Chapter 2: The Tower of Heaven

'Dear Status report.' Mason narrated as he jotted down on a piece of paper. 'I'm not actually gonna send this to the Magic Council, but this week has been so crazy I felt like I had to write it down. Let's see. I guess the first big thing that happened was that I met Makarov's Grandson Laxus, he seems nice. Then Mirajane invited me to go see a play with her. She's very nice, and a supermodel, so it was cool spending time with her, but the play kinda sucked. Worst portrayal of a Dragon I've ever seen. Then I went on a mission's with Erza and her team where we beat up a cult. One of the FairyTail Members, Loke went missing and we spent hours looking for him. It turns out he's a space cat or something, and now Natsu's girlfriend has a contract with him. So yeah a weird week so far.'

Mason admired his poorly put together writing, when suddenly there was a ring at his door bell.

DING! DONG!

"I'm coming!" Mason put down the paper and walked over to the door. "Hello." He said opening the large wooden door. Behind it was a rather nervous looking Erza. "Oh, Erza. What's up?"

"HERE!" She stuck what looked to be a ticket straight out in front of her, not making eye contact.

"Huh? What's this?" Mason asked, as he took the small piece of paper from her hands and examined it.

"Well.. Loke got us to tickets to the Akane Resort to thank us for helping him out, and there was an extra one. So since you helped out, we figured you should have it." Erza explained. "So do you wanna go?"

"The beach?... Sure, sounds fun." Mason smiled as he pocketed the ticket.

"Great! We leave tomorrow!" It seemed as though Erza had regained her confidence. "Meet us at the train station at Noon. Don't be late." With that the Redhead slammed the door closed and walked away.

Once she left, the color drained from Mason face and he lowered his. "The Akane Resort is on the ocean south of Magnolia. That means…. THAT IT'S OVER THREE HOURS AWAY BY TRAIN! NOOOOOO!"

(Later at the Beach)

Akane Beach, the most popular tourist destination in Fiore. Among its many attractions is the first class amusement park, five-star hotel and the huge sandy beach adjacent to the sea. Also famous for the five-star restaurants and casino housed in hotel.

"Wow the beach!" A bikini clad Lucy, marveled at the waves crashing onto the shore. "The water is so blue."

"Aye sir!" A smiling blue cat replied as he used his palm to shield his eyes from the sun light as he looked on at the horizon.

"Alright! Lets party!" Natsu roared, before running for the waves.

"That Idiot. Impatient as ever." Gray, who had stayed back with Erza and Mason muttered to himself, before taking off after Natsu. "Wait up Dumbass! We haven't even set up yet?"

"Set up? What exactly are we supposed to set up?" Erza asked. "I didn't bring an umbrella, did you?"

"Of course I did." Mason smirked. "I always come prepared." Mason ripped off his black cloak, revealing his swimsuit. Black, baggy swim trunks with the magic council insignia in blue on the front, near the opening for the right leg. "Umbrella." Mason channeled his magic into the fabric, stinfining it and changing its shape to that of large beach umbrella with an alternating black and white pattern. "Well there we go. Now come on let's have some fun." Mason shot the Redhead a bright smile.

"O-okay…"

Splashing in the sea, playing in the sand, it was a much needed stent of relaxation for the young wizards, especially considering what was to come.

"Aaaahhhh…." Mason let out a content sigh as he laid down in the sand beneath the shade of the umbrella. "I don't remember the last time I had a day off like this. As much fun as busting Dark Guilds and cults are. It's a lot of work. Constant training, Months of surveillance day and night and so much paperwork. I Need a day off like this." Mason closed his eyes. "There's just something familiar about this place that I can't shake." Mason muttered as he dozed off.

(Flashback)

A Young Mason, drowsy, was struggling to push himself off of a sandy beach. "Uh… Dad?" Mason looked around at the new area and immediately knew something was wrong. "Dad! Dad! Where did you go?!"

Mason began to pace back and forth across the beach shouting for his dad, but received no response. "Dad! DAAADDDDD! BURUUT! DAD! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

As Mason continued to pace back and forth he didn't notice a stone buried in the sand and tripped over it, falling face first. Mason pushed himself up so that he was on his knees, but as he did this tears began to form in his eyes and he started to cry. "DAAADDDD! I'M NOT READY YET! I'M NOT READY FOR YOU TO LEAVE ME YET!"

(End of Flashback)

"AAHHH!" Woke up sweating, and immediately sat up. "HA… HA… HA… I just remembered. I hate the beach…" Mason mumbled, wiping the sweat from his brow before his attention was drawn to the hotel. "But… I don't hate a bit of gambling." The Dragon Slayer smirked.

(Later at the Akane Resort Casino)

"Seven! We have another winner!" The game manager at the craps table announced to part of the Casino. "That's five wins in a row! This man is on fire!"

Mason stood at the end of the table wearing a tuxedo with a black bow tie as he juggled another pair of dice in his hands. "What can I say? I got the magic touch." Mason turned to a Black haired girl to his right who was watching with her friends. "Wanna give me a little luck." The group began to giggle and the girl in question blew lightly on the dice and mason's hand.

Mason threw the dice down onto the craps table hard enough so that the bounced against the wall at the other end. The first dice landed on six and the second one that was still bouncing began to faintly glow purple, not bright enough for anyone to see before landing on five.

"Eleven! That's another winner!" The announcer exclaimed for the crowd. "This man can't be stopped!"

"You said it. Not me." Mason said with a grin as he picked the dice back up off the table. "Last round, but I think I need a bit more luck, does anyone wanna give me a hand?

"Ooo! Me! Me!" An upbeat voice called out from the crowd.

"Alright, just…" Mason dropped the dice as a frighteningly familiar smell invaded his nose. "You!" He turned to see a very cat like girl, complete with kitty ears and painted on whiskers. "Millianna! What the h-mmmmm!" an orange rope wrapped itself around Mason's body and his mouth, keeping him from speaking or moving.

"Awh! It's been so many years, but you still remember me Ma-Kun!" The Catgirl taunted before pushing Mason over, causing him to fall to the ground. "Sorry Ma-kun, but we need to go find sister. Jellal wants to see her ASAP! We'd take you back too, but he doesn't want you. So bye!"

"MMMMM!" Mason said, his voice muffled by rope. 'Millianna! She's after Erza!' Mason thought to himself. 'She said "We" does that mean that the others are here too, and how the heck did she learn to use magic. Its binding magic, but it doesn't look like it has any special properties. So I should be able to phase through it, like regular rope.' Mason clenched his fist and began to use his Intangibility, just like he hypothesized the rope fell right off of his body. "Ha! Alright! Now time to go get some answers."

Mason ran through the Casino scanning for Millianna, when he heard a the cry of a familiar voice. "SOMEBODY! HELP!"

"Lucy!" Mason exclaimed. He turned his head to where the scream came from, before disappearing from sight. When he arrived he found a wide cast of characters huddled around a tied up Lucy.

"We got what we came for. Let's go home." A titan of a man, who held an unconscious Erza, said to his associates.

"You sure she's alright?" A younger looking man with brown skin and spiky yellow hair and a high pitched voice asked, sounding almost concerned.

"Yeah she's fine." A man made of blocks, who spoke with a bad old New York accent, answered as he held up his arm which had been converted into a gun. "She's just takin a little nap."

"Wow…" Mason became visible once again, standing against a nearby pillar with his arms crossed and a cocky smirk on his face. "I recognized Sho immediately, and I pieced together that the big guy is Simon after awhile. But jeez Wally, I hate to say it but you got bit buy the ugly bug growing up."

"What the hell!" Wally shouted, stammering backwards in confusion and a bit of fear.

"Millianna!" Sho yelled with a whine. "You said you took care of him."

"I did!" She cried back. "I swear! He was tied up just a few seconds ago!" Millianna squirmed.

"Quit arguing you's two!" Wally silenced the other two. "I'm about to put this fool, six feet under!" Wally cried out pointing his rifle arm at Mason and firing a magic bullet at him. Rather than blasting him, the magic bullet passed through masson, dispersing his body like it was smoke. "What the!?"

"Wow Wally." Mason reformed behind Wally, startling the block man. "That's some interesting Magic, but it's nothing compared to mine." Mason planted his foot, glowing with purple magic, into Wally's back and sent him flying. Then he waved his hand over in Lucy's direction and used his telekinesis to free her from the bindings. "Go find, Natsu or Gray. Get help."

"Right!" The blonde ran out of harm's way as fast as she could.

Millianna looked down at the unconscious block man and began to growl. "Wally! Grrrr! I don't care if you are Ma-kun! Don't hurt wally!" Millianna cried as she tried pouncing on the Dragon Slayer. Her attack simply passed through Mason, causing the girl to fall face first on the ground behind him. "Ouch! That hurt!" Millianna shook off the fall, but when she looked back up at her opponent her eyes grew large. "Ma-kun?"

Mason looked back over his shoulder at Millianna, then raised his hand and pointed it at her. "PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!" Mason fired an energy blast at the girl, blowing her away.

"GGHHH! TAKE THIS!" Sho threw a stack of magic cards at mason.

"PHANTOM DRAGON!" Mason began to inhale large quantities of air. "ROAR!" Mason spit out a spiral of glowing purple phantoms that disintegrated Sho's cards and collided with the blonde mage, knocking him away. "You idiots. Magic ability and magic power are two very different things. You guys just throw out full power spells without any skill are strategy. You guys may know how to use magic but you have no idea how to fight, but I guess that coward Jellal wouldn't teach you that. Would he."

Mason turned around and stared Simon dead in the eyes. "Let her go… I'm disappointed in all of you. You're all weak and pathetic. Crawl back to your stupid tower, and tell Jellal that if we wants Erza, he's gonna have to come get her himself. And when he does I'm gonna beat the crap out of him!"

Simon set Erza down gently and stepped away from her. His single eye then shot a narrow glare back at the boy. "You talk to much." Simon then fired a dark energy blast from his eye.

Mason summoned a barrier and easily blocked the attack, resulting in a cloud of smoke. "Is that it? I thought at least you'd put up some sort of fight. Huh?" Through the cloud smoke, a massive fist fired forward, smashing Mason's stomach. "ACK!" The Dragon Slayer spit up a bit of saliva as he stumbled backwards. "Not bad. HHAAAAHHH!" Mason charged forward, his fist cloaked in magic energy.

"Gggrrrrr! Listen!" Simon yelled, as he grabbed Mason's arm, halting his attack.

"NO WAY! PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!" Mason, with his other hand, fired a powerful energy blast directly into Simon's stomach and while the giant was stunned Mason capitalized. "PHANTOM DRAGON STRIKE!" Mason spun around and slammed his foot into Simons head.

Now free from his grasp Mason jumped backwards and took another deep breath. "PHANTOM DRAGON ROAR!" Mason blasted away Simon, but the flurry of attacks had heavily depleted his magic. Evident by his heavy panting and sweat. "Had enough yet?"

'LISTEN TO ME!' Mason's head began to ring with Simon's voice.

"Ugh! What the hell!" Mason looked around the room, searching for the origin of the voice.

'Calm down, I'm using telepathy.' Simon informed him as he climbed back to his feet. 'Now listen, the R-System has been completed.' Mason's eyes widened in terror. 'And Jellal has selected Erza to be the sacrifice, but even if we fail in taking her Jellal will just select another sacrifice and activate the tower anyway. Trust me I've thought everything through, the only way we defeat him is by bringing him Erza.'

Mason paused a second and tried to comprehend the information he just recieved. "Ok.." He eventually said. "You can take her, but you'll have to take me too. And I get the first crack at Jellal." Mason set his conditions and Simon was hesitant for a moment but eventually agreed.

'Fine.' He answered telepathically. 'But your going to have to do everything I say.'

"Auuhhh… My aching head.." Wally groaned as he slowly climbed back to his feet.

"Ugh… Wally? What happened?" Millianna asked, as she slowly climbed back to her feet.

"Take this!" Simon called out as a magic circle formed in front of his eye. "DARK BURST!"

A yellow light began to form around Mason, growing more and more intense. "AAAAHHHHHH!" The Dragon Slayer screamed in pain before the eventual.

KAABBBOOOOOOMMMMM! Mason exploded, without leaving a trace behind. No body, not a scrap of clothing, just ash.

"Holy.." Wally couldn't believe his eyes.

"You completely destroyed him…. I know he was fighting against us, but he was our friend." Sho starred on in disbelief.

"WAH! NO! MA-KUN!" Millianna began to sob.

"Jellal ordered us to eliminate anyone who got in our way." Simon said as he picked Erza back up off the ground. "I won't let anyone keep me from heaven. Even if he was our friend once. Now let's get back to the ship."

(On the ship)

Simon stood alone on the bow, staring off into the night's horizon. "Are you there?" He said softly.

"Uhhhh.." Mason made himself slightly more visible, his face green with motion sickness. "How much longer…" He tried his best to whisper, but his body wasn't exactly cooperating at this point.

"Not much longer. Try to keep yourself together. If you puke on the boat, it'll blow your cover." Simon said, half joking.

"I'm sorry… I feel like I'm dying…." Mason began to hunch over, but nothing helped.

Simon began to stare back into the horizon, as a tall slender tower became visible in the distance. "Mason are you ready?"

The Dragon Slayer seemed to immediately shape up, and refocus on the task at hand. "Yeah, my magic power has been recovering nicely, I should be at full strength by the time we get there."

"That's not what I mean. I'm saying are you ready to go back to the tower. You were almost as close to him as Erza, are you ready to face Jellal.." Simon put a strong hand on Mason's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

"Y-yeah. I think so." Mason stood strong and stared back at the tower, but inside he was having some doubt. 'Jellal….'

(Flashback)

A blue haired boy worked tirelessly in the mind, constantly pounding his pickaxe into stone, but even though he was giving it everything he had he was working at a rather slow pace. 'Damnit!' The boy cursed himself. ' I spent too much time last night digging the escape tunnel, I'm exhausted. I just gotta hope that the guard doesn't notice.'

"Hey you! Quit slacking off." Almost immediately a guard began to pressure the young Jellal. "C'mon Faster! I said Faster! Don't make me hurt you." The guard pulled back his whip ready to strike. "If you're gonna be lazy you're gonna get hurt!" He lashed with his whip, causing Jellal to wince prematurely, but the blow never came. "What the!?" Mason had grabbed the whip out of the air before it could strike Jellal.

"Leave him alone." Mason said, using his enhanced strength to yank the weapon from the guards hand.

"Why you! If you weren't a potential sacrifice, I'd kill you right now!" The guard yelled back at the boy.

"I'd like to see you try!" Mason glared back.

"That's it! Guards!" Soon the two boys were surrounded. "Let's teach'em both a lesson about respecting authority!"

"Right!" The other guards said in unison. They ganged up and gave the two boys a nasty beating, leaving them bruised on the ground when it was all over.

"Aaahhh! I'm sorry." Mason apologized. "I meant to help, but it seems like I made things worse."

"No… That was awesome!" Jellal sounded almost ecstatic. "I've never seen anyone stand up to them before. If we show them we can't just be pushed around they'll know they can't control us and if that happens we'll be one step closer to true freedom. You know, you don't really talk too much. You've been here almost a week, but you still seem so distant. Turns out your pretty nice."

"Did you think I was mean before?" Mason looked over to ask.

"Well I didn't. But you do come off as kinda unapproachable. I'm pretty sure Sho is afraid of you." Jellal responded with a bright friendly smile.

"Oh, sorry… My bad." Mason was about to go quiet again, but then he realized that was the problem. "I was raised by a Dragon. You guys are the first other humans I've ever met. I don't know how to make friends."

"Seriously?" Jellal sat back up and looked over at Mason. "Well you know what? From now on you and I are friends."

Mason sat up and stared back at Jellal looking utterly stunned. "For real?"

"Yup! From now on the two of us are best friends!" Jellal stuck his hand out to shake and slowly but surely Mason met it, confirming the friendship.

(End of Flashback)

"Uhhhuuhhh…" Mason shook of the chills and returned to reality. "When the time comes I'll be ready!" Mason clenched his fist. "Now excuse me, I have to do something." Mason vanished into thin air, before Simon could reply.

"I'm sorry my friend." Simon continued anyway. "But I don't think you will be."

Mason, under the cover of his invisibility, slipped down to the ships hull where Erza was tied up and being observed by Sho. "SLEEP!" Mason chanted, forcing Sho to drop to the floor and fall into a deep sleep, before he fully revealed himself.

"Mason! You're here!" Erza cried out in relief but she was swiftly shushed by th the Dragon Slayer.

"SShhhhh… You have to be quiet." Mason whispered, then using a bit more telekinesis, he freed Erza from her bindings. "If you want to leave, now's your chance to jump ship. We are approaching the tower."

"Wait, what about you." Erza whispered back, her voice flooded with concern. " Don't tell me you plan on staying."

"I have to." Mason's eyes burned with fierce passion. "I'm going to defeat Jellal before anyone else gets hurt. And I'm gonna do it alone!"

Night turns to day as we find the ship carrying heroes entering port at the infamous Tower of Heaven…

"Well, gang. We made it. Home sweet home." Wally said, still in character. "Who should receive the honor of tell the boss that our mission was a success?"

"Ooo! Me! I wanna tell the boss!" Millianna jumped up and waved her arms, hoping to be picked.

"I'll do it." Simon said, stoic as ever. "I need to take responsibility and own up to killing our brother. He and Jellal were close once, I'm sure news of his death would be displeasing."

"Awh… You're gonna make me tear up…" Mason's disembodied voice came over the ship, before he manifested himself out of thin air. "But saying I'm dead would be a bit of an exaggeration." Mason grinned.

"What the hell! The Wise Guy tricked us!" Wally quickly summoned his arm cannon, but Mason moved like a blur leaping into the air. "You think you're smart!? I can hit you even if you are in the air!" Wally pointed his gun up above him and fired a bullet of light at Mason.

The Dragon Slayer was done played around, he turned back to face the attack his red eyes burning intensely. "PHANTOM DRAGON ROAR!" Mason let rip a swarm of spiraling phantoms that consumed Wally's attack and went on to smash a hole directly through the center of ship.

"My ride…." Wally looked on as the boat began taking on water and slowly began to sink down into the ocean below.

Mason meanwhile continued to fly through the air, until he landed on the side of the tower that once served as his home. "GRRRR! AAHHH!" Mason smashed open the wall and entered the tower along with a cloud of smoke and dust.

"HALT!" A group of dark mages had gathered to meet the intruder, but they were ill prepared for what they were about to face. Mason rose from the ground, his body concealed by smoke only his silhouette and two piercing red eyes could be made out through the clouds.

"Where the hell is Jellal!" Mason growled.

"Why would we tell you anything? Men prepared to fire." The head mage said with a wave of his staff.

"That's too bad. I don't have time for this." Mason replied and a purple light began to shine through the smoke. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!" The energy blast barreled through the crowd of mages knocking at least a dozen of them away And robbing them of conciousness.

"He's, a monster!" A thug called out. "AAAAHHHHH!" He cried as a knee planted itself in his face, K'Oing him.

"Outta the way…" Mason threatened as he continued to stop his way through the cursed tower.

(Flashback)

"Mason! You're here!" Erza cried out in relief but she was swiftly shushed by th the Dragon Slayer.

"SShhhhh… You have to be quiet." Mason whispered, then using a bit more telekinesis, he freed Erza from her bindings. "If you want to leave, now's your chance to jump ship. We are approaching the tower."

"Wait, what about you." Erza whispered back, her voice flooded with concern. " Don't tell me you plan on staying."

"I have to." Mason's eyes burned with fierce passion. "I'm going to defeat Jellal before anyone else gets hurt. And I'm gonna do it alone!"

"What!? Are you kidding? There's no way you can beat him by yourself." Erza pleaded as Mason's fist began to shake.

"I'm stronger than you think. Natsu was right, I was holding back in our fight." Mason started grinding his teeth, he hated the thought but to defeat Jellal he might need to use Drive. "If I have to, there's a whole other level of power I have at my disposal."

"The Drive technique? Is that your trump card?" Erza answered sounding less than impressed. "The Master told me about it. A magic amplification spell like no other he's seen before. But you can't beat Jellal by just powering up. He's too much for you alone."

"Grrrr….. You think too highly of him!" Mason growled and his eyes flashed purple. Millianna's magic Rope then wrapped itself back around Erza, this time covering her mouth. "I don't really care what you think."

"HMMM! MMMMMMFFFF!" The Redhead struggled, unable to speak.

"Sorry but Simon said that you're important to his little plan, and I have nothing against having a back up plan ready. But I get first crack at him and don't you forget that." Mason crouched down and glared at Erza in an attempt to intimidate her.

"Uh… What happened?" Sho grunted as he began to awaken. With that Mason once again disappeared from sight.

(End of Flashback)

'Sorry Erza…' Mason said as he blasted another henchmen away. 'But I meant it. Jellal is mine.'

(Meanwhile)

A small dingy carrying some familiar faces drifted through the sea, not too far behind.

"Ugghhh…. Are we there yet!" A sickly Natsu wailed.

"Geez man. Pull yourself together, will ya?" A shirtless Gray facepalmed.

"Quit disappointing Gray-sama!" A Blue haired woman growled. This was Juvia Lockser, a powerful water mage. Once a member of Phantom Lords elite Element four.

"Hey guys…" Lucy, who was steering the small boat called out in a frightened voice. "I think the tower is exploding…"

The four wizards crowded the front of the boat, shielding their eyes to get a better look. Part of the tower was indeed smoking, and suddenly another explosion erupted on the opposite side of the building.

"Whoa! There's something crazy going on in there!" Gray yelled out startled.

"It's too dangerous for you Gray-sama. I suggest we retreat." Juvia replied now in serious mode.

"Ha!" Natsu smiled, now apparently recovered from his motion sickness. "It's pretty obvious what's going on in their, don't you recognize it. There's a Dragon Slayer on a rampage. Now hurry! He's already got a head start!" Natsu pointed for the tower in an impatient spasm. "Come on! Let's get going!"

(At the magic council headquarters Women's locker room)

The sound of water running from a faucet. Could be heard as two women entered the washroom. Julia Moors and Amber Celadon two of the Head Captains of the Custody Enforcement Unit entered the room wearing nothing but towels, chatting amongst themselves.

"Man, today's training was super intense…" Julia said entering one of the stall-like showers, closing the door and hanging her towel up on top. She then turned on the shower, letting the warm, calming water cascade over her face and down her light blonde hair. "I definitely needed this."

"Yeah… Water is nice." The ever quiet Amber said, repeating Ambers shower process. "My arms are tired."

"Well you should probably get used to it. I know that the boss has never been much for relaxation and happiness, but she's been in a real crappy mood recently." Julia complained as she ran a washcloth down her long smooth legs. "You know what it is right?"

"Hormones?" Amber replied with an unintentionally smart toungue.

"Well, close. She's just sad that her Boyfriend ran off to join the circus." Julia snickered. "Oh that's right, they aren't dating because the boss is afraid she's gonna get rejected so she won't say how she feels."

"Care to rephrase that…" A cross voice and An eerily frightening arua began to seep from the shower next o Julia's. Causing the green eyed girl to start sweating.

"Uh… Boss… Hi, I didn't see you come in." Julia began to shake.

"Well that's because I was here before you. I was about to get out when I heard the two of you having a rather interesting conversation." Brosnan stood back crossing her arms over her chest, she maintained a calm expression but it was clear that she was upset. "Julia if you had a problem with the training routine, you should've told me directly rather than starting ridiculous rumors. For that I'll have a few extra exercises planned for you tomorrow."

"Uh… Yes Ma'am…" Julia nearly dropped to her knees in sorrow.

"So you don't like Mason-san?" Amber asked, not reading th mood.

"What!" The Light Wizard began to blush at the mention of his name. "Of course I don't like him. He's stupid and Irresponsible. Not to mention a total pervert!" She got louder the longer she spoke of him. "I'm getting out!" She said slamming the shower door open, her body wrapped in the towel. The other two girls followed quickly after her.

The women were in the middle of getting dressed the had just put on their underwear. Amber and Brosnan hand similar choices of monochromatic (light blue and pink respectively) cotton sets that left plenty to the imagination. It was an appropriate choice for Amber, but it may be a bit childish for the 19 year old captain. Julia meanwhile selected a much more mature choice, black lace nearly see through in places contrasting her silky smooth white skin.

They were in the midst of changing when Amber decided to continue the conversation. "Because I like Mason-san." The young girl said without shame.

"What!" Brosnan jumped back, she clearly wasn't prepared for that question. Julia struggled to keep back a chuckle.

"He's funny, and nice. I came here after my mom died and he was very nice and tried to make me smile. He's like my big brother." Amber said, her expression remained dull not matching her words.

"Oh… That's what you meant." Brosnan let out a relieved sigh. "I admit, Mason is a good person. He's nice… to everyone."

"I miss him." Amber continued. "When is he gonna come back."

"I'm sure he'll get bored playing babysitter soon enough, I don't think it'll long." Brosnan said confidently.

"Are you sure about that." Julia antagonized. "He's got plenty to keep him preoccupied in fairy tail."

"What is that supposed to mean." Brosnan called her out, picking up on the subtext Julia was hinting at.

"I'm just saying everything I've heard about the fairy tail guild is that despite the craziness, there's a lot of appeal there. Especially the women. One of the Wizards there is the centerfold for sourcerer weekly. And all the stories involving Titania say that she is incredibly ruthless but also captivatingly beautiful. One of those fairies may catch his eye." Julia smirked, she was clearly having fun taunting the captain.

"But Mason's an idiot so I don't think there's a lot to worry about." Brosnan was fast to respond.

"So when Mason-san does come back are you gonna marry him and have babies." Amber said with a straight face.

Brosnan couldn't answer she just started to shake as Julia busted out laughing. "Pffffttt! HAHAHAHAAHA! Well…" Julia wiped a tear from her cheek. "Aren't you gonna answer her?"

"Uh… ummm…" Brosnan began to shake nervously as she fumbled to find her words, luckily she was about to get an out.

"Head Captain!" A man with glasses and a black ponytail slammed the door open. "We've been summoned… by… the….council….." The man slowly realized the state of dress that he had found the women in and he could help his eyes as he took in their curves and figures. "Sorry!" He quickly slammed the door shut.

"Grrrr…. LAHAR!" Brosnan summoned her massive blade to her hand and stabbed it through the dressing room door. "DIE PERVERT!"

"Hahhhhh! I said sorry!"

(Magic council, at Era)

"Are you saying that it still exists? Impossible!" A magic council blurted out, Uh able to believe his eyes as the screen of the magic council revealed the tower of heaven fully constructed.

"About a decade ago a year ago construction began on the R-System." Another magic council men replied giving a name to the structure. "Built by a cult of Black Magic users."

"But we destroyed all seven towers, there shouldn't be any left!" A third council men replied in confusion.

"Evidently we missed one, The eighth Tower. In the waters near Ka-El." Another member of the council, this time a woman and seemingly the most level headed speaker so far addressed the situation. "The surveillance team we sent disappeared after recording these images. We sent a more advanced team to investigate but we don't know if we'll receive any more results."

"Is it finished?"

"It looks finished to me." A young woman, the Magic Council's beautiful Ultear replied with we sharp tongue.

"But why would someone want to revive the R-System." An older council men with cat ears and a large orange mustache asked.

"The tower of heaven." The council shifted their attention to a young man who resembled Jellal almost identically. This was Jellal's twin brother Siegrain. "It's not the R-System, it's the tower of Heaven. To be clear."

"It doesn't matter what it's called! It uses black magic and must be stopped, imagine if word of it got out to the public."

"Then I suggest we despatch the military." The older council woman spoke back up.

"That's not an option." An odd looking council men with a bowl hair cut and sunglasses replied. "We have no idea what we're dealing with, we'd be sending our soldiers in blind. All we know is that it's maned by a group of wizards led by a man named Jellal."

"What Jellal!? Siegrain isn't that your twin brother!?"

Siegrain looked up at the council with Dejected eyes. "Yes that would be him… But that doesn't matter, now is the time for action!" Jellal rose his voice for the council. "We must use the Satellite Square to Fire an Etherion Blast and destroy the Tower!"

Ultear was quick to back Siegrain. "The R-System is forbidden magic that we cannot allow to become part of our recorded history, so it must be destroyed."

"No way! Any civilians in the tower will be obliterated!" A voice of concern rose from the council. "Not to mention your brother Siegrain, he'd surely be killed. Could you live with that!?"

"For the sake of others I could." The blue haired man replied calmly.

"Although lives of innocent civilians may be lost its a sacrifice that must be made. For the greater good." The odd looking council argued.

"How could you even say that, imagine how we would be vilified for this!"

"For the sake of future generations I would easily sacrifice my reputation." The woman council member argued. "For the sake of the value of life, the Tower must be destroyed. I vote in favor of an Etherion Blast."

"We only need one more." Siegrain said with a grin.

(Later, back at the tower of heaven)

Mason had pinned another Dark Mage down and held an energy ball to his head. "Well, how about you. Are you gonn tell me where Jellal is? Your friends refused, and just looked how that turned out." He nodded over to a trail of beaten and bruised mages.

"No way! He promised to get us all into heaven." The dark mage, sounding a bit younger than the rest answered. "I'd rather die than betray lord Jellal."

"Hmmm… Suit yourself." Mason brought the energy ball closer but then a familiar smell entered his nostrils. "Natsu?" Mason punched the dark mage in the stomach knocking him unconscious. "Damn it, I've wasted too much time. Natsu you're crazy if you think you're stealing this kill. I called dibs." Mason sniffed the air one last time, but couldn't locate the scent he wanted. "Crap. I can't pick up his scent anywhere. Damn it Jellal! Where the hell are you!"

"Greetings mages, I welcome you to the tower of heaven.." A familiar voice rang over the towers intercom system.

"JELLAL!" Mason growled.

"I am Jellal and I am the ruler of the tower." The maniac continued. "It looks like the players have been arranged. I'm delighted that you all have come to visit me, I would like for all of us to play a round of heavens game. The rules are quite simple I wish to use Erza as my sacrifice and if I'm victorious than the gates of heaven will open to crown me. To make things more interesting I have enlisted four knights as my champions. You must defeat them to get to me. A four on nine battle royal. But that's not all, the Magic Council has aimed the Satelite Square at us and are currently voting on whether or not to fire an Etherion Blast. If that happens then there will be no winners."

Jellal's voice stopped playing, leaving Mason to stew in this new information. "A game!? He wants to turn this all into a game!?" The Phantom Dragon Slayer smiled. "Sounds fun. But I gotta see if I can do something about that Etherion Blast." A magic circle formed by Mason's ear and he began to speak into it.

(Magical Council at Era)

Another purple magic circle opened at the center of the magic council room. "Uh, hello." Mason's voice emerged form the circle. "This is Captain Mason Alastor, I managed to infiltrate the Tower Of Heaven…"

"WHAT!" The entire council erupted in confusion.

"Captain Alastor." A neared councilmen took the reins. "I thought you had been assigned an observation job, how did you manage to infiltrate the R-System?"

"Well I was in the neighborhood so I decided to stop by." The council began to nervously sweat at the clear sarcasm demosntrated by the captain in such a dire situation. "It doesn't matter how I got here, the point is that I'm in position and intend to take down Jellal on my own. I'm hoping you could hold back on that Etherion Blast."

This got Siegrain in a bit of a panic, not wanting to lose the crowd he began to plead with the soldier. "Captain Alastor, this is Siegrain and I plead that you reconsider. You more than anyone should know how dangerous it would be to leave the tower standing. We can't risk the fate of the world on the chance that you can defeat my brother."

"Sir Siegrain. I completely agree with you. I don't wish for you to cancel the Etherion Blast. If I fail, you must destroy the tower. But please all I ask is you give me one hour, if I cannot defeat Jellal by then you should fire." Mason reasoned.

"One hour." Siegrain relented. "That's all we can give you. Good luck captain."

(Back in the Tower Of Heaven)

The council hung up. "Alright, one hour. I can manage that." Mason looked up at the ceiling. "If it's supposed to be a game then the goal is to get to the end. The bottom is the beginning so that must mean Jellal is at the top." Mason began to float of the grown for a split second before rocketing upwards, using his intangibility to phase through the floors for a fast ascent. "Jellal! I'm coming for you!"

Mason rose floor after floor through the tower before coming to a stop. He was in a strange room. It was tall at least 5 stories. Just a cylindrical room filled with bridges each of which connected two different openings to two different rooms.

"This is the top of the tower…. Which means on of the Doors will take me to Jellal." Mason continued to look around back and forth across the room. There had to be at least fifty bridges, meaning there were one hundred rooms to choose from. "Oh great…."

As Mason stood idle, trying to figure where to begin, a strange projectile with a glowing yellow aura flew through the air and landed next to him at his feet. "What's this?" Mason bent down and on closer inspection it was a knife cloaked in a burning yellow aura. Mason continued to study the strange knife when suddenly.

KAAABOOOOOMMMMM! The knife erupted in a large fiery explosion that consumed Mason.

Mason lept into the air, and let his levitation carry him, a trail of smoke following. He landed on another bridge. "What the hell was that!?"

"Hey kid!" Mason looked up and his eyes were filled shock. An older man with messy gray hair that reached down to his shoulders and a spiky gray beard that reached down just as far and a eyepatch covering his left eye. "Long time no see." The bearded man smiled a gruesome smile.

"No way." Mason stepped back a bit, he still couldn't believe his eyes. "Head Captain Percival!?"

(Flashback, 4 years ago)

"What's going on?" A younger Mason now about 14 anxiously pressed his ear against the wall trying to listen to what's going on.

"Hush Lieutenant!" Brosnan snapped back with an angry whisper. Only a year older than the boy, at this point she was the Sixth Head Captain Of the Custody Enforcement Unit at the age of 15. She was also desperately trying to listen in on what was happening. "If I get in trouble for this, I swear you'll pay for it."

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" The imposing voice of Tyson Hammer called out from behind the young girl. He was currently the second head captain.

"Uh, I Uh.." Brosnan got nervous and couldn't answer properly.

"Tyson." Mason spoke up. "What did the Captain Do? Why is he in trouble?"

Brosnan went pale now that her motives had been discovered.

"Huh…" Tyson sighed as he crossed his arms. "What do you think. He broke the rules. He was assigned to bring down a Dark Guild and take the Master in. But he killed the master and the council lost out on vital information."

"What's gonna happen to him?" Brosnan looked up almost crying.

"Oh that's right. Captain Percival is the one who brought you to us wasn't he." Tyson put a friendly hand on the young girls head and tried to comfort her. "I don't know… The Council has been looking to get rid of him for years now. They have never been fans of his rather unorthodox methods and this may just be excuse they needed to get rid of him."

(Inside the council room)

"Captain Percival, do you have anything to say for yourself regarding your latest actions." A man with a long, entricut grey beard and a classic wizards hat said. This was the Magic Council chairman Gran Doma.

Percival simply smiled and shrugged. "I thought he was stronger. If I knew he was such a weakling I probably would've held back a bit more. My bad."

"You dare make light of this situation! Intelligence leads us to believe that he had information regarding the Balam Alliance, the greatest threat to our way of life left on the planet. We do not regard your actions as a laughing matter." Gran Doma berated.

"Trust me." Percival replied sharply. "If the Balam Alliance trusts an idiot like that with important information than they're a bunch of idiots and we really shouldn't worry too much."

"I've had it with that attitude of yours!" Doma stood up from his large throne-like seat. "You may be a powerful wizard, but your recklessness and poor attitude are more of a hindrance than any help. I hereby Dishonourably Discharge you of duty. You are to be stripped of your rank of Captain and all affiliation you have with this council has now been dissolved. Now leave, you are never to return!" Doma waved his hand forward signalling the old mage to leave.

(Outside the council)

Percival exited the large wooden doors of the council room, not looking anyway saddened by what had just occurred in the other way.

"Captian! What's happened, what has the council ruled?" Tyson rushed up to meet his associate.

Percival looked up with with a smug grin. "Not captain anymore, so just call me Percival."

"No way…" Tyson lowered his head trying to cope. "You've been…"

"Dishonorably Discharged." Percival proudly pushed out his chest. "But you really shouldn't be so concerned. You've got plenty more to worry about Head Captain Hammer. If the stress ever gets too much for ya, just let me know. I know this joint on the outskirts of Hargeon. The waitresses are smokin, and the drinks aren't half bad either. Hahahaha!"

Tyson didn't laugh. He was still caught up in the sorrow of the moment. "But sir…"

"Enough with that sir crap. I'm not your commanding officer anymore." Percival put his hand on Tyson's massive shoulder. "We had some good times didn't we, but your the boss now. Set a good example." Percival gestured to the two children standing behind him, still taking everything in.

"Right." Tyson shaped up, before saluting his former captain. "You will be missed soldier. I hope you continue to make the most of what life gives you."

"Right back at you." Percival soluted back.

"Captain Percival!" Brosnan ran up and hugged the old soldier by the leg. "You can't just leave! You promised when I got big enough you'd let me fight you. I want you to be there to see me get strong!" Tears began to well up in her eyes.

"That's enough!" Percival scolded getting the girl to look up with dejected eyes. "Now you're the 5th Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit! Carry yourself as such! Imagine if the troops saw their captain crying like a child. From now on you have to make sure to be strong, never cry. They need to see their captain as strong, no matter what no matter when. You think you can handle that responsibility."

"Y-Yes sir." Brosnan wiped her tears away and stood strong. "Farewell sir!" She soluted.

Then Percival walked over to Mason who, looked upset but kept quiet. "What? You don't have any final words to say to me?"

"The council is a bunch a jerks…" Mason looked away as he said this.

"Yeah, they're jerks alright. But they make the rules and pay the bills. So it sucks but you gotta listen to them." Percival sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "But hey, look on the bright side. This makes you the Sixth Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit, so congrats kid. But I got one last order for ya. The council may be in charge, but don't let them tell you what to do." Percival smiled and Mason looked back confused. "Do their missions and whatever they ask, but think about it what self respecting Dragon would let a bunch of old losers boss them around?"

"You're right!" Mason stood proud.

"One more thing." Percival kneeled down and smiled at the boy, before turning both of their attentions to Brosnan. "She's acting strong because I told her to, but shes actually having a really hard time with all this. Now's your chance." Percival whispered. "Go swoop in and make her feel better. You do that and she'll be all yours."

"WAAAH!" Mason yelled as he squirmed away from the veteran, his face covered in a bright crimson blush. "What are you talking about!? Gross! It's not even like that!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Percival began to laugh from his belly, tearing up a bit. "Sure whatever you say kid..."

(End of Flashback)

"Did you forget already kid?" Percival smirked as he pulled out another knife from his black vest, charging it with yellow magic energy. "I ain't the captain anymore!" He threw the blade at Mason's feet, prompting the Dragon Slayer to jump to another bridge before the knife could explode again.

KAABBBBOOOOOOMM! One of the many bridges was shattered into millions of pieces.

"You'd think after all these years you and I would finally be on a first name basis." Percival pulled out another knife. "If you need to keep things professional than you can call me Master Percival. As in the Master of Death's Head Order." His dark grey eyes began to burn with malicious intent.

"Wait.. Death's Head Order.." Mason thought for a second, before he realized what was so familiar. "The Assassin's Guild. The council has been searching for them for the past two years. But every operative that's been sent out so far has gone missing."

"Yeah, I got so tired of that stupid blue symbol so that's what I've been aiming for every time I see one." Percival threw a knife, this time with no magic charge directly at Mason's chest, but the blade simply passed through the Dragon Slayer.

"But why? Why would you go and join a dark guild?" Mason asked, still hesitant to fight his old friend.

"I didn't join a Dark Guild, I made one. As for why, a Wizards gotta eat. Also I like to play to my strengths. You know how my Knife Magic works. I can charge these knives with various enchantments like that yellow one that makes them blow up." Percival pulls out another knife that began to radiate a violent red magic. "Or this red one that ups the pain you recieve if you get cut by it."

Percival throws the blade but once more it passes through Mason's body without harming him. "And you should remember how my magic works. Those knives won't hurt me you can fling as many as you want. They'll just pass right through me."

"Huh, I guess you're right. I forgot about that didn't I. That intangibility is gonna be a real problem for me." Percival grabbed another knife from behind his back and smiled menacingly. "Luckily I came prepared." He flung the blade forward and cloaked it in a veil of purple magic.

Mason stood pat, planning to let the blade phase through him once more. But it wouldn't be so easy this time. "AAHH!" Mason winced, he looked down to see the hilt of the throwing knife sticking from his stomach. Then a wave of purple energy rushed over him. "HHAAAHHHAAA!" The surge of energy was clearly painful, but it eventually subsided. "GRAAHH!" Mason pulled the blade from his side, it was cloaked with his blood. "What the hell did you do to me?.."

"That enchantment will keep you from becoming intangible for awhile." Percival pulled out another blade and charged it with the red pain magic. "Now let's have some fun."

(On a Magic Council ship, in the water around the tower of heaven)

"Take this…" Amber said in a small voice as she pointed her magic cannon-pistol out in front of her. "

" She fired an enormous blast of magic energy forward, destroying a mountain of floating debris. "Alright you can move forward." With that the ship slowly moved through the incredibly thick fog.

"Captain." Tyson addressed as he walked behind Brosnan who stood on the bow of the ship, not in her armor. " Even with Lahar's navigation skills it will take around an hour to pass through this fog and reach the tower."

"DAMNIT!" A frustrated brosnan summoned her massive armored gauntlet and used it to smash the railing she had been leaning against. "We need troops on the ground, NOW!"

"You're not gonna like this.." Tyson muttered to himself. Before sighing and speaking back up. "Sir! I received word from the council and it turns out we already have troops on the ground. Well… Troop. Sir."

"Who could have possibly gotten there…. before ...us….No!" Brosnan slowly came to realization, and started gritting her teeth. "That idiot! It would totally be like him to abandon his post and do something like this. I swear does he take anything seriously!?"

"He grew up here you know. He never talks about it, so there must be some pretty bad memories of this place. It's fitting that he'd be the one who went and took this place down." Tyson smiled, looking up where he believed the tower to be.

"Hmm.. Unfortunately for him, I don't intend to let him be the lone hero this time." Brosnan smiled as well. "Step on it. I gotta make sure we rain on that idiots parade!"

(Back in the tower)

"Ha!" Mason jumped up over the blade, before landing uncomfortably and grasping at the wound on his side. Mason looked up to the bridge that his old friend was standing on. "You want to fight!? Fine by me!

" He let out a mouth full of purple phantoms that shattered Percival's bridge causing him to fall from his perch.

"Hehe! That's more like it!" Percival, mid fall, grabbed three blades in his fist and charged them with orange magic. "Take this kid!" He flung the blades before landing on another bridge. The blades became cloaked in flames and three fires balls made there way for Mason.

Mason lifted up his black cloak which caught all the knives in its fabric. He then leapt into the air and met Percival on his bridge. "

" Mason shot out a blast of magic energy.

Percival grabbed a machete from the back of his vest and charged it with white magic energy. He then chopped the purple magic blast with the large knife and destroyed it. "Cancelation Magic. You're gonna have to try harder than that, you're boring me."

"Shut it! I don't have time for you." Mason charged two hands with magic energy. "

" Mason blasted a massive amount of energy at the old mage who managed to block the enormous blast with his radiant white blade.

"Nice try kid but, AAHH!" Percival stopped mid sentence as Mason planted a magic charged foot into his stomach.

"

" Mason knocked the bearded man away, slamming him into the wall behind him.

"Ugh… Not bad. That's more like it." Percival pulled two more knives out and charged them with red pain magic. "How bout a bit of hand to hand."

Mason flattened out his hand like a blade and purple energy began to surge from his fingertips down to his elbow. "

Fine, let's just get this over with. HAAHHH!" Mason charged forward stabbing his arm forward, but Percival weaved to the side and stabbed Mason in the back with the crimson blade. "AAAAHHHHHAAAAAHHHHH!" The pain coursed through his entire body, it was an intense burning pain. The shock from the attack caused Mason's attack to disappear.

"Hurts doesn't it?" Percival mocked as Mason dropped to his knees, before kicking him in the stomach while he was on the ground, sending him rolling into the corner. He began to charge a knife with the yellow explosive energy. "Time to die kid."

"NOO!" Mason's hand charged with purple energy and he slammed it into the ground, destroying the bridge beneath the both of them causing them to free fall.

Mason, using levitation caught himself, before preparing another attack. "

" Mason sent an energy blast directly into the body of the falling Percival, causing him to crash through another bridge and onto the ground, three stories down. Mason followed after.

"Ugh… You know i'm disappointed in you son." Percival wiped his jaw of blood as he climbed back to his feet, relatively unscathed. "So much talent, yet you lower yourself to just another pawn of the Magic Council. A glorified errand boy. Go here, get this, do that. Thirty years of my life, what a waste. All that work and what do I get, a Dishonorable Discharge. They never cared about me, and they don't care about you. They sent you on a damn suicide mission, to come here! But you still follow them like a sheep. Imagine what Papa Dragon would say seeing his son's life taken from him by a bunch of stupid old wizards." Percival chucked another red blade at the Dragon Slayer who blocked it with a magic barrier.

"That's not true. The council didn't send me here. I came here myself! I need to find Jellal, I'll bring him to justice." Mason tried to stand strong, but his legs began shake. The fight to this point and dealing with the Dark mages earlier had severely depleted his magic reserves.

"Well, well. You surprise me kid. Glad to see you're not a total lost cause. Unfortunately your buddy Jellal is paying me a ton of jewel to keep punks like you from getting to him." Percival charged another red blade and readied himself to continue.

"Then I need to take you down.." Mason's fist charged with energy. "

" This energy ball was a bit more loose and wobbly. Allowing Percival to easily knock it away.

"Wow. You're in worse shape than you look." Percival taunted as Mason charged forward, his leg cloaked in magic energy.

"

" Mason swung his leg forward, but Percival managed to dodge. Mason kept trying to land a blow, but Percival was always one step ahead. Fatigue began to set in on the Dragon Slayer and he eventually lost the strength to finish the attack.

Percival swung his knife for the Dragon Slayer, but Mason vanished in thin air. "

" Mason appeared directly in front of the old wizard and fired a punch aimed for his face.

SMACK! Mason's fist was caught in Percivals hand, the punch was easily stopped. "Nice try, but looks like you're out of power…" Percival slammed his crimson red blade into Mason's arm.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!" Mason screamed in pain as he dropped back to the ground. "DAMN IT!" Mason ripped the blade out of his arm, letting the blood seep out from his wound.

"Well game over boy." Percival slowly walked over to the grounded Dragon Slayer, blade in hand.

"Not yet!" Mason growled before he started to inhale. "WHHOOOOHHHH!" Purple streams of magic energy began to pour out of the wall and into his mouth. Slowly Mason's wounds began to close as he climbed back to his feet. "You know it's not really not fair." Mason mumbled to himself. "From what I can tell, Natsu likes the taste of flames. But for me it's disgusting. I eat evil and sin, just pure negative energy and this tower is full of it. But it's slimy and bitter and cold. But god." Mason looked up, his eyes shining a bright purple. "It feels so good!"

Mason's body began to adapt to the surge of magic energy. His body absorbing his aura and his eyes returning to their natural red color. "You know what makes me mad the most though. It's not that you went and betrayed all of us, or that you're keeping me from getting to Jellal. It's not even that I just had a disgusting meal because of you. It's because you made me eat from this tower. This place, it still gives me nightmares all these years later. Now I feel it coursing through every inch of my body."

Percival stood, it took him awhile but he was eventually able to adjust to his opponents power surge. "Ha! Well don't worry kid, you won't be feeling much of anything soon." The old mage grabbed two more blades, but these weren't throwing knives they were meant for close range combat. Blood red pain magic began to surge through the blades. "It's gonna take more than a power boost to bring me down." Percival charged.

Mason stood still, balling up a piece of his cloak in his hand.

"TAKE THIS!" Percival swung the knives forward and Mason made no move outside of a small smile.

CLANG! "What the?!" Percival stood confused as his knives were blocked by the long blade of a katana.

"So?" Mason said as his blade was charged with magic energy of his own giving it a vibrant purple aura. "Ready for round two?"

"Grrr! You're asking for it now boy!" Percival, being surprisingly nimble for an old man, did a backflip before rushing Mason again. CLANG! Mason once again blocked. "Grrrr… Don't think you can beat me hand to hand. My magic power is far beyond yours!"

In response Mason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Hffmmmphhmm…." He opened them up once more and that's when the games where over. "PHANTOM DRIVE!" Mason's Iris' turned bright purple and magic energy started pouring from his body. Then Mason vanished in thin air.

"What the!? AAHHH!" Percival shrieked in pain as a long slash mark appeared across his back as Mason reappeared holding his sword in a different position. "GAAAHHH!" Percival dropped to his knees. "You cut me! Is that how the council is teaching it now? Dirty tricks to win a fight?" Percival stood back up. "Well excuse me if I do things a little more old fashioned." Red energy exploded from every inch of the guild masters body. "You should be proud of yourself kid! It takes a special kind of wizard to make me go all-AHHGG!" Percival was cut short as Mason thrusted his blade into the cloud of magic energy stabbing him below the rib cage.

"Ughh…" Percival grabbed at his wound as he slowly stood up straight. "Heh heh…" He chuckled weakly. "Well I'll be damned, who coulda guessed one of you council boy scouts had it in ya. So what, you're just gonna let me bleed out?"

"Quit being a baby, that's not gonna kill you." Mason said harshly as he sheathed his sword. "Now leave, it's over for you."

"Sorry kid.. Your buddy up there is promising me and my associates literal mountains of jewel. It's gonna take more than a flesh wound to keep me from my paycheck." Percival climbed back to his feet. "We aren't done playing, I'm not letting you into that room as long as I can stand. And every second you're out here with me is another second off the countdown clock towards etherion doomsday." Percival slowly and weekly began to reach for another knife.

"Then I'll just have to put you down for good." Mason thrusted his palm forward and used an energy blast to knock the blade away, before firing another blast at his enemies chest.

"AAAHHHHGGGHHH!. Heheheh. Got another one in ya Agh!" Percival choked as Mason grabbed him by throat and lifted him back into the air.

"I told you, I don't have time for you…" More magic power began to fly from the Dragon slayers body as he prepared to finish the old man.

"AGGGHH… Give it your best shot." Percival said through his collapsing windpipe.

"Okay. DRAGON SLAYER SACRED ART! CURSED SOUL UNHOLY SURGE!" Mason's body was slowly consumed by a bright purple glow before.

KABOOM! A large explosion erupted from the top of the tower of heaven. Meanwhile the walls of the room were blackened with ash as a collapsed Percival laid unconscious on the ground. "Now stay down.." Mason turned away from the beaten wizard as his drive faded. He slowly scanned the room before making a puzzled expression. "Now… Which door was the right one again?..."

"Hey!..." Percival was still conscious and he called back once more. "We aren't done here yet!"

Mason looked back over his shoulder, his eyes were cold, at this point he was completely overcome by his goal to reach Jellal and really didn't care anymore. "Enjoy the trip down."

With a telekinetic blast, Mason sent the old wizard out through the gaping hole in the at the very top of the tower. Without a second thought Mason turned back to the many doors in the giant room and took a deep whiff with his nose taking in the various scents of the tower. "Found you…"

(Magic Council Warship)

"Grrrr…." An ever-impatient Brosnan sat gritting her teeth as the colossal ship ever so slowly waded through the deep thick fog. "CAPTAIN HAMMER!" She called out for her second in command. "STATUS REPORT!"

"It's been almost half an hour and we don't seem to have made any forward progress. I fear the fog may be enchanted…But I already told you this sir... " Tyson replied in a tired tone.

"I know, I just hope that if I keep asking you the answer will eventually change. Ughhh…" Brosnan let out a bored sigh as she stared off into the cloudy horizon.

"Boss!..." The monotoned Amber tried her best to call down from her post, but her small voice made that hard. "I found something!..." Amber pointed her finger towards an unconscious floating percival.

"My god! Captain Percival!" Brosnan's eyes widened as she immediately recognized her former mentor. "Quick pull him in."

Brosnan, Tyson, and Amber took Percivals body to below deck and laid his body down on a bed. "Tyson, change his clothes. He's gonna freeze to death."

"Why do I?... Fine." The massive soldier began to remove his former allies' wet shirt.

"Boss I'm confused." Amber blurted out. "Who is this guy?"

"Oh yeah, you weren't around then were you?" Brosnan smiled, an extremely rare phenomenon. "This is Captain Percival, he was Head Captain before me. He was my mentor and he brought me into the Rune Knights. He was like a father to me."

"Ooohhhh…" Amber said without changing facial expressions. "But what is he doing here."

"That… Is a good question." Brosnan looked back as Tyson tended to the sleeping mage.

"I think I know." Tyson replied as he lifted up a piece of cloth, revealing Percivals chest and purple guild mark in the shape of a twisted laughing skull head. "He was hired. He's an assassin from the Death's Head Order. A Dark Mage."

"Well, you figured it out." The whole group jumped and turned to see that Percival had woken up and he was smiling at them from his bed. "Since you guys got the basic gist already I'll fill you guys in on the rest for old times sake. I'm not just a member of the Death's Head Order guild, I'm its master."

"What?!" Tyson jumped.

"Wh-what.." Brosnan stumbled backwards, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "But why?..."

"What can I say kid? A wizards gotta eat." Tyson sat up in his bed a disgustingly smug grin.

"No way… For money? You kill people for money? You… You're a traitor…" Brosnan began to shake as emotions started to build up inside.

"I don't really care what you think of me. Besides I shouldn't really be your top priority right now." The assassin commented, getting the room's attention. "Your boyfriend is on a bit of a rampage and he's in for a rude awakening when it comes to Lord Jellal. He's like no wizard I've ever seen before. He could beat that kid without so much as getting up from his seat. I'm almost certain that without backup he will die."

"I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself." Brosnan said coldly. "But regardless this is our mission not his, I'm going in. The rest of you tie up the traitor, make sure he doesn't escape. Or I'll have your heads."

"Oh I wouldn't be so hard on them if I was you." Percival spoke up again and when the captains looked back over he held a blade charged with grey magic energy. "None of you could've held me anyway." From the small glowing dagger an all encompassing smoke screen flooded through the entire room.

"ACK! ACK!... GODDAMNIT!" The smoke faded away and Percival had disappeared from his bed.

"Don't worry Boss. I can track him down." Amber said as she manifested her magic rifle and looked through the scope.

"Don't bother. He's more experienced than any of us, not even Tyson can match his cunning. We'll have to let him go… for now." Brosnan remained strong in her words, but her body shook with rage. "He was right though, we do have more important things to worry about like getting me onto that Tower."

"I hate to be the voice of negativity." Tyson spoke up. "But I don't think this boat is going to be able to maneuver this fog."

"Yes Captain, I'm well aware of that." The Head Captain turned back with a sinister smile plastered across her face. "That's why you're gonna throw me."

The hulking Tyson immediately went pale. "What…"

(Inside the tower, with Fairy Tail)

"Ughh! Gray, you're heavy!" A struggling blue cat cried out as he desperately began flapping his wings to stay airborne as he carried the shirtless mage down the shambling halls of the tower of heaven.

"Quit complaining, it's that idiots fault. If Natsu could just take care of himself then neither of us would be in this situation." Gray called back up to the cat. Then something caught the Ice Mage's eye. "Hey! I see the girls down their! Bring us down Happy!"

"Aye Sir!" The blue cat swooped down where the two met up with Lucy and Juvia but also Sho, Millianna and Wally.

"Woah! What the heck are these guys doing here!?" Gray took a battle stance as he stared down the once enemy wizards.

"Wait my love!" Juvia stood between Gray and the dark wizards. "They are no longer our enemies!"

"Huh? Seriously?" Grey returned to a normal stance as the other wizards bowed for forgiveness.

"Yeah, we're sorry." Millianna said as she and her friends continued to bow. "We though Jellal could take us to heaven, but we were wrong."

"Don't worry about it." Gray smiled prompting the dark wizards to lift their heads. "Anyway, we gotta get outta here. The council is about to drop an Etherion blast on our heads."

"Wait!" Lucy spoke up. "Where are Natsu and Erza?"

"I don't know about Erza, but Natsu and Simon are going after that Jellal guy." Happy spoke up for Gray.

"We can't just leave them!" Lucy cried back.

"Yeah, I agree…" Gray replied. "Let's go back for-"

BOOOMMM! CRASSHHH! The wall behind the wizards exploded into a cloud of smoke. From the plume of smoke the silhouette of a woman carrying a massive sword became visible, her eyes glowing a fierce golden yellow.

Eventually Brosnan emerged from the smoke and glared at the wizards. "You! Civilian wizards! Evacuate the tower at once!"

"Hey wait a second. Who the heck are you to tell us what to do."Gray said unwilling to back down.

"She appears to be a member of the Magic Council my love, look at the symbol on her chest." Juvia pointed out the blue insignia on Brosnan's body suit.

"Woah… She's beautiful." Lucy commented, causing her friends to look back at her with judgemental eyes.

"That wasn't a request." Brosnan slammed her giant sword down on the ground causing the entire tower to shake as she let out a bit of her power. "Leave NOW! There's a ship waiting for you that will take you to safety, but you must leave immediately. This is a Council Issue now."

"Right…" Lucy agreed followed by her friends nervously nodding their heads.

(With Mason)

WHOOSSH! Using telekinesis Mason forced open to large doors that led into another circular room. At the center was a massive blue crystal and decorating the walls were large open windows shaped almost like crosses.

"Well, well. Look who's here." A hooded man sat in a throne at the end of circular room. A few strands of blue hair could be seen through the hood as well as his sinister toothy grin. "The first of two Dragon Slayers and the first of two former prisoners. But the weakest of both of them."

Mason didn't respond to the taunting, he simply remained silent and stood motionless.

"In fact, you aren't even the strongest Rune Knight in the tower anymore." The hooded man jabbed again, but received no reaction from the Dragon Slayer. "But you want to fight me anyway, don't you?"

"Bingo." Mason said with a serious look in his eyes. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!"

Mason through both hands forward and from them a massive blast of energy erupted forward. "Hmmm.." Jellal stuck a single hand out and caught the blast before knocking it upwards blasting it through the ceiling above, he flipped his hood up to reveal his the sinister expression on his face. "And to think I expected a challenge from my dear old friend."

Jellal continued to taunt but Mason wasn't messing around. "PHANTOM DRAGON LANCE!" Mason cloaked himself in magic energy before rocketing forward towards the Dark Mage.

Jellal was effortlessly dodged the attack, causing mason to crash through the wall and out the top floor of the tower. "Great idea." The ever smug Jellal replied. "Let's take this outside." The blue haired wizard levitated out through the newly created hole after him. "Now where we… Huh?" Jellal looked around but Mason was nowhere to be seen.

"VANISHING FIST!" Suddenly Mason appeared in front of Jellal and struck him with a powerful uppercut, sending him flying higher into the sky. "PHANTOM DRAGON SHOT!" Mason sent an energy ball after him causing a large explosion.

"GAAAHHH!" Jellal let out a grunt followed by a blast of golden energy that drilled through the cloud of smoke, but Mason blocked the attack with a magic barrier. "Well, I'll give you credit. You aren't as weak as I thought you were. I might even enjoy myself while killing you."

"Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?" Mason finally changed expression to a signature cocky smile. "Besides. You haven't seen anything yet. PHANTOM DRIVE!" Mason's eyes turned a bright purple and his hair stood up and began to dance along with the surge of magic power that began to course through the wizards body. "DRAGON SLAYER FORBIDDEN ART! REAPERS CLAWS!" The magic power that had been pouring out of Mason's body now began to convene at his hand, robbing him of the vicious purple aura but creating a twin set of three fingered claws made of condensed magic energy. One of claws started bending towards Mason prompting Jellal to attack. "Well buddy, it's your move."

"If you wish… HHYYYAAAHHHH!" Jellal responded with another energy blast, three times the size of the last one.

"HAAAAHHH!" Mason thrusted his claw forward and slashed the golden energy to pieces, then with his other claw fired three identical energy blasts at his foe.

Jellal blocked this attack the same way he had done to Mason's earlier energy attack, just as the Dragon Slayer planned. "PHANTOM DRAGON ROAR!" A funnel of purple phantoms erupted from Mason's mouth and flew directly at Jellal.

"Heh." Jellal smirked as his body was surrounded by golden light, before he suddenly vanished like an afterimage.

"Huh?" Mason felt a presence behind him and quickly turned to find Jellal. "So fast…"

"Scorch my enemy Flame of Rebuke!" A vibrant golden flame jumped from Jellal's palm onto Mason quickly consuming him.

"AAGGHH!" Mason yelled in pain. "These Flames, they're stronger than Natsu's!" Mason screamed.

"That's unfortunate for you isn't it?" Jellal grinned maniacally as he watched the Dragon Slayer burn. "If I remember correctly, Phantom Magic is met with its Achilles Heel when it comes to Light and Fire magic. I may not be an expert in light magic but right now you're suffering the effects of one of the most powerful fire spells in existence! Now take this!" Jellal kicked the Dragon Slayer in the stomach with enough force to send him crashing back into his throne room which Jellal followed suit.

"You know what I find sad." Jellal continued to taunt as his feet tapped the ground as he landed, standing over the still burning Mason. "I expected as much from Erza, maybe even Salamander, but not from you. Truly a disappointment. You may have dished out some powerful spells, but none of them were cast with a single ounce of killing intent. You marched through my tower, through my guards, and even one of my elite hired soldiers to make our little reunion happen I had hoped you'd make things a little more interesting."

"That's because I never forgot.." Mason said weakly as flames danced over his body. "We're friends Jellal, you were my best friend… You were the first friend I ever had, I'm going to save you."

"Hah.. Haha.. HAHAHAHAH!" Jellal began to laugh uncontrollably. "This is hilarious. I thought I knew you pretty well, but you never struck me as the sentimental type, but I suppose that explains a lot even more than you know. If you truly wanted to be friends then you wouldn't have abandoned the tower all those years ago, but unfortunately for you that's when our friendship ended. I'll let you on another bit of information for old times sake, there is none of the me you knew left to save." Jellal bent down to whisper that last point into the burning Mason's ear.

WHOOSH! Suddenly a broadsword flew through the air and landed between the two mages, startling Jellal and causing his focus to waiver, freeing Mason from the flames.

Mason looked up to find Erza standing at the doorway, her hair up in a ponytail and her chest bound by bandages. "Good to hear." She said raising her Katana and taking a combat stance. "If there's nothing left to save than I won't make the mistake of trying."

WHOOSH! Suddenly a broadsword flew through the air and landed between the two mages, startling Jellal and causing his focus to waiver, freeing Mason from the flames.

Mason looked up to find Erza standing at the doorway, her hair up in a ponytail and her chest bound by bandages. "Good to hear." She said raising her Katana and taking a combat stance. "If there's nothing left to save than I won't make the mistake of trying."

"Ugghhhh…." Mason groaned as he climbed back to his feet, dusting dirt and ash off his chest. "What the hell are you doing here…" He said with growl.

"Right now it looks like I'm coming to your rescue." This was a tone from Erza that Mason hadn't heard in the short time since he reconnected with his old, for in this moment Erza was deathly serious.

"You need to evacuate, the magic council is about to blow this place to bits." Mason took a battle stance as magic energy began to surge through his body again, causing the mess of white hair atop his head to spike upwards. "Now that I've heard it for myself, that my old friend is gone. There's no reason to hold back anymore." Mason flipped up his tattered black hood over his face and vanished in thin air.

A gruesome smile formed across Jellal's face. "Fool! Your magic power is surging! even if I can't see you, I can still sense you." Jellal's eyes darted across his throne room as he tracked mason's magic energy.

"PHANTOM DRAGON!" Mason called out, still invisible.

"There you are." Jellal smirked as me crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"STRIKE!" Mason became visible again as his foot, cloaked in magic energy, was planted dead center where jellal crossed his arms. Magic sparks erupted from the collision but neither combatant gave an inch. Mason's attack began to stall out, but in a latch ditch effort he swiped his foot up, breaking jellal's guard.

"What the?" Jellal stumbled backwards as Mason disappeared once again. "Huh?" Jellal's eyes grew huge as a broadsword appeared out of nowhere headed straight for his face, and he was just barely able to duck under the blade in time for it to fly over head.

"I told you to leave." Mason groaned as he became visible.

"Shut up." Erza replied as she readied her katana. "It's time to fight."

"I for one have had enough of the both of you!" Magic energy began to surge to Jellal's hands. "You two never should have returned. This tower will be your graves! Take this!" A massive, two handed blast of magic energy was shot directly at Mason and Erza.

"BARRIER!" Mason called out creating a shield of magic energy that managed to stop the energy blast.

"HAAAAHHHHH!" Using the opening, Erza charged forward with her sword aimed at Jellal. The blue haired wizard blocked Erza blade by charging his hand with magic power and catching the sword.

Mason meanwhile charged an energy blast out in front of him with both hands, while Jellal struggled with Erza. "PHANTOM DRAGON'S CANNON!" An enormous energy wave consumed Jellal and sent him crashing into the wall behind his throne resulting in a plume of smoke.

"Keep your guard up, I have a feeling that things are far from over…" Erza said almost on cue as magic power began to erupt from the area where Jellal had crashed, and two eyes glowing with evil began to peer out of the smoke.

"Damn it!" The dark mage called out. "You're really starting to grow irritating!"

(With Brosnan)

"I'm Serious!" The Magic Councils Head Captain snapped at the Fairy Tail wizards. "The Council has ordered an Etherion strike on the tower, if you're here when that happens you along with the tower will be completely vaporized." The brunette glared.

"I don't think you understand." Gray folded his arms. "We aren't going anywhere without our friends."

"You tell her my love!" Juvia cried out.

"I don't have time for this." Brosnan sighed as she lifted her giant sword up over her shoulder. "I'll just drag you out, even if you're unconscious."

The Fairy Tail wizards broke out into a cold sweat at the thought of another confrontation.

"Yes ma'am!" Wally, Sho and Millianna stood up and saluted the soldier.

But the Fairy Tail wizards were still upset about this turn of events, so Brosnan took upon herself to try and cheer them up. "Look, I'm here looking for a friend of mine too. If I find your buddies I'll do everything in my power to get them out safely. Look I can't guarantee anything except that if you stay here, you'll never see your friends again." Not exactly words of encouragement but she got her point across. "Their is a Magic council ship waiting outside that will provide medication and food and a trip to the mainland."

"Right!" The civilian wizards all nodded in agreement and all of them made their way to the magic council ship.

"Mason…." Now alone Brosnan lowered her head in thought. "You better still be alive…. So that I can kill you!" With that the young girl bolted down one of the towers many hallways.

(With Mason)

"PHANTOM DRAGON VANISHING FIST!" Mason who had obtained a few more bruises since we last saw him, fired a punch at significantly more beaten up jellal knocking him to the ground. "Ha.. Ha… Ha… All these years, everyday, I've prepared myself for this fight and even though I'm running low on magic power, I still always thought it'd be harder than this."

"It's not done yet." Erza stepped up holding her katana as she made her way over to the beaten Jellal.

"Wait what are you doing, he's beaten!" Mason called out, confused by his friends action.

"If you lock him up, he'll just escape again. He's got connections in the magic council, his brother for instance. I will end things here, for Sho and Simon and Wally and Millianna. For you, and for myself. Today the nightmare ends." Erza raised up her sword as Jellal struggled to sit up.

"You can't do that! That's not justice!" Mason objected.

"How many sacrifices do you think it took to build this tower, where is the justice for all those people. Don't try to stop me!" Erza's emotions where all over the place, but she knew she had to do what she thought was right. Mason on the other hand wasn't thinking so clearly.

"HAAAHHH!" Erza began to swing down with her blade causing Jellal to flinch, but the tip of her sword was stopped just short. "What?" That's when Erza realized she wasn't able to move as veil of purple energy surrounded her body.

"Stop!" Mason called out, his hand stretched out as he tightened his telekinetic grip on Erza. Mason flung the girl across the room pinning her against a wall.

"Ugghhhh…. What do you think you're doing?" Erza groaned as she struggled to free herself.

"I won't let you kill him…. You can't.." Mason tightened his grip more as emotions began to flood in.

"Let me go! You heard him, he's not the Jellal we once knew, not anymore. We have to do what's right." Erza argued but her reasoning wasn't quite getting through.

"Just let me think! I can't do this right now, dammit! The reason I became a soldier was so I could be strong enough for when the this time comes, but if I'm not strong enough to do this now, what the hell was the point!?" Mason began to panic and his grip on Erza began to loosen. Just as this was happening Jellal had regained his footing and crept up behind the Dragon Slayer and draped his arm across his shoulder.

Mason looked back to find Jellal smiling, just like he did when they were young. Causing even more confusion to overcome him. "Well, well. I suppose I should thank you, and also apologize. What I said was wrong, it turns out after all these years we are still friends." The dark mage said as he continued to smile. "The fact that you would defend my life even at the expense of the remainder of your magic power has truly shocked me and is a gesture I will never forget, but unfortunately the matter of our being friends changes very little." Jellal said as he jabbed the weakened Mason in his side, knocking him unconscious. "I can't have you, or anyone else get in my way."

Erza was freed from her Mason's spell and regained control over her body. "Mason!" Called out before charging at Jellal, sword in hand. "How could you!"

Jellal simply knocked Erza away with a blast of magic. The blue haired wizard then grabbed the unconscious Mason off the ground and dragged him over to one of the many windows.

"Jellal! Don't!" Erza cried out as she tried to climb back to her feet, but she was too late.

"I'm sorry Erza, but there is no sacrifice too great when it comes to achieving true freedom." Jellal declared as he flung Mason out from the top of the tower, sending his body crashing down into the water below resulting in soft SPLASH.

(With Brosnan)

The Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement unit sprinted down a long corridor of the evil tower as the Etherion threat drew ever closer. Suddenly a small magic circle appeared by the girl's ear getting her to stop.

"Brosnan! You have to evacuate immediately the council won't give us anytime! We have three minutes to get to a safe distance, we have to leave now!" Tyson's voice emanated from the magic circle.

"No way, I'm not leaving without him!" Brosnan answered as she continued down the hallway taking time to catch her breath.

"Have you tried to contact him?" Tyson asked.

"Yes, but he's not answering. He probably dispelled his communication circle." Brosnan felt herself becoming lost in the elaborate tower, she was no longer ascending and had come to stop.

"Then I think we have to cut our losses, I'm sorry. We have to think about the safety of the civilian wizards we have on board, that's our job." Tyson scolded. "The boat is too your left, we're leaving now."

Brosnan stood still for a minute as she evaluated her options in her brain, eventually she put aside her emotions to do what was right. "Fine!" She said, letting her facade fade slightly using her Golden Eye magic, she blasted down the wall to her left and found the Council Boat waiting for her in the surf. She looked back to the tower one last time and became choked up for a brief moment. "You damn idiot!" at that was the last thing she said before leaping from the tower and landing on her feet on the bow of the ship. "What are you waiting for, we have to get out of range now!" And just like that she regained her commander personality and was back to barking orders.

The council ship immediately started making distance, and it seemed they were just in time. As soon the boat cleared one hundred meters the Etherion was fired. An enormous blast of magic energy rained down from the sky, completely consuming the Tower of Heaven in the beam. Causing massive shock waves and tidal waves to surge around the Island, but as the blast subsided the exterior of the tower had been vaporized, leaving a massive lacrima charged by etherion blast.

(Mason's POV)

I remember that I was blacked out, everything was dark, then I felt a strange surge like a WHOOSH! Then I woke up and I was wet. Before I could figure out where I was or what was going on, a massive wave of water crashed on top of me and pushed me down to the bottom of the ocean. I struggled to climb back to the surface for air, my chest felt was being crushed. I thought I was going to die before I reached the surface, but I just barely made it. "HUUUHHHH! ACK! ACK!" I was able to cough the water out of my lungs. I looked around to see that the Tower of Heaven was gone, replaced by a giant lacrima crystal, the R-System.

"Crap!" I began to swim towards the towering crystal. Jellal planned to use Erza as a sacrifice and now that the R-System was complete there was nothing stopping him from activating it. Luckily the tower wasn't too far away and I was able to make landfall in only a couple of minutes, the problem was that my magic power had been severely depleted and there was only one thing left to do.

"Ughh…" Just the thought of it gave me shivers, but Erza needed me. I opened my mouth and began to inhale. I took no more than second as magic energy began to seep from the crystals into my mouth. This wasn't the power absorbed into the tower by the Etherion blast, because eating that would incredibly stupid and probably kill me this was the negative energy left behind by the souls that went into building this damned tower. If I had to describe the taste, it would not be pleasant. Cold, bitter and sour. The texture is extremely slimy, like overcooked spinach or squash that had gone bad. Regardless of how it tasted, that magic power was just what I needed.

Power rushed through my body, this tower is filled with so much hate and sorrow that its super concentrated and now it was time for action. "PHANTOM DRAGON CANNON!" I pointed my hands at the grown and fired a powerful blast of magic power that rocketed my body into the air so that I could use my levitation to carry myself the rest of the way. "I'm coming Erza, so please be alive!"

(A top the tower)

I landed at the top of the R-System to find Natsu and Jellal hand been battling, but I could feel an enormous amount of magic power in the pooling into Jellal and vicious killing intent radiating from my old friend. Strong winds began to converge above Jellal and my shadow started to move towards Jellal as he prepared to cast his spell, I was familiar with Black Magic and I immediately recognized it as Death Magic.

Before I could make a move Erza, who I was relieved to find was still alive jumped in front of Natsu to stop Jellal's attack. I couldn't quite hear what they were saying but it looked to be that Erza was pleading with Jellal, but at this point even I knew there was nothing left to reason with.

I moved to intervene, but I was too late.

"HEAVENLY BODY MAGIC! ALTAIRIS!" Jellal released his spell, a massive ball of shadows surrounding a bright light.

"NOOOO!" I call out but there was nothing I could do, I was to late and because of what happened next is on me.

At the last second my old friend Simon jumped in and took the force of the attack head on. I couldn't hear exactly, but I know what she said as she screamed. There is one sound I remember hearing incredibly clearly, the thud as simon's body hit the cold ground.

"Simon!" I rushed to my friends side.

"Mason? You're alive?" Erza asked, but I didn't answer. There were more pressing matters at hand.

"DRAGON SLAYER FORBIDDEN ART! REAPER!" I chanted and my hands became cloaked in magic energy and I was able to plunge my hands into Simons chest where I started searching around for something. "Come on… Come on!"

"What are you doing?" Erza asked as she knelt down next to me, her eyes still watery.

"I'm trying to grab onto his soul, if I can grab it I might be able to heal it. But it's too watery!" I felt myself growing frustrated in the crisis. "I can't get a grip on it, it's literally slipping through my fingers!"

"Mason…" Simon put his hand on my arm as he looked me in the eye. "It's okay." I took the hint and stopped the spell, and looked down at my old friend. My heart sank because I knew this would be the last time. I wanted to say goodbye, but nothing came out but it wasn't me who Simon wanted to say goodbye to anyway.

"Erza…" Simon called out in a weak voice as death crept closer.

"Simon… Save your strength." Erza lifted his head up and lowered her own down to his.

"Erza.. You were the only person who made me smile." He started to smile, in his final moments.

"Simon… Don't die on me.. Simon!" Erza called out, but Simon closed eyes and would never open them again and tears began flowing from Erza's single organic eye. "NOOOOO!"

"HA! HA!" Jellal began to laugh. "HA! HA! HA! HAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHA! What an incredibly foolish thing to do!"

That bastard! Jellal continued to monologue but I was too furious to hear him, I swore at that point I would kill him. Anger began to boil in my soul and my magic power started to surge through my body. I could feel my hair start to spike up, without even a command my Phantom Drive had been activated. I was prepared to end things, when I felt an even more intense surge of magic power nerby.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu smacked Jellal with unbelievable force, knocking him into a large crystal across the crystal

"AAAHHHH!" Jellal cried out in pain as he crashed.

Then I discovered the source of the power spike, Natsu held a chunk of Ethernano left over from the Council's attack. He lifted the glowing rock to his mouth and began to bite at it. His eyes changed a light blue color and magic power surged through his body. "RRAAAHHHH!" He slammed his arms down on the ground resulting in a wave of magic that Jellal managed to dodge. Natsu then began choking on the magic rock.

"How could you be so stupid!" Erza cried out as Natsu began to flail and struggle. "Ethernano is made out of all types of elemental magic it could poison you!"

Natsu continued to cry out in pain before Jellal started to mock him. "What an idiot. Did he really think he could power up by consuming elements other than his own. It'll certainly make my job easier if he kills himself."

It's certainly a risky move, but I don't know if it's as terrible of an idea. If the Ethernano was killing him, then Natsu's magic power would be dropping but its not. Natsu's magic power was rising fast.

"GGRRRAAAAHHHH!" Natsu growled as his body was consumed in plume of flames. His eyes began to glow red and his skin began to harden and it turned to scales all along his arms and down the sides of his face.

Natsu bolted, like a living fireball, he kneed Jellal in the face. I've never seen a wizard move that fast. "You made Erza cry!" Natsu slammed Jellal through the at least seven floors of pure crystal. "I made a promise that I can't break! Hurt her again and I'll kill you!"

"I've read this somewhere before." I said immediately recalling the countless books I've studied on Dragon Slayer Magic in the Magic Council library.

"What are you saying?" Erza who was still sitting next to me, exhausted physically and emotionally.

"Their only legends, and all the passages I've read about this are ancient but I guess it's real. Not quite a Human, not exactly a Dragon. This is the pinnacle of Dragon Slayer Magic, the Dragon Force." I explained. The next thing we knew, Jellal rocketed up out of the crater that Natsu had buried him in cloaked in a veil of golden magic. Natsu hot on his trail, leaping from rock to rock with superhuman speed.

Natsu caught up and slammed his fist into Jellal's stomach, forcing him to spit up a mouth full of saliva.

"I'm destined to create a land of Freedom!" Jellal was desperate, this was the end. Natsu had him significantly out matched. All Jellal had left was his drive and sheer determination to spur him on, it's good to see that some things never change. "I know this because in my darkest hour Zeref called out to me! There's a reason I'm the only human who can hear his voice! Because I am the chosen one! Once lord Zeref is resurrected we'll worked together to achieve true freedom!"

"And you're gonna do that by taking away everyone else's rights!" Natsu screamed back as he dodged a barrage of magic attacks.

"If that's the way it has to be than so be it!" Jellal created a massive golden magic circle. "I could care less about feeble minded fools like you."

"He's gonna cast the Abyss Break!" Erza panicked. "Don't do it Jellal, you'll destroy the tower so many died to create."

"This tower means nothing! Now that I've done it I can build another in half the time!" Jellal prepared to fire. "Lord Zerefl! Your time has come!" But before he could complete his attack, Jellal flinched in pain.

Natsu's body was consumed by flames that took the shape of a Dragon. "You'll never be free as long as you let that spirit possess you! Free yourself!" Natsu collided with Jellal ending in a devastating punch.

Jellal landed in a smoking crater and fell completely unconscious, where as natsu landed triumphantly on his feet. "Hehehe…" He chuckled as he looked back over to Erza, who ran over to catch him.

"Well looks like a happy ending." I said, but I really need to learn to watch my mouth.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The tower began to shake and glow. "This is bad." I said.

"What do you mean?" Erza asked, she was carrying Natsu over her shoulder. "What's going on?"

"The tower is going to explode!" I stated, I knew this because I dealt with some magic criminals who overcharged a lightning lacrima once, it exploded and the power surge affect lacrima power in the entire city so there's no telling how big the blast radius could be for a lacrima this size.

I made my way to the circular lacrima at the center of the tower and placed my hand on it and remained silent.

"What are you going to do?" Erza asked. "Woah?" I lifted her and Natsu into the air using telekinesis so she couldn't put up a fight.

"I have to activate the R-System, then I'll discharge the built up energy upwards so that it doesn't hurt anyone." I said, not making eye contact.

"What are you crazy!" She yelled at me, she tried to struggle but didn't have enough energy to break free of my spell. "To activate the R-System you'll need a-"

"Sacrifice" I answered for her. "I know." I activated my Drive, significantly increasing my magic power, before placing my hand deeper into the giant sphere changing its color from blue to purple. "I should have enough magic power to do it…"

"What are you saying?" Erza grew a bit more panicked. "At least let me help you!"

"I'm a soldier, it's my job to lay my life on the line to protect civilians." I lifted the two of them into the air and levitated them over to the edge of the tower. "Take care of Natsu for me will ya? The world needs the Dragon Slayers. Also forget about that jerk Jellal, you deserve better than that." I smiled as I tossed them into the ocean, I trust they'll make it to safety. Then I stared back at my reflection in the lacrima and prepared myself for what I had to do. "Well, here goes nothing."

I went deeper into the lacrima, my entire arm and then my leg. It had absorb most of my torso when it finally started on my head. "It was fun while it lasted, so long Fairy Tail." When the last bit of my head entered the Lacrima I blacked out.

(In Lacrima)

It was cold in the lacrima, but everything felt smooth. Kinda like floating on the surface of water. It was hard to think, but eventually I knew I was still conscious. Then I heard a sound.

DRIP DRIP DROP DRIP DROP DROP

It was rain… I opened my eyes to see dark skies overhead and rain falling all around me. I was able to look down where I saw a graveyard. There gathered was my team, Tyson Amber, Julie and Brosnan. Guess Lahar couldn't make it, jerk. Also in the crowd was Natsu and Erza. There weren't a lot of tears, everyone was pretty somber… respectful. There was a blue cloth with the Magic Council symbol draped over a casket ready to be placed in the ground and given the context it wasn't hard to guess whose funeral this was.

"Not too bad huh, even though you were a total idiot most your life you still managed to make a couple friends." I said… to myself. "I guess I oughta pay my respects too. Do you have no regrets? No. Are there things you still wanted to do? Yeah. I will say one thing though, you did your best and had some fun along the way." I looked down at Brosnan who wasn't crying at the moment but her eyes were certainly red. "Now that was a missed opportunity you dumbass, but whatcha gonna do now."

"Well that's all I got… Let's go wherever we're going." I called out above my head, but not surprisingly (seeing as I was talking to no one) received no answer. Rather a massive shadow, the silhouette of a Dragon passed over head. "Is that?" But before I could answer I felt something grab onto my hand and I was pulled towards it. "What the?"

(The Tower of Heaven)

"HUUHHH!" I took a deep breath as my head was pulled out of the lacrima followed by the rest of my body, before I fell to the floor of the crumbling tower. I looked up, confused, to see a familiar blue haired face. "Jellal?"

It was Jellal who pulled me out of the Lacrima and then helped me onto my feet. "I'm sorry…"He said with his head lowered, he was unable to make eye contact with me. "I was blinded, confused for so long and suddenly I can see again, clearly. I know that doesn't excuse what I did, but at least let me be the one who fixes this mess." Before I could answer Jellal stuck his arm into the giant crystal changing its color to gold. "I'll take care of this, now go!"

"No!" I answered, this chain of events was making my head hurt but there was one thing clear. "You're right, this sudden change of heart doesn't make things okay. But you said it yourself earlier today, even after all these years I'm still your Best Friend." I said as jabbed my arm into the lacrima making half of it change to a purple color.

"I don't know that I said Best Friend exactly, but let's go with that. Teamwork!" Jellal nodded and we both began to poor magic power into the sphere. The colors merged and a rainbow spiral began to circle around inside. Soon the whole tower began to blow a bright rainbow color and the tower fired a massive blast of magic energy into the sky, resulting in a blinding flash.

(Later)

"Ughhh…." My head felt like it was splitting in half, it was incredibly painful but that meant one thing. "I'm alive… Where am I? I remember being pulled into the lacrima then it's just blank." I tried sitting up, when the ground beneath me began to wobble and shake and I immediately grew sick. "Nooo….." I groaned sickly. "I'm on a boat…."