Groaning, the Salamander slowly lifted his head up, looking around. "What the…" He was still drowsy, so his surrounds only appeared as a blur for the time being. After a few moments, his eyes focused, and he could see that he was in some type of high tech room, the symbols (diamond, heart, spade, club) of various playing cards plastered all over the wall. "Where am I..?" Natsu looked around the floor, only to see that he was the only person around. Too add onto this, there were no magic restrains on him. This only caused him to become more suspicious. "Hm…I don't trust this…" Natsu brought his hand up, covering it with flames; this only lasted for about 10 seconds before the flame was forcefully extinguished. "What…?"
A lacrima screen appeared in front of Natsu, revealing a smirking Heartless. "It's no use; no magic will work long in there."
"Wha!?" Natsu's eyes shifted into a glare before he roared out. "You wanna bet?! I'll tear this place down!"
"Feel free to escape all you like, it won't work," Heartless said, causing Natsu to realize that Heartless wasn't just talking to him, but there were other captives somewhere in whatever area they were in. "If you're wondering where you are, allow me to show you." Heartless took a step back, pressing a button on a machine to give the exterior view of the building they were in. The display showed a large playing card (the 7 of hearts) floating high in the sky, over a grassy plain. "Now, you can all sit there until it's time for the games to begin."
"H-Hey! Get back here!" Natsu shouted, igniting his fist once again. He knew he had time before his magic was cancelled out, so he made sure to use this time. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" He exclaimed as he rushed to the nearest wall, throwing his fist at it. As soon as Natsu's fist collided with the wall, an electrical shock pulsed through his body, shocking him for a few moments in a comical fashion before he fell to the floor, smoke covering his body as he twitched for a few seconds. "Ugh…."
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.
"Everything is going according to plan…" Heartless grinned as she turned off the display, turning around to face King, who was obviously pleased.
"Excellent work, Heartless…this was a brilliant idea." King nodded, giving Heartless a slow clap. "Now, we can really see what these guilds are capable of when pushed to the limit…"
"Everyone is in position," Heartless added before speaking once again, pulling up a screen of the members inside the card with Dealer. "From Fairy Tail we have: Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet, Juvia Lockser, Wendy Marvell, Cana Alberona, Laxus Dreyar, a few Exceeds whose names escape me, and the Strauss Family."
"Were Jack and Tia unable to capture the Ace?" King asked with a brow raised.
"He, and the Master weren't there, it seems like," Heartless replied, now scrolling to the White Eclipse list. "From White Eclipse we have: Reve Volver, Tayakata, Luke Cloud, Aira Aeolus, Takeru, Kairi Ayres, Heather Viperso, Clover, and Cygnus Gwydion. The Ace wasn't there either, unfortunately, and the Master is old and sick. Capturing him would bring no merit in the end..."
"I see…and from Twilight Zone?" King asked once again, now playing with his deck of cards.
"Twilight Zone is a small guild, but from there we got: Evanee, the ace, Rylo Yukata the S class, mage, and a few other mages whose names I cannot remember…" Heartless nodded and closed the display. "Everything will go according to the plan. The things that will go down here will push these mages to their limits and beyond, just to see where we stand against them in the long run."
"Well, well…I see it's time we let the games begin then…" King let off a laugh after he spoke.
"Indeed…" Heartless nodded, looking out a window. (It's time to prove yourselves…if you cannot win against us here, then there is no hope in the long run…)
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"Trapped in this cage like a common animal or something…" Cana groaned in annoyance as she paced back and forward in the cell, trying to think of a plan to get out. She wasn't alone in this cell; with her were Lucy (who called Scorpio out) and Wendy, who were trying to bust the down a wall to escape, but to no avail.
"There's gotta be some way we can get out of here!" Lucy said while focusing on the wall she, Scorpio, and Wendy were attacking. "Come on, Scorpio!"
"We are!" Scorpio exclaimed whilst using another Sand Buster on the wall, but to no avail. "My sand isn't working…there's no point of me being here if it-" before Scorpio could finish his thought, the ten seconds were up, and his gate closed, sending him back to the Spirit World. Lucy fell onto her knees, panting heavily. "Ugh…that's the second spirit…"
"Lucy-san…!" Wendy ran over to Lucy, inspecting her to make sure she was okay. "Are you okay?"
"This place is literally exhausting…" Cana said as she eyed for another way out. "With our magic only lasting ten seconds at a time, they're just waiting for us to tire out…"
"There's a way out…there always is…" Lucy said through somewhat heavy pants. "If there wasn't they wouldn't bother letting us use magic at all!"
"Maybe they're just toying with us…" Cana replied as she pulled out her deck, throwing two cards at the wall Lucy and Wendy were attacking. Once the cards hit the wall, they exploded, but the wall was undamaged. "Dammit…!"
"If only I had Taurus…He'd be able to smash through this wall…" Lucy sighed as she looked down to the ground.
"I hope Carla and the others are okay…" Wendy frowned as she took a break, sitting down on her knees.
A knocking sound echoed through the room, and the wall then turned transparent, revealing Diamond Ice. "Hello, ladies!"
"Who the hell…?" Cana quickly drew a card from her deck, throwing it towards the wall now that it looked vulnerable. This card lit up in flames as it flew forward, but once it hit the transparent wall, it merely bounced off rather harmlessly. "Tch…"
"Oh, nice cards you got there, sweetie!" Diamond said in a rather taunting tone, her sea colored orbs looking between the three. "Celestial spirit mage…Card Mage…and the Sky Dragon slayer. I got a lucky pick!"
"Lucky pick? Who the hell are you?" Cana asked as she leered at Diamond, who was clearly unfazed.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me. I am an A class mage of Dealer, Diamond Ice!" Diamond said in a tone that made her seem higher than she really was.
"Dealer…?" Wendy blinked a few times. "Isn't that someone who hands out cards during a card game or something…?"
"…Technically, yes!" Diamond said after a brief pause. "You see, my companions are named Spade Magnes, and Club Strong. Our names are, well, based off a deck, obviously~."
"How creative…" Cana rolled her eyes in a sarcastic fashion before getting serious once again. "What do you want with us? Where are our other guild mates!?"
"Oh, simmer down, simmer down!" Diamond waved a dismissive hand, completely deflecting Cana's question. "You'll see what this is all about in due time, and I believe your guild mates are safe and sound in other cells just like yours."
"She didn't answer the question…" Lucy whispered to Cana, who merely nodded, obviously annoyed.
"Alright, Ice Princess, I'm getting really tired of your attitude…" Cana sneered.
"And I'm getting tired of the back talk…shouldn't prisoners know that talking back to the warden gets them punished!?" As Diamond spoke, a sadistic grin etched its way onto her features. She placed her hand on the center of the transparent wall, and a diamond appeared. "Punishment time!"
A computerized voice spoke after Diamond placed her hand on the wall, showing how technologically advanced Dealer was. "Name: Diamond Ice. Rank: A class mage."
"That's better than any technology I've ever seen…" Lucy took a step back, taking Wendy with her, obviously somewhat worried about what was coming.
"Yes, computer? I want you to give these lovely ladies 2 or 5, preferably 5, minutes of the second highest intensive "treatment" we have! And you know exactly where to divert the power after!"
"Yes, Diamond," The computer replied.
"T-Treatment…?" Wendy's voice shook with worry as she looked up to Lucy and Cana. In the next few seconds, the room sparked with electricity, shocking the three females intensely, shrieks of pain almost immediately escaping their mouths as their bodies quaked uncontrollably.
"Yes, yes, I love to hear the pained screams of the helpless in the afternoon!" Diamond clapped her hands once, clearly enjoying the pained shrieks. A meter then appeared on the bottom right side of the wall. Green was the color to indicate that the meter was filling up, and after about 5 minutes, the meter was halfway filled, and the "treatment" stopped. The three females fell to the floor, panting heavily as smoke flowed from their bodies. "Oh, only half…? That's not so bad, actually…" Diamond then looked to the barely conscious females, smirking. "Rest up while you can, I'll be back later." Diamond turned on her heel, walking off with a spring in her step. "They have quite a bit of magic power if 5 minutes gave half…Heartless, this idea was excellent!"
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The sound of multiple weapons striking the wall woke Luke up. His vision was blurry, and he could barely make anything out aside from the symbols on the walls. He picked himself up, staggering slightly from the headrush. "Geez…" Luke placed his hand on his head; he then looked towards the wall, seeing Erza slashing the wall with her multitude of weapons, and Heather using her Poison Dragon's Iron Fist in junction with her, but nothing was working. "Titania? Oh great, I'm stuck with her…"
Upon hearing Luke's voice, Erza turned, raising a brow. "You've finally woken up, hm?"
"He's a heavy sleeper," Heather shrugged before sucking in a deep breath, poisonous fumes swirling around her mouth. "Roar…" Before she could get her roar off, the ten seconds came to an end, and she ended up coughing due to sucking in nothing but air at that point. "Ugh…this is aggravating! I refuse to be trapped in a cage again!" After shouting his, Heather angrily slammed another poison coated fist into the wall, but nothing happened.
"No dice…" Luke grunted as he leaned against the wall, not seeing any point in trying since the combined efforts of Erza and Heather weren't working. "Where the hell are we anyway?"
"The 7 of Hearts." Erza replied.
"The what…?" Luke blinked a few times at Erza's response. "A playing card?"
"In the sky," Heather continued.
"…Lovely." Luke sighed. He then turned around, only to see a transparent wall behind him turned clear, and that Spade Magnes was standing there. "Gah…!"
"HA!" Spade laughed, slapping his knee in the process.
"Ew…why is this cretin blue and red?" Heather quirked a brow as she glanced at Magner, more or less disgusted by his appearance.
"How rude…" Spade coughed as a comically annoyed face now appeared on his features.
"Who are you, and what do you plan to do with us?" Erza asked as she walked forward, face to face with Spade (with only the unbreakable wall holding her back).
"I am Spade Magnes! An A class mage of Dealer!" Spade said with pride, bumping his fist into his chest.
"Dealer? Is that really the best name you could come up with?" Luke snickered slightly.
"Okay you know what…" Spade placed his hand on the wall, the Spade symbol appearing on the center. "Computer! Zap 'em dry. Almost."
"Name: Spade Magnes. Rank: A Class." The computer said before unleashing an endless rain of electricity down on the captured trio, zapping them of their magic. The three mages couldn't help but let out screams of agony as the bolts rained down on them. A small bad appeared on the lower right side of the wall, a green bar rising to about 3/4's of the way before stopping. The three mages fell to the ground, barely conscious as smoke wavered from their body.
"G-Gah..." Luke groaned as his body twitched for a few seconds.
"W-what the hell was that...?" Heather struggled to say, attempting to move her body, but she was unable to.
"Oh man...most of that came from Titania..." Spade have an elated grin as he began to walk off. "Rest up while you can, I'll be back to suck ya all dry later."
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"Well, well..." Said Jack as he walked into view of the detained Evanee and Rylo, an arrogant smirk painting his features. "Funny how easily Twilight Zone's two strongest mages got captured!"
"You are an annoying child..." Evanee sneered towards Jack, who just grinned towards the trapped ace and S class.
"I could be a lot worse, but I have to make sure I don't waste all my energy before the fun starts, you know?" Jack replied with a superior grin as he placed his hand on the transparent wall, a J appearing on the center, but he didn't do anything just yet.
"This hardly qualifies as fun," Rylo said in an agitated tone.
"Oh, you're just looking at it the wrong way!" Jack nodded a few times, his tone of voice slowly growing darker by the second. "Just think of it as...a magic trick. You like that, right?"
"And what kind of magic trick is this?" Rylo asked.
"Simple." Jack started as the computer verified his information. "First, we perform a little trick where we steal your magic." Jack's face slowly gained a grin as intense waves of electricity began to zap Rylo and Evanee, causing them to let out groans of pain. The bar on the bottom right of the wall began to skyrocket, which caused Jack's grin to widen. "And then we make you all disappear..."
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"Dammit!" Natsu screamed as he slammed another flaming fist into the wall, fighting off the electrical charge that shocked him. "I WILL get out of here!" His determination rose along with his anger. A lightning aura began to surround his already flaming fist, but the ten seconds ran out, so the flame and lightning coating it dispersed, much to Natsu's annoyance. "GAH!
"Quite the noise maker..." Joker sighed as he walked to Natsu's cell.
"Tch, and who the hell are you!?" Natsu demanded to know, glaring towards the SS class mage.
"Red Joker; ace of Dealer," Joker replied.
"The ace, huh?" Natsu's glare then turned into a smirk. "Let me out right now so I can kick your ass! Or will you just stay a coward and keep me in here?"
"Your foolish taunts don't bother me, Natsu Dragneel," Joker said in a tone that literally brushed Natsu's attempts to test him off, making them feeble. "Even if you weren't in that cell, you wouldn't be able to defeat me."
Instead of Natsu getting a rise out of Joker, Joker got a rise out of Natsu, his orange aura of flames erupting around his body as he slammed his fist into the wall, but to know effect. "YOU WANNA BET!"
Joker sighed and shook his head, turning his back to Natsu. "You're not even worth the magic drain...perhaps I'll just find another one of your comrades to drain..."
"Don't you DARE touch my nakama unless you want to he burned to ash!" Natsu roared, his magic starting to shake his cell.
(So he gets stronger when his nakama are in danger...?) Joker thought to himself as he started to walk off, making a mental note of this for later, wondering if it was true for the other members.
"HEY! COME BACK HERE!" Natsu screamed, but his loud voice fell upon deaf ears as Joker walked off. "Grah! When I get out of here I swear!"
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Cygnus, Alexander, Reve, and Tayakata could barely hold back the screams of pain as Tia throughly enjoyed draining their magic via the electric shocks. The lack of screaming brought a frown on Tia's usually calm face. "Why won't you scream?!" She had drained so much from them the bar was filled, but she wanted to hear them scream before stopping.
"W-When I get out of this..." Taya said in a low, threatening tone as she brought herself to her feet, her knees quivering beneath her. "I swear I'm going to rip you apart slowly, limb by limp, organ by organ..."
These four mages were dealing with a completely different side of Queen Tia, one she wasn't aware she had herself. It seemed she had some pent up aggression, and that she was taking it out on those four. "Just scream and I'll stop."
"You must...be out of your mind if you think we'll do that so easily..." Alexander coughed a few times, unable to bring up a bubble and attempt to port himself out due to how much magic he had lost.
"Your pride is going to be the cause of your death..." Tia merely replied as she started the process was again, the bad flashing red as it began to overload. "Just cry out! Writhe in pain!" Tia screamed with a sadistic expression covering her face.
"Whoa, whoa!" Strong immediately ran over to the scene, cutting off the process. "You're gonna overload the system if you keep that up!"
"Huh...?" Tia blinked absently a few times, now confused as to what was happening. "What was happening...?"
"Talk about blind anger..." Strong sighed. "I think you saw red again."
Tia groaned, rubbing her head. "That's not like me...that's been happening a lot since..." She then shook her head and began to walk off. "Doesn't matter, we've got what we can from the mages here today, yes?"
"That's right!" Strong nodded, following behind Tia. "And tomorrow we get more!"
"These guys are just gonna keep sucking us dry..." Cygnus groaned as he sat up. "We have to break out of here and find the others..."
"It's hard to do that with no magic," Reve replied as he winced.
"Whoever these guys are, they know what they're doing..." Alexander said as he groaned somewhat. "Their strategy caught is all off, and now we're paying the price for being unprepared...we're prisoners of war, and if we don't do something soon we'll end up dead...problem is, there isn't anything we can do."
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"The magic they have to offer is astounding..." King said in amazement as he gazed at the results from all the magic drained from the captured mages. "With this, my invention will not only be complete, but full proof!"
"Indeed, King..." Heartless nodded, her brows furrowing slightly as she looked away from the data. "If nothing happens in the next 24 hours, it's safe to assume that they aren't as powerful as we thought..."
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Miles away from the giant card in the sky, a pair of dragon slayers just finished their training. Now resting at a river, the two looked up at the card. "That's pretty high..." Selene said aloud as she gazed at the 7 hearts on the card.
"Gihehe...always getting themselves into trouble..." Gajeel stood up, dusting himself off. "I think it's time we put these months of training to use, eh?"
A confident grin appeared on Selene's lips, nodding to Black Steel as she too stood up. "Let's do it."