyes. She raised the gun again, firing off several shots at Wendy, who stood unwavering. One of the bullets hit the gas line that ran the stove.
"Last chance," Wendy said solemnly.
"I'M SORRY!" Sorano screamed at the top of her lungs.
Erik and Laki were well into the treeline when they heard the enormous explosion. They glanced behind them briefly, watching the fireball explode into the sky.
Erik urged Laki to keep running. He would take her directly to where the police officers Rogue and Sting were waiting.
Wendy appeared beside him, flanking him as she ran.
"Did she…"
Wendy nodded, gesturing that they needed to stop for a moment.
Erik compelled Laki to stop.
He stepped out of invisibility, appearing to her.
"You…helped me escape," Laki said slowly. Her face was white.
"I'm an Angel," Erik explained, "And yes…I came to help you. Now let's get that vest off of you."
Laki wavered on her feet, and fainted.
Rogue and Sting were fielding calls about the explosion in the forest. An investigative crew had already been sent out to find out what the heck it was. Rogue knew deep in his heart though. He felt like he was having a heart attack, the anxiety hit him so hard. It had to do the kidnappings. He was pretty sure someone's bomb had gone off. And if Lisanna and Virgo's bombs had both been dealt with, that meant it was Juvia or Laki's.
It was true that he barely knew Laki, but in the short time that he'd been charged with her care, he had come to like her. She was a friend. Maybe, given time, they could be more. It terrified him that she was innocent in all of this, but such a victim. He felt helpless...completely powerless to help her.
They had seen the initial fireball. Fire crews were on their way out to the scene as well. Trees had lit on fire from the aftermath of the explosion.
Erik and Wendy appeared at the forest line, Laki in Erik's arms. They approached the police without hesitation, despite the fact that every officer had their guns drawn on them.
Rogue almost collapsed from relief as he ran to meet them, reaching his arms out and receiving the shaking but bombless Laki into his arms. She had awakened again, feeling the comfort radiating off Erik's body as he carried her to the City.
"Laki!" Rogue collapsed to his knees, holding the girl tight to his chest as he examined her injuries. Wendy and Erik were out of sight now. From the treeline, Wendy waved her wrist, erasing the last 10 minutes of Laki's memory.
Sting was still staring at the tree line in absolute shock. Now 3 of the 4 girls were safe. It seemed like things were finally starting to sway in the right direction. But it was far from over yet.
He glanced at Rogue, who was caressing Laki's face as he fumbled with his phone to call an ambulance. It had been a long time since Sting had seen his best friend so concerned over a girl. He was thankful that Laki was going to be okay. And Virgo. And Lisanna.
The only captive left was Juvia.
