When Loke and I arrived at the sound of gunfire, to our combined surprise, the person who was being shot at wasn't Natsu, but Gray. "Gray?" "Honestly, I would've expected it to be Erza before Gray." While I Loke's claim was arguable, he suddenly dissipated into golden lights, causing me to frown deeply, as his disappearance could only mean someone was attacking Lucy.
'Attacking Lucy and Gray? Are they specifically targeting us?' Lunging at the cubed face man, shooting at Gray and Juvia, who, for some reason, were here. My presence remained unknown until I grabbed the back of his head and slammed him face-first into the ground, causing his comrade, a large man with a metal jaw piece, to suddenly snap his gaze at me.
"Oi, why the hell are you attacking us?" Standing up, I glared at the man while clutching the unconscious cubed-man; with Gray and Juvia standing behind him, his options were limited. "Tsk, he was asking about Erza's whereabouts, big bro." "Ho, Erza? If you've got a problem with my little sister, talk to me about it." Narrowing my eyes, I growled menacingly at the man as I stepped forward, but he suddenly touched his ear.
"Simon, Erza has been found." Hearing those words, Simon suddenly engulfed the entire area in darkness, blinding Gray and Juvia. "Crap, I can't see!" However, as for me, the surroundings only dimmed; dashing to the right, where Simon had fled off to, I raised my foot, I kicked the back of his head into the ground, knocking him unconscious, while the darkness quickly receded.
"Did you get him?" Nodding at Gray, I curiously glanced between him and Juvia, who was sticking relatively close to him. "Are you two dating?" "What? No, we hardly know each other." "Hehe, big bro thinks we're a couple." Seeing their two polar opposite response, I lightly nodded and picked up Simon, carrying him and the cubed man as the three of us headed to where I sensed Erza.
Along the way, a large wave of flames on the other end of the casino was seen spewing into the air. "There isn't even a battle going on over there. What is that hot-headed fool doing?" "Heh, he probably lost a game." Smirking at Natsus' misfortune, we continued a bit further until we arrived at the scene of Lucy and Cana tied on the ground while Erza was protectively standing in front of them, staring down two people.
"Hmph, are those two bastards troubling you, Erza?" My voice grabbed everyone's attention, causing Lucy to sigh in relief, Erza to wryly smile, while the two others' eyes widened when they saw the two unconscious people in my grasp. "Simon! Wally!" "So this cubed fool is called Wally?"
Just as I looked down at Wally, his body separated into several small blocks as he repositioned himself beside the two people Erza had been standing by, causing me to raise an eyebrow. "Is that crush magic?" I shook my head at Gray's question. "No. Gildart's magic isn't so controlled, you should know this."
"Urgh, damn man, attacking from behind, not dandy. Not dandy at all." Wally rubbed his face while shooting me a glare, though I just shrugged my shoulders. "Just shut up and let me beat the shit out of you three." Dropping Simon onto the ground, I cracked my knuckles while approaching them, causing them to lightly flinch as they prepared to attack, though Erza suddenly blocked my path.
"Big bro, can you stop please? They're. They're old friends of mine." Glancing down at Erza's sincere but troubled expression, I gently grabbed her shoulders while softly smiling. "I understand, but I don't care." Pushing her aside, I continued towards the three, intending to beat them unconscious for daring to harm my family.
"Don't worry, I'll be rough." As I approached them, the girl's eyes widened suddenly, and she reached behind her. I couldn't care less about whatever she was going to grab, but that's not what I wish I could say. When I saw Happy in her grasp, I was forced to stop.
"I-If you come closer, you'll force my hand!" The girl stated with a clear, hesitant, and reluctant expression as she placed her sharp nails on his neck. "Happy, how the hell did you let her capture!?" "Mu, s-sorry, big bro. She offered me free fish, and I couldn't refuse." With an apologetic and scared expression, Happy looked at me with teary eyes, causing my face to aggressively twitch while I lowered my fists.
Gritting my teeth, I rubbed the bridge of my nose, furious at the stupid cat-girl and upset at Happy's lack of caution when interacting with strangers. However, to make things worse, Simon woke up and grabbed Erza, causing me to instinctively step forward, though I quickly stopped when the girl's nail dug into Happy's fur.
"We're taking Erza with us. Follow if you don't care what happens to your pet." "Are you fucking threatening us?" Before things further spiralled out of control, Erza quickly intervened. "It's fine, I can handle myself, big bro." "But Erza–" "Tch, just trust her, Gray."
With them having the advantage, Wally shot Erza with a tranquilizer dart, knocking her unconscious, prompting Simon to toss Erza over her shoulder before they all walked out, making sure to remind us that Happy was their helpless hostage. Once they left the Casino, leaving us alone, I 'gently' stomped on the ground, causing the whole Casino to aggressively shake while I created a massive spider-web crack throughout the floor.
"Tsk, I'll rip their arms off next time we meet." While glaring at the door the group had left from, Lucy's hesitant voice reached my ears. "Um, c-could someone cut the ropes?" As Gray cut the ropes, freeing Lucy and Cana, though speaking of her, she's been sleeping this entire time, whether that's from a tranquilizer dart or because she's drunk is up for debate.
"What do we do now?" Glancing at an anxious Lucy, I promptly folded my arms. "First, we grab our local dumbass who has been of NO help, and then we set off to capture them, obviously." "Which local dumbass? Natsu or Cana?" "Tch, both." Approaching Cana, I tossed her over my shoulder and headed to Natsu, who was still gambling, oblivious to everything.
"Oi, Natsu." "Oh, guys! Look, I'm about to win 50,000 jewels!" "S-Sorry, t-the ball landed on black." Glancing at the Roulette, Natsu's enthusiasm instantly vanished as he slumped his shoulders while lowering his head. "Why are you acting as if you'd just died?" "I'm down 600,000 jewels." "Tsk, c'mon, now's not the time to be playing around, some people kidnapped Happy and Erza, Natsu, let's get going."
The mention of someone kidnapping Happy instantly filled him with energy, as he had forgotten entirely that he was down six hundred thousand jewels. "Happy!? Which bastard dared to kidnap Happy!? They're just begging for a beating."
While Gray got Natsu up to speed, I led us all out of here, leaving the Casino as I followed Erza's scent, which brought us to the edge of the beach as we stared off into the ocean. "Erza and Happy's scent ends here. Did they take them into the ocean?" Nodding in agreement with Natsu's revelation, I observed our surroundings, searching for a viable way to cross the ocean to continue following their scent, yet every other boat that had previously been docked at the pier was either sinking or had already sunk.
Clearly, they didn't want us to chase after them.
"Oh, big bro, there is a beached boat right there." Feeling Lucy tap my shoulder, I quickly gazed in the direction she was pointing, prompting Gray to click his tongue when we spotted the wooden boat. "That tiny wooden boat? We'll never reach where they had taken Happy and Erza… Wait." Feeling Gray's gaze, it seemed he had the same thoughts as me.
"Get on the boat, I'll be right back." "Aw, a boat? I hate boats." Tossing Cana to gray, I headed to the pier and grabbed a rope to pull the boat before returning to the boat, which everyone had entered. "Here, tie this around the boat." While Lucy and Gray securely tied the rope, I pushed the boat into the water, passing it, pulling it until I began swimming, causing our dragon slayer to lean halfway over the boat while groaning.
"T-This is terrible." "Just deal with it; they might've never been kidnapped if you had helped." "Ugh, my head hurts. Hmm, why are we on a boat? Wasn't I just at the bar?" Rolling my eyes with a sigh, Lucy once again brought someone up to speed on what was happening while I swam through the rather turbulent ocean, following Erza and Happy's scent.
While it took a while, eventually, after nearly two hours, I began to faintly see a very tall structure in the distance. 'Is that a tree?'