Xander's POV…1 Year Before The Tenrou Group Returns...

I sigh, cracking my knuckles "You're doing this to yourself, you know? As the Chaos Dragon, I can easily win."

The dark mage who I was fighting smiles, and then all of a sudden, I find myself encased in chains...chains that I can't break through. I blink, struggling, even igniting my body in hopes that I can melt it but without any luck.

I growl, my eyes flashing a bright crimson "What do you idiots want with me?!"

The dark mage nods, and all of a sudden, the cavern becomes lit and I can see the giant black dragon, tied up with Magic Draining Chains. I sweatdrop "I-Is that…?"

The dark mage nods "Yes, that is the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse, Acnologia!"

I struggle "What are you going to do with us?!"

The dark mage cackles, and pulls out a glowing stone "Simple! We're going to fuse and kill the two of us! It's going to be like taking two birds with one stone!"

All of a sudden, I see white, and then black. And that's when shit gets really...rough. And also interesting...but, still rough.

In The Mindscape…

I groan, rubbing my head "What the hell is going on?"

I hear a rumbling, and then he appeared before me. Acnologia roars "Who the hell are you?! What is going on? Where I am? You think that you can keep me under lock and key, scum?"

I sweatdrop "Um...sorry to disappoint, but I'm not the one who brought you here...as to where here is, I'd say one of us is in the other's mind. As to which, I've got no clue. The main problem is that there are dark mages wanting to kill us both!"

The black dragon simply rolls his eyes "And how does this bother me, scum?"

I facepalm, pulling in my fleeing courage and shout "You idiot! We're connected, most likely for a long time if not ever unfusing, given my luck! That means if I die, so do you and vice versa! So, how about we wake up and work together and avoid dying?!"

Acnologia grumbles and then nods "Fine. But by no means am I going soft...if it is true and we are in your mind, then we cannot destroy each other here...believe me, I've been in this situation before, though without the risk of it being very permanent. So, wake up, scum, and let's deal with the greater of two evils."

I sweatdrop, looking away "I-I've never been able to wake up by myself, it's always been someone else who wakes me up, as one of my best friends, Grey, or my brother Natsu."

Acnologia sighs, and then, somehow, has a very evil grin on his face "I can take care of that...hehehehe….Apocalypse Dragon King's Roar!"

I gulp as a big black and blue breath attack blasts my way, sending me into oblivion.

(Author shrugs) "What couldn't help it! It just made sense!"

I groan, rubbing the back of my head "Man, I hate those wake-up calls!"

Acnologia growls, and then somehow manifests himself, in a human form "S-Scum...pay attention! They are preparing to kill us as we speak!"

I grin, flexing and breaking the chains "Oh come on Acno! We've got this covered!"

Acnologia pauses, and deadpans "That's not my name, scum! I am the bringer of the Apocalypse, the Dragon of Doom, Acnologia!"

I roll my eyes, jumping up and rolling, dodging a stray magic blast "And my name isn't Scum either, so, until you call me by my true name, or at the very least, Partner or something kinder than Scum, I'm going to call you Acno."

With that, I ignite my fist and draw it back"Chaos Dragon's Demolition Fist!"

As some of the dark mages attempt and fail to dodge my blow, Acnologia rolls his eyes, floating just above me, his blue hair glowing slightly "Fine! Partner, you need to learn about our condition."

I nod, grabbing a still conscious mage "Hey you! Is this permanent?!"

The mage only cackles, so I knock him out and go on down the line until eventually, I got to only one left. I grin, cracking my neck "Surely you must know whether or not this is permanent!"

The mage only nods, and so I pin him to a wall "Well then, ya freak, tell me what you know!"

The mage grins "You're in luck! This is one curse that will last forever! You and he are one and the same now!"

I growl, slamming him into a wall "You're telling me that there is no way to fix this!"

The mage laughs again, and I can't stop myself...it's like my fire has a mind of its own. My Chaos flames go through and burn the dark mage from the inside out. And, I can't say that I didn't enjoy it…

I sigh when the flames die down "Damn it...I had hopes…"

Acnologia simply nods "As it appears we are stuck together...I will teach you to master my power. You will be the strongest Dragonslayer out there when I am done with you...Xander."

I smirk, laughing at his goofy face "I'm willing to bet that it tasted terrible to say my name, didn't it?"

Acnologia grumbles "Just shut up. There is one thing that you must understand, well, actually two. With having my power, you will have my territory. That means all of my enemies will become your enemies. I know that you are a part of a guild, I can see it in your memories. You will have to get much stronger if you want to protect them. The second thing is that my power will not just come to you, and it will be harder to control...not to mention the fact that people could very well hate you for it...just figured that you should know…there are a couple more things, but you will learn about them when the time comes."

I grin as we walk out of the cavern and into the dimming daylight "Aw, you do care! Hehe, don't worry Acno-Buddy, I kind of figured all of this when we found out it was permanent. And...if you are willing to train me, I am willing to learn from you."

Acnologia, for the first time, making me wonder if he ever did in his entire existence, smiles "Well then...we shall begin this next morning. For now, you must have time to rest, for the training will be intense. Consider this your warning."

I nod, my black hair waving as I head off "Wouldn't have it any other way."

And with that, began the story of the Rise of the new Dragon King, the Apocalypse Dragon King. It will be a rough road, and I have much to learn, but hey, it's better than nothing. I just hope my friends will understand when the time comes.

Timeskip: Present Day…

I growl, pounding my fist into a table "How about you shut the hell up! Just because they are not here doesn't mean that they are weak!"

Romeo, one of my closest friends as of late, and the only one to know my secret sighs "Really...another fight already?"

I turn around, and Romeo gets a good glance at my Heterochromatic eyes, one as red as fire and the other remaining its normal green color. Romeo grabs me, dragging me off as Acnologia floats beside me, laughing "Damn Partner, didn't expect you to get so angry over one little screw-up! That scum does have a point though, when I destroyed Tenrou Island or at least thought that I did, I was using maybe five percent of my power...just saying."

I roll my eyes, muttering "Yeah, well, you're different. You're stronger than probably most of the dragons, so you can say people are weak...those guys can't. I could beat them easily, without having to switch to Apoc."

All of the sudden, as Romeo is dragging me off to go cool off before I destroy everything in sight...again...an explosion sounds, and the door to the guildhall flies off...and there stands my older brother, Natsu.

I shrug him off, and somehow stuff Acnologia as far back into my mind as he is willing to go, and walk up, pulling Natsu into a hug "You're finally back…"

The Pinkette smiles, showing his fangs as Onyx eyes meet mismatched red and green eyes "And you've changed since I've left! How old are you now? Dude, you've gotten tall, and much stronger by the looks of it!"

I shrug "To answer your first question, I am going to turn 16 soon. As for stronger...I guess you could say that."

Grey rushes over, giving me the biggest bearhug, or so I had thought. As it turns out, Wendy came next…

I blush slightly as Wendy continues to hug me, Acnologia having a laugh from the mindscape "Um...I get that you've been gone for seven years, Wendy, but come on now…"

Wendy grins "I'm just happy you're ok, Xander! When we left, you were hurt...and...and I was worried…"

I shrug as she finally puts me down "Yeah, well, I am fine now...so, what say we all have that welcome home party, eh?!"

As the rest of the guild gets fired up in greeting the newly returned Tenrou Team, I sneak off, disappearing into the crowd. What can I say, Crowds and I...don't mix? Little do I know, Wendy followed me, wanting to talk. Yep, it's gone well so far...but things are going to probably go to go to shit...yay.

I growl, dropping to the top of the Guildhall "God damn it...this puts a dent in our plan, does it not?"

Acnologia reappears, glowing slightly "No Partner, in fact, if we can get the other dragonslayers on our side, we can better protect this place."

I facepalm "That's not what I'm talking about...Wendy being back changes things...especially now…"

Acnologia snickers, his blue eyes glinting against the moonlight "What, you want the Sky Dragon chick to be your mate or something?"

I can feel my face start to burn and I growl, Chaos flames flickering in and out from my hands "Shut up Acno!"

Acnologia doubles over in laughter "Oh My God, you do! Well alright then...don't know how well that would work...but maybe?"

I roll my eyes, refusing to look at him "Shut up...besides, it's not like she'll like me like that...and it's better that way."

All of a sudden, I see a blue flash and Wendy is right next to me, poking my cheek. Luckily, Acnologia disappeared before she can spot him, so I don't have to worry about that.

I jump slightly and then blink "What the hell?! Wendy, what are you doing?"

The bluette grins "Just wanted to see what you were doing! Why did you leave?"

I shrug, sweatdropping "J-Just wanted to be alone for a bit. Why did you leave?"

Wendy shrugs "Just to see whether you were okay. If you want me to leave, I will…"

I sigh, shaking my head and patting the area next to me "No, it's fine...sit down, we can enjoy the starlight together."

Wendy smiles, and I blush and look away, muttering "Damn it, she's cute…"

Acnologia chuckles "Wow...and you say you're not into her...just do it, Partner!"

Ignoring Acnologia, I sigh, enjoying the cool air. Wendy shivers slightly, and I sigh, pulling off my cloak and extending it "Here. I don't need it."

Wendy smiles, wrapping it around herself and purring slightly "T-Thanks Xander…"

I nod. Acnologia snickers "See, she enjoys it! I say that she'd actually benefit from knowing the plan, but that's just me Partner. You do as you wish though, this is your body after all."

I shake my head, and then the two of us, or rather the three of us enjoy the night sky while the rest of the guild parties the night away, as per usual. Oh well, I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Next Day…

I groan, opening my eyes. The first thing that I see is a very familiar bluette sleeping with her head on my shoulder and the fact that we are still on the roof. I sweatdrop "Acnologia...when did we fall asleep?"

The Dragon King that I call Partner grins, appearing beside me "Oh, I don't know, soon after falling into each other's grasp? Come on child, you've just got to do it!"

I facepalm, shaking my head "No! And don't say it like that, it's nothing like that!"

Acnologia rolls his eyes and then disappears "Might want to watch yourself, partner, your mate is waking up."

I sweatdrop, looking down. Wendy grunts and blue eyes meet mismatched red and green. I smile "Oh hey Wen. Decided I'm comfortable enough to sleep on, eh?"

Acnologia sighs from within the Mindscape "Wow. Real Smooth Partner. Real Smooth."

Wendy blushes, shooting off of her 'pillow' like her head was made from rockets "It's not like that, I swear! I was just so tired from the trip and…"

I roll my eyes, putting my finger to her lips "Calm down Wendy, I'm not mad if that's what you're worried about. I was just kidding."

All of a sudden, a very familiar voice calls "Yo, Wendy, Xander, you two lovebirds want some breakfast or not?"

I growl, jumping down on top of Natsu "What was that, brother?"

Natsu groans from the ground, all of the air knocked out of him "N-Nothing…"

I nod "That's what I thought. Anyway, you said something about breakfast?"

All of a sudden, one of my other friends and the pro cook of the guild, Mirajane Strauss walks out, a bright smile on her face "Ah, Xander, there you are! I was wondering where you had gotten off to, didn't see you last night."

I shrug "What can I say, I just needed to get away for a bit. It's been a long time though, Mira."

As I stand up to my full height, my cloak drops on my head as Wendy floats down, landing next to me. I sputter, spitting out fur as Wendy smiles "Good morning Mira!"

Mira smiles and then looks at me, giving me 'the look' "Did you and her…?"

I rapidly shake my head. As I do, my Chaos flames appear with a slight explosion. Mira chuckles as Wendy jumps back slightly "Xander, I'm joking! I know you're not like that, just wanted to see your reaction!"

I grunt, rolling my eyes "Great…"

Wendy nudges me as Natsu pulls himself back up, patting me out "Hey, are you okay? How come your magic flared up there for a second?"

(Author snickers) "Ah, Sweet, little innocent Wendy…"

I sweatdrop, willing the color in my face to fade "N-No reason...let's just get inside, I don't know about you, but I'm starving!"

Acnologia chuckles "Real nice save Partner...real nice. She definitely believes you. Definitely."

I roll my eyes, muttering "I don't see you doing anything to help, you overgrown lizard!"

Acnologia simply shrugs "You forget, I am the Dragon of the Apocalypse. I am not well-versed in 'love'."

I sigh as we walk into the Guildhall "Yeah, no kidding."

Wendy raises an eyebrow, having heard me "What was that?"

I grunt, jumping slightly "Oh nothing, nothing. Let's just eat, I'm starving!"

Of course, once we get inside, Natsu's all up in my face "So, about you getting stronger while we were gone, care to test that theory?"

Mira whaps him over the head "Stop it Natsu! Xander just woke up, and he's probably starving."

As my stomach growls, I grin "Both my stomach and I concur with that statement!"

The pinkette sighs "Fine, but after you get some breakfast, we're fighting."

Erza, practically appearing out of nowhere with a dark aura around her, growls "Not in the guildhall you're not!"

Both Natsu and I bow rapidly "Yes Ma'am!"

Even now, with the absolute hell that I've been put through, Erza is still one of the only people on Earthland that I am extremely scared of. Just saying.

Wendy sighs as Carla, Wendy's exceed floats down "Come on, let's get some food."

I grin "As you wish, milady."

We sat down, and the Platinum Blonde that I call friend brings both of us platters of food "Well, here you two go. Eat up, I can see Natsu wanting to fight you."

I grin, shoveling the food into my mouth, and then swallowing with a burp. As soon as I'm done, I crack my neck "Alright, come on then Natsu. Let's go fight!"

So, the pinkette and I race off, heading outside to start our fight. Little do we know, Mira, Lucy, Grey, Erza, Wendy and a couple of the others decided to come and watch us. This should be a good one.

Timeskip: Fifteen Minutes Later…

I get into a fighting stance "Well Natsu? You going to come to me?"

The pinkette starts, and then gets an evil smile on his face "How about we make this even more interesting? If I win, you get your haircut and get a change of clothes. You also ask Wendy out on a date. But, if you win, I'll ask Lucy out, and I'll be your slave for a week."

I grunt "So, if I win, you get embarrassed, and I get a slave, but if I lose, I get embarrassed, and have to work out my feelings for Wendy? Seems fair...I guess."

All of a sudden, Acnologia coughs "Hey, Xander, Partner, normally I would just let you suffer, but...look to your left."

I do and see a very familiar bluette, platinum blonde, and dirty blonde watching us. I feel my face light up and hope and pray to every deity out there that Wendy didn't hear me. Luckily, it seems that I was heard, and my slight confession was not. Who knows though, we Dragonslayers have amazing senses, so, maybe she's just playing it cool.

I growl, igniting my fists "Alright, come at me then!"

With that, Natsu seemingly disappears, reappearing and slamming his fist into my gut, sending me flying "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

I grunt, rubbing my stomach as I flip back onto my feet "That was a cheap shot, brother! Come on now, was that necessary?"

Natsu shrugs "You take whatever advantages you can get!"

I grin, green fire spinning around my arms "Alright then. Chaos Dragon's Flare!"

A bright light flares and I use Natsu's temporary vision loss to my advantage. I grin as he squeals "What can I say, brother? While you were in suspended animation at Tenrou Island, I was training."

Natsu's vision clears up rather quickly and he smiles, slamming his foot down and causing a torrent of flame to appear. I grunt, dusting off my cloak "Wow...getting better."

Natsu shrugs "You honestly think that we spent seven years in Suspended Animation?! Haha! You're dumber than I thought! I've been training!"

I grin "Well then, glad to hear it. Come at me with everything you've got."

Natsu growls, and a red magic circle appears from his hands "Fire Make: Cannon!"

All of a sudden, a red cannon shoots at me, hitting me in the chest. I growl "You learned Fire Make?!"

Natsu shrugs "As I said, I've been training. Fire Dragon's Roar! Fire Make: Blast!"

I would like to say that I won, relatively easily...but that would be a lie. I lost, and I had no chance whatsoever. Of course, I figured that if I would have switched to Apocalypse Dragonslaying, I could have won, but Acnologia said no, so I lost.

Natsu snickers, looking like a fool "Looks like I win the bet! Hahahaha!"

I groan, running my fingers through my luscious black hair "Aw man...might as well get this over with."

That, of course, is when Wendy and the others decide to make their presence known. As the other guild members who followed us moved to cheer on Natsu, Wendy comes over, a smile on her face "No matter whether you win or lose, I think you did a good job."

I look around conspiratorially and then whisper into her ear, a grin on my face "I was holding back the entire time. If I went all out, he wouldn't have been able to handle me."

Wendy rolls her eyes, nodding slightly "Of course you did. Literally, everyone else could sense that you were holding back. What bet was Natsu-San talking about though?"

I grunt, a slight blush gracing my face "We made a bet before the fight started, if I would have won, he would have not only been my slave for a week but also would have had to ask Lucy out on a date...now I've got to get a haircut and a new outfit...and something else."

I then lift up my still smoldering cloak "Honestly though, I could definitely use a new outfit."

Acnologia grunts as Wendy rolls her eyes "And a haircut too! Pretty soon you'll be looking like Mira Nee-San!"

I sweatdrop, shuttering slightly "Yeah, I don't think I could do what she does...don't have the patience or the confidence. Like, yikes."

Wendy laughs, and I sigh, feeling the muscles that had tensed during the fight start to relax. I then grumble as Acnologia laughs "Um, Wendy...would you be willing to go with me to get a new outfit? I would take Natsu or Gajeel, but knowing them, I'd come back looking like a damn clown or something, simply because with them, Karma's a bitch."

Wendy nods as Carla swoops down "Of course! Oh, hello there Carla! Say...where's Happy?"

Carla simply points to the nearby fishing hole, where we can see the Blue Cat in Question, laughing maniacally while holding a giant fish. I facepalm, shaking my head "Should have figured…Why am I not surprised?"

Carla deadpans "When is he ever not hunting for fish?"

I shrug, starting to walk in the direction of both the Guildhall and Town "Whenever he's with you."

As I get farther off, Wendy snaps back from her own little world and hurries off after me "Hey! Wait for me, Xander!"

I groan, stopping for a couple of minutes, allowing Wendy to catch up "Hurry up then, Shorty. We ain't got all day."

Wendy pouts "I know that, and I'm not short! I'm the normal size for our age, at least for girls! You're just tall!"

I roll my eyes, continuing on "Wendy, that makes you short. But thank you for noticing that I'm tall."

Acnologia seems surprised "Wow, I think more than your magical power level and your eyes have changed since our training...this both worries and intrigues me Partner...we need to find out what else has changed about your Physiology, if anything...make sure that nothing bad might happen."

I nod, muttering "Yeah, definitely. We'll just have to do that later though."

Acnologia nods "Agreed. Go have fun with the first of your mates. You deserve it. Like always though…"

I finish just as we reach town "Always be on your guard, you never know when one of your enemies will strike you down."

Acnologia growls as we reach our destination, one of the bigger clothing stores in Magnolia "Stop finishing my sentences before I can!"

I laugh, rolling my eyes "Whatever you say, buddy."

(Author shrugs) "It makes sense to give Natsu Fire Make. I will also end up giving all of the Dragonslayers, and even some non-Dragonslayers Dragon Lacrima. It just makes sense, you know? Working on things. Alright, see you in the next one, Peace! Next Chapter is when the fun starts, just FYI, and then I'm going to do a couple of year timeskip and then actually get into the canon stuff, this chapter was just to get everything set, just so you know. Alright, Peace!"