Walking into the next train cart, and feeling slightly naked without his hat, the inspector looked for the shadow mage.
"Partaking in a game of hide and seek isn't how I expected to spend this day, Kageyama-kun. I had plans, very important ones if I dare say it, that didn't have me chasing a dark guild mage. Though, since I'm still a professional inspector for the council there is no way I can turn away. What say you? Want to call it quits, surrender, perhaps grab a beer with me? My treat if you make this easier for me."
Getting no answer and hearing only the train's wheels on the tails as there were only empty seats before him, the inspector gave a small, tired smile and a sigh before aiming a hand forward. Dark crimson flames came to his fingertips, and he aimed his middle and index fingers in a gun gesture at a nearby seat. Keeping his thumb steady and pressed on his hand as the sights, he concentrated a small amount into a small sphere.
"What…?" a shadow hidden under the seat he was aiming at whispered only loud enough for himself to hear.
"Mini-Rasengan… Gun." Alter whispered and fired the small projectile, which completely obliterated a large hole on the back of the seat like someone fired a shotgun on the same spot a good two dozen times.
Kageyama slithered in his shadow to another spot, groaning, "This guy's not dangerous, he's straight up a devil in disguise!"
Alter had another shot ready, "I can blame that on Natsu…" he whispered to himself before smiling as friendly as possible to the air, "So, Kageyama-kun, like my trick? I can keep shooting to destroy every spot you could be hiding under until you're forced out into the light. However, I'd be worried if I hit you with this. Since it's my chakra, if it hit your leg then it'd eat your skin off along your bones, foot, and then the knee."
"Eat this, creep!" Kageyama was so sure of his victory that he allowed himself to holler in ecstasy when seeing five shadow blades pierce the inspector's head from behind. His grin disappeared as soon as a cloud of smoke poofed into existence before him accompanied by the melodiously amused voice of the inspector,
"Come on, Kageyama-kun." he said with a lazy smile and a wave of the hand, "I left my hat with some schmuck from Fairy Tail, and I miss it. No one could ever replace it… The hat, not the guy, just to be clear."
Kageyama jumped back, nearly getting out of his skin in fear, to get the necessary distance for another attack with eight shadow snakes lunging at the inspector once again, "Good luck escaping this now, chump! I will strike from all angles without holding back now! Let's see you escape this!"
As he said, the snakes all surrounded Alter by creating a vortex of shadowy coils to make sure he could never escape, and moved to strike his most vital points. That is why Kageyama was once again utterly shocked to see the blond just appear before him in a flash of yellow light, smile warmly at him, and punch the shadow mage in the gut. Kageyama's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. It was a single, clean hit so fast it was like someone fired a gun at pointblank. His feet left the ground for a couple of seconds, the air contorted around the inspector's arm, and the strike echoed like a shotgun blast.
Once Kageyama fell to his knees the inspector just stood still with his arms crossed behind his back and a laidback smile, eyes closed, "Just to be clear, I'm not angry or in a bad enough mood to make it hurt. Although, giving me a reason to do so by playing with such a dangerous artifact like that flute…" he clicked his tongue repeatedly several times in a second, "Let's say you're being rude and leave it at that if you give it to me."
Gasping as he held his pained stomach and bruised ribs, Kageyama looked at him in the eye and grunted a, "Fuck you…" with all the venom he could muster.
Crouching to be on the man's eye level, the young inspector smiled, patted his shoulder with his eyes open, and chuckled, "I guess you're real special. Not wanting to backstab your guild even if you're with me…" the way his grip tightened worried the shadow user, "However, I need you to be more cooperative."
And in a split second, without losing his smile once or letting his expression of friendliness change, Alter grabbed the back of Kageyama's head and slammed it on the floor hard enough to smear his blood on it, "G-Gah!" Kageyama tried to breathe, but his nose was clogged with his blood.
Not once letting go of his friendly smile, Alter lifted his head, "Come on, Kageyama-kun, I need the flute and to know about your guild. You don't see them helping you. My guess is that they may as well see you as expendable if they didn't bother giving you a hand. Am I right? You can tell me if you feel like it."
Groaning, the shadow mage sneered, "Go… fuck yourself…"
Sighing deeply and tiredly, Alter pulled out a handkerchief from his coat and used it to clean Kageyama's face, surprising him, "I really don't want to be the bad cop here, but I am losing time after this little stunt of yours. That's why I'll clean your nose. If you have it clogged, you may pass out earlier." And with that he slammed his face down repeatedly on the floor until more blood came out, "Time to clean you again."
Humiliated, Kageyama balled his hands into fists and tried to summon his shadow to attack, but seeing the dark chakra in front of his face told him the white haired man was done waiting, "W-Wait!" he cried.
Alter's smile warmed up, "Finally about to cooperate in a jolly way, huh?" he let go of Kageyama's head, which fell once again on the floor with the force of gravity, "Start talking, please, Kageyama-kun."
There was a loud screeching sound and both found it odd as the train wasn't stopping. Both turned to see none other than Erza, Lucy and Gray in a cart. The latter had his arm hooked to it like he was giving it blood, but in reality it was so the cart could move with his magic. Erza had her swords drawn and Lucy had a whip of all things. Alter noted the terrified look on the blonde girl's face as she lassoed her whip on the train.
And like any good action movie, she and Erza swung into the train by crashing through a window. The redhead kept the rookie Fairy Tail mage safe in her arms, and her armor prevented any major cuts. However, a man with a bloody nose whose head was tightly gripped in Alter's hand wasn't what Lucy expected to see. She expected the usual madness from her guild, not to see the inspector wiping the man's nose, smiling.
"H-Help…" Kageyama begged while Alter was done cleaning his blood off his face.
The inspector threw the handkerchief out the window and turned to the mages, "Sorry about that, I usually try not to make a mess."
Lucy was too shocked for coherent questions, "What were you doing…?"
Adjusting his outfit and scarf, he calmly replied with a lazy grin, "My job, I'm afraid. I found the guy harassing Natsu and intervened before it could get ugly. We had a fight, and I did say that I'm stronger than I look."
"He bashed my face in on the floor, help me!" Kageyama cried, terrified of the blond.
Lucy felt a shiver down her spine when Alter gave her a laidback smile, "So dramatic. But really, I'm just trying to get things done. After all, he has the flute we're looking for and I can't have him use it."
"Not to mention we have to find his comrades." Erza added with a serious face, "Thank you for your help, Mr. Alter."
He waved with a playful grin, "You're very welcome, though not as much as I'll welcome that date with you, Erza-chan."
She grinned, surprising Lucy, "You can call it whatever you want, I'll just buy you dinner."
"Aw, trying to hurt my feelings?" he said in mock hurt while Lucy remained shocked.
A thought crept on her pigtailed head, I see, so he's even more of a monster than Fairy Tail, but he's polite… He's scary, but he's definitely still a nice guy if he stopped our target and protected Natsu… she felt at ease for a bit, he was at least strong and determined to help them.
"Well then," the inspector turned to the shadow mage with a joyous face, "I believe I promised you a beer if you helped us. Please, don't make it your last good one."
Kageyama looked at him and saw a serious Erza readying a sword, but that paled in comparison to the image of Alter showing him a bit of his true self with his maliciously foxy smile that promised pain.