Here's the start of the next major story arc, Project Static, I hope you enjoy! I'm also putting in a character from the anime/manga that you all might be familiar with. I might not get as much work done as quickly with the next chapter due to my family celebrating Mother's Day on both Saturday and Sunday. Don't forget to review!
On the streets of Hargeon, a young woman with long blonde hair and wearing a leather tube top and leather pants was walking around as if she was looking for something. She eventually went into an alleyway and poked on several bricks. Once she finished, a hole opened on the ground and she entered it, which closed after she had went inside.
Spiral, Sakura, Flora, Jason and Aura were all working at the 8-Island restaurant with the girls wearing the orange tube-top waitress uniforms and the guys wearing tuxedos with red ties.
"Wow, is this shirt ugly." Spiral expressed his disdain for the uniform.
"I never took you as a person of fashion, Spiral." Jason said as he was on his way between tables.
"I'm just glad that the owner at least had outfits that could fit all cup sizes." Aura said after finishing waiting a table. "Otherwise, I don't think Sakura and I could wear them."
"Don't remind me." Sakura said as she was taking an order. "May I take your order, sir?"
"Sure, I would like the chicken breasts."
Sakura crushed the notepad she had in her hands while trying to hold back her anger. "C-coming right up, sir." Sakura walked away while gritting her teeth angrily.
The mysterious woman was moving through some sort of magical science laboratory, which seemed mostly abandoned. Even though it was dark, she could see the various corpses and the ways some of them were mangled or mutilated in a variety of natural and unnatural ways. She kept moving until she saw some sort of strange magical device that looked like a cross.
"I wonder what could be in here?" She muttered to herself as she proceeded to open the device.
After a long day of work, the Phoenix Dawn group had finished their 8-Island job with full stomachs and wallets.
"I'm so glad we got something to eat when we finished." Sakura said as she lied back in her chair.
The store had closed down for the day and the four wizards were all relaxing. However, a picture on the wall behind the counter had caught Spiral's attention.
"Mr. Yajima, are those who I think they are?" Spiral inquired, pointing at the picture.
Yajima looked at the picture Spiral was pointing to and replied. "If you mean the Fairy Tail mages Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Erza, then yes. They were actually the first ones I hired to work here."
Sakura took a closer look at the picture and glared at Lucy and Erza in their waitress outfits. "How come they can fill out those tops so easily?"
"Are you ever going to let go of that inferiority complex?" Flora asked.
"Excuse me, but I've never heard of this 'Fairy Tail'." Aura said. "Who are they?"
"They used to be the strongest guild in Fiore." Jason explained. "Their guild had three Dragon Slayers in it; that's how strong they were… but then the Tenrou Island incident happened…"
Spiral could tell from Jason's expression that simply acknowledging that event was painful for him.
"How about we leave it at that for now?" Spiral suggested. "We should probably be heading back home soon."
"Can we PLEASE go on foot this time?" Sakura groaned. "I can't stand being on another vehicle!"
As the group of five left the restaurant, Spiral stopped after sensing something.
"What is it, Spiral?" Aura asked.
"It's strange…" Spiral answered, looking down at the ground. "For some reason, I can feel like there's something underground."
"If you're trying to scare us, it's not funny." Sakura said.
"I'm serious." Spiral insisted.
"Maybe it's someone's basement." Jason surmised. "A lot of houses have those, you know."
While the others continued moving forward, Spiral couldn't help but think about what he might have felt.
After leaving town, dusk was starting to settle in and the group decided to set up camp for the night. The girls and guys had separate tents and one person was on lookout duty every two hours. The first shift belonged to Jason as all he did was staring straight into the campfire.
"… Wendy…" Jason whispered to himself. "Should I hope that you and your friends return… or do I move on…"
Rffle, rffle…
Jason heard something rustling from the bushes nearby.
"Who's there?" Jason called out.
Outside of the bush was a young woman wearing a white blazer with a serious demeanor.
"Are you a bandit?" Jason asked. "Or a guild wizard?" Jason then revealed to the woman his guild mark. "If you are, then we have no quarrel here."
"… I see." She simply said before pulling out a wanted poster of the woman in the leather outfit that was sneaking through Hargeon. "My job is to bring this woman to justice. If you see this woman, let me know."
"What if we find her and take her out?" Jason inquired.
"… Then the two of us will fight to decide who takes her in. It doesn't matter who defeats her, you and I will fight regardless. When I make an arrangement, I do everything in my power to assure I live up to it." She started to walk away. "I will be waiting in Hargeon for your return, with the information or the woman."
"Before you just leave me, could you just tell me your name?"
She turned her head towards him. "I am Kagura Mikazuchi." She then left the camp and back into the forest.
Jason sighed. "Out of all the wizards in Fiore, it had to be her… If she truly is as powerful as Erza Scarlet, then I just got myself into some pretty serious shit."
A few more hours had passed and it was Sakura who was on guard duty after Spiral, who had taken Jason's shift. Sakura was still fairly groggy from the four hours of sleep she currently had, so she had an idea to close her eyes and listen to the sounds of the forest. The sounds were very calming and serene to the Dragon Slayer… that was until her sensitive ears could sense someone approaching. From the darkness of the bushes, someone lunged at her with shining, golden claws appearing around her hands.
"Forest Dragon Spring Gale!"
Sakura shot a gust of wind carrying thousands of cherry blossom petals at the intruder, but she used her magic claws to slice their way through it and land safely on the ground. The noise of the attack caused Aura, Flora and Jason to wake up and leave their tents.
"Sakura, are you okay?" Aura asked.
"What's going on?" Jason asked, but then he noticed the figure attacking them and recognized them. "Wait… That's…"
Jason recognized the assailant as the woman he saw on the wanted poster.
"I am Karina (Age 17) the Secret Thief!" The assailant proclaimed.
"Secret?" Sakura questioned. "You just came in and announced yourself."
"That's not how it goes!" Karina shouted. "Why is it that the first thing people think when they hear my title?! I call myself that because I hunt secrets, not because I keep myself secret! I mean, shouldn't the lack of a mask or cloak say that?"
*Is there really a wanted poster for this weirdo?* Jason thought to himself. *But it looks like she found us before we or Kagura could find her. Looks like I'm gonna have to fight her later.*
"Anyway, I heard about this new guild and how there's a powerful Dragon Slayer in it." Karina stated. "Those are in the same boat as Lost Magics, so as a hunter of secrets… I should have called myself that instead… anyway, I want to know the secrets of the Dragon Slayer techniques!"
"Just because I know Dragon Slayer Magic doesn't mean I know how to teach it." Sakura said.
"Oh, I don't care about learning how to use it." Karina explained. "I just want to learn about it and sometimes the best way to learn is by doing. So come at me with all you've got! Claw Magic: Speed Talons!"
Shiny, blue claws appeared over Karina's feet and the moment she moved, they could see that her speed has increased significantly. She managed to get behind Sakura and kick her in the back of the head.
"My Claw Magic allows me to use various magical claws on my hands and feet and use them for whatever situation I come across." Karina stated. "I can produce claws that extended my attack range, increase my power or speed and the list goes on. And don't go passing out on me before I get to the real meat of your magic."
Sakura got back on her feet. "You want to see my magic, you got it! Forest Dragon Roar!"
Karina easily dashed out of the way and appeared a fair distance away behind Sakura.
"Claw Magic: Long Claw!"
Karina's hand claws extended and pierced Sakura on her sides. She pulled her claws back and Sakura was holding onto her sides while coughing up blood.
"Sakura!" Flora shouted out of concern, then looking toward Aura. "Aura, you need to use one of your magic attacks on Sakura!"
"Won't that hurt her?" Aura questioned.
"There's no time, just do it!" Flora told her.
"Okay…" Aura said as she channeled a magic circle. "Flower Bomb!"
A large white flower appeared underneath Sakura and it exploded into white petals beneath her. Just then, the white petals were being sucked into Sakura's mouth and she swallowed every last petal.
"Thanks, Aura!" Sakura exclaimed as her wounds started to close up. "Forest Dragon…"
Karina tried to close the distance before Sakura could use her magic.
"Whirlwind!"
Sakura had surrounded them in a massive whirlwind of cherry blossom petals and when it subsided, Karina was down on the ground and knocked out. Sakura lied down on the ground and Flora went next to her while Aura and Jason walked over to Karina's unconscious body.
"What should we do with her?" Aura asked.
"Someone came by during my watch and she tasked me with either apprehending this woman or giving her information on her whereabouts." Jason told her. "Looks like it's the former… and thank goodness I didn't have to fight."
"What was that?"
"Oh, nothing."
Spiral finally popped out of his tent and yawned. "… What did I miss?"
"Did you sleep during the whole thing?!" Jason exclaimed.
The Phoenix Dawn wizards were making their way back to Hargeon while keeping Karina restrained in magic-nullifying rope.
"So… is this lady going to pay us for bringing this thief to her?" Sakura asked.
"Well… it's not as simple as that." Jason stated.
"Speaking of which…" Spiral turned his attention to Karina. "If you steal secrets, why do you have a wanted poster? Is there a particular object that you stole that would instigate the Magic Council to put out a warrant?"
"I might call myself a thief, but I've never stolen a thing in my life." Karina answered.
"Like we're going to believe that." Flora said, crossing her arms.
"I believe her." Spiral spoke.
"What?" Flora questioned.
"You know my magic allows me to control and sense vibrations, right?" Spiral reminded. "Well, when someone tells a lie, there's always some sort of physical reaction even if it can't be seen. I can pick up that physical reaction and know whether or not someone is lying or hiding something." Spiral looked at Jason for a brief moment and thought. *Just like someone else I know…*
"… I got it!" Karina exclaimed. "I know why there's a warrant on my head!"
Just then, a bolt of lightning had struck near their feet and stopped dead in their tracks. When they looked to see where the lightning came from, they saw a man with gray spiky hair with a yellow streak on a few hairs and wearing sunglasses, a grey jacket with yellow lines across the sleeves, a black T-shirt and black leather pants.
"There you are, Static (Age ?)!" Karina shouted.
"Let her go." The man named Static demanded. "Or die where you stand."
A/N: I would like to thank you readers for following my story so far, though I wish you would review more often. I mean, there are three chapters out and only the first chapter has any reviews in. Stay tuned for next time!