It's kind of weird writing more light hearted with this story honestly. Not sure I like it ;).
Enjoy!
Another bump in the round threatened to make Nashi throw up. She groaned and fell on the floor, Michael and Drake already there.
"Are we there yet?" Michael asked weakly.
"No." Kyoko answered, resulting in moans from all three.
"Please just stop going so fast!" Nashi wailed, clutching her stomach. Simon clicked his tongue.
"Can't, or we'll lose them." He said. "Sorry, guys."
"Don't apologize, fix the problem!" Drake shouted, before he held in what Nashi hoped was just a burp. Another bump made Nashi nearly black out, and she groaned in pain as she rolled over onto her stomach, hoping it would soothe the pain somewhat. She really should have checked if there was any stabilizing lacrimas at the warehouse before they bolted. It would have made the right that much smoother for them.
Simon swerved the vehicle to the right, which caused her to slide across the floor and into the side of the truck. The others did so as well, and Nashi could hear Rina grunt.
"Simon, seriously!" She said. "If you're going to drive like a fucking maniac at least admit you're doing it!"
"I'm not! I'm keeping up with these assholes!"
"By acting like a maniac!"
"Can we all take a deep breath, please?" Kyoko asked with a weak laugh.
"I would but I might hurl." Michael replied, on his hands and knees before another bump threw him right back down again. The truck went dead silent for a moment, before another bump hit and caused all three rolling around in the empty space to groan.
Nashi decided at that moment she knew what hell was.
Ultear was certain that bandits were not the class these robbers fell under. Their tactics were way to sophisticated for that. On the other hand, though, they were about just as easy to take out.
"Is that you guys can do?" Ultear asked, her icy shield protecting herself and Juno as more bullets flew their way. "It's really not that impressive."
"Hm, right?" Juno asked, snapping her fingers. At this, the bullets hitting the shield were transported away by Juno's magic, and redirected towards the men shooting at them. The men dove for cover behind the nearby shelves, and Ultear sighed.
"Where's everyone else?" Ultear asked Juno, keeping their shield up.
"Don't know." She said. "Damien and Steph went another way, and Keita disappeared when they broke their way in from the roof." Ultear nodded at this, knowing that they had split up when the break in started. From what they could tell a lot of these guys had broken their way in, so there wasn't much they could really do but split up to ensure as little was taken as possible. She sighed as another wave of fire came.
"This is getting bothersome." She said. "I was expecting at least a little magic, not this crap." Ultear raised her left hand and waved it around. Icicles formed outside of the shield and flew towards the men, hitting a few while others dove for cover.
"Get ready, we're going after them." Juno said. Ultear nodded, and Juno placed a hand on her shoulder. At this, the two disappeared and Ultear stumbled as hey reappeared right behind the men taking cover from them.
"Alright, hands up." Ultear said, freezing several of the men solid. Juno acted quickly and transported all of their guns away from them. "Tell us what's going on and I might let you escape hypothermia."
"Go to hell! We'd never tell you." One of the frozen men said.
"Why are you here anyway?"
"Those bastards must have caught onto us! Of all nights to get security..." The robbers grumbled discontentedly to themselves, and Ultear sighed. This was going nowhere. Watching the men struggle against the ice and Juno make sure the others didn't try anything, Ultear raised a hand to her ear.
"Nashi?" She asked. How's it going on your end?" At first, nothing but static came back to her, and she frowned. "Nashi?" Again the girl did not respond, and Ultear felt a pit forming in her stomach. "Nashi? Are you there?"
"Is she not answering you?" Juno asked. Ultear shook her head.
"Nashi?" She tried again. "Please answer me, this is serious." At first, Ultear didn't hear anything. But, right before she was about to try once more, she heard a moan. After that, a desperate and pained plea.
"Ultear!" Nashi wailed over the device. "Help meeee!"
"Nashi?!" Ultear asked, worry forming quickly. "Are you okay?! What do you need help with?!"
"Are they okay?" Juno asked, now looking worried too.
"Nashi, what's the matter?! Answer me!"
"Simon's driving like a maniac and I feel like I'm dying!"
"I am not, fucking hell! We're trying to keep pace over here!" Another voice shouted angrily over the lacrima. Ultear, however, felt a bit stupid.
"N...Nashi."
"W-What?"
"You're motion sick, aren't you?"
"Yeah! W-Why else would I ask for help?! Make him stop!" Ultear face palmed, Juno watching her with a raised eyebrow.
"Please hand the earpiece to someone who isn't killing over." There was a sound of Nashi taking the earpiece out, and someone else grabbing it.
"Ultear?" Kyoko's much more sensible voice asked. "What did you need?"
"What's happening? What's this about Simon driving?"
"Well the guys tried robbing the warehouse, and we scared them off. Problem is they got out with some stuff and we're following them to...wherever. Half of us are down and out at the moment, though. Motion sickness, obviously." Ultear could hear wailing in the background, but she couldn't tell from who it came from. "Things alright for you guys?"
"More or less." Ultear said, scanning the men she had hostage. "We're doing alright by all means, so..." Ultear paused as she reached a red haired robber, who was muttering something. After watching him for a moment, she walked over to him, lowering her fingers from the lacrima.
"What?" He asked, realizing she'd caught him.
"What are you saying?" She asked.
"Cursing you." He answered immediately, although he seemed dodgy. Ultear watched him carefully before she knelt down and reached towards him, but he jerked away.
"Stay away from me, you bitch!" He shouted. Ultear glowered.
"Strange you'd get so edgy when I reach for your ear." Ultear said, glaring. The mans eyes widened, which gave Ultear enough time to freeze his neck solid as well. Without anyway to move out of her reach, Ultear brushed the mans hair away from his ear.
An earpiece was in it.
Clicking her teeth, she ripped it out and stared at it. After a few seconds, tires could be heard screeching from outside.
"Fuck, they're getting away!" Juno shouted. Ultear crushed the device in her fist and dropped it on the robbers head, glaring at the wall as the sounds of vehicles peeling away got softer and softer. Sighing, she turned back to the one who had the earpiece, who looked a bit startled.
"Here's what's going to happen." She said. "You're going to tell us exactly where they're going, okay?"
"W-Why would I..." the ice around his neck crept up even farther, and the man looked a bit frightened.
"Would be pretty hard to tell me when your mouth gets covered." Ultear said. "Ever wonder what it's like being frozen solid?" She received no answer, so the ice went up a bit further. Ultear looked over to Juno.
"Go and find the others." She said. "One of them will crack." Juno smirked.
"Can do." The girl turned and walked off, but not before she transported all the rifles away from them even farther. Once Juno was gone, Ultear turned back to the robber.
"So, where are they going?"
"We have to go!"
"Please...Please just a few more seconds." Simon rolled his eyes as he watched the three Dragon Slayers relax in the back of the truck. The three had forced Simon to stop, and couple that with Rina's nagging Simon stopped for his own sanity.
"What if we lose them?" Kyoko asked.
"We can smell the magic trail from the truck." Michael answered. "I can tell the direction they went well enough from here."
"Yeah I bet that'll work really well while you're all trying not to throw up." Simon replied, making all three of them flinch. Sighing, he leaned on the steering wheel and did his best to distract himself. It wasn't that hard all things considered to see where the others had driven. Still, having to wait for the three Dragon Slayers was making Simon reconsider why the'd forced them along.
"Drake?" Simon perked up at Nashi's voice. Turning around, Drake was staring at the back of the truck. After a few more seconds, he stood and walked over to the door, kicking it open. Once he did, he clicked his tongue.
"We aren't alone." He said, moving to give everyone a view of the horizon behind them. There, from the distance, several trucks were driving in their direction, from the same way they'd come from.
"Think that's the others?" Kyoko asked.
"They wouldn't need all those trucks." Simon observed.
"It's not them." Drake replied, his ears twitching. "It's definitely the robbers they were dealing with, I can smell the panic." Michael laughed.
"Oh, so that's what that is." He said. "I just assumed it was the sweat from the guys we were chasing."
"I guess they'd smell the same." Nashi said. Drake jumped out of the back of the truck, and everyone else decided to do so as well.
"So, I guess we're dealing with them?" Simon asked. Rina cackled and stretched her arms before aiming at the trucks.
"How far away do they look do you guys?" She asked. Kyoko hummed as she watched the trucks advance.
"I'd say maybe four hundred feet out, give or take." She said. Rina clicked her tongue.
"Easy." She said. Black lightning crackled around Rina as it traveled down her arms towards her hands. As all of it reached her hands, the lightning exploded outwards and rocketed towards the trucks. After a few more seconds, the truck in the middle exploded in a small ball of fire. Michael rubbed the back of his head.
"Nice one." He said. "You think they're dead?"
"Probably not." Rina said. "The trucks run on magic. If anything they're probably just knocked out. Anyone else want a turn?" Simon shrugged and aimed an open palm at the truck on the left. After making sure he wouldn't miss, Simon fired off heavenly light, which caused it flip and roll a few times. Only one truck remained, but it slowly started to stop where it was, roughly two hundred feet away.
"What the hell are they doing?" Nashi asked. Drake narrowed his eyes at the truck, his ears twitching.
"They're surrendering." He said. "I can hear them talking about walking out unarmed with their hands up."
"Are they joking?" Michael asked.
"No." He said. "I can hear them." Simon sighed and watched the men actually get out and wait, their hands up.
"Well, let's go get them."
Ultear had not gotten an answer out of any of the men, and now all of them were frozen solid. Sighing as she walked away from them, she had to wonder if their other team had had any luck. Hopefully they had, otherwise those robbers will have gotten away.
"Did they talk?" Ultear looked up as Keita asked her this. She shook her head as she approached them.
"No, they wouldn't." She replied. "Just call the guards down here, and get them put in prison. That'll be fine for now."
"Damn." Damien said, running a hand through his hair. "So they got away." Ultear nodded, before she noticed the group of men behind her friends all tied up.
"Who the hell is that?" She asked.
"Keita went over to the over warehouse." Steph said. "He found it vacated and these guys lying around outside."
"It was pretty obvious they were robbers the others knocked for a loop." Keita filled in. "So I tied them up."
"Good work." She said. "Speaking of the others, I should try and get a hold of them." Ultear raised a hand to her ear, activating the lacrima ear piece. "Kyoko? You there?"
"Ah, I was just about to contact you, Ultear."
"Oh yeah? Did you find anything important?"
"If you want to call three men shitting themselves and willing to tell us exactly where the others went, then yes. We're coming back to get you guys, and then we're going after them."
"Wha...Really?"
"Yes, really. So get ready because we're about to...Gah!" Ultear flinched as she heard squealing tires through the device and bodies slamming into the sides.
"That's fucking it, Scarlet!" Ultear winced as she could hear Rina shouting. "Someone else is getting behind the wheel on our way there!"
"Oh my god it isn't that bad! Kyoko you believe me, right?!"
"Don't buy into his shit, Kyoko! He's a horrible driver! Just look in the back!"
"Oh they get motion sick in carriages for God sake!"
"Just please end the suffering!" Three voices shouted. Ultear listened to the argument with a pain expression before she slowly lifted her finger away from, causing the device to drop the signal.
"What did she say?" Damien asked. Ultear looked over at him, thinking back to all the fighting she'd heard.
"They're coming back to get us." She said. "They know where the bandits are going, so we can follow them."
"Sounds like a solid plan." Juno said. "Let's make sure these guys can't escape first." Ultear watched them make sure the unconscious men tied up couldn't escape, and turned as squealing tires could be heard outside.
Ultear had never had motion sickness, but she wasn't keen on finding out if she could.
"I'm telling you boss, they hired guild wizards as security!"
"Well no shit they did, the way you idiots hit them isn't very subtle. Tonight especially." The grunts seemed aware of this, but the man sighed regardless. "Just make sure whatever you did get away with isn't too damaged. We're going to have to lay low for the time being. Get going." The men nodded and ran off to do just that, and the man in question turned to look at the shelves full of products.
They'd been doing this for a while now, using this cave as a base, Only recently had enough of the lacrima gone missing for the guild wizards to be hired. It was his fault of course, he'd gotten to greedy. From what the men had said, those wizards were not to be messed with, either. They were strong.
"Sir?" He turned at this to find one of his men standing there.
"What?" He asked.
"Do you...Do you hear that?" Frowning, he payed attention to the sounds his ears picked up and listened for what the man was referring to. After a few seconds, he heard it.
The sound of an engine roaring.
After a few more seconds, it got louder.
"What is that?" He asked. "It sounds like a truck."
"Maybe it's..."
BOOM!
Nashi felt sick as Simon, who was somehow still behind the wheel, throttled their ride right through a wall. As the truck came to a stop, Nashi had never been happier to jump to her feet and kick the back door open. She got out and examined their surroundings. From what she could tell, it was just a cave full of stolen items. So, at the end of the day, they were just bandits. Pretty good ones she had to admit, but all the same.
"Wow, look at all of this." Keita said, everyone else getting out of the truck.
"I see Halsey wasn't playing around." Michael agreed. "A lot of shit got stolen."
"Hey! Who are you?" Nashi turned at this to find a man with a suit standing there.
"Sir! Those are the guild wizards!" When another one of his men shouted this, he looked shocked.
"You idiots! They're from Fairy Tail and Sabertooth! Of course you got beaten."
"And you are?" Juno asked. The man sighed and straightened his tie.
"My name is Mark Buswell."
"Okay, and?" Rina asked, crossing her arms. The man pushed up his glasses.
"That is not important. What is is that you are trespassing."
"Oh?" Simon asked. "So these stolen lacrima should just be ignored?"
"I never said that." At this, rifles started to get pulled out. Soon enough, every one of his underlings in the room was armed with one. "But you'd be smart to get out of here before we kill you."
"Pssh, yeah okay." Juno said. She teleported some of the rifles away from the men, but that caused them to open fire. Nashi and the others acted quickly to defend themselves. Nashi threw up a cloud of fire that melted the majority of the fire they came under, and Simon went to work using meteor to easily dodge the bullets and knock some of the men out. They all went to work on the grunts, knocking them out one after the other. Nashi heard Mark growl.
"You idiots! Just fucking shoot them!" The remaining of his men did so and opened fire, forcing everyone to dodge. Nashi landed near Drake, who's ears were twitching. After a few seconds, his eyes widened.
"Drake?" Nashi asked. Drake slowly looked behind them, and Nashi followed his gaze. He was looking at one of the shelves where a lot of the stolen lacrima were.
There were bullet hole in the majority of them.
Nashi slowly started to pale.
"Uh oh." She said. After a few more shots flew past them, a few boxes started to glow.
"This is bad." Drake said. "If these things go off..." Nashi looked up at the cavern roof.
"We'll be buried down here." Nashi stood and looked towards the others.
"Guys! We have to get out of here! These things are going to blow!" At her words, she watched everyone take notice of all the lacrima that had gotten hit during the firefight.
"Aw shit..." Damien growled. "Halsey will not be happy about this."
"Who the hell cares what he thinks?" Michael asked, all of them backing up towards the truck again while the men continued to shoot at them and they evaded. "I think the company can afford the hit!"
"Just get in!" Kyoko shouted. Nashi threw herself in the back of the truck, everyone else squeezing in as well in a hurry. Nashi found herself in Michael's lap while Drake was crushing her against the wall.
"Why the hell do we keep letting you behind the wheel, Simon?!" Rina asked, making Simon laugh.
"Want to get out of here fast?" He asked. Rina didn't reply, the only response being the bullets hitting the truck as they hid in it. As soon as Simon started to rev the thing, Nashi felt sick.
"Please don't puke on me." Michael hissed, his face going white.
"Same to you, asshole." She retorted. Simon slammed on the gas, and the truck reversed as fast as it could back through the hole they had come in through. Once they'd managed to turn around around and started to go, Nashi could feel the magic power from the lacrima.
"Floor it!" Steph shouted. "We're not going to make it!" Simon seemed to have no problem with that, and they sped up down the cave towards the exit.
BOOM!
Nashi felt the pure magic explode behind them, and the entire cave started to shake violently. The truck swerved several times to avoid falling rocks, and Nashi felt her lunch threatening her. After a few more seconds, they arrived back at the surface. The back door was opened, and Nashi looked behind them to see the cave completely cut off now. No way in anymore.
"So...Did we do good?" Ultear asked.
"Mark Buswell, you said?" Nashi nodded, and John looked down at his desk. "Of all people..."
"Who is he?" Juno asked. "Some competitor?" John sighed.
"I'm not sure you could call him that." He replied. "Mark used to work here. He was an ambitious young man, but he always had too many crazy ideas. Eventually, he got angry the company wasn't taking him seriously. He finally left, saying he were a bunch of idiots lost in the past. Said he'd opened his own company with his own ideas."
"So...what was his game, then?" Damien asked. "What purpose did his stealing serve?"
"I can only assume he was trying to get himself off the ground." Halsey replied. "Makes sense, really. Our companies products are top tier. If we could get himself off the ground with ours, people would be more inclined to get his crazier ones once he had them." Nashi wasn't really a fan of all this corporate bullshit. She just wanted her paycheck.
"Doesn't really matter anymore, anyway." Keita said. "The place caved in. Not sure if he got out." Halsey sighed.
"Indeed." He said, before he smiled. "Regardless, you did your job. I assume you'll want to be payed."
"Yeah, if you don't mind." Halsey reached into his desk and pulled out twelve envelopes. He handed everyone theirs, except he gave Blake's to Michael and hesitated before giving Elise's to Steph.
"You'll find the amount very pleasing, I'm sure." He said. Nashi smiled at this. Good pay was always good. "Speaking of, what happened to all the lacrima they stole?"
The whole group started to look incredibly dodgy at this, unsure as to what their answer would entail. Staying silent wasn't an option, though. Have to say something.
"Uh, Buswell's mercs blew them all up and caved the place in." Kyoko said weakly. Halsey's face barely flickered at this, and this made Nashi a bit nervous. What was be going to say?
"So...It's all gone?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah." Ultear said weakly. He looked down at his desk weakly before he sighed, closing his eyes.
"...Okay." He said.
"Are...Are we done?" Michael asked. Halsey looked up at him, looking just a bit unhappy.
"Just go." he said. "Before I take some of that jewel back for compensation."
Nashi felt that was more than fair.
And the job is complete! More fun filler on the way, trust me. All characters will get their fill before we move on. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!