Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Karakura.
November, x784.
A few minutes later, Guy's meal arrived. Then, as he ate, the room's atmosphere changed to something much more solemn.
"So, why don't we go over everything we know about these rogue scientists." Alfonzo said in a serious tone.
"What gives you the idea that you should be the one in charge here? *Hiccup*" Bachus asked antagonistically. "Is it because you think you're the strongest one here? Maybe we should put that to the test."
Deciding not to dignify Bacchus' idiocy with a response, Alfonzo rolled his eyes without even looking in the Quatro Cerberus ace's direction.
"Hmph! Pussy." Bacchus said before tipping his wine gourd to him mouth and taking a few swigs. "And you have the nerve to keep Elicia from being with---"
*Boom!*
Before Bacchus could finish what he head to say, Alfonzo vanished from his seat in a burst of speed. Then, before anyone could react, Bacchus was slammed back first into the wall behind him with enough force to shake the entire hotel. yet, with enough control that the wall was not damaged in the slightest due to the impact.
At the same time, the other wizards in the room were shocked into silence by the display of speed. With Yoruichi wearing an appreciative smile.
With his feet suspended a few inches (2.54 cm) from the floor, Bacchus was struggling to breathe with Alfonzo's right hand wrapped around his neck. Meanwhile Guy looked on with an excited glint in his eyes that illustrated his eagerness to test his skills against Alfonzo.
"Bruh... I been hearin' you talk out the side of your neck 'bout Lici for a long mother fuckin' time." Alfonzo said in a clearly livid tone. "You got any idea why I been putting' up with' your shit for so fuckin' long?"
"*Gasp* Because Elicia... would hate you... for hurting me..." Bacchus wheezed out.
Hearing Bacchus' reply, not only Alfonzo, but everyone else in the room could hear the conviction behind it. In his drunken state, Bacchus truly believed every word he just said.
And while Alfonzo had the desire to simply squeeze and twist the hand wrapped around Bacchus' neck to put an end to this years-long conflict, the rational part of his brain told him that he could not do that.
Instead, after tightening his grip for an instant, Alfonzo pulled Bacchus from the wall before tossing him in Guy's direction with a deadpa expression on his face.
"Keep this bitch on a leash." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone while making his way back to his seat. "If he says anything else about my fiancée, the fact that our guild masters are old friends won't save him anymore."
"You plan to kill him?" Guy asked with narrowed eyes.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo said in a sinister tone. "But he'll never be a wizard again when I'm done with him. It would be hard for a user of [Palm Magic] to continue his career without his hands, after all."
Hearing Alfonzo's tone, Guy had no doubt that he would follow through with is threat. And although he was not happy that one of his guild mates had been threatened, he could understand Alfonzo's point of view, as well.
Meanwhile, Bacchus had been gasping for breath ever since Alfonzo released the pressure on his neck. However, after hearing Alfonzo's threat, he was ready to start a fight. But after recalling the look in Alfonzo's eyes just a moment ago, he could not bring himself to do so. Then, he noticed that his hands were shaking.
'Am I… scared?' Bacchus asked himself internally. 'Me, Bacchus Groh, scared of a man who would force a woman to be with him.'
With that thought, Bacchus furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his fists, recalling the looks of disgust Elicia would throw his way whenever he approached her. On top of that, the genuinely offended glares he would receive whenever he mentioned Elicia to Alfonzo. Things he never recognized at any other time.
'Why would I recognized things like this, now?' Bacchus asked himself. 'Am I really afraid of his threat?'
In actuality, when Alfonzo applied that last bit of force to Bacchus' neck, he sent a quick jolt of electricity into Bacchus' head, completely evaporating the alcohol affecting his thought processes and kickstarting his momentarily sober mind. At the same time, he left the rest of the alcohol in Bacchus system completely untouched. Meaning, his intoxicated state would return shortly.
'I doubt that would be enough to shut him up about it forever.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he took his seat again. 'But hopefully it will be enough to keep him quiet while we discuss the plan of attack.'
"Anyway, where were we?" Alfonzo asked, forcing a smile onto his face. "How are we gonna do this?"
"Yeah…" Yoruichi said, happy to change the atmosphere in the room by changing of subject. "We don't know enough about Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru's forces. So, I would suggest sending one or two people to infiltrate their hideout."
"Do we even know exactly where their hideout is?" Mirajane asked, voicing her concern.
"We do." Yoruichi replied with a nod. "Kagura and I got here before sun rise. So, I took a little trip to Hidden Leaf Ravine after we checked in. In fact, I was just coming back when I ran into you outside the hotel."
"Does that mean you know their numbers?" Bacchus asked, finally deciding to join the conversation again. "That would make it much easier to plan out our attack."
"Nope." Yoruichi replied with a shrug. "I didn't have enough time to infiltrate. And even if I did, I wouldn't have. That place gave me a bad feeling."
"Of course it did, those two are crazy as they come." Alfonzo said with a scoff. "I wouldn't be surprised if all the traps guarding their base were non-lethal, either."
"Why would they use non-lethal traps?" Marin asked in a confused tone.
"To get more test subjects." Alfonzo replied solemnly.
In response, Marin shivered involuntarily.
"I'm sure you've all read the reports about their human experimentation." Alfonzo continued in the same solemn tone. "Those fuckers are out of their fucking minds. Getting caught would be a fate worse than death. So, I'm glad you didn't go in there alone, Yoruichi."
"Aww… So you really do care." Yoruichi said in a teasing tone. "Then, after this quest is over, why don't you and---"
"Not a chance." Alfonzo replied dryly.
"Tch!" You're no fun." Yoruichi said with a pout.
"Ignoring the cat in heat." Mirajane said with a pleasant smile on her face.
"Hey!" Yoruichi shouted in protest.
"Does that mean we'll be going into their hideout completely blind?" Mirajane continued, ignoring Yoruichi's protest.
"No, that would be stupid." Yoruichi said, returning to her serious attitude. "I just didn't want to go in alone. But I know that Alfonzo has a few skills that would allow him to infiltrate as well."
"Although you're not wrong." Alfonzo replied. "Can you disable traps?"
In response, Yoruichi shook her head in frustration.
"I, on the other hand, can disable some traps." Alfonzo continued. "But only magical ones. In fact, I doubt I would even notice any purely physical traps."
With Alfonzo's statemen, the private room fell into a brief silence. However, it was broken rather quickly by an unexpected source.
"Actually, I should be able to assist in that regard." Guy said, taking a nice-guy pose. "I actually grew up in the same village as Orochimaru. And… well… Let's just say that they prepare us for many things that we might encounter on our journey's outside the village."
'Seriously, does that mean the hidden villages are a thing in this world, too?' Alfonzo wondered. ' And are they really hidden? I mean, I would never claim to know every village, town, and city on Ishgar, but I think a bunch of too flashily dressed ninjas would gain some attention.'
"And what kind of village makes trap dismantling a part of its training plan?" Yoruichi asked curiously.
"It's a small village only referred to as the Village Hidden in the Leaves." Guy replied with a smile. "Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the location of my village, as its location must remain a secret."
"Anyway, let's move on from the village that's definitely not close to the Ravine we're going to infiltrate." Alfonzo said, rolling his eyes.
"Wait, how did you know that?" Guy asked in genuine confusion.
Rolling his eyes, Alfonzo continued.
"Since Guy can dismantle physical traps, that means he, Yoruichi, and I will take care of the infiltration." Alfonzo said, picking up as if Guy's interruption never happened. "It'll be up to Guy and I to take care of the traps. And if anything goes wrong, it will be up to Yoruichi to notify the rest of you. Since, I'm almost certain that she's the fastest person here."
"Seriously, she's even faster than you?" Marin asked with shock in her tone. "But I saw… or I couldn't even see you when you beat Laxus in the tournament."
In response, Alfonzo could only shake his head.
"Firing myself off like a railgun in tight places sounds like a really messy way to kill myself." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "I was just talking about regular movement speed."
"Even so, I'm not much slower than Alfonzo's speed when he fires himself off." Yoruichi added. "And I do it a lot quieter, too."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bacchus said, impatience clear in his tone. "When do you plan on leaving? And when should the rest of us expect the operation to start?"
"If this was a normal hideout, I would say we should start at night." Alfonzo said. "but I doubt time of day even registers the same as it does for normal people to people like Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru. So, I think it would be better if we went in well-rested. How does tomorrow at dawn sound?"
"I'm fine with that." Yoruichi replied with a shrug. "Taking a little cat nap would be wonderful."
Kagura nodded in agreement, as well.
"Fine." Bacchus said, standing from his seat while taking a swig from his wine gourd. "I'll be there on time. Until then, leave me the hell alone."
"I agree with the plan as well." Guy said enthusiastically. "Tomorrow morning, my youth will explode."
"Sure…" Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "Do you, man."
In response, Guy once again made a nice guy pose, lifting his thumb in Alfonzo's direction before he followed Bacchus out of the private room.
"You two don't have a problem with the plan either, do you?" Alfonzo asked, turning his attention towards Mirajane and Marin.
"No, I'm fine with it." Mirajane replied with a smile.
"Me, too." Marin said with a determined nod.
"Good, then you two should get some rest. Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, he turned his attention towards Yoruichi. "And Yoruichi, could you show me to the location of their hideout? A little preliminary scouting wouldn't hurt."
"Oh, are you asking me out on a date?" Yoruichi asked in a tone mixed with playfulness and seduction.
"If that's your idea of a date, I'm not sure I could handle a relationship with you even if you ever wanted to join my harem." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hidden Leaf Ravine.
Carved into one of the walls of the Hidden Leaf Ravine, Mayuri Kurotsuchi and Orochimaru, the former researchers from the Bureau of Magical Development, settled their new research laboratories in an intricately designed labyrinth of chambers, hallways, and traps.
In one of the chambers that served as Mayuri Kurotsuchi's lab, the man himself, a slender man wearing a black kimono with a white hoari over top with his face painted to loosely resemble a skull with golden cones most-likely replacing his ears and his teeth constantly bared, was dissecting a teenage girl's body. The astonishing thing about it, however, was the fact that, if the fear and tears in her eyes were any indication, she was still alive.
"Kurotsuchi, we have an issue." Orochimaru, a tall man with snake-like facial features, long, wavy, waist-length, black hair, golden eyes with slitted pupils, and purple markings around his eyes wearing a grey tunic with a black undershirt and black pants, a thick, purple rope belt tied into a large bow behind his back, bandages wrapped around his calves, and black sandals, said as he hastily entered Mayuri's lab.
"What is it, Orochimaru?" Mayuri asked, unbothered as he continued his dissection. "I'm in the middle of something important."
"One of the snakes I left tin the town of Karakura was killed." Orochimaru said. "Cucucu… We might have some good test subjects showing up at our door, soon. But we'll have to subdue them first."
At that moment, Mayuri's test subject breathed her last breath. As a result, Mayuri plunged his scalpel into the corpse in frustration.
"I just hope they'll be sturdy enough to last through an entire experiment." Mayuri said, looking up from his latest cadaver with an excited, slightly insane smile. "Until then, we should make preparations for our guests."