"So far so good…" Lucy muttered while taking the lead in the escape.
"We might actually escape at this rate…" Diamond said with the slightest hint of optimism. It wasn't long before the group came to a large open room, only to be met by Cain, Bass, Weavel, Yumia, Yukia, and Marta. "Or not…shit."
"They were waiting for us…" Yukino said with the slightest scowl towards the bounty hunters.
"But how…?!" Marlene gasped.
"Two little birdies told me where you going…" Cain said with a disapproving tone.
"Two CUTE little birdies, actually," Yumia said as though she was correct Cain.
"The twins…" Diamond "tsked" after realizing the escape plan was never successful in the first place. "They saw us, I can't believe this…"
"How unlucky…" Saeko sighed.
"Unlucky" was the trigger word for Yukino. After going such a long time without any bad luck happening to others with her around, this certainly hit hard. She lowered her head, unable to help but feel guilty about the current situation now that the word "unlucky" had been brought up. "A bad luck charm as always…" She thought to herself.
"I'm quite hurt…" Cain said while clutching his chest in a sarcastic manner. "It's almost heartbreaking how you try to escape even after we've treated you so well! You can't argue that we haven't treated you well!"
"That doesn't matter!" Marlene exclaimed. "It doesn't mean we want to be here!"
"Frankly, you don't really have a say in the matter…" Bass spoke in a low tone, just audible enough to be heard. "We have a job, and we're here to complete it."
"We'll fight you if we have to!" Lucy shouted to all of the current bounty hunters.
"Whoa, whoa slow down a second…!" Diamond started to say, but the thrown down challenge was already picked up.
"Very well, have it your way," Cain said, nudging his head to say it was alright for the others to jump forward.
"She didn't mean it…! For fuck's sake…" Diamond groaned. "See what you've gotten us into, Ms. Genius! They outnumber us!"
"Don't fret, I'll make this quick and easy!" Bass stated while pointing his hand towards Marlene, gathering an accumulation of darkness around it. "Dark Pulse." From Bass' hand, a beam of darkness shot out, quicker than any of the females could react to. The beam flew past Lucy, Diamond, Yukino, and Saeko, traveling right towards the vulnerable Marlene.
"Marlene look out…!" Lucy squealed in panic.
"It…" Marlene started as the Dark Pulse was about to consume her, but a bright light appeared from Marlene, pushing the Dark Pulse away from her person. Almost as if the magical attack was rejected. "It won't work…"
"W-What the…" Yukino stood wide eyed at what she just witnessed. "What…what kind of magic was that…?"
"I'm not a mage…" Marlene replied.
"My attack failed…? Impossible…" Bass said through gritted teeth, trying to restrain his annoyance.
"You can have another shot if you'd like~!" Yukia said in a clearly mocking and sarcastic tone.
"Shut up!" Bass shouted before unleashing yet another Dark Pulse at Marlene, but just as before, it was rejected by the non-wizard and dispersed. "What the hell!?"
"Now's my chance…" Saeko thought to herself, quickly pulling out a magical wand and held it forward towards Bass. The wand unleashed a pink blast equal in size to a full powered dragon slayer roar at the distracted Bass.
"No chance…" Weavel whispered, lunging forward with a blade in hand. He easily sliced through the blast Saeko sent, much to her surprise. Now, he was in front of her, blade raised high. "Night night, little star…"
"Guh!" Diamond shouted, shoulder tackling Weavel away from Saeko at the last second. "What are you standing around for!?"
"You two are useless…" Yukia sighed before looking at Yumia. "Shall we?"
"We shall!" Yumia replied, standing side by side with her twin sister.
"This doesn't look too good…" Lucy grumbled while reaching for her keys. They'd still be outnumbered even if she summoned her spirits. "How can we separate them…?"
"Hm…Weavel. I think it would be better if everyone got the chance to take on their own target, don't you agree? Separate them."
"Of course…" Weavel nodded and slashed the air. At first, nothing happened, but then, markings began to appear along the ground, forcibly sending the girls to stay in one particular spot, all a decent distance away from the other. "Hole." Weavel muttered, causing the ground below the girls to give out, resulting in the girls all falling through separate holes leading to different sections of the warehouse below ground. "They have been separated. Choose your targets."
"We'll take the spirit mage!" Yukia called out.
"Which one…?" Bass asked while pinching the bridge of his nose. "There are two…"
"The sliver haired one, duh. I thought we made that obvious." Yumia replied while poking her tongue out at Bass.
"I swear to everything I am this close to killing you both…" Bass groaned. "Get out of my sight."
"Someone's touchy today…" Yukia huffed before taking her sister's hand, and jumped down the hole Yukino fell into.
"I'll take the annoying one…" Bass said before jumping into the hole Saeko fell into.
"I suppose I'll make sure Rajaron's food makes it to him…" Weavel said before stepping into the hole Diamond fell into.
"I'll take the one who nullified magic! I need to do more research on her!" Marta nodded and gleefully jumped into the hole Marlene fell into.
"Heheh…" Cain chuckled at his fellow hunter's remarks, turning around only to see a panting Marx. "Marx? Back so soon. I assume everything worked out perfectly?"
"T-That's right!" Marx nodded and gave a salute. "They took the bait!"
"Excellent work…" Cain gave a nod of appreciation, patting Marx on the head. "Now, you're free to join in the festivities. The others fell down those hole's here."
"Really? Yay, wonder time fun time!" Marx exclaimed childishly before leaping into a random hole.
"…I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with that…" Cain said with a slightly dark chuckle. He then took a seat, crossing his legs as he contacted the leader, a lacrima screen appearing. The silhouette of a female appeared on the screen, and she smoke with a curious tone. "Ah, I'm glad you aren't busy..."
"Cain, what is it?" The female asked, arms crossed. "Did you finish your mission already?"
"Not quite, it's in the works," Cain said with a nod.
"They why did you contact me?" The female asked in a slightly annoyed tone of voice now.
"Oh, calm down now. Mission update, that's all it is, dearie," Cain now replied with a teasing grin, knowing the leader absolutely detested being called that.
"Call me that again and I'll have your head on my wall..." The leader responded in a rather serious tone of voice. "Our employer is getting a little impatient."
"If he can hold his horses for a few more hours..." Cain remarked with annoyance. "I know he's the most important person in Pergrande, but he cannot continue to act like a spoiled child..."
"Ja, ja, ja..." Another voice from the background chimed in, plagued by a noticeable German accent. "The good man could learn how to learn the art of patience, ya Lucia?"
"Yeager, shut up," Lucina immediately shot towards Yeager.
"My, my...so rude..." Yeager replied before leaving the background.
"In any case, hurry your mission along. If I have to deal with this any longer I may well destroy the damn place and be done with it, understand?" Lucia asked Cain.
"You know you can count on us, Leader Lucia..."
.
.
Natsu, Cygnus, and Erza were lost in the middle of a forest, all three mages feeling frustration from losing Marx's trail. "Dammit…!" Natsu shouted, punching a nearby tree to vent his anger. "I can't believe he slipped away…!"
"If you weren't so busy trying to topple me over we'd still be following him!" Cygnus exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Always trying to prove you're the best, see what this gained us?!"
"Shut the hell up!" Natsu shouted, getting in Cygnus' face. "Or do I have to make you again!?"
"You forget who won the last fight!" Cygnus replied with a prideful arrogant smirk, and he had all the right to be that way. "You and Gray, one shot!"
Natsu couldn't take it anymore. His fist lit up in flames, but he was stopped when Erza slammed their heads together, causing the two mages to writhe around on the ground in agony. "You two need to STOP. My goodness, you're worse than Natsu and Gray…." Erza said in a clearly irritated tone.
"H-He started it..!" Natsu said in a defensive tone.
"And I'm ENDING it." Erza replied, her eyes glaring into Natsu's soul. "You need to stop fighting and focus. If we're stuck here fighting amongst each other!"
"I guess she's right…" Cygnus groaned before standing up. "Natsu, make yourself useful and try to smell something out…"
"I've been trying…" Natsu grumbled, pointing his nose up in the air in attempt to sniff something out. At first, he got nothing. But then, he picked the faintest hint of something. Was his nose working again? "Wait…I think I got something…"
"Your nose is working again…?" Erza immediately turned to Natsu with a hopeful expression.
"Yeah…something…this way!" Natsu exclaimed, a large grin on his face as the familiar scent entered his nose. He then began to sprint in the direction the scent was coming from.
"Hey, he is useful after all!" Cygnus joked as he and Erza followed after Natsu, but Erza certainly didn't seem amused by the joke, and just shot the gravity god with a glare strong enough to pierce the soul of any mortal. "Joking. J-O-K-I-N-G."
.
.
"They're in pursuit!?" Cynthia flailed. "We have to go help!"
"You're not going to do anything." Laxus immediately replied.
"Oh, come on!" Cynthia pleaded. "We can help track them down! Our noses still work, right Wendy."
"They do!" Wendy nodded.
"They just won't quit…" Freed said with a sigh.
"Guess there's no point in stopping them, ne?" Mirajane asked. "As long as someone keeps an eye on them? Laxus?"
"What?" Laxus immediately replied, raising a brow. "I'm not a babysitter…"
"Doesn't seem like we have much of a choice," Makarov said. "Laxus, you'll go out with these two to follow Natsu and Erza. Everyone else will split off into groups and look around town, maybe find some clues. …Everyone but Gildarts. For obvious reasons."
"Aheh…" Gildarts rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner before glugging down more beer.
"We should get going!" Carla pointed out. "Otherwise we'll lose them."
"Yes, let's go!" Cynthia nodded, rushing out the front doors without delay.
"W-What, Cynthia!" Wendy pleaded, hurrying out the doors after her friend with Carla by her side.
"Dammit..." Laxus let out an exasperated sigh before standing up from his seat on the second floor.
"You should hurry..." Bickslow pointed out. "You know how fast those three babies can get lost or into trouble..." (Trouble! Trouble!)
"Who the hell thought it was a good idea to sign me up for this..." Laxus groaned while making way out of the guild with a quickened pace.
"Now, for the rest of you..." Makarov began. "We'll split off into small groups, and search each end of the city to see if there could be any kind of clues left behind."
"Ah, I see..." Mirajane nodded, getting what Makarov was aiming for. "If that same bounty hunter was lingering in the city, perhaps they left something of value?"
"Exactly," Makarov replied to Mirajane with a grin.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Freed questioned.
"JUVIA GETS GRAY-SAMA," Juvia suddenly exclaimed, taking hold of Gray's arm and began to quickly drag him out of the guild before anyone could really interfere.
"What guys don't just stand there I didn't agree to this!" Gray shouted, but it was too late as he was dragged out the doors.
"...We should really send someone to look after them..." Lisanna remarked with a slightly nervous smile and comical sweat drop on the side of her face.
"As for the rest of you...split up however you see fit, I trust you all after all." Makarov stated.
.
.
On the roof tops of Magnolia, Heartless stood with the Gemini Spark twins, gazing at the Fairy Tail members roaming around the time. She was curious about this, but this also provided an opportunity to try out Gemini Sparks' new abilities. "Hm…Spark Red…" Heartless pointed to the small group of Macao, Romeo, and Wakaba. "See what happens when you attack them."
"Aye!" Spark Red nodded, pointing his hand forward. An invisible wave of magic traveled to the group. Macao and Wakaba were in the middle of an argument as usual, but when the invisible wave struck, they sudden became the literal best of friends and began skipping down the walkway, leaving Romeo very confused.
"What…?" Romeo blinked at the sudden mood shift unable to figure out what just happened between his father and his friend. "I don't understand."
"Now…Spark Blue, you go." Heartless commanded.
"Of course, Madam!" Spark Blue nodded, firing off an invisible wave just as the other twin did. Once it struck the two Fairy Tail mages, then went back to hating each other, though it was rather aggressive and was about to lead into a fight.
"W-What?! Calm down!" Romeo urged, placing himself in the middle of Macao and Wakaba.
"Emotion manipulation is a success…" Heartless couldn't help but grin slyly. But she then felt something, turning to the two twins now. "Ugh…of course…" Heartless sighed, snapping her fingers. She reverted the twins to their normal form temporarily, sending the spirit back to the key they came from. "Can't have you dying on me now, Heartfilia…" She then turned on her heel, and walked off, grumbling something else under her breath. She then opened up a lacrima screen to communicate with Diamond. "Diamond, it's about time you returned home..." Heartless blinked, only to see static on the screen. "What...?"
"Eh...?" Wakaba blinked as the Emotion Manipulation effects wore off, wondering why he was about to throw hands with Macao. "What happened...?"
"You two suddenly became the best of best friends, then turned on each other like girls and almost fought!" Romeo explained, though his analogy left both seniors looking at him in a sardonic fashion.
"Romeo. Where do you hear these things?" Macao asked while crossing his arms.
"...No where." Romeo responded to his father with a nervous grin.
.
.
"So that's what those bounty hunters can do…?" Mason, the young 16 year old of Shaman's Heaven asked Roy. Mason had short black hair that reached down to his neck, blue eyes, a black shirt and blue jeans, ending with a pair of sneakers. His weapon of choice was nothing more than a mere slingshot.
"That's right," Roy replied with a nod. "Very dangerous opponents…"
"So we're gonna sit back and do nothing…?" Asked Sira, the S class weather mage of the guild. Sira had red eyes and green hair, being of about average height. "What do you think, Satoshi?"
"Whatever happens, happens," Satoshi replied. "If we have to end up defending ourselves, we will. The winds of change blow more frequently than you would imagine…"
"I suppose that's true…" Sira replied.
"Oh, and one more thing…" Roy said, though he was speaking more to Satoshi than the present members.
"What is it?" Satoshi asked.
"They have a member named Rajaron…" Roy began. "And Satoshi, he's kinda like you, but not quite. If you know what I'm referring to."
Satoshi nodded, understanding what Roy was getting at. "Ah…that so…? Well then, I'll be sure to stay careful around 'im, then…"
.
.
Diamond wandered around the hallways of the warehouse underground, muttering to herself about how she got caught up in this stupid situation. "Why me…" Diamond eventually groaned.
"I've found you…" Weavel said, jumping in front of Diamond, nearly scaring the girl to death.
"G-Gah..!? You again…?" Diamond groaned, sliding into a stance. "Okay, let's make this quick."
"I intend to…" Weavel replied in a quiet tone. "You're going to make good food for Rajaron…This will likely be our last meeting; before you are sent to death…"
"You can't kill what's already dead…" Diamond replied in an oddly solemn tone, throwing Weavel off guard for a second.
"What…?" Weavel replied with a brow raised. "You don't fear death?"
"I don't need to." Diamond replied. "I already died once."
"Even so, you can still feel pain. If you can't die, torture is always a viable option as well," Weavel merely replied with a nod.
"I wonder about that…" Diamond said in a genuinely curious tone before getting serious. "Either way, let's end this discussion…there's no more time for words now."
.
.
Lucy felt along the walls of the darkened hallway, quietly thinking to herself about the situation. She then looked down once noticing a bright light emitting from her key ring. "Huh…?"
"Your spirits…" Saeko said while walking around the corner Lucy was about to, causing the celestial mage to jump.
"S-Saeko…! You scared me…!" Lucy said while placing a hand over her chest, slowly regulating her breathing.
"I'm sorry…" Saeko said with an apologetic bow. "It appears we were dropped into the same area…"
"Shall we see where it leads?" Lucy asked.
"Mhm, of course." Saeko nodded, and the two continued their walk, eventually making their way into a large open room, very similar to the one they fell from.
"It looks identical…" Lucy pointed out.
"Doesn't it?" Aeon asked while brushing himself off, walking from the opposite end of the room.
"Aeon!?" Lucy gasped. "How did you recover from the crotch shot so quickly?!"
"I think the better question is how did he get out of that room…" Saeko whispered to Lucy in a slightly comical fashion.
"How do you think?" Bass asked, walking in right behind Aeon.
"You broke through Diamond's diamonds so quickly...?" Lucy asked as Bass walked in.
"Nothing but mere child's play..." Bass replied with the slighest of smirks.
Aeon ran a hand through his hair, letting out a soft sigh as he got into a battle ready stance. "It's a shame we have to do this to you, but we're left with no other choice considering your rash and unappreciative behavior. I hope you two fair maidens are prepared…"