Natsu and Sting woke up in cages. Sting growled, "Again?! This sucks." Natsu looked annoyed and grumbled, "I agree." He tried to melt the bars with his fire magic. He saw the border around his cage collect his magic. "Shit! It's the same magic depleting barrier as before!" Sting got disappointed, but he determined, "We have to get out of here." Suddenly, Natsu smiled, saying, "Wait a minute." He sniffed the air. Sting also sniffed. They looked at each other and smiled.
Lucy, Happy, Yukino, and Lector ran into the room. Natsu gleefully shouted, "Luce!" Lucy ran up to his cage. She teased, "So what's this about all the hell you were going to raise?" Natsu rolled his eyes, whining, "Come on, Luce!" She giggled. She looked over at Yukino picking the locks on Sting's cage with her hair pins. Lucy asked, "Hey, Yuki, can you help with this cage after you're done with Sting's cage?" She nodded as she went back to the lock. Natsu asked, "Can't you get Taurus or another spirit to open my cage?" Lucy said, "Yukino and I have to conserve our magic. Let's just say you'll be all fired up when you see what we do." Natsu said, "I'm just glad you came back for us." Lucy teased Natsu, "See? I'm taking such good care of you." Natsu blushed, adding, "Yeah. You are the best girlfriend a man could ask for." Happy flew by, teasing, "You liiiiike her." Natsu proudly said, "You're right, little buddy. I DO like her." Happy floated above and stopped his snickering. He looked at both of them, completely confused. He asked, "Natsu, when did that happen? Are you saying you're dating each other?" Natsu put his hand through the bars onto Lucy's hand. He answered, "Actually, Luce and I are mates, which is more serious." Happy asked, "Is she going to live with us soon?" Lucy said, "Uh, Natsu and I haven't discussed that yet. But I'm sure that will be a more serious conversation in a little bit. First, we need to get out of here and stop these people."
Yukino exclaimed, "I got it!" Sting's door unlocked. She then went over to Natsu's cage and started on that lock. Sting went over to Lector. "We're going to go take watch." Lucy said, "I'm going to look for the other guys at the entrance. I hope we can get out of here."
Sting whispered, "Heads up! We have company. Yukino, Lucy, hide! I'm going back to my cage, so they won't get suspicious." He walked back into his cage and closed the unlocked door. Before Lucy and Yukino hid, Lucy went over to Natsu. She whispered, "Natsu. Do not drink the second potion. Even if you have to drink the first potion, do not drink the second potion. Promise me." He kissed her through the bars. "I promise, Luce." Yukino looked at Sting. "Promise me too, Sting." He nodded. Lucy, Yukino, and the exceeds went back to the hallway where they got in and hid.
Two guards came through the other entrance with two cups. The hypnotizing mage also accompanied them. A guard said, "Good news! We're going to have you figure out which one of you is the alpha." Natsu bragged, "I'm pretty sure I already am." Sting gave him a dirty look, challenging, "Are you sure of that? Maybe we should fight one another to figure that out." The guard smiled. He announced, "Great! You'll get your wish very soon. You'll be battling each other to figure out who is the alpha."
The two guards brought the drinks of water. Both Sting and Natsu looked skeptical. Sting said, "We're not drinking anything. We don't need to drink any potion or poison or whatever. We can battle each other without it." The hypnotizing mage looked at Sting in the eyes. He handed the first potion to Sting, and he drank it. Natsu was agitated. "Sting, fight whatever he's doing!" The hypnotizing mage looked directly at Natsu before he could look away. He was also forced to drink the potion.
The potion instantly took effect. Both men were moaning in pain, their instincts taking over. Their eyes went reptilian and their fangs got longer. The guards said, "Wow! The transformation occurred much faster in these two. Let's just give them the other potion." One guard unlocked Natsu's cage and walked in to get the cup to Natsu. Suddenly, a pair of wings sprouted from his back. "What the hell?" the guard yelled, as he dropped the cup to the floor. Natsu growled loud as horns grew on the top of his head. A tail was coming from the back. Sting's howls were heard as the same transformation was happening to him.
The hypnotist looked at the other guard. He ordered, "Get that potion to the other one!" The guard nodded and rushed over to Sting's cage. Sting pushed the unlocked door open and smacked the cup out of the guard's hands. The guard stared in fear as Sting's pupils became slits. The guard inched back to the hypnotist. The hypnotist peered in Sting's eyes. He demanded, "You'll go back into your cage." Sting stopped walking and turned toward his cage.
From where Lucy and Yukino were watching, they could see the hypnotist had Sting under his control. Lucy whispered, "I know I should be saving energy, but I need to do this." Lucy called Aries. "Aries, stop those three men!" Aries shyly said, "Okay, mistress." She produced a whole bunch of wool to incapacitate the men. Lucy directed, "Make sure you give the hypnotist guy fluff specifically on his eyes!" Aries responded shyly, "Okay." Wool covered his eyes. They ran to get Natsu and Sting to safety.
Sting looked at Yukino with those reptilian eyes. She seemed unsure at first, but she hugged him. She asked, "Sting, are you okay in there?" Sting rubbed his head on Yukino's cheek. Then, he kissed her. She mumbled, "Yup, that's my Sting. I love you, too." She turned around to see Lucy and Natsu also kissing passionately. She whispered, "Lucy, you ready to get out of here?" She nodded and ordered, "Natsu, we have to go out that door." He silently nodded.
They ran through the hallways until they got to the fork. They bumped into Gajeel, Gray, Rufus, and Orga. To say the least, the other men were shocked at Natsu's and Sting's appearance. Rufus commanded, "Lucy, Yukino, just move quietly toward us." Lucy rolled her eyes, and revealed, "It's fine, Rufus. Neither of our guys took the second potion. They kept their promise to us." Gajeel went forward to the other two. He asked, "Are ya really in there, Salamander?" Natsu punched him. Gajeel held his jaw. He mused, "Yup, it's him."
Gray wondered, "Okay. Should we get out of here?" Rufus said, "I believe the girls have a responsibility. There is a projector room if they would like to accomplish their duty. We can record it." They looked at their boyfriends. Yukino instructed, "Come on, Sting." Lucy pecked Natsu's lips, steering him away: "Let's go, Natsu." He grinned, showing off his elongated fangs. Both men followed their mates and the rest of the men. Their exceeds flew behind them.
They got back into the projector room. Lucy looked at the size of the room, deducing, "Yukino, I don't know if we can be in this room when we call out Draco. It's too small." She nodded. Everyone heard a lot of footprints approaching. Rufus grabbed the projector. He ordered, "Let's get out of here. We need to go back to the entrance." They got out of the room and went back to the fork. They saw people struggling against Aries' fluff. They ran to the hidden door. Rufus worried, "We're trapped unless we find the button!"
Natsu immediately pushed a button. Apparently, his dragon eyes were much stronger than ever in the dark. The door opened, and they ran back to the entrance. As soon as they got out of the cave, they heard a lot of people running after them.
Lucy looked at Yukino. She whispered, "When those guards get outside, we need to call Draco." Yukino looked at the other men. She said, "This will take a lot of Lucy's and my power to call this spirit. Please protect us." All of the men nodded. Happy and Lector flew above Natsu and Sting. The footsteps got louder. They heard, "After them! We need to have the dragon slayers finish the ritual!"
A huge group of guards and followers ran outside toward Natsu and Sting. Orga, Gajeel, Rufus and Gray immediately stepped in front of them. Gray said, "You guys ready to give them hell?" Gajeel said, "Gihi. Always." Orga said, "Damn right! These people have been a huge pain in our asses." Rufus said, "I'm ready to give them a taste of their own medicine." They prepared for battle.
Gray ordered, "Aim for the mages first. They're powerful, and we need them out of the way." Rufus said, "Let me at the hypnotist. I have a plan." Gajeel responded, "He's all yours. I want the boulder mage. He and I have a score to settle. Gihi!" Orga pulled out his god lightning cannon: "I'll deal with the crowd." Gray replied, "I guess that leaves me with the plant mage."
The crowd of mages and guards ran after them. The hypnotist saw Rufus and looked directly in his eyes. Rufus seemed to go blank. The hypnotist said, "Now, I want you to use your magic to trap our dragon slayer friends." Rufus repeated, "Our dragon slayer friends?" The hypnotist responded, "You need to trap your friends in the air." Rufus looked up at Natsu and Sting flying in the air. Rufus simply said, "Memorize." The hypnotist looked surprised. "What did you say?" Rufus said, "Nice try. But I can memorize your magic just by observing it. As soon as I looked away, you didn't have power over me." The hypnotist said, "But it worked before!" Rufus simply said, "You didn't drug me this time. Ice Make Spear!" Rufus held an icy spear in his hands. Rufus quipped, "I'm going to keep you a little distance from me. I think you've done quite enough with your powers." He knocked the hypnotist on his back. Rufus straddled him and ripped a piece of his cloak off and covered the hypnotist's eyes. The hypnotist yelled, "What are you doing?!" Rufus responded, "Keeping you from using your powers. As long as nobody can look in your eyes, you can't control them." Rufus observed Gray fighting the plant mage. "Memorize." He then called forth vines to wrap around the hypnotist. The hypnotist yelled, "You won't get away with this!" Rufus manipulated a vine to shoot a projectile needle at the hypnotist's neck. It knocked him out. Rufus said, "I already have. That's for hurting my friends."
Sting was in the air, observing a crowd of men chasing after Yukino and Lucy. He put his open palms together with his fingers touching each other. The he separated the palms and kept the fingers together. A huge ball of white light formed in the circle in his hands. He then pulled his arms apart, and the enormous ball of white light flew at the men. The subsequent light ball incapacitated the men and threw Lucy and Yukino forward. Lucy rubbed her arms and knees. She asked, "What was that?" Yukino looked back at Sting and smiled. She said, "Thank you, Sting, for the Holy Ray." Sting grinned at her while his wings flapped. He then went back to battle to assist Orga, Natsu, Happy, and Lector.
Gray was giving the plant mage a formidable fight. The vines shot towards Gray at record speed, but Gray just froze them. Gray spat, "Is that all you've got?" The plant mage retorted, "I'm just getting started." He called forth stinging plants. One of the plants shot the drugged needles. Gray remembered what they did to Sting earlier. Gray yelled, "Ice Make Shield." An enormous ice shield went up just in time, as the needles embedded themselves in the ice. The plant mage was furious. He yelled, "I'm not done yet! Poison Plant Attack!" An enormous red flower showed up and threw forth its poisonous pollen at Gray. Gray got some pollen on his skin: "Ahhhh! That burns!" Rufus joined Gray. He said, "It appears you need some assistance! Memorize." The plant sent forth more poison pollen. Rufus side stepped it. Rufus said, "Thorn Curse Vine Grab." A whole bunch of thorny vines appeared from the ground and grabbed the plant mage. He howled in pain as all the thorns bit into his skin, and the vines pulled his arms and legs apart. The poison flower disappeared. Gray ran up to him and knocked the plant mage out. Gray said, "Thanks. I guess I don't have a green thumb after all." Rufus rolled his eyes. He noticed Gray's red skin and ordered, "Show me your burn. I need to treat it immediately. You're lucky I memorized a number of antivenin magical spells." He put his arms above Gray. Gray's arm gradually got better. Gray said, "Thanks!"
Gajeel was going full force towards the boulder slinging earth mage. The iron dragon slayer yelled, "Iron Dragon Roar!" The earth mage put up a rock shield, which protected him from the explosions. The two mages ran toward each other. The dragon slayer was breaking rocks left and right with his iron fists. The earth mage yelled, "Try that with a diamond shield!" The iron slayer was getting angrier. Gajeel chomped into the diamond. "Gihi! Thanks fer the carbon, asshole! Steel Dragon's Sword!" His iron arm turned into a spiked steel sword. The jagged edges rotated around his arm. He extended his arm toward the earth mage. Gajeel managed to slice into the man's arm before he could jump away. The man screamed in agony. In desperation, the earth mage made a thick lead shield around himself. The earth mage manipulated the ground to escape into an underground cave. Gajeel caught on to what the man was doing. Gajeel yelled, "Karma Dragon: Iron Spiral!" Gajeel's legs became a drill and he went down after the earth mage. Before the earth mage could go further into the underground cave, Gajeel threw his Iron Slayer Kunais at the Earth Mage. The earth mage was stunned when his clothes were stuck to a cave wall. Gajeel used his foot blades to walk up the cave wall. The earth mage tried to call forth a rock column, but Gajeel used his Iron Dragon's Roar to destroy the column into little rocks and dust. Before the earth mage could call anything more, Gajeel threw forward Iron ropes and wrapped them around a large stalactite hanging from the cave's ceiling to help him climb up. Once he got onto the stalacitite, he pushed his legs onto it using it as leverage until he turned his fist into Iron Dragon's Club. The earth mage was flinging all sorts of boulders toward Gajeel. Gajeel was jumping from one rock to another as he rushed toward the earth mage. He knocked the earth mage unconscious. He mused, "Gihi. Time to sleep!" He grabbed the earth mage off of the wall and put him over his shoulder. He used his Iron Dragon's Foot Blades and Iron Dragon's Pickaxe to easily climb outside of the cave. He grumbled at the earth mage, "Your ass is so freakin' heavy!"
During the fight, Sting and Natsu flew with their exceeds to use aerial attacks. Happy said, "Natsu, it's so fun flying with you!" Natsu snorted and snarled in his dragon language. He grinned at Happy. Happy said, "I'm going to assume that means you agree." Natsu observed a couple of men coming close to Yukino and Lucy. He attacked from above with a fire dragon's roar to make a fire barrier for Lucy and Yukino's safety. The guards jumped back in pain. Lucy smiled up at Natsu. She said to Yukino, "It looks like we both owe our dragon slayers."
Rufus used the hypnotism magic from before, but he used the projector to reach a larger group of people. A large number of people sat down, entranced. Gray commented, "I'm glad I don't have to fight you again, Rufus." Rufus grinned and replied, "I am too. I intend to make these people watch our ladies with full attention." Gray said, "We just need to get the rest of the group under your control and we'll be fine."