A/N: Sorry it's been so long, guys! D: Long chapter to make up for it! I'm a bit out of inspiration, so chapters will probably be less frequent! I don't own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does. Please enjoy!
Erza and the others tramped through the forest. Erza scowled in irritation as the magic they had been following swirled around turned the other direction. In theory, it was tracking magic, but it didn't seem to be of much use.
"I'm hungry!" Natsu groaned, "why are we following this stupid piece of junk, anyways, it doesn't seem to know where it's going!"
"For once, I agree with this idiot. This magic is getting us no where." Gray added his opinion.
"Shut up, both of you! If we're nearby the enemy might hear us!" Erza growled angrily.
"Aye." Happy agreed quietly. He always knew to agree with Erza. Or she would take his fish!
"Stop," the powerful requip mage commanded. "I hear something." Both the ice mage and dragon slayer stopped, even though both had grown in power and could easily make her sweat in a fight, they still respected her.
"Hey, Yukio, do you hear that?" Erza heard a sugary female voice ask.
"No," a gruff one answered. "Stop being so paranoid, Hana."
"Hana," Erza mumbled. "Where have I heard this name?"
"It's no matter!" Natsu yelled, jumping out of the bushes loudly. "Let's confront them! I wanna fight!"
"Stupid hot head!" Gray yelled, being equally as conspicuous.
"You're both idiots!" Erza wailed, jumping out to glare at them. "The enemy is going to hear you!"
"Little late." Yukio commented wryly, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. How could a team honestly be this stupid?
"You wanna go, punk?" Gray yelled, turning to Yukio angrily.
"You're Fairy Tail mages, correct?" Mizuki popped into their skirmish.
"Yes, we are." Erza answered proudly.
"Excellent." Mizuki answered, smiling almost wickedly. "From what we hear, you've been tracking us."
"The group of five mages?" Erza asked politely, though everyone, even dense Natsu, had figured it out by now.
Peter nodded and stepped forward a bit. He sighed, looking almost bored. "Alright, let's get this over with."
"Wait!" Erza interrupted. "There are supposed to be five of you. Where's the fifth?"
"She's off gathering wood." Peter said with a shrug. "But don't worry, even without her, we can beat you."
"Careful, we're the most powerful team in Fiore. I hear cockiness gets you nowhere." Gray commented.
"Look who's talking." Snapped Yukio, glaring at Gray.
"Stop squabbling!" Erza growled at them. "Let's just fight already."
"Don't tell me what to do!" Yukio retorted.
"I agree with Titania." Peter ignored Yukio, "I don't have extra time to waste."
"Neither do we," Answered Erza calmly.
"Yeah!" Natsu yelled. "Let's fight!"
Gray grunted his agreement and got into his battle stance. "Ice Make: Lance!"
"Requip! Heavens Wheel Armour!" Erza yelled and switched armours.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu yelled, aiming his attack at Peter.
"Ice Make: Sheild!" Yukio countered Gray's attack.
Slightly stunned that Yukio used the same magic as him, Gray made no move to attack. Yukio, however, saw the opportunity and took it. "Ice Blade: Seven Slice Dance!" He came at Gray, eyes narrowed in concentration. Gray flinched as the edges made contact with his skin. Blood dripped down his chest and he collapsed to the ground.
"Gray!" Erza, Natsu, and Happy yelled.
"That was a low move," snarled Erza. "You could have killed him."
"Unfortunately, that's not how it played out." Mused Yukio. "I won't miss next time."
Natsu glared at him. "I'm gonna burn you to ashes!" Just as he was about to strike, a cool voice stopped everyone.
"What's going on here?" Everyone turned to glance at the figure that had just interrupted the fight. She surveyed everyone, flinching when Team Natsu came into her sight.
"Just a little fight, Lucy." Peter answered calmly. "They'll be dead in less than half an hour, we already got the stripping ice mage."
"Gray!" Lucy called out, running over to the mentioned ice mage.
"Lucy?" Erza stuttered intelligently. "What? Huh?"
Lucy ignored her, flinching as she saw Gray's wound. It was clean and precise, she knew exactly who had done this. "Yukio! What the hell happened here?"
"I tried to kill him, but he managed to live." Yukio said with a nonchalant shrug.
"We both know if you wanted Gray dead he would be." Lucy fumed. "You did this on purpose! You wanted me to see this!"
Yukio nodded, admitting it. "I needed to see where your loyalties lied." Flashing her a sadistic grin, he added, "Now prove they lie with us, your family."
"Lucy is our family!" Natsu roared, inserting himself into the conversation. "Her loyalties lie with us!"
"Shut up, Natsu!" Erza rumbled, understanding how delicate of a situation this was.
"No one dies." Was what Lucy finally answered with. That said, she took out her keys and summoned Aries and Virgo. "Virgo, Aries, heal Gray for me."
"Gray?" Both celestial spirits gaped as they looked at Lucy questioningly. Seeing her glare, they quickly got to work on helping Gray.
Lucy stood. "Alright then, back to business. You were in the middle of a fig- Oomph!" Lucy scowled as a blue flying exceed rammed into her chest.
"Luuuucy!" Happy wailed, cuddling up against her.
"Get away from me, we're enemies." Lucy snapped, peeling Happy off of her.
"What do you mean, enemies?" Natsu demanded.
"I'm no longer a part of Fairy Tail." Lucy reminded him, showing everyone the blank spot that used to have her Fairy Tail mark. "You challenged my siblings, and that makes us enemies."
"Don't take it personally." Mizuki snickered.
"You're going to fight us?" Erza finally found her voice and clarified.
Lucy nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm not the Lucy you think you know. Hope you can remember that."
Natsu cracked his knuckles. "Alright, if it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get. I hope you know I won't go easy on you just because you're weak."
"Lucy's not weak!" Hana snapped, sounding uncharacteristically rude. "She may have been when you knew her, but she's a new person now!"
Erza sighed deeply and finally nodded her head. "Alright, but I don't wish for Gray to be involved. He will stay on the sidelines."
"Yukio will, as well then. Hana, Mizuki, you too. I want a fair fight." Lucy consented, ordering Yukio and Hana to the edge of the forest. Hana bounded over there quickly, while Aries and Virgo dragged unconscious Gray over there as well. Yukio scowled, but deciding this was Lucy's fight, headed over to sit near Hana. Mizuki joined them.
Lucy sent Aries and Virgo back with a quick thanks, then turned to the people she would fight. "Let's begin, then."
Erza eyed Lucy warily for a split second, then nodded and switched to her regular clothing. "I can fight you fine like this." She decided.
Lucy scoffed, slightly insulted Erza thought that little of her. "I'll be sending some of my most powerful spirits out, I hope you're prepared."
"I can beat Loke easily." Natsu growled.
Lucy ignored him and slipped a a key out of her pocket. It was pure crystal, and was sparkling white.
"What key is that?" Erza mumbled curiously.
"Open!" Lucy yelled, her hair flying away from her face. "Gate of the white pegasus! Angel!" A beautiful white pegasus bounded forward, whinnying and stopping to stand in front of it's master.
"A new key?" Erza asked curiously.
"Who cares?" Natsu yelled. "I can beat anything!"
Lucy ignored them both and slipped a new key off her ring. "Open! Gate of the black pegasus! Demon!" Similar to the first appearance, a black pegasus leaped forward to join the first.
"What keys are those?" Erza questioned boldly.
Lucy, once again, ignored her and yelled out an attack. "Angel! You take Natsu! Demon, attack Erza with everything you have! Don't hold back!" Both horse like animals charged towards their targets.
Erza was unsure what armour to requip into, so she got into her best defensive attack and waited for the blow. Angel reared up and flapped it's mighty wings several times, creating a great force that almost knocked Erza over. She grimaced as dirt and other debris hit her face. She would requip, but she couldn't without yelling, which would ultimately end up injuring her internal organs with debris. Since when had Lucy been this strong? Titania wasn't sure, but she did know she couldn't hold out much longer. She hoped Natsu was in a better state and would help her soon.
Natsu, unfortunately, fared no better, as Demon viciously spewed foreign dark magic at Natsu. It wasn't fire, so he couldn't eat it, and he could barely block it before the next strike hit. Natsu looked up to see Lucy breathing hard, obviously having two powerful spirits out was taking it's toll on her.
"Let's finish this!" Lucy said suddenly. "Demon! Dark vortex! Angel! Heavenly cage!"
A dark ball of magic inclosed Natsu suddenly, and he tried to thrash around but found he couldn't even move. Erza was in a similar situation, except hers was a glowing white cage. Natsu thought she looked rather like a trapped bird, knocking tirelessly against the walls.
"Do you surrender?" Lucy panted, sweat beads dripping down her forehead.
"No!" Erza insisted confidently. "We just have to wait for you to run out of magic!"
Lucy scowled, and answered with a surprising confident smirk of her own. "Alright, if that's what you think. Angel! Magic assembly!" Erza winced as she felt magic power being drained out of her. After a few minutes, she started screaming in agony.
"Stop it!" Natsu yelled. "How can you sit there and listen to her in pain?!"
Lucy bit her lip to keep from crying. She would not show weakness in front of Fairy Tail. She wanted to prove she was as strong as they were now. After a few minutes, Erza finally stopped screaming, falling unconscious. Lucy raised her hand to stop Angel, and the magical creature obeyed instantly. Lucy turned to Natsu, "Dragneel?" Her voice was cold, and her glare narrowed, but on the inside she was bawling. "Do you surrender?"
Natsu growled angrily and flames soared around him. "You are not the Lucy I remember! Where is she?!" He yelled out, somehow managing to smash the dark corral enclosing him.
Lucy cowered a bit as flames shot everywhere. Lucy knew how strong Natsu was when she had left, and chances are he had only gotten stronger. "Demon! Go back!" She called out a bit more shrilly than intended. Demon disappeared.
Lucy took a deep breath, trying to muster up some confidence. Even so, she still stuttered a bit when she pulled out a sparkly blue key and yelled, "open! Gate of the Lady of the Lake, Atlantica!" A beautiful woman appeared in a suave navy blue dress. Long, flowing black hair barely touched the ground, and eyes bluer than Juvia's peered at them. "Do anything you can to win," Lucy told her.
"Careful, Dragon Boy," Mizuki cackled wickedly, "both of your buddies are unconscious, you don't want to join them."
Natsu showed no signs of hearing her except for his glare, which darkened considerably. "I said I'm not gonna go easy on you, and I meant it. This is serious now."
Lucy nodded, but didn't speak for fear of crying. Atlantica soared forward, concentration apparent on her features. Natsu leaped up, too, looking equally as concentrated. The next half hour was a mixture of 'fire dragons' and silent water attacks by Atlantica. By the end, both parties were panting hard, especially Lucy, who had already used up a lot of magic power with Aries, Virgo, Angel, Demon, and Atlantica who had used up almost the rest.
Natsu barely fared any better, but everyone knew he wasn't one to give up.
"Why won't you just surrender already?" Mizuki called out.
Natsu said nothing, and neither did Lucy, both just stood there, glaring defiantly at each other.