Ch. 2- Erza Kidnapped
Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima
Story and OCs © Me
The casino was just as lively as everyone thought it would be. Everyone was sitting around, playing the slot machines, card games, and other things as they attempted to strike it rich or lose everything. Gray was sitting at slot machines with Juvia, who was wearing an elegant blue dress with a plunging neckline and wearing a golden necklace with the Fairy Tail emblem on it, Lucy was at the Blackjack tables with Erza, and Natsu and Happy were standing around Haru, who was at the roulette wheels. Since pets weren't allowed in the casino, Blue Fang was told to wait outside.
"Uh... let me see," Haru muttered. "I bet... 1300 Jewel on 17!"
"17, come on!" Natsu cheered.
"Don't be mean, 17!" Happy exclaimed as the wheel began to spin, and at first, the little while marble looked like it was going to land on the number 17... but then it ended up landing on the number 18, instead.
"WHAT?!" Natsu questioned.
"Oh, you've GOT to be kidding!" Haru complained.
"This game is rigged!" Happy shouted in agreement.
"Man, I am having no luck at all!" Haru griped. "Not like that girl over there!"
She pointed to a young brown-haired girl that sat at another roulette table, accompanied by a young man with spiky ashen-white hair... and by the looks of things, the girl was really winning big, judging by the huge stacks of money in front of her while the boy laughed and cheered for her.
"Heh!" Gray chuckled as he sat at the slot machines. "I guess some people are just born lucky." He then looked over at Juvia, who smiled at him. "So, Juvia, you enjoying yourself, so far?"
"I'm having a wonderful time!" Juvia answered. "I can't wait to join Fairy Tail officially!"
"I'm happy for you," Gray replied. "I know things get a little hectic and chaotic, but give it to him. You get used to it after a while. We still have to put in a good word for you with Gramps, though, but I don't think he'll mind."
"Ah, yes," Juvia realized. "You still haven't talked to your Guildmaster about this, have you?"
"AAARRGH!" Haru groaned as the marble on the roulette wheel landed on another number that she didn't bet on. "Not again!"
"Man, that's just not fair!" Natsu shouted before he looked to the croupier with fire seeping out of his mouth. "You must got somethin' against my sister if you keep makin' her lose!"
"It's not that I'm making her lose, sir," the croupier defended, nervously. "And please don't get in my face with fire coming out of your mouth like that."
"Hey, boy."
"Huh?" the Dragneel Siblings muttered as they turned to see... a man with a block-like body sitting on a chair and smoking a cigar, wearing a dark blue suit, a scar over his shoulders, a fedora that didn't seem to fit over his head, and a pair of shades.
"Sometimes, you find dandies like me playing adult games like this," he said in a bit of a New York-style drawl.
"HE'S SQUARE!" Haru exclaimed, her eyes taking on a square shape.
"SQUARES AND RECTANGLES?!" Natsu questioned with a similar expression.
"What kinda guy is that?!" Happy asked, his face actually taking on the same exact appearance.
"Lemme give you a piece of advice, kid," said the man as he began to spin around in his seat. "There are only two ways for a man to live. You can live like a dandy..."
Then, all of a sudden, he leapt toward Natsu, who gasped as he was suddenly pinned to the floor... and before he could react, he gagged as the man pointed a gun inside his mouth!
"Or you can shut up and die! Get me?!" the man questioned while the other casino patrons broke out in a panic.
"OH, MY GOD, NATSU!" Haru cried as she attempted to run to his aid... but before she could, the whole room suddenly went dark, sending people into even further panic as she heard the sounds of footsteps all around.
"Natsu! Haru!" Happy cried out in the darkness. "Where are you?!"
"Happy?!" Haru called. "Natsu! Blue Fang?! Where are you guys?!"
KABLAM! A gunshot rang out through the darkened room, followed by a scream of pain that Haru knew too well.
"NATSU!" cried Happy.
"What is happening...?!" Haru asked as she looked around, just as the darkness was beginning to fade. Then, just as she turned around, she gasped as she found herself wrapped up in what looked like rubber cords, which coiled around her until her wrists, legs, ankles, and neck were bound. Unable to balance herself, the Beast Wizard fell to the floor, and as she looked up, she gasped upon seeing a girl with a cat-like face with whisker-like tattoos on her cheeks. Her brown hair was even styled to look like cat ears with pigtails. Her attire consisted of a yellow jacket with a pink dress, and she even had a choker with a little golden bell.
"Meow~!" she cooed. "Are you feelin' pumped?"
"W-who are you?!" asked Haru as she felt the cords tighten around her body. "What do you want?!"
"What we want," the girl replied, "is Erza."
"E... Erza?" asked Haru as her eyes went wide. "What are you talking about?!"
"Erza was friends with us in the past," the girl said, "until she betrayed us, that is... but now, we're taking her back home with us!"
"...Back... home?" Haru asked. "Wait... I don't understand! What do you mean, Erza betrayed you?!"
"It doesn't matter," said the girl as she flexed her finger, causing Haru's binds to tigthen, which made her give out a choked gasp. "You'll be dead before too long, anyway... just like the rest of your friends."
Haru looked around... and gasped in horror upon seeing Natsu lying on the ground with a bloodied mouth, Gray sitting against one of the Blackjack tables with an iron rod impaled in his chest, Juvia lying motionless on the floor, Lucy bound by the same cords as she was... and an unconscious Erza being carried off by a large muscular man with a turban and an iron jaw and being joined by a young blonde-haired man with dark-tanned skin, aquamarine eyes, and a sideways 5 near his lower lip.
"Big Sis is coming home, now," the young man said. "Back to the Tower of Heaven."
"No...!" Haru whispered in horror. "No! You can't take her away!"
"Too bad, kid," said the square man as he walked away, carrying a sleeping Happy with him.
"Ooh! Kitty-kitty!" the cat girl exclaimed as she took the little blue feline in her arms, and soon, they all walked away... taking Erza with them.
"No!" Haru cried as she struggled to get out of her binds. "Get back here! You bastards! Whatever you're going to do to Erza, I won't let you do it, do you hear me?! You're not gonna get away with this! GET BACK HERE!"
Her bonds tightened around her, causing her to grunt even more as she felt her life slowly being choked out of her. Her heartbeat began to slow and the world began to blur and darken around her. Suddenly, her body began to go still as she stopped struggling.
"E... Er... za...!" Haru croaked out... but then, she heard something that sounded like a snap, and suddenly, she took in a big breath of air. She gasped and coughed as she rubbed her throat, then turned to see Blue Fang behind her, wagging his tail happily as he held the severed rubber cords in his mouth.
"Blue Fang!" Haru exclaimed happily as she embraced the silver wolf, who nuzzled her affectionately, but then she gasped as she looked over at Lucy, who was still bound and struggling to get free. "Blue Fang, go help Lucy!"
Blue Fang nodded before he ran over and bit his way through the cords, causing Lucy to gasp for breath as well.
"Ugh... thanks, Blue Fang...!" she rasped as she rubbed her neck, then looked over at Gray's motionless body. "Oh, no, Gray!"
"Gray!" Haru cried as she and Lucy ran over to him, gently shaking him in order to rouse him from unconsciousness... but he just laid still.
"Oh, god, he's freezing cold!" Lucy cried. "What do we do?!"
"Maybe we can-" Haru started until all of a sudden, she heard a crack, causing her, Lucy, and Blue Fang to look down... and see that Gray had crumbled into bits of ice!
"What the-?!" Lucy asked.
"An ice clone?!" asked Haru. "So then... where's the real Gray?!"
"He's with me."
The girls turned to see Juvia, who grunted as she picked herself up from the floor.
"Don't worry, he's safe," she said as a puddle of water formed around her... and with a splash, Gray fell out of her body, coughing and gasping for breath!
"Gray!" Lucy and Haru exclaimed in relief.
"Gray, are you all right?!" Haru asked.
"Well... I can add that to the list of the weirdest things that have ever happened to me," Gray quipped, stripping off his soaked clothes. "It suddenly went dark, so I made an ice clone and was about to go investigate the situation, but the next thing I knew, I got hit in the head!"
"I had to pull Gray into my body to save him," Juvia said. "I'm sorry."
"Hey, even though they got away, you did save me," Gray said. "Thanks."
"Yeah, thanks, Juvia," said Lucy. "That's actually really clever!"
"I have used it a few times," Juvia replied. "It is handy to have."
"Hey," Lucy said as she looked around, "where's Natsu?"
She soon got her answer when a giant plume of fire burst out from the middle of the room... followed by a loud yowl of pain.
"OUCH! THAT HURTS!" Natsu cried as he reached inside his mouth and pulled out a bullet from his gums. "Agh! What kinda bullets did that square guy use?! Usually, I can take shots like that, no problem!"
"Natsu, you're alive!" Haru cried as she ran over and hugged him. "Thank Mavis! Are you okay?!"
"Ugh... yeah, I think so," Natsu said as he rubbed his jaw. "If that guy's gun was pointed a little deeper at my throat, I could have been seriously wounded!"
"Wounded?!" Lucy questioned. "You could have been killed!"
"Hey," Gray spoke up. "Where did those creeps go, anyway? And where's Erza?"
Haru gasped as she suddenly remembered. "That's right! Those guys took Erza! And Happy, too!"
"What?!" Natsu questioned. "Happy's been catnapped?! No wonder I couldn't find him!"
"Hold on a minute!" Gray exclaimed. "Haru, do you have any idea where those creeps took Erza?"
"Yeah... the blonde guy," Haru answered. "He mentioned something about taking Erza back home or something... to the Tower of Heaven."
"Yeah, I heard them mention that, too," Lucy said. "What does it mean?"
"I don't know," Gray answered, "but I know we gotta get Erza back."
"I'll go with you, as well," Juvia spoke. "I could help."
"Sure," Haru answered. "We'll need all the help we can get!"
"Right then! I'm all fired up, now!" Natsu shouted before he took off running. "I'M NOT GONNA LET THOSE PUNKS GET AWAY WITH THIS!"
"Hey, Natsu, wait for us!" Lucy called as she, Gray, Juvia, Haru, and Blue Fang all followed after him... unaware of the great danger that was about to befall them all.
XXX
"Lord Jellal."
A shadowy, hooded figure sat upon his throne, one leg crossed over the other in a lax position with his head propped on his right hand.
"We have received word that Erza's capture was a success," said a man with hair so long that he practically dragged it on the floor behind him. "Shô and the others are returning with her, now."
"Excellent," said the hooded figure, Jellal.
"But tell me, sir," said the man, skeptically. "Why bring that traitor back now? For a man of your magical talents, it should be easy work to finish her off, now."
A pause... before Jellal began to chuckle, then began to throw his head back in laughter.
"You fool," he said. "That would never do... this world, as we know it, is just so boring!"
"Uh... Lord Jellal?" the man inquired, confused.
"However," Jellal began, "now that the Tower of Heaven is complete... it would only cause problems if we allowed that woman to live much longer." He then stood up from his throne. "The time has come. You will become a sacrifice upon the altar of my great ambition... Erza Scarlet!"
Sorry for the long wait, my computer battery was acting up and it made it hard to work. Thankfully, I ordered a new battery and it should be here this weekend (although I'll probably get a new computer next year)!
Review, please!