Appologies to our readers (and to those who are also following any of my other works). My life is off its meds right now and I'm struggling over whether to have it committed or not. Everybody wave at sassykitten1701. She is an amazing person and this story just wouldn't be the same without my co-author. I won't be posting another chapter here till I'm done with Pradesh week. Sorry. Don't hate me.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

Chasing an apparently out of his mind, pissed off Bickslow was hard. At least for some of them. Like the ones with shorter legs who weren't dragon slayers. As in everyone except Cristoff and Richard, who moved really fast for such a big guy. Lucy was about ready to pull out her whip to wrap around the man's feet if she ever saw him again just to slow him down. Then she turned a corner, all but slamming into Cris, saw what he had done to the wizards he had found in this room during the few seconds headstart he had on the rest of them, and decided she would just stay out of his way.

His babies were glowing and emitting high pitched sounds of rage. One of them had apparently had its totem destroyed, because his hood helmet thing was floating mid-air and glowing a bright green. The only living dark wizard she could see was staring into Bickslow's eyes and silently screaming. He began convulsing and Bix dropped him with a sneer. He continued to seize for a moment before stilling. The glazed, open eyes said the man was dead.

Lucy had never been afraid of Bickslow. Even during Fantasia she hadn't really been afraid. Just super freaked out because, hello, her guild was fighting each other and it was a very dangerous sort of thing. Right now though, she was very glad they had a preexisting nakama bond, because without that she would have been very afraid. She would never underestimate the normally happy go lucky guy again.

"Bix?" Even Cris sounded cautious. "Is there a reason you are tearing people's souls out? This kinda thing is a little extreme for you." That's what he was doing? Wow. It looked... painful.

"Trust me. It's a whole lot kinder than they deserve." He turned toward another dark tunnel and Lucy turned to Midnight.

"Can you..." His fingers twitched and Bickslow's angry stalk swung back toward them. He glared at them, but knew better than to try to leave again without addressing the worries of his current team.

"The fuck, guys!"

"The fuck yourself, Bickslow!" Gray shouted loud enough to cause his unconscious passenger to tense, before continuing in a more even tone. "You're killing people. You'd better have a damn good reason." Lucy glared at him.

"For real, Gray?"

"What?" She just pointed at Natsu. "It wasn't the same! That guy tried to kill him!"

"Which you also try to do on a regular basis! My point is Bickslow probably has a reason for his rampage." Lucy turned to Bickslow. "You do have a reason right?" Lucy found it strange that Bickslow's eyes ran over the group, before resting on Angel of all people.

"You consider yourself a bad ass bitch, right, Angel?" Lucy noted an odd twitch in Cristoff at his brother's choice of words. "Been there, done that, spat on that shit hole and glued another feather to your dress to remind yourself you were alive?" Angel scowled.

"That's not what the feathers are for. But yes. I'd describe myself that way. What is your point?"

"How many years do you think you would last locked up in a box, alone, in the dark. The only time you saw anyone is when you were used as a prize the guildmaster handed out to his favorite bootlicking shit stain of the week. That's the only time you got food or water too. And the whole time your magic was being drained. Not just canceled or contained." He looked at his brother then. "Actively pulled from your body. You remember the state we found Zen in?"

The whole group grew rapidly paler as Bickslow spoke. Richard and Gray both looked horrified. Midnight looked like death itself. Cristoff, Lucy shuddered. Cristoff was one pissed off moon man. Lucy herself no longer felt hesitant about what needed to be done. Even without the town full of people they had yet to find, what Bickslow was describing was beyond evil. It had to stop.

"I- how..." Angel looked like she was going to be sick.

"She's still alive. We have to get her out." He turned back in the direction he had been heading before Midnight had brought him back. This time they all followed.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

Smirk widening, Van eased closer, feeling his own blood run faster at the warning flashing in dragon eyes. "I've had a feeling for a bit, so I need you to tell me." Pausing, he lifted a hand to run careful fingers down the exposed part of Gajeel's chest, loving the shuddering response he received. "Am I your mate?"

The feel of Vanders fingers against his skin, not even counting the heat that was obvious in his eyes, the arousal that was very heavily coating the air, and the rather solid bulge that was lightly brushed against his hip was more than Gajeel could handle. In the next moment, not even caring that Meredy looked on in shock and growing glee, Van was slammed into a tunnel wall, a guttural moan escaping him as he felt cuffs of iron trapping his hands. Gajeel's hands were quick to grip handfuls of Van's hair, yanking his head back as he dipped his own head down to scrape sharp sharpened fangs over the skin that was coated lightly in sweat, intensifying Van's natural smell and flavor. The smell was going to Gajeel's head, wrapping him in a thick cloud of lust, and he was fighting every urge lashing around inside him to just claim the sinful piece of man right then and there.

"I'm guess that's a yes?" Van purred, breathing deeply as he fought not to let himself melt into a puddle of lust and just do whatever the iron dragon slayer wanted to do to him. His hands were pinned, but he still had his shadows and were quick to call upon them, loving that he was able to make the slayer pressed so tightly against him shudder and growl.

"Yea you are ya fucking delicious lil shadow muncher..." Gajeel purred, running his nose along the pulse beating wildly in Van's neck, closing his teeth around his adam's apple when it bopped on a hard swallow. His dragon purred in delight at the groan and hard jerk that Van gave at the sensation of Gajeel's teeth on his throat.

Then of course they had to be reminded of their location, and snarls escaped them both.

"Um...guys? While I'm absolutely loving the show...this may not be the best time..." Meredy spoke up, being wise in keeping to the other side of the tunnel. She sure as hell didn't want to be the one to get in the way, or stop them...but considering the current situation, she knew they'd be more upset if she didn't say anything.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

She was amazing. He already knew that of course, but this mission was the first time he had really gotten to see her fight. When she defeated him using the Real Nightmare that had been with a shit ton of unforeseen willpower directed by her incredibly agile mind. Before that moment he had been functioning under the assumption that the curvy celestial wizard was just as blond inside her head as she was on the outside. Turns out he was wrong. And today he was seeing a whole new side of the girl he had been trying his damndest not to think about since she just about melted his brain with his own spell.

Lucy hadn't summoned a single spirit since they entered the elaborate tunnel system aside from a brief conference with a cute little duck compass that yielded exactly zilch in the way of directions or a map. Pyxis had been devastated that he couldn't help and Cobra would have snickered up a storm at the quickly squashed jealousy that had flashed through Midnight at the cuddles and hugs the spirit had received. After that there had been no spirits. Just Lucy, her magical whip, and some seriously sexy displays of leg power.

The woman was tying him in knots. He didn't understand it. First there was that sneak attack, cuddle thing, where she sat in his fucking lap. That had all but been a complete disaster because, like it always did, Jellal's droning had put him to sleep. Next thing he knew he woke up to find a giggling Lucy had discovered his carefully hidden cuddle addiction by way of him wrapping himself around her in his sleep. She had started calling him 'Cuddles' with increasing frequency after that. He wasn't sure how to take it. At least she wasn't pissed off over the incident. Then the gloriously crazy Fairy started playing with his hair. Nobody knew this, aside from maybe Cobra, but that was a serious weakness of his. He would melt like a ragdoll cat if she kept doing that, complete with purring, he was sure.

To top all that off he had finally born witness to the awe inspiring goddess of pain and darkness Fairy Tail referred to as 'Scary Lucy'. His newfound deity didn't deal in death, that was to quick and clean, instead she left a path of agony and suffering in her wake. He shuddered in delight when, with a flick of her whip, she flung a mage face first into a stone wall. The crack of facial bones and a pained shriek sounded like music through the tunnel. She kept the symphony going when she pulled his arms behind him and began to twist his hands in ways hands should never twist. He begged her to stop and her answer was to yank his arms back and up over his head. There was a sickening pop when his shoulders were torn from their sockets and the man screamed loud enough to cause Midnight's ears pain. She dropped him to the floor and smirked.

"I'm sorry. Did you want those arms to function?" Right there, in that moment, Lucy Heartfilia, the light of the Fairies, became Midnight's one and only goddess of darkness. She owned his soul. There was no going back.

Lucy wasn't the only one raining agony down on Dread's Denomination. She was just the only one Midnight was paying attention to at the moment. Not that he wasn't aware of what their team was doing. Gray had crafted some sort of ice sled-coffin-cage for Natsu so that he could fight without worrying about their recovering slayer. When ice grew inside a person until it was outside that person they did not survive. Richard had liquified the earth around enemies only to solidify it moments later, leaving them trapped part way in the cave walls, exposed limbs twitching and screams of horror echoing from where they left them. Turns out healing moonlight did terrible things to a person when it started working backwards. Angel was furious beyond anything Midnight could recall. She remembered what it was like to live in a way similar to what Bickslow had described to them. Her angels had left people smeared on the walls. Bickslow, now that man was scary, and Midnight played with nightmares. There was no way to defend yourself from a man who could tear out your soul or shred it into a thousand pieces with barely a thought.

The only thing the scene lacked was Cobra. Midnight just knew his best friend would have absolutely loved to be a part of this. Seeing Lucy in action this way finally made the poison slayer's unusual affection for her make sense. If he had heard this kind of stuff inside her it was no wonder he enjoyed the girl's company.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

Emzadi had a vague understanding of why her mate was running when this chase started. Something about the past. She wasn't stupid. She had seen his magic now as well as his face and knew who he was. Jellal Fernandez, ex wizard saint of Fiore, master criminal, some said murderer. She had heard the story from Bickslow once, a long time ago. Something about Zeref and possession. He had been mentioned as an ally in a far more recent letter regarding Fiore's Grand Magic Games. That meant that whatever had happened in the past was just that, the past.

Her dragon didn't care about the past. All it cared about was winning the game her mate had started, though Emzadi doubted he had intended it that way. At this point the thrill of the hunt and the scent of her mate on the air had driven almost all logical human thought from her mind. It was just her, and her mate, and the hunt.

Every so often she would come across a tunnel that reeked of his magic. The walls would bear the marks of his passage in cracked stone and scorch marks. There she would find little presents. Wizards vanquished by her mate and left for her to find. Proof of his strength that teased at her dragon's need for a powerful mate.

Soon. Soon she would catch him. She was getting closer. His scent was stronger now. It had been almost fresh on the last of his presents. She had just missed him.

She would catch him soon and demand he accept her. He couldn't claim her yet. She knew that. He wasn't a slayer and the season was not yet upon them. He would acknowledge her as his mate though. She would see to it.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

The thing about dragon slayers was that, while they were one hundred percent human, they also held the soul of the greatest beast that had ever existed. Now, normally, Beck was the man to talk to when it came to raging beasts. This time however the fact that the human part of the very ticked off dragon did not trust him in the slightest was impeding his ability to calm him down to a level that would make rational thought more probable.

While Laxus the man was quite obviously ticked off, Laxus the dragon was beyond furious. Not that Beck blamed either side of the guy for being angry. He had heard the chant of 'mate' from the dragon soul. He was not at all thrilled to be this close to a dragon slayer torn from their newly discovered mate though. That was a bad idea in the most peaceful of moments and right now Laxus and Beck both knew that whoever this mate was they were most certainly in danger to some extent or other. He also caught the word 'kin' so at least this mate was with someone the slayer trusted.

Failing to calm the raging thunderstorm he and Racer were trailing, he turned his magic to something he could do. He found the little beasts, the ones that lived everywhere, in all the small places, the ones who saw everything. He was searching for two things, enemies and allies, which was actually a whole shit ton of things if you counted each individual person. While they couldn't give him a map, for the simple reason that their world was to small, they could help him count and keep tabs on what people were doing.

He found the largest group of allies pretty quickly. Their rampage was drawing a lot of attention. He wasn't sure what had set them off but it had to have been bad for Cristoff and Bickslow to be doing the kind of shit they were. What little he knew of Lucy and Richard said those two were normally the sweet, quiet, background types. Neither of them were being at all sweet right now.

Xally's manipulation of water drew his little spies to the next group. She was with Freed, so that was good. They were using his runes to make the flow of air and oxygen concentration visible. From that they were determining which tunnels contained the most people.

Beck really wasn't sure what to think of the third member of that group. He was an agitated slayer with a pissed off dragon that's for sure. The distance and the fact that he was human prevented him from determining just what had him so upset. If they were in Bosco He would have said the man just really needed laid and volunteered himself for the task. He knew from experience that dragon slayers were lusty and his kind of aggressive in bed, and this man looked exceptionally tasty. By exceptionally tasty he meant he would do just about anything for a bite, because damn was he fine. In fact he was fighting the growing urge to abandon the pissed off thunderstorm he was with and go hunt down the sexy beast and find out how poison tasted. That also sounded thrillingly dangerous.

The terrified screech of one of the bats he had connected with drew his attention to what he had been privately referring to as the MIA wizards. He was relieved to find Emzadi and Jellal both safe and unharmed. He was incredibly confused as to why his little spies were of the opinion that Emzadi was going to eat the man though. Then he caught a glimpse of Emzadi's predatory smirk and heard the purr of her dragon and grinned. Emzadi had finally found her mate. Good for her. The poor fool seemed to be running however. That had been a bad idea. When the solar slayer caught him she would ride him into the ground.

When the report reached him that Vander was chained to a wall he was concerned for a moment, until the terrified little spy started chattering about mating. He rolled his eyes then. Vander would sleep with anyone, anywhere, under any circumstances. He started getting visuals then and was a little confused by what he saw. Then he realized that he had misunderstood his little spy, and quite literally tripped over his own feet.

Animals didn't have a concept of sex for pleasure and so in his translation he had mussed a vital piece of information. When the lizard had said mate he had assumed he meant sex, when in fact he had meant exactly what he said. Vander was quite literally chained to the wall by his mate. Arman and Kaleb were both going to lose their fucking minds.

He found far more enemies than he had expected considering how many had already been wiped out. He also found what looked like a dungeon filled with people. The townspeople who had been taken apparently. This dungeon seemed to be seperate from 'the girl in the box' his little friends kept mentioning. That worried him.

Finally a little mouse found what he had really been looking for, the armor clad redhead. The woman seemed frustrated. She was also close enough for his little friends to help him get to her. He very carefully pushed Laxus's dragon in the right direction, being hesitant to actually speak to the man in the state he was in. It didn't take long for the slayer's advanced senses to pick up on his prey.

"Erza!" He and Racer both leaned away from the force of that roar. "Get your punch happy self back here and stay with the group or so help me you won't be eating cake or anything else any way but through a straw for fucking months. I'll slap you with magic canceling cuffs and chain you to the guild bar to help Mira and put Blondie in charge of your team." Considering how enraged Beck knew the dragon slayer to be those threats seemed really mild. He supposed they must be tailored to the wizard he was threatening, like the time Cris had given Vander erectile dysfunction for a week when they were in their teens.

"Laxus?" The voice echoed out of the darkness. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong, you psychotic warmonger! My mate is out there, exposed to this shit storm while I chase after your stupid ass!" A soft 'oh' came from Racer indicating he finally understood the situation.

"You found your mate?"

"Yes." The word was more grown that human speech.

"Then why aren't you with them?" Laxus began to spark. Not a little, but a lot. He was prevented from answering the oblivious woman and possibly trying to murder her by the ground, and everything else, shaking. "What was that?"

"How should I know? I'm here, dealing with you, not out there where shit is happening!" A report from one of his little spies had Beck chuckling.

"Your celestial wizard caused a cave in."

"Lucy?" He nodded.

"How the hell do you know?"

"I've got eyes on them."

"On who?"

"All of them." Laxus's eyes lit up. Literally. "Everybody is safe and sound. Not a single scrape on anybody at the moment. Natsu is unconscious. I'm not sure why, but Cris is with him so he is ok. Could be he just got annoying enough for Cris to put him to sleep. Could be he got hurt though. Something set off that group."

"Set them off?" The intensity Erza gave off was, well, intense.

"Yeah. They're pissed as all hell about something. I know you Fairies usually go with the catch and relocate method. Not today. Takes a lot to inspire this kind of slaughter on Cristoff's part too."

"They are killing people!" Laxus held a hand in front of Erza's face, but otherwise ignored her outburst.

"Who all is in that group?"

"Cris, Bickslow, Lucy, Gray, Natsu technically, and a girl named Angel." He glanced at Racer. "Yours?" Racer nodded.

"Much as we wish she didn't sometimes, Angel calls herself a Witch."

"The big earth wizard and the guy Lucy keeps calling Cuddles are Witches too right?"

"Cuddles? The only others are Jellal, Cobra, and..." He trailed off and was silent for a moment. "Midnight? Black and white hair, red eyes, looks like a gothic fur factory threw up on him?"

"Uh...yeah?" Racer collapsed in a fit of laughter.

"Cuddles! Oh shit! That's priceless!" They watched the speed mage convulse on the floor untill another rumble was heard.

"Fuck." Laxus ran a hand down his face. "Can the eyes you have on these psychos point us in the direction of this earthquake?"

"Yeah, actually. Little animals are really sensitive to vibrations. That way."

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

When they finally came across enemies the poison dragon slayer literally threw himself at them with a deranged cackle. Freed was starting to view the man with no small amount of fear for the simple reason that it appeared the man had no respect for any boundaries at all and seemed to lack even basic guidelines for his own behavior. He was exceedingly grateful for the calm, soothing presence of Bickslow's sister. If it hadn't been for her he surely would have released his inner demon upon the man a long time ago.

He and Xally stood behind a protective rune barrier and watched with morbid fascination as Cobra danced through the dark wizards with an ease and grace that even Freed had to respect. These were no weak enemies and the man was taking the time to play with them. Slight scratches were being placed where it was obvious to Freed that the man could have torn chunks off of people. He wasn't even using his dragon magic. There was no poison anywhere as far as could be seen.

"He's like a cat that was dropped into a whole box of mice."

"Indeed. I believe your brother would enjoy a friendly match with the man. If we could find some way to keep it friendly."

"Hmm. He is quick and agile. Bix has the barriers necessary to protect himself from his listening abilities as far as his thoughts and such go. Bet it would be fun to watch."

Cobra suddenly jerked to a stop. A loud growl rumbled through the stone underfoot. Purple fog was leaking from between the sharp teeth He was baring at one of the wizards. Freed wasn't sure what he had heard, but the man had an extremely murderous look in his eye. He lunged for the man and sunk his clawed hands into the man's shoulders. The visible poison told Freed and Xally that the man would be dying quickly and in agony.

"You are going to tell me where she is right now." Freed shuddered at the tone in his voice. "Now how do I get there from here." People were dropping to the ground choking on the fumes the man was releasing right and left. Freed was glad he had included Cobra's poison in his rune barrier. "Good. Now next time you wanna play god I suggest you don't. Oh, wait! You won't have a choice. You'll be dead." Xally turned her head to hide her face in Freed's shoulder just before Cobra disemboweled the man. Freed watched in horror as he licked his fingers and stalked away.

"Mavis! What... There is something wrong with that man!" He felt Xally nod. Cobra's voice came from the darkness he had disappeared into.

"Hear the shit I fucking hear, Freed, then talk to me." Freed was disturbed by that comment. Cobra using someone's actual name had to be bad news.

They followed after him, catching brief glimpses, but mostly only seeing the bodies he left in his wake. Freed had to keep stopping and using his runes to dispel the poisonous fumes, which slowed them down even at the speed he could cast. The things they were seeing strewn about the caves and tunnels were never meant to be seen by anyone.

Finally they caught up with him. Freed's eyes grew wide at what he was seeing. Cobra was crouched over a still twitching, but already beyond saving body, growling with renewed fury and covered in blood. On the other side of the large room was Laxus, growling with near equal rage. Both slayers were releasing waves of magic. Freed was sure a single sound or move by any of the seven wizards in the room would send both into dragon force.

A wide eyed Erza was being held back by Racer, who was whispering in her ear. Beck stood behind Laxus, eyes flicking between the two men. The intense focus on his face suddenly gave way to shock. He began to slowly edge around Laxus, careful of the electricity he was putting off. He then apparently developed the undeniable need to die a bloody and painful death at the hands of the obviously out of his mind poison slayer.

"Beck!" Racer hissed as the man as he walked slowly toward Cobra with his hands held out at his sides. "What are you doing?!"

Freed knew Beck's beast magic could work on dragon slayers. He had seen him use it on Cris once. It had been... enlightening. If he had to guess he would say that's what Beck was doing now. Well, not that exactly, because now was not the time or place for that sort of thing, but something similar. He did not, however, think it was going to work in the slightest.

"Beck, I really don't think you should get any closer. He is irrational on his best days and today is clearly not one of those." Beck smiled a little, but Freed wasn't sure who he was trying to reassure.

Either it was working, or Cobra was dropping his magic because he just wanted to eat Beck's face without poison sauce. The closer Beck got to Cobra the quieter his growl seemed to be getting too. There was this odd look on Beck's face, like a little kid seeing snow for the first time. As he drew up close Cobra straightened a little from his crouch. When Beck raised his hands Freed began to panic. He liked Beck. He didn't want him to die.

"Beck, don't. Be careful." By this point Laxus's lightning had died down and they were all watching in silence. Freed's jaw dropped when Beck's fingers brushed Cobra's cheeks and instead of growling or jerking away the slayer made a whimpering sound. He wasn't the only one gaping in shock either.

"There." Beck's voice was soft and soothing. "Feel better now sexy?" Freed made an undignified noise of shock when the slayer grabbed a handful of the Boscan's dark green hair, tackled him to the ground and started kissing him.

"Oh." Xally exclaimed from beside him. "That certainly explains a lot."

"I- are they..."

"Mates? Looks like it." A similar conversation was taking place between Racer and Erza behind Laxus. Freed left a good distance between him and the two wizards still lip locked in a pool of blood. He shuddered and tried to ignore that. He and Xally slowly made their way to where Laxus was standing. Laxus fixed his glare on Xally.

"You ok?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Laxus looked away.

"No reason." Xally lifted an eyebrow at Freed who just shrugged. How was he supposed to know what Laxus was thinking?

"What in the ever loving fuck is going on here?" Freed looked up to see Meredy and the two shadow mages had joined them. The pinkette gave them a cute little wave and a bright smile.

"Van!" Xally bounced a little, but didn't move away from where they stood by Laxus. "You'll never guess who found their... mate... today... What are you doing?" Freed thought it was obvious what the shadow quip was doing, but what he wanted to know was why it was being allowed.

"Playing with my mate's hair. Why?"

Erza didn't faint. On occasion however stress and shock could cause her knees to give out on her. Now was one such occasion. When Erza collapsed her armor made enough noise to wake the dead.

××Overkill Fieldtrip××

To be continued