Hello guys ! I don't have a lot to say today, so I'll be quick and just thank you all for your support and reviews. All of that is really important for me since it show that people like what I'm doing and it's really gratifying. Well, let's get to it then !

Just one small thing. I have to remind you all that I'm following the manga, not the anime (even if I might take a thing or two from the anime if I need or want it) so Erza doesn't have the Strawberry armor she used in episode 219.

I ain't Fairy Tail nor Kamen rider owner, I'm just using them and the credit goes to their rightful owner.

Chapter 12 : Showdown and meeting the council

/- Era -/

- "Even if Eisenwald is now out of order for good, the main problem hasn't been solved yet."

The air in the council meeting room was thick with tension. Ever since the terrorist attack attempted by Eisenwald at Clover and the release of the Lullaby, fear and doubt had made their ways up to the higher-ups of the mage world. The council had met quickly after that to take action according to what took place in clover and once again, Fairy Tail was about to be part of the equation.

- "There are still tons of illegal guilds out there." Said a old bearded mage to his fellow councilmen, all seated around a big round table. "We should just root them altogether. It's intolerable if anyone would embezzle Zeref's magic again."

- "But Fairy Tail, the one guild that we've been so annoyed with showed and saved the day." Suddenly said a young man, by far the youngest male around the table, with blue hair and a red tattoo over his right eye. Next to him, a beautiful brunette added her own comment.

- "That's right, Sieglein-sama. They took down one guild with only a handful of mages." She chuckled as the other councilmen only gritted their teeth in annoyance, since they couldn't deny that fact, even if it pained them to do so.

- "You don't want to admit the truth, and I understand perfectly why, but the facts are there." Said the one now identified as Sieglein. "If the guild masters were killed by the Lullaby, things would've been much worse. I'd even dare say that some of us might have been fired if it happened."

This of course raised an uproar among the councilmen, who didn't like what the blue haired mage was implying.

- "Don't be silly !" Shouted the same bearded councilman, hitting the table with his fist. "Are you gonna bring up the matter of responsibility here !?"

- "That's out of the question !" fumed another mage, a old man with a striped shirt and cat-like ears on his head. "We've already tearing our hair out over their reckless behavior !"

- "You should just stopped complaining and show them some appreciation." Calmly replied Sieglein, trying to calm his fellow councilmen. But they weren't finished with Fairy Tail.

- "Whether they had been a pain or not before, what happen in Clover tend to prove that they are hiding something." Said another mage, a woman named Belno, wearing a purple turtle-neck and whose sandy blonde hair were tied in a ponytail that dan out in a series of spikes. "According to what the master that were in Clover, among the Fairy Tail mages were three young men that seemed to possess a kind of magic never seen before, very close to Requipping apparently, but also allowing them to summon giants. Besides, there was also a group of mysterious people, led by a man in silver armor that managed to transform Lullaby into an even more dangerous beast. Whatever this is, we need to get answer and know what this is all about."

- "Yes, this is indeed preoccupying, but let's do everything in order. We first need to show that we are the one in charge." Said Sieglein once again. "Let's send a platoon at Magnolia. I have an idea on how to kill two bird with one stone."

/- Magnolia -/

An incident as big as this one was sure to a lot of noises. And it did. Eisenwald's terrorism attempt at the regular meeting site instantly became big news and it didn't took long for the whole country to know about what happen. And some people couldn't help but find it exciting that they had been involved in such a big incident, and that was Lucy's case. As of now, she was in her little apartment, sitting at her desk, writing a letter that recounted everything that happened, from Erza asking for help up to the arrestation of all the Eisenwald members with the exception of Erigor who was still missing. Finishing her letter and sealing it off with wax, she heaved a sighed as she got slightly away from the desk.

- "A great, suspense-filled adventure is fun and everything. But nothing beats relaxing at my own home." She said aloud as she stretched her arms above her head, not expecting any response. But of course, she did received one.

- "Yeah, I agree. By the way, 70.000 Jewels for an apartment like this is really cheap." Turning her head, she realized that it was Gray, who was sitting in one of her armchair, wearing only his trunks, as if he was home, with Nastu standing near him, eating what looked like to be biscuits, probably taken from one of her kitchen cupboard, greeting Lucy with a wave and a grin. "You really found a nice place, Lucy."

- "TRESPASSERS !" She cried as she jumped and 'Lucy Kicked' Natsu in the face, sending him flying across her room, turning to Gray, doing the same thing to him. "AND DON'T TAKE YOUR CLOTHES OFF IN MY HOUSE !"

- "Hold on… You've got it all wrong !" said the ice mage as he got up. "I already took my clothes off before I came in."

- "You pervert icicle." Muttered Natsu, just loud enough for Gray to ear him.

- "What did you say, ash for brain ?!" he roared as he lunged at him, another fight beginning between the two, Lucy still glaring at them.

- "WILL YOU TWO STOP THAT !?"

- "Well, I shouldn't be surprised. And Gray, saying you took them off before didn't make it any better, you know." Said another voice coming from Lucy's right, the blonde reacting immediately.

- "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE !" she roared as she threw a kick to the newcomer, but she only kicked the air, surprising her and the two boys who stopped fighting as they looked closely and saw a small red bird with a ring of some sort on his chest and next to him a small burger-like robot with a flat rectangular head whose eyes seemed to shed some light.

- "Guys, let me introduce to you the PlaMonsters Red Garuda and the Foodroid Burgermeal. First one's Haruto and the other is mine." Said the familiar voice coming from the Burgermeal, Lucy, Natsu and Gray getting closer to it, the latter asking in an unsure voice.

- "Gentaro ?"

- "Yep, that's me. I wanted to try that new voice feature Kengo made for the Burgermeal so even if I knew you two were going to get her, I had the perfect occasion."

- "And the flying red bird ? Is there any particular reason you used it ?"

- "Burgermeal is kind of slow, so…" Gentaro's answer trailed off, but Lucy got the message. But she also got something else.

- "Wait, get me for what ?" she turned to the boys, who only frowned at her.

- "What ? Don't tell me you forgot about what's happening today ?"

It took some time to Lucy to remember, but when she did, her eyes widen as she gasped, realizing what was about to happen back at the guild. Kouta was about to face Erza, the Rider more or less forced to do it since Erza didn't exactly asked him if he wanted to and since she wasn't the kind of people to take refusal that well, Kouta had no choices. So Lucy grabbed her keys and whip and followed Gray and Natsu out of her apartment, heading for the guild, the PlaMonster and Burgermeal climbing on their shoulders, and they all ran to the guild, hoping they didn't start without them.

/- In front of Fairy Tail Guild Hall -/

- "So, still feeling good about this, Kouta ?"

Kouta looked up to meet Kana's eyes, a smirk on her face as she was squatting in front of a board, counting the money she had in her hands. Kouta wasn't the self-loving, ego-maniac kind of guy, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed when looking at the betting pool managed by Kana. Basically, everyone was betting against him.

- "Well, that shows that you all trust Erza and that you're confident in her strength." He said, looking at the board, not a single bet on his side. However, some people didn't made any bet, like Makarov or Mirajane, for example, the latter because she didn't felt like it and the former because he knew better than to bet against someone who was from another world and on someone he didn't knew much about. "But maybe you shouldn't have bet that much."

- "Why ? Are you saying you can beat Erza ?" said Max as he came up to him, followed by some others members of the guild. "You don't even know what she is really capable of."

- "And you don't know anything about him, either." Added Sento as he walked up to the group, standing next to Kouta with Gentaro and Shinnosuke. "Makarov, Lucy, Erza, Natsu and Gray are the only one who saw him fight, and even them didn't see much."

This shut up many of the mages, realizing that they were right. But that didn't stop them from rooting for the Titania.

- "We might not know a lot about him, but Erza's is the strongest female of the guild and one of the strongest overall." Said Levy with a sorry expression on her face. "I don't think your friend can beat her."

- "We aren't saying that he can." Replied Belt-san from his usual spot at Shinnosuke's waist. "But one shouldn't be as definitive as you are. There's still a lot you don't know about us, just like we don't know everything about you."

- "It's just like in science." Continued Sento. "You can't conduct an experimentation with so many unknowns." As the mages thought about that, the three latecomers finally arrived, joining their friend as the PlaMonster and Burgermeal jumped to their rightful owners, Haruto and Gentaro deactivating them.

- "Well, if it isn't some of the strongest team in Fairy Tail. What took you so long ?" said Gentaro, Gray picking up only the first part of the sentence.

- "Strongest team ? What do you mean ?"

- "Well, you, Erza and Natsu. You're the strongest team in Fairy Tail , right ?" said Lucy, pointing at gray who just smirked.

- "Don't talk nonsense ! Where did you get that idea ?"

Gray suddenly felt something behind him, turning around to face with a smiling Mirajane who slowly turned around, putting her hands on her face as she began to shake, like she was sobbing, which made Gray suddenly feel bad. And it wasn't Shinnosuke that would help him feel better.

- "You made her cry."

- "S-Sorry, Mira-chan. I-It was you ?"

- "Can I have your attention, please ?" The master's voice boomed, surpassing everyone's voices, successfully catching their attention. "The fight is about to start. Will the fighter step inside the ring, please ? And remember, no one outside of the fight can intervene, am I clear ?"

Everyone nodded as Kouta sighed, stepping out of the crowd and positioning himself in front of Erza who looked at him with a confident smile.

- "Before we start, can you remind me why you wanted to fight me out of everyone ?" he asked, feeling like he need to be remembered of the reason why some people had taken his measurement to build a coffin.

- "Seeing you all fighting at clover, combined with the fact that you aren't from this world, is what triggered my curiosity. And if I want to fight you is because you seemed to know your way around sword and it's been a really long time since I've fought with someone that good with sword." She ended her explanation with a smirk, looking at Kouta with a deadly glare. "Now, let's not waste any more time and let's do this." She then requipped, now wearing her Morning Star Armor, a sword in each hand, ready to fight as Kouta grabbed his Orange Lockseed.

- "Well, let's do this then." He simply said as he open his Lockseed.

ORANGE !

As the Zipper appeared out of thin air above him, every mages with the exception of Erza, Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Makarov were shocked by what they were seeing, shock that only grow when the hole opened, showing a forest on the other side as the Orange Arms appeared.

- "What is that ?"

- "HENSHIN !"

LOCK ON ! SOIYA ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE !

The mages, who though they had seen enough weirdness from Kouta, fell on the ground in surprise when the orange fell down on his head, the Ride Wear appearing before the sphere unfold, forming the armor Lucy and the others had seen him use at Clover. He then grabbed his Musou Saber and Daidaimaru, putting one on his shoulder, pointing the other at Erza.

- "This is my stage now !"

- "Begin !" said Makarov and the fight finally began. The two fighter's swords clashed against each other's, neither of them taking the upper hand. They slashed, parried, dodged so swiftly they almost looked like they were dancing. As they were starting things slowly, testing their opponent, Happy had something really important to say, probably the main question that came to one's mind when seeing Kouta fight.

- "Why does he look like an orange ?"

- "I normally should explain a lot to answer that question, but I'll make it quick." Said Shinnosuke. "Originally, Lockseed are fruit from another dimension called Helheim that became Lockseed when picked up by someone carrying the same kind of Driver as Kouta."

- "So you all have different kind of theme for your powers ?" wondered Gray, standing arms crossed next to Sento.

- "Yes, indeed." Answered the scientist as he began counting with his fingers. "His motives are Fruit and samurai, mines are science, chemistry and industrial manufacturing. Emu is themed after video games, Shinnosuke's are cars." Sento didn't paid attention to Natsu as he hiccupped in disgust as soon as he heard the word 'car' and kept on. "Haruto is magic and finally, Gentaro is a space and astronaut Rider. But there's also Rider who take their power from ghosts, animals, time, etc. There's a whole lot of Riders with unique powers."

The mages simply nodded as they turned back to the fight as Erza and Kouta kept slashing at each other's, no one landing a good hit on the other. They were now locked in a stare contest, swords grinding against each other's as the look at the others from the space between the blades, their eyes only a few inches apart.

- "I were right, you really are good." Said Erza with a smirk as she kept her blades locked against Kouta's ones as many others suddenly appeared around her. "I think it's time to get serious, don't you think ?"

- "Well, since you asked so nicely." Kouta simply nodded as he swiftly pulled on the Barrett Slide and pulled the trigger of the Musou Saber, Erza forced to take a few step back as the bullet connected with her armor, surprising the red head.

- "WHAT ?!" shouted the public as they gazed at Gaim, now holding his Musou Saber like a gun, the barrel smoking slightly.

- "Is that sword also a gun ?" wondered aloud Bisca as she stared at the weapon. As for Erza, she was frowning, more disappointed at herself than anything else.

- "Hm. You got me good, I won't deny it. But now, it's time to kick it up a little." She said as she ran at Kouta, her sword following her. Realizing what might happen, Kouta grabbed another Lockseed, taking the Orange off his Driver, replacing it with the new one.

BLUMENBLATT !

SOIYA ! MELON ARMS ! TENKA GOMEN !

Erza's swords all clashed with Kouta, the strength of the blows lifting a big dust cloud, surrounding the young man as he took the hits dead on.

Or did he ?

As the dust fell down, it was revealed that he had changed Arms just in time, the orange armor now replace by a light green one, a green and gold shield raised in front of him that took most of the damages. As people gasped seeing Kouta survive this attack, he ran at Erza, his Musou Saber in one hand, the shield in the other as Erza smirked and got back into the fight. Kouta and Erza kept up for a few minutes but soon, Kouta used an opening in Erza's defense and slammed the shield hard against her, sending her rolling on the ground, shocking the onlooking mages and giving Gaim the time to prepare a finisher.

MELON SQUASH !

Kouta then threw his Melon Defender at Erza, the knight locked inside fruit shaped energy as Kouta's Musou Saber began to glow with the power of the Melon Arms, slashing et Erza, creating a massive explosion that forced people to cover their face. However, as the smoke resulting from the explosion disappeared, it was revealed that Erza was still standing. Not unscathed, but far less than what the Riders would have though.

- "Wow, she's tough." Said Gentaro as Sento hummed next to him.

- "She is, but this also could be due to the fact that being from another world, our power could be less effective against mages."

Whether it was Erza's toughness or the Riders reduced firepower, the fact was that Erza was still up for the fight, and looking as fierce as before, if not even fiercer.

- "You all really are something else. I'll do some wardrobe change too."

REQUIP : FLIGHT ARMOR !

As Erza changed into her cheetah themed armor, armed with two swords, she took her stance, Kouta doing the same, and when they rushed at each other's, Kouta understood that it was a bad idea. This armor gave Erza a huge boost in speed, giving her a certain advantage against Kouta who couldn't' do much, trying to counter her blows, only to end up failing miserably, her speed being to much to handle for him.

SONIC CLAW !

And Erza wasn't finished, using her speed to slash at Kouta from every angle possible, the Rider being attacked from all side, the strength of the blow being too much as he was sent flying backward, landing on the ground with a thud. He picked himself up from the floor as Erza came to a stop, but still looking ready to strike at the right moment.

"She's fast. I have to see how much." He thought as he grabbed a red Lockseed, putting it on his Driver and initiating the transformation.

SOIYA ! ICHIGO ARMS ! SHUSHUTTO SPARK !

As soon as the zipper appeared in the sky, the strawberry shaped and colored Arms got out of the hole, going down and replacing the Melon Arms, Kouta now wearing his red armor, his Ichigo Kunai in hands. He gripped them tightly, ready to fight, but he was met with something unusual. Erza had stopped moving looking at him with wide eyes as she seemed to shiver at the sight in front of her.

- "Hrmm, Erza ? Are you okay ?" asked Kouta, feeling a little worried to see the seemingly unmovable Erza looking so "vulnerable" as her voice reached him, stuttering and … blushing ?

- "Is… Is that a…. strawberry armor ?"

- "Uh, yes ?" answered Kouta, sweat dropping under his helmet, not understanding why this seemed so important to her, the other Riders sharing the feeling as the Fairy Tail mages seemed to understand what was happening. As soon as he had confirmed her thought, she fell to her knees, tears running down her face, crying as Kouta looked at her, his arms dangling limply by his side, shocked by her reaction.

- "A strawberry themed armor. I just can't fight that. It's so… so beautiful." She said in between sobs, sobs that seemed to be a mix of extasy and despair. "I want to fight him more but can I really scratch this beauty ?" she lift her head to look at the armor one more time, the struggle fully visible on her face as she shook her head. "NO ! I can't do this ! Screw that fight !" she then literally jumped on Kouta, grabbing his Driver firmly, Kouta being pulled out of his daze as he tried to pry Erza of his waist.

- "WHAT THE HELL ?! What are you doing ? Let me go !" he shouted, shaking his body and stepping away from her, or at least trying to and failing as she stayed glued to his belt, on of her hands gripping the Lockseed.

- "I WON'T ! I NEED THAT ARMOR ! GIVE IT TO ME !" she cried as tears still ran down her face, determination painted all over her face that was now just in front of the lock. Which was more than embarrassing for Kouta since it clearly looked like she was latched to something else.

- "I CAN'T GIVE IT TO YOU, EVEN IF I WANTED TO ! AND LET GO OF ME, IT'S FAR TOO EMBARASSING !"

As the two struggle against each other in a whole new kind of fight, the others looks at them with big sweat drops on the back of their heads, the Rider trying to understand what was happening, or more precisely why Erza was acting like a child.

- "What the hell is wrong with her ? She looked like someone who would need therapy." asked Emu, clearly worried for her as she was acting like a drug addict that was having a fit of dementia.

- "Erza have a small obsession on armors and strawberry." Explained Mirajane with a smile, being by the way the only one who wasn't weirded out by what was happening. "It's nothing to be worried about."

- "As a doctor, I'm sorry to say that this does worry me." Answered Emu, pointing at Erza who managed to lay Kouta on the ground, now straddling him as she pulled on the Lockseed as hard as she could, Kouta trying to get her off him. "This is worse than an obsession."

Suddenly, as Erza and Kouta kept struggling, something unusual happened. The Strawberry Lockseed began to shine so bright that it blinded everyone, forcing mages and Rider to cover their eyes when an explosion came from the Lock, sending Erza and Kouta away from each other, the Lockseed ripped off the Driver and sending flying before falling down to the ground next to the others Riders who looked at the Lockseed who seemed different. The Lockseed had changed, the code 'LS-06' on it replaced by a 'MLS-ES6', a pair of sword crossed behind the strawberry, the light grey part of the lock now red. But it only last for a second, the Lockseed retrieving its usual shape after just a second. The Riders and mages that saw what happen looked at the trinkets that was now in Sento's hand, with the same question in their head.

- "What the hell was that ?" Gentaro said, voicing the question they all had in their mind at the moment, his answer coming as a tuft of Sento's hair suddenly sprang to life.

- "I don't know, but I'm dying to study that phenomenon."

- "Well, I hope I'm not disturbing anything important." Everybody stopped when they heard that voice that no one knew, turning to find a weird man, half-frog, half-human, with a bag worn across the shoulder and a tall hat. "Nobody move. I am a messenger from the council."

- "The council !? / A messenger !? / In this place !?" said Levy, Droy and Jet respectively in shock.

- "None of you are fazed by his appearance, huh…" stated Lucy sweat dropping.

- "I do think what that guy look like doesn't matter right now." confirmed Shinnosuke, looking at the messenger. " And I'm sure he is here because of the Eisenwald Incident."

- "With charges of damaging property and 11 other crimes from the Eisenwald terrorism incident the other day," began the messenger, reading his official documents, confirming what thought the police officer. However, he was has surprised as everybody else with what came next. "Erza Scarlet has now been put under arrest."

- "WHAAAAAAAT !?"

/- Later inside the guild -/

Saying that the Fairy Tail mages wood was down would be the understatement of the century. After learning that Erza was put under arrest, they could do nothing but watch their friend being handcuffed and taken away by the messenger, and here they were now, sitting in the guild, sulking in silence. Well, almost in silence.

- "LET ME OUT ! LET ME OUT OF HERE !"

- "Natsu, be quiet." Said Mirajane, whose smile has disappeared, just like everybody else, looking at Natsu, who had been transformed into a small lizard and trapped inside a glass turned upside down n the bar. "You'll act reckless if we let you out."

- "I won't ! I mean, let me get back to my original form !" answered the Salamander from inside the glass, Mira lowering her head to look at him closely, not believing a single word he said.

- "Then you'll go and try to rescue Erza, won't you ?"

- "I won't ! Who cares about Erza !?"

- "The opponent is the council, so we can't do anything." Said Gray with a sigh "As long as they say it's black, it become black. Nothing we can say will change that."

- "I'm surprised however." Said Shinnosuke, who was sitting at a table with the Riders. "From what I know, this guild have always caused a lot of problem, so why taking action now and arrest Erza ? I mean, she's far from being the worst when it came to damaging property."

- "Something's fishy is going on." Muttered Lucy before she suddenly got up from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. "I just can't leave her like that ! Let's go and testify for her !"

- "Have patience child." Said Makarov, sitting on the bar as always. "No matter how fast we try to get there, it'll be too late anyway." Lucy tried to protest, just like Natsu who kept shouting and asking to be freed.

- "Are you sure you want to come out ?" as soon as he said this sentence, Natsu stopped complaining, suddenly shaking slightly which made everyone look at him, wondering what was happening to him, but it only made Makarov smile. "What's up, Natsu ? Cat got your tongue ?"

- "I did nothing." Said Happy out of nowhere before Makarov suddenly blasted Natsu out of the glass and in a puff of smoke, the lizard disappeared, giving his form shape back to …

Macao.

- "EEEEEEEEHH !?" was the global reaction across the guild as the fire mage rubbed his head with a sheepish smile.

- "Sorry… I was indebted to Natsu, so I transformed into a lizard so I could pretend to be him." He explained, the other realizing what it meant, everybody freaking out, thinking about what Natsu could to once he was at the council. But Makarov silenced them all.

- "Sit quiet, guys. Just wait patiently for the outcome."

- "While I agree about the idea of staying here and wait, I think this is the perfect occasion for us." Said Mr Belt as Shinnosuke got up. "We would like to talk to the council about Shocker. You see, I wouldn't be surprised if Shocker tried to attack, or even bribe, the council. SO I think they should at least know of the danger. Beside, I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we stop Natsu before he does something stupid like fight his way to the council to beat them up, don't you ?"

Everyone turned at Makarov who was apparently imagining what would happen if Natsu really did that and despite his trust in his children, he couldn't help but shiver in fear at what the council could do to the guild if Natsu did something so stupid. And furthermore, they couldn't take the risk of seeing the council fell into or by Shocker hand.

- "Very well. If you really need to go, we'll give you a map to find your way to the council. Levy, if you could go and find a map, please ?" he said to the little mage as she nodded and ran to find the map. However, he still had a question. "Alas, I'm afraid you'll be too late to stop Natsu." This made Shinnosuke smirk as he walk to the door.

- "I wouldn't be so sure about that." He said as a skidding noise could be heard just outside the building, Shinnosuke opening the door to reveal Tridoron, a door open, ready to go. He grabbed the map given to him by Levy and entered his car, speeding away, the mages silently hoping he could stop Natsu from doing something stupid.

/- Sometimes before, at the Fiore Branch of the council -/

Back in her usual armor and handcuffed, Erza was walking down on the long always of the council, led by the same messenger that came to arrest her in Magnolia. The walked in silence and alone until they finally were disturbed by a man who was waiting, arms crossed, leaning against a pillar. A man with blue hair and a red tattoo over his right eye. A man Erza seemed to know really well.

- "Sieglein." She seethed through clenched teeth as the messenger fell to his knee in a split second.

- "Long time no see, Erza." He said, his body sizzling like a bad television screen. "Put your guard down, this is just a projection, even if my real body is in this same building. The council is all here. They wanted to show they weren't joking at doing what should be done."

- "I see… So this was your doing. What nonsense." She said, still unnerved by his presence. But it only made him smirk even more.

- "That's unexpected. I even spoke on behalf of you guild. But the geezers feared they might be held responsible for what happened so they needed a victim to take the blame. But if I'm here, it's for something totally different." He then took a few step toward her and leaned in to whisper in her ears. "Never tell the geezers about 'that'. It's for your own good."

Erza suddenly shut up after that. She was still glaring at him, but she didn't said anything else as he took a few step back.

- "So… I'll be waiting for you behind the door. As a member of the council." And his false body finally disappeared, leaving Erza alone with the messenger who was still on the ground kneeling, raising his head to look at Erza.

- "You know… Someone so important…"

- "He's evil." Simply answered Erza still glaring at where Sieglein stood a few second before, the messenger finally getting up to escort her to the court room. Once inside, she was placed in front of the council members, Sieglein being part of it, as they all stared at her with sour expression. Another person, hidden in shadows, was sitting above the council, presiding the trial.

- "We'll now start the mage trial." Said the frog guy, no sitting under the council, following the procedure. "Defendant Erza Scarlet, please take the witness stand."

She did as she was told, standing in said spot as she got ready to hear what she was accused of.

- "Defendant Erza Scarlet. Concerning the terrorism incident t Eisenwald the other day, you are suspected of destroying part of Ochibana station, Ryushika Canyon's railway bridge, and an entire mansion in Clover. According to the witness testimony… The culprit is a female mage in armor, and…"

*BOOM* A big explosion cut the shadowed man speech as part of the court room wall exploded, chunk of stone flying across the room, lifting a cloud of smoke. And from inside the cloud, they could hear someone shouting.

- "I'm the armor mage ! Arrest me if you can !"

A man voice coming from a Natsu trying to make himself pass for Erza. He wore a redhead wig, the same kind of armor and skirt as her, but since he did nothing for his face, that some of his hair was showing from underneath the wig, that he was shouting with his own voice and that he had fire coming out of his mouth, it was a total fail. The only thing he managed to do with that was to shock everyone, anger the council even more, with the exception of Sieglein who find that really amusing and make Erza sigh out of tiredness.

- "I'm Erza Scarlet ! Tell me what I'm guilty of ! Make sure it's even more important then the guild masters lives !"

Silence followed this embarrassing show as the one in charge of the trial only sighed, Erza shaking in anger by Natsu's side who was grinning like an idiot, sure he did something good.

- "P-Put them in jail."

- "We… We're very sorry…" said Erza in shame, as Natsu was clearly not sharing the feeling.

- "Erza ! You don't have to apologize ! W-Wait, I mean I'm Erza !"

Soldiers came into the room and send the two mages to the jail just as they were told, Erza following them without a word while Natsu had to be dragged out of the room, kicking and shouting like a madman. Once they were out of the courtroom, the council members were all sharing the same feeling : tiredness and anger.

- "Just when I thought this guild couldn't be worse than the already were, they came and raise the bar even more." Sighed one of them. "How reckless can they be ?"

As they began to debate about what they should do or not do about Fairy Tail, they were interrupted by a voice no one among them knew.

- "Hum, hello ?" They all turned to see Shinnosuke standing among the rubbles of the court room door looking around, looking around him as if he was looking for something. Or for instance, someone. "I'm looking for Natsu Dragneel, but I guess that I missed him, haven't I ?"

- "Great. Another one of them. As if it wasn't already too much." Said one of the council member to which Shinnosuke answered calmly.

- "I can only guess that this busted up door is due to Natsu. But I didn't came here just for him." He began before taking a deep breath after he was sure everyone was listening to him. "I'm here to warn you about a danger. Some really dangerous and ominous people are planning something bad with this world."

- "Danger ? Our WORLD ? What are you talking about ?"

- "It's really complicated, but I'll try to make this quick." Said Belt-san, the council shocked out of their mind when they realized that the voice came from the young man belt. "We came from another world looking for our enemies, an organization called Shocker. We don't really know what they are planning, but we think they are probably trying to get their hands on strong magics to then modify them in order to use them against us back in our home world. But they won't hesitate to spread chaos in your world to reach their objectives. They might even try to buy people from this world, helping them in exchange of whatever they want and need for their mission."

The council was looking at them with narrowed eyes, processing everything they had just been told. For them, this seemed pretty far fetched and under normal circumstances, they would have send him to jail for saying such lies. However, they still had in mind what happened in Clover and the fact that witnesses said they saw a strange man in armor transforming the Lullaby in a creature that was half-mechanical, half-devil and that he was beaten by three mages from Fairy Tail with strange belts and armors, which seemed to be also the case for this guy.

- "This seemed to be a pretty far-fetched story. Why should we trust you ?"

Just as he said that, the roof of the room exploded, the rubbles and stone chunk falling down to the ground in a dangerous hail that forced Shinnosuke to jump to the side to avoid being flattened out by the big pieces of stone. Following the stones came down a squadron of Shocker soldier lead by some a large armor wearing guy with a sickle laser gun who introduce himself to the council, not noticing Shinnosuke.

- "Greetings, council members. Let me introduce myself. My name is Schwarian, representative of the great Shocker organization." He said, not realizing that the term 'Shocker' made the council member frown a little while side eyeing Shinnosuke. "I am here with a deal for you. We came from a really faraway place with a lot of technologies you've never seen before and we are ready to lend them to you. Of course, that would be if you're ready to help us too."

- "And what kind of help are we talking about, here ?" asked the leader of the council, his eyes squinting even more.

- "Some help in finding what we need for our project. For example, the Lullaby you have in your possession. Hand it over, and we'll discuss about the rest of the deal."

*BANG BAM BANG* As soon as his sentence ended, he was answered by three powerful explosion that send him and his men flying to the other side of the room. As for the council, they were all standing up, a hand stretched at where the group was standing just a few seconds before, proving they were the ones who blasted them away.

- "Fools ! If you need help in finding those kind of items and powers, the only thing you'll get from us is a death sentence. Now go back to where you're from or we won't be as nice next time."

- "It's a shame, really." Came the voice of Schwarian from the cloud of smoke as he walked out of it with his men, surprising the council by the small amount of damages they had undergone. "But if don't want to help, we'll have to take those informations by force."

- "That's strange. How can they have suffered so little damages ? This weren't our strongest spell, but it should have done more than that ?" wondered Belno as Shinnosuke walked up to the council, placing himself between them and Shocker, shocking the latter.

- "That's because we came from another world. Your magic isn't as effective against us, even if the same can be said about our power who aren't as powerful when used against people from your world. Let me take care of them. Let's go, Belt-san !"

- "Okay, START YOUR ENGINE !"

He triggered the transformation sequence, grabbing the Shift Speed Car and inserting it in the Shift Brace.

- "HENSHIN !"

DRIVE : TYPE SPEED !

- "Let's go for a ride !"

The council looked attentively as the Rider rushed quickly at the Shocker soldier, taking care of them. He punched and kicked his way up, plowing through their rank like nothing. When he was faced with a group of shooter who opened fire on him, he decided to adopt a slightly defensive approach.

TIRE KOUKAN : DREAM VEGAS !

Using his Drum Shields to protect himself from the shots, he rushed at the long range fighter, taking care of them easily now that he was at close range. His blows send them all together, which was perfect for a Shift Car like Vegas.

VE-VE-VEGAS ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : DREAM VEGAS !

The drums all fused together, slightly deforming Shinnosuke's body as they all began to spin like a slot machine, before stopping on 3 sevens, which send a flurry of coins at the group, destroying them all. Shinnosuke turned his head to the rest of the group who was rushing at him, the policeman grabbing another Shift Car.

TIRE KOUKAN : FUNKY SPIKE !

He welcomed the soldier with his back turned to them, the tire sending a flurry of spike at them and he turned around, rushing at them to finish this off, alternating between close range with his feet and fist and mid-range attack using Funky Spike. After some time, the soldier were all destroyed, leaving only Schwarian who didn't seemed good with the idea of fighting a Rider.

- "This isn't the end Riders. You'll all be destroyed before you'll even realized it !" he threatened before making a run for it, but Shinnosuke was not okay with that.

- "Oh, no. You aren't going anywhere !"

TIRE KOUKAN : SPIN MIXER !

Now armed with the concrete shooting tire, Shinnosuke shot at the fleeing robot, the quick-drying cement mix stopping the robot dead in his tracks, his feet stuck to the ground. As he struggles do free himself, Shinnosuke got ready to finish it.

TIRE KOUKAN : MAX FLARE !

FL-FL-FLARE ! HISSATSU ! FULL THROTTLE : MAX FLARE !

As he triggered Max Flare Full throttle, 4 pairs of wheels appeared around Schwarian, slowly closing on himself as Tridoron suddenly came inside the courtroom, racing around him. When the wheel totally closed on him, Schwarian was sent to Shinnosuke who jumped on the still racing Tridoron, the car making him go kick repeatedly the robot in a pinball like manner, his kicked covered in fire thanks to Max Flare. With the final kick, Shinnosuke got through the robot, skidding to a stop as the robot exploded, Shinnosuke getting up after some time.

NICE DRIVE !

And with that, it was over, Shinnosuke walking up to the council.

- "See ? I didn't lied about them existing or being a threat."

- "Indeed. Those guys seemed dangerous." Said Sieglein with a smile that Shinnosuke didn't liked, but he said nothing. "But I think you were there for something else than warn us about those Shocker, right ?"

- "Yes, I came to try and stop Natsu from doing something stupid. I mean, it's not like Erza was going to be punished, right ?"

The council looked at Shinnosuke with interest, the Rider apparently guessed correctly.

- "Indeed. We just wanted to display our authority and to make sure we can keep Fairy Tail in check. She wouldn't have been send into jail or anything. But Mr Dragneel decided otherwise."

- "He came to 'correct' in his own way what he thought was an injustice. You can't really blame him for that." Said Shinnosuke. At that, the head of the court room seemed to be thinking deeply about something as he finally took a decision.

- "Well, I guess that we owe you one for getting us rid of those Shocker persons. We'll free them both, but I hope you'll keep them in check, mainly Mr Dragneel. We don't want to deal with another destroyed city."

- "We'll try to keep him in check. But I can't really promised anything. Anyway, I can only ask you to keep an eye open for Shocker. They'll be ready to do anything to get what they want." Said Belt-san. "We trust that you can do what have to be done to stop them. But since they are from another world, they will always be far more resistant to your magic. If you found out about something, we'd like you to warn us."

- "We'll have to think about all of this, but we'll let you know about our answer. From now, we'll escort you to get your friends so you can all get back. "

Shinnosuke bowed to the council members, following the same frog guy that escorted Erza. As he was about to leave the room, he looked back to the court room to see that Sieglein was still looking at him with a dark smile, Shinnosuke looking at him, at bad feeling in his guts telling him that this guy meant bad news. But for now, he had to get Natsu and Erza's back and return to the guild, things had to be discussed with the guild.

And that's it. I hope you liked it. Don't forget to review if you liked it or if you have any kind of remarks or advice for what could happen next. See ya !

Next time : The second floor. Leaving for a forbidden job. The cursed island.