Gajeel grit his teeth and clenched his fist, angry at himself for not noticing sooner, "Fuck… Bunny isn't here…"

"Well no shit, pincushion! Where the hell is she?"

Wendy, who was still working diligently on slow-healing Vijeeter, looked at her dragon brothers with horror on her face as she, too, realized her kin was gone. Porlyusica scowled at her, "Wendy, focus! You have your own job to do, they can deal with the rest, I need you to keep this stupid human alive!"

The blue haired teen shook her head roughly, blinking back the tears, and refocused her magic on the mage in front of her while Porlyusica took several small wooden bowls out of the pack she'd been carrying on her back. Makarov stood, backing away from the group as he realized he wasn't needed.

The grouchy pink-haired healer snatched his wrist, holding him back from walking away, and shot him a glare, "You old fool, you got yourself infected. You're not young enough to shake these things off, you careless oaf!"

He shrugged off her scolding words without so much as a sheepish look. She scowled at him further, before holding out one of the bowls for him to take, having filled it with the potion she was carrying with her.

"This will help. Don't go too far, though. This isn't poison, as I'd been lead to believe, rather it's snake venom. Pretty potent, too, and magically enhanced to be effective as an airborne substance. I'll need to make a few adjustments to the formula before it's effective enough to eradicate the venom entirely, so you'll need a dose of the new stuff as well when I've completed it."

He gave her a small smile, "Thank you for coming".

She just scoffed at him before returning to her potion, pulling out a large glass bowl that didn't look like it could really fit in the backpack she pulled it out of, and dumping the remaining potion into it so she could make the necessary adjustments.

Makarov downed the contents of his small bowl and turned to face his irate grandson, who was locked in a heated discussion with Gajeel, arguing loudly with him about leaving to "fetch Blondie".

Taking a deep breath,"Laxus-"

"What the hell happened!?"

"Master, what is the meaning of this!?"

"..."

"Juvia doesn't understand…"

Gray, Erza, Jellal, and Juvia all stumbled through the courtyard entrance, Juvia clutching Happy like he was one of her homemade plushies depicting 'her darling Gray'.

As one their gazes swept through the chaos before them, from the still-glowing purification circle to the injured family that lay inside it, to Master and the others who were tense and ready to bolt. They took only a few moments to take it all in, before Erza and Gray both went ballistic.

"Where's Lucy?!"

Erza requipped twin swords without a second's hesitation, scanning the area around them looking for an enemy, while Gray's arms coated in ice and the darkness that signified the presence of his devil-slayer magic stretched over his side and up through his right eye. Erza only calmed when her quiet but firm boyfriend placed a hand on her shoulder. Juvia splashed Gray with her water magic to get his attention long enough for one of the wizards standing in front of them could explain the situation.

A tense moment passed, before Makarov cleared his throat and spoke, "Our guildmates have been infected with magic-enhanced snake venom, that was somehow made airborne. Before you try to help, you can't touch them. The venom lingers, and it seems any skin contact with it causes infection," he lifted an arm and pointed at the slowly fading purple veins showing through his skin still, "Porlyusica is working on an antidote right now, Wendy is doing all she can to keep everyone stable until it is ready."

"But where's Lushi…?" This time it was Happy who spoke, as it seemed he'd also not caught on until just now that his favorite blonde to tease was not among the injured.

"Nobody fucking knows," a grumbling lightning dragon slayer muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at everyone, "But I'm sure as hell going to find her. Right now."

"I'll come with you," Erza spoke up.

"Like hell I'll let you go without me!" Gray chimed in.

"I would like to offer my assistance in locating her, as well," came the smooth voice of Jellal.

"Juvia will help save Love-Rival!" Juvia added, wanting very much to help her good friend.

"She's my kin, I'm not getting left behind while you idiots go searching for her," Gajeel spoke up for the first time since the others arrived.

The conversation turned at that point, each of them arguing with each other over who was going to track down their missing wizard. Both dragon slayers argued back and forth over who was the better kin, Gray yelled at both, saying he was basically Lucy's brother, so he was more kin than they were. Erza shouted at no one, talking about how she would defend Lucy's honor. Juvia kept hugging Gray almost violently, crying about how he loved 'Love-Rival' more than he loved her, while simultaneously shouting about how worried she was for Lucy's safety. Happy flew from person to person, crying into their chests and begging them to bring his friend home (surprising everyone, Laxus was the one to pat his little blue head and tell him to calm down before jumping back into the argument). Jellal, for his part, tried to calm everyone and come up with a real plan. He really did, but sadly, his voice of reason went unheard or ignored.

"ENOUGH!"

Makarov grew just tall and big enough to double the size of Laxus, shouting at the quarreling mages below him and shooting them with a disapproving glare. They settled rather quickly after that.

"None of you are going."

Shouts were heard from the group before Makarov slapped a hand at their feet, effectively silencing them once more.

"We all love Lucy, and we will get her back, but we have other concerns at the moment. Look around you!"

The wizards all ducked their heads in shame, except Laxus (who knows no shame) and Jellal (who had been the only one of them to realize there were other problems to deal with).

"I apologize, Master, you may hit me for my thoughtlessness."

Makarov looked for a moment as if he were considering it, before shaking his head and continuing with his instructions. They were wasting too much time and things needed to get done.

"Erza, Gray, I'm sorry, but you're too emotional to go after Lucy. You're needed here. Porlyusica should be finishing up here soon, and once that potion is ready, she will need help administering it and bandaging any physical wounds. I need you both to standby and be ready to help so we Wendy can drop her enchantment as soon as possible," Master said, glancing briefly at the small slayer who was finishing up with Vijeeters wounds and looking pale. The others followed his gaze, realizing for the first time that Wendy was really struggling.

Erza and Gray moved toward Porlyusica, muttering their acceptance of their duties as they made their way to the cranky healer.

Juvia followed along quietly a moment later, to the surprise of… well… no one.

Makarov continued, "Gajeel, you were right to set up a perimeter and assign the exceeds to keep watch. Jellal here can help you, but this is the job I need you to continue doing. We have no idea where the enemy ran off to, or what they wanted, so we need to stay alert."

Gajeel's expression turned a bit sour, but he let it go, only pouting a little as he stomped back toward the middle of the outdoor space, Jellal trailing quickly behind.

"Laxus."

"There better be a good fucking reason you're keeping both Gajeel and I from going after our kin, old man," the big blonde said, glaring at his grandfather as Happy escaped his grip and floated back toward his post at the entrance.

"You need to put your feelings aside for a moment, m' boy. Wendy is minutes away from magical exhaustion and we only have five mages healthy enough to protect the others. We need to retrieve Chelia from Lamia Scale, and gather all the others back here to regroup in case we are hit again."

"You can send someone else to do that, I need to go after Blondie! There's no telling what they've done with her, Gramps! She needs help!"

"So do we, Laxus, and no one else can get these tasks done quickly. You have to do it."

Laxus considered this for a moment.

"Tch. Fine," and he flashed away in a clap of thunder and flash of lightning.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Master Makarov released his magic and shrank back to his normal size. He looked around, seeing his wizards all dealing with the tasks they were given, and walked out the front of the courtyard. He hooked a left, and started making his way to the East Forest, where he could feel, very faintly, traces of dark magic still lingering in the air.

"Where are you going, Master?" Happy asked him innocently, following behind him a little ways, curious as to why he'd be leaving after telling everyone that they were needed at the guild.

"I'm going after Lucy. If anyone asks, you can tell them, but make it very clear that I am not to be followed. Can you do that for me, Happy?"

"A-aye, s-sir," Happy called, stopping his forward motion and watching his guild master walk alone towards the darkness of the forest. He knows that the Master is too far away to hear him, but he can't help but call out to him as his figure disappears from sight, "Thank you, Master. Please bring Lushi home…"

Laxus was pissed. Yes, he understood that the guild had fallen under attack. Yes, he understood that the wizards were seriously injured and getting help was important. Yes, he understood that they needed to get the guild members together and safe, and quickly, before the strangely powerful, mostly unknown enemy decided to throw more shit there way. But damnit, Blondie was his kin. The little sister he'd never had before. The most frustrating, stubborn, and challenging person in his life. The warmest, most loving, strongest mage he's ever known. And she was his to protect.

Yet, here he was, teleporting himself all over hell and creation, dealing with all the other problems instead of searching out his kin, who had been most likely kidnapped (again) and could be in danger. Every second he spent out here dealing with this crap was another second she could be fighting for her life. He'd never forgive himself if something happened to her while he wasn't even looking for her.

Throwing all his thoughts out the window, Laxus decided just to get the shit done as quickly as he could so he could go and look for Lucy.

The first place he teleported to was about halfway to the clearing where Cana, Gildarts, and Romeo were left packing up with the rest of the guild. Of course, he didn't even smell any of his comrades close, even after hopping around via lightning to a few different places, so he finally gave up and pulled out his Com.

The first one he called (who, in retrospect, he probably should have contacted before he teleported from the damn guild) was Freed.

He answered immediately, eyes sharp. Laxus saw Evergreen and Max in the background, looking as though they were patrolling around Porlyusica's hut.

"Laxus, what can I do for you?" the rune mage asked his leader, his tone polite but to the point.

"Freed, get everyone to the guild. The enemy is gone, for now, and Gramps wants everyone regrouping there ASAP. You're in charge out there, get the kids to the guild, and stay sharp. We haven't located the idiots who attacked us."

Freed's right eye pulsed with purple magic as he squared his shoulders. He nodded at the Com feed, "We will arrive there shortly, Laxus. You have my word".

Laxus only grunted in response, cutting the magic to the lacrima to end the call. Without dropping the Com from his eye level, he pushed magic into it once again, calling for Cana. He'd have called Gildarts, but that man was notorious for breaking everything he touched, so he figured Cana was a safer bet.

He figured right. It took over a minute, but she eventually answered her Com as well, looking worried and a bit frazzled.

"Cana, where the hell are you?"

The card mage took a second to look around her, "we're still in the grasslands West of Magnolia. Not sure where, exactly."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Laxus sighed before speaking again, "Just… I don't know, send up a flare or something. I should be close enough to see you it."

Nodding, Cana turned her attention away from him and looked at Romeo, who must have been standing close by to her right. A few mumbled words later, and Laxus watched as a mile or so away, a narrow column of purple fire lit the sky.

"Got it," the lightning slayer said, teleporting over before even ending the call. He appeared right in front of Cana, causing her to jump back a couple feet in surprise.

"Asshole, watch where you're throwing yourself! Geez!"

Laxus simply rolled his eyes, closing of the communication feed and stowing his Com into his pocket. "Where's Mest? Jet?"

Cana looked like she wanted to question him, but after a moment, thought better of it, "Last I saw, they were both towards the back. Think they were talking with Droy, Levy, and Kinana, 'm pretty sure."

The words were barely out of her mouth before the big blonde was shoving his way through the crowd to reach them.

Five minutes and several knocked over guildmates later, Laxus found his targets at the very back of the group, chatting animatedly about what could be happening, waiting for the rest of the group to start moving forward again.

"Mest, I need a favor. Now."

"Uhh… Yeah, alright. What do you need?" Mest asked him, a confused look on his face.

"How many mages can you Direct Line to the guild from here?"

Mest seemed to consider this a moment, a hand on his chin and his eyes cast skyward. "I, uh… Hmm… I think I could probably get about half the group there, but it would suck. That many mages takes a toll on my reserves."

Laxus cursed to himself, 'well, there goes that brilliant plan'.

"Fuck, alright. How many could you move and still have enough magic to make a few more long jumps?"

"Comfortably? Five, probably. Why?"

Laxus nodded to himself. He could work with that. He'd be able to get reinforcements to Fairy Tail quickly so he can take off after Blondie.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do. Jet," the man in question looked up at the mention of his name, "Run to Lamia Scale. Fast as you can, and get Chelia ready to leave. We are going to need her as fast as possible."

"I'm on it!" he shouted, racing off toward Lamia Scale's hometown to do as he was told.

"Mest. Take Levy, Cana, Gildarts, Romeo, and Laki and head to the guild. Then head over to Lamia Scale and grab Jet and Chelia. If you have enough magic after returning to Fairy Tail, make a few trips back and forth to bring the rest of the group to the guild hall, we need to regroup as fast as possible."

Mest thought this through, thinking on how much magic that would take out of him, "Yeah… alright. That'll still suck, but it's doable," he conceded.

"Good. Tell Elfman he's in charge of the stragglers."

With that, he grabbed Droy by the shoulders and dragged him over to Alzack, Bisca, and Asuka.

"Everybody grab on, we're going home," he said, looking at the four mages around him.

Asuka, ever the energetic kid, squealed and jumped up on Laxus, throwing her hands over his neck in an enthusiastic hug. Droy froze, waiting for the little girl to get electrocuted, while Alzack and Bisca just shrugged and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. Droy still looked terrifed.

"Uh… Are we going to get electrocuted…?" he asked nervously.

Laxus just stared at him over Asuka's shoulder. After another moment passed, Bisca scoffed and grabbed the plant mage by the scruff of his shirt.

"Oi, stop bein' a baby. I got 'em, Laxus. We're ready."

"I'm not read-" Droy's horrified shout was cut off by a clap of thunder.

The plant mage was sweating and whimpering by the time they landed in front of the guild hall ten seconds later, and only stopped once Bisca slapped him on the back of the head and told him they were already there. Laxus rolled his eyes as the man looked around slowly as if he didn't believe he'd made it back.

Ignoring them in favor of getting an update, he walked over Jellal who was standing over the members of Team Natsu looking thoroughly disappointed.

"How did this happen, again?" He asked his girlfriend, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking skyward. Probably pleading to the heavens he wielded for some kind of logical response out of the most illogical people in the guild. Despite himself, Laxus chuckled quietly. Those three were a constant source of entertainment (or irritation, depending on the day).

"I can explain," Erza began, as Laxus finally closed the last few steps between himself and the conversing group. He looked down and noticed that Natsu, Gray, and Erza had the same luminescent purple veins visible on their skin. He could have swore the only one infected when he'd left was Natsu…

"Natsu woke up," Gray said, looking at Laxus, "He was shouting for Lucy, trying to get up and everything, and he's really injured, so he really shouldn't have been moving, so…"

"Wait… Natsu woke up?" Laxus asked, confused. He wasn't awake now. Now that he looked, though, he had some suspiciously fresh looking blood coming out of his crumpled-looking nose…

"Y-yeah…" Gray continued, "I couldn't get the fire fucker to calm down, but I was sure he was going to hurt himself, so, I… Uh…"

Laxus and Jellal both facepalmed simultaneously, but it was Jellal who spoke up, "Tell me you didn't attack an injured and severely poisoned guildmate because he was trying to get up…"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Mavis, Gray, what the hell were you thinking? Why didn't you just freeze his legs down or something? Isn't he contagious anyway?"

"Yeah, yeah he is," Jellal answered Laxus' question.

Gray just fell backwards and groaned, "Whatever," toward no one in particular, clearly embarrassed that he'd been dumb enough to get infected after being warned about it (though he seemed absolutely unashamed that he was now wearing only boxers).

"Let me guess," Jellal continued, ignoring Gray's dramatics, "You hit Gray because he was fighting with Natsu?"

"Well of course!" she defended, "Best friends shouldn't fight!"

Laxus ran a hand through his hair.

"Fuck, man, I'm done with this. Jellal, have you seen Gramps?"

Jellal's expression turned somewhat grim as he regarded the blonde mage in front of him.

"What?" Laxus gruffed out, annoyed.

"Happy told me he went after Lucy a little over an hour ago. Said he was headed toward the East Forest, and that he wasn't to be followed."

"Of fucking course he did," the lightning slayer grumbled.

"Stinky humans!" Porlyusica shouted from her spot near the middle of the injured mages, "If you're able to move, I need you to come take a dose of this antidote, and help Wendy and I administer the rest of the potion to the injured! Now!"

The group of five that had just made it through with Mest all hopped to, racing towards the little bowls Porlyusica had gestured to and hurried to do as she asked. Levy seemed to lead the group in their efforts, easily dividing the injured into quadrants and assigning mages to watch over the separate areas and monitor their "patients". One mage to each section, with Levy hovering somewhere in the middle, passing out doses of the corrected potion and waiting to step in if someone needed extra help.

Laxus left Jellal to babysit Team Natsu, with a whispered, "Don't let them go after Lucy under any circumstances," before making his way toward the guild entrance, where Freed, Evergreen, Bickslow, Max, and the kids all entered. The kids were breathing a little heavy and the adults were a little windblown, making it pretty clear they'd run most of the way back.

"Bix, did you run into Gramps?" he asked the seith mage quietly.

"Nah, man. I thought I felt his magic flare to the south of us at one point, but we couldn't afford the detour. Freed was worried about dragging the kids into danger - which Ruby found offensive, by the way - but we were planning on heading back once we'd gotten Max and the others home."

"No, stay here. The exceeds have been on watch since we first got here, I want you three to take over for a few hours. Keep everyone out of the guild hall, there is still venom floating around in there and it's dangerous. Everyone else should be here soon."

"You got it, Boss. I'll tell Freed and Ever. Where are you going?"

Laxus shrugged, "Gotta go get Blondie and Gramps. I'll be back in a bit," he said casually, striding over to Porlyusica.

"Wait, what's going on with Cosplayer?" Bickslow shouted at his retreating form. He didn't get an answer, but he shook it off. He was worried, but he shouldn't have been surprised. Sometimes he thought that the little blonde took out ads in the paper requesting she be kidnapped for world-ending schemes. It happened way too often to be some kind of random thing.

"Porlyusica, you said Gramps needed the new medication, right?" Laxus said as he reached her.

The pink headed healer scowled, "Yeah, he does," she held her hand out, a glass vial filled with the same liquid that was in the bowls everyone was carefully feeding to the injured wizards. "You're going after him, right?"

He smiled, "Yeah. Thanks."

He took off toward the south end of the East Forest, following the faint smell of his grandfather through town.