A/N: Haha! A new chapter already? I think so! We'll call this a double feature since a chapter was just released yesterday!

I don't own Fairy Tail!

Please enjoy!

Chapter 12: Surprise Attack!

April 9, X792 – Morning

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Kato hissed in pain, sitting on one of the beds in the infirmary.

"It's barely been a day since we left port and you've already managed to get hurt," Jack sighed, moving the redhead's hands from his nose in order to press a bag of ice to the wounded area, "You really ought to be more careful. You're lucky that I was able to stock up on medical supplies the other night while we were stopped."

"I don't need to hear another lecture from you, Doc," Kato snapped, obviously irritated from the pain and the embarrassment that came with the busted nose.

"Clearly you do," Jack retorted, "What happened anyways?"

It was then that Zhuue popped up from her seat with a large smile. She pointed at Kato and then to herself to indicate that she was pretending to be him. She walked around with her chest puffed out in arrogance, much like the redhead did often. She then pointed to what was supposed to be another person, dropped her hand down to show a short height and then laughed much like Kato would. She then dipped down to be the short person he was laughing at and then punched the air. She then jumped back into being Kato and held her nose before falling over and rolling on the ground.

"I see," Jack said with a frown, "So you made fun of Mia for being short again. Then she got mad and punched you."

"How the hell did you even get all of that from…that?!" Kato shouted, pointing at the smiling woman who was now sitting back in her seat.

"I don't think Zhuue is all that hard to understand," Jack said, looking over at the woman with a soft smile, "She's actually quite easy to read. But the charade show is always amusing to watch, right Zhuue?"

The blonde answered him with a rather cute smile and a simple nod.

"Besides, she was right, wasn't she?" Jack asked, now looking back at the younger man.

"Maybe," he mumbled, looking away from the pair.

Jack sighed again as he stood and walked back towards the main counter where he kept most of his supplies. He looked over the different medicines he had until he found the one he needed. He pulled out a clean syringe and stuck the end of the needle into the liquid, filling the vile with the blue substance, "You should really learn how to refrain from making fun of Mia's height," Jack said as he walked back over to Kato, "It only results in you ending up here. I don't want to keep wasting medicine on you," he said with a frown before sticking the man with the needle none too gently.

"OW! I thought doctors were supposed to be gentle?!"

"Well, you're one to keep playing my patience," Jack grunted, "I had to take care of Devin and Cordelia a few days ago because of you causing problems again. My medicine is meant to be used in emergency situations, not because some boy wanted to start a fight. I'm sure our new guild master would agree, considering how much medical supplies cost and how long we're on the ocean between ports. It's not something I like to waste. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah. I understand," Kato mumbled again, "Geez, first it's Cordelia I have to deal with and now you. I don't ever get any slack."

"Then maybe you should try changing to better yourself," Jack said, taking the needle out, cleaning the area and placing a small bandage on it quickly, "You want to become stronger, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then find a reason to become stronger," Jack stated, finally giving the man a small smile.

"Do you have a reason to fight?"

Jack was quiet for a moment as he turned to look back at Zhuue again. Jack chuckled softly while Kato felt a sweat drop run down his head when they saw the woman had stuck enough cotton balls on her face to create a fluffy white beard. She looked back over at them when she realized she had been caught, quickly dropping the cotton ball in her hands and returning to her seat like nothing had happened, the fake beard still on her face.

"Yes, I have a reason to fight," Jack finally answered, "So you should find one too. How do you expect to become stronger when you have no one to protect? Don't you want to protect the guild?"

"Yes."

"Then make that your first reason. From there, you'll find more and more reasons to fight and become stronger. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good boy," Jack smiled softly again as he patted him on the head, "The medicine I gave you will heal your nose quickly, but you should keep that ice pack on it for a little while longer in order to help with the swelling."

"I will. Thanks, Doc," Kato smiled as he jumped up off of the bed and began to make his way out of the infirmary.

"Oh, and Kato," Jack called out before he completely disappeared, "I suggest you stop starting pointless fights. If you do it again, you never know what kind of medicine I'll actually give you."

Kato paled at the threat, knowing the man could make potions that could hurt people just as easily as heal them. All he could do was nod at the doctor before running out of the room.

Jack smirked at his reaction before turning back towards Zhuue to see her still trying to act innocent with the cotton balls on her face. He started laughing again as he moved over towards her to start taking the cotton off her face, "Don't tell me you're going to start wasting my supplies too?"

Zhuue quickly shook her head in response. She then moved her hands to either side of his mouth to make him smile wider.

"I suppose I was being a bit hard on Kato," he said, gently moving her hands away, "I know you just wanted to make the air in here lighter again, but he needed to hear things like that. You know that, right?" he asked, moving his hand down towards her scarf, "Everyone should have someone to protect like that."

Zhuue suddenly frowned and laid a hand on top of Jack's to keep him from removing the scarf.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to bring up things that make you sad. How about we go grab some milkshakes then? My treat."

Zhuue's frown instantly turned into another smile. She popped up off the seat and bopped her index finger on his nose to indicate that she agreed to his suggestion before trying to run out of the room.

"Wait a minute," he called out to her, "Let me finish taking the cotton off your face before we go," he said. Zhuue blushed in embarrassment, quickly stopping to let him finish cleaning her up before they left. She only blushed darker when she heard him chuckling at her again.

. : + : .

"You shouldn't let Kato get you so upset, Mia," Hagi said, looking over at the brunette woman across from him. The two were currently sitting on the middle ship with a plate of mochi ice cream sitting between them that Hagi had paid for in order to get Mia in a better mood. It clearly hadn't been working since she still sat with her arms crossed, not even having touched the strawberry mochi she loved so much.

"He called me short!"

"Well, you are short, sweetheart."

"I don't need you saying that too!"

Hagi sighed, knowing the only reason she hadn't punched him for his comment was because of his status as one of her best friends, "You really need to get over that short complex. You're going to end up punching the wrong person one day."

"Stop calling me short!"

"Fine, fine," he said, waving off her anger. He supposed it was good that she had only punched Kato instead of completely throwing him off of the ship like she had done before, "But eat some of these before they get all melted and gross," he said, pushing the plate of mochi towards her. Mia eyed the cold treats for a moment before finally giving in and grabbing a pink one. He smiled in relief to see that she was finally beginning to settle down from her anger.

"You have to admit that it was a good punch though," Ace said, suddenly appearing in between the two, "Oh! Mochi!" he grinned, grabbing for one of the coffee flavored ones.

"Where did you just come from?! And who said you could have one?!" Hagi yelled, pulling the plate away from him before the man could grab a second treat, "And don't go bringing that situation up again! I just got her to calm down!"

"What can I say? I know a good punch when I see one," Ace shrugged before looking over at Mia, "You should learn how to hone that punching power in battle better, Mia."

Mia quickly blushed in response, looking down at the table, "It's only because I was mad. I really shouldn't be hurting my guildmates like that. Besides, I have my Air Magic and scythe to use in battle."

"Well, if you ever want a quick run down in basic hand to hand combat, hit me up," Ace smiled at her, "I help Jay out all the time with swordsmanship, but I know how to fight physically too. Dad made sure both Cordi and I knew how as a back up in case our magic ever fails. Someone cute like you should know how to throw a decent punch. Ya know, just in case something was to ever happen."

"You would really help me out?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" he grinned down at her. Though, his attention was quickly pulled away from her when he saw Hagi staring at them with hearts in his eyes, "What's wrong with him?"

"Oh no," Mia sighed, "He's daydreaming about us being together."

"Being together?"

"As in dating," Mia clarified.

"What?!" he shouted, looking over at Hagi, "Stop that right now!" he yelled, beaming the blonde in the head with a mochi. Though, it didn't seem to have any affect at all, "Look, I was just asking if she wanted help training! That's it! Way to go and make it all weird!" he huffed before storming off.

"Hagi, I think you really upset him," Mia frowned, staring after Ace for a moment before turning back to her friend.

"But you two would look so cute together!"

"You think anyone who is single would look cute together with someone else who is single," Mia sighed.

"But you like him, don't you?" he asked with a sly smile.

"Well, yes, of course I like Ace, but not in the way you're insinuating," she answered, "I really hope you stop trying to pair me up with people when they're around me. It really seems to upset them when you don't think about how they might feel. I don't like seeing them upset like that."

"Ace is a big boy. He'll get over it," Hagi answered, "But if it really bothers you, then I'll try to stop, but I make no promises!"

"Thank you."

"So how about we try focusing on other people to pair up?"

Mia sighed in response, knowing that things would eventually lead to this, "Who did you have in mind?"

"I still want to set up Cordelia with Eli! They're too perfect together!"

Mia quickly made a face at that, "I really think you should leave that one alone for now. They already have enough complications after…well…you know."

"Why does everyone do that?!" Hagi exclaimed, becoming rather irritated by the way Mia stepped around the subject just like most of the guild did too, "It's not like that was a bad thing!"

"I know that, but it always gets Eli so riled up that no one wants to deal with it anymore."

"Well then, Eli needs to man up!"

"Who needs to man up?" a dark voice asked from behind Hagi.

The young blonde quickly turned to see Eli standing before him, fire beginning to roll off of him. Seth stood off to the side with a nervous smile on his face at what was about to happen. Hagi, though, wasn't at all bothered by the intimidating aura that the older man gave off, "You need to man up! Always getting so worked up by the mention of-"

"Hagi! Don't say it!" Mia shouted, knowing that it was bound to set Eli off.

Hagi simply ignored her though, "By the mention of Cordelia and Isaak having dated each other!"

A single moment of stillness passed through the group before a large pillar of red fire burst upwards off of Eli, "That punk didn't even know what he had before he let her go!" he roared, all common sense completely gone from his brain as his fire began to expand outwards, "For three years! Three years! Then he just let it go like it meant nothing!"

"Hagi! I told you not to say it!" Mia shouted, pulling the blonde away from the fire, "Now you're going to get him in trouble!"

"Good! Maybe someone will beat some sense into him!" Hagi yelled, clearly not caring about the current situation when relationships were in the mix.

"Alright buddy," Seth began, trying to approach Eli slowly, "Just calm down. We don't need the ship burning down."

"That asshole just threw her away!"

"We both know that's not what happened," Seth replied, "Now just chill out for a bit."

"You want me to chill out?!" Eli shouted, showing no signs of calming down as his red flames turned into blue ones, creating a cold and freezing fire.

"Well, at least it stopped burning a hole through the ship," Seth sighed, "But we better get you calmed down before Cordelia shows up. She's really not going to be pleased now," he said, already picturing Cordelia's less than amused face, "Chimera Shift: Polar Bear!" he shouted. Glowing could be seen through the material of his right shorts leg where the polar bear claw tattoo was located on his thigh. His body was soon covered in snow white fur and the cold temperatures that Eli was admitting no longer bothered him. He walked up to the other man and attempted to grapple him from behind in order to hold him down, but Eli easily pulled away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Eli shouted.

"Then calm down!" Seth boomed, his voice traveling across the ship. He normally wasn't one for shouting like that, but Eli's antics were becoming rather annoying and someone was bound to get hurt if he didn't calm down, "You're letting your emotions control your fire again and it's bound to blow out of proportion if you don't calm down!"

"It ain't my fault that the little matchmaker had to go and bring up something like that!"

"I know it's not," Seth answered, feeling a twinge of sympathy for his friend, "But you're going to have to get over it eventually. Yeah, they dated for three years, but that was also three years ago! I don't know why you're still so bothered by it!"

"Because it was Marzell!" he yelled, "Of all the people for her to choose! It had to be him!"

"Honestly," a smooth voice interrupted them. The two men looked over to see Isaak sitting at a nearby table, frowning at the fire mage, "I can't believe you're still acting like a child over something like this. It's really annoying."

"Marzell! This is your fault!"

Isaak simply rolled his eyes in response. While he liked to tease Eli and get him a bit riled up, he disliked it when Eli outright threw a tantrum like he was now, "You really are a moron, you know that? Stop acting like a fool. At least Hagi had the guts to tell you to act like a man already."

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"I think this is really bad timing on your part, Isaak," Seth said, "Seeing you is only bound to make him even angrier."

"Well then, maybe it'll get him to do what he should have a long time ago," Isaak retorted, sending a sharp glare over at Eli, "I didn't really want to let her go, I hope you know. You're just too big of an idiot and ladies man to see why I did it."

Eli stopped replying with words and moved to try and attack Isaak. Though, he didn't get very far when Seth tackled him to the ground. The two men struggled back and forth for a few minutes until Seth managed to get Eli in a choke hold. He kept him locked in place until his fire finally began to fade and he was on the verge of passing out. He finally let him go, Eli taking in large gasps of air.

"You finally calm down?" Seth asked, helping Eli to stand back up. Though, he continued using his magic until he knew that Eli wouldn't try anything else.

Eli glared over at Isaak, but a loud shout stopped him before he could say anything.

"What the hell is going on?!"

All three men turned to see Cordelia glaring daggers at all of them. The three men flinched back slightly by that look, all too afraid to answer her for a moment.

"Well?! Someone better damn well answer me!"

Eli opened his mouth to explain what happened, but Isaak quickly intervened.

"We were sparring against each other," he said in an even tone, "Obviously things got out of hand."

"Obviously!" Cordelia snapped, "Why weren't you using the ships designated for sparring then?!"

"We just got ahead of ourselves. Sorry for causing you so much trouble."

Cordelia stared at the three men, hearing Eli and Seth say a quick sorry as well. She then looked back to Isaak, knowing that what he was telling her was a lie. Whatever had really happened, he was keeping it from her. She had no idea why Isaak or Eli would protect each other like that, but for now all she could do was go along with it, "Fine," she grunted, "But I expect the deck to be fixed by the end of the day. Got it?!"

"Yes ma'am," all three men replied.

"One day," she began in an annoyed tone, "I just want one damn day where you all don't go breaking shit! I can't just make money appear, you know! You're lucky that we have a metal user and a wood user on this guild to help repair things! And seeing on how this deck is metal, looks like you all get to go grovel to Gordon until he decides to help you out! Good luck with that!"

"Like you're really one to talk about breaking things," Eli grumbled.

He quickly earned a bop on the head from both Seth and Isaak, "Now's not the time for that!" the growled at him.

"And don't go breaking more things when you all work together to fix this ship!" Cordelia continued, "I mean, really, you should be able to get along for that long right? It's not like that's going to-"

She was suddenly cut off by the sound of a gunshot going off. A black bullet suddenly whizzed by her, Cordelia barely having enough reaction time to move slightly to the left. The bullet still managed to graze her cheek, leaving behind a red line with blood beginning to drip from it.

"What the hell is going on now?!" she shouted, "Twin Pistols!" she yelled. Though, the guns wouldn't appear in her hands from her re-quip space. She tried to call them forth again followed by several other of her weapons, but nothing would appear, "What the hell?!"

Another gunshot went off, a second black bullet traveling downwards and hitting Seth in the back of his right leg. His whole body clenched up in pain as his magic instantly disappeared. He looked down at his hands in surprise, and like Cordelia, he tried to using his magic again. Though, it had the same results. He was unable to transform into any of his animal forms.

"Take cover!" Cordelia ordered, not wanting anyone else to get hit by the bullets, "Zinnia!" she shouted, hoping that the woman would be somewhere nearby.

"I'm here!" Zinnia announced, running up towards the guild master.

"I want shields up on all sides!"

"You want me to use the Ultimate Defense?"

"Yes," Cordelia answered, "I know it takes up a lot of power from you, but we don't know where the bullets are coming from and I don't want anyone else getting hurt," she explained, looking over at Seth's bleeding leg.

"You've got it!" Zinnia said, running back towards the middle of the deck. She was thankful she was already on the middle vessel as it would make it easier for her to surround the entire guild. She sat down Indian style once she was in place and took a calming breath, "Shield Make: Ultimate Defense!" she shouted, magic power bursting from her and out towards all sides of the guild. Huge, clear shields rose up all around the guild until the four sides all met at a point above the guild, "Shields in place!" Zinnia yelled over towards Cordelia.

"Thank you," she answered, "Where is Securus?! And someone get me a damn gun!"

"You called?" Securus said, appearing next to her.

"Good, you're here," Cordelia said, turning to look at him, "I need you to find who's doing this and take them out."

"Sure thing," he answered, moving away towards one of the crow's nest to get a higher point of view.

"Where's a damn gun already?!" Cordelia yelled.

"Here you are, my lovely Cordelia," Ingrid grinned, calling forth a simple hand gun for the guild master and handing it over. Though, she quickly realized the seriousness of the situation when Cordelia didn't play into her teasing, "Will Securus be able to take out the shooter with the shields up?"

"Yes," Cordelia answered, checking the gun to make sure it was fully loaded and the safety was off on it, "The Ultimate Defense lets things out of its shields but nothing can get in."

"That's quite convenient."

"Quite," Cordelia agreed.

Things went quiet then as the guild stared up and outwards, trying to see the person who had shot at them.

Securus had found the closet crow's nest to climb up, finding Squall sitting in it, "Sorry little one," he said as he pushed her over, "But I need to take over your hiding place for a bit."

Squall simply nodded at him, knowing now wasn't the time to make any arguments about someone invading her space.

"Hawkeye," Securus said in an even tone, his eye glowing bright gold once again. He zoomed in and out all around the area about them. He was surprised that someone was actually shooting at them out in the ocean like this, but he supposed there were a few rock formations sticking out of the water for someone to hide on and target them. More and more time passed without seeing anything and Securus was beginning to believe that whoever had been shooting at them was gone. Though, the slightest movement to his right caught his eye. Up on a high rock ledge, one high enough for someone to shoot down at people on the guild decks, he managed to see the end of a white shirt fly upwards from the wind, "Found you," Securus smirked, "Take A Knee," he said as he dropped down to one knee and lined up his rifle. He continued using his Hawkeye spell to use as a scope while his Take A Knee spell flooded his gun with magic. He let out one steadying breath before he pulled the trigger. This released an overly large shot of magic that traveled fast right towards the rocks where he saw the shirt. In seconds, the shot passed right through the rock formation with a white hot hiss, leaving a rather large, gaping hole in it. The rock was still burning with his magic when a man suddenly stood up on the half destroyed ledge with a shocked look on his face, "You're mine," Securus said as he loaded the rifle with his regular .45 caliber bullets.

The man on the ledge aimed the gun he had been using previously to shoot Cordelia and Seth at Securus and pulled the trigger once, but the black bullet easily bounced off of the shield that Zinnia had up. This only caused Securus to smirk again as he finished loading the rifle and took aim at the man again. Before he began firing, he took in the Black Skull symbols on the eye patch and the belt buckle he wore.

"Time for you to either piss off or go down," Securus said as he began shooting off bullet after bullet at the man, watching him practically having to dance around to dodge each bullet. Soon enough, the man flicked Securus off before jumping down behind the rock formation. Securus figured that he had a boat hidden away behind it and he was proven correct when he saw the man paddling away quickly. Though, just to get one last laugh in and for harming two of his guildmates, one of them being his guild master no less, he shot off one last bullet right into the boat. A hole soon appeared through the bottom of the boat and Securus was fairly certain that he heard the man cursing at him as his paddling sped up before he completely disappeared out of sight.

Securus took a few more minutes to scan the area to make sure there weren't any other enemies out on the rocks. Once he was satisfied that it had only been the one man, he released his Hawkeye and put down his gun. He peered over at the young girl beside him, lighting a cigarette in the process, "Looks like all the bad guys are gone for now," he smiled over at her before beginning his climb back down to the deck. He wasn't surprised to see Cordelia in front of him in seconds with a concerned and angry look covering her face.

"So? Did you take care of them?"

"Yeah," he answered blowing out a line of smoke above her head, "It was only one man, but I chased him off."

"Good," Cordelia said, turning towards Zinnia, "You can drop the shields!"

Zinnia nodded at her and released her spell. Though, she had to stay sitting from the all the magic that was used up by implementing the Ultimate Defense. She suddenly found Ace behind her, helping her stay up in a sitting position rather than let her fall onto her back. She nodded a thank you back at him, receiving a simple nod from him as well.

"Why the hell was he shooting at as?" Ace asked, now looking up at his sister.

"I think I might know," Securus said before Cordelia could respond, "I saw a Black Skull symbol on him before he ran off. Looks like the Black Skulls know we have Blackstroker's map."

"Dammit!" Cordelia hissed, "I was hoping we'd be further along before they figured it out. Now we're gonna have to deal with them the entire treasure hunt!"

"Well, it wouldn't be very exciting if we didn't deal with pirates at some point, right?" Securus asked, looking down at her.

"I'd rather keep everyone safe."

"And you did that," he replied, "You thought quickly and kept everyone protected by the shields. Don't forget that you used to be S-Class as well. You know how to handle these things."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said. While she had been confident leading teams as an S-Class mage, it was different now that she had an entire guild to protect.

"It's not just me," Securus said, motioning towards the other mages on the deck, "Zinnia wouldn't have reacted so quickly with you if she didn't believe in you too. We all decided on this treasure hunt, knowing what kind of dangers we could run into. Have faith that we'll protect the guild just as much as you will yourself."

"You're rather encouraging today," Cordelia mentioned quietly, looking back up at him.

"Yeah, well, it seems that a new adventure with a new master sparked something in me," he shrugged, "But if you'll excuse me, I've done all the hard work I'm willing to today," he said before walking off to find a cool place to nap in.

Eli was soon in front of her, frowning at the line of blood that still covered her cheek, "We should get you and Seth to Jack to get fixed up and to see why you suddenly can't use your magic."

She nodded at him, "Ingrid!" she called out before she walked off with Eli, Isaak and Seth, the first two men helping Seth to walk to the infirmary. The brunette looked over towards the guild master just in time to see her gun being thrown back towards her, "Thanks," she said with a smirk.

Ingrid stared at her in slight surprise before her usual sly smile appeared on her lips, "Any time, my lovely Cordelia."

. : + : .

"So what's the deal, Jack?" Cordelia asked. Her cheek was cleaned up and had a bandage over it while Jack had dug out the bullet in Seth's leg and bandaged that up as well.

Jack stared at the solid black bullet he had taken from Seth's leg, using his Analyzing Magic to scan over it for a few minutes. He then scanned over Cordelia and Seth one last time before answering her, "It appears that the bullet used on the two of you has properties to cancel magic for a short time."

"Cancel magic?" Cordelia repeated, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yes," he said, "Even the slightest of scratches like the one on your cheek makes it so that a mage cannot use their magic for an allotted amount of time," he explained, seeing the worry on all four faces in the infirmary, "Not to worry though. Your magic will come back shortly like nothing had even happened."

"How long is shortly?" Seth asked.

"Give it about two hours."

"Two hours?!"

"Well, it's not like you're completely weak at the moment. You still have your physical strength on your side for the time being."

"I don't like this feeling," Cordelia grumbled, her nose scrunching up at the feeling of her magic being blocked, "I fell all…stuffed up. Like a really bad cold."

"That's to be expected," Jack nodded at her, "Just be patient and it will eventually fade."

"Don't you have some sort of potion to make this go away quicker?" Seth asked, disliking the disconnection from magic just as much as Cordelia.

"Unfortunately, no," Jack replied, "I would need to analyze the bullet more and the magic within it before I can make an antidote to it. You'll just have to wait it out the old-fashioned way."

Both Cordelia and Seth groaned in response.

Jack simply chuckled in response, "I'm sure you can think of something to do for two hours to keep your mind off of it."

Cordelia eyed the other three men in the room, "You all still have to fix the main deck. That should keep you occupied for a bit," she said as she stood up from the bed she had been sitting on, "And I suppose you'll need an extra hand to help out now since Seth has the wound on his leg."

"Yes, don't push it too much until it's fully healed," Jack stated.

"So I guess I can help you out a bit if you ask nicely," she said, looking straight at Eli.

"Why are you so focused on me?!"

"Because I'm sure whatever happened to the deck was pretty much your fault no matter what Isaak says otherwise."

"Just ask her, you idiot," Isaak snapped, "With her, we'll be able to get Gordon to help out much easier. He can say no to us, but not to his guild master."

Eli stared Isaak down for a long moment before he gave in with a groan. He turned to look back at Cordelia with a smile plastered onto his face, "Would you please help us fix the deck? It would mean a great deal, especially since Seth got hurt."

"Yeah, I suppose I could since you asked so nicely and all," she grinned, poking him in the cheek playfully, "Just let me go make sure we're on track for the first island of Caelum and then we can get to work."

Eli finally let a genuine smile grace his lips, playfully batting her hand away, "Thanks, Cor."

. : + : .

"Dammit!" Daniel shouted, having managed to plug up the boat with a large cork, "That's barely gonna last to the first island of Caelum! And there's no way I'm going back to the ship to get a new boat right now! Madmartigan would kill me for giving myself away already! And that mutt would never let me live it down!"

Daniel was mad at himself for jumping the gun with the guild, but the moment had been too perfect to pass up. The guild master had been right there in the open for him to take out. If he had done that, Madmartigan might have bumped him up to first mate finally! But then she went and dodged his bullet. He figured if he had already taken one shot, he might as well take a few more and put the guild on edge. They might know that the Black Skulls were hunting them down now, but at least they would be a bit paranoid about it.

"But that damn marksmen," Daniel grumbled, "I'll have to watch out for him. Though, he won't be any match for my Target Eye when I finally get a chance to use it. He'll be the first one I take out," he said with a wicked grin.

A/N: There we go! I hope you all enjoyed it!

That has to be one of the quickest chapters I've ever written, lol! But it practically just wrote itself. I really enjoyed getting to do that action scene with Daniel attacking the guild, so I hope the rest of you enjoyed it as well!

And the cat is finally out of the bag about Cordelia and Isaak! It'll be interesting to see what some of you think about that! LOL! I had thought about letting that fact be known in an earlier chapter and I had even thought about holding back that information for a bit longer, but I just couldn't take it anymore and the opportunity presented itself in this chapter, so I took it!

Also, there are two spots left for the Captains. One for the western area and one for the southern area. Same rules still apply that I talked about last chapter!

I don't have much else this chapter since I just updated yesterday, so I'll jump right into the reviews!

Thanks to all of you that reviewed last chapter!

CrazyAnimeForever – Glad to hear you're enjoying the story. And well, the guild is on the ocean, so there are bound to be similarities to other things, but it is still it's own story with its one issues going on. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Origm2012 – LOL! Yeah, I thought that was a good answer for Haruna too! The mouse named Rat got me too when I first read it. Haha! Yep, Jean probably does need some help in the flirting area of his life. But I'm glad that you enjoyed that scene with him, Rin and Marybeth! Yeah, trudging through that burnt build only to find that the map was gone really sent Madmartigan over the edge, especially after finding out that it was the guild that took the map. And I'm glad you enjoyed both Domingo and Daniel. Yeah, you definitely started using those cliffhangers, lol. I can only imagine the future ones you have planned. But hey, at least you got that bit about Cordelia and Isaak this chapter! Hope you enjoyed the chapter as well!

Resmesh - ^.^ Glad to hear that you enjoyed that second scene with Marybeth and the boys! Rin and Jean worked too perfectly for it! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Sakura-Fiction – Yep, definite tension within the crew between Mingo and Daniel. And they're just the first two out of the seven characters to be introduced for this arc for the Black Skulls! But I'm glad you enjoyed the scene with Mac, Ajax and the others. I really enjoyed that moment with Sho telling Haruna 'obviously not' myself! And the chase has definitely started now! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Benthino – Glad you enjoyed the chapter and the openings for the Naval Forces! Hope this was a quite enough update, lol! And I hope you enjoyed the new chapter as well!

silverhawk88 – CHA! Super glad to hear that Mac is turning out so well for you! I'm always a bit worried on how characters will turn out as I write them, so it's always good to hear when they're turning out well! I quite enjoy her attitude too, so it makes it really fun for me to write her. I had thought about having Mac take those guys out several times (because we both know she could do it), but I didn't wan to pass up the chance to show off Ajax's overprotective brotherly side. I promise she'll get her moment to shine in a fight soon this arc! And Madmartigan's past with the guild was one of those random ideas that just suddenly made itself known and it kind of makes me sad now. But we'll get to that eventually! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Momochan77 – Glad to hear you enjoyed the last chapter! Yeah, Ajax has that big brother side to him, so I was really happy to be able to write that out in the chapter. And yeah, Rin and Jean pretty much brought that on themselves with Marybeth, lol. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

XLil MEkoX – Good to hear going back and forth between light hearted scenes and more serious scenes is turning out well! And I'm really happy that Ajax turned out so well for you in that chapter! I love that big brother side to him! I haven't decided how some of the guys will react to it, but I'm sure a few of them must tease him about it. Although, let's just hope none of them tried touching his hat, right? And that scene with Rin and Jean was totally inspired by Jack Sparrow getting slapped by those women! The original idea was for both of them to actually be smacked by Marybeth, but then, well, it just turned out the way it did, but I still quite liked it! And yep! I managed to get Mingo in there! He was the one I didn't think would be in it, but then he just snuck right in there! And I have to say, I get the feeling you used Vash from Trigun as inspiration for him, lol. That's all I could picture while writing him. Like seriously, I wanted to give him a box of doughnuts, lol! But yeah, he definitely has a rival with Daniel! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

reven228 – Haha! That pick up line was so bad! Poor Jean! He needs lessons in flirting! But I'm glad you enjoyed that chapter and the competition between Jean and Rin! The fights are just starting in this chapter with Daniel's attack, so they're only bound to get more action packed from here on out! CHA! But yeah, I thought someone pointing out Jean's S-Class position and being chased off by Marybeth would be good, so I'm glad you liked that too! Haha! That last part of your review made me laugh too! Close enough! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

LightandDarkHeart – FOOLS! I seriously had that one line in Exalibur's voice for so long after I read your review, lol! But I'm glad that you enjoyed that scene with Rin and Jean! And always expect the unexpected when it comes to these scenes! And yep, always gotta have a good cliffhanger in my back pocket! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

IdentityCrisis.03 – Glad you enjoyed the scene with Jean and Rin! Seemed to be a favorite for everyone! Yeah, Ajax has a big brother side to him, so deep down he really is a big softie. And we got to see just how well Daniel did in a fight this chapter, but he did have the disadvantage with those shields being up. And in time we'll find out what exactly Madmartigan did against Duke! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Joshua1277 – Yep, Ajax is a bit of a pushover, but that's mostly thanks to the brotherly side of him, lol. But he doesn't mess around if someone is messing with his guildmates! Glad you enjoyed that scene with Rin and Jean! Haha! They definitely 'impress' the guild with those flirting abilities of theirs. And glad to hear that you're liking the crew members so far. Five left to go now to introduce! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Saiyan God.101 - ^.^ Glad you enjoyed the last chapter! And we'll see in time if you're feeling about Madmartigan is right or not! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

That should be it for this chapter!

I'll have the next one up soon!

Please remember to review!

Yours Truly,

MyDearWatson