Down in one of the halls of Phantom Lord stood various members of Fairy Tail in a state of panic. While some managed to hide their emotions, none were stupid enough to not feel fear from the man standing before them.

The entire building began to shake suddenly, and everyone looked out the broken window that Sieglinde had shattered. Outside, the giant magic circle forming Abyss Break could be seen cracking, before shattering in a burst of magical energy. The massive arms of the robot that had drawn the spell began to break apart and explode from recoil, falling into the ocean below. The rest of the Phantom shook from the blowback of the spell's failure as well, and its left knee joints reinforcements broke. It fell onto that knee, unable to stand under the pressure now, and the entire building tilted slightly to one side.

Everyone tried to stabilize themselves as the hall began to tilt. Sieglinde had to grab Wendy's hand to prevent the small Dragon Slayer from tumbling away as she clutched her stomach, sick from the shaking.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. To think so many of you were able to run around my own home without my knowledge and defeat my Elemental Four. It seems that I gave too much credit to my own people." Jose said, sparing a glance at the two of the Element Four laying unconscious in the corner of the room. "And to think I believed them to be the best mages in the entire country. Clearly, I have misjudged their abilities if they lost to these children…" Looking back towards the group, he raised an eyebrow. "If I'm not mistaken, a few of you are supposed to be locked away in my dungeon currently. I knew Gajeel's faith in that boy was misplaced. Oh well, I can fix that easily enough myself."

Raising his free hand, a dozen shades flew out towards the women. Erza and Sieglinde prepared their weapons, but the apparitions disappeared as trails of light shot through them like shooting stars. Jose looked over at the source of the attack to Jellal, still in his grip.

"I said get out here! NOW!" Jellal commanded, as he let out a burst of Light Magic that caused Jose to release him. He then began speeding around the Phantom Lord leader at speed unfollowable by the naked eye with Meteor.

Jose just shrugged in disappointment. "Oh Jellal, such promise for someone so young. If you weren't stifled by that old man, you could probably reach the level of a Wizard Saint. Even now I can feel that your magical power rivals my own. Unfortunately, you lack one very important thing." Clouding himself in dark energy again, he shot out a hand at seemingly nothing, only for Jellal to end up back in his grip. He slammed the younger man down into the ground violently. "You don't have even half the experience that I had at your age. I can read you young ones like an open book. And let me tell you, I'm very unimpressed with what I've seen so far."

No one could move. They all knew they should flee, but the site of one of their best being completely toyed with had caused them to freeze again. Erza and Sieglinde both seemed to snap out their frozen states first. Erza Requipped into her Black Wing Armor and summoned two glowing white swords, flying towards Jose with a battle cry. Sieglinde did the opposite, picking up Wendy in her arms and turning to run out the door.

"Get those three as far from here as possible!" Erza shouted behind her as her swords clashed equally with one of Jose's outstretched hands.

"Wait, no! Erza!" Wendy cried, struggling in Sieglinde's hold.

"Listen to your sister! The only thing we can do now is run!" Sieglinde began to run, turning to Lisanna and Lucy. "You two better follow suit if you value your life."

Lucy nodded. "R-Right!"

Lisanna did the same. "Don't have to tell me twice!"

The last thing Wendy saw of her sister over Sieglinde's shoulder as they ran out the room was the light from her swords suddenly getting drowned out by a wave of darkness. She gripped at Sieglinde's cloak in worry. As she tightened her grip on the woman carrying her, she couldn't help but notice she smelled just like her sister. Maybe it was the armor?

Sieglinde began to speak again as they continued putting distance between Jose. "I'll go find somewhere to fly Wendy out of here. You two should keep running."

Lisanna looked over at the knight with incredulity. "Run where?!"

"I don't care. Just as far from Jose as you can. You two must hold out until we can heal your Master." Sieglinde explained, obviously not caring how ridiculous that request sounded currently. "Good luck." And on that note, she turned down a random hallway leaving Lucy and Lisanna to run alone.

Lisanna stared back the way Sieglinde had disappeared with her mouth agape. "That woman can't be serious?!"

Lucy just kept looking straight ahead as she ran. "I'm no fan of our situation either, but she's right that we're out of options." She admitted sadly. "But we're not doomed yet. Remember what Gajeel said earlier? There's a good chance that Natsu is on here somewhere, not to mention possibly some of our other guildmates. We're not alone yet!"

Sieglinde ran down the many hallways of the Phantom Lord Headquarters with Wendy until she found a window large enough for her to fit through. She stopped in front of hit, preparing to take off. "Hold on kid!"

Wendy nodded and gripped onto her cloak tightly as she shut her eyes, but after a second or two of nothing happening, she opened them again. "… Is something supposed to happen?"

"We're supposed to be flying through the sky, but obviously that isn't happening." Sieglinde set Wendy down. "Can you look at my jetpack for me? It's a bit hard to look at with all my armor on."

Wendy walked hesitantly behind the older woman as she kneeled. "I suppose I can check, but I don't know as much about magical equipment compared to my sister, so I don't know if- Oh, I think I see the problem."

"What is it?" Sieglinde asked impatiently.

"There's a big pointy rock sticking out it." Wendy answered lamely.

"What?! When did that… Sol!" She cursed under her breath. The man must have hit her jetpack in his final desperation attack, but she'd never noticed until now. "This is bad."

Wendy looked down in sadness. "I'm sorry, my magic can only heal people."

Sieglinde sat still, trying to think of another way to get back to the mainland. But no matter how she wracked her brain, nothing came to mind. 'What should I do? If there's no way to get Wendy back, should we just go back to Jose and help fight him. Would we even stand a chance though? Maybe Mystogan would be able to heal the Master without her. If so, then it would be best to just continue running until that happens. But there's no way to know if that's possible…'

"Well now, I didn't expect to run into you of all people here."

Sieglinde automatically drew her spear and pointed it at the source of the voice, only to find herself threatening a black cat-like creature that barely reached her knees in height. She tilted her head in confusion. "Panther Lily?! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, did his high- I mean Mystogan not tell you that I'm a member of this guild?" The Exceed asked.

"No more than you told him about Phantom Lord's plan." She shot back.

Lily shook his head and shrugged. "Jose kept everything close to the chest. Not surprising since his actions today could get him arrested a dozen different ways. If I had known he was planning any of this I would have flown straight to you guys."

Wendy looked between the two with a confused face. "Um, I'm confused. Do you two know each other or something?"

"No." "Yes."

The two glanced at each other at the opposite responses. Wendy could feel Sieglinde's glare through her helmet, but Lily just smirked up at her before turning to Wendy. "So little lady, I hear you could use a ride home? I don't mind giving you a lift if it means getting this mess cleaned up faster."

Wendy looked at him hesitantly. "But aren't you a member of Phantom Lord? Why would you help us?"

"The only person I really listen to in this guild is Gajeel, and even he's getting a good smack from me once this is all over. The ones I'm loyal to aren't Phantom Lord." He answered with a huff.

Sieglinde nodded. "You can trust him kid. He's probably the only one I really trust in this world."

Lily shook his head at the statement. "I think that's more a you problem, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Well Wendy, willing to accept some help from the enemy?"

Wendy nodded her head quickly. "It doesn't matter who you are. If you're willing to help me save the Master, then that's fine by me. Let's go!"

At the confirmation, wings sprouted from Panther Lily's back much like Happy and Charla, and he floated up into the air. He grabbed onto Wendy's back and the two quickly shot off towards land.

"Head towards the forest! Porlyusica-"

Lily cut the girl off. "I know where she lives, don't worry."

Wendy looked back in surprise. "You do? Why?"

Lily looked away suspiciously. "Uhm, we happen to have a mutual acquaintance."

"Fire Dragon's…"

"Iron Dragon's…"

"Iron Fist!" Natsu and Gajeel both swung their fists forward, slamming them into each others face. They both staggered back from the blows, though Natsu far harder then Gajeel.

The room they had been fighting in was completely torn apart, between their own fighting and the Phantom collapsing. Enough walls, floors, and ceilings had broken to the point that they weren't even sure which room they were fighting in anymore. All that they could tell was there was a nice big hole in the wall leading outside, giving a good view of the rest of Fairy Tail below.

The Shades appeared to have grown in size and strength, and every time Natsu spared a glance over he saw a different friend being hurt as the building itself broke further. He knew he needed to finish this fight and stop Jose as soon as possible.

"Damn it! How many times do I have to punch you until you stay down, you shiny bastard?" Natsu huffed, looking at the iron scales that adorned his opponent's body. There were cracks and scrapes all over, but none of his attacks had managed to fully pierce the defensive magic.

"Your one to talk!" Gajeel spat back, chest heaving with each breath. "For someone without any iron scales, you've sure got a thick head! Besides, that last attack was nothing compared to earlier. What's wrong Salamander? Losing steam?"

Natsu pointed a finger at him accusingly. "Shut up! I had to fight one of those stupid Elemental Four guys to get here! If I just had some flames, I'd be able to take you no problem!"

"And I had to fight four of you Fairy Tail punks when I picked up those chicks!" Gajeel shot back. "Y'know, I thought about having a fair fight with you, but your so damn stubborn that I'm starting to lose my patience, so screw it!" At those words, Gajeel shoved his hands into the iron tiled floor and began to rip it up. He then used his iron grip to break the metal flooring into smaller pieces as he shoved them into his mouth. With each bite, Gajeel's iron scales slowly repaired themselves.

"Hey, stop that!" Natsu shouted, running towards Gajeel as flame enwrapped his legs. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" He shot forward with a burst of flames, but when his foot slammed into Gajeel's chest, the man didn't even flinch as he transformed one hand into a spearhead.

"Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" Gajeel shouted, as iron spears began to shoot out of his hand. At point-blank range, Natsu was hit by every single one, launching him across the room. As he crashed into the wall, nearly toppling it, Gajeel let out a bark of laughter. "Oh man, that was fun! If I'd known how satisfying it would be to stomp you down, I'd have played dirty from the start."

"Asshole…" Natsu could feel the fire within him faltering. Without any way to recharge, he knew the odds were not in his favor. But he refused to give up against this opponent, not after what he had done to his friends. His pride wouldn't allow it. As Natsu pulled himself up, the rest of the wall collapsed behind him. He ignored it, continuing to walk towards Gajeel for another round until a voice rang out behind him.

"Natsu?!"

He turned to see both Lucy and Lisanna staring at him with worry. The two of them appeared to be entirely uninjured besides a bruise on Lisanna's chin. Natsu let out a grin. "You two are okay! Thank goodness!"

Lisanna shook her head. "Of course you would be worried about us while looking like that."

Natsu tilted his head and looked down at his own body in confusion. He noticed all the bruises and cuts he had gotten over his fight with Gajeel but waved off his friend's concern. "This is nothing, I can keep fighting easily! You two just get outta here." He suddenly remembered something important, reaching into his pocket and tossing something at Lucy. "Oh, Luce, found these for you!"

"My keys!" Lucy cried relieved.

"Huh?! When the hell did you swipe those?" Gajeel shouted, checking his pockets in disbelief that he hadn't noticed them missing.

Natsu smirked cockily. "It was the first thing I did in our fight! Helping my friends is always the first thing on my mind, not that you'd know much about that."

"Fuck off, Salamander!" Gajeel shouted in anger. "Just tell the chicks to back off so I can finish stomping you into the dirt!" At the words though, Lisanna stepped in front of Natsu. Natsu looked at her in surprise, but before he could complain, Lucy stepped forward as well. The two of them stared down Gajeel with fury. "Huh? What's going on here? Shouldn't you two ladies be running away currently?"

"I find the fact that you think we'll run away from a friend in need insulting." Lisanna spat out.

Lucy nodded in agreement. "I couldn't call myself a member of Fairy Tail if I didn't stick up for a friend in need. No matter how block-headed he is."

"Was that last part really necessary?!" Natsu whined as he turned to her, but a smile slowly grew on his face. "Are you two really sure about this?" They both nodded, and Natsu looked back up at Gajeel a bit more confident than before. "Looks like we're both playing a bit dirty now."

Gajeel just scoffed, getting in a fighting stance again. "Oh please, this is hardly a handicap. You've just given me some softer punching bags to play with!"

Lucy was the first to make a move, throwing up one of her newly retrieved golden keys. "Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" In a flash of golden light, the hulking form of Taurus appeared and charged with his axe raised.

"Animal Soul: Bear!" Lisanna transformed her whole body into the form of the aforementioned animal and charged as well.

Taurus reached Gajeel first, swinging his great axe down towards him with a roar. Gajeel transformed one of his arms into an iron beam and held it across himself to block, bracing it with the other arm. "Iron Dragon's Club!" The axe cut into the iron bar but stopped halfway. Lisanna moved to strike while both his arms were busy, lunging at his exposed stomach. Her bear paw slammed into Gajeel's steel chest with barely a reaction.

"Seriously?" Lisanna exclaimed in surprise. Bear Soul was one of her best strength-based Take Over's. It hit with the force of a half-ton beast, yet the man didn't even flinch. What kind of punches were these Dragon Slayer's throwing at each other? She quickly found out, as the bar Gajeel had used to block suddenly began to sprout smaller bars which shot out at lightning speed. Taurus and Lisanna were sent flying back, which she used as a chance to try another form. This time she only transformed below her waist, leaving above in her normal human form. "Animal Soul: Snake!"

Natsu ducked under the flying Taurus as he charged forward, a fist ablaze. As Gajeel swung a fist back to transform it into an iron weapon of some kind, Lisanna pounced towards him like a cobra. She quickly wrapped herself around him in an inhuman hold, trying to hold back Gajeel's counterattack.

"Gah?! What the fuck is this?" Gajeel shouted in surprise, scrambling at the serpentine form wrapped around his legs and arms. He was far stronger than Lisanna was and could probably remove her easily if she didn't keep slithering around. "Seriously, this is creepy as hell!"

"Fire Dragon's Crushing Grip!" Natsu shouted, slashing at Gajeel's chest with fiery claws. He then weaved around Gajeel, grabbing his left arm as he went and held it behind him in a hold. As Lisanna tried her best with the right arm, he called out to Taurus. "Aim for the chest!"

"Mooooo! You've got it! Rampage!" Taurus let out a cry as he jumped up and spun his axe towards Gajeel's center.

"Damn! Get off me already! Iron Dragon's Repelling Scales!" Gajeel shouted in rage, and the iron scales on his arms exploded off them, flying like razor blades into Natsu and Lisanna. They both recoiled in pain, allowing Gajeel to free his arms. Without the iron defense on them and no time to use another spell, he tried to catch the swing before it could hit. He managed to catch a hand on each side of the axe-head. But the power of the Zodiac Celestial Spirit was greater than he anticipated and while the attack was slowed, the attack still connected sending him flying across the room.

"Nice work Taurus!" Lucy cheered.

The attack appeared to do some serious damage, as when Gajeel got up from the blow there was a giant crack down the middle of his iron chest. Smaller cracks could be seen forming around it as he moved. He looked up and down again from the damage done to him to the ones who dealt it.

"And here I thought you two would be a bunch of pushovers. The more I fight you people the more I realize that the talk about your guild might be more than just that." Gajeel said sincerely. "Fine then, let's go all out then!" He bent down and took a great breath. "Iron Dragon's…"

Natsu's eye widened, recognizing which attack Gajeel was planning to use. At the angle he was standing at, it would be able to hit all four of them. "Both of you get down!" He shouted to the girls as he prepared to respond in kind, taking his own deep breath. "Fire Dragon's…"

"ROAR!"

Taurus quickly grabbed Lisanna who was standing next to him, and ran towards Lucy, throwing himself in front of both women. They only caught a glimpse of the two Dragon Slayer's breath attacks colliding before it created a great explosion and Taurus pulled them in closer. Lucy felt the force of the explosion reverberate through her body. When the sound of the clash ended, she opened her eyes slowly. She saw Taurus looking down at her and Lisanna.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Taurus asked in a pained voice.

"Yeah, we both are. We barely felt a thing." Lucy replied after looking herself and Lisanna over.

"That's… Good." Taurus then slumped over, and Lucy gasped as she could see the various iron shrapnel that had ended up in his back. The Zodiac Celestial Spirit then faded away in a golden light.

"Taurus!" Lucy cried. She looked up for Natsu and found him still standing tall through a cloud of dust. "Oh, thank goodness! Your still okay Natsu-?!" A choking sound came out of her mouth as the dust cleared.

Natsu was still standing, but he was absolutely covered in shrapnel like Taurus had been. There was blood all over, and he looked like he was struggling just to look straight.

"Well, this was an entirely educational experience, wouldn't you say?" Gajeel said, strutting out of the dust without a care in the world. It looked as if the fire had barely touched his body. He looked at his opponents on the other side of the room and chuckled at the site. "It looks like your fire can't match up to my iron blades!" He looked like he had more to say, but his ears twitched, and a wicked grin spread across his ears. "Oh? What is that sound that's so pleasant to my ear? Sounds like it's coming from over there." He tilted his head towards the giant hole in the wall with a mad glint in his eyes.

The three members of Fairy Tail hesitantly looked out the hole and out towards where the rest of their guildmates had been fighting, the guild building standing in ruin. Except it wouldn't remain standing for much longer. Jose's Shades flew into the building with a ferocity unseen from before, tearing through the building and ripping it apart. The whole structure slowly shook, and eventually… It toppled like a deck of cards.

"I know!" Erza said. "Why don't you join Fairy Tail."

The three Strauss siblings just looked at the girl they had only met minutes ago confused. "What?"

"Fairy Tail is a Magic Guild." The girls mother Irene said as she explained the truth being their older sister's scary appearance.

"And they'll take anyone." Erza said excitedly. "My friends lost their family too, but Fairy Tail took them in and taught them magic."

Lisanna remembers staring in amazement at her words.

'There's really a place out there that would take us in? It's filled with people like us?'

"Anyways, we actually brought someone back from our job with us, says she wants to join Fairy Tail."

'Huh?' Lucy had looked at Lisanna in surprise but seeing her smiling back gave her the courage to continue. She remembers bowing before introducing herself. "My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I'd be honored if you would let me join the Guild. If you'll have me, that is."

She remembers it being so silent that she feared to even look up from her bow, that she couldn't help but doubt if she was good enough to join in the first place.

"Of course we would!" A voice eventually had replied though, and she had looked up to see Erza for the first time. "Fairy Tail is not just a guild, it's a family, and we'd never turn away family." Erza Belserion continued. "Welcome to Fairy Tail!"

Lucy was so happy to hear Erza say those words that she easily forgave her for nearly crushing her hand a minute later.

"Fairy…Tail?" Natsu said confused, staring up at the symbol adorning the guild building.

"Nobody knows if fairies have tails or not." Makarov explained to the pink-haired boy he had met the other day. "Nobody can even tell you if they existed or not at all."

He tilted his head in confusion. "Then what's the point?"

"The point is that it's forever a mystery to answer! That there will always be an adventure to go on! That symbol is the very heart of the guild, etched into every inch of the building!" Makarov explained proudly. "So, now that you've been here for a few days, what do you think of the place?"

Natsu squished his face up in thought. He eventually turned to Makarov with a smile on his face. "I like it! I want to be a member of Fairy Tail! I want to come to this place and go on a new adventure every single day!"

As the guild building was consumed by a cloud of dust, the three members of Fairy Tail continued to stare in disbelief. Their only home, gone. If the guild wasn't still standing, then what did they have to go back to?

Natsu was the first to turn away, setting his glare back on Gajeel, who returned it with a cocky grin. He tried to summon some flames into his hand, but when he couldn't, he just started shambling towards his opponent. His pained wheezes with each step snapped Lucy and Lisanna out of their sadness. They both stared at him in with concern.

He raised a perfectly normal fist and swung it at Gajeel's face. It bounced of his iron skin uselessly, and Gajeel sighed. "Do you really want to keep doing this?" When Natsu didn't bother to respond and brought another fist up, Gajeel slammed his own iron fist into Natsu, throwing him back to Lucy and Lisanna. Natsu eventually stabilized himself and took a step towards, only for his legs to give out and collapse face first into the floor.

"Natsu!" They both cried. They could see him trying to push himself up, but he simply didn't have the strength to keep going. Lisanna ran over to him and moved him onto his back.

"Get up! Get up, damn it!" Natsu cried to himself, as tears began to form in his eyes. Lisanna wrapped one of his hands in her, and she could feel his grip tighten. "This isn't over yet! Not until Wendy is safe! Not until Gramps is better! Not until they can't hurt you two anymore!"

Lucy slowly stood up, tearing up as well. "I can't watch this go on anymore." She began to walk towards Gajeel, hoping to turn herself over and end this, but Lisanna held out a hand from next to Natsu.

"I won't let them take you. I won't let everything Natsu's fought for be for nothing." Lisanna said seriously, and Gajeel whistled.

"Still trying to defend your boyfriends honor even now lady? You've got guts, I'll admit. A shame that you'll be joining him on the floor shortly." Gajeel took a step towards them. "You may be able to turn into a whole bunch of different animals, but there's nothing on this planet stronger than a dragon! Nothing you could possibly do can hurt me! How about you stay down before you end up with a few more scars!"

Natsu squeezed her hand again, giving him a pleading look. "Please don't do this. I don't want you to get hurt…"

Lisanna knew that. She knew that when she got up, she'd probably be beaten black and blue without landing a single hit in return. But she couldn't give up. She was sick and tired of her friends fighting her battles for her. She was done with being seen as useless. And most importantly, she couldn't let someone hurt the ones she loved right in front of her if she wasn't powerless to stop it.

"I'm already hurt, you idiot!" Lisanna finally cried out. Natsu's eye's widened in surprise as the words she had locked up for years began to spill out. "You and Elfman and Mira are always hurting me! You're all so worried that something terrible will happen to me again if you so much as glance away. But how do you think I feel whenever you or Mira disappear on a mission without even telling me and come home covered in wounds? That feeling of guilt you have right now? For being too weak and having someone else fight for you? I have it all the damn time!"

Natsu stared at Lisanna, slowly realizing how he must have made her feel for years. He looked away guilty for a moment but looked back into her eyes eventually. He squeezed her hand one last time. "You're right, I'm sorry Lisanna. Can I leave this fight in your hands?"

At Natsu finally saying those words to her, Lisanna squeezed his hand back as a warmth filled her heart. She nodded her head and let out a smile just like Natsu always gave her. "You got it!" Slowly letting go of his hand, she got to her feet and began to take steps towards Gajeel.

"That was sickening sweet! Really, I think I'm going to puke!" Gajeel mocked, advancing towards Lisanna as well. He was quickly upon her and brought up his arm for a punch. "Well then, lets get this over with. Try and last longer than a single hit this time, okay?"

Lisanna stared Gajeel down and prepared to throw her own punch. She focused on that feeling of warmth in her heart and drew it out. She felt it grow from a small spark to a raging bonfire as it moved through her body. She slammed her left foot down, pivoted her entire body, and swung her right fist forward. Even as the fire spreading within her body reached her eyes and all she saw was red, she pushed forward with a might shout. Over the sound of her own cry, she swore she heard a voice echo in the back of her head.

'I had decided not to meddle further, but you have impressed me. Fight with the pride of a dragon!'

Lisanna felt her fist connect with Gajeel's and heard a fiery explosion. She waited to be blown away but found that nothing happened. The pure red that had filled her vision began to fade, and as she began to see again, she had trouble processing the view in front of her. The man who had been about to knock her on her ass was currently lying on the other side of the room, and the reason for why became obvious as she looked down at her arm.

Her outstretched fist had fire pouring around it like a torch. Her forearms were covered in red scales, and she noticed them along her shins too. Her scars all seemed to flare like there was a raging inferno building just beneath the surface.

"Incredible." Lucy mumbled from behind her. When she turned to look at her the woman was staring at her in amazement. "Woah! Your hair and eyes! They look like they're on fire…"

While Lisanna couldn't see it, she could feel this new magic as it moved through her artificial eyes and stretched to the ends of her hair, which glowed the same pink color of Natsu's, only with a saturated with a white glow. She looked down to Natsu to see his reaction, only to find that due to his position he quite literally had his mouth to the floor.

"What the hell?!" Gajeel shouted as he got up, staring at her in rage. He clutched his injured fist, which had been burnt due to throwing off it's scales earlier. "What kind of bullshit form is that?!"

Lisanna could only think of one possible name for her new form. She turned back to Gajeel and struck a pose she had seen Natsu take a hundred times before. She slammed her fist into her palm in front of her, letting them burn with dragon fire and let out a smirk.

"Take Over Magic: Fire Dragon Soul!"

Gajeel continued to shake with anger. "I don't care if you can turn yourself into some knock off Dragon Slayer! I kicked Salamander's ass and I'll kick yours too!" He cried out, running back towards her. "Iron Dragon's Club!"

Two iron beams came flying from Gajeel's arms, speeding towards Lisanna like a train. But this new form's senses were beyond anything she had ever felt before, and she had already weaved into the space between the two attacks and preparing her own. She wrapped an arm around each club, and when Gajeel retracted the beams back she landed right in front of him. She focused on the giant crack in his iron chest caused by Taurus's attack, gripping a hand on either side of the opening. "Fire Dragons Grip Strike!" Using the cracks in his armor as leverage, Lisanna released a point-blank blast of fire that blew the remaining scales on his chest and head off, leaving his upper body totally exposed.

Gajeel finally kicked Lisanna back and prepared a breath attack. "Try to dodge this! Iron Dragon's Roar?!" He was unprepared for his opponent to reach him before the attack finished and shove his head up, launching the attack harmlessly into the ceiling above. "Iron Dragons Lance!" He transformed his right arm into an iron pole and waved it in front of him, but Lisanna jumped out of the way of the attack easily. 'Damn! Is this girl faster than Salamander?! I need a new strategy!'

Gajeel jumped back to a pile of scrap in the corner of the room, panic etched on his face. "Crap! I've gotta recharge!" He said, plunging a hand deep into the pile off broken parts.

"Like I'd let you!" Lisanna shouted, lunging at him with a blazing fist.

Natsu suddenly shouted from his spot on the ground. "Lisanna don't! It's a trap!"

But it was too late, as she was already flying towards Gajeel. He no longer looked scared though, instead a hungry grin on his face. The hand shot out of the pile of scrap, having secretly transformed into a giant blade. He swung it over his head, ready to bring it down on her. "Iron Dragon's Sword!"

Lisanna panicked. She had no way to change momentum, and was on a crash course with the great iron sword ahead. But she refused to give up hope, and as if to answer her prayers, there was a golden flash behind her.

"Open, Gate of the Crab, Cancer!"

At Lucy's command, the crab-like Celestial Spirit appeared and wordlessly shot towards the giant blade of black steel held up over Gajeel's head. Even faster than Lisanna, he held his two scissors forward and jumped into the blade. He held each of them against seeming random points of the blade, and Gajeel just laughed.

"What do expect to do with those tiny things, you oversized shrimp!" He snickered. A moment later, the Dragon Slayer's blade began to crack. "What?!"

With one clean cut, Cancer's scissors snapped through Gajeel's giant blade, falling harmlessly to the ground. As the Spirit landed in front of him, he finally spoke. "I am a master of cutting. I can easily see the weakest and strongest part of any blade-Ebi." And with that, he vanished just in time for Lisanna to appear where he had been standing and land her punch.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" She swung her fist straight into Gajeel's stomach, and he keeled over. He staggered back a few steps at the blow, trying to orient himself. Lisanna didn't plan to give him the chance. She summoned as much flames as she could into her clenched fists. "Well then, lets get this over with. Try and last longer than a single hit, okay? Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!"

Lisanna threw an explosive punch into Gajeel. Then another, and another, and another, and she didn't stop. Bursts of flame shot out with each thrust, exploding throughout the room. Each one that made contact shook the entire building, and all together rocked the Phantom Lord Headquarters like an earthquake.

"This is for the Master! For Wendy! Natsu and Lucy! My brother and sister! For everyone's home you've destroyed!" Lisanna shouted, Distinguishing each exclamation with another punch. She swung back one final time, aiming right for the face. "All of this, is for Fairy Tail!" The final punch hit Gajeel dead-on, and he was knocked down onto the floor with a bang. As she finally finished her assault, the room began to collapse around her. She just glanced around at all the destruction she had wrought and chuckled. "This is definitely the Fairy Tail way."

She felt the fire in her begin to die out and she dispelled the Take-Over Magic. The scales along her limbs slowly faded, and her hair bleached completely back to the snow white it had always been. She tried to turn around but tripped on her own feet, right into the arms of Lucy, head landed softly into her chest.

"Lisanna!" Lucy cried, hugging her close as they both fell to their knees. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

Lisanna just shrugged in the other woman's embrace, not finding any energy to do much else. "Thank you too, I suppose. That was a quick save with Cancer there."

"Hey, do I get anything over here?" Natsu cried off to the side.

"Thank you too, Natsu!" Lucy said, beaming at the man still lying on the ground. She looked between Natsu and Lisanna softly. "Seriously, both of you. Thank you, for everything. Without you two, I never would have even had the courage to join Fairy Tail. I thought that I'd never be able to experience a friendship like this, but somehow when I'm with you guys, I'm always able to experience new things every day. And sure, most of those experiences have been utterly terrifying and almost killed us a few times… But I wouldn't change a thing if it meant I'd never had the chance to meet you two." She looked down as her cheeks flushed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is, umm… That I… I-"

There was a small growl, and Lucy stopped as her stomach's whining echoed across the room.

"Are you hungry?" Natsu asked innocently, turning his head towards her at the sound.

Lucy's cheeks were still flushed, but now for an entirely different reason. Moment passing, Lucy realized that she hadn't had anything to eat since they left for Galuna Island the night before. She let out a sigh and shook her head. "Yeah Natsu, I'm pretty damn hungry."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have a giant feast at the guild once this is over!" Natsu said. "Wait, the guild halls gone! I suppose we'll just have to go to a local restaurant this time. Hmm, but I can't remember which one's haven't banned our parties off the top of my head…"

As Natsu began to plan a victory feast to himself, Lisanna leaned up from her position against Lucy. She tapped Lucy on the shoulder to get her attention. "Hey Lucy, just wanted to let you know something. If you ever need help getting him to sit still long enough to hear the end of that declaration, I have some tips that might help." Lisanna said, giving a knowing look. She roared with laugher as Lucy's face somehow turned even more red.

As the two were focused on each other, Natsu said something that surprised them. "Is it just the blood loss making me delirious, or are there a bunch of ghosts in the ceiling?"

They both looked up just in time for a sea of Shades to emerge from above and engulf the three. The army of apparitions picked them up and slowly began dragging them to their dreaded master above.

Next Chapter: Laws of Love