Mountain Battle of Smarts vs Brute Strength
"Okay, so does anyone else know what we're supposed to do now?" Natsu asked the group.
"Well, we're supposed to wait for the others to come here to this spot once they find the other clock pieces." Michelle reminded the Fire Dragon Mage.
"But the good news is that we don't have to listen to anymore of Dan for a while." Nymph pointed at the unconscious Dan.
"Yeah, you save our ears from hearing more of the guy big time, Ikaros." Happy said giving the pink hair angel girl a thumb up.
"It was my pleasure as I saw how unpleasant my master was feeling at the moment." Ikaros explained.
"I'm still worried about Coco, she went off in another direction to find the clock piece. I hope she's not in any danger." Lucy concerned.
"I'm sure she's fine. She is part of that Legion Platoon group, then that mean she is strong too." Natsu pointed out.
"Natsu's right, maybe she is probably on her way here right now." Romeo guessed.
"Maybe you're right, all we do is wait for the others with the clock piece." Lucy decided to relax with the others, still worried about Coco.
Meanwhile, Coco is watching the group hidden from eyes view though having a conflict feeling about whether she should attack them or not consider that Lucy girl was being very nice to her.
"I just hope I don't end up hurting her in the end." Coco said softly, then shook her head.
"What are you thinking, Coco. You're a member of the Legion Platoon and your mission must always be your top priority." Coco reminded herself.
Then suddenly Ikaros lifts Lucy up much to her shock then placed very close to Natsu leaning on his right and Ikaros goes to the left, snuggling onto her master causing him to blush of embarrassment.
"Huh, Ikaros… What is this about?" Natsu asked.
"Just wanted to make sure you are comfortable while we're waiting for the others, and because I want to get comfy too." Ikaros answered.
"Oh my, talk about moving forward with the relationship." Happy teased.
This causes Lucy and Natsu to blush from this sudden action though it's not like they're against the idea as the angel girl just wanted to be closer to them, so they decided to let her have this moment for a while.
"So, what do you think the others are doing besides getting the clock pieces?" Romeo wondered.
"Perhaps having a little downtime like we are." Michelle guessed.
"(I don't know why, but that Natsu guy sure looks cute when he's blushing like that.)" Coco thought commented.
(With Gajeel's Group)
Gajeel and the others are glaring at the floating smarty cat of the Legion Platoon who just arrived at the scene to get the clock piece that is hidden here like they came here for.
"Well, Sammy, if you want that clock piece, come get it. I dare ya." Gajeel taunted.
"Please do retrain from abbreviating my name. Samuel will do just fine, thank you." Samuel scolded a little.
"Don't worry, I can take him down. You guys focus on digging up that clock piece as fast as you can." Panther Lily volunteered to fight this Exceed.
"You're Panther Lily, correct? I'm honored to meet a senior Exceed." Samuel complimented and took flight.
"You know, when you think about it, that essentially makes you like an older brother to me." Samuel pointed out consider he never have any siblings.
"You are not worthy of calling yourself my brother!" Panther Lily refused to acknowledge that as he also took flight.
"Now, now, don't be so coldhearted. I mean we're both Exceeds, we should at least try to be friendly… "Brother."" Samuel said, already calling his enemy brother.
"You'll have to do better than to vex me "Sammy"." Panther Lily smirked, making Samuel a little upset for calling him that nickname.
"Come on, let's go dip up the clock piece while Lily keeps him busy." Levi convinced Gajeel to come even though he wanted to battle as well, he also knew the mission of finding the clock piece comes first.
"Alright, fine." Gajeel decided to go with Levi.
"Don't blame me if you lose!" Gajeel yelled as a say to telling Panther Lily to fight serious and win.
"I know all about you, Lily. Despite being an Exceed, you sided with the humans. How did our brethren take that, I wonder?" Samuel said as he also wants to know a little know about his kind.
"What I did was based on my convictions and I have never once regretted my decision." Panther Lily said strongly while glaring at Samuel.
"I can tell that you've got quite a temper. You'd gain much form being craftier, like me. Logic trumps brute force." Samuel believed.
"Sorry, pal, but I've never been the type to think in terms of gains and losses." Panther Lily mentioned as he doesn't like those kinds of thoughts.
"I see. A shame we don't have much in common, brother." Samuel felt this conversation is getting them nowhere now.
"Stop yammering and fight me, Sammy!" Panther Lily shouted as he transforms into his big muscle form.
"I am happy to oblige." Samuel responded with his own transformation as well and Panther Lily charges straight at him.
"I'm much more than just a bookworm with wings. Allow me to demonstrate!" Samuel charged at his opponent.
Panther Lily swings his size changing sword fast to get a hit on the bookworm cat though he dodges them with fast thinking and good reaction speed, and Samuel dodges another strike seeing an opening to attack with his claws only to miss than Panther Lily narrowly dodges that strike. The two looks at each other for second before clashing the sword and claws while flying around fast as they appear to be even in speed.
"Alright, got to dig fast." Gajeel said to himself and digging fast with his arms turned into shovels.
But suddenly the ground beneath them gave in causing the four wizards to fall through though managed to land safely down, and now they find themselves in what appears to be a hidden chamber of some kind.
"Where the heck are we?" Jet asked as they also notice the statues.
"Those are some weird looking statues." Droy commented.
"I guess this is where the clock piece is hidden, now we just need to figure out how to find it." Levi stated.
"Uh, hey guys, I think I spotted something odd over there." Jet pointed at something that caught his eyes.
"Is it a clock piece?" Gajeel asked as they went over to one of the weird statues.
But what they found wasn't a clock piece at all, but something else entirely as they gasp with the looks in their eyes of seeing something so similar yet it's also different at the same time.
"Okay, now what I was expecting to find here." Gajeel puzzled a little.
(With Panther Lily vs Samuel)
Panther Lily blocks another claw attack from Samuel and kicks him away then going after the smarty cat as he changes the size of his sword to become longer to reach, swinging his sword with all his might though surprisingly Samuel is able to dodge them and flies away.
"Come back here! Come face me like a true warrior!" Panther Lily scolded.
"Charging into a sword head-on is a practice bast left to imbeciles and cannon fodder." Samuel stated and dodged another strong sword attack.
"An intelligent fighter considers strategy, methodology, and outcomes before they attack!" Samuel explained.
Samuel's claws extended about two inches and they glow light purple for a second before he thrust his claws forward at Panther Lily, the glowing claws are shot at the black cat man who quickly flies away to avoid them though didn't see this was Samuel's plan as he hops from one of the flying rocks and kick him strong on the face.
"You have no chance of winning. The Legion Platoon has endured training far more intense than you can imagine. Therefore, we can cope with any situation! My victory's assured!" Samuel smirked as he fires another of his Claw Beam knocking Panther Lily down further.
"(This guy isn't fooling around, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up.)" Panther Lily thought determined.
"Precisely as I calculated. I even impress myself." Samuel bragged before flying down to search for his opponent.
"Now according to my calculations, he should've landed around here." Samuel looked around.
Suddenly something burst out from the ground behind Samuel revealing to be Panther Lily coming in for an attack.
"Behind ya, Sammy!" Panther Lily shouted as he slashes his sword at Samuel who managed to dodge that sneak attack.
"You're remarkably stubborn, aren't you?" Samuel commented.
"I'm not gonna fall for the same trick in a row. And I know Gajeel is gonna find that clock piece any moment now. Your victory is far from assured!" Panther Lily assumed.
"Such confidence. Are you not aware the ruins are filled with traps?" Samuel asked with a smirk.
"You can't be serious?" Panther Lily shocked.
(Back with Gajeel's Group)
"So, got any idea of what to do with that?" Gajeel gestured at the mysterious object they have found.
"I don't know what to make of this, it just…" Droy paused as he doesn't want to jinx the entire of team.
"You mean that we somehow found another Angeloid in the ruin where the clock piece is hidden then I think I would feel jinx too." Jet said.
Team Shadow Gear and Gajeel have found another Angeloid that is just like Ikaros and Nymph only this one is different than the other two.
This Angeloid is a beautiful young girl with black hair tied into a ponytail on her upper back and blue eyes, she also has two pairs of white angel wings with gold gear-like equipment. She wears an open blue and white vest showing her smooth skin of her belly and cleavage, feather shoulder pads with white long whites, cuffs on her wrists and ankles, pale light purple long skirt, and white shoes. Breasts sizes: F-cup.
"Doesn't look like she's hurt or anything, maybe she's just sleeping." Jet guessed.
"But why is she even here in the first place and how she got in here?" Levi wondered.
"Look, I would love to play twenty questions with this sleeping chick with wings, but let's focus on finding that clock piece first then get out of here." Gajeel reminded them of the mission.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Plus, we can stay close to this girl while we search." Jet nodded.
"Well then, try searching up on top of that statue?" Gajeel ordered pointing at one statue.
Jet nods at the Iron Dragon Slayer mage and runs up the statue getting all the way to the top as he looks around from the higher view, everyone else looks around trying to find anything that could look like a clock piece, but nothing came up for a while.
Levi looks back at the sleeping Angeloid worried if something bad had happened to this girl and hopefully Ikaros and Nymph can help her, then she notices a writing on the statue next to the Angeloid.
"Hey guys, I found some kind of writing here." Levi informed.
"Really now, can you tell what it says?" Gajeel asked.
"Lemme see… It says, "I'm hungry". Weird, huh?" Levi wondered what that could possibly mean.
Jet looks down again at the center of the room noticing something similar in this picture then got an idea.
"Hey, from way up here it kinda looks like a clock face." Jet mentioned.
"Wait, does that mean… it should point at snack time or something." Droy guessed thinking those stone things are the hands of a clock.
"Sounds good to me, maybe we'll find something more about this place." Levi said.
"So, all we got to do is move the thing, huh?" Gajeel chuckled and moves on one side of the stone clock hand.
"Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel punched one clock hand making it move a little.
During this, the Angeloid girl's closed eyes are twitching, and soft moan sounds are coming out of her mouth meaning she is starting to wake up.
(Panther Lily vs Samuel)
Panther Lily is currently blocking a fast flurry of strikes from Samuel while trying to spot an opening for him to counterattack, then he parries one strike away and slashes at Samuel only to miss his opponent and suddenly got caught in a body clutch hold.
"I told you I'm more than just intelligence. My combat skills are unparalleled. Statistically speaking, you've got no chance of winning!" Samuel pointed out.
While Panther Lily is struggling to break free from this hold, he is feeling more concern for his friends hoping they don't get caught in the traps Samuel mentioned earlier.
"(Gajeel, please be careful.)" Panther Lily thought worried.
Then his thoughts quickly went back to the battle as he moves his head down forward for a second and threw a strong backward headbutt that forces Samuel to let go.
(Back with Gajeel's Group)
"Alright, two more push to go." Gajeel said before striking at the stone hand to put it into the right time position.
"What is… going on?" The Angel girl asked as she groans and stands up.
"Hey, that Angeloid is awake." Droy alerted.
"Are you okay, I don't think you should be moving around too much." Levi advised.
"I think I'm okay, but who are you and where am I?" The Angeloid girl asked, confuse as she looks around.
"Well, you can trust us that we're friends. My name is Levi, and those guys are Droy, Jet, and Gajeel." Levi introduced herself and the boys.
"There is another friend, but he is currently occupied right now. Do you have a name?" Levi asked.
"Oh, my name is… Hiyori Kazane and I think I'm a Zeta type Angeloid." Hiyori answered though a little puzzle of herself.
Gajeel strikes at the stone hand again finishing with setting the stone clock face to onto the time of snack time, then the ground started shaking.
"Hey, what's going on?" Hiyori asked worry.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it's going to be okay… I think." Levi hoped she's right.
Then the stone clock went into the floor and a second later is replaced by a stone pillar with an actual clock face on it.
"We actually found it!" Levi cheered.
"Found it? Were you guys looking for that thing for something important?" Hiyori confused.
"Yeah, it's a long story." Jet said.
Gajeel walked up to the clock face getting a good look at the piece with a sniff from his nose then licks it quickly with his tongue, which seems to weird out the others behind him.
"Is there a reason for you to do that?" Droy asked.
"It smelled like iron; I just wanted to make sure." Gajeel explained.
"Hold on, you can smell iron with just a sniff? It's almost like you're a hound dog for metal." Hiyori surprised.
"Please, dogs got nothing when it comes to being a Dragon Slayer." Gajeel smirked at the Angeloid girl.
"Well, now that you know, you can carry it." Jet grossed out from how Gajeel just licked it like it's no problem or anything.
"Huh, what's that below the clock face?" Hiyori pointed at the writing below the clock face.
"There's some writing, I bet I can read it." Levi decided to check it out.
"We don't got time to study the thing, sweetheart." Gajeel said and grabs into the clock face.
"No, no, wait! Don't take it off!" Levi tried to warn Gajeel, but the Iron Dragon Slayer wouldn't listen as he rips the clock face right off.
Suddenly something below, them is raising with big green tentacles coming out.
"I tried to tell you! It says, "Warning! He who takes this shall face the wrath of the rock guardian!"" Levi translated the writing.
The Rock guardian came out revealing itself to be like the other statues only seems to be more dangerous with the green tentacles as everyone runs away from it.
"I told you NOT to take it, but no, you just had to go and do it anyway!" Levi glared at Gajeel.
"Next time, talk faster." Gajeel advised yelling.
"Next time, listen to me!" Levi yelled back.
"Could you say the arguing for later!" Droy and Jet yelled at the same time.
"Yeah, let us focus on surviving first!" Hiyori screamed in fear. But gets the feeling that she is forgetting something.
KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!
Gajeel and his group have found something before one of the clock pieces and that is finding another Angeloid named Hiyori Kazane, and she is going to be a big help with getting out of the angry rock guardian that Gajeel caused it to move.
KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!