Chapter 3: Back To The Rescue

Laxus sat on the train seat with a frown on his face. It had been half an hour. Usually he would be accompanied by some rock and roll. Now all he had was the sound of the train tracks clanging against the wheels. The train was half full, and he was the only one sitting alone.

"Goddamit Freed," he muttered as he folded his arms across his chest and sulked. He suddenly felt guilty at the fact that he had nearly beat up his own team. But those were his headphones, goddamit, he had them since his teenage years. And they were expensive!

But worrying over it won't help the situation any further, and Laxus knew that. He unfolded the mission paper in his hands and read through the details.

S-Class Mission: Exterminating Thieves

Hideout in Hargeon Woods

There are the witty and slick and the powerful and towering

Would rob of your valuables if not wary

Would beat the living shit out of you if you fight back

Reward 4,500,000 jewels

Laxus blew a raspberry in annoyance. What kind of a mission did he pick anyway? It sounded like the ones on the first floor request board, but with much higher pay. He'd been so mad he didn't even know what he grabbed. Beat the living shit out of you? Not if he fried them first! And how are you supposed to exterminate thiees if you can't fight back? Who describes a mission like that?

Suddenly, a sharp bell rang brought Laxus' attention away from the million questions swirling around his head.

"Attention to all passengers," a voice blared out from the speakers. "The train will be arriving at Hargeon Station very shortly. Please gather your belongings and remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop."

Laxus kept his arms folded. He had nothing with him besides his coat draped across his back.

The train soon slowed down and Laxus looked out the window. Hargeon wasn't half bad, though it was just a first impression. It wasn't as crowded as Magnolia.

The station was coming into view and as soon as the train halted and the doors opened, all the passengers either spilled out , ushing and shoving each other along the way.

Laxus left the station and took a good look around. There were numerous parks and fountains there, with old building all around. The people walked around, some of them talking and minding their own businesses. Hargeon wasn't half bad, as he thought earlier, but he still preffered Magnolia. He was more familiar with it.

Laxus adjusted his coat and wandered around before stopping by a small bar. He ordered himself a drink and settled himself on one of the stools. People around him were engrossed in a conversation with glasses of beers around them and he tried to eavesdrop on them.

None of them seemed to be interesting enough. Only small talks on their daily lives. Finally Laxus has had enough. He was about to get up and pay for his drink when a small group of men nearby caught his attention.

"So what about the Arabella?" a man with a black leather jacket and shades asked.

"Nothing," another one wearing brown leather jacket replied. "There's been no news of them."

"That ain't true!" a third one intervened. He had cropped brown hair the color of dirt and a green leather jacket. "I hear they're in Hargeon Woods right now! They plan—"

"Pipe down, Hindmarch!" the first guy slapped him across the face.

"Geez, just stating the facts!" Hindmarch muttered angrily.

"So, what is this plan, exactly?" a fourth man with no leather jacket.

They lowered their voice and Laxus craned his neck as far as he dared.

"Hald the crew's setting up a big top in Magnolia," the second man answered. "Gon' stay there a week's top."

Big top? Laxus thought to himself. What's that?

"The others are gonna come back after their medications," the man continued. "I heard they got beat up by some lousy, low-life bastards."

"Wow. What scumbags!" the third man muttered.

"And what are we doing here again?" the fourth man asked.

There was no reply.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait for our next orders," the third man said.

"Is that it?" the first man asked. "Nothing else?"

The second man shook his head. "Nope. I got nothing."

"No geez," Hindmarch said. "Keeping our heads up is the best we can do."

"Damn right. We better get moving!" the first man got up and left some money on the table and walked out with the others tailing behind him.

Laxus took one last gulp of his drink and left too. He had no intention of following them. He needed to get on with his mission as well.

What if the people those men were talking about were the thieves in my mission? Laxus thought.

"Excuse me, which way to Hargeon Woods?" he asked a passerby outside.

"Keep going straight ahead, you'll see a layer of trees. That's the entrance. It's not very far," she replied while pointing straight.

"Right, thanks," he said and headed in the pointed direction.

"But I must warn you, young man." Laxus stopped midstep. "It's not a very homely place. Lots of thieves and pickpockets about."

Without turning around, Laxus replied, "That's what I'm here for." And continued to walk.

The woman was right, the entrance wasn't far at all. As Laxus walked, he could feel the sunlight streaming in through the trees. Grass and weed were sprouting all over the ground. There were no signs of woodland animals, though.

And if I were a thief, Laxus thought, where would I hide?

Deep inside, that's where!

Laxus did a half walk, half run as he got deeper and deeper inside. The surroundings got a little darker, but there was enough light to see.

And which part of the deep would I be hiding in? Laxus asked himself again. Up the trees? Behind the bushes? The rocks? East? West? North?

Snap!

Something tightened around Laxus' ankles and he was whipped into the air and dangling three feet above the ground.

"Hey! What the hell!" he yelled out, anger rising in his chest.

"We've got one!" a voice hollered and almost immediately, a group of black clothed guys started appearing out of bushes and rocks.

"Thunder bullets!" Laxus yelled and little bullets made out of lightning shot out of his palms and striked every thief on the spot. They all fell back at the effect.

Series of moans of pain filled the air. Laxus freed himself and looked around in surpise. The thieves didn't seem like how they described it. It sounded as if they were only trying to intimidate him.

"He's got nothing on him!" one of them yelled.

"Get him!" another screamed and they all sprung to their feet and threw various weapons at him. Before he knew it, Laxus was showered with metal spikes, shurikens and daggers. He ducked and dodged but his body wasn't accustomed to do such things and the weapons wounded him ont he arms, though not deeply. One of them drew out his sword and charged at Laxus.

"Arrrgh!" he yelled his battle cry and leaped. With small throbings in his arm, Laxus managed to raise his fist and punch the man in the face, instantly knowcking him out.

"Swords out!" came a holler and sounds of blades being pulled out of their sheaths rang through the air.

"Attack!"

Half of the thieves made a dash towards Laxus while the others stayed behind as backup. Laxus noticed that they didn't hae much tactics and were only using whatever weapon they have to thrust at him. He then decided not to use too much of his magic on them.

"Lightning fist!" he cried and soon as the masked men cam enear, he swung his arm around and knocked every single one of them out. Their swords flew through the air and crashed all over the ground.

Then the other half made their move, only this time, they had a little surprise.

"Lightning storm!" Laxus yelled and a sphere of lightning appeared between his hands, sending lightning bolts in every direction and striking them here and there. As soon as the attack was over, smoke rose to the air.

"I-impossible," one of the thieves said in a ragged voice.

Laxus snorted at the response and proceeded to blast them all with another attack once and for all, but before he could do so, he heard a voice call out, "Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!"

Suddeny, a lightning bolt from the sky shot at him and took him by surprise. Laxus lay on the ground, stunned. Someone had just summoned the Raging Bolt, but who?

"He seems like a tough cookie," the same voice said from somewhere above. "I'll handle him myself."

"It's the chief!" a thief cried out happily, and with that another black, amsked figure hopped down from the trees and faced Laxus. He had more layers of clothing that the rest.

"A lightning mage, I presume?" he said in a tone implying it to be more of a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah," Laxus replied curtly.

"I see," the masked man said. "Lightning eruption!" and without warning, Laxus flew through the air as giant bolts of lightning shot up from the ground.

"What the fuck?" Laxus exclaimed as he landed face first onto the ground.

"Unexpected, didn't you think?" the masked man asked with a smirk.

Now Laxus was enraged. "So it was you who summoned the Raging Bolt! Prepare yourself, vermin! Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"

Immediately, a giant spear formed between Laxus' hands and he threw it with full strength at the masked man's direction. It was moving too fast for him to dodge and as a result, he was hit, but to Laxus' annoyance and amazement, he was unharmed.

"A dragon slayer too!" the man exclaimed excitedly. "This should be a very interesting battle!"

But for all Laxus knew no matter how much the man attacked him with his lightning, he wouldn't be affected, for he was a dragon slayer, and dragon slayers are immune to whatever external powers there are in his element, in Laxus' case, lightning. He could be stunned, yes, but not killed.

But the masked man was totally unharmed by the attack he just gave. Does that mean he was a dragon slayer too? Normal lightning mages might have the possibility on breaking down because of electricity overload. But not this man.

Only one way to find out.

"Lightning eruption!" Laxus shouted again but before the magic was connected, loud rumbled of thunder shook the earth. He doubled over and covered his ears. The noise was getting louder and louder, almost unbearable. He felt as if his ears were gong to fall off. Inside his head, he heard a lshrill little scream yelling out, though he couldn't hear the words.

Suddenly, he felt something cold placed on his wrist and a sudden jolt of electricity up his veins. All at once, he felt his energy being drained away. He fought and struggled to get away, but it felt as if his whole body was glued to ground.

Laxus had never felt so pathetic.

"Shut up! All of you! Please just stop it!" a female voice screeched. The masked mad suddenly pulled away and everything grew silent, though Laxus can still feel the rumbling echoing in his ears.

"Thanks!" and all of a sudden, a spear cut through the air striked the man on the upper arm.

"Yeow!" he yelled in pain.

Laxus took this as an opportunity to attack and punched the man in the face a couple of times with all his might. He figured if he can't beat the man with his lightning magic, he might as well finish him off in a hand-to-hand combat.

Zap!

Laxus flew backwards as the man shoved a tazer of some sort on his stomach and zapped him. He didn't understand what it was for.

"Never underestimate the power of—ARRRGH!" before the man could finish his sentence, another spear attacked him from above and grazed his shoulder.

"You! Over there!" the same female voice called out again. "Stay put! I'll finish him off!" Laxus obeyed the voice.

"Who are you?" the masked man yelled angrily. "Show yourself!"

The sound of rustling branches were heard and and a petite figure landed in front of Laxus. Laxus stared at her back up and down. She had on a flowing black cape with a hood and she was barefooted, but that was all he can tell.

The masked man snarled at her. "You!" and with that, he conjured up some lightning and blast them at her. She dodged them all with ease, except for the last, which hit her straight on the ankle. She screamed and her body fell limply to the ground.

"Oh, come on!" Laxus complained.

"I'm not finished yet!" the girl told him and got back up. The wind picked up as the girl hollered out, "Vine pillars!"

Immediately, a giant green stalk shot out of the ground a coiled itself around the man, disbaling him to move. However, the girl forgot one little detial, and those were his fingers. Little sparks of lightning shot out and cut through the vines easily.

"Eh?" the girl was suddenly baffled.

"You're different than most girls I've encountered," the masked man said with a small smirk. "Thunder bullets!"

"Force field!" and a translucent violet barrier surrounded her, forming a semisphere. The bullets were repelled and shot off in all directions.

"And just how long do you plan on staying inside that thing?" the masked man asked in taunting voice. "You're going to have to come out sometime!"

Laxus has had enough of staying put and leapt to his feet. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" he yelled and threw the spear forward, but instead of aiming for the lightning mage, he aimed for his feet. The effect was great and it blew up the surroundings within a mile radius.

The girl blasted of in the opposite direction but this time, she couldn't get up.

"This time why don't you stay put and let me handle him?" Laxus bellowed angrily and went on for another attack. He heard the sound of feet shuffling and a branch breaking behind him but he didn't bother.

The man smiled to himself with pleasure. Finally, his competition was back. He started molding something out of lightning between his hands.

"Venom bayonet!" a voice hollered. Laxus looked back and saw the girl brandishing a spear.

"Duck!" warned the girl to Laxus and aimed for the masked man's chest. It pierced through him and instantly, he was paralyzed and his lightning exploded and blinded everyone. The girl screamed as she flew through the air again and bumped her head against a tree root. Laxus groaned as the spear's effect subsided and looked around. The spear went right through the man's chest. His eyes were shut and blood was spilling. No doubt he was now dead.

Laxus looked over to the girl, who was lying still by the tree. She had been knocked unconcious, due to the huge effect she had just created. Laxus kneeled beside her and observed her. She had untamed, black hair and pink lips. Her hands felt cold as he touched it. She was small and short, possibly Levy's size.

Laxus looked at the mess around him. Every single men were lying around unconcious. He looked at the girl again. What should he do with her? Should he just leave her here? No, he can't just leave her here. Maybe he should bring her back to the guild? No, it would feel awkward.

He heard a soft groan behind him and Laxus snapped his head back. One of the men had woken up and meant to attack Laxus again. He snapped his fingers and an electric jolt hit him on the face, knocking him out again.

Laxus turned his attention back to the girl and looked at her closely, trying to make up his mind.

It was nearly midnight and almost everyone in the guild was asleep.

"Where's Laxus?" asked Mirajane as she wiped the dishes. "He ought to be here ours ago."

"Beats me," Gray replied, taking a sip of his chocolate.

"Relax you guys," Natsu said as he approached them. "Laxus' a big guy, he can take care of himself."

"I wonder if he's met Black Bandit yet," Gray muttered. As soon as the words left his lips, the doors of the guild flew open and in came Laxus. It was raining outside, and he was soaking wet.

"Laxus! There you are!" Mirajane cried out in relief. She rushed towards him and stopped when she noticed that he had something wrapped in his coat. "What's that?"

"More like, who?" Laxus said and placed the bundle on the floor. A small figure rolled out and lied limply on the floor.

Natsu and Gray gaped. "It's Black Bandit!"

"Ah, so this is the Balck Bandit you've been talking about," Mirajane said as she kneeled down and placed her hand on the girl's forehead. "Goodness, she's burning up!"

"You guys know her?" Laxus asked.

"We met her on our way back hom from our last mission," Natsu explained.

"Helped us defeat the enemy, too," Gray added.

"How did you get her here?" Natsu asked in awe.

Laxus looked down at his feet. "Yeah well she kind of fought a part of my battle, too."

They all gasped. Even the S-Class mage needed some help! The enemy must have been very strong. Only except Black Bandit defeated them, which means that she was much, much stronger! But she was knocked out.

It must've been quite a battle, Natsu and Gray thought.

"Quick, we should get her up!" Mirajane suddenly exclaimed. "She's having a high fever. Let's put her in my room first."

The boys nodded and helped Mirajane carry Black Bandit up to her room on the second floor and settled her on Mirajane's bed. She tucked her in and placed a warm, damp cloth on her forehead.

"That should do the trick," Mirajane said softly and they all exited the room.

"So Laxus, what's your story?" Natsu asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

Laxus scowled. "Do I have to?"

"What's going on up there?" Lucy's sleepy voice called out from below.

"Laxus brought home Black Bandit!" Gray announced.

"He did?" it was Erza this time. "Where is she? I want to see her!"

Lucy stared at her redhead friend. She's never seen her this excited eer since Jellal Fernandes.

"Calm down, Erza," Mirajane said, smiling. "She's burning up with a fever. She's resting now."

"Oh." Disappoiintment filled Erza's voice.

"So anyway Laxus, what's your story?" Natsu asked again.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Laxus grumbled.

"Oh come on," Lucy pleaded. "Please?"

Everyone had the same pleading looks on their face. Laxus fought the urge to slap them all. They were all like children whining for a bedtime story, and he wasn't doing any of that!

"Nothing happened!" Laxus snapped. "I fought, she helped, the enemy died and she fainted! That's all!"

"There's gotta be more than that," Erza pointed out.

"I said I don't want to talk about it!"

"Then why did you bring her here?" Gray inquired.

"I thought you said you needed someone like her in the guild!" Laxus replied, raising his voice.

"Shh, keep it down, you'll wake the others," Mirajane shushed.

Everyone grew silent.

"That's true," Natsu said finally.

Laxus grunted again. "I'm going to bed now. Don't disturb me!" and with that, he trudged up the stairs and slammed his door shut.

"Geez, what's with him?" Natsu asked himslef huffily.

"Relax, Natsu, he's always like that," comforted Lucy.

Natsu thought about it. "True," he said.

"You guys better get some rest, too," Mirajane said. She got up and went back to the sink filled with dishes.

"Aren't you going to sleep too, Mirajane?" asked Lucy.

"No, I still have workd to do, and Black Bandit is currently asleep in my bed," she answered.

"Black Bandit's in your room?" Erza asked in disbelief.

Mirajane nodded.

"Then where will you be sleeping?" Lucy asked.

Mirajane just shrugged. "I'll find myself a place. Right now, Black Bandit needs it more than I do."

Lucy smiled. She have always admired Mirajane's assertive attention and caring towards others.

"Well, she better wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed tomoorow," Erza said. "We've got loads to catch up on. Alright, goodnight everyone!"

"Night, Erza!"

"Goodnight!"

"Sweet dreams, everyone!"

Back in his room, Laxus couldn't help but ponder over today's events. That girl seemed superficial, he thought to himself, but he couldn't quite explain why.

He wondered again why he had decided to bring her to the guild but he couldn't. Was it just out of pity? He did did a lot of things just to get her here.

Like when he had to rummage through the thieves' pockets and sacks for some jewels so he can buy the tickets home for the both of them.

Or when he had to lie to the ticket seller about her.

"Is she alright?" the ticket seller asked with concern. Laxus had set her on her feet and slung one of her arms across his shoulder for support and dragged her all the way to the station because carrying her in his arms would be too embarassing.

"Yeah," he lied. "She just had a really long day."

Then he set her on the seat next to him aboard the train. Her body was very weak and kept sliding to the side and nearly fell off the seat multiple times, until Laxus had no choice but to rest her head on his shoulder and place his hand on her waist to prevent her from falling over again. Some elderly women saw this and started whispering among each other. Laxus struggled to keep his emotions under control.

When the hell is she going to wake up? Laxus thought impatiently.

And then he carried her in his arms and wrapped her in his coat while walking towards the guild. He had tried to drag her around again but it was harder to do on the rocky ground than on the smooth station floor. Nobody was going to see him this time because nobody was there. The rain was peltering on them hard and Laxus wondered if Juvia Lockser was to blame for it.

But she did save his life, Laxus thought as he dried his hair with a towel. When he felt his energy being sapped away and her spear interrupted. Maybe he just wanted to return the debt? It didn't look like she ha a home anyway. Just wandering around the woods like that. Like she didn't belong anywhere.

Everyone needs somewhere to belong.

But why did she save him? The question swirled around his head but there never came a direct answer. Was it out of pity? Was it because she needed some peace and quiet?

Maybe he should find out about it tomorrow if she wakes up, hopefully.

If he was lucky, he should be able to find some answers to his million questions.