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Writing

"Speaking"

"Thinking"

TECHNIQUES/SPELLS

ACT 1: CHAPTER 2

A NEW WAY

SOMEWHERE IN FIORE

While he had been going through his three A rank quests, Madara had a lot of time and much to ponder. What precise purpose shall he pursue in this new life, within this new world? Should he make comraderie with Fairy Tail, or just use them as a stepping stone and get going? No matter how often he looked over his situation, it was clear as day that this was a completely new clean slate. He COULD just re-do everything he did in his previous life, but it's failed before, and he was sure it would fail again. Not to mention that he's made peace with the decision that his was the wrong way. He remembers them, his last words, what he and Hashirama exchanged with each others. Madara could still not comprehend the thought of entrusting a grand dream to a successor, but he was no longer in a world and a setting where he needed a grand dream.

"Hashirama... should I... lighten up?" Madara asked himself while he entered the town he had been walking towards for his first quest. He had gone by foot, but he did use his Shunshin to bypass great distances quickly, so he was functionally as fast as the trains would have been, if not faster. And on his way, he honed the feeling for his new type of eneergy-source he still called Chakra for habit's sake. Restoring the feeling of his body and prowess was not difficult, but fine-tuning his skills to use lesser-degree scale attacks was more difficult because it was no longer a clear channel he could funnel to his choice, it no longer felt akin to muscles flexing or loosening. "I don't know what to do in this new life. I am strong, stronger than everyone I've seen and met so far. I've retained my intellect, my knowledge of myself. My body, albeit a bit younger, is in its prime. I have no home, no family, no friends, no ambition of any kind. Maybe... I should settle down..." He continued to think for himself.

He would need a lot of time to make a clear and concise choice about his future ahead.

2 DAYS LATER

Having finished up his three A rank quests and sacked in the rewards, Madara made his return to Magnolia, arriving before its gates once more. In those 2 days, he had gotten a completed feel of his new-ish body, and along the way he had learned a couple more things about this world and how it functions.

For starters, the reason why his body felt so different yet still the same was because he didn't have Chakra. He had Magic. It worked in a similar fashion, yet also did not. He retained his Abilities, but because they were now Magic instead of Jutsu, they abide to the laws of this world, which meant there were certain things he could do now that he wasn't able to before, and then there were things he can no longer do that previously worked just fine. One such example was that he was able to freely mix and match different elements to create new abilities that would resemble some of the Kekkei Genkai, such as fusing fire and water to create mist, or fire and earth to create lava. But he could no longer learn completely new attributes, which means even with physical modifications, it was highly unlikely he'd ever regain Wood Style techniques.

Secondly, the country was called Fiore, and was ruled by a likewise named family. A monarchy, in other words, but one that had a successful, semi-democratic establishment with councils that handle the legislative enforcement for both regular citizens and all things magic. He learned that the Council for magical affairs, which was typically just refered to as The Council, had quite a wonky and unfavorable relationship with Fairy Tail and that Fairy Tail, thanks to their many clashes with said Council, has somewhat of a bad reputation for being quite destructive and counter-productive in their efforts to secure the people from threats. Madara made an active effort to use only hand to hand combat without any of his Spells - which felt REALLY weird for him to call his Jutsu - ever being used, so he could preserve the town as much as possible and also somewhat lighten the reputation of Fairy Tail, however little influence it made.

And lastly, he learned about the different concepts behind Guilds and their villainous and usually illegal counter-parts, Dark Guilds. He learned about the structure and systems of a Guilds' contribution to balancing the powers of this Country and establishing it as a force within the Continent, called Ishgal, what rules Guilds must abide by and what conditions would turn a Guild into a Dark Guild. He was furthermore informed of a particular rule, which was that Guilds are not allowed to combat one anothers unless one guild is confirmed with evidence beyond doubt to engage in illegal activities that would earn it a disbandmend or a branding as a Dark Guild.

To Madara, it suddenly made sense why Master Makarov wanted to avoid fighting this Phantom Lord guild even at the heavy protest of his fellow guildmates.

While walking towards the Guild, Madara passed by the Magnolia City Park, where a crowd had gathered, their unease and mumbling attracting the Uchiha's curiosity. "It appears something has happened... another destructive display from Phantom?" Madara wondered as he approached the crowd and slowly pushed himself through to see what this was about.

And the sight before him made even his nerves react.

Three Fairy Tail members he currently did not know the names off, cuffed against the tree of the park, the mark of Phantom Lord painted on visible parts of their body. In front of it, Fairy Tail members observing with pure rage and shock at the sight. Then, the Master walked up and his calm composure was breaking and he openly declared war against Phantom Lord.

Madara narrowed his eyes, looking at the three members once again. "Hashirama... what would you do in such a situation?" He asked himself. A quick second glance to the guildmaster gave him the answer he already knew all along anyway. "Yes... these are young, talented, eager children, who are continuously harassed unprovokedly. You would have joined them in the effort to defeat the threat. As you said... you'd defend your home, even if it was against your own brothers." He concluded with a small smile to himself, which immediately was replaced with a serious expression. "Wait!" He commanded with a somewhat loud voice.

"Ha!? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WAIT!?" Natsu immediately roared out, the rage in his face enough to make his veins pop and burst any minute now.

Madara, who had plenty experience with War, considering he spent most of his life in it, walked up towards Makarov slowly. "I may not know any of you very well, but one thing I do know very well is War. And this" The Uchiha pointed at the three at the tree. "is bait. Phantom knows how much you care for one another. This is an act of provocation they know you cannot ignore. Responding to this will make us do exactly what they want." He explained, his eyes moving slowly across the various members, resting on Erza as she was approaching him and Makarov.

The redhead crossed her arms and grit her teeth. "It... sounds plausible."

"Because it is" Makarov answered, slowly beginning to cool down.

"They WANT us to go into the offensive" Madara continued, dropping the bag with the total of 1.2 million Jewel and crossing his arms. "They know that you absolutely cannot and would not ignore this. But if we retaliate as they'd expect us to, we would walk into a trap. We need to do something they would not expect, something to turn the situation the other way, force them into the offensive so WE can trap THEM."

Erza and Makarov exchanged glances before slowly nodding their heads, then the redheaded Titania spoke. "And what would you suggest?"

Madara looked up at the three members, who were by now being taken down by Wakaba, Gray and Elfman, before narrowing his eyes. "A taunt. We attack their guildhouse from a range, cause some damage, but leave it be at that. And while doing so, we erase their ability to create any homefield-advantages within Magnolia. I did consider suggesting we take out their fragmented outposts, but another one of Fairy Tail is already on that." Madara said before he reached into the left pocket of his pants, taking out a small note he folded two times at the middle to compress its size. "I met this man named Mystogan. He's been thinning their numbers by hunting their small sub-fractions within each city of their range, reducing their numbers by about half and removing their ability to surround Magnolia and reinforce themselves. Which means they only have their leading force left, and they will undoubtedly come to us. They wouldn't have dared doing what they did if they weren't so blindingly arrogant. Even the smallest insult to their provocation and to them will enrage them. So we prepare. We set traps, we evacuate, we strengthen ourselves as much as we can in this short amount of time."

Makarov seemed to think this through, indicated by his left hand stroking his chin slightly. After a moment, he glanced up at the Uchiha and nodded slowly. "I appreciate your efforts in helping us ensure we don't unnecessarily harm ourselves further in this clash against Phantom. But how do you intend to taunt them?"

Madara just smugly smiled slowly before he looked up at the sky for a moment, then back at Makarov. "In which direction is their headquarters, and how far away is it?"

Mirajane, who was the most knowledgeable with geography, decided to answer this one. "To the North. Distance is approximately 6 kilometers."

Madara nodded while glancing into the direction, seeing that it lead directly past the Fairy Tail guildhouse and the lake, and nodded slowly. "Give me just a few minutes and... don't be too surprised by what you are about to see." He cryptically answered before he began to walk towards said lake, leaving a puzzled Fairy Tail behind.

Once he arrived at the Lake, he used his knowledge of Chakra Control on his feet to walk on the surface of the Lake, slowly accelerating into a jog, then a run and then a full on sprint, dashing across the lake with speed high enough to create a drag force that split the water for a few centimeters behind him. Once he was a good distance away from the guildhouse, he leapt up and began to concentrate all of his power into creating the Perfect Susano'o, the massive, energy-based mech-like construction towering high enough for its head to peek above the tip of the hills past the Lake.

Meanwhile, the members of Fairy Tail assembled at the guildhall and watched in awe at the display of raw, unprecedented amount of power coming from the Perfect Susano'o.

"What... frightening strength..." Makarov commented, as even he was somewhat shook.

"Is this... is this even real?" Gray wondered, almost unable to grasp such might.

"He's... at least as strong as Gildarts..." Elfman added, gulping heavily.

Erza only silently stared at what she was looking at.

The Perfect Susano'o reached with one hand for the right bladestrap and prepared to pull its blade, and when it did, the swing produced the infamously cataclysmic shockwave that could split an entire mountainchain horizontally in half. The shockwave split the lake clean in half to the point its bottom was visible, severely damaged the hills past them and traveled beyond even that...

WITH PHANTOM LORD

"Ha! You sure showed them, Gajeel!" One of the Phantom Lord members commented while emptying a mug of beer.

The Iron Dragon Slayer just grinned deviously. "Gehe, they won't be able to ignore this. And when they come, we will crush those pathetic losers!"

"Well done, Gaj-" Jose was about to comment, when suddenly, everyone felt a light tremoring. "What? Are they already here?" Jose then questioned, turning his eyes towards the entrance with a big grin.

Gajeel hopped from his seat and balled his fists, ready to take them on. "Bring it, Fairy Ta-"

BAAAAAAAANG!

The sound of a devastating crashing shook the entire city they were at as the guild house suffered a severe trashing, being struck by the shockwave, which had somewhat died down in the distance but had still preserved enough of its power to cause considerable destabilization of their guildhouse's structural integrity. The members within said guildhouse were also very much shaken, many were blasted by debris from damaged walls or from the sheer force of the raw shockwave, every single window was destroyed which caused shattered glass to fly around wildly and cut some of them into either light or heavy injuries, but no fatal casualities.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Gajeel roared from the top of his lungs, breaking free from some of the debris while his entire body was hardened into iron, growling with pure rage and annoyance. As he glanced ahead at the direction the destruction came from, what he was was equally infuriating as it was terrifying.

A clear cleave caused by the shockwave lead from the entrance of their guildhouse all the way down the road, out of the village into the immediate outskirts down to the hill and beyond it into Magnolia.

Seeing this, Gajeel grit his teeth so hard that if they hadn't been hardened into iron, they would for sure have suffered fractures. "CURSE YOU, FAIRY TAIL!"

BACK WITH FAIRY TAIL

Madara had completely dispelled his Susano'o and returned to land, where the guild members were awaiting him with many questions.

"What the hell was that!?" "What kind of power did you use!?" "Is that your full power!?" "What sort of magic produces such a thing!?" and so on.

Madara just ignored these and walked towards Makarov with a very small, but clearly smug smirk. "They won't be able to ignore this. Give it a few hours and we will have them crawling at our doors begging for a fight. And we will be the ones ready for them."

Makarov nodded his head slowly and turned to his guild. "YOU HEARD THE LAD! PREPARE YOURSELVES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN IN THE LITTLE TIME WE GOT!" He announced with a mighty roar. "STEEL YOUR RESOLVE, READY ANY EQUIPMENT YOU MIGHT NEED, EVACUATE THE CITIZENS TO THE SOUTH!"

"YES MASTER!" Everyone shouted in unison before the members disappeared one by one to begin with the evacuation first.

Only Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Makarov were left behind, as everyone wanted to use this time to prepare themselves, discuss a potential plan, and also interrogate Madara a little.

"Young Lad" Makarov began. "Mirajane told me your name was Madara, right?"

The Uchiha just nodded his head silently.

"You just now said that you know War very well. There is no denying that you have a keen eye and a very perceptive analytic talent. You have seen your fair share of combat."

Madara let out a small sigh, closing his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. "It's been the one thing my life had been influenced by." He started, slowly opening his eyes and looking over each of the members one by one. "I suppose, if this is to be my new home, my new family, I should try to open up to them." He thought to himself. "Where I come from, we did not have Guilds. We have massive gatherings of blood-relatives we called Clans. Mine was the Uchiha Clan and it was considered one of the strongest, only rivaled by the Senju Clan. My home was riddled with war as far as its history books could document. And many Clans either participated in those wars or were hired like mercenaries. Whenever one side hired the Senju, the other would hire the Uchiha to even the odds. Because of how strong we were, we were a high-value target and suffered assassination attempts daily for decades. Anything that weakened the Uchiha Clan was considered and executed, even killing the unborn fetuses within pregnant women. So naturally, we learned how to fight in the wars as early as we learned how to spell our first words. I joined the very first of my battles when I myself was no older than 8, some joined at even younger ages. It's all I have ever known."

Hearing that this war was so vicious and so unhinged that it forced children into it because they either die on the battlefield or in their own homes visibly enraged every single one of the present Fairy Tail members.

"To send Children into war..." Makarov grit through his teeth.

"We had no other choice." Madara responded indifferently. "You cannot defend any morals when every single breath you take is a fight for survival. We do what we must, regardless whether or not we like it."

Erza, ever the compassionate and talented speaker, placed one hand on the quite a big taller Uchiha's shoulder and gave him what he interpretated to be an attempt at a soothing expression. "You must have suffered tremendously, but you won't have to fear for your life like that anymore."

Madara would have loved, LOVED to retort that with how strong he was, everyone else should fear for THEIR lives, but stopped himself just before his lips parted, as he could practically hear a mental imagination of Hashirama chastizing him for spitting on their sincerety with his ego. He just slowly nodded without saying a word and turned his gaze towards Natsu and Gray. "Those days are behind me. This is a new leaf turned over." He spoke while simultaneously chuckling inwardly at the humorous way the word Leaf once more made a defining interpretation into his life.

"Well, we are glad to hear that, my boy!" Makarov cheered him on before lifting his hand for a small wave. "Well, we can get to know each other plenty later, but I have a feeling the others here want to probe you a bit further." The Guild Master answered before turning around and leaving Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Erza with Madara by themselves.

"No matter" Madara muttered to himself before he turned to the others. "I never got to ask any of you for your names."

"I'm Natsu!" The pink-haired boy answered energetically

"Gray." The black-haired male answered, while catching even Madara off-guard with how suddenly he appeared to have no clothes on.

"I am Lucy, nice to meet you properly!" The blonde woman spoke with a big smile.

"I am Happy and I like fish!" The winged blue cat answered.

"And my name would be Erza." The redheaded woman spoke.

Madara immediately memorized everyone's name and nodded slowly while beginning to have what felt like a smile creep up on his face. "Hashirama... it appears I made the right choice." He said while he eyed the members once again. "Their eyes... they all kindle with the same understanding you had. If you could see them all, they'd make you very proud." He further thought to himself before turning his head towards the direction of Phantom Lord once again, then back to the others. "Well, we have some time until our... 'esteemed guests'... arrive. I suppose I might as well get my new comrades to know a bit. Wouldn't want to be a stranger forever."

The group agreed with a small cheer before they all started to have their chats in an effort to kill the time until their fated battle came.

R&R If you enjoyed it! Thanks and until soon!