Motor Engine #9

The real question was… when had Mythal agreed to help newbies to the guild?

He supposed he hadn’t; everyone that had met him or worked with him thus far knew he was a bit on the socially awkward side. But he was taking up jobs sometimes faster than they could be posted and apparently getting noticed for it. First it was the joint operations with Sabertooth and Serilda specifically and now it was apparently helping some of the more novice members on the more difficult jobs. And while he certainly hadn’t agreed to it, he had in a way. Fairy Tail was all about helping their members thrive and succeed and that meant teaming people together. It didn’t always work out that the people who were paired had similar magics or personalities but that was all a part of getting people out of their shells. Sadly, it mostly just felt like making Mythal have to interact and get along with his fellow guild mates.

That’s why he had been asked to help one of the newer members with a job in Motor City. A town made up of engineers and vehicle junkies, the air was thick with the smell of oil and earned sweat. Luckily towns such as this were also renowned for their dives and holes in the wall. Mythal was able to sit himself down at the flight there and grab himself a beer, consuming nearly a pint and a half of the bitter liquid. He had settled into one of the booths in the corner, so that he could have a perfect view of the door. Doing that, he could spot anyone that walked in and perhaps even get an eyeful of the guy he was supposed to be meeting.

As he sat there, he pulled out the tracker he had been given upon acceptance of the job. Apparently the Clockwork Archer guild had been burgled and was now down an engine. They had planned ahead and put a tracker in the thing just in case and it was telling them it was still within the boundaries of the city. But they also believed that the guild that had stolen from them was a dark guild by the name of the White Hand. So they wanted someone a bit more… prepared to handle the reacquisition of the engine. “Hopefully this guy knows how to fight…” Mythal muttered as he pocketed the tracker once more.

Motor City	Fairy Tail
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When a person walked into a bar looking for someone, they had a certain… look. There was a wandering gaze that drifted over every person, looking for some sense of familiarity. There was the leaning every which way, trying to expand one’s vision around the blockades that were other people’s heads. There’s even the brightening when you think you found the person you’re meant to meet… only to discover it’s some idiot with a great seat and some really crappy lightning. Mythal knew next to nothing about this… Shenta person, other than they were relatively new to the guild and were interested in this job. He’d never even seen him or, if he had, he certainly didn’t remember him.

But he knew that whoever he was, he probably didn’t recognize him either. So it wasn’t hard to pick out who he could be by the clueless look upon his face as he stood in the doorway. "Guess that’s him…” Mythal mumbled to himself, even as he threw his hand up and waved him over. Hopefully he didn’t get the wrong idea – he didn’t make it a habit of waving strangers over after all. Once Shen had made his way over, Mythal pushed one of his beers over to him. He had meant to drink both of them but… he wanted to be, at the very least, a bit friendly to a fellow guild mate. "How’s it goin’? I’m Mythal,” he said, raising his glass in greeting. "Let’s cut to the chase, kid. We got the tracker that leads us to the warehouse. We don’t know when they’re gonna’ load up and ship it out so we have to hit it soon and fast. I hope you have some offensive magic ‘cause dark guilds aren’t full of pushovers… usually.” He’d only fought a handful of dark guild members at that point but thus far, they hadn’t been cake walks.

He downed the rest of his beer and shook his head. "You ready to do this?”

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Shennako Silverwolf. That was quite the name. Mythal hadn’t heard of any Silverwolf guild but apparently this guy had no relation to it. Well at least he wasn’t partnering with someone of great importance; that kind of thing could draw attention. Shen listened as the God Slayer dispensed with the chit chat and pleasantries, wanting to get right down to business and go investigate the engine’s location. Shen was respectful the entire time and offered some insight into his own spell abilities, claiming he was fairly balanced when it came to offensive and defense. "Well at least one of us is defensive,” Mythal said right before he finished his beer. His magical prowess had always been in keeping on the offense, knocking his opponent’s off guard so they could never put up a proper defense. The only time Mythal truly brought defense into his repertoire was when he had Curse and… well he had no idea where his weapon was at the moment.

Mythal led the way, taking the tracker out from his pocket again and following its series of blinks and soft beeps. It would have been a lot easier to follow if there weren’t so many buildings in their way; several times they had to reroute through alleyways and take long ways around structures to get back on the right route. But after about thirty minutes of walking and the tracker slowly blinking faster and quicker, they came before an odd looking department store near the northern sector of town. It was in a well occupied area, with tons of businesses and apartment buildings surrounding it. The job flyer had described a warehouse but this was a store that was currently open for business by the looks of it. One would think if doing bad deeds, they would try to find a more secretive area. Then again, there weren’t really open, secluded areas in a metropolis such as this.

Mythal stepped into the building, putting the tracker on silent and placing it back in his pocket. A cheery little bell rung as he got inside, attracting the attention of the staff. The first thing Mythal noticed was how all sketchy they looked. Large, thuggish men that wore tailored suits with white pocket squares. Two of them hung off to the right, looking much more intimidating than the man at the front desk. He was a wormy looking fellow, almost skittish from the way his body twitched. But the God Slayer could just barely make out the markings of a guild tattoo on his left wrist, nearly covered by his sleeve.

“Hello gentlemen, how can I assist you?” The man asked, working up the courage to at least pretend to act professional.

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Approaching a job with dark wizards meant having a kind of… poise. Though Mythal would never claim to be the best tactician in the world, he did know when to put forth a bluff and when to charge in without warning, at least most of the time. Certain situations notwithstanding, going into a store that was more than likely filled with foot soldiers for a dark guild meant trying to get as much information as possible before showing your cards. And yet Shen, who apparently was of the mind to speak it whenever he had a thought or feeling, spoke right up and claimed to sense a strong mage behind the walls in another room. Everything seemed to skid to a halt immediately, both the clerk and guards staring at the pair in utter shock at their brevity and confidence. Mythal dropped his head and sighed long and deep before glancing over his shoulder to look at Shen. "Might want to work on your poker face for next time, pal,” he said, offering a bit of advice despite the immediate danger they were in.

“Oh no! Legal wizards!” The clerk yelped, putting two and two together almost immediately. He tried to backpedal, to get away from the danger and let the guards handle it But Mythal was quicker; his right arm snapped forward and slammed into his face, continuing to drive forward as he lifted the meager man off the floor. The stunned worker was sent flying backwards, soaring right over the desk he had been managing when they came in and slamming into the wall behind it. The force of the impact tore the pristine white wall to shreds, shaking the entire building as it fell inwards.

Both guards charged at Mythal, their magic starting up. One of them was apparently an ice make wizard, as he summoned forth a blade made entirely of the frozen element. The other’s hands transformed into jaguar paws, the talons stretching out and ready to slash at them. Mythal’s spun around, his right arm already darkening as his magic swirled over the limb. He ducked underneath the icy slash from the first guard and launched himself at the second guard. A clawed paw came at him and he blocked it to the side, spinning around the extended appendage and slamming his elbow into the enemy’s temple. He followed it up with a hard punch to the liver with his armored hand and then backhanded him down into the ground, destroying the floor beneath him and knocking the second man out.

The ice mage swung at him once more and Mythal jumped back, just barely avoiding the slicing motion. His feet slid along the ground before pushing off of it, thrusting Mythal back at the ice dark wizard. His knee came up and slammed into his face, knocking his head back and disorienting him. His head spun to Shen and he pointed at the stunned guard. "Finish him off! I’m gonna go find the engine.” And with that, he turned and leapt over the counter on the back wall, easily jumping through the hole he had made in the wall and the unconscious man lying in it.

As turned a corner, he came full speed into a garage. He heard the ending portion of an enchantment and barely had enough time to press himself flat against the wall as a fiery sword was sent hurling at him. It slammed into the wall behind him, melting the paint and wooden beams behind it. A blonde woman wearing a dark red pantsuit stood before him, the last flickering flames from her attack twisting off of her fingers.

“Awfully rude of you to come barging in,” she snapped at him.

"Not my idea. I was all about trickin’ your idiot minions into lettin’ their guard down and then comin’ back here to deal with you quickly,” Mythal answered back, shrugging.

“You will die!” She roared, her hands engulfing in flames once more.

"Probably not,” he retorted before charging in to meet her.

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Mythal charged in and managed to slide under the woman’s flaming whip, just as it sprang out from her hand. His armored hand came up and smashed her in the stomach, sending her skidding across the ground backwards. As she came to a stop, she snapped the whip and it wrapped around his arm, the fire hissing and sizzling against the shadow magic gauntlet.

“Shadow requip user, are you? You’re sorely outmatched,” she mocked him, pulling on the whip in an attempt to pull him forward.

Mythal tightened his arm in place, matching the whip and woman’s strength. "Is that what you think?” He asked, more curious than anything. Did the gauntlet really deceive people that bad? If that was the case, he couldn’t help but feel a bit happy. Nice to know he could keep people guessing as long as he didn’t use incantations.

Suddenly the wall to his right came crumbling down and Shen came busting through, having finished off the last of the minions. He asked if he was needed for helping in taking care of the fire lady, who looked absolutely furious that another wizard was there. "Just get the engine and get outta here. This chick is like a firecracker – literally, she uses fire,” he said, holding up the whipped arm to prove his point.

“You want the engine?! I’ll blow it and you up along with this entire building!” She roared, releasing the whip from her hand. As it faded into fiery particles, more flames began to wrap around her arms. “Fire Make Firebomb!” She roared, as an orb of liquid flames began to form about her head.

Mythal dove into his shadow, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat. He reappeared behind her, leaping out of the ground as if it were liquid. His knife hand smashed into her neck, causing her to gasp and yelp in pain. She stumbled forward, losing her focus on her spell. That’s when Mythal unleashed a full blown assault. His palms snapped forward, one after the other, his arms pumping like pistons to smack her back with five palm strikes. He followed that up with a hard punch to her lower back, bending her body forward at an odd angle. And then he finished with a leaping, spinning kick that sent her stumbling back down the hallway Mythal had come from.

She hissed furiously and turned back to the God Slayer, fire literally bursting from her eyes. She looked at him and then at Shen, weighing how much she was willing to fight against two of them. After a moment, it seemed she made her decision. “Fire Make Fire Wall!” She screamed, slamming both her hands into the ground. Flames erupted from the stone ground, swallowing up the hallway and forming a fiery barrier between her and them. It also lit plenty of flammable items along the wall.

"Well, time to go,” Mythal said. Assuming that Shen had grabbed the engine and already retreated outside, Mythal would go through the broken wall the Earth wizard had created and escaped through the front door.

Motor City	Fairy Tail
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