Hey guys!

So it's been a while with this story but luckily I'm getting back into it.

Now, Petrus won't be able to proofread chapters anymore since he's focusing on his own stuff right now, but I will do my best to try and make these as readable as possible. So I hope you still enjoy the chapters, mistakes, and all. And make sure you read the A/N at the end for information regarding my story scheduling.


Zane had serious look on his face as he walked forward down a hallway with the walls, ceiling and floor made completely of white metal. It wasn't the biggest hallway, his uncle would barely be able to go through without issue, but it didn't need to be. It led to one room that was finally ready to be used. Jenny worked hard on this was finally able to get it done after he brought back the diamond heart from the Ozra people's temple to power it. Now he has a way of pushing himself and training harder then ever.

As for Betty, she quickly made a home and friends in Fairy Tail. With her energy, personality, and magic she instantly fit in and soon became an official member of the guild, getting the symbol in dark pink on the middle of her back. After that Erza managed to get Betty a room at Fairy Hills, the dormitory for the females of Fairy Tail. While the rent could be steep, Betty vowed to work hard to make sure she could stay there.

But Betty wasn't the only one that would be working hard as Zane finally went through the room at the end of the hallway. "Time to get started." Zane cracked his knuckles as he looked around the room and nodded. The room was completely circular and domed shaped with blue tile flooring. There were various lacrima set up around the walls with each one having purplish-black energy inside of it. In the very center was what looked like a control panel with a communication lacrima inside of it. Walking in front of the control panel, Zane booted it up and got ready to start up his new form of training. "Alright ten times gravity should be a good starting point…"

"Are you sure about this Zane?" Suddenly the communication lacrima glowed and turned on as Mira's head appeared inside. She was the reason this lacrima was here so she could check up on Zane and make sure he was ok. After all this new form of training seemed extremely dangerous, especially since no one has ever even thought of it before. "I know you wanna get stronger but this…gravity training seems a bit unsafe. Who knows how your body is gonna react to being in increased gravity, this isn't like your weighted clothes."

"Mom I know you're worried, but I promise I'm gonna be fine," Zane reassured his mother in a calm tone. He appreciates her concern, but he thought about how he was gonna do this to make sure it would all go smoothly. "I'm just gonna start on ten times gravity and I'm gonna keep it basic at first. Pushups, sit ups, jogging, and then as I get used to it, I'll slowly amp it up. I'm being smart about this."

"Well…ok." Mira was still unsure about this, but she trusted her son. He usually thought these things through and it always paid off in the end. She would allow him to do this, despite her worry. "But I'm still gonna be checking up on you now and then, ok?"

"Deal," Zane nodded, making a small smile come to his mother's face. "I'll be out in time for dinner,"

"Alright then, love you sweetie," And with that, the communication lacrima turned off as Mira's head disappeared from inside of it.

Zane let out a small chuckle as he went back to the panel, he really did have a great mother. "Alright, let's do this." Setting it on ten times gravity, Zane quickly backed away from the panel as the gravity chamber started powering up. The gravity lacrima's around the walls started to glow as their magic filled the room and quickly changed the gravity to the amount Zane set it to. "AH!" And almost instantly the gravity affected Zane as he fell to the ground, barely managing to catch himself before he face-planted.

'HOLY CRAP!' Zane yelled in his mind as he struggling to even be on his hands and knees. His body felt like it weighed a ton and he struggled to stand up much like when he ended up switching bodies with his mom, though this was for completely different reasons. 'This is…a lot more…intense then I thought…' He knew his body was gonna be pushed to the limit with this, but it was even more brutal than he could have imagined. But he wasn't gonna get any progress just being on his hands and knees, he had to stand up.

"Come on…come on…" Zane grunted as he struggled to push his body up. If he didn't know any better, he would say he was carrying an entire mountain on his back. Zane did get the idea to try and remove his weighted clothing to make this easier on him…but the easy way wasn't gonna push him past his limits. He was gonna do this the hard way and get all the benefits. With the grit of his teeth, Zane managed to get up on his feet again. "Yes! Alright!" Zane cheered for himself with a grin.

His legs were shaking to just hold his own weight, but Zane wouldn't have it any other way as he grunted heavily and tried to lift his legs off the ground. "Alright Zane…get…used to it!" Zane then brought his leg forward; a loud thump being heard as his foot landed back on the ground. Zane then did the same with his other leg and started to walk forward. "Slow and steady Zane…slow and steady." Zane then got into a rhythm of moving forward and going around in circles around the chamber. Yeah, it wasn't much, but as he told himself he's gotta get used to the intense gravity. His movements were robotic, and his legs and feet quickly felt sore, but he pushed through all of this and officially started his training regimen in the gravity chamber.


ONE WEEK LATER

"Aaaaaaand…nice and spotless!" Zane finished cleaning a beer mug with a grin, making sure it was completely spotless. Zane then tossed the mug behind him and caught it with his tail, his tailing tossing it over to Mira who quickly caught it. "That's the last one mom!"

"Thanks sweetie, and that takes care of everything," Mira said with her usual sweet smile as she put the beer mug away. Currently, the guildhall was closed with Zane and Mira being the only ones there, making sure everything was cleaned up and ready for tomorrow. Even Makarov left about seven minutes ago after finishing up some paperwork, as well as Cana who Zane had to fly back to her place after she passed out drunk like usual. "I really appreciate you staying to help me clean tonight, wasn't expecting it to get so busy,"

"Of course! I'm always happy to help you," Zane told with his signature giant smile. Mira smiled back and ruffled her son's hair, she had no idea what she did to deserve having Zane for a son, but she couldn't be happier with it. "So we good to head home now?"

"Yep! Let me just lock up," Before they left, Mira made sure to lock up all the doors to the guild. Once that was taken care of, Mira and Zane left the guildhall with Mira locking up the front entrance. The mother and son duo took their usual route back to their house and simply walked in silence, enjoying each other's company and the beautiful night Magnolia had to offer. The silence was eventually broken by Mira as she put a finger to her chin. "I wonder what I should make for dinner tonight…"

"AH! MY HOODIE!" Zane yelled out in a sudden panic as he realized he had forgotten something back at the guildhall, his favorite white hoodie. "I forgot I left it on the table before I helped you with clean up! Mom, would it be ok if I headed back to the guild and got it please?"

"Hmmmm, well alright." Mira nodded and handed Zane the key to the guildhall so he could get inside without having to break in. "Just be quick ok?"

"Don't worry! I'll be back in a flash." Zane gripped the key in his hand as he powered up quickly flew up towards the sky and flew over to the guildhall. His gravity training was already paying off as Zane could tell he was slowly but surely getting faster and stronger. In less than a minute, Zane landed in front of the guild and quickly unlocked the door. "Please still be there, please still be there," Zane repeated to himself as he created an orb of energy to give him some light. Thankfully no one took his hoodie and it was right where he left it.

"Whoo, thank goodness," Zane smiled as he put his hoodie back on and was prepared to fly back to where his mother was. "Just gotta lock up and again and…huh…" Zane stopped in place…something wasn't right. Narrowing his eyes, Zane looked around the darkened guildhall. He could feel someone here. And they weren't a member of Fairy Tail. "Hey! Whoever's there better show themselves!"

For a moment, there was completely silence as Zane tried to focus on wherever the intruder was before…

SMASH!

"Woah!" Zane was narrowly able to jump outta the way as an iron pillar suddenly shot out at him from the darkness, easily smashing apart the part of the floor it hit. Landing back on the ground, Zane growled as he looked in the direction the pillar came from and managed to make out a figure who was hiding their identity with a black hood. "Alright who are you and why are you here?!"

The figure let out a deep chuckle before speaking with a slightly gruff voice. "Heh, not a bad dodge kid. Not everyday that I miss." After saying that, the figure reacted the metal pillar he shot out at Zane causing it to turn back into a normal muscular arm. "But you should go home now, it's past your bedtime and I got some work to do here,"

"Oh yeah? Well consider your night free buddy because you won't be doing anything to our guild hall," Zane knew whatever "plans" this figure had wouldn't be good, and no way Zane was gonna let this guy do anything to the build hall. "If you don't leave now then I promise you'll be in for a world of hurt,"

"Heh, I know you. You're Zane Strauss the wonder child." The figure said, grinning under his hood as Zane got into a fighting pose and glared at him. "Not gonna lie, I've been wanting to see your power for a while now. They say you're actually pretty good in a fight,"

"You better believe I am!" Zane quickly went on the offense and fired the ball of energy he was using for a light at the figure. But the figure proved to be faster himself as he quickly disappeared in a blur, easily dodging Zane's attacking. "He's fast…" Zane muttered as he kept his eyes focused on where the figure was. While he couldn't see quite well due to the darkness, he was able to get a lock on his energy and keep track of him. "Get out of our guild hall!"

Zane then started fired rapid-fire blasts towards the figure, but he was able to run forward and dodge all of them with the figure being fast enough to run on the walls easily. "Heh, might wanna work on your aim their kid!" The figure mocked as he held his arm out and transformed it into an iron pillar that he extended towards Zane. "Lets see if you can keep the dodging up!"

Zane narrowed his eyes as he flipped out of the way of the pillar, but the pillar then started to drag through the floor as the figure continued to run across the walls. "No!" Seeing that the figure was using this to destroy the hall, Zane quickly sped towards the pillar and grabbed it, planting his feet firmly on the ground and keeping the figure from moving. "Not on my watch!"

Forcing to stop, the figure grinned a little at seeing Zane actually managing to hold his pillar in place. "So you really are strong, good." The figure then retracted his pillar arm and dragged Zane up with him. Zane was unable to react in time as the figure used his other arm to punch Zane in the gut, knocking the air of him. "This just got interesting."

"…More…interesting…then you think!" Quickly gaining his breath back, Zane kicked the figure in the face causing him to grunt in pain. Not given him a chance to recover, Zane kicked him again with his other leg before forming a ball of energy in his hand again and firing it at the figure point-blank. The figure let out a scream as both he and Zane were blown away from each other, landing on tables on the opposite ends of the guild. "One last chance, leave our guild hall now or else."

"Sounds like coward talk to me!" Now angered, the figure then threw his hand out and created a small green magic circle in the palm of this hand and fired sharp iron kunai at Zane. As they approached Zane, he coated his hand in energy and proceeded to block the all the incoming kunai, making them fall to the ground. But while Zane was doing this, the figure jumped towards Zane and was above him in mere moments and proceeded to transform his arm into a large iron sword. "Die little brat!"

But Zane was able to react in time and picked up one of the kunai off the ground and used it to successfully die block the sword. "A jewel for every time I heard that," Zane quipped as he picked up another kunai with his free hand and tried to slash at the figure, the figure proceeding to jump back and dodge the flash. But he soon charged again after turning his other arm into a sword and tried to slash at Zane in an x-formation. The two then engaged in a sword fight as they jump from table to table trying to slash at each other. When the figure tried a downward slash at Zane, the boy used both of his kunai to catch it and before the figure could slash at him with his other sword-arm, Zane used the sword he caught to flip himself upward and land another kick to the figures face. Once he was dazed, Zane flipped back to in front of the figure and raised his hands above his head, and aimed his palms at the figure. "Masenko!"

A yellow beam was fired out of Zane's hands and struck the figure dead on in the chest. "AAAAAAAHHH!" He let out a bellow of pain as he was sent crashing right into the wall. After landing a heavy blow on the figure, Zane quickly raised up his arm and fired a beam straight up, breaking through the ceiling and flying high into the sky. The figure noticed this after recovering and looked at Zane while gritting his teeth. "The hell was that,"

"A beacon," Zane grinned as he crossed his arms. If he wasn't gonna leave now, then what he did might force him. "It's a matter of time before others show up, and my others I mean our master. And I'm gonna guess he's someone you don't wanna deal with."

The figure growled viciously as he grinded his teeth together, making a sound almost like iron rubbing against iron. If the master did come then all of his plans were in the toilet. Making this a completely waste of time. "You little shit…" The figure said through his teeth before holding his hand out. "YOU'RE DEAD!"

The figured arm then turned into a long lance with the tip of it creating another magic circle. A bunch of similar lances suddenly appeared around the figures lance-arm that quickly fired towards Zane. Zane's eyes widened as he quickly flew up and tried to avoid that lances that the figure made sure to constantly keep firing Zane with. "Woah!" Zane let out as he pulled his tail back before a lance could pierce it, though it did cut off a few hairs. "Ok that's it!" As he continued to fly and dodge the lances, Zane held his hand out and started circling it around and forming a disc of energy. "Destructo Disc!"

Figures eyes widened as he saw the disc coming at him and quickly jumped out of the way, turning his arm back to normal. Though he did manage to dodge it, the disc grazed him and tore the sleeve off the shirt he was wearing, completely exposing his arm. "The hell! Ya trying to cut me in decapitate me or something!" The figure yelled as both he and Zane landed on the ground.

"Desperate times call for desperate…huh…" Due to the moonlight coming in from the hole in the ceiling, Zane was able to see slightly better. And he was able to see the guild mark on the figures arm that was now exposed due to his destructo disc. Just after a moment of looking at the mark, Zane knew where this figure came from, "That mark…I should have known."

"Heh, guess the secrets out then," Knowing that there wasn't much time before the master or more fairy wimps came, the figure decided to cut his loses and get one last good hit on Zane. Rearing his head back, a magic circle appeared in front of his face. "Iron Dragons…ROAR!"

"Dragon?!" Zane quietly yelled. If he was using a roar…this figure must be…"BARRIER!" Not getting time to dwell on it, Zane put his hands forward and created a barrier of energy to block the incoming attack. The iron dragons roar resembled a gray tornado with a bunch of sharp metal sharps swirling around in it. Zane grunted as he struggled to hold off the powerful roar with the figure refusing to let up. Soon enough Zane's shield started to crack. "Oh no…" With a yell, Zane's shield broke and the roar blow him away with Zane trying to block it with him arms.

When the attack let out, the sleeves of Zane's hoodie were completely torn off and his arms and humorous cuts on them. "What's going on in there?!" Suddenly the sound of Makarov's voice could be heard from outside, causing Zane to smile and for the figure to click his tongue.

"Consider yourself lucky kid," The figure said before turning his legs into iron pillars and extending them out and raising himself towards the hole Zane made, using them to escape before he was caught.

A few moments after his getaway, both Makarov and Mira stepped inside the guildhall and gasped at the damage that was caused. Granted it was less then what would usually happen during a typical brawl, but still. It showed that something went down here when it was something to be closed. "Zane!" Both yelled in unison as they saw him against the wall.

"What happened to you?!" Mira yelled as both she and the guild master went up to check on him, Mira gasping after seeing all the cuts on his arms. "Are you ok?!"

"What happened here my boy?" Makarov asked in a serious tone, seeing the beacon as he was walking home and heading back to the guild as fast as he could.

"…" Zane looked down for a moment in silence, a dead serious look on his face. If that guild tried to do something to their guildhall, it was likely the start of things to come.

"Phantom Lord."


THE NEXT DAY

"Haha! Was that an awesome job or what?!" Natsu yelled out with a grin as he, Happy, Lucy, Gray, and Erza were seen walking through the streets of Magnolia towards the guildhall, the team coming back home after a successful mission.

"The client sure thought so," Happy chirped up with his usual smile as he flew above Natsu.

"You guys are just lucky I came along," Gray stated with his hands in his pockets.

"We're lucky that you begged us to take you with us?!" Natsu yelled at the ice-make mage with a ticked-off expression. "Why's that?!"

"Because you're about as useful as one of Erza's suitcases," Gray insulted right at Natsu's face as he gestured to the large cart of luggage Erza always brought with her on jobs.

After that Natsu brought his head right against Gray's as the two wizards glared hatefully at each other. "You better watch your mouth or I'll pack you like a suitcase, pal!" Natsu threatened right to Gray's face.

"That's doesn't even make sense!" Gray pointed out as he glared right into Natsu's eyes…suddenly having nothing but his underwear on, exposing a bunch of bandages around his waist, left shoulder, and right arm.

Before the two could argue further, Erza forcefully split the two apart from each other. "That's enough boys." She scolded before looking right to Gray. "And now please get dressed."

"For crying out Loud how does this keep happening to me?!" Gray yelled as he quickly picked his clothes back up.

"Not sure if it's a good idea to pick a fight in your undies Gray," Happy joked at the ice mages expense. "Some people might get the wrong idea."

"SHUT IT YA DAMN CAT!" Gray yelled as he started to put his pants back on before someone saw him.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt your conversation but…" Lucy spoke up, Plue in her arms, and getting all eyes on her as she lifted up the request for the job she was gonna take…alone. "When I took this job, I was originally thinking it'd be more of a solo mission ya know? So why'd y'all have to come along?"

"Oh come on isn't it obvious?" Natsu asked Lucy with a grin.

"Um, no I don't think so," Lucy said in a confused tone. She felt ready to do a job all on her own but the second she picked a job request the other four were by her side almost instantly.

Natsu then pointed a thumb at him as he looked Lucy right in the eyes. "We're Fairy Tail's strongest team." Gray, Erza, and Happy nodded in agreement with Natsu's claim, so long as they all stood together there wasn't an obstacle they couldn't face. "We gotta stick together."

"Aye sir!" Happy chirped with a raised paw.

"And don't you forget it," Gray told Lucy with a small smirk.

Lucy was silent for a bit as she looked at all her friends. She couldn't believe, she was really apart of the strongest team Fairy Tail had. "Yeah we are!" Lucy cheered with her cheeks turning a light pink.

"No job is too tough," Natsu smiled as he put his hands to his hips confidentially, feeling like he could take on the entire world. "Not for me, Happy, Erza, and old droopy drawers here."

"Don't call me that," Gray told Natsu in an irritated tone.

"Hm, we are quite a capable bunch," Erza admitted as a small smile came to her face. She had to admit, though her idea to team up was initially just meant for the lullaby mission, she was glad they stuck together. Sure there were moments where she would get annoyed…a lot, but the scarlet knight greatly enjoyed working together with her friends.

"True that!" Happy nodded in agreement.

Lucy's happiness quickly turned to annoyance as they completely forgotten to mention her as a part of the team. "You forgot about me!" Lucy yelled with a few tick marks appearing on her forward.

"Haha, lighten up," Natsu laughed as the group went forward again, Natsu crossing his arms behinds his head. "I'm just messing with you loopy."

"Well I don't really appreciate it," Lucy told Natsu in an annoyed tone as she held her little celestial spirit close to her and looked away from the dragon slayer. "And that's not my name,"

"Please forgive me," Erza asked Lucy in a rather dramatic tone, tightening her fist in regret for forgetting to mention Lucy. "I truly didn't mean to upset you. I let myself get carried away, it will not happen again. If you would like, you may strike me now."

"That's okay…" Lucy told Erza with an embarrassed blush. Truth be told Lucy would say she's probably gotten to know Erza the best, not just in the team but when it came to the members of Fairy Tail. They did swap bodies after all. It's had an added effect of Lucy feeling…weird around Erza sometimes. And when Erza made Lucy the offer to strike her…Lucy's mind went to a place that she quickly tried to pull it out of. "I don't think that's in my best interest…"

"Smart move…" Both Natsu and Gray said in unison, knowing full well that despite the offer if Lucy would hit Erza then Erza would be more then likely to hit back.

And the so the strongest team in Fairy Tail continued their trip back home, and when they reached the guild Natsu did his signature gesture for when he came back from mission…

SLAM!

"WE MADE IT BACK ALIVE!"

POOF!

Right as Natsu kicked the door open, Fairy Tail's strongest team was met with a with puffs of confetti going off above them followed by the guilds newest member dropping down from above. "Welcome back!" Betty gave the team a warm welcome as she stretched her arms above her head to spell out 'welcome' however…she had the W upside down. Seeing this mistake, Betty quickly fixed it. "There we go!"

The team in front of Betty smiled at the newest member of their guild as they brushed the confetti that got on them off. "Hey Betty, glad to see you're doing ok," Lucy said to the 11-year-old as she shook some of the confetti on her head. "Hope the guild isn't too much for ya."

"Not at all! It's really fun here!" Betty giggled as she jumped up and down, making bouncy noises as she did so. "Everyones so nice and crazy!"

"Fairy Tail is all about the crazy!" Happy chirped as he flew up high. "You could say our middle name is crazy! Just look at Lucy!"

"If anything I'm the least crazy!" Lucy yelled loudly at the cat.

However, as Erza looked around, she noticed that the guild seemed to be rather calm…and not in the good way. Everyone had serious looks on their faces and looked down, some expressions even looking rather ticked off. "Say Betty," Erza spoke up as she got the little girls attention. "Is there something going on? The guild seems quiet for some reason."

"Hmmmmmm…" Betty hummed a bit as question marks suddenly appeared above her head, making the group in front of her raise their brows at the cartoony sight. "Now that you mention it…there was something Zane wanted me to tell you…"

"Well what is it?" Gray asked as Betty tapped her toe in thought.

For a moment or two Betty was trying to remember what Zane told her about what happened in the hall last night. Betty smiled as the question marks above her head was replaced with a lightbulb shining brightly. "Oh I remember now!" The team leaned forward, silently gesturing Betty to tell them…only for the lightbulb above her head to flicker a few times before going out. "Nope, it's gone again. You should just go ask Zane himself he's with his mom and Master Makarov in his office."

"Very well then." Erza nodded as she and the others behind her went over to Makarov's office.

SHATTER!

"Uh-oh…" Betty let out as the lightbulb above her head fell from the air and shattered on the ground.

As Fairy Tail's strongest team made their way to Makarov's office, they overheard Team Shadow Gear talking. "Can't believe those jerks tried to pull something like that with us…" Droy said in an angered tone.

"Wanna go and teach them a lesson?" Jet suggested, more than ready to go and thrash those jerks.

"Come on guys, you know we can't do that," Levy told her two teammates with a worried look. She was angered too, but there were rules when it came to this, and they couldn't just go picking fights.

"Wonder what they're talking about…" Lucy quietly muttered. She hasn't been here long, but she's never seen the guild quite like this before.

And when they get to Makarov's office…

"Yo kids! How's it going?" Makarov was sitting on his desk with a mug of beer in his hand, his cheeks a bright pink showing that he was currently drunk. "You finish the job like a good girl Lucy?"

"Uuuuuuh…y-yeah I guess so…" Lucy stuttered a bit uncomfortably as she looked to Zane and Mira with a raised brow. Zane was currently face-palming at Makarov allowing himself to get drunk during this time while Mira had a serious look on her face as she looked at the strongest team in the guild. "What's going on exactly?"

"Master," Erza spoke up, ignoring the fact that he was drunk and wanting to get right down to the situation. "Would you mind telling me what's going on? Everyone in the guild seems to be on guard at the moment, did something happen while we were away?"

"Oh that? There's no need for you all to get so worked up!" Makarov told them, his voice a bit dopey due to his drunken state. "Just everyone being a buncha worrywarts that's all! Not like it's the end of the world after all."

Natsu narrowed his eyes a bit as he turned to Zane, noticing the bandages on his arms. "Hey what happened to you?" Natsu asked as Zane looked up to him, Zane's eyes forming a glare. "It's rare to see you in bandages."

"…Last night, someone tried to attack our guildhall," Zane went straight to the point and revealed what happened the other night, making the team gasp in surprise. Someone tried to attack their guildhall?! What kind of dead man would do that?! "When I went back to get my hoodie after I helped mom close up, they tried to attack me. Managed to hold him enough before grandpa and mom got here, he ran away like a coward."

Before they could ask Zane who it was, Mira spoke up. "It was someone from the Phantom Lord guild." Shocked looks quickly came to Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Happy's faces as they heard the news. Lucy was taken aback to, but not as much as the others. "Zane saw their symbol on the attackers arm last night."

"If it wasn't for me who knows what they would've done here," Zane looked down, wishing he could have done more to take down that Phantom jerk. There guilds have been rivals for a long time, but this was taking it way too far.

"Pfft, just goes to show how wimpy those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord guild really are," Makarov stated before taking a big swing of his mug, getting more alcohol into his body. "They tried to strike when no one was hear and the second someone did show up, they ran away like a yellowbelly."

"I wouldn't say the second," Mira said bitterly, if she could do one thing right now it was to show that figure from last night a piece of her mind for what they did to her son. He can take a lot sure, but she never liked seeing him hurt even a little bit and the person that did hurt him would have hell to pay. "That mans gonna pay for what he did to Zane…"

"Mom, I'm fine. It's just a few cuts." Zane reassured his mother as he looked at his bandaged arms. He could have healed up easily, but he currently planted all of his senzu beans by his house in a garden in order to give himself an endless supply of them. But they still had to grow and until then he was gonna have to heal his cuts the old-fashioned way. "Still though…wouldn't mind showing that guy a thing or two."

"Yeah! No way we can take this lying down!" Natsu yelled out in a rage as he punched the wall. "Those Phantom jerks aren't gonna get away with trying to attack our guild and attacking Zane! We gotta get revenge!"

"We shouldn't worry about people who run away from fights just because more of us showed up!" Makarov yelled, putting his foot down on going after Phantom. The guildhall was fine, the only one who got hurt was Zane and even then, it was very minor, and not to mention the law on other guilds fighting each other. "Forget about those fools!"

"But gramps!" Natsu tried to reason with Makarov. No way Phantom was just gonna give up after one unsuccessful attempt. The first chance they get Phantom Lord would just trash their guildhall, or even worse.

"I won't talk about this any longer," Makarov stated calmly, not wanting to get into a conflict that could have dire consequences. "Things will go on as normal here and we won't go looking for trouble."

"So we're just gonna let them get away from this scott-free?!" Natsu yelled fiercely as he slammed his hands down right in from of Makarov.

"NATSU! THAT'S ENOUGH!" Makarov yelled as he stretched out his hand and-

SPANK!

…Proceeded to swat Lucy's butt.

"And you spanked me because…" Lucy froze as her body got chills from the old mans perverted action. Suddenly Erza gained a dark aura around her as she glared viciously at Makarov, causing Gray and Happy to pale as they slowly backed away from the scarlet knight.

"Hands to yourself master…" Mira growled out with hands on her hips, Zane shaking his head.

Makarov then laughed as he jumped off his desk and headed towards the door. "Where you going old man?" Natsu yelled to him in an annoyed tone, not wanting to drop this discussion.

"Ah keep your dress on I gotta take a leak," Makarov said before he left his office to go and pee.

"I don't understand why he's being like this…" Natsu muttered out in an annoyed tone. He would figure Makarov would be just as furious as he was for them trying to wreck their hall as well as attacking one of their members.

"Listen…" Mira got their attention as she spoke in a calm and collected tone. "He's just as angry as you are, but the damage to everything is minimal. I'm…furious that they attacked Zane, but he was able to defend himself just fine. We shouldn't go making conflict and starting fights, that'll only make the situation worse."

"Mom's right, after all you know how conflict between the guilds is against the law," Zane stated calmly as he crossed his arms, thinking rationally about the situation. "While I do think this won't be their only attempt at trying something nasty, we shouldn't stoop to their level. If they try causing trouble again, we'll beat them then and there."

"…" Natsu was silent, but he clearly still wanted to act now about this whole thing.

"If it's master's decision not to retaliate it then we must respect it," Erza stated firmly as she crossed her arms. The damage was minimal, and Zane could take a few cuts. Nothing worth blowing up about in her eyes, though she did feel anger as well for everything. "Should we start a battle with them both guilds would surely fall, it isn't worth the risk."

"Still though…" Mira put a hand to her chin in thought. Sure Phantom failed at wrecking the guildhall…they weren't the type to just give up on something just like that. They would try again at best…or doing something more extreme at worst. "It wouldn't hurt to take some extra measures just in case…"


THAT NIGHT

"WOOHOO! THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEST SLUMBER PARTY EVER!" Betty cheered as she jumped onto the couch at the Strauss house while wearing her pajama's which consisted of a light pink nightgown with a pattern of white bunny heads all over it. Currently she, Laki, and the entire Strauss family were in the living room of the latter's house all wearing their sleep clothes. "Granted I've never really been to a slumber party before but that means this will be the best one by default!"

"Well at least someone's excited about this," Laki commented with a small smile. They weren't exactly here to have a slumber party with the Strauss' but she might as well make the best of a possibly bad situation. "You really think they would try to attack us?"

"It's very possible Phantom Lord knows where all of us live," Mirajane, who was wearing a black nightgown that showed off her legs, explained as she took a sip of a cup of tea. Luckily everyone in the guild agreed on her idea for them all to group up while they were home to have strength in numbers just in case. Granted she just wished Lucy hadn't left before she could announce it to everyone but she was sure the blond would be ok with it. "They probably have a few of their members around town spying on us."

"Talk about unmanly…" Elfman, who was wearing a blue pajama shirt and pants that had a teddy bear pattern to them, growled as he clenched his fist tightly. Those Phantom Lord jerks were nothing but cowards, trying to strike when they thought no one was at their guildhall. If they really wanted to show they were better than Fairy Tail then they should challenge them head-on like a real man! "If I my way we'd be rushing towards them and showing how manly Fairy Tail is!"

"Don't be stupid Elfman! That'll just cause more trouble for both guilds, and you know it." Laki pointed out in a harsh tone as she picked up her own cup of tea from the coffee table. "It just isn't worth it. You get it right Zane?"

Zane nodded as he crossed his arms, sitting criss-cross on the floor next to Betty while she helped herself to some of Mira's homemade cookies. "Trust me Uncle Elf, there's nothing I'd love more then knocking those Phantom wimps upside the head, but like Laki said that'd be a whole lot more consequences then just both guilds having their members and even halls getting wrecked," Zane explained as Laki and Mira nodded while Elfman just lowered his head and sighed. "Besides, as much as it hurts to say it those guys are probably just as strong as us."

"Hmph, not nearly as manly as us though…" Elfman grumbled as he looked away from everyone.

"So what's the deal with these Phantom Lord guys anyway?" Betty asked in a curious tone as she continued to munch on more of the small bite-sized cookies. "You guys seem to have a lot of beef with them."

"You could say that," Mira looked to Betty as she explained the situation to her. Given that Betty pretty much had no clue about how guilds worked or about other guilds, this would be the perfect chance to explain a few things to her. "We've been rivals with them since before even me and Elfman were in the guild. They've always been considered to be our equal in both amount of members as well as strength."

"Especially since their master Jose is also one of the ten wizards' saints as well," Laki pointed out in a serious tone. If a guild master/member was a wizard saint, that alone just showed the kind of strength said guild had.

"Wizard saint?" That seemed to spark Betty's attention as she stopped eating cookies and looked at Laki. "What's that? Sounds important."

"They're only the strongest and manliness wizards in all of Fiore," Elfman answered as he looked down at the Ozra girl. "If the magic council gives you the title of wizard saint, that shows you're a big deal and not someone to be taken lightly."

"And both grandpa and Jose are wizard saints, making them equal in strength." Zane finished up Elfman's explanation before looking down. "But if you ask me that stupid fart doesn't hold a candle to grandpa."

"Plus Phantom has their own equivalent of our S-Class rank," Mira added in, explaining more of how strong Phantom Lord truly was. "They're called the Element Four."

"S-Class?" Betty questioned before a look of realization came to her face. "Hey isn't that what Erza is?"

Mira nodded as she explained the Element Four further. "They're all of the elite class, and as the name implies each one has a magic that gives them control over a particular element." Everyone was silent as they listened to Mira to get as much information about this group as possible. "Each one is extremely powerful on their own and could certainly put up a fight, to say the least."

"But there's one more, an even bigger threat then even the element four," Laki spoke up with Zane, Mira, and Elfman glaring downward as they knew full well who that was. "Black Steel Gajeel."

"Black Steel who?" Betty asked in a confused tone.

"Gajeel," Zane pointed out as he rolled down the sleeve of his pajama shirt to reveal his bandaged arm. "The guy who I fought last night. Should have known even before his roar, his energy felt similar to Natsu's. He's known as the Iron Dragon Slayer."

"Woah, a dragon slayer?" Betty asked in an amazed tone. "The same as Natsu."

"Sort of." Zane nodded his head before looking up, getting a bad feeling in his gut all of a sudden. "And I get the feeling that he isn't gonna take us preventing him from destroying our guild hall lightly…"

Everyone got a bit of a foreboding feeling from this, but there wasn't much they could do about it now. They would just have to see what happens in the future.

And while most of the guild members were at home with others with them, unaware to all of them…Levy and her team never made it home last night.


THE PHANTOM LORD GUILD

The guildhall of Fairy Tail's rival was covered in darkness. The hall itself resembled a large castle and its members were all laughing cruelly as they drank, most of them talking about how weak and wimpy Fairy Tail was. Over by one table, one of the guild members sat by themselves. In front of them was a huge pile of metal objects ranging from pipes to tools, to just shards of it and the member was eating from it at a rapid pace.

Just then another Phantom member walked up to the one eating the metal. "So, Gajeel, I heard you were chased away from the Fairy Tail kid hall from some little brat?" The member mocked as he revealed it was none other then Black Steel Gajeel he was talking to. Gajeel quickly growled as he stopped eating the metal in front of him, only growing more pissed as the other member started laughing. "Oh man! Talk about embarrassing! Big tough Gajeel couldn't handle a fight with a little kid! You must be ashamed of yourself!"

SLAM!

"GAAAAHH!" The member yelled as Gajeel turned his arm into an iron pillar and struck his fellow guild member in the face with enough force to send him flying all the way across the guildhall, all the other Phantom Lord members laughing in response.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating." Gajeel growled out with a pissed-off look on his face. Not only did he hate being bothered, but he also doesn't like being insulted by some weakling even more. "That kid could fight, I'll give him that. But he was no match for me. He was just lucky his precious little master came to save him before I could finish him off. None of those clowns at Fairy Tail can challenge us. We're way more powerful than they can ever hope to be."

"The die has been cast…" A sinister voice spoke up from the shadows, making every guild member turn towards it. They couldn't see him clearly, but there was no mistaking it. This was their master, Jose. "Though your mission was a failure Gajeel, you at least got to see how Fairy Tail's wonder child fights like."

"Heh, well I got a bit of a surprise for you." Gajeel put on a sadistic grin as he explained what he did to Jose. This was much better than just wrecking their guildhall. "Messing up their guild might have knocked em down a peg, but I thought of something that'll really get those fairy tailer's panties in a knot."

"Very good my boy," Jose shared in Gajeel's sadistic grin, knowing whatever he did was sure to rile those fairies and especially Makarov up. "Be sure to take extra care that no harm comes to that one if you please."


MORNING

Over at the magnolia south gate park…many citizens were gathered up by the large tree that grew in the very center of it. Many having looks of horror or despair on their face at the sight. "Excuse us," The voice of Erza spoke up as she, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Natsu walked past the crowd. They quickly got word of what happened here…and they had to see if for themselves. "We're from their guild. Please let us through."

No one put up any arguments and let the team pass. And when they saw the sight…they froze in their tracks. Levy, Jet, and Droy were all beaten up with bruises all over their bodies, their clothes torn up, and blood leaking out of a few places on them. With Levy, her shirt was removed exposing both her bra…and the Phantom Lord symbol painted on her stomach. All of team Shadow gear was hung up on the tree by iron shackles.

Lucy covered her mouth as tears came to her eyes, Happy and Gray had their jaws drop as their pupils dilated at the awful sight, and Erza tightened her fist in gritted her teeth. Natsu had a look of pure anger on his face. His entire body shook as his entire body radiated an intense heat. The dragon slayer was already furious with Phantom Lord for trying to wreck their guildhall. But now…he wanted nothing more then to tear them to shreds.

"Levy!" Lucy gasped out in horror.

"Jet! Droy!" Gray's look soon turned to pure anger himself as he looked at the state their fellow members were in.

Just then as people in the crowd were commenting on the situation, Makarov came onto the scene as he looked up at what phantom had done to his children. Behind him were Mira and Zane, the former had a similar reaction to Lucy with having a look of horror as she started tearing up. Meanwhile, Zane was similar to Nastu as his face was one of complete and total anger. White energy started radiating from him as a few strands of his hair raised up, the ground beneath his feet started to lightly crack. "Phantom…" Zane growled through his teeth and, if one looked closely, his eyes briefly flashed a greenish-blue color.

"Master…" Erza spoke up quietly, feeling the presence of Makarov behind her.

"I can take them trying to wreck and vandalized our headquarters…" Makarov started quiet, but his face soon turned to one of complete rage at Phantom doing something like this. Zane's wounds during his fight with Gajeel were minimal and the boy could take a lot more than that. But this…this was taking it too far. "But I will not let harm come to my children!"

Makarov gripped his staff so tightly then it broke in half as holy light magic started radiating powerfully through his body. He made his decision, and he didn't care about the law anymore.

"WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GO TO WAR!"


None of the guild members had any arguments with this. They couldn't take this sitting down. Nearly all the guild members agreed to go and storm Phantom's guild to get revenge for what they did.

However, Lucy wasn't one of those members. Instead, the celestial spirit wizard volunteered to stay behind at the hospital with Levy, Jet, and Droy and make sure they were ok. Currently, she was sitting next to Levy's bed, the blue-haired girl and her teammates still unconscious. "Droy…Jet…and poor Levy…" Lucy quietly muttered as tears built up in her eyes. "Phantom Lord is heartless…how could they do this?"

Lucy remembered the first time she met Levy. The girl approached her after hearing from Natsu and Happy that the blond was writing a novel. Though Lucy was embarrassed at first, Levy told Lucy how much she loves reading and asked to read her book. Though Lucy was still embarrassed about it, she agreed to let Levy be the first to read it. And after that the two had been friends since, often discussing books together with Lucy often borrowing books from Levy's vast collection to read.

"What they've done is unforgivable…" Lucy said as the tears finally fell from her eyes and onto the back of her hands as she gripped her skirt tightly. "They're gonna pay…"

"Yeah, they will." Just then a new voice spoke up as Lucy looked into the door leading into the room she and Team Shadow Gear was in. Much to Lucy's surprise, it was Zane who came in. "How are you holding up."

"Well…as much as I can right now…" Lucy said in a somber tone as Zane pulled up a stool and sat down next to her. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd go with the others?"

"Well…I was. But then I got a bad feeling all of a sudden…" Zane explained with a serious look on his face as he crossed his arms. Something just told him he had to stay here and help hold down the fort. "It felt like a better choice to stay here and help out."

Lucy was silent at first but then gave Zane a small smile. "Thank you Zane…" Lucy then went to hug the young boy, with him hugging back instantly.


PHANTOM LORD GUILD

Spirits were high right now with Phantom Lord. All of them were laughing as they talked about Gajeel's latest achievement about thrashing those three Fairy Tail members. That'll show those fairies that they were stronger in every way. In fact, a few members had the idea to go do the same themselves. "We can't let Gajeel have all the fun." A member said as he and two others headed towards the door.

"Yeah, I say we go pick off a few fairy wings ourselves." One of the other members said with a grin.

And just when they were about to head out the door and do just that…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A large explosion occurred right at the entrance, blowing the three members away and silencing all the members in the guild as they looked at their entrance. When the smoke from it cleared…they saw nearly the entire guild of Fairy Tail with Makarov shouting…

"FAIRY TAIL HAS COME CALLING!"

Phantom Lord wasted no time in getting up and charging right at Fairy Tail, a majority of them fully expecting an attack from them. Many of the members tried to jump at Natsu, but the fire dragon slayer easily countered and blew them all away with a fire dragon's wing attack and left them all burnt. "Alright! Who wants to play with fire?!" Natsu yelled loudly as he was ready to burn this everyone in Phantom Lord to a crisp.

"Let's get em!" Gray yelled as Fairy Tail and Phantom charged at each other.

With Macao, he created a large fiery purple magic circle in front of him. "Purple Net!" Many tendrils made of purple fire were created from the circle as they all wrapped up and trapped man nearby Phantom members. "Now Wakaba!"

"On it!" Wakaba smirked as his partner gave him the perfect chance to use his magic. "Here comes Smoke Crush!" Wakaba's pipe glowed as pink smoke come out of it and formed fist that struck all the Phantom members Macao trapped.

Alzack had a calm look on his face as many Phantom members charged at him, the black-haired mage quickly pull out one of his guns. "Guns Magic!" Alzack started firing with expert precision an aim with all the enemies he struck having a blue magic circle appear on them before they fell to the ground stunned and paralyzed. "That ones my Spark Shot."

"Eat this!" Another Phantom member jumped from behind Alzack and tried to strike him with his fist covered in light, but he was quickly thwarted as he was shot in the head by Bisca, leaving him completely stunned on the ground as well.

"Thanks Bisca," Alzack said as he looked up at the green-haired woman who was using one of the structures in the guild as a sniping post.

"Getting rusty there Al," Bisca teased as she reloaded her gun. She then proceeded to look through the scope of her gun and aim at multiple Phantom members. "Locked on target…Homing Shot!" When Bisca fired her gun, the magic bullet proceeded to split up and strike all the members Bisca aimed at, the bullets exploding on contact and getting even more enemies at the same time.

"Get that little girl! No way she can fight back!" One of the Phantom members yelled as he and many others started charging at Betty.

"Hehe…" Betty smirked and right before the Phantom members could dog pile her, she coiled up her legs together like a spring and bounced high into the air, the girl giggling as she saw all the enemies proceeded to fall onto the ground aimlessly. "Take this!" Betty then stretched out her arm and enlarged her hand and proceeded to smack it down on all the Phantom members that tried attacking her. "Pancakes anyone? Haha!"

With Makarov, a ton of Phantom's members tried to charge at him…and they soon realized this would be the biggest mistake they would make in their lives as Makarovs eyes glowed brightly as he proceeded to grow to an absolutely massive size and effortlessly overpowered the Phantom members. "He's…a monster!" One of the members who was trapped under Makarov's hand yelled out in fear.

"And you dare to lay your hands on this monsters' children?!" Makarov yelled in complete rage, his voice deep and almost demonic sounding. "Were you foolish enough to believe human laws would protect you from my rage?!"

"He's so powerful…"

"All the members are strong too."

"Yeah and they're totally nuts!"

"I didn't know Fairy Tail was like this!"

As all of Phantom Lord yelled out how surprised they were at Fairy Tail's strength, more of Fairy Tail's members went to work on showing them just how strong they truly were. "Wood Make Magic…Dam of Bashful Love!" Laki put her hands on the ground as she created multiple objects of wood ranging from saws, to hammers, scissors, ad many other torturous looking objects that sent many Phantom members flying.

"What the heck is that supposed to mean, lady?!" One of the Phantoms members yelled as they looked at Laki with a disturbed expression on his face.

Laki glared at the man as she adjusted her glasses before she brought her hands close to each other. "Hmph, well perhaps you'll understand this better!" A ball of energy then formed before Laki's hands as the Wood Make mage sent into high into the air before bringing her hands down. "Scatter Bullet!" The ball of energy then exploded as it split into multiple other balls of energy that exploded as they landed on the ground and scattering many of Phantom Lord's members.

With Erza, she was dealing with the many members of Phantom Lord effortlessly as she switched to her flame empress armor and slashed a beam of fire towards a group of their enemies. "Tell me!" Erza demanded with a furious look. "Where can I find Gajeel and the element four!?"

Meanwhile watching from above, standing one of the wooden beams attached to the ceiling was Gajeel himself who was watching the war between the guilds with an amused smirk. "Ah the legend herself." Gajeel pointed out as he watched Erza easily swat away his guildmates. "I guess Laxus and Mystogan are too scared to play. Or do they not care? Either way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was gonna go down. Looks like they're pretty good fighters…for a buncha scumbags. Although…wonder where that monkey-tailed brat is."


Back with Zane and Lucy, the two were walking through town with groceries in their hands. Everything was quiet and the sky started to get a bit dark due to some incoming storm clouds. "Think this is everything?"

"Yeah, I think we'll be good," Lucy told him with a quick smile before a worried look came to her face. "I wonder how the others are doing…"

"Don't worry so much Lucy," Zane reassured the celestial spirit mage with a calm smile. "You know how strong they all are, they'll be fine."

This caused a small smile to reappear on Lucy's face, but before she could say anything it suddenly started to rain down on them. "Huh, that's weird," Lucy commented as she and Zane looked up and saw the sun was suddenly covered by storm clouds. "It was sunny just a minute ago, what happened?"

"Hmmmm…" Zane hummed a bit, that bad feeling he felt earlier coming back. Especially as he suddenly sensed a large source of power slowly approaching them. "Someone's coming!" But Zane and Lucy looked forward and saw a rather particular induvial approaching them.

She appeared to be a slender, teenage girl with azure blue hair, midnight blue eyes, snow skin complexion, and a curvaceous figure. Her hair was long hair and tightly curled at the base with her wearing a sapphire blue coat, a cream-colored furry trimmed navy-blue shawl with a pure white teru teru bōzu attached to it, as well as a matching Russian Cossack hat. "W-Who are you?" Lucy stuttered a bit as the woman approached, her face having a blank and emotionless expression.

"Drip, drip, drip." The woman said in a monotone voice. "Juvia is the rain woman. It's always with her." Lucy gained a creeped-out look as Zane got on guard as this woman, who introduced herself as Juvia, passed them. "What sort of woman are you pray tell?"

"Uuuuh, I'm just the regular kind." Lucy said nervously.

"Drip, drip, drip." Juvia repeated.

"What's with all the drip-dropping?" Lucy asked a bit awkwardly, this rain woman making her a bit comfortable.

"Lucy…we should go." Zane urged the blond. He could sense Juvia's power…and it was certainly not something they wanted to mess with.

Just then Juvia pulled out and opened up a pink umbrella with red hearts on it and white frills. "Pleasure to meet you. I'll be going now."

"Well take the rain with you!" Lucy yelled in a ticked off-tone as Zane winced and tried to pull Lucy away. But before he could…

"No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no." Suddenly a man with a French accent spoke up from seemingly nowhere. But Lucy, Zane, and Juvie looked to see a humanoid figure emerged from the ground. Forming in front of them was a slim man of average height with a tiny, pointy, mustache and green hair pointing upwards. He had a monocle in front of his right eye, and he wore a light brown suit with a white undershirt and red tie. "I bid you bonjour mademoiselle and enfant."

"Great, another weirdo?" Lucy groaned out as the town seemed to be full of creeps at the moment.

'Shit…" Zane gritted his teeth a bit. While this guy's power wasn't on par with Juvia's, he certainly wasn't a pushover.

"Juvia, ma petite amie, you mustn't shy away from the task at hand." The man told the rain woman, his feet still merged with the ground as he wiggled back and forth like a noodle.

"No, Monsieur Sol." Juvia nodded, revealing the man's name to be Sol.

"My monocle whispers to me many things, mon cheri." Sol said as he adjusted his monocle as he looked right at Lucy and Zane. "It tells me this belle dame before us is our sought-after cible, as well as that boy being Fairy Tail's enfant étonnant."

"Does it?" Juvia questioned as she looked at the two Fairy Tail members. "So she is the one? And he is the one who fought Gajeel."

"Cible…" Lucy repeated, her eyes widening as she realized what that word meant. "That means target!"

"Get ready…" Zane whispered as he tightened this fist.

"Ah, pardonnez-moi, I have not told you two my name," Sol apologized as Juvia stepped up next to him, the two facing Lucy and Zane down. "I am Sol of the element four! Also known as Sol of the Earth! But it'd be behoove you to call me Monsieur Sol."

"The only thing I'll be calling you is scum," Zane growled as he and Lucy glared at the two. "Should have known you were with Phantom the moment I sensed your power. So you two are part of the infamous element four huh?"

"Correct!" Sol grinned as he explained to Lucy and Zane why they are here. "We've been sent here to collect you jeune femme and bring you back to the guild at once, and while we are not here for him I'm most positive our master Jose will most appreciate us bring back the boy as well."

"I'd like to see you try!" Zane yelled as he got into a fight position, him and Lucy dropping the grocery's the had.

Sol simply chuckled a bit as he gestured to Juvia. "Ma belle compagne is a rain woman who's also a part of the Element Four." Sol properly introduced Juvia to the Fairy Tail members, revealing her to be a member of the same group as him. "She's known as Juvia of the Great Sea."

"You're the ones who attacked by friends!" Lucy yelled as she reached for her keys, Zane getting ready to attack himself. "Aren't you!" But before either could take action, they were suddenly engulfed in spheres of water, Lucy dropping her keys as well.

"Au contraire, mademoiselle." Sol corrected as he twirled his mustache and watched as Lucy and Zane helplessly struggled. "A reasonable guess, but we are not the ones to blame. That honor goes to the one your little friend fought against most valiantly, monsieur Gajeel. Although to be fair, we were with him in spirit as the saying goes."

"Let us go!" Zane yelled as he punched the walls of water trapping him.

"Why are you doing this?!" Lucy yelled as she did the same. "Let us out of here, now!"

"Don't waste your energy," Juvia told them as it was the work of her magic keeping them trapped. "My water lock spell cannot be broken."

'No! I…won't…give…up!' Zane mentally yelled as he looked to the orb Lucy was trapped in. She was losing consciousness quickly, he had to do something! With all the strength he could muster, Zane yelled out with all his might. "Kai…O…Ken!"

"Kai-o-what?" Sol questioned…before he and Juvia gasped loudly as a red aura exploded around Zane as the water lock around him was completely destroyed. Before they could react, Zane proceeded to roundhouse kick the one Lucy was trapped in and destroyed that as well.

Lucy coughed out some water and took some deep breaths to get back lost air. "That…was…close…" Lucy managed to speak as Zane landed on the ground, the power of Kai-O-Ken disappearing around him.

"He…broke out…" Juvia couldn't believe her eyes. No one has ever broken out of her water lock before. "But that's…impossible.

"Lucy! You need to get away!" Zane yelled as he quickly helped Lucy get back on her feet. While they attempted to take him as well, it was clear she was their main target. "I can hold them off! You get somewhere safe!"

"But-" Lucy wanted to refuse, not wanting Zane to fight on his own. But it was clear with the look he sent her that he wasn't taking no for answer.

"NOW!" Zane loudly snapped.

"…Ok." Lucy nodded as she quickly picked up her keys and ran away as fast as she could.

"No, no, no, no." Sol said as he narrowed his eyes at Lucy and stuck his hand out, a yellowish-brown magic circle appearing in front of it. "I'm afraid we can not let you get away."

"Solar Flare!" Before Sol could do anything, however, Zane quickly blinded the two Element Four members with his Solar Flare, making it as bright as possible.

"My eyes!" Juvia yelled as she quickly covered them, her eyes already painfully burning.

"Sacrebleu!" Sol gasped as he covered his eyes as well.

"Now's your chance!" Zane yelled to Lucy, urging her to keep on running. "Get somewhere safe!"

"I will!" Lucy yelled as she looked back at him. "Good luck!"

Zane nodded before turning to his two blind opponents. It took them about a minute to get their sight back, but when they looked they only saw Zane with Lucy nowhere in sight. "The girl!" Sol yelled in an angered tone as he and Juvia glared at Zane. "Where is she?!"

"Like I'd tell you," Zane growled out as he got into a fighting stance, whipping the tail with his ground. "And if you wanna go find you, then you have to go through me!"

"Hmph, that can be arranged." Sol nodded, speaking in a dark tone.

The tension was thick as Zane got ready to take on two members of the element four.


What a great way to start up one of my favorite arcs in the series!

I've been excited to get to this part and it was a blast writing this and some of the upcoming fights, especially two that are gonna happen next chapter. Zane vs Sol and Juvia, and a fight with Betty that I'm REALLY looking forward to as it shows just how much fun it's gonna be to write fights involving her.

Now then when it comes to my update schedule, I currently have eight active stories and I figured out a system for them so they all get equal attention. I'm gonna be working on two stories at a time and said stories are gonna update three times before I move to the next two. Here's how it currently stands...

Fairy Tail Z & Loud Techs

Loud 10 & RWBY Academia

Tornado Siblings & She-Ra and the War of Stupidity

Louds vs the Forces of Evil & Bakugan Loud Brawlers

So both this story and Loud Techs will update two more times before I move onto the next cycle.

I believe that covers everything, so make sure to fav, follow, and leave a review and stay tuned for the next chapter...

"War"