FTA Safe House, South Shirotsume, Shirotsume City, 4:54 pm
Natsu carried a suit jacket over his shoulder as he walked down a set of stairs leading into the basement. The city itself was rather small, with the tallest buildings only stretching six stories into the air, Magnolia seemed gigantic and labyrinthine when compared to it.
"This guy looks like a really slimy fucker…" A blonde muttered as her nose scrunched up in disgust. She had her back to the stairs and was assessing a holographic projection of the current leadership of the city, the self-proclaimed Duke of the city, Everlue. "I swear I'm going to need to decontaminate the Key once we get back to safety."
"Yeah, the fat shit always attends the events that star Lis and Mira. Slobbering over the women like a horndog, trying to pay the less popular models to come back to his hotel or mansion. A real Casanova." The pinkette replied dryly as he walked to the deployed weapon racks. "You fine with using your family name in this?"
"Yeah, I'm fine with it, I've been out of sight for too long so it is probably a good idea to be seen before someone suspects something." Lucy turned to face the man, her long silky dress fanning out in red ripples. "Plus, it pays being in the company of people like Mira and Lisanna for events like this. It builds notoriety in certain circles."
"We must float around in different circles. That kind of thing would paint me in a different light. Natsu grinned at the woman briefly before his expression settled into a semi-passive mask. "You won't have to tackle the bullshit alone since Mira and Lis are going to be providing on-site backup. They should be here soon, hopefully. You look good, by the way."
"I've had years of practice." Lucy hands crept into her hair as she tied it up into an elaborate bun, her heels clacking as she made her way to his side. She blinked as she watched the man take a box of ammo from the shelf. "I thought we weren't allowed to take any guns?"
"I'm taking my Glock 29 whether they like it or not, but I will stick to less-lethal ammunition." He held up the box for her to inspect. "They're 10mm tranq rounds, will take down even the burliest bastard in a matter of seconds. Usually it's dangerous using too much tranq but the eggheads found a way around that… I didn't bother asking how."
"So in other words, you are bending the rules and not breaking them?" Lucy smirked as a slight sound of amusement escaped her lips. "That sounds exactly like something you'd do."
"That does seem so." Natsu laughed and grinned as he grabbed a few empty mags and started to fill them as the sound of clacking heels echoed down the stairway.
"Good afternoon, Agent Demon and Agent Soul." Cherry's voice came through the house's speakers, announcing the arrival of the Strauss Sisters. "How are you?"
"I'm good. Thank you for asking Cherry!" Came Lisanna's bubbly tones as she and her older sister emerged into the basement. "Hey guys."
"Sup Lis. Hey Mira." The pinkette threw over his shoulder as he slid a full mag in and cocked the Glock, he turned to greet the two women as he holstered the pistol behind his back. "Should we go over the plan?"
Mira walked to the table in the centre of the room and placed a bag down, she tapped away at the display and brought up a hologram of the Everlue Mansion. "According to the building's schematics, the mansion is comprised of four stories; one floor below ground level and three above."
"We don't want to cause a scene, it should be fairly cut-and-dry as we aren't facing trained insurgents or military operators. Just a bunch of drunk socialites and security guards so there is no need to get rough with them." Natsu said as he joined the white-haired woman at the table.
"Natsu is right, keep a low profile when you can, we don't want to blow our covers." Mira gave him a nod as she caused the floors to separate. "There are three possible locations for the key; Everlue's bedroom on the third floor, his office on the second floor, and the vault in the basement."
"You're missing one, Mira, he could have it on his person." Lucy grumbled as she pointed to the hologram of Everlue that she had been assessing before they had arrived. "Not touching that thing even with a ten-foot pole."
Natsu leaned closer to the building schematics and rubbed his stubble covered chin in thought. "Without a doubt, there would be people all over the main part of the building, party goers exploring the mansion and admiring the various artworks spread out across the three floors. You girls would best to stick to those, it would be easier to mingle and make your way around the building unhindered as you progress to your targets."
"Well, since you just volunteered yourself for the basement vault, Natsu, let's go over that next." Mira isolated the basement floor and expanded it with a few swipes of her fingers. "While there is very light surveillance in the main portion of the mansion, in the basement things will be more difficult. Cameras and guards litter that floor, there is also a security station where the mansion's camera systems are all controlled from in the centre of the floor."
Blue and yellow lights flickered to life all across the floor, annotating the positions of camera and guard patrol routes respectively, the security office became outlined in red as the white-haired model's eyes rose to meet the pinkette's. "If you can gain access to the servers in that room and hook us into the network then we'd all be able to progress quicker in our search for the artefact. You would also not have to worry about any trouble with the vault's cameras."
"There is one problem, Mira, one big problem." Natsu lightly grabbed Lucy's left arm and brought it up. "While I could get away with having my Tac-com under my jacket's sleeves, you girls will have your arms completely visible. The Tac-com would stand out worse than a nun in a whore house."
"That is why we brought these with us." Lisanna grabbed the bag and upended it, emptying four watch-like devices out onto the table. She noticed Lucy's confused look and gave her a kind smile. "They're a prototype Tac-com that never saw adoption, but we still keep some on hand for jobs like this."
"It's fairly barebones when compared to our current version." The pinkette added as he placed the watch-like device onto his wrist and tapped the faceplate, causing it to project a hard light screen up his forearm. "It has none of the sensors and only a few of the tools that the current ones have. It has a hack tool, but that's about it, thankfully it can still sync to our gear. I might actually put in a request to get a dozen of these brought up to current spec."
"Why didn't it get past the prototype stage?" Lucy asked as she took one, she glanced around at the three other agents with curious eyes as she watched them slip the devices on.
"Imagine being in near-total darkness, hidden from view of guards or something and you need to use the Tac-com, the hard light holographic display would illuminate you and give away your position." Natsu replied as he changed the schematic's focus to the second floor. "Mira, I think you should take the office, I don't think they'd question it if a guard entered the office, or even Everlue himself."
"That was my plan." The white-haired woman said as she flicked some hair behind her eye. "The question is, who should go after Everlue himself?"
"We should keep all contact with him to a minimum, only shifting our focus to him when we have exhausted all other options." The salmon-haired man replied as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Though it would be best if we all took care of him, leading him to a quiet place and knocking him out would be the best course of action."
"I agree, but only as a last resort." Lisanna nodded in agreement as she crossed her arms, a look of disgust heavily set upon her face as she gazed at the hologram of the ugly bastard. "Natsu, can you bring along some tracking bugs?"
As the man gave her a nod and headed across the room to the equipment shelves, Lisanna turned to the two other women. "We should each bring something capable of incapacitating people, just in case."
The pinkette grabbed a draw out from the shelves and placed it on the table, it contained small disk-shaped grenades. "Use these, they can be easily concealed and the gas that it emits will take effect in short moments."
Lisanna picked one of the disks up and examined it closely. "Oh, I remember these, you used them on that cruise ship when you rescued Lucy."
"Yeah, I did." Natsu turned away from the women and grabbed a small pouch of tracking spiders. As he fastened it to the back of his belt, next to his suppressed Glock, he looked back at the women once more. "One more glaring issue, our communication equipment, you girls could play it off like a choker, but it would look suspicious on me, and while our earpieces sit very flush and are coloured the exact same tone as our various skin tones, I'm sure the guards would at least be slightly suspicious… Should we run deaf?"
Mira tapped her chin thoughtfully as a soft hum passed through her lips, her eyes roamed the three other agents. "I think we should risk it. Natsu, wear a scarf. People won't ask questions about it then."
"Alright, I'll go fetch one from upstairs and wait in the entrance hall for you three since I am all set." The salmon-haired agent affixed his mic around his neck and slotted his earpieces in place as he made his way back up the stairs and headed for the bedroom.
Cypress Hill, Outskirts of Shirotsume City, 6:25 pm
A soft melody played throughout the cabin of a limousine as it made its ascent to Duke Everlue's mansion. Inside the limo sat four FTA agents, quietly chatting about the night's events like a group of posh partygoers.
Sal checked his watch, his eyebrows furling as he glanced at the women, he sat on the side with Celeste opposite him while Demon and Soul took up the back seats of the limo. "Five more minutes until we arrive, hopefully, you girls don't cause too much trouble."
"You're there to ensure trouble doesn't find us, Mr Dragneel." Demon replied as she slowly crossed one of her legs over the other.
"Of course, Ms. Strauss, but I can only be in one place at a time, and I'm sure you all can take care of yourselves."
"Lady Heartfilia," Agent Soul turned to the blonde-haired woman as a smirk danced on her lips. "Are you sure you're fine being out here, it is a long way from home after all."
"I'm sure Mother wouldn't mind me attending social gatherings, as long as I don't do too much harm to our family name." Celeste hid her lips behind a hand as she giggled softly. She was quite enjoying their little roleplay.
Sal glanced up at the front of the limo, he knew that the driver works for the Agency but it didn't hurt to be careful. When he saw that the divider was closed, he pulled the Glock from his back and cocked it then activated the slide lock so the gun wouldn't even make a peep when fired. "These cocktail parties aren't really my thing, you know? I prefer bars and clubs."
"Don't worry, these parties can get just as loud, and just as chaos-filled as any bar or club given the right circumstances." Demon grinned at the man then looked down and reached into her handbag, she withdrew four slips of card with ornate designs and writing, all done in gold leaf. "Our invitations, we'll need them to get into the mansion."
The pinkette held up a hand, refusing to take the invitation. "I think it's best if you keep a hold on those, you can just produce them to the doorman and get us inside, then it'll streamline things."
The limo started to slow down and pass through a set of large golden gates that sat at the end of the road, it swung around a large lake-like pond that took up the middle of the roundabout driveway and gracefully came to a stop under the cover of a large marble carport.
"Looks like the end of the line." Sal said as he heard the driver get out and walk down the side of the limo. "Demon, you're out first, then Soul, Celeste, and I'll bring up the rear."
The door opened to reveal a gold-trimmed red carpet that led up to a pair of large doors, there were paparazzi lined up behind red velvet rope, chomping at the bit to get photos of the Duke's guests.
"Here we go." Demon mutter as she put on a blinding smile and stepped out of the limo as she was barraged with camera flashes. She turned and offered her hand to her sister, kindly helping her out of the vehicle.
The Strauss sisters were receiving raucous cheers and wolf whistles from the audience as Celeste stepped out behind them, to the shock of the paparazzi who started snapping photographs like mad.
"Do you three usually draw this much attention?" Sal asked as he emerged from the limo and looked around at the gathered crowd. "I usually like to lay low."
"I think it's more that they weren't expecting us three to be here, all at the same time and coming out of the same limo, Mr Dragneel." Agent Soul replied with a playful wink. "Big Sis, shall we go inside?"
"Yeah, let's." The older woman turned to their driver and thanked her with a bow before striding down the red carpet towards the doorman.
The gruff-looking man narrowed his eyes at the pinkette as the group approached him, he chewed his tobacco and held out a hand as an unexpectedly high voice escaped his lips. "Invitations please."
Agent Demon fished them out of her bag and handed them to the man. He narrowed his eyes as he read them and glanced up at the group, he recognised the three women but he wasn't sure who the man was… but he wasn't there to cause trouble for the rich and famous, or he'd most likely lose his job, so he just waved them through.
"Enjoy your night."
"Thank you." The model gave the man a small bow and led the group of agents into the party.
Loud chatter filled their ears as they entered a large and ornately decorated entrance hall with two sets of stairs leading up to the second floor then two more running up to the third floor, through the open hall they could see people on the second and third-floor landings and even faintly see the stars through the large skylight that sat high above them.
"Enjoy the party everyone. Don't forget to mingle~." Agent Soul cheered gleefully as she made her way to a random group.
"I'm going to do some exploring, see if I can find a bathroom." Sal said softly with a glance over at the white-haired model.
"Don't get caught up for too long, people might get suspicious." Demon smiled at the pinkette and grabbed Celeste's arm and led her over to a group of people she knew.
The man let out a long but soft sigh as he gently scratched behind his head, this whole thing made him uncomfortable, he hated trying to fit into high society. Give him a rowdy bar and a glass of whiskey, bourbon, or rum and he'd be a happy man. Hell, give him a bar fight too and he'd be in Heaven.
Speaking of which, he hadn't been out to a bar recently, maybe it was time to hit one up? Sal quickly brushed that thought from his mind, he had more pressing things to focus on than a night out on the town. He turned and headed through a crowd of posh talking guests as he made his way for one of the side hallways.
'Everything is so large… and gawdy.' Thought the man as he passed by a waiter, he grabbed a flute of champagne from the silver platter and walked through the large archway. His eyes were drawn to a multitude of portraits, all containing the Duke himself. 'This dude is worse than Ichiya…'
A faint 'MEN' echoed through the halls, causing Sal to look back to the hall and swearing that he heard something but brushed it off as a figment of his imagination, and an unwanted figment of his imagination at that.
Sal brought the glass of champagne to his lips as he walked past painting after painting, all of the Duke. He pretended to admire the paintings every now and then, stopping to rub his chin as he stared at it in mock wonder as he sipped on his drink.
After what felt like half an hour of staring at hideous painting after hideous painting, Sal finally reached his point of access to the basement, he placed the empty flute onto the plate of a passing waiter and turned to a painting that sat opposite the set of stairs that led down to his objective.
The agent kept his ears trained on the sounds around him as he pretended to admire the painting. Once it was clear, he turned and headed down the stairs as he tapped on his watch and activated the hard light interface. Sal's contacts lit up with the locations of the security cameras, the security office, and the vault.
He moved quickly and quietly as he ducked behind a tall cabinet, he had spotted a camera turning towards the stairway. At the speed it was turning, Sal decided to wait half a minute before moving once more.
He glanced around the cabinet and saw that the camera was halfway through turning away from him, giving him the opening he needed so he darted out of cover and moved under the camera and into its indefinite blind spot.
Sal's hand instinctively moved under the back of his suit jacket and wrapped around the grip of his Glock as the sound of voices crept into his ears. They were coming from the security office.
He waited for the camera to turn fair enough away from the security room to give him enough of an opening to slip in. The agent made sure to disable the slide lock with the flick of his thumb as he silently darted forward, drawing the pistol as he stepped into the room.
Inside the security room stood two female guards, animatedly chatting about the party going on above them and wondering just who was attending. Neither saw the man raise his pistol nor had time to react as they felt a sharp pain hit their necks and the last thing they heard was the loud clicking of the Glock's slide.
Their voices were quickly replaced by soft snores as the two women collapsed on the floor. Sal holstered the pistol and walked over to the two sleeping guards, he removed the tranqs from their necks and threw them into a bin before dragging the bodies over to a cabinet and stuffing them inside.
'Alright, time to get to work on their security system.' The pinkette walked over to the security console and flicked through the camera, checking for any more guards, but to his surprise, he found none in the basement. 'Wow… either the Duke is really stupid, or really sure that no one would dare to rob him…'
He quickly made sure that he wasn't caught on camera at all and decided to delete all footage from today, and turned off the cameras so they wouldn't cause any problems while they are there.
"Sal here, cameras have been dealt with. Moving on the vault now."
"Copy that." Agent Demon replied quickly. "I've spotted the Duke on the second floor, he just came out of his office. I'm seeing a slight wobble in his walk, he is most likely intoxicated."
"Good, that gives us plenty of openings, keep mingling and wait until I've checked the vault to proceed onto the next location." Sal walked out of the security room and headed down the hall. While he didn't have to worry about any further guards or cameras, it paid to keep an eye out for trouble, who knows just who might wander down and spot him.
The salmon-haired agent rounded a corner and came face-to-face with a large round door, it looked expensive, and high security. 'Huh… no doubts that this is the vault.'
The man held up his watch and ran a scan with it, checking for ways to open it and disable any security inside. Luckily, he got a hit within seconds. The vault could be opened with the RF chip from an ID that the Duke must have on him. 'I don't have time to chase down some dumb fuck and blow my cover… I guess I'll try and spoof it.' Sal ran a quick wide-spectrum transmission, hoping to trick the vault into opening for him.
A soft click followed by a dozen solid clunks echoed from the heavy door, it vented extremely clean smelling air as it popped off its seal and started to swing into the vault with a groan.
"Jackpot." The man mumbled as he stepped inside, he quickly switched his vision mode to infrared to check for any security lasers but found none so he turned it off and took a look around.
The vault had one central circular area in the centre, with five alcoves shooting off from the walls in a star-like pattern, each holding various items, from rare books and paintings to slabs of gold and containers of diamonds, Emeralds, Sapphires, and other jewels. 'Damn… If I was out to make a buck…' Sal scoured the glass containers for the golden key, moving from alcove to alcove in search of the mission objective. 'Come on… Make it easy on us…' He checked every display case as carefully as he could, going over everything with a sharp eye but unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side it seemed. "Bad news, the vault is coming up dry, there is gold here but no golden key, I'm going to close up and return to the party."
"Copy that, Sal, I'm moving on the office now."
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Agent Demon stood in a bathroom on the second floor, she was in the process of touching up her lipstick when the news came through from Sal. She had to duck away after she kept getting asked for an autograph or about the next photoshoot.
'I need to get myself some of that long life lipstick, I hate it when it smudges on the glass when I drink…' There was a faint glow from the lipstick as it vanished from the model's grasp, she smacked her lips and blew a kiss at the mirror with a playful wink. 'Alright, how should I get into the office…?'
Demon picked up the champagne flute and left the bathroom, emerging into a crowd of snobbish sounding people. She put on a blinding smile and carefully weaved her way through them.
Her smile vanished when she felt a hand grab her ass and squeeze it, causing her to whip around and punch the groper square in the face. "Hands off, Fuckwit." She growled as she towered over the man whom she had knocked to the floor with her strike.
The man looked in his thirties and was holding his bleeding nose, his wide eyes on the white-haired model. His voice came out thick from the injury as he tried to voice his displeasure. "What the fuck! Do you know who I am, Bitch?"
"No, I don't. Nor do I care to know." Demon gritted her teeth as she grabbed the man by his tie and lifted him up off the ground until his feet dangled below him. "All I see is some aristocratic fucktard who figured he could cop a feel, and probably hoped that I'd bed him for it."
"Hold on a minute…" The man struggled in her grip, trying to break free but went slack when he recognised just who he had tried to feel up. "Wait… Y-You're Mirajane Strauss!"
"Yes, I fucking am. And since you realised who I am, then you'll probably remember that I'm not the kind Strauss Sister, that one is Lisanna. I'm the one who'd beat the shit out of you if you got on my bad side, and boy did you just get on my bad side." The agent brought the aristocrat down to eye level and closer to her face. "Should have gone after my sister, but then you'd have to deal with me and our best friend. That man with the spikey pink hair is very protective of my little sister. And he would leave you as broken, bloodied mess on the floor if he found out you tried touching either one of us."
"Is there a problem here?"
Agent Demon looked over her shoulder to see the pair of male guards that were standing outside the Duke's office had wandered over to the commotion. "Sorry, I'm just dealing with a little harassment issue." She replied harshly before turning her attention back to the aristocrat with a snarl on her face which surprisingly did nothing to ruin her beauty, if anything it made her look like a dominatrix. "If you ever try this again, I'll castrate you and make you watch as I feed them to a dog."
She threw the man aside and looked down at the shattered champagne flute, it laid in glittering pieces littered across the floor, causing her to sigh and give the guards a wary smile. "It seems I got a little carried away, is there somewhere I could go to calm down, somewhere where I won't be bothered?"
The shorter of the two guards looked up at his partner and leant in as he whispered his thoughts to them. After a minute or two of whispering back and forth, the guards turned their attention back to the white-haired woman. "Follow us please, I'm sure the Duke wouldn't mind Ms Strauss staying in his office for a little bit. Just… please don't cause any more trouble from now on…"
"I'll try my best." The agent smiled a sickly sweet smile as she walked past the guards. "But if someone else tries to grope me then I'll be taking their hands."
The blood drained from the guards' faces as they followed the woman to the office, the taller of the two reached out a shaking, pallid hand to the door handle and opened it for the woman who had flipped from angry to kind like someone flicked a light switch. "Here you go, Ms Strauss, please don't take too long, and please don't touch anything… though with the state the Duke is in I don't think he'd notice, I wouldn't be surprised if he is passed out in a bathroom somewhere."
As Demon walked through the door and gently closed it behind her, her sweet visage started to fall away. The door clicked shut and she scanned her eyes around the room, checking for possible locations. "Demon here, I've made it into the office. The guards let me in."
"Did you trick them?" Agent Soul's kind voice came through the comm-link, a slight giggle contained within it.
"No, actually, they just let me inside." The older sister replied as she quietly moved around to the back of the desk and started to open the draws.
"They just let you in?" Sal asked curiously, he knew there was something Demon wasn't telling them. "What did you do…?"
"Some aristocratic fucktard copped a feel of my ass, so I ended up causing a scene." Demon replied, a little bit aggravated as she was still pissed at the man. The comm-link was quiet for a few moments while she continued her search.
"Understandable. Since I'm more than certain that you handled that, is there anything else?"
"I'm working on it, Sal. There is a lot of shit in this office." The Agent opened one of the windows in case she needed a quick emergency escape then continued to rummage through draws and in cabinets. She was doing her best to remain as quiet as a mouse, even when some of the draws weren't cooperating with her. "Bad news." Demon grumbled as she restrained herself from throwing the nearest expensive-looking thing at a wall so it would break. "It's not here either. Gods Damn It."
"Demon, heads up, I've got a large maid heading towards the office. Find an exit." Agent Soul quickly informed her older sister from her spot on the third floor that had an overwatch of the Duke's office.
"Maid?" Celeste muttered through the comm-link before speaking clearer. "Do we know which Golden Key the Duke has? I might be able to win the spirit over."
"Sorry Celeste, I don't think we do, but if you have a hunch then you're free to follow it." Sal responded quickly. "I've got eyes on the Duke, tailing him now."
Agent Demon quickly crossed the room to the open window, she stuck her head out and looked in all directions for anyone or anything that may catch her escape. Seeing that it was clear, she slipped through the window and hung from the windowsill. She quickly dropped down a little so her fingers wouldn't be seen by the maid and reached up to pull the window shut. 'Hopefully, I left it in good condition, and I hope no one notices me…'
"The maid is going into the office now, Sis."
Demon heard heavy footfalls enter the office and start to wander around the room, it seemed to follow a well-known path. The maid must have been due to clean the office. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and started to shimmy across before realisation struck. "Ah shit, hopefully the guards in front of the door forgot about me."
"Don't worry, that aristocrat you punched was still causing a scene. They hopefully would think that you slipped out when they weren't paying attention." Soul calmly reassured her sister. "Just focus on getting to the third floor, I'm moving to a room above the office so I can open the window for you."
Demon contemplated on partially transforming into her Satan Soul so she'd have her wings but she didn't want to alert anyone by using magic, so she had to settle for a manual climb. The white-haired agent started to continue her shimmy across the wall, just under the windows, until she got to a space between two sets of windows where a downpipe ran down the length of the building.
She glanced at it and tried reaching out for it. 'Shit! It's just outside my grasp!' The woman returned her hand to the shallow platform and swung her legs back and forth as she counted to three.
'One… Two… Three!' The woman swung across as she pulled on the platform with an almighty force, she leapt across the gap and latched onto the rectangular downpipe. 'Gotcha.'
"Window is open, going to cause a distraction so you can climb in." Agent Soul informed the older woman. A few moments later the sounds of a piano and soft, melodic singing started to creep out of the open window.
'That's my cue.' Demon started to slowly work her way up the creaking pipe, careful to not put too much force on it lest it rips free of its mounting brackets. She grunted as she made one last leap to the windowsill and slowly pulled herself up just enough to look inside. It looked all clear as all the attention was on her little sister as she started to sing her heart out to an enraptured crowd.
The woman lifted herself up and climbed through the window as quietly as she could, trying her best not to trip or break anything, a long and loose dress wasn't the best thing to do infiltration with. Once she was inside she dusted herself off and made sure she hadn't lost anything in the climb or anything had fallen out of her dress. Satisfied with the state she was in, she turned and quietly closed the window.
"Ah shit, we might have a situation here…" Sal grumbled through their comm-link.
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Agent Salamander was walking through a hallway on the second floor, following Duke Everlue at a distance, when a door opened next to him and a familiar mop of messy dirty-blonde hair appeared.
"Oh, hello Natsu."
"Hibiki… How are you?"
The blonde man closed the door behind him and gestured for them to continue down the hall while they talked. "You busy? You don't usually come to parties like this. Figured you be more of a club kind of guy."
"Somewhat. And you're not wrong." Sal glanced at his target as the small man stumbled through a crowd, causing the agent to lose sight of him. "Damn, lost sight of the target… Will pursue when possible." He gave the blonde man his full attention, smiling like he was talking to an old friend which he kind of was."What about you?"
"Actually I'm just relaxing. Just came back from an Air Show over in Bosco. Lots of fireworks."
"Oh?" The pinkette's eyebrows rose up as he gave the man a curious look. "Take any hits?"
"Eve lost an engine, and Ren and I took some to the fuselage. He went down near the border which left us two to fend off the crowd until Eve could be picked up. Then we limped back home." Hibiki chuckled softly and ran a hand through his hair. "It was one stressful show but it was successful."
"Sounds like it took a toll on your jets." Sal gave up the tail, he'd have to pick up the track later. "And if Eve went down then that is one of them wrecked."
"Yeah, not to mention mine and Ren's just barely got back. We've put in an order for some new jets, looking at buying some off a company in Caelum, top of the line jets built with the future in mind."
"Gods, man…" The pinkette lightly punched the pilot in the arm. "You sound like a damn salesman."
"Should have heard the actual salesman then." Hibiki chuckled before coming to a stop by the railing and looking at the floor below them. "Still, I'm sad about our jets. Some nice planes those were."
"Yeah. They were damn machines. The shit you pulled in the skies…"
"Sal, we haven't heard from you in a bit, what's the situation?"
"It's all clear, Demon, just one of the airmen from BP, Hibiki. Seems to be just here to relax and get laid, probably."
"Copy that, tell him I said hi."
"Mira says 'hi', by the way." Sal chuckled softly and grabbed a champagne flute from a passing waitress. "Tell me about these jets, your new ones."
"Mira? Is she here or in your ear?" Hibiki glanced at the man with a raised eyebrow. "Ah don't worry, you probably can't tell me. The jets are high tech, outfitted with cutting edge equipment. Sorry, but I can't really say much right now but maybe you'll see us in the sky soon."
"Maybe we'll call on you to put on an Air Show sometime soon." Sal said as he pushed off the railing. "With how things are looking with Phantom, we may be in need of some jets to help with their own."
"Shit… I heard whispers of things going on. How bad is it?" Hibiki placed a concerned hand on the man's shoulder. His party face was replaced with a serious visage.
"Not looking good… But we're looking into it quietly, if things go to shit which they most likely will then we'll give you guys a call."
"Celeste, wait for me near the bedroom. I'll be there soon."
"Copy that, Soul. See you soon."
"I better let you get back to work. I know you're busy." The blonde man said as he came to a stop next to the man. "See you around, Natsu."
"See you, Hibiki." The pinkette gave him a nod of the head as he continued down the hall alone. He sighed and scanned the path ahead, searching for the target once again. "Sal here, I'm picking up the tail again."
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Celeste waited for Soul near the double doors to the bedroom, she was trying not to scrunch her face up in disgust at the statue of Duke Everlue posing like The Thinker.
"Lady Heartfilia!"
The blonde woman turned to the source of the voice and saw her friend and fellow agent quickly walking over to her, she smiled at the white-haired woman and shared a quick hug. "There you are, Ms Strauss, shall we get down to business?"
"Yes." Agent Soul glanced up at the statue and pretended to vomit before giggling to her friend and heading to the doors to the bedroom. "Natsu last saw him down on the second floor, so hopefully he won't have come up here."
Celeste nodded in agreement as she pushed the doors open as quietly as she could and closed it behind the two of them. The woman turned around and frowned at the repulsively ornate room. "What a grandiose Motherfucker…"
"I think you have been around Sal's foul mouth for way too long, Celeste." Soul chuckled softly at her friend as she switched back to codenames now that they were out of earshot of any guests. "He's been rubbing off on you."
"If I have to spend longer than necessary in this narcissistic Motherfucker's mansion of overcompensation then I'm going to go fucking nuts." The blonde pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to focus on the job at hand. "Let's get this over with."
The white-haired agent made a beeline to the bed, shaking her head at the size of it as she started to open the draws of the bedside tables. "What is that? A Super King sized bed or something?"
"Something like that, he'd be like a small fish in a big pond…"
"If I was a short, ugly bastard with an inferiority complex, where would I put the key…?" Soul mumbled as she moved about the room slowly and checked various cabinets and draws, she glanced at Celeste who was slowly gazing around the room with a hand on her chin and donning a thoughtful expression. "You going to help, or just stand there looking pretty?"
Celeste raised her arm and pointed to a large portrait of the Duke that sat above the bed. "Try moving that aside, it may be hiding a safe."
"Sounds cliché, but alright." Soul took her heels off and climbed up onto the bed. "You should check the one above the mantle too."
"The Duke is a very simple-minded man, so he'd probably fall into the clichés if you ask me." The blonde walked over to the fireplace and reached up to the painting that sat above the mantle.
Agent Soul slipped her fingers behind the painting and lifted it away from the wall, revealing just a blank stretch of wall. "Nothing here."
"Nor here…" Celeste muttered as she looked behind the portrait. "I'm certain he'd have a safe somewhere here… It would be where he places things he wouldn't keep in his vault."
"Maybe the bookshelf moves?" Soul pondered as she wandered over to the bookshelf and started pulling the books. "Come on, one of these must do it…"
The blonde agent moved to her friend's side and looked behind the bookshelf itself. "Umm, got bad news for your idea… the bookshelf has a gap of about an inch behind it with nothing connecting it to the wall and nothing behind it."
"Aww, ruin my hopes why don't you."
"Sorry Soul, but this guy doesn't strike me as the over-the-top movie villain type who has a secret room behind his bookshelf."
"Maybe it's in his wardrobe?!" Soul hurried over to the closed door that led to a walk-in wardrobe and wrenched it open excitedly.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Celeste chuckled softly as she followed the happy woman into the wardrobe. "Oh gods, and I thought Vijeeter had a bad sense of style…"
"He does, but it's different to this." Soul muttered as she moved the tacky looking suits and questionable costumes apart. "Oh, a box, I wonder what is in it…"
"I don't think I want to know… It's probably something perverted."
"Hello? Is anyone in here?" Came a gruff voice from out in the bedroom.
Celeste stiffened and pulled Soul into the clothing to hide from whoever has entered the bedroom.
Heavy thuds resonated along the floor as the person walked through the room, a strange clinking coming from them.
Celeste's eyes narrowed at the sound as a large shadow enveloped the doorway, blocking out the light for several moments before it moved on. She motioned Soul to follow her as she slowly emerged from the rack of clothes and crept to the open doorway of the wardrobe.
"Hey, Soul here. We might be stuck in the bedroom with that maid that nearly found Demon."
"Soul, since I don't want to stick my head out. Give me a rundown of what you saw. I have a hunch."
"Alright, well it was really tall and really wide, if I had the chance I'd have put a wide-load sign on it. It had bubblegum pink hair and looked like someone dressed a silverback gorilla in a French maid's outfit."
Celeste scrunched her nose up and glanced at the woman next to her, then without warning she stepped out into the bedroom. "You can stop looking."
The large maid whipped around and took an aggressive step forward as she prepped herself to attack but she faltered when the blonde woman didn't react, more so when it registered who was in front of her. "Lady Heartfilia…? Princess, is that you?"
"Virgo…" Celeste's eyes softened as tears threatened to leak from her eyes. "My poor Virgo, what did they do to you…?"
Virgo didn't resist as the woman walked to her and reached up to gently cup the spirit's cheek. "I take on the form that my master prefers… You know that well, Princess."
"Princess?" Soul almost shouted in shock but was able to quickly bring it down to a loud whisper. "Why is she calling you Princess?"
"It's the name she gave me when she was in service to my mother, she helped raise me after my father died." Celeste glanced back at her friend with a small smile before looking back up at the spirit. "Virgo, please turn back to normal, it pains me to see you like this."
"As you wish, Princess." The pink-haired spirit was enveloped in a puff of smoke as she returned to her beautiful, petite form. "What are you doing here, Princess? Attending the party?"
"That's half the reason I'm here."
"Celeste, Report!"
"It's all fine Sal, I've got things under control, it was Virgo, she is calm and is treating me like she used to."
"And the other half?"
"If I asked, would you end your contract with the Duke and come back to me?" Celeste wrapped Virgo up in a loving hug which the spirit readily returned.
"Of course, Princess. But we will need my key for me to be bound to you." Virgo stepped back and bowed to the woman with a smile, her chains clinking on the floor. "The Duke is almost never without my key, he keeps it with him even when he sleeps."
"We have someone on that already, hopefully, he is still on the Duke's tail." The blonde smiled at her old friend. "I better check on that actually." She averted her eyes away from the spirit slightly, gazing at a spot on the floor just behind her. "Hey Sal, Virgo tells me that the Duke will have the key somewhere on him, looks like it is your turn again. Have you found him?"
"Just caught sight of him again, he is trying to hit on some woman and failing, terribly, I might add."
"Looks like we know where the Duke is. Say, Virgo, how about we go for a walk and catch up?" Celeste gestured to the door as her eyebrow rose up at the spirit. "Please, stay looking like that too."
"Of course, Princess." Virgo returned the woman's smile and led the way out of the bedroom. "There is much to talk about, you've grown so much since we last saw each other."
"Thank you, Virgo."
0=0=0=0=0=0=0
The Duke staggered down the hallway with a bottle of champagne firmly grasped in hand, his drunken babble and slurs breaking out over the sound of music and chatter from time to time.
Sal shook his head and stopped a passing waiter by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, this is my first time coming to one of these parties, does the Duke usually get like this?"
The man sighed as he turned to look at his boss. "Sadly, yes. More often than not at these parties, he is so intoxicated that we find him passed out somewhere within the mansion."
"So he is known for passing out in random places?"
"Unfortunately, yes." The waiter's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Well, I better focus on my tasks, have a good night Sir."
"I'll leave you to it." Sal said as he patted the man on the shoulder and started following the Duke once more.
"Start making your way down to the entrance hall, we'll be leaving once we get the Key." Sal ordered as he pursued his target. "This won't take me long, as long as I don't get side-tracked by someone again."
"What's your plan with the Duke?" Agent Demon asked curiously.
"According to a waiter I was just chatting to, the Duke has a very unfortunate habit of drinking until he passes out, and will pass out anywhere on the premise. So, I have a few ideas I am working on."
"Like?"
"I can slip a gas grenade into his suit as I walk past and detonate it when he's alone, then pick his pockets. Or, I can follow him into a secluded area and tranq him. Alternatively, I can just wait for him to pass out."
"We'll leave it up to your discretion. See you soon."
"Alright Demon, I won't be long."
Agent Salamander waited until the Duke had stopped to hit on another poor woman so he had the time to set up a remote detonator for the gas grenade.
He ducked into the room next to him and checked to see if it was empty. Once he was satisfied that it was clear, he reached into a pocket on the inside of his suit jacket and fished out one of the disk-shaped gas grenades. Sal quickly glanced around once more and activated the hard light interface for the prototype tac-com and started pairing it with the grenade so he could remotely detonate it with a tap sequence on the watch face.
Once it was all set up, he deactivated the interface and placed the hand with the small grenade into his trouser pocket then casually left the room. He glanced up the hall where he last saw the Duke and caught sight of him as he rounded the corner to another hallway. 'Oh for fucks sake. How the fuck does this drunk midget fuck keep giving me the slip.'
The man lengthened his stride so he could cover more distance and catch up to the squat Duke, doing his best to keep the guise of an affluent partygoer. He took the corner a few moments later and slowed his pace when he spotted the drunken Duke trying his luck once more on another woman. 'My gods, this dude is hopeless…' Sal smiled as he walked to the man while a waitress approached him from the other side.
He slipped his hand out of his pocket as he kept his eyes on the waitress. "Evening Miss, how are you?"
"Oh?" The blue-haired woman was startled that the pinkette had struck up a conversation with her. "I'm good, my feet are a little sore but that's par for the course."
Sal came to a stop next to the Duke as he smiled at the waitress. "I can understand. I'm new to this scene, I came with a few friends you see. Usually, I just go to house parties and clubs."
"Oh my, I don't remember the last time I've been to one of those." The blunette placed a hand on her cheek and lowered the platter of champagne flutes. "I was at one every night during college."
"Ah, those were the days, when we didn't have a care in the world." The pinkette took a glass from the platter as he flicked his fingers back, sinking the gas grenade into a pocket on the Duke's trousers. "Names Natsu, by the way."
"Sadie. You don't seem that far out of college yourself, mid-twenties?" Sadie lowered her hand and rested it on her chest as she smiled kindly at the man.
"Yeah, mid-twenties. I was lucky enough to know someone who runs a company in Magnolia, I work in Requisitions. Essentially, if my company needs something then I'll do my best to find it." Sal returned the smile as he switched the glass to his now free main hand. "Travelling and meeting new people is what I like best about it."
"Oh, that sounds dreamy! Where have you travelled to?"
"I've been to Sin, Seven, Bosco …that was a dangerous one, Minstrel, even Alakitasia." The pinkette took a sip of the alcohol as Duke Everlue swore loudly behind him and stumbled off down the hall once more, almost tripping over his own two feet.
"I'm sorry about my boss, he gets like this every time… It's embarrassing to be on his roster." Sadie covered her reddening face with her hand as her violet eyes peeked out from between her fingers. "I'm honestly thinking about resigning. I just can't take it anymore…"
"Might I recommend coming to Magnolia? I know it's a big city and all, but it's a very nice place to live. And I'm sure you'd easily find a job at any of the five-star restaurants there if it tickled your fancy." Sal nodded his head to the retreating stumpy and grouchy figure. "And if you mention you used to work in… less than ideal conditions, then I'm sure they'd really bring you on board."
"Hmm, I'll have to give it some serious thought after the night is over. Thanks for the kind words."
"Ah, it's nothing." He smiled and waved her off. "I just like making sure people are alright, have a good evening Sadie, and please do consider Magnolia."
The waitress bowed her head and gave him one last smile before returning to her duties, a bit more pep in her step as she disappeared around the corner.
Sal turned away from the woman and started to follow the Duke once more. He kept a safe distance away from the man and made out like he was just some curious young man who was exploring the mansion for the first time.
The Duke stopped and staggered to a door, he fumbled with the doorknob for a few moments before finally succeeding in opening the door as he slurred out an almost incoherent sentence. "Finly, I cn t*hi*ake fat shit n toi*hic*let."
Sal heard the bottle that Everlue was carrying fall to the floor and roll across the tiles, followed by a zipper and the rustling of clothes. The pinkette leant on the wall next to the door with his arms behind him as he sighed. 'Sometimes, I hate my senses.'
Once the first plonk reached his ears, Sal's hand slid down to the watch and tapped on it twice then three times. He heard a faint click of the grenade opening followed by the hissing of gas as it detonated. 'Oh no, seems like the poor Duke has drunkenly passed out on the toilet.' The agent rolled his eyes and slipped into the bathroom. He saw that the bottle had rolled across the room and came to a stop against the toilet which currently had the Duke with his pants down and slumped against the wall with drool leaking from his mouth.
'What a pitiful sight.' He crossed the room and lowered himself down onto a knee as he started to rummage through Everlue's various pockets. "Sal here, I've dealt with the Duke, he is currently sleeping on a toilet."
"That's unfortunate…" Demon replied slowly, her voice containing a modicum of disgust.
Sal pulled the gas grenade from the pocket of the man's trousers and closed it, placing it back into the pocket of his suit jacket before going to the Duke's jacket and checking for the Key.
'Bingo.' The pinkette pulled the Key free of one of the inner pockets of the jacket and placed it into one of his own for safekeeping. "I've got the Key, heading back to the first floor now."
"Copy that, we're all waiting in the entrance hall, with Virgo." Celeste replied, sounding very happy to be reunited with her friend.
Sal slipped out of the bathroom and walked down the crowded hallway. He spotted a maid and gently stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. He leant in and lowered his voice for such a delicate subject. "Ma'am. Umm… I was just about to use the bathroom just up the hallway from here but I found the Duke in there… He is passed out on the toilet with a bottle of champagne next to him."
"Oh gods… Not again, he does this every single time…" The maid covered her face and let out a long sigh. "Alright, thanks for telling me. I'll gather a few people and deal with him."
"No problem, Ma'am. Have a good evening." The man said as he started to walk away.
"I'll try…"
Sal walked the halls as quickly as he could without it seeming suspicious. The end was in sight now, he just had to reach the first floor and they could get the hell out of dodge. "What's the ETA on the Limo?"
"It's already here. Warmed up and ready to go. We are just waiting on you, Sal."
"I'm at the stairs, Demon, I won't be long now." The pinkette jogged down the flights of stairs, carefully weaving through partygoers as he went. He spotted the other agents not far from the last set of stairs so he leapt over the railing and swaggered over to them. "Well this was a great party and all but I think we should call it a night if we want to get back to Magnolia for your photoshoot, Mira."
"Sounds like a good idea, we were just waiting on you before we head out." Demon smiled and gestured to the pink-haired maid next to her. "Natsu, this is Virgo. Virgo, Natsu."
"It's nice to meet you, Virgo." Sal gave her a nod of his head. "But let's talk more once we are in the limo."
"How was everyone's night?" Celeste asked as she led the way out of the mansion and over to the waiting limo.
"Well it was all kinda new to me. I rarely go to parties like this." The salmon-haired agent replied as they all loaded up into the vehicle. "Wasn't expecting to see Hibiki at all, though it doesn't surprise me that he'd be here."
"I got to play the piano and sing to a crowd, so I'm happy." Soul softly giggled as she got comfy on the back seat next to her sister.
Virgo sat next to Celeste long the side and looked across at Sal. "You have my Key, Natsu?"
"That I do." The car started to move as the man reached into his pocket and withdrew the shiny golden key and held it up to display Virgo's logo. "Here it is, should be safe to talk freely now too."
Lucy reached out and took the key from Natsu so she could have a better look. "Yeah, this is definitely Virgo's Celestial Key, I can feel the magical resonance." She leant back and let out a long sigh. "Virgo, let's form a temporary contract so you can run off of my magic, we'll do a true contract once we are somewhere safe."
"Yes, Princess." Virgo smiled as she, the key, and Lucy all glowed a faint gold.
"I can't wait to get out of these damn clothes." Natsu muttered as he put his hands behind his head.
"Aw don't be like that~." Lisanna purred playfully. "You look great, all dressed up like that."
Mira smirked devilishly as she decided to get in on the action. "Yeah, a real stud if you ask me~."
"Enough you two, you'll make the poor man blush." Lucy giggled as she gently smacked Natsu on the knee.
"Yeah yeah, I get it. But I still prefer wearing my normal gear." The pinkette stretched his legs out and rubbed his rumbling stomach. "Did anyone get a chance to grab a bite to eat while we were there?"
At the sight of three shaking heads, a soft smile spread across Mira's face. "I'll make us some food once we get to the safe house. Oh, Lucy, it's probably best if you bring your spirit into the fold."
"Ah yes. Virgo, I'm not sure if my mother knows this or not, but I wouldn't put it past Leo telling her." Lucy turned to her maid. "But I work for one of the private companies whom the Crown contracts to bolster their own military and intelligence agencies. We work out in the public eye but they don't see what we really do."
"Is that why you were at the party, Princess?"
"Yes Virgo, we were tasked with retrieving you." Lucy smiled at the spirit.
"That is one way of putting it." Natsu muttered as he closed his eyes. "We were conducting a mission to keep a potentially dangerous magical artefact out of the wrong hands. Thankfully, Lucy here is a Heartfilia, a matrilineal line of Celestial Mages regarded the best in the known world, someone who can keep this artefact safe." He cracked open an eye as one of the corners of his mouth lifted in a small smile. "Though I'm sure returning an old friend to her company is worth it for all parties involved."
"Well, while Lucy takes care of her contract with Virgo, who is going to report to the Director?" Mira asked as she glanced between her sister and Natsu.
"I'll do it." Natsu rolled his head over to look at the two white-haired women. "You two can whip up something for us all to eat."
"Sounds like a good idea, I'm starving." Lisanna said as she rubbed her stomach. "Can't wait to get back to the safe house."
Firstly, sorry for the wait, I've been very busy recently and could barely work on either of my stories. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to follow or favourite to keep up to date with the story, and if you would like to leave a review then please do, it helps with motivation and a few kind words go a long way. Until next time, be seeing you.