Chapter 76

Code Blue


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip


Natsu finally stopped running and let the group rest in a forest. "What's this Avatar thing Rogue was supposed to go after?" Happy asked looking at the paper.

"Dunno." Natsu replied. "Any ideas, Lisanna?"

"I wish I had any answers." She answered.

"Apparently it's a cult filled with Zeref followers that has been on the rise since the fall of the Baram Alliance." Lucy spoke up, catching their attention. "I don't know if he has anything to do with them, but they all worship him like a god."

"Zeref's underlings, huh?" Natsu chuckled. "I'm all fired up."

"That aside, how'd Rogue's job have anything to do with where Gray is?" The blonde asked.

"Yeah, I don't understand." Lisanna added.

Natsu hung his head before turning to a tree. "He's using his brains for a change…" Happy mumbled.

"Alright… I think I can tell you." Natsu said, looking at the ground. "Future Rogue told me this. A year after the Grand Magic Games, so about now, we'll be meeting Gray again, but as an enemy."

"An enemy?" Lucy repeated in shock.

"Long story short, apparently Gray is the reason he snapped." Natsu added. "I didn't think that was possible, but when Juvia mentioned those marks on him… he had those same marks when we were battling Mard Geer. Maybe he wanted to learn Devil Slayer magic as fast as possible. Maybe he let some of that evil stuff into him."

"No way…" Lisanna mumbled. 'How could he keep something like this from me…? He told me everything.'

"Don't worry." Natsu declared, rubbing her head. "Gray is still our friend, no matter what…"

"Yeah." Lucy nodded.


Mikage Forest

Crossing a stone bridge, the four found themselves staring at a broken building. "Looks like an old abandoned church." Lucy stated.

"What do we do, Natsu?" Happy asked.

"Attack, of course!" The Dragon Slayer declared.


A platoon of council soldiers stood over a cliff as one stepped forward. "Captain, we'll be reaching the edge of Mikage Forest soon. Avatar's main base is there. However, we do have word that Gray Fullbuster is currently in the cult as well."

"Gray?" A smile appeared on Gajeel's face as he crossed his arms. "Like I give a damn. We'll arrest them all! That's what we do don't we? As the council's detention enforcement unit."


Mikage Forest

"Alright, what's the plan?" Natsu asked. Lucy stared at him in shock of the restraint he was showing. "What?"

"I thought you'd say 'let's take it by storm' or something." She confessed. "Are you sure you're Natsu?"

"Lucy, don't be rude." Lisanna teased from the side. "Natsu's grown a lot in the last year, not just in power."

"I guess…" The blonde mumbled before pulling out a key. "Since we have no idea who or what is waiting for us in there, we should use Virgo to tunnel in from underneath. They'll never see it coming."

"And the sooner we pull Gray out of there, the better." Natsu added.

"I can help. Take-Over!" Lisanna glowed in a bright light as her body shrunk down. Once the light died, she had transformed into a large, plump white mole with sharp claws and a drill-like tail. "I picked up this form a few months ago. I've been dying to use it."

"Alright! Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!" The spirit suddenly appeared on the ground, tied up in ropes. The four stared in shock before Lucy rushed over to her spirit. "Are you okay!? Who did this!?"

"It's no bother." The spirit spoke up, the rope vanishing off of her. "I wasn't busy, so I'd thought punish myself."

"What's… wrong with you?" Lucy asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"It's been a long time, Master Natsu, Lady Lisanna." The spirit said to the couple with a smile. "Big brother Loke is wondering how far you two have gone in the last year…"

"That's not really his business." Natsu huffed in annoyance.

"We can worry about that later." Lucy spoke up. "Right now, we need you to dig a tunnel into the basement of that old church."

"Of course, princess." Virgo nodded before activating her magic. Lisanna jumped in after her, the claws making swift work of the dirt.


A hole appeared in the basement before Virgo popped up. "We have reached the basement." She said as Lucy climbed out of the hole. Lisanna popped up next to them before deactivating her magic.

"Lucy, move your big butt!" Happy shouted before the two males got out of the ground.

"Let's see if we can dig up anything on Gray before anyone finds us." Lucy mumbled as she looked around the cell.

Natsu stood up and with one breath ruined that entire plan. "GRAY! COME OUT, COME OUT, WHERE EVERY YOU ARE!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Lucy shouted, pulling on his face. "The plan was to move around undetected, not tell the whole world we're here!"

"There's no point in hiding." Natsu declared, catching the blonde off guard. "I can smell Gray. There's no doubt he's here."

"Hey, what are you guys doing in our base?" A small child asked from above, holding an all too familiar doll. He jumped down to the ground, only for Natsu to deliver a flaming brain chop, instantly knocking him out.

"Sorry, squirt. Bring me Gray or get out of here." Natsu stated.

A bald man raced into the room before he telekinetically launched various torture items at Natsu. He dodged all of them before a wooden horse suddenly launched forward, only for a single kick to destroy it. The man smirked before an iron maiden clamped around Natsu, only for it suddenly melt into slag.

A single punch knocked the stunned man out before Natsu turned and kicked a giant masked figure into a wall, knocking him out. "Im-impossible…" The masked man groaned out. "We're the top tier wizards of Avatar…"

"It's obvious you were in too deep, baldy." All five turned their heads to a door and stared up at Gray. "Leave him to me."

"Hey! Long time no see, man." Natsu joked at the glaring Gray.

Instantly, the two launched themselves at each other, each throwing a punch clad in their respective elements. Both slid back as Natsu smirked while Gray just glared. "Stop it, both of you!" Lucy begged from the side.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Gray asked, throwing another punch.

"Right back at ya!" Natsu blocked the fist before delivering a flaming kick. "Juvia's waiting for you, ya bastard! And we need you to bring back Fairy Tail!"

Gray punched him in the face, cutting off the rant. "This is stupid. Fairy Tail is no more!" A mass of purple ice erupted in front of Natsu.

Instantly, Natsu swung his arm and melted the wall. "That's what they all say. But the memories and bonds we shared are still there." As the mist cleared, Natsu placed his hand over his heart. "Fairy Tail is right here. Has been and always will be."

Standing up, Gray merely ignored the plea of his one time ally. "If it's as you say, then you have no need for me. So leave me alone. I'll go my way, you go yours. Fairy Tail is no longer a part of me. So could you drop the whole BFF act with me?"

Lucy suddenly stepped in front of him before slapping him in the face. "Act!? It wasn't an act! We're friends till the end! Stop talking like-" A sudden pain gripped her stomach and she fell over, holding her stomach.

"Mary?" Gray asked the girl behind him.

"Who are you people?" The small girl asked with a sick smile. "Gray's friends from before? From that guild that no longer exists?"

In his anger, Natsu missed the anti-magic cuffs that wrapped around his hands. "The hell!?" Lisanna and Virgo fell over as well, their hands bound by the same thing. Happy rushed over to help, only to be bound by the cursed dolls effect.

"You weaklings shouldn't have gotten in the first place." Mary chuckled, leaning over the blonde. "Does it hurt? My virus magic?"

"GRAY!" Natsu charged forward, forcing the telekinetic to physically hold onto the chain.

"Even with his magic sealed, how is he so strong?" Gomon asked.

A black sword was suddenly placed on Lisanna's neck, forcing Natsu to stop his charge. "Move again, and she dies." Jerome declared.

"This is what you get for sticking your nose into other people's business, Natsu." Gray said, removing his shirt. "This is the proof that I destroyed that 'bond' on my own. This is who I am now…"

"Gray…" Natsu growled in anger.


A cell door slammed shut as Natsu, now in cuffs of his own, rushed over to Lisanna. "You okay, Lisanna?"

"I'm fine." She replied.

"You okay, Lucy?" Happy asked, his body in a single cuff.

"Yeah, I'm good." She nodded. "Virgo went back to the Celestial World because of these cuffs. Guess she couldn't stay here any longer with them on."

"That damn Gray…" Natsu huffed in annoyance. "What the hell happened to him?"

"There has to be a reason for this." Lucy surmised. "He could have been possessed, or maybe he's under someone's control…"

"Yeah, Gray wouldn't do something like this…" Happy added.

Footsteps caught their attention as the monk walked into view before suddenly bowing at the empty hall. "WHERE'S GRAY!?" Natsu slammed into the cell door. "Bring him here!"

"Gray, along with everyone else, isn't here anymore." Gomon declared. "They've all gone to prepare the purification ritual. And I've stayed behind to get some information from you, by any means necessary."

"Purification ritual?" Happy repeated.

"The only way for us to bring Zeref closer to us." The monk explained. "A cleansing of the body and soul."

"Don't involve Gray in your weird cult!" Lisanna shouted, only for her chains to fly up and latch onto a hook, hanging her from the wrists.

"Let her go!" Natsu shouted, only for him and Happy to be pinned to the wall. Lucy found her cuffs pulled away and hung next to Lisanna.

"Now, let's begin my torture show." Gomon said, pulling off a sheet to reveal tools. "For you, young lady…" He turned to Lisanna and held up a jar of starving rats. "We'll start with this."

"Rats?" Lucy asked.

"This jar will go on your stomach." He explained. "Tied against your waist, the jar will then be covered by a hot coal, encouraging the rats to escape. As they have no problem with it, they will burrow their way through you."

"You're sick!" Lucy shouted.

"Now tell me who sent you here." Gomon pulled Lisanna off the wall and strapped her down. "Before she has a new bellybutton."

"I told you! We're here to take Gray back!" Natsu shouted.

"Don't make me repeat myself, boy!" The monk shouted, tying the jar around her waist. "Gray is our comrade now!"

"No, he's our friend." The Dragon Slayer declared. "And if he doesn't believe in himself, then we will."

"SHUT UP!" Lucy was suddenly pulled off the wall and her arms and legs held taught. "Forget rats and whips! I'll just split this one in half right now!" Gomon shouted, holding an axe over his head.

"STOP!" Natsu pulled on the wall, but the chains held him in place.

"Let's see if you believe in Gray now!" He brought his blade down and Lucy flinched, only to find the dark mage was suddenly pulled under ground. Heavy blows echoed beneath their feet before a second hole popped up. A mop of messy brown hair was the first thing they saw.

"…Yo." The all too familiar man said. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Nicholas!" Natsu cheered as the savior stepped out of the hole. His pendant remained around his neck as he now wore a black tank top with white wrappings around his hands. Over that was a brown trench coat, covering a blueish, knee length shorts and black boots. "The hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, Gray called me." He replied, stunning the four as he snapped the chains off of Lisanna.

The cell door opened to show Gray at the door. "Damn it! All that work gone because of you idiots." He growled as Nicholas snapped the last chain.

"Cut them some slack." Nicholas chuckled. "They were worried about you.

Lisanna picked up the jar and placed the rats in her hand. "You poor things…" She said, looking at the sickly rodents. She went to pet the rats, only for them to flinch. Her soft touch was a surprise to them before they nuzzled into the skin. 'They're so weak… I don't think they'll live long if I let them go.' "I can take you away if you want."

Holding them close to her chest, her body and the rats glowed before they sank into her. The spell complete, the glow died and she turned just in time to see the marks on Gray shrink.

Nicholas pulled out a rectangle and swiped on the glass before putting it to his ear. "It's a Code Blue." He said, confusing the other four. "No, he wasn't… Yeah… that's what happened. Look, you talk to him." He tossed it over to Natsu, who fumbled to catch it. "Put it to your ear."

"What the hell's this?" Natsu followed his instructions and placed it near his head.

"Is that you, Natsu?" The voice on the other end of the device made his eyes go wide, partly in shock, partly in fear. "Tell me, what have you done to Gray's undercover mission."

"Erza…" He mumbled, surprising the other break ins.


Still think this twist could have been better if Gray was actually shown doing horrible stuff. And I still don't know how I feel about smartphones in FT. But there is something in here I've always wanted to see. Never saw how Lisanna gained her Take-Over powers, so I thought I'd come up with one. Also brought back my OC and we're ready to fight next chapter.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang