"Can't you move any slower?" An unamused Cana was moving with haste as Natsu and Erza were right beside her. Craig in the other hand was lagging, no doubt exhausted from the blood loss from before.
Heavy strides due to his speed decrease, Craig craned his head and gave Cana a leer of his own. "Woman, don't push my buttons right now!" He threatened.
"C'mon!" Natsu urged, his speed increasing as he was running through Magnolia. "We've gotta go and see if the others are alright!"
"We know, moron!" Craig roared low.
Erza was picking up her pace, trying to stay on her toes as the situation's gravity pulled against her and the world. All this talk about dinosaurs was so sudden, but at the same time believable. Craig is living proof for starters, and second, he just fought a Velociraptor with nothing but his bare sharp teeth. Any normal man would use hands or a knife or something, but Craig crossed borders, literally and figuratively.
"Who knows how many are out there." She looked towards Natsu. "Anything?"
Natsu sniffed the air, but he wasn't getting anything related to the smell Craig and the dinosaur had. "Nothing." He then got a whiff of something. "Wait!"
"What?"
Erza's inquiry was met with Natsu increasing his speed once again. "I'm getting an odd smell…it's almost like Elfman!"
"Elfman?" Cana parroted.
"Yeah, for some reason, the guy's smell is different, but the same. It's hard to explain! Just follow me, damnit!" In frustration of his lack of speech, Natsu used his feet that carried him towards the guild hall. The others followed him, and of course Craig was far from the group. In fact, he was so far behind that they were out of sight.
He panted, taking a stop to rest his hands on his knees. He felt like he could throw up from the blood that's been spilled, but he tried his absolute best to remain stable and remained on two feet. Once he caught his breath, he looked up and waved the others off.
"Bleh, just be my guest and go on without me." He growled low. He raised his neck and started to shout out loud. "Yeah you're real pals! Thank you so~ much! Don't worry about me guys, I'm just fine!" The intense sarcasm in his voice was too hefty for it to not be obvious. They were so far out reach that they didn't hear them anyways. "Whatever." He grumbled.
A little further down Magnolia, the population was making way as something was moving along the street. It was so big that the tank wheels nearly grazed houses and businesses alike. The populace veered out of the way as the white convertible maneuvered like a mobile tower.
Craig's ears twitched as the sound of gears and engines went through his noggin. "Eh?" He turned around, hearing no roaring, but of people shrieking and moving out of the way. He turned around, adjusting his lazy posture.
A citizen ran past him, but Craig grabbed him by the hoodie without even having to look, yanking him back up front.
"W-whoa man! What the heck?! You trying to make me roadkill?!" The guy shrieked.
Even without looking, Craig showed neutrality. "Hey." He pointed at the white towering observatory coming into view. "You mind telling me the heck that is?"
"I-I don't know, but it just started rolling into town just a few minutes ago!" The guy whipped his head towards the direction everyone else was diverging into. "You better get out of the way if you don't wanna end up in its path!"
The guy was let go and he went scurrying off, but Craig remained out with a questioned look attending the incoming obstacle in front of him. The tank's mobility was directly in his line of sight, and yet as it drew near, Craig wasn't willing to stand.
The tank, surprisingly, began to slow down. The vehicle eventually came to a screeching halt nearly fifty feet away from Craig. The man maintained an annoyed and curious look as the gears and engines that were powered inside sounded like steam being given off, thus relief. The white domain was one thing that was perplexing, but the second was the Magic Council symbol atop of it.
Craig raised a brow. "Well this'll be something." He grumbled.
The guild hall was a mess, everyone looking exhausted and a little scared. Some members had scratches, others had no injuries. Within the center of the guild hall itself, there was Elfman, on hands and knees. He was severely wounded, and many had witnessed why and how. The middle child of the Strauss family huffed and breathed in and out, sweating up a storm from what just happen.
Mirajane came running towards her brother, with Lisanna in tow. "Elfman!" They shrieked.
The big guy raised his head, revealing his scratched face. "Mirajane. Lisanna." He grunted, his muscles all torn up from the inside. The Strauss girls applied white towels with cool water around his injuries to relieve any sort of swelling.
Wendy came running out of the crowd, with Carla and Happy over her head. She hurried to Elfman's side and applied her Healing Magic. The green aura radiated all over Elfman's body.
"Stay still." Wendy urged.
"Thanks." He thanked.
Wendy shook her head. "Don't apologize. Just take it easy for awhile."
"Boy, I sure didn't see that coming." Carla chided.
"I don't think anyone did." Happy noted.
Carla looked towards him, hoping for yet another answer. "Say, Happy?"
"Huh?"
"Aren't you always with Natsu?" She put hands to her hips. "I swear, I don't even know where that poor fool is?"
"Oh, him? Uh…" Happy put a paw to his round chin, the feline trying to think. He obviously knew where Natsu went and with whom, of course recalling a threat of bodily harm by Erza was also what crept along his skin. Secrets, however, was something he had a hard time keeping, especially with the gossip-paws he has. "He, uh…went to the market! Yeah!" He lied.
"The market?" Carla raised a brow. "You both eat fish and rice. What could you possibly need from there?"
"Who cares?" Gray's interfering was Happy's saving grace. He was shirtless as ever, and right beside him was Gajeel, whom was also more than a little banged up.
"What I'm more concerned is how the hell that thing got here and vanished after the big guy beat the snot out of it." The Iron Dragon Slayer stated.
Once Wendy finished her Healing Magic, Elfman looked a lot better. Managing to get to two feet once more, Elfman looked down at the spot where the incident happened. All that remained of the beast was just busted up boarding on the floor. All around, tables were turned over, and chairs and stools were lying about everywhere. Cranage was wherever the eye travelled. It took the combined might of Elfman, Gray, and Gajeel to put the beast down. However, they got no evidence of it as it vanished into thin air afterwards.
"What a deplorable sight." Master Makarov's sudden voice caught the attention of the guild. He got everyone to look down at him as he stood across the broken pieces of the floor where Elfman slammed the Weretiger into oblivion.
Mirajane looked uneased. "Master."
"I am grateful to you all for being unhindered, and with our efforts, we neutralized the threat." He turned towards Elfman. "But what I cannot fathom, is how you recognize such a beast when you claim it was a Take-Over you performed in the past."
Lisanna put a finger to her chin and looked up. "That's a good question. Normally whenever a Take-Over is performed, either that creature is absorbed, or its entity is copied instead." She looked towards Elfman. "Say, Elfman, didn't you absorb that Weretiger a long time ago?"
Elfman nodded. "Yeah." He looked back towards the crime scene, his spine tingling. "That's what worries me now."
Lucy, who was in the back to avoid being a part of the chaos and confusion, took notice of something incoming and turned around. "What?"
"What is it, Lucy?" Max asked.
"Huh? Hey, look!" Alzack pointed out at the incoming group of three heading towards the guild hall.
Everyone's attention diverted towards Natsu, Erza, and Cana, who were running towards the guild in a frantic state of confusion it seems, if not deciphered as worry.
"It's Natsu! And Erza!" Lucy shouted.
"Cana too." Gray added. "Wonder what they're running about?"
Once they met up with the guild, everyone made way for them to rendezvous with Master Makarov. The three stood in front of the Master, none of them looking at all relaxed.
"Master!" Erza announced.
"Erza, what happened?" Makarov asked.
Cana put a hand to her hip. "We should be asking the same thing. Just look at the place." She looked all around, noticing how scratch marks were present on a number of tables and the floor especially. "It looked like a wild animal ravaged the place."
"W-well…" Lucy nervously sweat dropped. By all means, Cana was pretty much dead-on, but the irony was a bit much to lay out front.
"Natsu!" Happy came flying towards his pal, floating right in front of the Dragon Slayer.
Natsu smiled. "Hey, Happy!" He greeted cheerfully. "What went on here? Did someone steal Gray's underwear again?"
Gray sighed. "Idiot."
"You won't believe it! This Weretiger came out of thin aura and it just went all crazy on us like we were lunch and stuff!" Happy exclaimed, flailing in the air and exaggerating the story a bit.
"A Weretiger?" Erza repeated.
"What he says is the truth." Master told. He turned his attention towards the center of the guild, where Elman was standing over claw marks deeply engraved into the guild. "We are all key witnesses to this act of violence. Whatever happened is abnormal, and this cannot be ignored."
The situation was getting a little confusing for everyone's liking, especially with the sudden unveiling of another predator that Elfman and the guys managed to subdue like Craig. This didn't sit well with Erza nor the others that arrived.
Erza put fingers to her chin, pondering. "So there were two instances then. Two attacks, by two different species, both at the same time." She said.
"Two?" Happy asked.
"Different species? So what did you guys meet?" Wendy asked.
Cana stepped forward, looking at her directly. "This is hard to believe…but we've encountered a dinosaur."
Makarov's eyes widened. The Master most certainly wasn't looking amused. "Come again? A dinosaur you say?" In all his years of living, he never heard something so bizarre. Dinosaurs roaming freely? Sounded so ridiculous, but as much as he wanted to deny it, reflecting back on the experiences involving a certain hybrid did spark some truth within.
"A dinosaur?" Gajeel repeated. "Ain't those things extinct or something?"
"We know what we saw, Gajeel." Erza said.
"Believe it or not, Craig killed it." Natsu beamed. "I mean seriously, they were sinking fangs to another. They nearly turned the whole river red. Right Craig?" Natsu's speculations fell on deaf ears as he got no grumpy comment from behind. "Huh? Craig?"
Everyone looked around, but Natsu, Erza, and Cana turned around to realize Craig wasn't there. This only added salt to the wound.
"Uh…wait! Wasn't he just behind us?!" Natsu shouted in shock.
Cana blinked, but then showed some blunt irritation. "Boy, I knew Cranky was a snail-pacer, but he really gave us the slip this time." She commented.
"This is not something to be praising about." Erza pointed out.
"Who said I was?"
Outside the guild hall, citizens were scrambling around, catching everyone's attention. They all looked out and saw the chaos stirring in the streets.
"What's going on? What's the ruckus?" Gray wondered.
"Beats me." Natsu answered.
Cana could feel her spine tingle. For some reason, whatever was going on, she had a pretty good idea of who may be involved in it. Mentally, she groaned in heavy irritation as everyone exited the guild.
The latch to the vehicle in question suddenly let a loud clang sound boom, moments before it slowly elevated itself down onto the ground. Once it reached the earth, another door folded over and acted as a landing pad.
Craig remained on guard as the uneasy feeling arose from beneath his gut. He saw men with lab coats rush out of the vicinity, gathering in large numbers and starting to diverge.
"Secure the area!" One of the top professors announced.
At his call, any citizens still around had begun to be evacuated. The professors were escorting – nee pushing – every man, woman, and child out within what may seem 200-meter radius of the vehicle. The only person they seemingly ignored was Craig.
He raised a brow as he turned left and right, seeing professors and scientists starting to adjust a perimeter around him. "Uh…?" In the sense of his inquiry, he was met with the scientists all facing the vehicle, which remained stationary. Inside, several figures were seen, yet one caught Craig's interest.
Heels could be heard tapping against the cold flooring, heading all the way down towards to light. As the woman followed by two men came into view, Craig's eyes slowly widened, showing overwhelming shock. He was flabbergasted one might say. In fact, he was too shocked that it was making his beating heart accelerate, the kind that drives on anxiety.
The scientist on question saw Craig's shock, giving a half-grin and a hand to her hip. "Well, well. Isn't this just a surprise for us all?" She said, with the right level of intense rhetorical gesticulation in it. "Craig Crius."
Slowly, the shock in Craig's eyes began to drop, as did his eyelids. He nearly slumped over, giving a despondent look. "Oh great, it's you." His level of rhetoric sarcasm was equally as bitter. "What a wonderful day I'm having."
The woman sternly cocked her head. "Well, one of us hopefully."
Craig raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"That depends on how you see it. To me, I can still see that old look in those eyes of yours. Of course that begs the question of the intelligence behind those eyes."
Craig cocked his head as well, giving a squinted look. "Oh great, the crazy bitch is back in town." He grunted.
The woman cleared her throat with a small cough. Her clipboard in hand had been held close to her side. "Ahem! You know, it is very impolite to call someone, as you would put it, a 'crazy bitch'." She retorted.
"Well calling you a psychopath would be too light as well." Craig bluntly countered.
The woman let out a long, grieving sigh, disappointed beyond recognition. "I see you haven't changed much." She exasperated.
"Wish I could say the same." Craig said.
Craig and the other scientists were seemingly at odds. They all were in a perimeter around him, staring coldly at him, like he was some guinea pig to them. It was thanks to the female scientist that they had to target Craig, while at the same time remain a very safe distance away.
"Craig!" A voice from afar caught Craig's attention. He turned around, looking at the perimeter of scientists easily broken by Natsu, Erza, Cana, and the rest of the guild members present. They all were told to stay back, but as usual, Fairy Tail doesn't abode by rules as much as others do.
"Huh? Hey, took you slowpokes long enough." Craig bluntly sneered.
A scientist got between the guild and Craig, cutting them off with a scalp knife in hand. "Freeze! You are prohibited from advancing beyond this point. We urge you to step back." He said.
Makarov stood in front of the man. "What is the meaning of this? Who are you people?" The old man demanded.
Gray looked up at the structure that was their domain. "What is that thing? Is that some kind of…mobile lab or something?" He questioned.
"Whoa~. Looks manly." Elfman said.
Erza's eyes narrowed as she looked away from the numerous scientists surrounding them towards the area that lied ahead. Her eyes darted at the Magic Council symbol on the front of the whole vehicle. "Wait, that mark." She muttered.
"Huh?" Natsu looked at it as well, albeit with realization. "Hold up…" His eyes widened. "You mean these freaks are with the Magic Council?!"
"What's the council want now?" Gray wondered.
"Don't look at me, I wouldn't know what we destroyed to make them send a bunch of guys in suits and a vehicle for us!" Lucy shrieked.
"But those guys don't even look like Rune Knights." Wendy pointed out. She wasn't wrong, as they all had lab coats with the council emblem on the backs.
"Okay, you got me. What's up now?" Cana questioned next.
Irritated, Craig whipped his head back with a look of sheer exasperation. "Will all of you just shut the hell up already?! Your questions are annoying and redundant!" He yelled.
A majority of those in question went silent under Craig's snark. As much as many – especially Cana – wanted to bitterly scorn him, they all were intervened by the woman tapping her heel loudly. "Ahem! As much as I dislike saying this aloud, I do believe that your friend here is right. No offense." Of course Craig sneered at her next, taking her comment into offense as well.
"At least tell us who you are." Makarov insisted.
The woman looked away from Craig, taking the moment to see all the people beside him. They all looked testy, agitated, and on edge. It was clear an impression had been made. She turned back towards Craig, showing surprise. "Well now, Craig, I didn't think you'd be aligned with the likes of a guild." She sounded mildly surprised, passive at best. "To think they would allow a dinosaur to enter human ranks."
Craig's eyes narrowed, baring his teeth at the woman mocking his genetics.
She whipped in the direction of the others, disregarding his antics. "But, an introduction is in order I suppose. Listen well everyone, because this is an important announcement that I must make."
"Define important." Gray said.
She pulled out a badge, proving herself. "I am Dr. Glenda Tealano. I am the head operative and director of the Magic Council's Research and Development Team." She declared.
"Council Research and Development?" Jet repeated.
"What's that all about?" Droy wondered.
Glenda put her badge away, looking at them with a sense of superiority. "Well, seems you are unaware of my position. It's no surprise I suppose. This division is still new."
"How new are we talking about?" Gray asked. "Let me also ask, just what about this so-called 'research and Development' do for a living?"
Glenda looked towards Gray with a placid look. "The Magic Council Research and Development Team is an organization approved and directed on behalf of the Magic Council. With it, we conduct research and various experiments in hopes of discovering and preserving valuable magic resources and knowledge that can and will preserve future uses."
Many got it down in that one line, but some like Natsu were quizzically leering at Glenda. "Uh…you persevere what?"
Craig crossed his arms, looking at her with a more dissatisfied look. "So you care to share how long you've been at this little 'shindig' of yours?" He scornfully asked.
"About six months in." Glenda answered. "The Council was very generous on the working conditions and the equipment we were able to harbor and use."
"You mean scrap metal you used to leech others of their lives." Craig corrected.
Glenda's face twitched. "I beg your pardon?"
"You seriously think I'm still that big of a dumbass to not remember what you did?" Craig's tone intensified. "C'mon, how did someone like you get tangled into this job after the nutcase-expense that you've driven everyone into?"
Lucy leaned towards Levy. "What's he talking about?"
"I think they know each other." Levy said.
"That was just a minor setback. Okay?" Glenda said. "It was an experiment gone wrong, and deemed it as a failure."
"In which cost lives. And you just walked away with tail between your legs." The tension between the two was livid – perhaps breakneck seconds away from someone ready to pull a trigger. The scientists that were assisting her were all ready to get on the defenses. Granted while they had little combat training, their equipment and usage of science was compensation.
Glenda's mouth was shut, but her teeth gritted on the inside. She was clearly irritated with how the conversation was getting to bad terms. "Well I've learned from my failed experiment, and now I can bring science to a greater extent than before."
Craig's eyes narrowed. "Science my ass."
"Mr. Crius, science is the most important thing there is. It's more valuable than one's life. How else do you expect us to go forward if we don't use science? All these spices, buildings, lights everywhere – they are science! Science paves a path from the past to the future!"
"And yet science also destroys." Craig abruptly countered. "Failed experiments that could devastate thousands of innocence, and worse case the blame is tossed out the window. Noble is far from your attribute."
Glenda lowly growled, but she swallowed it in another cleansing of the throat. "Still stuck on the past, I see. In order for one to move forward, they have to learn from those mistakes and correct them. That's exactly what I did."
Craig was ready to draw a sword. "You abandoned those mistakes!"
"Failure always happens. It's not uncommon." Glenda testified.
The two were ready to butt heads, despite the distance between them. Abruptly, Cana came to Craig's side. She had a hand to her hip, looking at him with a confused and irritated look. "Okay, I'll bite. What is it you're going on about?" She asked.
"I'm afraid that is confidential." Glenda quickly brushed off.
Craig turned around, disregarding her spite. "Oh yeah? Well I care to say otherwise." He looked at everyone, including the scientist; some faces he vaguely remembered from the incident and saw the scared look in their eyes. As he leered, the selected few recoiled. That day was starting to resurface, and by god was no one amused with those haunting images.
1 11/12 Years Ago
It wasn't even a month after the incident Craig traveled through time, only to come back alive and alone. He had the Velociraptor tibia, and even after a few days, he's been experiencing drawbacks such as dilating eyes and uneasy blood pressure due to the DNA strands fusing. It was hell or nearly 3-4 weeks, but he survived. He continued with his ways, encountering enemies and clashing swords; some more comrades at a loss for his liking.
In the midst of his travels, he came across a research vicinity far within a peninsula in the southwestern hemisphere of Earth Land. It was – to his shock and horror – a research lab that had been studying years with the fossils it was abundant with. Paddocks large and small were filled with dinosaurs that were revolved from fossils. Craig was beyond shocked, let alone horrified. Raptors, Tyrannosaurus, even large Pterosaurs, were all treated as zoo pets in camera-labeled cages to mimic the environment suited for them.
When it came to, Craig trespassed into raptor cages. Much to everyone's shock, Craig hissing and dilating eyes managed to trick the raptors and made them back off. At the time, Glenda was one of the top executives of the facility. She, along with the staff, heard of Craig's time travel and experiences with dinosaurs. At first Glenda wasn't believing him, but after DNA scans, she was in complete disbelief.
At the time, with the dinosaurs tamed to a degree, it was like a zoo for family and friends alike. Of course safety measures were taken, but no amount of safety measures could've been made with what Glenda made with the team of genetic researchers.
They decided to 'spice things up' by creating a genetically hybrid dinosaur. It was supposedly a hybrid of what could've been every carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered at the time. Even if some of the humungous body was hidden in the tress of its cage, Craig was thoroughly against the prospect of it being there, let alone existing. Glenda, however, believed humans were far more intelligent and always will be. She found her species on the food chain, and with Craig as part dinosaur, she believed him inferior. She never listened to his "animal logic" and believed making hybrids would help. Soon enough, she was wrong.
The creature of monstrous proportions eventually burst open its paddock, and went on a rampage almost immediately when time and security was right. The two guards in front of the paddock were devoured, and Craig barely escaped.
Doors to the black lab slid open, revealing a pissed Glenda as she looked sternly ahead. The staff looked towards her as a beacon on the geographic monitor archive on the wall moved, albeit with haste southeast. The director was trying her absolute best to remain calm and sort out the chaos.
"Everyone…remain calm." She strained, her posture fixed. Everyone around the stainless lab slowly diverted back to containment measures as Glenda walked down the flight of stairs towards a casually dressed man with gray cargo pants, black stubble, glasses over his brown eyes, and a vacation shirt with bananas on it. "Jerry, did you send the message?" She barked.
"Yup-erdoo, asset containment underway, just as you asked." He said as he swayed in his chair, away from the director. This was Jerry, one of the more laid-back guys in the lab.
The guy next to him looked up at Glenda. He was a man with a light blue short-sleeved dress shirt. He had on jeans, and in his shirt pocket was a pen. This was none other than Jerry's cohort, and part-time lab associate, Henry – or as he's been nicknamed, Monkey.
"You sure this was such a good idea?" Monkey asked. "We gotta warn the public."
Glenda stared sternly at the monitor, seeing the gargantuan dinosaur move over a red line that was a zone. "Asset Containment can do this, no one else can. I'm telling you, we can do this!" The command on her voice was like a broken promise that she continued to keep. "We will not let some animal ruin what we've achieved."
After a minute, monitors and screenshots of lacrima-vision attached to men in suits moving in Magic Mobiles were seen. The vision was blue and green, and they had machinery and weapons rivaling shock staves. They were on the road, entering the forest.
The doors to the faculty again slid open, this time, revealing Craig, and he was looking mad. Fists clutched, he passed through the elevator, disregarding the guard there.
"Sir, your badge." The man in a suit said. Craig stormed up towards Glenda, prompting the man to advance. "Sure, show me your-!"
"Can it! I'm busy!" Craig yelled at him, making the guard back off. He whipped his head towards Glenda, who took notice of him and his stained shirt. He was not at all pleased with how she was taking the scenario. "What the hell happened out there?" He berated.
Glenda gave a huff and turned to look back at him. "It must have been a…malfunction of some relevance." She said.
"Were you, or were not watching? Okay, that thing that you call a dinosaur, it just distracted us and busted out like it was summer break!"
Jerry and Monkey both raised brows at his raising tone.
Glenda walked up a small flight of stairs, meeting Craig in the center of the room. "Mr. Crius, this was just a small mistake."
"Which one? The mistake of letting your guard down, or creating an indestructible killing machine?"
"We are talking about an animal here!"
Craig's eyes narrowed. "A highly intelligent animal." He emphasized.
Glenda pursed her lips, letting a small huff again as she whipped her head back towards the screen as they saw the monitor close up on something ahead. "Well, you're forgetting who's the evolved species here."
Everyone watched as the group of perhaps twenty men went with non-lethals, a call Craig again berated.
"Non-lethals?" He whispered. His head slowly shook. "No…they're gonna die."
"Asset containment closing in on beacon." An employee called out.
"Call the mission off!" Craig yelled.
"200 meters."
"I said call it off!"
"You are not in control of this operation!" Glenda shouted.
Craig appeared to her side, his glare as sinister as that of a dinosaur's. He had a hand to a hilt of one of his swords. "I can, and I may as well. Bitch."
His threat left a harsh impression on Glenda as she swallowed. She and the others saw the images and videos live, the beacon – or rather tracking implant – was near the base of a riverbank. One of the leader's slowly advanced towards a small scaled slab of meat, where a blue light flashed and beeped.
Jerry leaned back in his seat. "Uh oh."
"What?" Glenda tilted her head. "What is that?"
Craig narrowed his eyes as he paced slowly towards the monitors. "That's her tracking implant. It's gotta be."
"Then…how'd it get there?"
"…she clawed it out where they inserted it." He answered.
Glenda's eyes widened. "Wha-how could it do that? It's just a…" She trailed off as she and everyone in the lab heard screams and anguish as the dinosaur was seen onscreen.
One screen became static after the dinosaur chomped down on it. They saw nets being fired at the mouth, but the orange-red scaled beast with a milky underside had long arms and clawed it off. The scales, as were the species, was resistant to magic, another flaw Glenda didn't see coming. Many men scurried as others were stepped on, thrown onto trees, or worse case eaten. A majority of the screens were gone, and the dinosaur was on a rampage once more, unfazed.
The control room fell to a grave silence at the scene. Nothing but horror could be said of what they bared witness to. Manslaughter was seen, and Monkey's head lowered. Jerry looked towards Craig, his expression as sour as can be towards Glenda.
"Evacuate everyone on the peninsula." Craig said.
Glenda weakly shook her head. "That thing is still miles away from the nearest attraction."
Craig angrily walked towards her again, pointing at the screen behind his back. "You've created an unstable hybrid, you kept it caged without any restrictions, and you greatly misjudged your own firepower; now look where that got you!" He gave yet another hardened glare towards her. "Now, evacuate, and get the firepower to stop this thing!"
"Mr. Craig Crius, do not raise your voice with me!" Glenda shouted, her anger equal to her stress. "If you are not going to help us in our cause, you have no place being here."
Craig had enough. Whatever impulse he had, it was snapping. Without a second thought, he deliberately clutched a fist and punched the pale mistress across the face, knocking her into one of the computers. The immense shock never stopped surmounting as everyone stood up in fright and surprise as the director got punched, and Craig carried on past her.
The director coughed, holding her cheek as assistance rushed to her aid. Some went to stop Craig, but out of fear, they relented.
"Jerry! Monkey! We're going!" Craig shouted.
Still recoiling from his assault, both guys looked towards the other in worry. In a way, what Craig said was true, but they weren't sure what to do with their boss. As much as they were amused with their jobs, they did come to understand Craig's intentions. Ultimately, they swallowed hard and gave a huff of apology as they passed the down director. They met up with Craig, walking beside him as they paved way for the elevator.
"Whatever was created…it's not a dinosaur." Craig said low. He and his associates turned and looked ahead at the chaos as the elevator door shut.
Meanwhile, many were tending to Glenda's posture. As she fixed herself, she slowly removed her and over her left side. There, a bruise was large, and she felt something loose inside. She gagged into her palm, a tooth in the palm of her hand. She stared down at it, fixated on what Craig did to her and what a fool he made her look. She stared back at the elevator, her eyes glaring with her stern look at last overwhelmed with shuddering stress.
Everyone who was present was surprised, if not flabbergasted. They suspected Craig of being a brute, but for being a key witness to a fossilized hybrid rampage was ridiculous. As much as some would've preferred to deny it, the evidence was all there.
Natsu pointed ahead and laughed aloud. "Get out! You seriously socked her?!" He laughed.
"Natsu." Lucy berated. "Knock it off."
Gray had arms crossed. "So that's what happened."
Erza had a hand to her chin, heavily thinking upon another point. "First Craig is appointed as a hybrid of all these carnivorous dinosaurs, now evidence of an actual hybrid of all them configured. This is beyond comprehensible." She said.
Cana gave Craig a leering gaze from the side. "Gee, I never would've guessed you'd be such a badass." Her displeasured tone was riddled in her comment. Craig looked towards her, unamused with her.
"Shut it." He retorted.
"Okay, enough!" Glenda lowly yelled. Everyone settled down from her statement of stress and remained steady on their toes as the scientist took in a big huff of breath. She gave an unpleasant eye to Craig, making a straight line with her lips. "What's past is past. I admit there were a few mistakes, but that's not important right now. I am sure you may as well be more inclined to my position as an employee to the Magic Council." She tried her best to bring the conversation along, hoping to get everyone out of her humiliating history with Craig. Craig was too sour to say otherwise.
"So, what the heck are you up to now?" Gray asked.
Glenda moved the clipboard from her hip to her fair chest. "Well, Gray Fullbuster…" She looked down, tapping the board and moving diagrams and charts around. "With granted permission, I have been able to adjust my setbacks and have finally formulated a very promising program."
Gray was still stuck on how she knew his name. He moved to speak, but Juvia beat him to it. "How do you know my darling's name?! Have you been spying on him?!" She shrieked in anger.
"Look who's talking." Cana mumbled.
"Juvia Lockser, former Phantom Lord member and now aligned with Fairy Tail. As part of the council's system, I have exquisite knowledge on your various histories and your types of magic. It is specifically for the magic and DNA that we have went and established a Synthetic Stabilizer." Glenda said.
Craig gave a quizzical look. "I'll bite, the heck did you do now?"
Glenda let another huff exert. "Mr. Crius, you're very incomprehensive right now." She berated. "But, I can overlook it in this field test."
"Field test?" Cana repeated.
The scientist on Glenda's left cleared his throat as he stepped forward and presented an elongated note in hand. "May I have your attention please. The Research and Development Team assigned by the Magic Council can correspond to Rule 36-CH. It is with this jurisdiction that we have been approved access to subjugate testing DNA of organic matter that are deemed useful and thus align with the rules of the council. Any failure to comply to this matter will result in punishment on behalf of the council." He repeated, as he had for the past few dozen times in the past.
"Wait…" Makarov finally caught on. "You mean that we're basically guinea pigs that the Magic Council approves?!"
"Now that's just sick!" Natsu berated. "I mean we're not your dumb pets you can feed snacks to!"
"This is crossing lines!" Lucy shouted.
"Yeah, Elfman got hurt because of what you did." Wendy said. Everyone looked towards Elfman, though now he was recovered. Craig, however, wasn't so fortunate on recovery.
"So you didn't ask us if we could be tested on, and you still give no damn about the lethal damage that's been inflicted on that big guy and myself. What the council just did was give you just a license to kill." Craig sneered.
Glenda cocked her head, almost like a twitch. Again, she cleared her throat. "Am I safe to say that you are questioning the absolute authority and laws passed down by the Magic Council?" She asked, almost in a heavily insinuating tone.
Craig gave a knowing brow, the same look that gave the notion of disbelief. "What do you think? And you say humans are smarter than animals." He tilted his head, smirking. "Maybe your ego and pride made you forget how inhumane your methods are."
"I will have you know that live animal testing is always used, and it most certainly isn't different, from the likes of you, Craig!" She defended. "Especially since there is dinosaur DNA that has been valuable in this research!"
Cana gave a detested stare at Glenda. "And the Council is willing to go to these lengths to preserve magic for future resources? I wouldn't buy that for a second."
"I wouldn't either. I'm not a moron, I can see the Council is clearly making an effort in preserving magic through this machine that's best labeled as a weapon." Craig said.
"Call it as you like, it does not change the fact that with this observatory, we can read other's magic, their DNA, mimic it, and project it through the ethernano. However, the extent of this phenomenon only happens to those with animal qualities I'm afraid."
"So that's what happened to Elfman." Lisanna gasped.
"And Craig." Natsu growled.
Glenda turned away, her assistance following in tow. "The verdict is settled. We'll only be conducting few more live field tests before heading out. How is our memory core? Are we still able to alter one's body yet?"
"Limited testing has proven it is still inaccessible at this time, ma'am." A scientist said. "The past few test subjects went in comatose states for two weeks."
Glenda sighed as she walked up the slanted stairway. "Very well. We will resort to that after we deal with this mess." She looked back over her shoulder, seeing the stone-cold face of Craig. It bit her in the butt, and if she was honest, this could very well be her only chance at redeeming the mistakes she wanted to forget. She faced forward when inside, scientists still outside giving the okay as the populace in the section of Magnolia was all cleared out. "Okay, since the population is cleared, let us begin."
"Ma'am, what about the guild members?" A scientist asked, turning away from his computer.
Glenda sat in her stool, hands folded as she looked at the large monitor. Craig and everyone's picture was present. "They are part of the test. They'll be alright. They have magic."
In the midsection of the large observatory, a vault slid open, revealing a large red dot.
"What the heck is that?" Elfman wondered.
"I don't know, but I ain't sure I wanna stick around to find out." Gajeel said.
Craig snarled as the red camera lens in the center was focused on him. Inside the observatory, the scientists that were inside were moving diagrams and pressing buttons on the Archive Magic in front of them.
"Commence scanning." Glenda ordered.
The red camera widened, and a flashy laser light went through the area, scanning Craig's picture only. Disregarding his distilled form, the images of various DNA and digitally graphic images of creatures of unknown proportions with question marks appeared on the big monitor. The screen had numerous DNA samples, all of which everyone individually encoded and decoded according to the dinosaur notes Glenda managed to salvage.
"Processing complete!" A scientist announced.
Glenda let out another huff of relief and stress. "Okay…test Synthetic Stabilizer, number 45. Decode: Tarbosaurus." She ordered.
"Roger! Decoding Tarbosaurus. Projecting synthetic stasis underway."
Outside as they chose the DNA to decode and use Ethernano, red energy began to stabilize and gather from the surrounding atmosphere. The magic pouring in was of powerful proportions, and everyone began to see the shape come into view.
"Whoa! What is going on?!" Natsu shouted.
"Are they making another DNA replica?!" Lisanna yelled.
"Oh crap! It's looking big!" Wakaba yelled.
Cana stared up at the synthetic creature beginning to grow skin. As it did, her attention diverted towards Craig, who was in a state of shock. He was petrified, barely processing the dinosaur that was coming to life right before his eyes once again. He was as stiff as a board as the shadow loomed over his head and form, the figure finally taking shape.
Ahead looked like something very similar to a Tyrannosaurus, if not for it being of rougher scales here and there, especially in the back. It snarled, its various teeth showing and stood on two legs as the giant tail slowly whipped around.
"Holy crap!" Gray shouted.
"It is a dinosaur!" Bickslow yelled.
"This can't be…" Makarov muttered. He was looking at the technology, and back at the dinosaur who was fully alive and snarling. "How could the council make such a weapon?"
The Tarbosaurus raised its head, letting out a bellowing roar that stretched all throughout Magnolia. Faraway, personnel evacuated, running for cover as the beast was alive, and its size had an appetite to match.
Inside, Glenda sat patiently, watching the scene unfold as the Tarbosaurus eyes Craig. If it wasn't for her inner desire to see that so-called dumb animal learn his place, then she'd be smirking right now, but she took it in stride and began to video and collect data readings.
The Tarbosaurus's foot hit the ground, making nearly everyone jump as it leered at Craig. Clearly its sights were set on the injured.
Craig grunted as he readied, but his injuries made him slow down. He winced in pain, the wounds on his last fight with a velociraptor still not healed.
"Craig!" Cana shouted. She looked back at the dinosaur, pulling out cards as fast as Erza requips a sword. "Alright you overgrown beef stick, take this!" She flung glowing cards at it.
Craig watched Cana unleash her magic, and he went wide-eyed. "No! Don't!"
The glowing cards exploded upon contact with the Tarbosaurus, engulfing its face in smoke. Cana remained steadfast on her assault, but her hopes of covering for Craig went up in smoke as the Tarbosaurus roared out, its scales unfazed.
She stepped back, shocked. "You're kidding! It didn't work?!"
"Magic has no effect on them. Their scales are different, like those of dragons." Craig explained. He looked forward again, not liking where the situation had gotten him. "Well this bites."
"Then what are we gotta do?!" Happy shrieked. "I don't wanna be chopped liver!" Just the thought of being eaten in the jaws of the gargantuan beast made him shudder.
Carla was nervous, though she was remaining calm on the outside. "If magic doesn't work on these things…then where does that leave us?" She asked.
The Tarbosaurus eye Craig, keeping the monster's attention as he exerted a loud and excessive roar that bellowed throughout the streets. The Tarbosaurus, challenged, roared back at Craig, meeting his ground-breaking roar. The two had their targets set for dominance. Only one was gonna win.
"Craig, get back!" Macao shouted.
"You damn moron!" Gajeel yelled.
The Tarbosaurus opened its mouth and went to attack Craig. Exerting one last roar, he went and attempted to bite him. Craig held his ground, reaching for his blood red sword. "I'm too tired for this." He grunted. Taking a rather simpler approach compared to last time, he waited at the last second before the mouth was inches away from his body. He stuck the sword in the mouth's roofing, stabbing the Tarbosaurus straight through the top of the snout. Craig quickly pulled it out with one yank as the Trabosaurus roared and recoiled in pain. It raised its giant head, the top of the nose and the ceiling of mouth having a piercing hole through it.
Everyone gawked that Craig's swordsmanship took down a dragon, but to have injured a dinosaur was disbelieving. However, they saw he wasn't down yet.
Craig pulled out a second sword, crossing them like scissors and taking one big lunge at the left ankle.
"Scissor Runner!"
Craig passed the leg, his intricate swordsmanship cutting a deep wound into the skin and bones of the ankle. The Tarbosaurus again hollered out in pain as Craig's snipping attack cut him down to size. As the dinosaur fell onto its side, Craig gave an exasperated sigh, mixed with relief as he stuttered off.
Cana smiled. "Now that's what I'm talking about! He went through that like a champ!"
Craig panted as he breathed in and out, his wounds starting to open and more red began to weakly seep from his body. Behind him, the Tarbosaurus was unable to stand, growling weakly as its leg was cut into. "Rather than feeling like a champ yourself, quite being a chump and keep your guard up." He testified.
Cana grew a tick mark. "Well excu~se me, Mr. Crankisaurus!"
"Well pardon my French, Ms. Boozisaurus!" He countered.
"Grumpy fossil!"
"Rummy barker!"
The two were in a glaring contest, both of them completely unaware of the guild sweat dropping right behind them.
The Tarbosaurus, seeing as how it no longer had any use, suddenly vanished. The red camera on the observatory flashed red, and the defeated giant suddenly dissipated into nothingness. All that really remained after its disappearance was a small blood speck.
"DNA test 1 complete. Tarbosaurus revival seminar success." A scientist announced.
Glenda nodded in understanding, albeit slowly. "Very well." She looked at the various other DNA Craig had; some that she recognized that made her breathing a little harsh. "Okay, increase power by 30%. Begin synthetic test number two within the area." She ordered.
The scientists in the area had begun pressing buttons, the red camera zooming out from Craig all towards everyone around. As buttons were pressed faster, diagrams altered, pressure and power adjustments aligned. The math involved took less than a few seconds, and once again, outside, several red particles began to emerge from the ethernano in the atmosphere.
Everyone looked all around them, seeing a lot of them emerging.
"What is it now?!" Happy shrieked.
Erza requipped a sword, holding it to one in hand. "Everyone stay on guard!"
Cana had cards ready as Craig held two swords at the time. As everyone had their backs towards the other, the red manifestations came to be alive as skin encompassed the material. Emerging were man-sized dinosaurs, velociraptors; like ones no different from the one Craig killed on the river. They all hissed, growling as numbers perhaps 15-20 surrounded the many humans. Their sharp claws and teeth were eying everyone, their bird-like head movements making them crane left and right.
"Are these…?" Lucy shuddered.
"Crap. We're in trouble now." Gray grunted.
Craig held his two swords up, snarling with all his sharp teeth present. He looked away from the dinosaurs and back up towards the observatory, staring coldly at the eye of the beast. Inside, Glenda was sitting calmly, showing no shock nor emotion as she watched her project unfold. Seeing that face, however, managed to break a small, very weak, grin onto her face. In the back of her mind, she wanted to pay back Craig for everything he's done to her.
"Let the testing begin."
It's been a month since I last updated this story, and I do apologize for that. For the past few months, my pacing has greatly declined to 1 update per week. I crammed the last of the Impure Underworld Arc in for A Contender's Bondsa while ago, and so I intend to wrap this arc up as well in another 2-3 chapters before going into some alterations between stories once again. I should have this arc done maybe by the end of April at the latest, depending on my work schedule.
This arc I came up with by watching Jurassic World, so that flashback was pretty much an obvious reference. Heard there's a sequel coming out in 2018, so I'm excited for that.
As always guys, show your appreciation by leaving reviews. Detailed ones I greatly appreciate as well. Hope you guys continue loving OCxCana! :)