"Wakey, wakey, Little Demon," A voice said in the darkness. Alex groaned and opened her eyes. Axel was standing over her, grinning maliciously. "Good, you're awake. I was beginning to think you were going to sleep through the fun part."

"Who are you?" Alex demanded. "And where am I?" She looked up at her arms to find them chained to a wall; her wrists were held in anti-magic cuffs, and she was no longer in her demon form.

"The king wanted you separated from your friends," Axel said, grinning. "Your Dragon Slayer friend is going to be drained of his magic for a little project the King wants. And that other girl is to be executed."

'At least Natsu and Wendy are safe. I'll have to do something for Lucy and Erik to make up for getting them caught later.' "And what are you planning to do with me?" Alex challenged."My curse abilities will do nothing for you or your Kingdom."

"The King seems to think differently," Axel said, smug. "My serum will keep you from fully activating your demon half and keep your abilities turned off." He pointed to the machine she was hooked up to. "And this is going to help me drain you of your lightning abilities. You are going to help power the city and make our new magic last at least half a century." He smirked. "Be grateful. You're doing the Kingdom a great service."

"I'll try to contain my joy," Alex snarked.

Axel smirked and turned on the machine, shocking her. Alex grit her teeth as she felt her magic being drained away. "Don't go back to sleep yet," He said when Alex's eyes started to shut. He turned off the machine. "The fun is just beginning."

Alex sighed and glared up at her captor. "Give it your best shot," She growled. She clenched her eyes shut when Axel turned the machine back on. 'This serum better wear off soon. I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.'

With Gajeel

Gajeel was walking on the edge of town looking for a vantage point when he spotted Natsu and Wendy. He growled. "What are those two doing here?" He walked over to them. "Why are you here?" He asked.

Wendy jumped and turned around. "Gajeel-san!" She smiled. "We were just looking for you."

"Alex said you were in town," Natsu said. "So we thought we should help."

Gajeel frowned. "Do you have any magic?" He asked. When they shook their heads, he rolled his eyes. "Then you'll be needing these." He gave them each an exball so they would be able to access their magic. When they swallowed them, he turned around. "We need to use Dragon Slayer magic to destroy the lacrima. That's the only way to free our friends."

"Alright!" Natsu cheered and lit his fist on fire. "This will be quick."

Gajeel hit him over the head, and his fire went out. "We need to be a little discreet about this." He snapped. "Civilians will be in danger if we go about this wrong."

"Do you have a plan, Gajeel-san?" Wendy asked the Iron Dragon Slayer.

Gajeel nodded and pointed to his counterpart. "My friend here is going to find a spot for us to get to the lacrima. We'll be at the top waiting."

Natsu pouted at the idea of waiting but nodded. He paused for a minute and scowled. "Did you say we only needed to destroy the lacrima to free our friends?" When Gajeel raised his eyebrow and nodded, he growled low under his breath. "Then going to that underground passage Carla mentioned would have been a huge waste of time."

"What do you mean, Natsu-san?" Wendy asked, concerned.

"Alex already knew what would free our friends. So they didn't even need to go in the tunnel." Natsu crossed his arms. "They walked right into a trap."

"Why would she do that? What about Carla?" Wendy cried, worried for Carla.

"Let's free our friends and go find out," Gajeel said. "Knowing Alex, she had a good reason."

Extalia with Happy

Happy woke up in bed beside Carla. "What happened to us?" Carla asked, rubbing her eyes.

"They must have put us to sleep," Happy said, looking around. He looked at Carla when she didn't answer. "Hey, you know it's not your fault, right?" When she looked up at him, he continued. "Alex said this was a trap. She told us we'd be coming here, and we'd learn more about why we were sent to Earth. This is a good thing, right?"

"I'm not upset about that," Carla admitted. "I'm upset because I'm relieved it was her captured and not Wendy. She sacrificed herself for Wendy, and I'm glad. What kind of member of Fairy Tail am I if I'm willing to sacrifice one person for another?"

Happy frowned. "If that's true, then I'm just as bad. I'm happy it was Erik who was captured instead of Natsu. But I don't think Alex and Erik would hold it against us. They're good people. Besides," Happy added confidently. "Alex is super strong. She'll be able to get out soon."

Carla opened her mouth to respond when the door opened. "Looks like we're about to find out why we were sent to Earth," Happy said, his face resolute. "Hopefully, this gives us the answers Alex said it would."

Back with Alex

Alex found she wouldn't be able to get out of the machine on her own. She was sore and tired, and her magic would be drained as soon as it was restored. She sighed in relief when her captor finally turned off the machine. "Don't get too comfortable," Axel said. "I'll be turning it back on in a couple of hours."

Alex opened her mouth to respond when she heard someone running in the halls. She smirked. "I don't think you'll get the chance." He was about to respond when the wall behind him was destroyed.

"You need to give us back our friend now," Gray demanded, stepping forward.

"Oh?" Axel asked, looking at the group that came through the hole. "And what are you going to do to make me?"

Natsu answered by launching a fireball at him. Wendy ran to Alex while the others distracted the man. "Alex!" She smiled and worked to unlock the chains around her wrists. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Alex leaned against the wall and rubbed her wrists once they were free. "Alright, wouldn't be the word I would use," she said. "But I'm better now. Thank you."

"Can you fight?" Erza asked, looking at the woman. Natsu and Gray managed to knock Axel unconscious.

Alex frowned and tried to form a ball of lightning in her hands. She shook her head. "Not yet. They were draining my magic pretty badly. And whatever he shot me with is still running it's course. I can't activate my demon half at all. And you can forget about me running right now."

"How did this guy manage to capture you anyway?" Gray demanded, putting her on his back before they ran down the hall. "I thought you were supposed to know what happens around here."

"I obviously didn't know about him," Alex retorted. "He snuck up on me."

"So he's your counterpart then?" Erza asked. Alex nodded, and Erza looked thoughtful. "Looks like more has changed since you joined than you thought."

"And what did we say about changing things?" Natsu asked, furious. "You weren't supposed to put yourself in danger like that."

"I didn't think it would be so bad," Alex snapped. "My original plan was to get captured, then free everyone once Happy and Carla were taken to Extalia. They would be safe there, and they would be able to get their ability to fly back." She shook her head. "But I got cocky. I didn't consider the possibility of me having a counterpart. And he hunts Demons." At their looks of surprise, she snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. So he ended up capturing me. Anyway, for some reason, I made it known I was a Demon, and that's how they caught me."

"And Happy and Carla are alright?" Wendy asked, concerned.

Alex nodded and smiled. "They should be with Lucy now." The others smiled in relief. "They're in the West Tower. That's where they were keeping Erik." She looked at Gray. "You can put me down now. I can run on my own."

"Stay with us," Erza suggested. "Nobody needs to run off on their own right now." Alex nodded, and they all ran to the West Tower to free the rest of their team.

Alex looked over to Natsu, who suddenly started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking of what Laxus is going to do when he learns what you did." He grinned. "You're going to be in so much trouble."

"He's not going to find out if nobody tells him," Alex threatened, her arm covered in lightning.

"We have to, though," Gray smirked. "He made us promise if you ever do something stupid, we should let him know. And I think this counts."

"Where is Erik supposed to be kept?" Erza asked, bringing everyone's attention to the task at hand.

"Not too far from here," Alex said, pointing ahead. She slowed down when she heard his pained yells. "This way!" She shouted. She turned into her Demon form and ran to the left. She sent a wave of lightning and blasted the guards that were in the way.

"What now?" A voice asked.

Gray stepped up. "Hey, you there. You did this knowing they're members of our guild?"

"We will never forgive those who lay hands on our fellow guild members!" Erza added.

"All of you are now our enemies!" Gray finished. "Enemies of Fairy Tail!"

Alex walked forward, lightning dancing on her arms. "And you don't want us as enemies," she promised, grinning widely.

"Everyone!" Lucy cried happily. "You're alright."

"Where are our friends?" Gray demanded. "Where are the others you turned into a lacrima, huh?" He sent a wave of ice towards the guards.

Erza Knightwalker attacked from above, which Erza Scarlet blocked. The others turned when they heard Erik yell in pain. "Everyone, go on ahead," Erza ordered. They began to fight while the others went to help Lucy. "Are you alright?" Gray asked. He froze the material off of Lucy's hands, and she broke free.

Lucy nodded while Natsu and Wendy hugged Happy and Carla, respectively. "I'm fine. How did you all get here?"

"We'll explain that later," Gray promised. "Let's go!" They took off running.

"So you were in that lacrima?" Lucy asked.

That's right," Gray confirmed. "Seems like that part was Erza and me."

"But how did you turn back to normal?" Happy asked.

Natsu grinned. "That's thanks to me, Wendy, and Gajeel. We destroyed it with our Dragon Slayer magic, and it turned into Gray and Erza."

Lucy turned to Alex. "I'm relieved to see you're alright. I was worried when you went down and didn't get back up."

"It was nothing," Alex grinned. She rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly. "I'm sorry I got you captured. I swear I'll make it up to you somehow."

Happy jumped up. "Why did you do that?" He demanded. "I would have rather not been able to fly at all instead of learning what I was supposed to do."

Carla nodded as they ran to where Erik was held captive. "It wasn't beneficial information and was just upsetting."

Alex shook her head. "You may not realize it now, but you had to go up there."

"In this world, Dragon Slayer Magic can be used for a lot of things," Gray said. "Including turn, our friends turned into lacrima back to normal." He paused. "Though I'm not sure what they wanted your magic for," He said, turning to Alex.

"I plan on getting it back before they can use any of it," Alex said, frowning.

"We know where that lacrima is," Happy said, raising his hand.

"Gajeel's running wild in the city right now searching for that giant lacrima," Gray said, grinning. He crouched down to Happy's level. "Can you take Gajeel to where the lacrima is?" Happy nodded.

"I have to find Erik," Alex said. She looked at Happy and Carla. "Can one of you take Natsu or Wendy? I know one of you needs to take Gajeel, but two Dragon Slayers will be better, right?"

Carla nodded. "I'll take Wendy."

Wendy nodded, and they took off with Happy. "Are you sure that was a good idea?" Gray asked.

"Right now, I'm not sure any of my ideas are good," Alex admitted. "But it should work. Now come on! Erik should be around here somewhere."

They ran until they reached the end of the hallway. "He should be behind that door," Alex said. Gray kicked it down, and they found Erik laying against a stone, almost unconscious.

"Erik!" Alex shouted and ran over to him. "Are you okay?"

Erik groaned and glared at her. "I have a killer headache, and my Dragon Slayer magic was almost completely drained. What do you think?"

Alex grinned. "I think if you have the energy to sass, you'll be fine."

Erik nodded towards Gray. "I see the popsicle is free. Is it fair to assume Scarlet is free as well?" When Alex nodded, he rolled his eyes. "There goes the neighborhood." He sat up. "They want to use the Dragon Slayer magic they drained from me to smash our guild into Extalia. So what's the plan, boss?" He asked Alex.

"Wendy and Carla are on their way to the lacrima with Gajeel and Happy. They'll more than likely warn Extalia if the lacrima starts moving towards them. Natsu, Lucy, and Gray are going to take care of getting rid of the Dragon Slayer magic they collected," Alex said, standing up.

"And what do you plan on doing?" Gray demanded. "Since we're doing all the hard parts."

"Erik and I are going to get my magic away from the Kingdom," Alex promised. She glared at the door ahead of them. "They won't be able to use my magic for anything."


Hey everybody. I'm so glad I was able to get a chapter out today. I hope you liked it. Thank you again for reading this story. It's the biggest story I have right now and I put a lot of effort into it. I'll see you next time for what I think is the last part of the Edolas arc. Thanks again everybody!