"WHAT!?" Luke's eyes widened as he was delivered the news. "This island is gonna blow?! Whose idea was this!?"
"Siegrain's…" Lucy said with a slight sigh.
"Why did you guys let him get away with such a thing!?" Luke questioned.
"We honestly didn't have much of a choice…" Selene huffed. "You know how much of a snake he can be. He slipped it in just before things were over."
"But it doesn't matter!" Natsu spoke with a confident grin. "Because we're going to settle things before the cannon can fire. We still got plenty of time to make Dhegensea and his lackeys pay!"
"You sure seem as enthusiastic as ever, Natsu-san…" Sting said with a slight chuckle. "But that only begets the question…how do we begin…?"
"We head right to the city and storm that castle!" Natsu exclaimed.
"No." Kagura immediately shot down Natsu's idea. "That's stupid; we'll basically be rushing to our death if we followed your ideas. We should wait until the others have been found before acting on such reckless ideals."
"That was harsh…" Happy said with a small frown.
"But, Kagura-sama, we can't stay in this place…it's far too dangerous…" Yukino pointed out. "As Lucy-sama said, there are those people in white coats likely lurking around the island…"
"White coats you say?" There was Mii, standing on a small incline while staring down at the others, one hand placed on her hip.
"Mii!?"
"Hi, hi!" Mii waved while giving off a smile. "There you guys are, I've been looking alllll over for you…"
"Enough nonsense." Kagura said while placing a hand on the hilt of Archenemy. "We know you're a traitor. So come down quiet or I will cut you down myself."
"Yeesh…" Mii let out a heavy sigh while tipping her hat off to the others. "Guess I can't pull the wool over your eyes again, huh?"
"I fail to see why you're speaking so casually to us…" Selene glared daggers towards the female. "What are you trying to do to us this time, huh?"
"Wow!" Mii held her hands up as though Selene's words actually offended her. They might have, it was hard to tell with this woman. "Must you assume that every action I do is geared towards making you all suffer!? What do you take me for?"
"A liar." Chelia innocently spoke.
"A traitor?" Lucy followed right after Chelia.
Mii actually cringed from those words, placing a hand on her chest to overdramatize her pain. "Ouch, those words cut deep into my heart…"
"Wow you guys were wrong about her…" Luke said with a heavy sigh. "She's even MORE annoying about this than you made her out to be!"
"Oh, I see you found the cute guy again-" Having enough of Mii's nonsense, Kagura used her magic to increase the field of gravity around the opposing female, forcing to her fall flat on her face on the ground. "Eep..!"
"I said cut your crap." Kagura spoke in a low tone, the aura emanating from the female sending shivers down some of the group's spines. "Explain what it is you're doing here, NOW."
"Wow she's kinda frightening…" Raven chuckled nervously while pulling at his collar.
"Kagura-sama can be very scary when she wants to be…" Yukino said with a nervous smile.
"O-Okay…geez…let a girl breathe!" Mii groaned while lifting her head up to stare at the others. Kagura wasn't letting her go any time soon however until she started talking. "Okay, okay…I'll talk."
"Where's the princess?" Kagura questioned.
At that question, a nervous sweat drop appeared on Mii's forehead as she giggled slightly. "Yeah, about thaaaaaat….I did have her in my arms…but then…I kinda…lost her…"
"YOU LOST HER!?" Lucy's eyes widened at the news. "How do you lose a woman!?"
"You don't cherish her properly." Mii responded with a half shrug.
"That ISN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Lucy groaned at how Mii could still be difficult as all hell even when pinned down. "You know what I mean, Mii!"
"Hey, it's true isn't it?!" Mii responed with a grin, of course her remark granted her a brief increase in gravity strong enough to send her into the ground. "Hey, cut it out! You're getting my skirt dirty!"
"How did you deal with her…?" Sting asked while looking over at Natsu, Lucy, and Happy.
"We didn't." Happy replied.
"If you MUST know how the lovely Hisui was kidnapped…you see, after I had her in my hands and Erza's group took a lovely trip underground…it turns out that she's a little more feisty than I thought and it surprised me in more ways than one…"
"I'd say she needs to get laid but I don't think that will help this kind of behavior…" Luke sighed, catching one the undertones behind Mii's statement.
Mii merely responded to Luke's statement with a playful wink before continuing. "Boy, you should've seen her. She really got Drake riled up and it looked like he was about to take her out. I tried to stop him but before anything else could happen, some really attractive dude wearing a white coat came in and saved her!"
"A white coat…?!" Lucy's eyes widened, her mind wandering to Laura, Lex, and Wes, all of whom wore white coats.
"We had to retreat, that guy was on a whole other level of strong. Plus we couldn't harm the Princess, since I did want to bring her to Dhegensea. But who knows where she is now?" Mii replied as her tone dropped to something a little more serious. "So I was looking for her while you and the dragons squared off. I was gonna bring her right back, I promise!"
"It looks like we've to clean up your mess…" Rogue sighed silently.
"Hey, if she was holding Hisui…" Lector interjected. "Shouldn't her scent be on her? We can track her that way, right?! We've got Sting-kun and Rogue!"
"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch put his hand up with his usual grin.
"What am I, chopped liver?!" Selene stared at Frosch and Lector with a slight tick mark on her forehead.
"Good idea." Kagura nodded in agreement. She used her gravity to literally drag Mii from the incline she was on to the ground right in front of them.
"Well, fancy meeting you here…" Mii said with a groan, dizzy from her little trip.
"Let's see…" Natsu moved in close to Mii, only to be repelled by some foul odor coming from the female. He held his nose, letting out a groan while his eyes began to water comically. "Ugh…! What the hell is that smell!?"
"Oh, that's my perfume!" Mii grinned. "Do you like it?"
"So that's what that smell is…" Draco said while pinching his nose.
"How convenient…" Kagura tsked. With such a foul odor coming from Mii there was no chance the dragon slayers could track Hisui. "Where's Erza and her group?
"Oh…they should be dealing with Princess Ena by this point. If anything I'm sure Erza-san has the situation under control." Mii then stood up and dusted herself off. "But, I do remember exactly where it was the kidnapping occurred. You should let me lead the way!"
"And let you lead us into ANOTHER trap? I don't think so!" Lucy took a step forward to glare at Mii however she almost lost her balance due to her injuries. "We can find her on our own!"
"While that may be true, Lucy-chan…" Mii began sauntering around everyone, placing a hand under her chin as her green eyes stared elsewhere. "Don't look at me like I'm the only enemy here. Those guys in white coats are also on this island, and we have no idea what they're planning. It's better that we join forces to ensure they won't be a threat, right?"
"The enemy of my enemy…" Kagura said while placing her hand on Archenemy once again. "Is not always my friend."
"If I lead you into a trap, what makes you think I can take all of you?" Mii brought up this point while pointing to Luke and Lucy. "I could make it past those two easy, no surprise since they had a fight. But the rest of you? I don't think I'm that strong. Plus, I'm also quite amazing and talented if you didn't notice."
"Amazing?" Chelia tiled her head.
"Talented?" Raven followed suit.
"I think she just lied to us twice..." Lucy said with a stale expression.
"Ouch…" Safe to say that Mii actually felt that one sting.
"I don't think we'll have another chance to keep her in our sights if we let her go now…" Yukino mumbled.
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies' closer…that's the saying, right?" Mii shrugged. "So, whaddya say? Wanna tag along with lil ol' Mii again to save the Princess? Plus, it's about to rain…" She said while pointing up at the cloudy sky. "Unless you want to get sick while debating this, I suggest we move out, eh?"
.
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Ena lead Erza's team out of the underground caverns to a rocky area just outside the city walls. "Ah, sunlight…I haven't been outside in a day…" Ena spoke with a small laugh before glancing at the city, tilting her head at the partially destroyed castle she could see. "W-What happened over there?"
"Did it have something to do with that earthquake earlier…?" Aira questioned while tilting her head.
"What even WAS that earthquake?" Blues asked.
"Who knows…" Meredy shrugged. "But maybe a good portion of Dhegensea's forces were taken out?"
"We shouldn't spend too much time wondering…" Juvia said.
"Yeah, she's right…" Ena nodded while continuing to lead the way. "This route is a little long, but we can circle around the city…and there should be a cave in the middle of a rocky landscape that will lead to the other side of the Mystic Water Lake in the castle. Only a few know of the passage…if we hurry we can be there in…a few hours…."
"A FEW HOURS?!"
Ena was partially expecting such a reaction. Considering they were already running low on time. "I-I know it seems like a bit much…but it's much safer and quicker than going through the heart of the city…everyone's probably over there after that earthquake…and I don't feel father's presence right now…"
"Something big must've happened while we were underground…" Kuro muttered.
"No time to waste in thinking about it…" Ena sighed, her thoughts wandering to her brother whom she hadn't seen for a while. She could only hope Kurthnaga was okay…
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"O-Oi…" Drake said while placing a hand on the shell of light around Dhegensea, only for a burning sensation to repel him. "Ouch…!" He leapt back, waving his hand to remove the sensation. "Geez…what the hell…"
"How could this have happened to our King…?!" Venoma placed two fingers on both temples, rubbing them in a desperate manner. "How did the Spirit King get the upper hand so quickly…?!"
"What's the issue? Where is Dhegensea?" Eizen arrived, and Nasir did shortly after him. "And where is Edna, she was supposed to stay here…"
"The annoying one took off after Night Tide faded…" Drake said with a scoff before pointing to Dhegensea. "As for the King…he did battle with the Celestial Spirit King, and it ended like this. He's not responding and it doesn't look like we can even touch it…"
"So that Celestial Female was capable of summoning the Spirit King after all…I knew I should've kept a closer eye on her…" Nasir sighed. "Dealing with the she-demon proved to be far more time consuming than I would've liked…she did decimate a lot of your forces, Drake. You should've kept them in line."
"Don't push that on me!" Drake yelled with an angered tick-mark appearing on his forehead, gritting his fangs at Nasir. "You're the one who swore she wouldn't be a problem at the time! I suggested that we just take all my forces and storm the mainland!"
"You idiot…" Venoma sighed while nearly thwacking Drake on the head. "You know we can't do that! That stupid mage put up the barrier so none of us dragons can leave this island. For Rune Magic, those words are surprisingly sturdy. You should've seen Nasir trying to bust it down!"
Nasir shook his head to ignore Venoma's comment. "We've been imposed with several problems…the Chosen is acting on her own, those people in white coats who've invaded our island…and it appears that Princess Ena is no longer under the influence of her father, who is now trapped in a shell of light. Without Dhegensea we do not know of which events will plan out in our favor…"
Drake then stood up, grinning like a madman. "Hey, I got an idea!" This caused everyone to turn to Drake. "Since Princess Ena's gone rogue and is helping the other side…how about we send 'him' to deal with her group? They can't reach that Mystic Water otherwise we lose most of our offensive forces and that little girl…she should be a dragon by now but for some reason…"
"Yes, sending him should prove to be effective…" Nasir nodded in agreement. "At the very least, we can slow them down. In the meantime, only a few of us should act. Because those other humans are going to be tearing at each other…so it will be the perfect time to sit back and watch how this plays out while we wait for Dhegensea to break out of this shell. So humans…let's see how you handle yourselves when there are more than two players on the field…"
.
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Thunder boomed out in the area over a large plain. Immediately, Pantherlily placed his hands over his ears to shield himself from the noise. "D-Does it have to thunder now of all times…?" He questioned in slight panic.
"Oh Lily…" Levy let out a small sigh while picking the Exceed up into her arms, hoping to comfort him from the noise. "It's nothing I'm sure…you can brave through it!"
"It's going to rain soon…" Freed concluded. "We might catch a cold if we stay out for too long…but we can't afford to take a break."
"There's so much going on, I don't think we can even slow down for a second…" Lisanna said while rubbing the back of her head. "But I do hope we find Mira-nee soon…I won't believe what Nasir said even for a second, she's not dead, I know she isn't…"
"Don't worry Lisanna, we'll find her." Elfman gave a firm nod while placing his hand on Lisanna's shoulder.
"And you already know that Laxus is lurking out here somewhere…" Bickslow spoke while looking around. "If only he'd come out of hiding, it's only us!"
"Giehe, guess he's just hiding in fear of me showing him up…!" Gajeel commented with a large grin. His grin then faded as he sensed something incredibly off. "Wait a second…" In that instant, several large stalagmites popped from the ground, trailing towards the group at rapid speeds. "Shrimp, get down!" Without thinking Gajeel grabbed Levy and Lily, diving off to the side while the others evaded. He then stood up, glaring in the direction where the stalagmites came from.
Lex stood a few yards away with his blade hoisted over his shoulder, a yellow-orange aura emitting from his being. "I sensed a strong power level in this area…are any of you the bearer of this aura?"
"Who the hell is this guy!?" Elfman grunted while standing in front of Lisanna.
"A guy in a white coat…" Evergreen responded.
Levy stared at Lex before realizing where she'd heard of his figure before. "H-Hey! This is one of the people who attacked Lu-chan when we were first here!"
"So another bad guy, huh?" Gajeel gave a fangy smirk before darting forward, pulling his arm backwards. "Iron Dragon's Pole!" Thrusting his arm forward, it morphed into a metal pole while racing towards Lex at incredible speeds. The bulky male evaded the attack by leaning to the side, but this merely caused Gajeel's smirk to widen as he created several more iron poles from the preexisting one.
Lex scoffed and brought his arm up to defend against the strike, not even batting an eye towards Gajeel's strength. "Clear it does not belong to you."
"Oh yeah!?" Gajeel took this as a challenge. Pulling his arm back, he then allowed iron scales to form along his arms. "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" Swinging his arm forward, he aimed a brutal punch right for Lex's chin. It was a direct hit and Lex's head was forced to snap from the side from the impact, however he did not so much as flinch from the blow itself. "Wha!?"
Lex gripped his blade, swinging it down fiercely in attempt to strike Gajeel. The iron dragon dodged just in the nick of time, staring in awe as Lex's raw strength allowed his sword to cleave through the ground, splitting it apart for almost a mile on end. Before Gajeel could do anything else Lex dragged his blade forward and slammed the blunt end into Gajeel's chest, hurling the iron dragon into a boulder that shattered on impact. "Indeed."
"GAJEEL!" Levy nearly screamed in worry. But she had more important things to worry about as Lex was towering above her, causing the color in her face to drain.
"Your power is the weakest one in the area. I will squash you first." Lex's hand slowly went towards Levy, though he was stopped by a fully transformed Pantherlily grabbing onto his arm. "Oh?" Lily had full intentions of throwing Lex, but the Commandant turned the situation around and threw Lily into Elfman and Lisanna, the force of his throw sending the three tumbling back a far distance. "Where is this strong power I felt!? I know it's here!" With his roar, an aura appeared around Lex as his strength began to rise; the wind picked up fiercely at the intensity of his aura forced anyone nearby backwards.
"Is he getting stronger?!" Freed questioned while bringing his arm up to shield his eyes from the wind. The thunder boomed once again and there was a brief flash of lightning.
"This is a problem; we can't let him stay like this!" Evergreen took the initiative while summoning her wings, flying forward while throwing her fan forward, sending multiple bullets of Fairy Magic towards Lex. The amount would overwhelm any normal mage. "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" The bullets reached their target, though the result was completely unexpected. Lex's aura completely repelled the bullets, causing them to bounce off the male harmlessly. "W-What!? They didn't even touch him!"
"Your weak attacks have no effect on me!" Lex exclaimed while dashing forward, slamming the blunt side of his sword into Evergreen's side, driving her right into the ground with a quake occurring afterwards.
"EVER!" Bickslow and Freed exclaimed in worry. Without another thought, Bickslow placed his dolls before him, all of their mouths radiating with Seith Magic. "Okay Babies, let's go! Line formation!" Each of Bickslow's dolls then expelled a powerful emerald beam, all five of them converging on Lex at once. An explosion occurred and a veil of smoke shrouded the Commandant from view.
"Did you get him…?" Freed questioned. The answer was soon found as a tremor occurred and a stalagmite appeared under Bickslow, sending the mage flying backwards. "Bickslow!" Freed called out in worry, though he had to worry about Commandant coming closer with his blade held back. The rune mage quickly pulled his sword out to clash with Lex, though it only lasted for a mere second as Freed's blade was quickly swatted from his hands. Lex then slammed his fist into the opposing male's chest, driving Freed into the ground with force.
"That's enough of your unmanly actions!" Elfman roared while attempting to bum rush Lex from behind, using his Beast Arm: Iron Bull to aim a punch at Lex's temple. The red haired male turned sharply, aiming his elbow at Elfman's face to send him spiraling backwards.
"Elf-nii!" Lisanna cried out while staying near Levy. The thunder and lightning both intensified and it began to drizzle.
"What the hell is this guy…?" Gajeel groaned while slowly pulling himself from the rubble. He was only hit once and it felt like he was hit by a speeding train.
"I am Lex, one of the 13 Commandants of Pergrande. I am number 8." Lex spoke while placing his blade over his shoulder. His attention then went to the downed Freed, picking the male up by his shirt. "Ah, I've heard of you. You're the rune mage that built the barrier surrounding this entire island, are you not?"
"S-So what if I am…?" Freed growled.
"You see…for our plans, we cannot allow this barrier to prevent the dragons from leaving. Therefore, I'm demanding that you remove the barrier." As Lex spoke, the thunder and lightning continued to grow stronger.
"Over my dead body." Freed spat in Lex's face. He knew that barrier was the only reason the dragons had yet to raid the mainland, and putting it down spelt doom for Fiore and Earthland. "What do you need the barrier down for? Are you working with the dragons!?"
Unfortunately for Freed, the only thing Lex heard was 'over my dead body'. "That can be arranged." Lex then brought his other hand up to grasp Freed's head, beginning to squeeze tightly. "I'll just pop your head like a grape."
"Freed…!" Bickslow and Evergreen cried out.
The lightning in the sky flashed brightly and the thunder echoed throughout the entire island. In a flash a bolt of lightning dropped down from the sky, right onto Lex's hand. This was enough to cause the mighty Lex to jump backwards, letting out a 'tsk' from the numbing sensation in his hands. "WHO DARES!?" Standing between Freed and Lex was a tall figure…his coat wavered in the wind while his bulky arms hung at his sides. Laxus Dreyar held up one fist as lightning began dancing around his body. The others could only stare in awestruck wonder as the youngest Dreyar made his timely appearance. Laxus' appearance didn't faze Lex…instead; it caused the Commandant to grin. "So that power I felt…it was coming from you…"
"Y'know…this island is freakin' huge. I wasn't sure which way I should be going if I wanted to find everyone else." Laxus spoke the others before turning to Lex. "So you're the one that gave flame brain and Lucy a hard time, huh…? Didn't know your fashion choices were so atrocious…But I do know one thing…" His gaze shifted to a threatening glare that could paralyze even the fiercest of mages. "I don't have any doubts on killing you."
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Next Time: When Lightning Strikes!