"Don't you dare to puke on my body!"
"Ah… I don't feel so well…"
"Ha! So his vehicle problem doesn't have anything to do with his body but with his mind!"
"Well, yeah, otherwise I would be empting my guts right now." Gray said looking out the window once again and trying to stop the urge to just start taking his clothes off. It was a nasty habit he had obtained from his teacher, Ur, and that he did practically every minute when he actually had something on besides his underwear. It was one of the few bad quirks he had, and he didn't see getting rid of it anytime soon, once he didn't even do it consciously. The only thing stopping was the fact that this was Natsu's body, and besides not wanting to see what was beneath the clothes, said dragon slayer had already made very clear that he wanted to keep his clothes on his body. Of course he had objected, since he couldn't control it and this body didn't have the usual temperature he was used to, but when Natsu told him that people from the guild would notice the change right away, once he didn't usually walk around naked like a damned exhibitionist! "Argh! Don't puke on top of me either you flaming head!"
"Ah…"
"Shit! Lucy why the hell are we in a damn train anyway!" Gray Horologiumanded pushing the sick Natsu away from him.
"Don't you remember? We are taking a mission." Lucy said never taking her eyes out from her book for even a second.
"A mission? Since when are we going on a- Oh yeah, right." Gray suddenly remembered earlier that day. Lucy after dragging them outside and following them again into the guild, shoved a new mission from the request board against their faces as they were happily drinking their drinks and sulking. When the words of refusal and mind her own business, namely from Natsu, she exploded, converting into Erza the second, once again. Upon her wrath the entire guild had gone silent and even Mirajane slowly inched away from the three of them, while the two boys, scared as hell, just nodded and let themselves be dragged by her out of the guild followed by Happy. "What's this mission about anyway?"
Lucy lowered her book and looked at the ice mage trying to see if he could retain the information. "I already told you. It's to catch a band of thieves and turn them to the authorities. It's nothing too big, and the best part is that is far away from any town or habited area, so the two of you can go as berserk as you wish, without having to worry about structures or civilians."
"Oh, so this means I can beat the shitty flame eater to a bloody pulp as much as I wish right?" Gray asked finally taking his eyes out of the window and jerking a thumb towards the passed out mage.
"Yeah, it means that, but I would rather that you didn't. We need him alive." She petted Happy who was peacefully slipping on her lap and mumbling every now and then something to do with fish. "We are almost there, it shouldn't take much time."
When they finally reach the train station nearest to their destination, they are filled with happiness. Natsu because he's no longer in a vehicle empting his gut, so he was beaming happily. The other three because they no longer have to watch him mopping around the floor and puking into a bucket that they had sneaked out of the train's bar. Just to think they still have to catch it again to go back.
"Alright! I'm fired up! Let's get this mission done!"
"Says the one who was empting his stomach two minutes ago, aye."
Lucy sighed and took a map out of Gray's hands, looking at it, only to have it snatched away again by said mage. "Hey! I was looking at that!"
"No, I was before you took it from me so rudely." Gray said making the blonde pout as he looked at the map. "Where are we supposed to go?"
"This clearing right here." She said pointing at the map, more precisely a small spot in the middle of the vast forest.
"Wouldn't it be better for those thieves to hide in a more secluded place? Like a cave or something?" Gray asked quirking a pink brow and looking at Lucy.
"Maybe they are just getting dumber." Natsu pointed out peeking at the map from behind the other two wizards' shoulders.
"Good point. Anyway, it makes the job easier to us." She said shrugging and preparing to go on the direction of said clearing. "Let's get going, this place is about an hour or two from here. If we hurry up we can be home by night."
Since it was an isolated region and the closest town was the one they were already in, the walk there wasn't that easy, specially because it didn't have that much roads and trail, so some of the path was done through the trees and vegetation. Apart from that was a quite normal walk. As normal as you can get coming from this team.
Natsu and Gray were arguing and bickering all the way there, Happy was flying above enjoying the show, while Lucy watched, comfortably seated on Horologium and made some commentaries here and then. When they got there all they saw was an open space with no one around, and the only sound that could be heard was the birds and the wind as it passed through the leafage. "Is this really the place?"
"'For the last time Natsu, yes!' she says." After some double checks to assure that they were indeed in the right place, they separated and surveyed the surroundings, being careful to not get too distanced. Natsu and Gray were practically defenseless. Lucy finally exited Horologium and sent him back through the gate. "I don't understand, the request said clearly that they were here! Where have they gone to?"
Soon they got their answer as they entered yet another clearing and they were ambushed from all sides, by the group. There were man all around them, behind the vegetation, on top of threes and one was hiding behind a ridiculously small rock that didn't even cover half of his face.
"Ha! Those guys from the town actually contacted a guild!"
"Let's just beat them up and take their money!"
"The girl sure is hot. Can't we just keep her?"
They were at a great numeric disadvantage, since for each of them there were more than thirteen opponents, that is if you counted with Happy. Lucy immediately summoned Virgo and the celestial spirit started taking them down rather easily, since most of her opponents just stared and drooled over her instead of doing any actual attacking. Happy was able to avoid all the attacks directed at him, and was even able to make some of his pursuers go against the threes and each other. Natsu was right after all, they were getting dumber.
As for Natsu and Gray, they were having slightly more trouble, because you can only take as many out using nothing more than your fists.
"Hey! Sakura head! How do you attack using this stupid body?"
"You use fire you idiot! And I'm not Sakura head you are!"
"Shut up dipshit! Don't state the obvious! How am I supposed to make fire?"
"Hell if I know!" Natsu replied as he token another one down. "I have been using dragon slayer fir magic for so long that I do it on instinct!"
"Great that's just great! Then how" punch "in the hell" kick "am I" elbow to the ribs "supposed" dodge "to attack!"
"Don't know! Figure that by yourself!" he said just as he was punched square in the face. "Damn it! How the hell do you use the ice-make thingy?"
"I don't know! Figure that by yourself!" Gray angrily replied back, trying to focus his murder intent on the enemies instead of Natsu.
"Guys gut that out!"Lucy, seeing that the two boys were in a good road to get beaten, interfered. "Natsu stop being a simple minded idiot and search in your brain how to do it! Gray just tell him how, before both of you end up killed."
Gray sighed in exasperation knowing that being stubborn at this time would make no good to him. But knowing Natsu and his also stubborn nature he knew that there was no way that the other boy was going to be the one to do what Lucy told them first. "Fine! Listen well you idiot, because I'm only going to say it once!" he yelled at the other boy. "Put your hands like this, and think really hard in what form you want to do! Say Ice Make and then the object you want to do."
"Got it!"
'Maybe I should have made practice a bit before we came in an actual mission.' Lucy thought as she and Virgo started facing an opponent that wasn't drooling.
"Ice Make Hammer!" Natsu yelled and a small smoke surrounded him. When Gray and Lucy actually set eyes on his creation their jaws dropped.
"What the hell is that supposed to be!"
"A hammer?"
"That looks nothing like a hammer!" Gray yelled pointing at the deformed object. "It looks like, like… "there weren't even words to describe it. "A stick with something glued at the tip!"
"Well, I'm sorry it ain't as good as yours, but I like and I'll use it." Natsu said offended as he started swinging his new "hammer" around. "Besides, at least I made something."
"What was that you bastard? If I'm only fighting bare handed is because of you!" the now pink haired teen shouted. "Have you even tried to remember how to use dragon slayer magic yet?"
"I'm trying, I'm trying! I can't produce hammers and remember fire magic at the same time!"
"That is not a hammer!"
"Whatever." Natsu shrugged and kept on using his awesome new creation before it melted and he had to make another one. Ignoring Gray's "that's even worse than the one from before" he yelled over his shoulder. "Ha! For you to use Dragon Slayer magic you have to eat your element before actually using it."
"What! How in the hell am I supposed to find fire and eat in the middle of a god damned forest!"
"Beats me."
"Argh! Just forget it! Let's just get this over with!"
Lucy ignored the duo's discussion the entire time focusing on her opponents and making a mental plane of training for the two of them when they got back home. If they weren't willing to cooperate, she knew that Erza would be more than an enough motivation for the two.
When they were finally over they were all pretty tired. "Man, that took forever!" Lucy complained stretching a bit. "Normally it doesn't take that much time to beat a bunch of petty thieves."
"What were you expecting? Me and fire brain here can't use our normal attacks and Erza isn't here, so of course it would take much longer." Gray said sitting beneath a tree.
"Ice Make Spear!" Natsu said creating something between a spear and a shield. Don't ask how. "Wow! I'm getting pretty good at this!"
"In your dreams!"
"Hey! At least I'm doing what Master said!"
"Tch." Gray got up from his spot and walked over to the pile of beaten up thieves. "So what now? We have to get all these guys to the station from the city where the train stopped?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It will be a tad difficult since there are so - Good Lord! Gray your clothes!"
"Damn!" Gray said searching around for the missing items.
"Hey, how come that you are using your own underwear instead of Natsu's?"
"I couldn't find any in his apartement"
"What! Natsu that's gross!"
Natsu that was having fun with this new body's ability to make ice, upon hearing his name looked up and tilted his head in confusion. "What?"
"You don't have any underwear in your apartement?"
"What? Of course I have! It's just that laundry day still hadn't arrived so…" looking at the two's doubtful faces he insisted. "It's true, I swear! Ask Happy if you want!"
The three looked around at the mention of the blue cat.
"By the way, where is Happy?"
"He was here during the fight…"
"Oh my god! He was kidnapped! Help!"
"Calm down you stupid idiot! He must be around here somewhere." Gray said as he hit Natsu upside the head, forgetting that it was his own body he was hitting.
"Oh yeah? Then where you dimwit!"
As the two kept arguing, Lucy heard something coming from the thieves. "Erm… guys, I think I found him.." she said pointing at the pile. After being able to free the cat, he started pouting.
"What took you so long to find me, aye? Am I that unnoticeable?" he then promptly started wailing, causing Gray to scoff, Natsu to sigh and Lucy to try and comfort him. "I was being crushed there!"
"No Happy, of course not! We are sorry! Stop crying!"
"Be thankful and stop crying before we put you back in there."
"You would really do that?" Happy said with teary eyes looking up at Gray. Seeing no reaction, he started crying again.
"Ah no! I was joking, joking! I would never do that to you! Not to Happy!" Gray said waving his arms in the air trying to get forgiveness from the cat. "Stop crying! I'll even get you a fish when you get home."
Happy, being Happy, immediately beamed at that. "Really?" 'Wasn't he crying ten seconds ago?' Lucy and Natsu thought as Gray was relived to stop the sobbing cat.
When the sobbing cat had finally stopped sobbing, and they had managed to find a way of taking all of those men down to the town (the people there were actually surprised that they were able to catch them all at once), it was almost nightfall.
"Ah! So tired! I just want to get home." Lucy said as they were once again in the train.
"You think we're not?" Gray said yawning and leaning against the window preparing to sleep. Lucy just smiled and went on reading her book, while Natsu once again was sick to his stomach and Happy was quietly seated next to her, looking forward to his promised fish.
Another update and it only happened because I should be studying for exams… but oh well, I felt inspired! Don't expect the next one to be so quick though… But I'll try!
Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts! You guys rock ^^I hope you all enjoyed it and see you on the next chapter! They will back to the guild, and remember nobody knows about their switch! Look forward for it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!
