EARTH-LANDERS
The "hermetic door" opened, splitting into two with one part ascending into the ceiling and the other descending into the floor. The opposite side showed a ruined and dusty pair of escalators leading to the surface. The team ascended its steps, blinded a bit by the sudden flash of light. Weisskopf and Eucliffe took the lead, cautiously ascending the rickety steps of the escalator.
"What's up there?" Eucliffe asked his "twin".
"We'll see. I honestly don't know." replied Weisskopf, followed by a nervous chuckle.
Once reaching the surface, they were greeted by the sight of numerous wrecked buildings with glass facades and sleek, futuristic features. Along with the buildings, cars of numerous makes and colors, all dusty and rusty with damaged windows, littered the streets. In the distance, numerous tall buildings graced the skyline, along with a lot of fog. The place looked very abandoned, though it gave a "not alone" kind of feeling as well.
"What's this place?" Eucliffe asked his "twin" again, in awe of his surroundings.
"Looks like a city? Well, what was part of this city." Weisskopf replied, then pointing to the skyline with skyscrapers.
"Those are some really tall buildings, Crocus' palace is nothing compared to those!" Eucliffe exclaimed at the sheer size and height of the skyscrapers.
"What?" Weisskopf asked.
"Ah, nothing." Eucliffe replied, which Weisskopf just brushed off. Weisskopf then gave the others an "all-clear" signal.
Then they proceeded to walk along the deserted roads, looking for signs that could help with their journey in the abandoned city. All they saw were LED signs that kept on flickering, broken lamp posts, dispensers of sorts, abandoned cars, more abandoned cars and WOW.. more abandoned cars.
"Just keep watch for anything or anyone. Whatever could lead us to... the right direction?" Weisskopf confusedly instructed. Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.
They walked along a boulevard laden with dead Cherry Blossoms and car wrecks. Their trip took about one to two hours of trekking along roads, avenues, and side streets. They were taking in the "sights" of "Genos Square", according to a sign Gajeel saw. Then, they saw something that really got their attention; a half-wrecked glass dome with a yellow Fairy Tail symbol and a lambda sign.
"Fairy Tail - Sector for Anomalous Materials?" Levy read the sign.
"Some... science-y place?" Lucy confusedly added.
"Fairy Tail is a bunch of smart-ass geniuses here, great.." Fullbuster sarcastically remarked.
The team entered the dome through a non-revolving revolving door. The inside of the place is all white; white tiles, white walls, white ceiling, but it's all coated with layers and layers of dust, amongst lots of clutter like computer terminals, desks, microscopes, and other stuff for conducting research.
"Everything here is so.. white." Dragneel said in awe.
"Oh wow, even the paper's white. Jackpot.." Fullbuster sarcastically remarked.
The sun was setting on the far distance; an orange-blue hue coloring the sky, which signaled the team's trekking to a halt. The skyscrapers in the distance started lighting up as well.
"Let's make camp here for now." Schwarzmann instructed the group.
Everyone then started to sit down either on the floor, or one of the surprisingly intact white, cushioned chairs. Then, a breaking sound was heard, and all looked to the source; Gray Severin sat on a chair that broke under him.
"Maybe you're not supposed to sit, Gray?" Zmeyevski jokingly told Severin, who then just glared at him. Snickers were evident amongst the team.
Time passed; it was night time, around 9 PM according to the surprisingly functioning holographic clock on the wall. The team were poking around the place, looking for stuff to use, or stuff of interest.
Dragneel found a functioning computer terminal, and began poking around with the buttons.
"What the heck is this thing?" Natsu pressed one button after another, until he pressed a button which caused the screen to light up. Dragneel
jumped in shock, then continued to stare at the screen which read:
FAIRY TAIL - SECTOR FOR ANOMALOUS MATERIALS/ SYSTEM VER 0.227
/RECEPTION TERMINAL - MENU
[Reception logs]
[Terminal access logs]
[Messages]
[Shelter controls]
"Eh?" Dragneel then pondered on what each one does, then poked around with the arrows keys on the keyboard, which changed the highlighted area.
"Oh, so that's how this works." he added.
Just as he was fiddling around with the thing, Lucy spotted him on her scavenging run.
"Hey Natsu! Find anything?" Lucy chirped.
"There's this thing.." Dragneel then moved away to show Lucy the screen. She then stared at the screen, analyzing it.
"You press those arrows to move that thingy, but I don't know what it really does." Dragneel added, pointing at the keyboard.
"Oh? Then let's take a look." Lucy then pressed the up arrow, then pressed the enter key. The screen then changed its layout.
"Woah! How'd you do that?" Dragneel asked in awe.
"Just a hunch. Now let's see what's in this thing.." Lucy replied, then moving her attention back to the terminal.
FAIRY TAIL - SECTOR FOR ANOMALOUS MATERIALS/ SYSTEM VER 0.227
/RECEPTION TERMINAL - RECEPTION LOGS
**ERROR**
"Wow, great help."Lucy sarcastically remarked at the thing, then she pressed the escape key, another "hunch".
"Have you used something like this before?" Dragneel asked, quite surprised.
"No, I'm just getting these weird hunches, okay?" Lucy replied, then she went to the next category.
FAIRY TAIL - SECTOR FOR ANOMALOUS MATERIALS/ SYSTEM VER 0.227
/RECEPTION TERMINAL - ACCESS LOGS
/SHOWING RECENT SIX
23:59 - Arktis, Gray
15:02 - Szkarlatska, Erza
11:54 - Di Leone, Leo
09:22 - Ryumoto, Natsu
06:45 - Jager, Alzack
03:55 - Siderea, Lucy
"Now we know who's who here, sort of." Lucy stated
"How recent is this? Just a few hours ago or CENTURIES AGO?!" Dragneel yelled at the terminal, flames coming out of his mouth.
"Hey, calm down! Don't burn this thing!" Lucy chided Dragneel. Dragneel then just scoffed at the thing.
Lucy then continued to browse throught the terminal.
"What're your messages, hmm?" Lucy hummed, going to the next category.
FAIRY TAIL - SECTOR OF ANOMALOUS MATERIALS/ SYSTEM VER 0.227
/RECEPTION TERMINAL - MESSAGES
**ERROR**
"And your message is an error.." Lucy then went to the next category, which really piqued her's and Dragneel's interest.
FAIRY TAIL - SECTOR FOR ANOMALOUS MATERIALS/ SYSTEM VER 0.227
/RECEPTION TERMINAL - SHELTER CONTROLS
[Open passageway]
[Initiate lockdown]
The two intently stared at the "Open passageway" command, not paying attention to the more devastating "Inititate lockdown".
"Hmm, let's open this 'passageway'? See what lies ahead?" Lucy asked Dragneel.
"Yeah! I'm fired up now!" Dragneel replied, excited at the prospect of seeing "nerd" Natsu.
Lucy then pressed enter on "Open passageway", then "Yes" on the following "Are you sure?" prompt.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the dome.
"Whatever this stuff is, it tastes really damn good!" Fullbuster remarked.
"Does it taste like fish?" Happy jovially asked the Ice-Make mage, eyes and mouth wide open, some drool coming out of the Exceed's wide-open mouth.
"Of course not, Happy. Not everything tastes like fish." Carla chastised the blue exceed, taking a small sip from her bottle.
"It's just some fizzy drink. Tastes good, though." Pantherlily added, staring at his own bottle.
"What the heck does this mean? I can't read this crap!" Gajeel irratedly stated, glaring at the wording that spelt "Корпус Кола" on the bottle.
"Oh, that says 'Korpus Kola'. Must be a soda of sorts." Zmeyevski informed Gajeel, who then gave an "oh" and drank some more.
"It says 'Kola', of course it's a soda!" Severin yelled at Zmeyevski. He then threw his bottle through a window, smashing it. The bottle crashed somewhere down below that caused a cat to screech.
"Jeez, what Panzer drove up your ass this morning?" Weisskopf reacted, grinning madly.
"That Tiger that we jammed into your building, that's what!" Severin yelled back, glaring. Weisskopf gave a mock salute, then returned to chatting with Eucliffe.
"Somebody's got their fingers repeatedly slammed in a hatch." Weisskopf told Eucliffe, who then nudged the Fuhrer on his shoulder.
The team suddenly felt a little shaking in the building, causing the accumulated dust to unsettle from the ceiling, coating the oh-so-white floor and some of the group.
They heard some mechanical whirring noises shortly afterwards.
"What the heck is that?! And what's happening?!" Levy asked quite panickedly.
"Maybe flame-brain is tearing the building down!" Fullbuster speculated. Everyone ran for cover, or made cover.
The shaking stopped, then the group started to investigate the building. They ended up in the lobby, where they noticed that there was suddenly a hole that engulfed the entire lobby area, a really perfect circle. Some sort of noise could also be heard from below.
Everyone just stared down at the big, pitch-dark hole.
"Where'd this come from?" Zmeyevski pondered, looking down at the big hole.
"If anybody tries to push me down, I'm giving you a serious can of whoop-ass." Eucliffe warned. Cheney rolled his eyes at the statement.
A few seconds of silence later...
"Anybody wanna give it a try?" Levy suggested, giving a nervous laugh due to how stupid the idea sounded.
"Ladies first." Gajeel then motioned to the hole.
"Gee, thanks for the gentlemanly manners." Levy replied sarcastically.
The noise got closer and closer, and everyone went into their battle stances. Then they saw that it's just a circular, grey platform with a button stand on one edge.
"Sweet, an elevator! Now we don't have to push anyone down!" Weisskopf exclaimed, earning a "WTF" look from Eucliffe.
Levy then walked to the button platform, but before she was able to push the descend button, Lucy and Natsu Dragneel came running out through a door.
"GUYS!" they both yelled.
"We're right in front of you, no need for yelling, you know?" Eucliffe stated to the two.
"What is it?" Erza asked, wanting to get to the point.
"We found this.. thing with buttons, then we found out who're the people of this building, along with some open button for passageway to a shelter of some sort" Dragneel stated.
"This?" Erza then pointed at the platform.
"Yeah, we think so." Lucy added.
"Then hop in, we were just about to leave." Erza motioned towards the elevator. Lucy and Dragneel stepped on the platform. followed by Levy pushing the button, then the platform proceeded to descend.
Thirty seconds into the platform's descent..
"Jeez, how far down is this 'shelter' place?" Dragneel complained, looking back up to the entrance, which shrank second by second.
"It's probably a fallout shelter, something I'm very sure you've never heard of, like nuclear weapons. Have you?" Weisskopf inquired.
"NOPE." Dragneel replied in an instant.
"Thought so." Weisskopf stated.
"We do." Zmeyevski proclaimed, pointing at him and Severin, who just scoffed.
"Of course you do, we're from the same, damn world, unfortunately." Weisskopf deadpanned, rolling his eyes.
After about a minute and a half, the platform came to a full stop in front of a grey, metallic door. The door then opened, retracting to its sides.
The team went through the door, entering a dimly lit room with grey-colored metal panels for walls and flooring, both dusty and mildly rusty. Only one out of the four lights remained functional, since two of them fell to the ground and one was just flickering accompanied by electrical sparks. The room was empty save for a desk and a control panel, which was conveniently under the working light's bulb. The group made their way towards the control panel; the control panel consisted of a red button, an intercom, and a square-ish outlet of sorts.
"So, any bright ideas?" Weisskopf asked the group as he stared at the control panel.
Silence..
"Rogues?"
"Nope." Both Rogues replied in unison.
"Natsus?"
"Me? Uh, no, no idea." both Natsus replied in unison, startling each other.
"Grays?"
"Nada." Fullbuster replied. Severin stayed silent.
"Sting?"
"You? Me? Nothing, not really.." Eucliffe replied cheekily.
"Why don't you just press the red button, hmm?" Lucy interjected.
"Ehrm, big red buttons usually do something that kills everyone, so I don't know-" Weisskopf nervously stated before being cut-off.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Severin then pounded the button in a fit of impotent rage, earning him "WTF" looks.
"Great, you'll kill us all.." Weisskopf stated as he looked at Severin in disdain.
"At least I killed the Fuhrer and his lackeys-" Severin boasted as he crossed his arms. Then Erza grabbed him by his shirt's collar.
"Your irresponsible act could spell disaster for us all. I deem it fit to punish you." she declared.
"Oh ho ho, go ahead, see if I care." Severin flatly replied.
A voice suddenly sounded through the control panel, startling everyone, and forcing Erza to unceremoniously plop Severin down to the floor.
"これは百万分の時間今月です！まさか！私たちはボーリングに行くにしたくありません！" a voice shouted through the control panel's intercom.
Dumbfounded, the group exclaimed "What?" all at once.
"Oh, English. Go away, that's what." the voice stated.
"Is this Fairy Tail Sector for Anomalous Materials?" Lucy asked.
"Go away this instant. I will not be answering any questions." the voice stated.
"Hey, come on! We're Fairy Tail too! Not kinda from here.. but still Fairy Tail!" Dragneel shouted at the intercom.
"Depart immediately or we'll be forced to take action." the voice replied with a rather strained tone.
"Just let us in! Let's talk!" Fullbuster attempted to reason with the voice.
"You've forced our hand.." the voice stated in an ominous tone.
Two turrets suddenly popped up on the wall in front of them, then proceeded to shoot at them in rapid fire mode with blue laser beams. The group took cover behind the control panel and Fullbuster's Ice-Shield.
"Hey! We're not looking for trouble! We're just looking for Fairy Tail!" Dragneel shouted at the intercom, where the voice is coming from.
"Still alive? That's surprising. We just want you gone, so be gone!" the voice shouted.
Two wall panels suddenly opened up, then around three to six humanoid figures started to jump out of them. The figures looked human, wearing all white jumpsuits with all white protective gear. Armed with white, blocky rifles, they opened fire on the group; the rifles firing the same blue laser as the turrets.
"Engaging hostile target." a humanoid declared in a high-pitched robotic voice.
"Your termination is imminent." another humanoid stated in a mid-pitched robotic voice.
"By order of Fairy Tail, you must be destroyed." another humanoid stated in a low-pitched robotic voice. This one was carrying a riot shield.
"So this place is Fairy Tail! That guy.. thing.. said it!" Fullbuster shouted, trying to hold back the lasers with his Ice-Shield.
"Engaged in combat." the riot shield humanoid declared, crouching and holding up his shield while shooting scattered laser beams all around Fullbuster's shield.
"Combat this!" Fullbuster then charged at the riot shielder. The blow sent the riot shielder flying into a wall, even creating a small crater and chipping some parts of its "skin" off, revealing a metal exoskeleton.
"Shutting down.." the riot shielder stated before falling down onto the floor with a metallic thud. Most of the group, including the other humanoids, stopped for a bit to gawk at the revelation; the other humanoids were just shocked.
"Don't just stand there and watch, take these things out!" Fullbuster exclaimed, motioning at the humanoids that were still gawking at their shut-down comrade.
The group then started to attack; Dragneel gave the humanoids one Fire Dragon's Iron Fist after another, Gajeel literally chewed them up and spat them out, Fullbuster gave ice attack after ice attack, Erza cut them in half, Levy scripted them to shut down, Lucy summoned Leo to "shed some light" on the situation along with Eucliffe, Weisskopf and Scharzmann unholsterd their Lugers then opened fire along with Zmeyevski and Severin with their Tokarevs, although Severin was so pissed he clobbered them with his pistol instead, and so on..
A few minutes later...
"28? 29?" Dragneel pondered how many there were of the humanoids.
"Try 40, or more." Fullbuster corrected, pointing at the heaps of metallic scrap.
"Magic sure is magical, ain't it?" Weisskopf punned, "describing" the magic powers of the Earth-Landers.
"Shut up, you dummkopf." Schwarzmann playfully scolded Weisskopf.
Everyone was looking around the "scrap heaps" for a way in, even a way out of the hole. Pile upon pile of metal exoskeletons and laser rifles, they combed the entire room, but found no entry or exit points. Severin was rather busy shooting off the heads of the already non-functioning humanoids out of anger.
Lucy got an idea, then she went over to the intercom, going to try again with opening their door, wherever it is.
"Can you open now?" Lucy asked cheerfully towards the intercom.
A sigh was heard. "Why the persistence?" the voice stated defeatedly.
"We're just curious, okay? Like, how do you people behave? Look like, a bit. We're from a parallel world and we'd pretty much like to meet you guys!" Lucy chimed.
"If only these cameras worked... maybe we could believe you, and we wouldn't have to waste so many synths..." the voice said defeatedly.
"Hmm?" Lucy then got an idea; earn their trust.
"Maybe we could.. nah." the voice said.
"What's that? You could tell us. Anything to gain your trust." Lucy chimed.
There was a pause for ten seconds...
"Do you see that outlet in the control panel?" the voice asked.
Lucy looked to the rectangular outlet. "Yeah, I see it. What about it?" Lucy inquired.
"You said you were from a parallel world, correct?" the voice asked.
"Yep." Lucy replied happily, happy to know this was going somewhere.
"Now listen, there's a metal box somewhere there. Get it." the voice instructed.
Lucy then looked for a metal box around the control panel's area to no avail. She then shouted to the others for help.
"You guys! If any of you see a metal box, bring it here!" Lucy shouted, earning verbal acknowledgements from the group.
A few minutes later, Gajeel brought forth a dark grey metal box, its lid missing, apparently being chewed on by Gajeel.
"Seriously?" Lucy deadpanned, observing the container's lid getting chewed on by Gajeel.
"Gotta restore my Magic Power, ya know?" Gajeel replied, still chewing on the metal.
"Thanks anyway." and with that, Gajeel took off. Lucy looked at its contents; the box contained three squareish objects, with wires attached to them that look like they would fit in perfecly in the outlet.
"Alright, I got the box. There are 3 things here that I think are gonna be plugged into this outlet thingy?" Lucy asked.
"Correct. The one with a vial is a blood scanner, the one with a panel is a fingerprint scanner, and the one with a receptacle that looks like a pair of goggles is an eye scanner. Pick one of those, and attach it to the control panel." the voice instructed.
"Alright". Lucy then took her time picking until she was interrupted by "The Rambunctious Duo".
"Found something, Lucy?" Dragneel asked.
"Yeah, the guy says I should pick from one of these three scanners. One is for blood, one is for fingerprints, and one is for the eyes." Lucy stated.
"Pick the one that'll give us the biggest chance to get in. Which is?" Fullbuster added.
"I gotta ask." Lucy then went to ask at the intercom.
"Hey there, which scanner do you think I should use?" Lucy inquired the voice.
"Oh, you? Umm, I'd get more data with blood." the voice stated, sounding sleepy.
"OHHHH NO" Lucy mentally freaked. By the time she went to attach the thing, the two already did.
"Did it for ya." The two stated in unison, a huge grin on their faces.
"So-there-It's-attached-now-what?" Lucy hurriedly spoke.
"I'd need a blood sample." the voice nonchalantly replied.
"Me?" Lucy asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
"No." the voice replied. Lucy sighed in relief. "Do you have a pink-haired companion with you?" the voice added.
Lucy then looked at Natsu Dragneel, then at Natsu Zmeyevski. "Yeah, I do. Why?"
"Them. I'm getting the blood sample from them. Now get to it before I change my mind." the voice replied sleepily.
Lucy then faced Natsu Dragneel. "Natsu. The guy wants your blood sample." Lucy cheerfully told Dragneel.
"What?" Dragneel's face lost coloration.
"You heard the guy, now for a little cut.." Fullbuster said, a REALLY BIG grin plastered on his face, preparing an Ice-Knife.
"NO!" Dragneel yelled, yanking himself away from the Ice-Make mage.
"Aww, scared, Natsu?" Fullbuster mocked Dragneel, who then gave him a glare. Lucy raised her arms in defeat, going to the alternative to avoid a fight
between the two.
"I'm gonna ask other you, K?" Lucy said, making Dragneel go back into cheerful mode.
"THANKS LUCY!" Dragneel chimed.
"Just hope he says yes." Lucy said with an evil grin accompanied by a glint in her eyes, causing Dragneel to lose coloration again.
Lucy walked over to Zmeyevski, who magically lost his shirt. "The 'Gray' of their world, eh? I wonder what's his story. If Gray's is training with Ur, then what's his?" Lucy thought. She then tapped him on the shoulder. Zmeyevski looked over.
"Oh hiya Miss Lucy. Yeah?" Zmeyevski asked shyly.
"Do you mind giving a blood sample?" Lucy asked.
"For what?" Zmeyevski inquired, looking confused.
"The voice wants it for analyzing or something. Our Natsu doesn't want to, so I hope you could." Lucy then gave him the best smile she could muster.
"Eh, sure." Zmeyevski replied nonchalantly.
"Really?" Lucy replied, surprised.
"Yeah, it's just a bit of blood." Zmeyevski replied.
"Wow." Lucy deadpanned
Lucy then led Zmeyevski to the control panel, where the scanner and The Two were residing. Fullbuster caught sight of Zmeyevski going with Lucy.
"Lucky you, other Natsu agreed." Fullbuster mocked Dragneel.
"Whatever." Dragneel scoffed.
"Aaand, he's missing his shirt." Fullbuster added. "What's his story?" he thought.
"Now I'm the pervert stripper, hmph." Dragneel stated, irritated. Fullbuster snickered at the comment.
Zmeyevski then inspected the scanner for a bit, then turned to the three for a cutting tool.
"Anyone got a knife?" Zmeyevski asked the trio. Fullbuster formed an Ice-Knife in response.
"Got one right here." Fullbuster proclaimed. Zmeyevski then swiped his pointer finger in one fluid motion, shocking the three.
"What the hell, man?!" they shouted with pure "WTF" faces.
Zmeyevski then placed some drops of blood into the vial. "What? It's just a cut. I've had worse." he said, grinning. He then took a handkerchief
from one of his pockets and wrapped it around the cut, then walked back to where he was earlier.
Lucy then went to spoke to the intercom.
"There's your pink-haired's blood. What's your name, though?" Lucy inquired.
No reply.
"Hello? You there?" Lucy asked, waving a hand in front of the intercom for some reason.
"I'm busy analyzing." the voice finally replied irritatedly. Lucy then just stood in front of the intercom for a minute, until everyone heard a mechanical whirring noise, and an alarm with its accompanying lights. A huge section of the wall in front of the control panel retracted, showing a big, black, circular blast door with the number 2 in a big, bold, and white font. The movement caught everyone's attention by surprise, some even falling onto one of the scrap heaps.
The intercom spoke again, grabbing Lucy's attention from the door.
"There's a reason why I specifically wanted a blood sample of a pink-haired person from Fairy Tail.." the voice asked.
"I think I know." Lucy deadpanned. She already knew the answer.
"Well, I have pink-hair myself." the voice stated anyway, then the intercom went offline.
The blast door opened accompanied by an air suction soun. It then moved upward rather slowly, showing a rectangular door inside. The door had a light indicator on its far sides, currently colored yellow, which turned green after a moment. It opened up shortly, going up into the ceiling. A catwalk then retracted from the base of the elevated room where the rectangular door is, setting on the floor beside the control panel.
Three figures stepped forward, two of them were the so-called "synths"; metallic exoskeletons. Both of them were armed with the same laser rifles as earlier, and each one was positioned beside another figure; said figure isn't a synth, rather a male human with glasses, and a lab coat; a scientist. What's odd is that this scientist is carrying around a heavy-looking weapon that's slung over his shoulder, and the fact that his hair is pink..
"Natsu. Natsu Ryumoto. Chief Analyst of Fairy Tail, Sector for Anomalous Materials."
EDOLASIANS
The driver of the "Tailgater" exited the vehicle. There's a catch, though. They thought it was this "Sting Lichtmann".
"Rogue?!" both officers exclaimed. Said Rogue then got out of his car and gave a hand-wave at the two.
"Sting is sick, so I'm alone on this shift." he informed the two officers, who gave him questioning looks in response.
"Seriously, what kind of kommissar chooses to do 'kommissar' work and field work at the same time?" their Rogue added, sounding and looking irritated.
"A workaholic, maybe?" Dragonov replied, doing a "I dunno" gesture.
"Well, look where that got him. He has to lighten up sooner or later. It could kill him someday." the Rogue added, his voice going soft on the "kill" part.
"Still not an excuse as to why you took his squad car?" Morozov stated, pointing at the Tailgater squad car.
"Correction, OUR squad car." their Rogue retaliated, raising a finger up.
"Me and Sting are shift partners, although I don't know why he picked me. You forgot?" their Rogue asked, giving Dragonov a scolding look.
"Oh." Dragonov flatly replied.
"Maybe he just needs your fun side to lighten him up. Seriously, listening to him talk is like listening to a lecture; boring. I have no idea why Gray looks so happy seeing him, though." Dragonov added, rolling his eyes at the idea of someone being ecstatic at the prospect of seeing Sting Lichtmann.
Dragonov and their Rogue proceeded to have a discussion about the events earlier in detail. Meanwhile, Morozov is trying to lift the spirits of the Edolas boys through some creative talking. Zeref is left to lament about what to do with the WMD.
10 Minutes later...
"By the way, isn't it against protocol to go on patrols alone?" Dragonov asked their Rogue, giving a scolding glance. Their Rogue approached Dragonov just enough to be in whispering distance.
"Don't tell Sting, he thinks I'm with Rufus, who apparently forgot and slept the day away." he whispered to Dragonov in a serious manner. Dragonov backed up afterwards.
"Oh, wow. Solid police work, Kuroshima." Dragonov replied sarcastically, knowing that it IS against protocol. He then decided to stay quiet about it, preferring not to get caught up in one of Sting's lectures.
Their Rogue, surnamed Kuroshima, then went back to the Tailgater, hoping to get back to the station already.
"What's the deal with Raven Tail?" Kuroshima inquired, Dragonov not telling him that part of their escapades earlier.
"Nothing you need to worry about, that's been taken care of." Dragonov then mouthed to Morozov to "Get Zeref's sorry ass back here!", to which he replied with a grunt, but complied anyways. Zeref went back to his lab earlier, probably to fiddle around with his very precious terminals.
"Uh, yeah, sure.." Kuroshima replied with a hint of suspicion. He sat on the driver's seat of the Tailgater shortly afterwards.
"Anyway, if that's all, I'm gonna go back to Sabertooth and clock off, then imma party.." Kuroshima added in a cheery voice, shutting his door afterwards.
"Yeah, have fun, whatever.." Dragonov stated in a whispery yet mocking voice. He then waved to Kuroshima as he pulled out of the parking lot, who responded with a honk of his horn, followed by the switching off his squad car's sirens.
Dragonov watched the White-and-Black Tailgater drive off into the San Andreas Freeway, a stretch of freeway just between Alderney and Del Perro; the trafficky place. Dragonov then noticed Morozov "gently" guiding Zeref over to him. Dragonov went up to Zeref's face, giving him a very serious glare.
"Go. To. The. Korpus. OK?" Dragonov emphasized every single word as he glared at Zeref's own black eyes, persuading him to seek a different group for his funding. Apparently, all he could of was the Korpus, whereas there were many scientific groups around the city like The Institute of Technology, The Scientific Academy for Advanced Technologies, or the Umbrella Corporation. Zeref could've gotten funding from the very research facility he was working in, but due to a recent research accident involving crystals and combustible lemons, they're not doing very well at the moment.
"No more Raven Tail, I can promise you that!" Zeref assured Dragonov panickedly, putting his hands in front of him as a "calm down" gesture.
They were back on the road, Dragonov behind the wheel, Morozov calling shotgun, and both Dragion and Surge in the backseat but with less restrictions this time. It was past midnight, and they were heading for Fairy Tail's Police HQ in Downtown Central.
They passed by Empire Park, a very lush and tree-laden area in the middle of all the tall concrete-and-glass skyscrapers of Downtown Central, then Fort Bradley, a colonial star fort that's being used as a military installation. Then they finally made it to Fairy Tail HQ, a 6-story glass-and-steel structure with its very own sign showcasing the Fairy Tail police crest; a white shield with the scales of justice along with two pairs of adjacent stars on two ends and some dual pistols up top on the foreground, with the Fairy Tail logo in black on the background. The building's named "Oberon Plaza".
"Is this you're HQ?" Dragion asked the officers sleepily. Morozov was about to reply until Dragonov butted in.
"No, it's Sabertooth's.." he sarcastically replied as he exited the squad car, brisk walking through the front door of the HQ.
"Sabertooth?" Dragion asked Morozov. Surge was busy looking at the really foreign-looking building.
"Another police division here in Central City. There's no Sabertooth in your world?" Morozov asked the confused pink-haired Edolasian.
"Not one that we heard of, no." Dragion replied, still thinking of anything named Sabertooth back in Edolas, but nothing came to mind.
Morozov gave him a nod of confirmation, then exited the car. He then went to Dragion's door, opening it for the Edolasians, earning him some thanks from both boys. The trio then went through the front door of the HQ. As they got inside, Morozov told the two Edolasians to sit on some plastic benches adjacent to the door and some planter boxes as he went to do his business. They heard Officer Morozov talk a bit with the woman at the front desk. Morozov went about with his business afterwards.
All they could do for the time was sit, and look at their surroundings; their surroundings consisted of dark grey walls with occasional wooden trimmings, white marble flooring, steel framing the exterior walls, planters with some weird all-white plant with no leaves, a sort of cafeteria to the right with plastic tables and chairs, a clock that read 12:59 right above the reception desk, and the police crest in the lobby's marble flooring. It was already 1 AM, so it wasn't so noisy and busy at the time, though they could make out a few people like the woman on the front desk being Cana, the man talking to said Cana about a perception drug being Jet, a guy in all-black sporting all-out protective gear and a heavy-caliber rifle being Alzack, a blond woman on the phone in a similiar attire to Morozov save for the long skirt and missing tie being Lucy, and a sleepy-looking woman clutching a cup of coffee and some folders being Levy, along with some faces they don't know like a tall blonde with a scar on his right eye, a guy with long green hair, and a black haired guy who has so many piercings and tattoos he would pass as being part of one of the city's notorious biker gangs rather than a cop.
They fell asleep at some point due to sleepiness and general boredom. Someone poked Dragion repeatedly until he stirred.
"Rise and shine, Dragion. Rise and shine.." an annoyed voice called to him.
"Five more minutes..." Dragion sleepily replied, his eyes still closed and smiling a bit, having a good dream.
A few seconds later...
Dragion was suddenly awoken by a very loud guitar riff, he rose up in a speed that would rival a supercar.
The sound came from a flat, black rectangular device Dragonov was holding.
"About time you woke up..." Dragonov then put away the device into one of his jacket's inner pockets.
Dragonov looked different this time, he noticed; the officer was now wearing black baggy pants, white and red rubber shoes, and a sleeveless black vest with red trims that's unbuttoned, showing his well-defined chest and abs, a style that's reminiscent of Natsu Dragneel, along with a digital watch on his right hand's wrist, a pair of fingerless gloves and a dog tags necklace. His badge was nowhere to be seen, however.
"You look different today, Mister Dragonov." Dragion remarked, eyeing the other.
Dragonov shrugged at the "Mister" part. "Cut the 'Mister' part out, that's creepy. Dragonov or Natsu is just fine..." he told Dragion, suddenly realizing the last part of what he said in horror.
"What're you waking me up so early for, ..Natsu? And where's Gray?" Dragion asked timidly, still unsure if he should go with the "call me Natsu just like you!" thing. "A sign?" he thought to himself. Dragonov gave him a short questioning look due to the "Natsu" calling, earning him a scared Dragion, but then decided to just drop it after seeing the other's purely petrified expression.
"Your Gray is with my Gray. So come on and follow me, we'll be meeting them, and it's time for breakfast." Dragonov told the other nonchalantly, calming Dragion down from his petrified state.
Dragion looked at the lobby's clock, and it read 8:45.
"I am hungry..." Dragion noticed the grumbling of his stomach, giving Dragonov a nervous expression.
"Then come on, I'm not waiting any longer." Dragonov motioned for Dragion to follow as he went through the front door.
Dragion then got up and followed Dragonov out. As they exited, they were greeted by some weirded out glances from the other officers. Dragonov approached an orange-haired colleague with glasses who wore the same short-sleeved police uniform as him; before he changed clothes, that is.
"What's the matter, Leo? This ain't collateral damage, you know?" Dragonov remarked, reacting to Leo's glances towards the two.
"I only tease Gray about that, it doesn't apply to you." Leo stated, his eyes going back and forth from Dragonov to Dragion.
"Gee, thanks bro." Dragonov cheekily replied.
"At least you have your smarts to back up your brawns, I'll give you that." Leo stated, taking a sip of his coffee while pointing at Dragonov's forehead then abs, echoing his words,
"Gray kinda lacks in that department. Smarts, I mean." he added, chuckling a little.
"That kinda insults me, being his best friend..." Dragonov playfully stated, giving a "playfully questioning" look at the other officer.
"Alright, alright. Jeez." Leo replied, waving his free arm in defeat. He then turned to face Dragion, who still wasn't used to being looked at by the locals.
"Officer Dragonov here treating you right? You look way too well-mannered to be like him." Leo stated, giving Dragion a courtesy smile.
"Umm..." Dragion clasped his hands together, looking left and right.
"You're just disappointed that you don't have a 'twin'." Dragonov told Leo, playfully poking him. Leo then walked into the building, giving a brief "See yous" to the two.
After that little exchange, Dragonov then led Dragion to his car which is a red, sporty-looking four-door sedan. Dragonov opened the passenger's front door for Dragion, who was rather surprised he wasn't going to the back seat.
Dragonov closed the door and got in the driver's seat afterwards.
"What's this car's name? I noticed your other car has one on the steering wheel." Dragion attempted to make conversation with his "twin".
"Eh? That's not the name, it's the manufacturer of the car." Dragonov corrected Dragion. "What's with this guy?" he thought to himself.
"So, the manufacturer of this one is 'Cheval' and the other's is 'Bravado'?" Dragion asked, his voice growing quieter by every word.
"Yeah. The model name of this one is 'Fugitive', the other is a 'Buffalo S'. Satisfied?" Dragonov replied, noticing the other's uncomfortable behaviour around him.
"Yep! Thank you for the information." Dragion chimed, smiling, trying to alleviate Dragonov's apparent irritance with him.
"Whatever." Dragonov sighed, then he drove out of the parking spot in front of the building.
They went to the previously mentioned ramen shop on Liberty Ave; a small, brick-and-mortar, two-story structure in-between two other tall commercial structures. Dragonov parked beside an Ice White four-door, which he instantly recognized.
"Looks like Gray's here." Dragonov stated, looking at the Ice-White car.
"What car is that?" Dragion asked about said car.
"A Lampadati Felon." Dragonov replied, earning a smile as thanks from Dragion. Dragonov just sighed.
"Now it's time to get out." Dragonov stated as he exited the car. Dragion followed suit, gently closing the door.
The two walked to the front door of the ramen shop. Once inside, they looked for the Grays amongst all the Oriental decor such as bonsais, tapestries with Oriental characters drawn onto them, and red lanterns. They eventually found the two, having a lively conversation, laughs and all.
"Wish I could have relations like that with other Natsu..." Dragion thought to himself, looking at the two Grays being very friendly to each other.
"Oh hey you two. Sit there." Morozov told the two, then motioning to the side opposite of them. The Natsus sat in their respective places, Dragonov being in front. Morozov was simply wearing a blue polo with a white shirt and a pair of jeans.
Surge and Dragion were still wearing their usual outfits. A waitress then approached Dragonov and Dragion to get their order, but it was Dragonov who quickly gave the order.
"The usual ramen. Make it two." he quickly told the waitress.
"Of course, officer." she said, acknowledging the order. She eyed up Dragonov for a bit due to his choice of clothing, but then was told to "make it snappy" by Dragonov who noticed, which made her go back to work; with a scoff, though.
Morozov just snickered at the episode in front of him.
"Ya know, it's your fault for wearing such revealing clothing, I might even jump ya!" Morozov joked.
"You wish, popsicle. If you can't even get a girlfriend, I'm sure you won't be able to get a boyfriend, especially me of all people, and I know you!" Dragonov retaliated playfully, earning a "You got me" gesture from Morozov.
The hours passed with continued eating of Oriental delicacies and constant loud joking and conversation, although it's mostly between Dragonov and Morozov. Dragion and Surge chatted quietly amongst themselves. It's the two officer's three days off, so it was no problem to pass the time.
"Still wondering why you turned her down, I mean every single guy I know wouldn't pass up that opportunity! Just look at her..." Morozov said while looking at the waitress who has long hair, fair skin... and big busts.
"Not interested." Dragonov replied nonchalantly as he took a sip of his tea.
"You must be gay or something, not being interested in... her. She's really pretty." Morozov stated, rather amused at the thought of his best friend being gay, making him ROFL in his head.
"I might be, who knows? I just don't care right now, alright? Got work to do." Dragonov replied irritatedly, killing Morozov's ROFL thoughts.
"Alright, Mister Killjoy." Morozov replied as he held his hands up in defeat.
Dragonov shrugged again. "Jeez, enough with all the mister-mister crap. It's really creepy." he stated, sipping from his tea again.
A few minutes later...
Dragonov and Morozov are discussing some delicate matters, while Dragion and Surge continued to eat their ramen.
"What about them?" Morozov asked his companion, pointing at the two Edolasians.
"What about 'em?" Dragonov replied, taking a bite from his snack cakes.
"Have you talked to Zeref about anything useful? Like, how we could send them back to Edolas or wherever?" Morozov inquired.
"Oh yeah, Zeref told me that he's been in contact with some people in Sector 7. Weird..." Dragonov replied.
"That Wehrmacht?" Morozov asked with a voice laced with venom.
"Nah, not those krauts. A group of scientists, he said. They're inside some fallout shelter." Dragonov replied nonchalantly, surprising Morozov.
"Wanna check it out now?" Morozov suggested to his companion.
"Sure, but lemme finish this." Dragonov replied, eyeing his ramen.
"That's the same bowl of ramen from earlier, and you haven't even touched it?" Morozov stated in disbelief.
"I only eat a little, you know that. Plus if I finished it earlier, I would've ordered seconds, and I don't want to do that." Dragonov replied as he shoved some noodles into his mouth.
"Yeah, but, it's probably cold by now." Morozov stated with a rather disgusted look.
"Don't care, still delish." Dragonov replied as he chewed on the noodles.
After a few hours of eating and talking in the ramen shop, the Natsus and Grays went to their respective vehicles.
"So, we'll meet ya at the big, white dome of Genos Square, alright?" Morozov stated rather cheerfully as he let Surge inside his car.
"Yeah, okay." Dragonov flatly replied.
"We might take a little longer, though. I promised Gray Surge here some ice cream." Morozov stated as he a "thumbs up" gesture to Surge, who smiled.
"Whatever." Dragonov replied irritatedly. Morozov immediately took notice of Dragonov's cold nature.
"Why don't you treat Natsu Dragion over there, too? I mean, he's a good person and all, and he seems to look up to ya." Morozov stated in an attempt to persuade Dragonov.
"Whatever, Gray. Go on and get out of here before I throw a snowcone at ya." Dragonov joked as Morozov got in his car.
As the Ice-White Lampadati Felon drove off into the distance, Dragion was looking rather innocently at Dragonov with beady eyes.
"You want a treat, don't ya?" Dragonov concluded. Dragion nodded in spectacular speed.
Dragonov grunted. "Fine, there's an ice cream shop not far from here..."
After an excess of a half-hour for getting treats, Dragonov pulled up to one of Sector 7's fortified entrances. With just a wave to the guard,
he opened the chain-link gate for Dragonov to pass through. Eventually, after some very tight maneuvering through some very small openings in the
absolute flood of abandoned cars, they made it to a big, glass dome. A sign adorned its front entrance along with a Fairy Tail symbol and a lambda sign;
Fairy Tail - Sector for Anomalous Materials
"This should be interesting." Morozov mumbled to himself, staring at the sign.
"What do you make of this, Gray?" Dragonov asked, pointing at the sign.
"I dunno, definitely not gonna be one of the many things I forget every day." Morozov replied as he took a picture of the sign with his smartphone.
"You two gonna enter with those?" Dragonov stated as he looked at the two Edolasians, still licking on their ice cream.
"We can't?" Dragion asked as he licked the top of his ice cream clean.
"You could, if you like dust-flavored ice cream, that is." Dragonov replied snarkily, referencing the heavily dusty state the interior is in. That prompted Dragion and Surge to finish their ice cream hastily.
They eventually entered through a non-revolving revolving door after their little "discussion". As they entered, a really big hole in the middle of the lobby caught their attention. Dragonov almost fell down on it, not looking on where he was going.
"Chyoooort vozmiiii!" Dragonov cursed at the top of his lungs as he lost his balance near the hole. Morozov quickly rushed to his aid upon hearing Dragonov curse..
"Gotcha!" Morozov gripped Dragonov's left hand, balancing the other. Dragonov collapsed on his butt on the white flooring.
"Wow! Thanks, Gray!" Dragonov exclaimed cheerfully at his fellow officer who saved him from certain death.
Dragion rushed to Dragonov's side for some reason. "Are you okay, ..Natsu?" he asked sheepishly. Dragonov unexpectedly beamed at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Dragonov chimed as he got up from the floor, ruffling Dragion's hair afterwards, which took Dragion by surprise. Shocked at what he was doing, Dragonov quickly retracted his hand and refused to look at the Edolasian, which kinda upset Dragion in the process.
Morozov noticed the little episode. "We gotta be careful here on in. I'm not prepared for any unforeseen consequences." he stated in an attempt to ward off the awkward atmosphere.
The two Edolasians slowly made their way to the hole's general area, being careful not to trip and fall into it. Surge went up to a button stand just beside the hole.
"Should I press this? Looks important." Surge asked. Morozov gave him a nod, prompting him to press it.
A mechanical whirring noise was then prevalent in the hole, and a minute later, it turned out to be an elevator platform.
"Alright guys, get in." Morozov instructed the group as he set foot on the platform.
As Dragion went to the platform, he tapped Dragonov's shoulder. "Natsu? ..what was that for?" he asked the other.
"HUSH." Dragonov sternly told Dragion, who then went behind Morozov, shaking from fear.
"Don't be so cruel to him, jeez. You remind me of Ur." Morozov stated.
"How exactly do I remind you of her?" Dragonov spat.
"Heh, you come off as extremely intimidating and all that, but deep down inside..." Morozov teased Dragonov.
"..you're a real softie." he finished.
"Тише, эскимо. Вы хотите, чтобы я перетащить свою задницу к Бабе Яге?" Dragonov playfully threatened.
"You can try, тряпка." Morozov replied cheekily. Dragonov let out a chuckle in response.
A few minutes later on their descent...
Dragonov brought out a GSh-18 pistol from his jacket's inner holster. Morozov gave him a questioning look afterwards.
"Insurance. You never know." Dragonov assured his companion. Morozov rolled his eyes at the reply.
"There's nothing down there, right?" Dragion asked Dragonov in a whispery voice.
"There's a group of people; scientists. We just don't know if they're nice." Dragonov replied nonchalantly, gripping his pistol even more.
Morozov brought out a red crowbar. "We better not have hostiles..." he thought. "Where'd that come from?" the Edolasians wondered, staring at the crowbar.
A few seconds later, the elevator finally arrived to their destination; the shelter's level. The elevator's grey, metallic door retracted afterwards. They were not prepared for the sight soon to unravel in front of their eyes; a flood of themselves and others they know. Both officers went into a defensive posture, guns drawn out, while the Edolasians took cover behind them.
"Dragion?!"
"Surge?!"
"Dragneel?"
"Fullbuster?
"Черт возьми."
"Eh?"
"Русский!"
"Who the hell are you?!"
"К черту с этим."
"What. A. Mess."
"Oh look, more of these idiots.."
"Stings... ugh."
"Pink hair. Pink hair everywhere.."
"Miss Lucy.. Erza.."
"Подготовка к непредвиденным последствиям, eh?"
"これは、ボーリングについてすべきではありません..."
What're your thoughts? Come on, I could use some constructive criticism or simply your thoughts on certain subjects here. As always, thanks for reading!