"We should hurry," I said to Wendy, "As useful as that blast of yours was, there's no doubt we just alerted some of Lisanna's henchmen."

Wendy grunted as we continued to run down, "No doubt about that," She said, "It doesn't help that my magic is running low. That roar took up a lot of what's left of it."

I looked at her in shock, "Wait, what? How can you be running low?" I asked, "The cell was magic proof, you shouldn't have been able to use up any."

Wendy sighed, "Yeah, but Lisanna's men came in day to day to absorb our magic for whatever she's planning," She said, and I gasped, "It's not too much of a stretch to say she's been doing it to all of the mages she's captured. We guessed they hadn't taken much from you when they put you in our cell, but they took more of ours right after."

I scoffed, "So you guys can't go full tilt without draining yourselves. Perfect."

We continued to run down the corridor in silence before she spoke up again.

"You can." She said, and I looked at her in confusion, "Your aura is strong right now. That water really helped you. If we can evade as many of those soldiers as possible, and save enough of our friends, we could stand a chance."

I sweat-dropped, "So that means... I'm the strongest of you right now?"

Wendy sighed and nodded, "Don't worry about it. It's not hard to cast magic once you have it. You seem to know enough about our world to get on just fine."

I grit my teeth. I could only hope she was right.

As we continued down the underground maze, Wendy and I grew frustrated by the lack of cells around us. How long would it take to find just one?

"I remember each hallway for everyone's cells being labeled. I just wish I wasn't unconscious when they brought me to the Dragon Slayor cell." I grumbled.

Wendy smiled, "It's cool. I think I'm starting to smell something different in the air."

I furrowed my eyebrows and sniffed around us. I gasped, "We must be getting closer to other people." I cheesed, "We gotta find Lucy's cell. I saw a holder-type hall for Celestial mages before they knocked me out. If we find that, we should find the others."

"Right." Wendy nodded.

I sighed, "Here's my question," I started and Wendy looked at me, "Where the hell are Natsu and the others?" I exclaimed and she laughed nervously while sweat-dropping. We had been running through the stone bunker for nearly twenty minutes.

"Gajeel must have his work cut out for him." She said and I sweat-dropped as well. Her expression turned into a thoughtful one, "But they should have caught up to us by now... They could've gotten into trouble..." She trailed off.

I thought for a moment. What if they got held up by some soldiers that came in response to Wendy's roar?

I frowned, "We're barely making any progress, Wen," I groaned, "It would've been better to wait for them while they broke out... Now we've gone too far to turn back." I started to slow down before stopping all together. Wendy seized her running as well. Part of me was shocked we weren't out of breath. Was endurance always this abundant in the anime world?

Wendy walked over before putting a hand on my shoulder. I looked at her as she smiled softly at me. Her eyes were full of assurance.

"If there's one thing I learned about being in Fairy Tail, it's that we never give up." She said and I felt my face relax from its anxious expression. We stared at one another for a small moment before I nodded to her agreement.

"You're right," I said, "I guess I'd forgotten what show I was in."

She laughs at me before grabbing my hand. We nod to one another, and then take off down the bunker.

"Speaking of which," I began, "I wonder if I'm actually in the show right now."

"Heck if I know," Wendy shrugged, "We didn't even think about being a show until you told us. It would make sense though, and I'd definitely watch an adventure like this one." She smiled.

Suddenly, the smell of metal and the sound of hard clanking overtook my senses. Wendy and I stopped immediately, and I knew she was experiencing the same change.

I began to sniff and it all came to me. It was like I was with Lisanna's cyborgs as they came toward us. They weren't anywhere near our line of sight yet, so we had a few good minutes to prepare.

"I count five pairs of feet." I mumbled in concentration to Wendy. I could see her shake her head in my peripheral vision.

"No, there's six of them... There's one lagging a few feet behind." She replied and I honed in on their position before I heard the last one. They were all moving in sync, so I surmised the last one was activated a bit later than the others.

"Whoa," I tensed as another scent came over my nose. It was new, unfamiliar, and had an almost spicy edge to it. I could also hear the sound of a faint heartbeat.

They had another captive.

I looked to Wendy to see if she recognized the scent. Her eyebrows were raised and her lips were parted slightly.

"Who is that?" I asked in a lower voice. The cyborgs were getting closer.

"Cobra," She replied, and my eyes widened, "He's—"

"The Poison Dragon Slayor?" I asked in shock. She nodded, her gaze glued to the direction of the oncoming robot men.

"Should've known you already knew." She said, and I followed her gaze.

Wendy took a crouched, fighting stance, and I hesitated before doing the same.

Suddenly, a loud crash erupted from where the cyborgs were approaching. The sounds of metal and debris slapping against the concrete floors littered my ears. I felt my body tense further from the noise, and I stole a glance at Wendy to see her expression shocked and confused.

And then their scents caught our noses. Wendy's eyes snapped to mine, all signs of confusion gone from her features as we looked at one another in surprise.

A wave of heat was blown down the hall and into our faces, and we both crossed our arms in front of our faces to block the harsh intrusion. I knew someone without our enhanced senses would not feel the fierceness of the heat as heavily as we did. Not a second after the heat appeared, Wendy and I heard that familiar enraged roar, and we wasted no time to drop our defenses and race down the hall.

"So, you want a piece of my fire?!" Natsu bellowed as Wendy and I entered the scene, "Well, here ya go!"

I recognized his Fire Dragon Wing Attack, and my vision was clouded by the blazing red overtaking the corridor. I didn't register anything else, just his magic. The way his flames seemed to dance against the walls, the way they broke against the solid stone and cement, and the way his entire stature shifted into that of a ferocious, agile animal. It was such a sight.

"They're magic proof, Natsu!" Wendy's voice broke through my entranced thoughts. It sounded as though she was reminding him.

I felt my eyebrows furrow from her words, and then my eyes trailed from Natsu's fire to the motionless cyborgs in front of us. They were huddled together confidently, and Natsu's magic was doing absolutely nothing to them. He continued to roar on.

"Where are my friends?!" He screamed as his attack died out, his fire engulfed fist coming in contact with the leader of the robot men.

The cyborg's face was thrown back one pace, but his body stood firm, and his head immediately resettled. Its facial features were bruised from Natsuyblow, but stayed completely cold as its arm shot up to catch Natsu mid-air. It held him in a choke hold.

I could hear the gasp escape my mouth.

"No!" Wendy exclaimed, her magic aura building at the sight of Natsu being thrown against the damaged wall and getting strangled.

Suddenly, Gajeel jumped down from a gaping hole in the ceiling. It was then that I understood where the loud crash came from. After the boys got out of the cell, they traveled through the ceiling vents. Were the ventilation paths scattered above us, or did they run straight above the corridor we were running down? If the former, it explained why I, and perhaps Wendy, could not hear them.

Gajeel's arm extended into his Iron Sword. The sword came down on the head of Natsu's strangler, but just like Natsu's fire, it had no progressive effect. Gajeel was apprehended not a moment after. Wendy gasped, and I gritted my teeth as the other boys jumped down from the gaping hole in the ceiling. One by one they tried to fight back against the cyborgs, but I felt a strange dullness to their magical aura.

In the shock of Natsu's fire, I didn't have time to really focus on its strength. Compared to the strong auras I'd felt in my mindlessness—Lucy's, Makarov's, and the other guild members'—I could tell the boys were all struggling. Wendy was right; they were all drained.

On top of that, apparently the soldiers were magic proof?! The direness of our situation suddenly weighed heavily on me. How the hell were we going to get out of this? Wendy and I watched our friends getting beaten down again and again until they were all apprehended. Then, a fierce snarl rippled through her throat.

"Sky Dragon," She chanted, launching herself toward the soldier strangling Natsu in blind rage, "Crushing Fang!"

"Wendy!" I called before I could stop her. I watched as her attack did nothing but send a harsh swipe of air and a sharp screech against the armor of the cyborg. It turned away from Natsu to glare at her blankly before raising its hand to strike her. She hadn't found her bearings after her attack yet, and she didn't know a rebuff was on its way. My eyes widened, and I felt a thrill rush through me as its hand came down.

I felt a breeze clip at my eyes, and my teeth grit together. It almost felt like I was on auto pilot, a strange urge to do something, anything, to protect my friends flooded my being. As I took my next breath, the cyborg's hand was about to connect with Wendy's small frame.

"Stop!" I yelled, raising my hand to the cyborg cautiously. My teeth were bared and my body was tensely alert. Right before its hand made contact, the robot man froze in place. My eyes widened.

In my peripheral vision, I noted the other cyborgs froze up as well, and Natsu's robot released its grip on his neck. Spitefully, Natsu dropped to his feet and swung a fist of fire at the thing. The blow did no damage and a string of coughs came from Natsu right after. I felt a sharp pain erupt in my arm, and I winced in confusion but did not tear my gaze away from the soldiers.

Wendy finally looked up to see the cyborg's paused attack and her body stiffened before she looked at Natsu.

"Are you okay?" She exclaimed, approaching him to pat his back. He rubbed at his neck with a grimace and looked up to his assaulter. His eyes widened.

"What the hell?" He mumbled as he and Wendy's gazes fell on the other frozen bots.

Gajeel and Laxus grunted and wormed their ways out from the cramped holds of their robots, and Rogue and Sting slid by theirs as well. They all looked at the things in complete confusion, and Wendy looked at Natsu for some kind of explanation.

In the middle of their conflicted thoughts, my mind was running ramped. While they were shocked by the suddenly immobilized robot men, I was shocked by the sheer euphoria I felt in my system. I had risen my hand instinctively, out of fear and desperation, but my command was heard and the power behind it surged through my finger tips.

I was using magic. I just knew it. My eyes stayed trained, almost dazed on the cyborgs in front of us. Strangely, I felt a tight pull through my extended arm, as well as millions of connected paths which formed the pull. In those paths, I could feel the warm, orderly fluid that ran within the veins of those cyborgs. I could feel every cell within them, frozen for my command. What magic was this? I thought I was a Water Dragon Slayor... so why could I feel and manipulate the blood of these creatures? How could my magic even work on them?

I saw the bruising erupting on the face of Natsu's aggressor. It was a clear indicator that the cyborgs didn't simply look part-human, but they were biologically so as well. They carried blood, and I was in control of it.

And even crazier, how was it so easy to use magic after not ever using it before? It was almost like breathing. I thought it took a mental strain to manifest that stuff, but there I was using it effortlessly. Like it was second nature, like it was always a part of me.

At some point, Natsu's gaze trailed to my tense figure, and his wide eyes grew even wider as his jaw dropped.

Wendy followed his gaze and her lips parted as well, "Jada-" She gasped, causing the other boys to turn to me as well.

"Holy shit..." Gajeel breathed, "Jada... Your eyes."

I furrowed my eyebrows, not meeting his face.

"They're... glowing," Wendy said, "They're glowing blue." My eyes widened. I did feel a strange breeze nip at my eyes, a chill... But I wouldn't have guessed my eyes changed.

"Was that you just now? Are you doing this?" Gajeel demanded.

I was too scared to break my focus from holding the millions of paths, so I simply nodded to him.

Laxus slowly approached me, "How are you doing this?" He mumbled as he stood next to me.

"I don't know." I whispered back quickly, feeling the paths loosen just from dividing my attention slightly. Okay, so maybe it wasn't as effortless to maintain magic as it was to activate it. Immediately, I rose my other hand and the group stiffened. I felt half of the paths split from my other hand and latch on to the newly raised one. I grunted. With the new balance, I felt less strained. It almost felt like my blood was infused with theirs, but I was a puppet master.

The group looked at me patiently.

"I'm sorry," I apologized for startling them, "I don't know where this came from, it was almost instinctive." I said quickly, feeling the paths lessen again as I spoke, "It was gunning for Wendy, I only cried out in desperation. I didn't think it would actually benefit us."

"Well, it did," Natsu grinned, looking back at his cyborg before kicking it playfully. I felt another deep pain in my thigh, and I groaned while shutting my eyes. I felt the paths disappear as my attention switched to my leg. The chill within my eyes disappeared as well, and I looked up quickly to see Natsu's cyborg continue its attack. It swung its arm down and connected its fist with the ground. That was meant for Wendy.

"Jada!" Laxus called in response to my pained outburst, "Are you okay?" He asked. I blinked tightly, opening my eyes as the cyborgs recalibrated and stood erect to finish their job. I looked up to Laxus in worry.

"I don't know," I hissed, grasping my bruising leg, "When Natsu kicked that thing, I felt it too."

"What is this? Some kind of blood link magic?" Gajeel bellowed as a soldier reached for him. He ducked just in time and turned to land a punch on the thing. It turned back to him to re-advance, "Could ya feel that?"

"No." I called, "Hang on." I couldn't take all of the resumed stomping and grinding metal anymore. I looked over all of the cyborgs again, "Stop!" I commanded, feeling my eyes cool once more and reaching both hands out to them. Their blood paths leapt into my veins, and I shivered at the feeling.

"Now, Natsu, quit it!" Laxus commanded once the soldiers were frozen, "You mess them, you mess with her. We don't need anything to break her focus."

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu pouted, "You okay, Jay? I'm sorry about that."

"Mhm." I hummed quickly.

Natsu turned to appraise the frigid soldiers, "I wonder..." He trailed off, "How the hell are you able to use magic against them... and we can't?"

The thought troubled me as well. Everyone was practically rendered useless in our predicament, except for me. That scared me. If I messed up, the consequences would fall on more than just myself. I simply couldn't mess up.

Natsu's gaze drifted to the spicy-scented man laying unconscious at the cyborgs' feet. He scoffed.

"I knew I smelled a snake." He grumbled.