Laxus was on the hunt for his mate and he wasn't going to stop until he was able to rip each and every limb from that dark mage's body. His dragon wanted blood for taking his mate and he was half inclined to grant him the opportunity. Kaleb would have a field day if he did though, and the paperwork that would follow would have him holed up in the guild for a week. They had decided that maiming was ok, a little blood here or broken bone there was surely alright. Thankfully the man had teleported away because Laxus was following the heavenly scent of strawberries and vanilla, granted it seemed a bit off. He wasn't entirely sure why but as long as she was safe and alive he could figure the rest out later. He was following his nose as he started to weave in and out between buildings and alleys until he came to a warehouse that looked like it should have been bulldozed a century ago. The glass windows were all broken or missing entirely, doors were barely hanging on by the hinges, and most of the wood or siding was falling off and beyond repair. One small spark and the entire building would be up in flames, which brought a small smile to the blonde's face. He'd be taking a page from Natsu's book and torching the place the moment he saved Lucy.
The scent led him to the side of the building where there were no doors or any access points. He thought it was odd that her smell would just disappear at this spot so he did a quick lap around the building and her scent was strongest here. Laxus zapped the building to see a series of red words briefly show themselves. If he was anyone else he might have thought that this was just a trick of the eye but one of his best friends happened to be THE most talented rune mage he'd ever run across. Laxus may not have been as talented as Freed but he was confident that he could crack the code to enter the building. If not he had a com and knew Freed would be here within moments if asked. He really did have an amazing group of friends who were all powerful in their own right and that had taught many lessons and values over the years. Right now he was kicking himself in the ass for talking to Lucy, instead, he hid like a coward behind the walls he'd built up. He promised himself that once this issue was corrected he'd take Lucy on a real date and tell her the truth, then he'd deal with her outburst and decision.
Laxus snorted when he realized that the rune wall was based on magical output, if you were strong you were able to walk on through. This had to be the dumbest damn rune in existence or it was a trap, but he was betting on the first. Laxus let the electric current flow through his body and took several steps into the wall, pleased when we passed through the damned thing without issue. Several scents hit him all at once, almost dropping him to a knee as he swayed a bit. It was almost as if Ichiya was here and spreading his nasty ass parfumes all over the place like a dog marking its territory. He realized he wasn't going to be able to find Lucy's scent so he just started checking random rooms and behind every door. Once he cleared the first level of the warehouse he went straight to the third floor, after all, what kind of bad guy keeps prisoners on the first level, unless there's a dungeon involved.
He kicked in the only door where he could get a small whiff of berries and saw Lucy standing int he middle of the room, alone. Well, this was obviously a trap so he diligently made his way towards the blonde woman whose back was facing him. He placed a hand on her shoulder, wanting to make sure it wasn't a fake and definitely wasn't prepared for the horse kick to his inner thigh. Thank fuck he was so tall or she would have nailed him and he more than likely would have puked from the force. Laxus would definitely have a bruise and knew that Lucy would be upset when she found out that she had caused it. She changed into her Capricorn star dress and was coming at him with all she had, which didn't make a lick of sense. She'd never attack a loved one, not unless it was the absolute last resort.
"What the fuck Blondie?" He dodged a right hook, staying on the offensive. Taurus and Leo appeared next to her, both were wearing pained looks on their faces as they took battle stances. "Loke? What the hell is going on?"
"Princess is being controlled and us by extension," Loke forcibly spat out. "The mage that kissed her is using mind control powers and while she is working on building up her mental defences to block him out it will take a while. He's playing with her." Laxus rolled out of the way of Taurus' axe before jumping away from a Regulas Impact attack. Wasn't this just fucking lovely? He couldn't even beat the fucker who was responsible for this up because he was probably hiding behind another rune barrier, plus he was so distracted by Lucy and her two spirits that he couldn't spare a moment to concentrate. "Sorry." Laxus started to randomly send bolts of lightning to random places within the building, hoping to hit the invisible shield and not harm his comrades.
Laxus grinned the moment his lightning connected with the wall and a small yelp was heard. "Gotcha now you fucker!" Laxus teleported over there and punch through the barrier, hand connecting with a warm solid body. The dark haired man went flying across the room before harshly landing on the concrete floor, Laxus cackled when he heard the poetic crack of bone. "You wanna remove yourself from my mate willingly or shall we have some fun?"
"No more please!" Jasper cried out while holding his broken wrist to his chest. "I was only following Master's orders!"
"The fact that you belong to a dark guild and attacked White Sea is enough for me to electrocute you from the inside out. Now lift your magic!" Laxus left no room for argument as he lifted the man up by the front of his shirt.
"I . . . I have to physically touch her. I can only control or release based on the sense of touch." Laxus lowered the cowering man to his feet before dragging him over to Lucy. Jasper touched her hand, a soft glow of magic pulsed back into him as he recalled it. Lucy blinked a couple of times, took in her surroundings and threw a punch at the man's face. "Fuck! You broke my nose, you dumb bitch!" Jasper was holding his nose with his uninjured hand as blood dripped onto the floor.
"You better be thankful that's all I broke you ungrateful asshat!" Lucy yelled at the man with her fists balled at her side. "I could still see everything you were doing and where you were dragging me off too. You're lucky I don't have Taurus chop off both your hands for feeling me up while we ventured to this piece of shit place. On second thought let me call the Ragging Bull out, I'm sure he'd like to chop something off for making me use my spirits like that!" Jasper fell to the floor, fear paralyzing his body and mind because he knew there was a high chance of that happening.
"Virgo!" The maiden appeared before Lucy, silently waiting for her instructions. "Lock this bastard up until we get back to the guild. Do not heal a single wound he has and no punishment. At least not right now." The low whine that escaped his lips was proof enough that Lucy had put the fear of Mavis into the man. Virgo quickly did her keyholders bidding and left the two blondes alone in the warehouse.
"You good Blondie?" Laxus watched as Lucy took several steps away from him, wrapping her arms around herself and lowering her head so her bangs covered her eyes. It did little to mask the scent of salt from the tears she was shedding. "Lucy?"
"He made me use my spirits on family Laxus. Made me break my word to them, how will they ever forgive me for that? I could lose all my contracts, my credibility as a celestial mage because he was able to get inside of me." Lucy felt extremely vulnerable at that moment, exposing herself to the lightning slayer.
"You and I both know that you were not a willing participant in this. Your heart is too damn big to ever hurt someone you care about. Besides," Laxus placed his fingers under Lucy's chin so that he could look into her eyes, "I know that they will not hold it against you. They love you too much to not know how you truly feel about them. I'm sure a conversation with the lion cub will ease your worries." Lucy laughed at his description of Loke. She walked up to Laxus and gave him a hug in thanks and a chaste kiss on the lips as was the Boscan way of saying thanks. Even with all that knowledge it still didn't stop her from turning red, even if she was pleased with herself at being the one to kiss him first. Even if it was just to say thank you.
"If you're ready I believe we have a guild master that needs to be taken care of, plus I hear he's the mastermind behind what happened to Vander," Laxus' smirk returned full force when he saw the deadly glint in Lucy's chocolate eyes.
"How fast can you get us back Sparky?" Laxus pulled her close to him, not breaking eye contact as their bodies turned into lightning and he transported them to the outside of the guild.
"Glad to see White Sea kicking ass," Laxus looked around to see most of the dark mages being restrained. "I can hear Kaleb up in his office. Want to take a stroll?"
"Abso-fucking-lutely!" A shower of glitter floated around Lucy as she transformed into her Taurus star dress. Her eyes were glowing the colour of gold as her power spiked from her and Leo joining forces. She steadily walked up the stairs towards her waiting target, one that she was going to pummel ten feet into the ground if it was the last thing she ever did. No one used her spirits like that! No one threatened her family! This Master would regret the day they crossed the Light of Fairy Tail. Lucy kicked down Kaleb's office door as she stared down the man who had caused so much pain and heartache.
Nervous grey eyes took in the blonde woman as he realized she was the one with Vander that night. He gulped as she walked right up to him, not knowing what to expect, he certainly didn't think that she'd slap him across the face. The sound resonated within the office walls as Hestor's brain bounced around in his skull from the force. He dared to look at the petite blonde woman before him, instantly regretting it the moment her glare pierced him. Hestor hadn't felt fear like this in a long time, even the blackness of his Key of Ammit were quivering. Her light was so pure and powerful, he was positive he had never seen another celestial mage exude such power in his life.
"You should take this time to confess to all that you have done. Either that or I'll remove that lovely bracelet from your wrist and let Kaleb or Cobra or Bickslow take it from there."
"You can lock me up for being attacking White Sea but that'll be the only thing you get out of me." Hestor summoned a spirit that was as black as deepest parts of hell with a horn on either side of its head, leather-like wings, and pale yellow eyes. It had razor sharp teeth and long pointed nails but was only about three feet tall. Lucy wasn't intimidated by the man or his spirits, she had more reasons to win this fight that he ever would. Lucy changed into her Leo star dress and summoned Gemini to copy her in this form, it would take more magic to maintain but was totally worth it. The leader of the Zodiac was the second summon because the best way she knew to combat dark was with light and three was better than one.
"Last chance," Lucy declared, hoping that he would still say no even with her show of power.
"You've mastered star dress?" Hestor's mouth hung open in awe, not that it would sway his answer but dammit he was impressed. "You should join me. Together we could rule all of Bosco!" Lucy attacked in response to his stupid suggestion, as if she would ever turn into a dark celestial mage. The five of them exchanged blows but it was obvious to the White Sea mages that Lucy was just toying with her mouse before she'd end all of him. "For a blonde, you're actually not too bad. I wonder what else you're skilled in?" Lucy ignored the jibe, she had heard similar comments her entire life and wasn't about to let this idiot get underneath her skin.
"You know, on the off chance you beat me, you do realize there's like a dozen other people in this room right? You're not going to be getting out of here unscathed either way." Hestor paused for a split second as her words dawned on him, which gave Lucy, Gemini Lucy, and Leo the opening to send three supercharged Regulus Gatling Impact. Hestor's spirit was immediately sent back to its world and Hestor was laying in what used to be the south wall. Lucy pounced on the downed mage and ripped the bracelet from the man's wrist. "Here I thought you would actually be a challenge. Should have known better than to get my hopes up. He's all yours Master Kaleb."
"Princess are you alright?" Lucy turned to Leo and Gemini with a tired smile on her face.
"I'm alright. A little bit tired but now we have something new to work when we all train. You were both amazing, thank you."
"Piri Piri!" The twins headed back to the celestial world, as did Loke but not before placing a kiss to the back of Lucy's hand earning him several growls.
"Stupid fucking cat," Laxus grumbled as Cristoff nodded his head in agreement.
"Rune Knights are filing in and taking away the dark mages we captured," Juvia walked in with a couple minor cuts and bruises. "They would like to talk to someone about what happened so Juvia volunteered to find someone who could assist."
"Vander take this scum to the high-security cell. We will have much to discuss later but for now, I must attend to the Knights. Cristoff can you ensure that everyone is accounted for and that they're all doing fine?" Cristoff turned to head out the door when a slight tug on the bottom of his shirt stopped him.
"Juvia would like to accompany Cristoff if it's not too much of a bother."
"I'd be more than happy to have you help." Juvia's smile lit up the room as the two of them walked out. Lucy had a wide grin on her face as she thought of how cute their babies would be. She was extremely happy for her best friend and kin, you couldn't find two people who loved stronger than the two of them did. They'd throw themselves into this blossoming relationship with both feet.
"I suppose we should help clean up the mess and maybe start to rebuild with the other mages?" Lucy looked over to Laxus who took a step back to allow her to walk ahead of him. "You alright? You've been awfully quiet since we returned."
"I'm good Blondie. What do you say to supper after we get this place in working order again?"
"You . . . you mean like a date?"
"Yes, exactly like a date." He looked at her from the corner of his eye and congratulated himself on a job well done when he saw the blush dusting the tops of her cheeks.
"I would enjoy that," Lucy whispered to the slayer as they continued to walk to an area they would be useful in. She still had some reservations about the whole mate thing but no use overanalyzing anything until he actually said something to her face when he was conscious. Lucy would have time to freak out and gush to the girls later, right now they had work to do. She called Taurus out to help move some of the larger items as they set to work. The sooner they finished the sooner she could go on a date with Laxus Dreyar.