Hello once again! It's time for me to respond to one comment! Just like the good old days when I was a bright-eyed young lad before so foolishly diving into this pit... ANYWAYS, on with it!Middernacht:

Honestly I'll probably move to Ao3 if anything. Some parts of this story are gonna get pretty fucking dark, so there is genuine potential some jackass mod could delete this story. Even though it's M rated, the fuck would anyone expect? Sex? Swearing? Killing? That's like T stuff honestly if PG-13 can get away with it in spades. (Never forget how Raiders of the Lost Arc is PG). But yeah, I'll keep an ear to the ground in the case this story gets stabbed and chucked into a pit.

With that done, enjoy some good ol' fashioned murder!

"Code Red! We have a Code Red!" A guard screamed into a communication Lacrima before his chest cavity spontaneously erupted, causing his untimely, gruesome end. This was a similar case with every other guard at Naraka, a special prison for extremely dangerous Dark Guilds and Mages.

Shouts of the prisoners echoed through the twenty levels of the spire carved into the ground. The base sentence getting progressively worse the lower you went. On the first floor? 100 years. On the twentieth? No one knows since not a single man or woman who's entered has ever walked out in anything that isn't a body bag.

Wet footsteps silenced every prisoner as they slowly approached. The sound they made told everyone that they and this man were the only people left alive here.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, One and All!" A voice called from atop the pit. He wore a dark green trench coat with a white button down shirt and black vest, black pants and brown combat boots. His hair was a dark green, short and slicked back very tightly. The pale skin of his body contrasted his blood red eyes.

"My name is Lucius. And I shall be your liberator!" He made a grand gesture to cheers of many of the prisoners. "In return, I ask for only your assistance with a project of mine." Lucius placed his hands behind his back. "You see, as mages we have all been told that Magic has always been touted as the "expression of ones soul", and I completely agree with that sentiment. What I fail to understand, is why we are punished for expressing ourselves then! Why should our every move, our every choice as Mages be scrutinized to the smallest detail? Aren't we free to do as we please with our power? Are we not free to be who we wish to be and enjoy what we wish to enjoy?"

He remained silent for a moment before shaking his head. "No. We are not free. We are not free as Mages. We are not free as people. The very facet of freedom itself eludes us! Why you ask? The answer is simple: the Council and the 90% of those who lack our gift. They fear that if we wish to, we can do whatever we please! Sure, their fear is founded, but the cycle they create through this paranois only crates examples for them to point at! But that's not all! They even have the gall to feel entitlement! They think that because they run the money and make us do their jobs for them, that they own us! That we should do whatever they need like servants!" The disgust and contempt on his face was brief, but a fierce contrast from his normally in-control expression. A similar feeling echoed in the building.

"But no more! We shall show them why we deserve freedom. We shall show them, that they are not our masters! We shall show them, that we are Mages, and we shall not be silenced!" A massive, harmonious cry came from the prison, all of them on the same page. "My brothers and sisters! Join me! And together we shall create a world where we are truly free, as People and as Mages!"

Lucius raised a fist into the air to the unanimous cheer of the entire prison. His smile genuine in the moment but also reeked of excitement for what will follow as at long last, the curtain rose.


"Extermination…" Makarov uneasily spoke as Matt had entered his room to prepare.

"Master, what does that mean?" Erza spoke to the old man.

He sighed as he took a large swallow of the present bottle of whiskey in his hand. "When the crimes of a group of individuals is deemed too uncountable and the information they posses deemed too worthless to the council, they employ Extermination. A process in which a group of typically high-level Rune Knights are dispatched to kill the people in question."

"K-kill?!" Macao nervously gulped.

"The fact that Matt and I assume other powerful Mages are being called in though…" Makarov slightly paled at the idea of who or what could've caused this kind of reaction.

"Well can't he opt out of it?" Gray raised a legitimate point.

Makarov shook his head. "Not only is an Extermination viewed as one of the highest orders in the Council, the letter was personally stamped by the Chairman. Meaning if he turned it down, it'd be seen as treason and he'd face execution."

"""WHAT?!""" The guild unanimously voiced.

"You can't be serious?!" Mirajane uncharacteristically shouted in protest.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Wakaba tried to reason with Master.

Master remained silent for a moment. "Pray." He spoke with a hint of helplessness.

The faces of the guild reflected that too.

Matt walked out silently as he approached the doors to the guild. No one knew what to say. What do you tell to someone who either marches off to their potential death?

As he approached the outside world, Matt stopped right in front of the doors. He wordlessly raised his right arm up with his index finger to the sky. Even to those who didn't know the origin of this gesture knew the meaning of it.

"I'll win, so wait for me."

Matt lowered his arm, summoned Red-Eyes and took off to the designated location.

"Be safe, Big Brother." Kagura muttered as she clasped her hands together.


The meeting spot was a northwestern port on Fiore. This is a port used exclusively by the Magic Council for trade, imports and exports, however it was also where a good portion of their Naval battleships and operations occurred.

A large building stood in front of Matt. It was five stories tall and made of purely featureless stone. The design inspired a bit of nostalgia in him for the massive buildings of his world that pierced the very sky.

He entered through the door and was greeted by numerous Rune Knights running around in a frenzy. The Rune Knights outside were also at a similar operating pace right now.

"Ah, Matthew Atlas. You're the first to arrive." A familiar voice spoke to his side.

"You're Capatin Sarutobi correct?" He tried to recall the man from the Tournament.

"Ah, I see your memory is good too. Now come, you're to wait for the others." The older man gestured for him to follow.

They went down about three flights of stairs to what Matt assumed was a control room. Large Archive Magic monitors and numerous operators stood. In the center was a massive holographic map. The men made themselves comfortable in some chairs.

"So who are we waiting for?" Matt asked the man.

"This operation requested some of the strongest quickly accessible mages in the country. I will be leading this group against the enemy along with a few other Captain-level Rune Knights. Once everyone has arrived, we shall give details.

Matt nodded as he pulled out his Rune Book from his Hammerspace. These things were incredibly useful, but he'd found an interesting fact. The author of the book, who'd so cheekily written his name in the runic language, was Achilus Quindel. A name that was oddly familiar to him and Matt found out why when he saw it was the same author as the one who wrote the Replication Magic book. The teen simply considered it to be just how some things were… whenever these got written.

As he read, the first of the group arrived.

"Well, it's good to see you again Matt-dono." Jura spoke with a smile as he descended down the stairs.

"Ah man they even got you?! This must be serious." Matt approached the man and smirked. "But with you here I feel the success rate just shot up." He extended his fist.

"Indeed. Being able to fight alongside you is a great relief to me." He took the fist bump.

A woman with purple hair, yellow eyes and dark skin in a Rune Knight uniform walked in.

"Hoh? I didn't think the famous King would be called in." She smiled at the teen whose eye twitched.

"Matthew Atlas, meet Captain Yoru Shiho of the Rune Knights." Hayabusa gestured to the woman.

She playfully smiled at him. "You'll definitely be fun to mess with~."

"Nice to meet ya too." Matt tried his damndest to not pop a blood vessel.

Another moment passed before the next Mage arrived.

"Ah, I see I'm not the first."

He had dark red hair that was messy, fair skin and green eyes. His outfit was a dark purple thigh-length coat with lighter purple accents, a black shirt, grey pants and black boots.

"My name is Jura Neeks." The man bowed.

"Matthew Atlas, but everyone calls me Matt." The teen gave a lazy two-finger wave.

"I am Cosmo Porla. Pleasure to meet you." He lightly bowed.

'Porla? Why does that sound familiar…' Matt thought as the next Captain walked in.

"Ah, Sarutobi and Yoru are already here." He sighed. The man had pale skin, while hair and red eyes.

"This is Captain Ken Sasaki." Sarutobi gestured at the man who gave a meek wave.

Next up was a familiar face for Matt.

"Well that's a face I haven't seen for a while." Matt smirked.

"Oh my, you remember little old me? And here I thought you'd forgotten." Ultear raised her hand to her heart with a smirk. She'd definitely grown taller, and had developed as she was probably 14 by now. She still wore her hair as twin tails though along with those purple robes. Though the Communication Lacrima she carried was new.

"This is Ultear Milkovich." Matt greeted for her.

Everyone returned their greetings.

"Oh good, I was afraid this would be a sausage fest." Yoru smirked as she draped an arm over Ultear. "Us badass ladies gotta stick together!"

"Indeed." Ultear smiled, also relieved to not be in an all-male group again.

"Um." The next Rune Knight walked in. She had long black hair in a hime cut with fair skin and… her eyes were absurdly milky.

"You see it too?" Jura whispered to him.

"Yeah. She's blind, and yet she made Captain." Matt nodded as he payed close attention to the girl.

"Her abilities must be impressive if she's here as well." Jura concluded.

"Captain Hina Hugo everyone." The older captain introduced her.

"Oh! Hina made it?! Our victory is secured!" Yoru cheered as she hugged the girl who blushed from the embarrassment.

"Ah! Y-Yoru, please!" She waved her arms around frantically.

As this happened, the next Rune Knight made their entrance. They had long blonde hair, fair skin and purple eyes.

"What's up people!" She smiled as she entered.

"And lastly, Captain Yato Long."

"Wow, hell of a lineup here." The blonde looked around with a whistle.

The final mage made their entrance as she ogled. He had short blue hair and eyes, fair skin and an odd red tattoo above and below his right eyes. A white jacket and pants, blue shirt, black belt and boots made up his outfit.

"It seems I'm the last to arrive. My name is Siegrain." He lightly bowed to everyone.


The sea crashed violently against the large battleship currently housing the force of 2,000 dark mages. Their current destination known only to the man who stood at the bow, confidently looking forward. Behind him were the forces of freed Narakan prisoners who followed him.

Some were simply idly sitting, waiting for whenever they'd make land. Others kept themselves busy by playing games or eating, though some of the individuals had decided to indulge in a more… exotic delicacy courtesy of the deceased crewmen that previously used the ship.

"Oh boys~!" One thuggish looking man strolled above deck. "Lookie what I got here!" He threw a gagged woman onto the cold wood of the deck. One needn't think too much of the growing desires of some of the more pent up men that started to gang up around her.

As they went to begin their shameless act even in front of hundreds of others, a loud finger snap caused them to stop.

"Gentlemen, we are Mages, not Barbarians, have some tact if you'd be so kind." Lucius scolded the primitive men without even looking at them.

"Huh?! The hell gives you any right to stop us?! You freed us after all!" One man shouted in anger.

"That I did, however even I myself have boundaries. Find other ways to relieve yourselves." The greenette's elegant method of speech didn't once falter in the face of the savagery.

"Oooh~ I get it now!" The original man chuckled, "You just want her for yourself! Well I can't blame ya, she is a pretty good piece of mea-"

The man couldn't even finish speaking before his head popped like a balloon, painting the deck and nearby people in gore. His headless corpse collapsing to the ground not a second later.

"Do I make myself clear?" The subtle tone of absolute authority made any vague or abstract thought of disobeying Lucius die on-the-spot.

The force of an even 2,000 mages pressed onward, towards whatever Lucius' was planning.

"I'll be honest, the situation is quite dire." Sarutobi spoke as everyone had gathered around the map.

"How bad is it?" Ken asked with concern.

"Every last convict of Naraka has escaped and joined their liberator." His words caused the Rune Knights to visibly pale.

"Naraka?" Jura tried to think of anything he knew named that.

"It was a high-detention facility for Dark Guilds and evil Mages. At the time of release, it housed 2,000 Mages. Each of varying danger." Sarutobi grimly stated.

"Not to be rude, but what kind of security did that place have if one guy managed to break out everyone?" Matt raised a brow at that fact.

The older man sighed. "The requirements for even being a guard there were ten years minimum of experience as a Rune Knight and over a hundred hours of logged combat. No one there was under twenty. And yet one man slaughtered them all without so much as a scratch getting on him."

"Who is this man?" Seigrain prodded.

The Captain nodded to a nearby console operator who threw up a picture of the man in question.

"He goes by Lucius. His birth name, age, blood type, family and such were all lost."

"How'd that happen?" Yoru examined the photo of the man.

"He was a slave in Bosco. After an undisclosed amount of time, he savagely murdered his owners and escaped. That was five years ago." He nodded to the operator again as an image of a ship appeared with a peculiar flag flying high. "He resurfaced last week and broke everyone out of Naraka. Shortly after they established themselves as a Dark Guild named Phoenix Light." The logo on the flag was of a phoenix skull with a sun behind it.

"Oh I get it now." Matt nodded as it clicked. "These guys are becoming too large of a Dark Guild and thus threaten the Balam Alliance. So if they piss those three powerhouses off and also start a war with the Council."

"Complete anarchy." Ultear finished as Matt nodded.

"Correct. Our job is to eliminate them before this can occur. Any questions?" Sarutobi opened the floor for the other nine people.

"What's the kind of threat level that broke loose from Naraka?" Cosmo asked, speaking for the first time in a while.

"Approximately 1000 D-Class, 700 C-Class, 200 B-Class, 75 A-Class and 25 S-Class level mages were held within Naraka. All of them are now part of Dragon's Bane."

"What kind of Magic does their leader use?" Ultear spoke with a scowl at the image of Lucius.

"We don't know. Most of the Recording Lacrima were destroyed or didn't see him. This image a hidden one got is the only thing of Lucius we have. The only guesses we have related to potentially a kind of wind or gravity magic, but we don't know for sure."

'Well that's just great.' Matt rolled his eyes.

"Where are they located right now?" Jura spoke with a hand on his chin.

Sarutobi placed his hand on the map which zoomed into the southern area of Ishgar.

"We don't know their exact location, but after sightings of a stolen Fioran battleship made the rounds shortly before the breakout and after it, they're somewhere in the southern sea of Ishgar."

Matt raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"When can we go? My guild ain't exactly competent with cooking and I'm the only cook, so the faster we get this done the less likely they are to starve to death or eat each other ." His completely nonchalant attitude caught most of them by surprise. Jura sighed at his attitude while Ultear and Siegrain chuckled.

"Do you not know of the threat we face?!" Sarutobi shouted.

Matt looked at him blankly. "Yes. You literally just told us."

"And you aren't afraid whatsoever?" The captain looked at the teen disbelief.

"Nope. That'd be giving them what they want. And there's nothing I enjoy more than denying condescending assholes of what they want from me. Now are we gonna stand here all day and talk or are we gonna fight and get the job done?" He narrowed his gaze at the older Captain.

The older man pinched the bridge of his nose, "Of course, I forgot who I was dealing with for a moment there." A brave but foolish boy that has a hard time backing down when provoked.

"Hahaha! I knew this kid would be great!" Yoru clutched her gut while laughing.

"I have to agree with Matthew. Captain, the longer we stall, the more time they have to prepare." Ken tried to reason with him.

Sarutobi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're right, we should just get this show on the road. I'll debrief us on the S-Clsss Criminals while we take a boat."

"A boat?" Siegrain tilted his head. "Wouldn't it be faster to go by land?"

"If there's one thing we Rune Knights know, it's how to get somewhere quickly." Yato smirked.

"Our large ships are equipped with special Lacrima to massively speed them up. Getting to the South Sea shouldn't take more than a week." Hina softly spoke.

"If everyone is done, Yoru, lead them to the ship we're using. I need to grab some documents." Sarutobi left the room as Yoru gave a two-finger wave.

"Alright bukkos, let's get going."


Aboard a familiar battleship, a group of dark mages where planning something. Not a mutiny, but an escape.

"Do we have eyes on the target Cir?" A man with short orange hair spoke mentally. His dark green clothing helping to conceal him in the shadows.

"Aye aye Captain!" A young feminine voice responded from the crows nest of the ship, eyeing a closely passing vessel, soon to be within her magic's range.

"Gil, is everyone out cold?" The Captain then asked another man.

"Yup! I made sure to slip those sleeping meds in all the booze! Enkidu also helped." The cluck of a chicken was then heard.

"Good. How's it going on your end Joe?"

"Escape boat secured!" A confident chortle came from the young man with a bandana.

"Good job, how are eyes on the Bloodhound?"

"Blrg… all good…." A young feminine voice tried not to blow chunks.

The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, 'She's a damn pirate and she has motion sickness.'

"AH! CAPTAIN!" The crow's nest inhabitor mentally made everyone deaf.

"Yes." He rubbed his temples in pain.

"Target ship in range!"

Immediately the man assumed his work mindset.

"Intercept it. Gil, meet up with Joe. Great Ninja, disengage and meet me with Cir."

"""Roger!""" "R-R-Rog- BLLLRGH!!"

"Someone please get a towel for her." He sighed.

"Enkidu shall handle it." Another crow from the feathered companion.

Tonight was gonna be a long one for the Captain.


"Mmmm." Matt's face scrunched as he leaned on the railing.

"You get seasick?" Ultear asked somewhat surprised.

"No, I just get headaches these days whenever I ride anything." Matt groaned out.

"That sounds rough." She grimaced.

"Eh, I manage. Anyways what have you been up to? Haven't seen you for a while now."

She shrugged. "Not a whole lot, improving my magic, being an independent Mage, same old same old y'know?"

"I'm surprised you aren't with a guild."

"Eh. Not really my style. I operate mainly in a city though, which is how the Council contacted me."

Matt nodded as he rubbed his forehead. "Still a bit ridiculous how they just aren't having mages native to these regions deal with this issue."

"That's primarily due to the fact that most southern Ishgarian counties don't employ mages in the sense we're used to." Ken spoke as he approached them, overhearing the teen.

"How so?" He looked the Captain's way.

"Guild's are moreso pillars of these governments, especially for some counties. Enca, for example, has the lowest Mage population out of the entire continent, so each one is strictly used to guard officials and important buildings. Most of them employ a traditional army for scuffles." He suddenly sighed. "Unfortunately given these circumstances, they can't spare anyone in case war does break out."

"Do you really think the Balam Alliance would self-destruct from this? Honestly I'd thought they'd handle this seeing as this directly threatens them." Matt was somewhat confused by that, and also confused when he saw Hina staring at Ken from behind a corner.

"Well Oración Seis is still relatively young compared to the other two, so they'd probably rather see what happens. Grimoire Heart is odd, they could intervene, but they've been so focused on their own plan that I don't think they care too much." Ken rationalized the insanity those dark guilds maintained.

'Got it in one.' Ultear mentally confirmed. She'd been sent by Hades to join this group as both a test of her growth and since her absence wouldn't impact the plan for a long while. Master Hades was also surprisingly concerned about just whoever this Lucius is.

"As for Tartarus… honestly their silence lately has been unnerving. They were always the least present of the three, but lately there hasn't been even a whisper from them outside rumors." Ken spoke with slight worry.

"So "it's complicated" is the answer. Got it." Matt sighed as he looked at the waves below. The same sight he'd be seeing for a while.

Ken said something about checking in with Sarutobi and walked off, Matt didn't care very much as his headache was far too distracting.

They'd been out at sea for a couple hours now, the ship moved shockingly fast which didn't help Matt's raging headache. Seems like it wasn't hot air they were blowing when they said their boats could travel across the continent in record time. Matt somewhat wished he could just ride Red-Eyes as he didn't get headaches on him for some reason.

"I'm gonna go take a nap." Matt spoke as he walked below deck and to his room.

"Sleep well." Ultear spoke to the teen who weakly waved.

"You two certainly seem familiar with each other." Siegrain smirked as he approached the girl.

"We go back a while." She shrugged. "Nothing too major."

"I see." He approached the railing and looked out to the horizon.

"Happy we aren't going anywhere near that?" She implied as the ship was heading towards the path between Caelum and Minstrel, far from his Tower of Heaven.

"Naturally, after all that place doesn't bring pleasant memories." He played off the talk they were having on a ship filled with Rune Knights and Legal Mages.

"Well, I'm still surprised you agreed to this."

He chuckled a bit. "Well I gotta get a foothold in somehow if I wanna join the Council. Same goes for you too."

"I suppose you are right." She lightly smiled.

"Still, I won't lie that getting rid of these pests is probably for the best anyways. Also a good method to test myself." He opened and closed his palm, eager to see how far his magic had truly developed.

"Well don't get too ahead of yourself, it'll be a bit before we make contact with the enemy."

"Indeed, but fortunately I'm a patient man." He smirked.

"Oh? Aren't you the youngest one here boy?" She teased him.

"…Am I?"

"Of course, Matt is close to my age after all."

He clicked his tongue in annoyance. Age certainly doesn't matter, but he still had his pride that could easily be wounded with being called things like "Kid" or "Child".

"It doesn't matter in the end. All that matters is our success with this." He rationalized in an attempt to change the subject.

"Naturally. Now I'm going to grab some food, do you want a juice box?"

"Orange…" He realized what just happened. "I hate you." The teen spat out.

Ultear chucked as she walked off.


As the first morning aboard the vessel arrived, it naturally fell onto Matt to cook for everyone. Normally he wouldn't mind, if it wasn't for the annoying dish specifications and variety.

"I need a lot of sugar, the food itself doesn't matter." Ken had to wipe some drool away from his mouth at the thought of sugar. Matt drew the parallel between him an the quintessential drug PSA of his world.

"I need a lot of protein! Mama has gotta make sure she looks good while kicking butt." Yato grinned as she flexed an arm.

"Um... some ramen would be appreciated please." Hina shyly asked the teen before immediately running off.

"A young S-class such as myself needs a sturdy meal to start the day! So I require a large omelet with all the essentials!" He walked off and ran back back. "Oh! and seasoned properly!" Cosmo grinned wickedly before going off... and then running back. "Actually-!" Matt's death glare after five entire minutes of that made him settle on the omelet.

"I'm a traditionalist, so just make whatever fits into breakfast." Came the remaining orders he was told. Those people were automatically his favorite. No questions asked. He'd take a bullet for them.

"How about you Sarutobi?" Matt asked the man as he got some ingredients out, a case of eggs in his hand.

The man silently walked up to Matt, opened the egg case, grabbed 3, broke them all open and ate the yokes in one swallow before taking a glass of water and leaving.

"..." Matt's eye twitched as he placed the food on the counter and nestled his head between his arms. 'WHY CAN'T I BE WITH MORE NORMAL PEOPLE?!' The existential crisis was strong with this one.


One night Matt was up rather late, some medication helping to tame the headache he had. The teen currently sat on a wooden chair with his head resting atop the hand propped up on the furniture by his elbow, his other hand holding a glass of warm milk.

It was honestly rather odd for Matt. The furthest he'd been away before was that job in Isvan beforehand, he'd effectively never left Fiore before today. He recalled how in his old life the luxury of travel was unfortunately something he could never partake in. Not because of something like money, that was never an issue in his old life. It was moreso having to take care of his crippled mother and younger siblings by himself, becoming the man of the house at far too young an age.

Lost in the whirlpool of thoughts, Matt didn't notice the towering figure of Sarutobi enter the room.

"Ah, Matthew." He greeted the teen with a neutral expression.

"Huh?" He looked up, "Oh, Sarutobi. What are you doing up this late?" Matt raised a brow.

"You mean early. 4 in the morning is ample time for some training." Without even realizing the absurdity of the statement, he just spoke it like it was normal.

"Ooookay then." Matt's eye twitched, stupefied over the older man's mentality.

Sarutobi eyed the teen as he finished the glass of milk and cleaned the glass out before putting it away.

"Well, nice chat, I'm off to bed." Matt began to walk off before he noticed two things. Firstly: his feet were no longer on the ground. Secondly: he was being held up in one are without even a sign of struggle from Sarutobi.

"I need a partner." He bluntly demanded.

"That's wonderful, maybe that Ken guy will be of assistance." The teen tried to scapegoat the white-haired man.

"Ken is a busy man with enough on his plate as-is, you'll do."

Matt couldn't even argue before Sarutobi lead them into a rook near the bottom of the ship.

The pair were now in a pair of short and tank tops, doing some minor stretches. Though given the immense size difference of the 5'9 Matt and the 6'7 Sarutobi, one might be surprised to hear they'd be doing some odd form of sparring if the older man's shotty explanation told him anything.

'His body healed well, his foundation is solid for his age.' The man eyed the stretching form of Matt. He'd seen Matt beaten badly before twice, the first time still evident based on the scar on his shoulder. He admired the determination and resilience of the boy, but he also wanted to make sure none of it was getting to his head. And he knew just how to kick him down a peg or two.

"Alright, so what's the gameplan." Matt finished his stretches and faced the Captain.

Without speaking, Sarutobi walked over to a bag and pulled out a ball.

"What, we shooting hoops?" Matt was no professional, and the Chaos Dunk was out if his reach, but he was known to go for a pickup game or two in his free time if he felt like it.

"Your goal is simple: take this ball from me. The rules are also simple: no magic and no killing."

Matt had to blink a couple of times over that second rule, but shrugged and took a loose stance.

"Easy enough, and I assume your job is to play keep away right?"

"Naturally." As Sarutobi closed his eyes in response, Matt made the first move.

Without even seeing the teen, Sarutobi chucked the ball higher up and bent backwards, allowing Matt to pass over him and roll to his feet.

"A good starting move, but a pointless endeavor to more experienced opponents." Sarutobi casually caught the ball after straightening himself.

Matt scowled as he slowly pranced around the man, eyeing any potential weak points in his defense. The scowl deepened as he found absolutely none, Sarutobi had a rock-solid defense.

'Well, if he has no weaknesses, then I'll make my own.' Matt stopped moving before breaking into a dash straight at the man.

"..." Sarutobi kept silent as the teen quickly went airborne and twisted his body, charging up his leg and snapping the knee, driving his shin forward and right into the guarding arm of Sarutobi.

A fierce gust of wind came from the blocked blow as Matt was confident he at least gave the man as nasty bruise, however this confidence was shattered as his leg started to cry in agony.

"YYEEEOOOWWW!!" The teen hopped around, hands clutching the leg as he imitated a certain cartoon cat.

Sarutobi lowered his arm and moved his forearm around, the thick cords of muscle flexing and relieving the stress from that block.

'That was a powerful kick, to a normal person or weaker mage, that'd without question shatter their arm.'

After a second, Matt got it together and was back on both legs.

"Alright then, I was just playing along at first, but now I wanna wipe that indifferent look off that damn face." He wiped his mouth and scowled at the Rune Knight.

Matt immediately went in, his arms resembled blurs as he charged forward in the very simple manner. Sarutobi, stepping back in perfect time, kept the inflated toy away from the teen.

"You'll need to do something more creative than this." He chided the teen's simplicity, however he didn't expect this to be part of the teen's plan.

As Sarutobi took another step back, Matt's heel smashed into his calf muscle, throwing off his balance.

'He managed to read my movements?!'

Sarutobi began to plummet backwards as Matt leapt up to catch the ball which slipped from his hand that grew too complacent.

'I see, he lulled me into a pattern that I got too comfortable with. Heh. Not too bad, but I'm not weak enough to be beaten like that!'

The man bent back and dug his hand into the floor, the wood fracturing as his hand tore into it like flesh. He quickly rose up and kicked the ball back into the wall.

Matt barely managed to duck his head under the lightning-fast blur of an object from rearranging his features. He broke into a roll and slid across the wood.

Sarutobi launched himself into the air with a small flip and landed on his feet, lazily extending his right arm and catching the white blur without taking his eyes off of Matt.

"Now then, care to try again?" A confident smirk came up on the man's face.

"Heh, if I can already wipe that stupid neutral look off your face so easily." The teen stood and grinned, "Then taking that thing shouldn't be much harder."

"That was a good warm up, go ahead and get some rest." Sarutobi placed the ball away and exited the room, a dew beads of sweat trailing down his head.

Matt lay in the middle of the room, flat on his back and desperately trying to get more air in his lungs. His shirt clung to his body as he was drenched in sweat.

"Damn freak." He spat out as he lay there, completely exhausted.

Eventually the teen got up and made his way to the makeshift kitchen of the ship, soaked shirt over his shoulder for better ventilation.

"Bastard is taller than Gildarts and built like a brick shithouse and yet he's more nimble than me. Goddamn mages." Matt cursed under his breath as he chugged a few glasses of water.

Footsteps caused the wood to slightly creak as Ultear entered the room, just waking up from her good night of sleep.

"Mornin'." He greeted her as he chugged another glass.

"Mmmm." She weakly groaned, still drowsy. The teen walked over to a cabinet to pull out some food. "Hey Matt-" She peered out from the cabinet and suddenly stopped talking as she took in the sight in front of her.

"What?" He raised a confused brow after putting away the glass, his body facing her directly.

"I-I'ts nothing." She quickly hid her face.

"Alright then," he shrugged indifferently before stretching. "I'm gonna take a bath."

Matt walked off, leaving the girl with a furious nosebleed staring at a box of cereal.


Mere hours later, everyone was called out to the deck.

"I've just received word about the possible whereabouts of Lucius." Sarutobi quickly pulled out a map of Earth Land and pointed to the southern tip of Midi. "The Cross Isles, a series of islands interconnected by a large cross-shaped bridge. A recent sighting of a stolen ship in port has caused the Council to request us to look into it if we can. It could just be some basic pirates or refugees, but we aren't sure."

"Why there? There's nothing to gain from that spot. Only commerce there is fishing and some quasi-valuable cotton." Yoru scratched her head in confusion.

"Indeed, it doesn't make much sense. Unless it's a diversion or perhaps the aftereffects of a coup?" Ken attempted to theorize the answer.

"Honestly doesn't matter, we got a job to do regardless." Matt shrugged and simplified the problem.

"Kid's got a point," Yato nodded before punching her open palm. "Besides, I've been cooped up too long and could use some exercise."

"I concur, we should investigate regardless to make sure the civilians are safe." Jura nodded as he stared at the map.

"Isles eh? My magic will be a big help then." Cosmo grinned as he could show off his abilities.

"…" Ultear was oddly silent today.

"Something wrong?" Siegrain pried about her condition.

'Absabsabsabsabsabsabsabsabs.' The mantra looped in her head over and over as the mental image from earlier remained strong.

"…" Hina opted to remain silent not due to teenage hormones, but because talking with such strong personalities was scary.

Sarutobi kept his gaze shut momentarily before his eyes filled with resolve opened.

"Plot our course for the Cross Isles." He spoke to Yoru who nodded and manned the helm, the destination decided upon.


Further east in the South Ishgarian ocean, a battleship closed in on its target.

"Is this truly our intended destination?" A Swordsman spoke in slight awe of what lay before him.

"Who cares?! I just need to know when I can eat~." Another man licked his lips in ecstasy.

"…" A cloaked behemoth of a man stared on with utter indifference.

"Indeed my comrades! This is where we shall make our debut to the world!" Lucius grinned widely as the opening act of the show was about to reach its end, the flag flying their guild symbol with the color a blazing red and orange.

An ominous black cloud overtook the island they sought, no doubt an attempt at a warning from the world itself.

But the world ultimately bends to the whims of man.

And that's another chapter down! Welcome back to this unbridled demonstration of my massive oversights when writing!

.

.

.

Let's just get on with it.

So. Lucius. I'm not gonna talk too much about him right now for obvious reasons, but I think he'll be pretty different from what you see in most Fairy Tail antagonists. So I hope you look forward to where his house of cards leads our group.

We got a pretty sizable cast of ten people we'll be following this time. Naturally we are very familiar with four of them and know Sarutobi decently enough. It's pretty easy to figure out who the rest of the Captain's are based on, so having a wide array of personalities is definitely gonna make for some fun interactions down the line.

We do have one other OC though with Cosmo. Some of you are probably pretty curious about his role given who his daddy is. Rest assured, he'll be pretty important for future events.

We also have our mysterious pirate group that are all totally, without question, 100% pure genuine evil. The chicken especially. I'm sure some of you are very aware of some of their identities, but I'll just be coy and keep it a "secret" until next time. Needless to say, some of you are probably gonna be expecting a homage to a very famous scene/fight that I am all too happy to get to writing.

Matt and Sarutobi had a very reminiscent scene for some of you, though it ended in Matt getting completely stomped by the far more experienced giant of a man. These two will definitely be interacting more as the arc goes on, so expect some interesting turns.

Lastly as a quick note, I'm pretty damn close to finalizing my next story and will probably have the first chapter of it out before too long. Probably within the next week or two, I'm still finalizing some things. It's definitely a very different read compared to this in many ways. Far less action, more character interactions and far more silent contemplative moments for characters. So if you like how I primarily do dialogue and some darker themes of visceral emotion, give it a looksie when I drop it.

This arc will be a bit longer than the previous one, I'm thinking this'll probably be an 8 chapter affair, maybe 9. Gonna see how I feel while writing these upcoming chapters.

With all that said an done, I bid you all adieu.