I do not own any of the original Fairy Tail characters.


Duel

Sado threw the door open as Michelle's scream echoed through the guild hall. However, rather than an enemy attack, Michelle seemed to have tripped.

"Looks like a false alarm," Mira smiled.

"Looks like," Sado smirked, only for his smile to drop as the object she had been carrying, her present to Lucy, began to spin.

It floated into the air before righting itself, the gear on the bottom and the rest of it pointing to the ceiling. Then, glowing golden script began to shine from it. Sado stared at the script, walking toward it.

"Maybe Levy could read it," Lucy suggested.

"She left with Shadow Gear this morning on a job clear across Fiore," Makarov said. "Freed is gone too."

"What's up Sado?" Natsu asked. "Do you recognize that writing?"

"I...I think so," Sado said, staring at the writing, kneeling and leaning in close to it.

"What do you think it's trying to tell us, big sister?" Michelle asked.

"I wish I knew," Lucy said.

"I think...this word is clock?" Sado said, wracking his brain for the symbols.

"Sado," Makarov said. "I think you should let sleeping dogs lie."

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked, looking back at the clock.

"No," Sado said. "It's not clock. It's time." He tilted his head to the side, reading the inscription in silence. Time ticks forward, on toward inevitable chaos.

"What's it say?" Lucy asked.

"I know that phrase," Sado muttered thoughtfully before his eyes widened. "Oh. Master Makarov's right. We should let sleeping dogs lie."

"Why?" Lucy asked. "What'd it say?"

"I...couldn't quite figure it out," Sado said. "If you let me hang onto it, I'll keep trying."

"No, that's okay," Lucy said. "Me and Michelle can figure this out."

"You sure?" Sado asked.

"Yeah, we got it," Lucy smiled.

"Alright then," Sado sighed, glancing at Makarov. "Well, I'm going to go and grab a bite to eat."

He walked out of the guild hall and Mira followed, the others watching them go.

"What did it say?" Mira asked.

"It's not what it says that matters, it's what it is," Sado said. "It's one of the hands of the Infinity Clock. It's a device that skews people's perception of time and causes madness and chaos. And once assembled, it's incredibly hard to break again."

"I see," Mira nodded. "Maybe we should take the piece."

"No," Sado said. "That'll just cause more problems then it'll solve. I'm sending a flame dragon to each of the other pieces. Before I lost my memory, I got bored and tracked them down. Guess that kind of thing tends to happen when you live for four hundred years. Anyway, the dragons won't be able to protect the clock pieces for long, but it'll last long enough for us to react."

"You think someone's after the other pieces?" Mira asked as they got out of Magnolia and Sado formed his dragons, sending them away from the city.

"Yes," Sado said. "And I think Michelle's involved in it. Something about her just seems off somehow."

"Okay," Mira nodded.

Just then, a bolt of lightning shot into the air from the woods West of Magnolia. Sado and Mira glanced at each other before Mira transformed into her devil form and picked him up, flying them to that spot in the trees and setting him down again, transforming back as they watched Laxus and Natsu glare at each other, Gajeel standing beside Natsu and the two more hot-headed of the wizards with their respective element flying off of them.

"Wait!" Wendy's voice suddenly shouted as she ran over. "Stop! If you guys are really gonna go through with this, you gotta make sure it's a special occasion!"

"I'll agree to that," Sado said, stepping out of the trees, Laxus staring at him in surprise before seeing Mira, his eyes widening further before he cleared his throat and looked away. "Tomorrow then, in the center of Magnolia where everyone can watch."

"Okay, sure!" Natsu grinned. "Let the guild know the four of us are going to have a showdown."

"Only one fight is going to be worth anything," Sado said. "At least, as long as I don't go too hard on Laxus."

Laxus swallowed hard and Natsu growled in annoyance.

"No way Sado!" Natsu said. "You took my fight last time! This time, it's all mine!"

"If you say so," Sado shrugged. "You can be beaten first."

Mira gave him an exasperated look but Sado chuckled and shrugged.

"What?" Sado asked. "It's Laxus."

Mira rolled her eyes, turning to Natsu. "Good luck Natsu."

Natsu grinned and nodded and he, Gajeel, and Wendy left, the thunder legion following. Sado turned back to Laxus, who sighed.

"Whatever," Laxus said. "I'll be there tomorrow. Then we'll see about repeating the last fight or not."

Sado remained silent as Laxus walked away. Then, he turned to Mira who sighed.

"Come on," Sado said. "Let's head back. We have a special event to prepare for."

Mira smiled and nodded, the two walking back through the trees in silence.


Laxus sat under the tree in silence, the Thunder Legion behind him, reminding him of how great they thought he was. Across from him, Gajeel stood stoic and silent as he waited for his turn after Natsu, and Natsu cracked his knuckles as Happy told him to be careful. Off to one side, Jason from Sorcerer Weekly was commentating on the fight. Basically he was saying how cool the fight was going to be, as he had all through the impromptu festival Fairy tail had thrown the night before. Finally, Natsu stepped forward and Laxus stood, hands in his pockets.

"Let's do this thing," Laxus said.

"Bring it!" Natsu grinned.

"But I gotta warn you that I'm not gonna hold back," Laxus continued.

"I don't blame ya," Natsu grinned.

"You understand?" Laxus asked. "If you don't survive this it ain't my fault."

"I could say the same for you big guy," Natsu grinned, his fist lighting on fire.

Lightning began to fly off of Laxus as he tensed. Natsu began to shout in effort, his flames erupting to life over his entire body as his power climbed rapidly. He was stronger than Sado had expected, a lot stronger than back when Laxus had cause Fairy Tail to fight itself, but as Natsu's power rose, Laxus very carefully matched it exactly. Natsu was finished. No doubt about it. Sure enough, when Natsu leapt forward, punching at Laxus, Laxus let him get close before easily stepping around the punch and punching Natsu in the top of the head, making him slam into the ground, unconscious. For a moment, there was a stunned silence.

"T.K.O.!" Jason shouted.

"Oh come on Natsu," Sado sighed. "That's just sad."

Sado sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alright that's it. I'm training him."

"Probably wise," Laxus said. "Kid's got some serious power, to be honest. Back when I fought you, he might have actually challenged me if he got serious."

"No," Sado said. "But he and Gajeel together might have."

"Actually, if I fought him then, he probably would have eaten my lightning then and used it to beat me," Laxus said.

"Lightning?" Sado blinked. "He can't eat lightning."

"He can," Laxus said. "When we fought Hades, Grimoire Heart's master, he absorbed my lightning, combining it with his flames, and used it to beat Hades."

"Well well," Sado smirked. "Natsu, you're just full of surprises."

"So, Gajeel's...next?" Laxus trailed off, staring and Sado turned, seeing that Gajeel was gone and clearly no one had seen him leave.

"Wow!" Jason shouted. "Gajeel just ghosted!"

"You mean that lousy coward ran away!?" Wakaba demanded.

"Relax," Sado sighed. "I'll take his place."

"Alright!" Jason cheered. "Fairy Tail's former powerhouse Sado is going to fight Laxus next! So cool!"

"Why does he have to make it sound like I'm not a powerhouse anymore?" Sado groaned.

"Sado," Mira said, turning him toward her. "Please don't go too hard on him."

"I'm not going to," Sado sighed. "It's in the past."

Mira nodded and kissed him before Sado turned back to Laxus, gritting his teeth as he recalled how much he used to hate Laxus. Flames burst to life on his fists and he smirked, glad he had control now.

"Alright Laxus, are you ready to-"

"Hold on," Laxus said, Sado stopping mid-sentence. "Before we start this bloodbath, there's something I gotta say. I'm sorry for all of the horrible shit I did before. It was wrong of me to do it, all of it, and I hope you can forgive me. If you can't I understand, but I just wanted you to know that I regret it all."

"I see," Sado said, smiling. "Don't worry about it. I'm not angry about it anymore. And just so you're aware, I'm not going to go all out on you."

Sado watched the relief shine from Laxus's eyes as a massive weight seemed to lift off of his shoulders. Laxus smiled, straightening his back and nodding, forming a fist as lightning exploded off of himself. Sado was about to spike his own power when he remembered the collateral damage from the last fight.

"On second thought, maybe we should move this somewhere...less expensive," Sado said, Laxus stopping and allowing his lightning to fade.

"Yeah, you're right," Laxus nodded.

They turned to walk away from the tree just as Wendy, Carla, and Makarov arrived, Makarov silently staring at Laxus. Laxus remained silent as they stared each other down. Finally, Sado stepped in between them.

"Hello Master Makarov," Sado said. "We were just on our way out of Magnolia so we can spar without breaking anything. Would you like to watch?"

"No," Makarov said. "Sado-"

"I'm not going to hurt him," Sado said. "What happened in the past is in the past."

"It's not that," Makarov said. "I trust you about that. This has to do with the matter we discussed a couple days ago."

Sado nodded silently.

"I can't find any information at all about that subject," Makarov said. "Chances are, we'll have to let the answer reveal itself to us of its own accord."

"I suspected as much," Sado nodded. "Master, what would you say if I said I wanted to recruit someone banished from Fairy Tail? I know that Devil's Claw is a separate guild, but as partners, I'd like your input."

Makarov was silent for a long while before nodding. "Okay. I think that would be an excellent idea. So long as it doesn't cause any problems for Devil's Claw."

Sado nodded, smiling, and continued out of the city with Laxus, stopping and turning to face him as Laxus turned toward him as well. Both spiked their power, the ground beginning to break apart as the crowd off to their right began to cheer.

"What makes you think I want to join your pretend guild?" Laxus asked.

"I don't think you do," Sado said. "I'm making a bet with you. I'll use fifty percent of my power, and if you can beat me, you won't join. If I win, though, you do."

Laxus smirked. "What's fifty percent look like?"

"Destructive," Sado said. "But not my devil powers, so there's that."

Laxus smirked, nodding. "Okay, sure. I accept. But I'm not going to hold back."

"I hope not," Sado said.

Laxus spread his feet, his skin turning to scales as lightning began to fly off of him rapidly, his eyes glowing gold and firing lightning as lightning streamed out of his mouth. Sado spiked his own power to fifty percent, his flames raging off of his torso and arms rapidly. Then, Laxus was off like a shot, flashing to Sado and punching, Sado's fist meeting his and causing an explosion, hurling both. Sado flipped, landing on his feet and placing his hands together then separating them and slamming them into the ground, sending a field of flame spikes at Laxus who blasted the ground with lightning, stopping the attack.

"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!" Laxus thundered, punching at Sado and sending a fist made of lightning flying at him.

Sado shouted in effort, firing twin jets of flames into the fist, causing it to explode, the blast throwing him backward. Just as he bounced off the ground, Laxus appeared, punting him like a ball and sending him bouncing off the ground. Then, Sado flipped, flames engulfing his right fist as more erupted out of his back, feet, and elbow, sending his fist blasting into Laxus's face as Sado narrowly slipped past Laxus's own punch. Laxus shot backward, bouncing once and landing, inhaling.

"Lightning Dragon Roar!" Laxus shouted, firing a wall of lightning at Sado.

Sado inhaled then firing a wall of flames to block Laxus's spell, the two attacks hitting each other's and exploding just as a bolt of lightning appeared beside Sado, Laxus appearing there, hand encased in lightning.

"Lightning Dragon Iron Fist!" Laxus shouted, slamming his fist into Sado's side and sending him plowing through the ground. "Lightning Dragon's Jaw!" He appeared over Sado, hands clasped over his head and with lightning flying off of them, only for Sado to shove off the ground, flames exploding out of his hands and knees as he kicked outward with both feet, smashing them into Laxus's gut, hurling him backward. Laxus flew several hundred meters before crashing down, Sado standing and wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Impressive power," Sado smirked. "What's next?"

He could see Laxus's mouth moving, but just as he stepped forward, Laxus punched his hand upward, lightning flashing out of the sky. Sado's fist slammed into his palm at the last second before the explosion enveloped him. As the dust settled, Laxus appeared over Sado, staring down at his motionless body.

"Looks like fifty percent wasn't enough," Laxus said. "Sorry Sado. No new recruit for you."

"Is that right?" Sado groaned, slowly pushing himself up, reaching his feet and staggering backward several feet before steadying himself and inhaling slowly.

Laxus rolled his eyes, leaping backward just as flames exploded to life over Sado's body. Laxus landed on his feet, grinning. "Your stamina's impressive. I understand you're only at half strength, but you're still taking a beating. But I think this fight's lasted long enough. Shall we finish it in one go?"

Sado nodded, forming a shield of flame in front of himself, bracing his left foot and hand against it as flames began to explode out of his back, right foot, and right elbow, a massive fireball enveloping his right fist. Laxus grinned, lightning encasing his body for a moment before most of it focused to his own right fist.

"Let's go!" Sado shouted, his shield vanishing.

He leapt forward, his left foot launching its own flames as he pulled his right fist back even further.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art, Roaring Thunder!" Laxus shouted, shooting toward Sado.

They both punched, their fists colliding and exploding, launching both of them. Sado flipped over twice before bouncing once and landing on his feet. Laxus on the other hand, crashed down into a crater and stayed there. Sado sighed, walking over to Laxus as he ate one of Porlyusica's lacrima then knelt, lightly slapping Laxus on the cheek to wake him up and holding the lacrima out.

"Welcome to the guild Laxus," Sado smiled. "You're probably going to be called a Lightning Devil."

Laxus sighed, rolling his eyes and taking the lacrima.

"Don't throw up," Sado warned.

Laxus bit down on the lacrima and grimaced but didn't gag. Once he was healed, he stood, dusting himself off as Mira walked over with the stamp bearing Devil's Claw's crest. "I'm not calling either of you Master."

"Didn't expect you to," Sado smiled. "And it's mostly in name anyway. However, if something happens and we need your power, we can get ahold of you now."

Laxus looked over at him as Mira stamped the crest on his right shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"That crest is a little different than Fairy Tail's," Sado said. "Rather than the Tenrou Tree's blessing, the Devil's Claw crest can also function as a sort of telepathy spell. Don't worry, I can't read your mind, I can just send you something like a feeling that you desperately need to return to the guild, for example."

"It's a distress signal?" Laxus asked.

"Among other things, yes," Sado said. "That's about the only thing we'll be using it for, though."

"Okay, so what's going on that you needed to recruit me?" Laxus asked.

"Devil Hunters are after me, and probably Mira as well," Sado said quietly as the crowd dispersed back into the city. "A pair of them that wielded Devil Slayer Magic, something that's stronger than Dragon Slayer Magic, already found us once, but they were dealt with. The problem is that one of them talked about a more powerful one that sent him. It may be only one, it may be a group. It may be only one that wields multiple types of Devil Slayer Magic. We're not sure."

"I see," Laxus nodded. "Alright. When the time comes, I'll help you face whoever it is."

Sado nodded. "See if you can dig anything up on them either. They were behind the theft of the Magic Council's library, though the thief was the one we fought before. Chances are, they belong to a Dark Guild. However, they seem to know practically everything about me."

"So it's either a very intelligent Dark Wizard in a Dark Guild, or it's someone close to you," Laxus summarized. "I'll see what I can find out. I'll check in in a few weeks."

Sado nodded and Laxus smirked.

"Thanks for the work out," Laxus said.

Sado smiled and nodded and Laxus turned, walking away from Magnolia, Sado and Mira returning to the Fairy Tail guild hall.


Leave a review.

A.N.: I need suggestions for who else to have recruited into Devil's Claw. The guild will become a team in Fairy Tail soon, but it still needs at least two more characters. Please help.