Okay, chapter 10. The Phantom Lord Arc. Things are getting more interesting here, and heated up. For those who have been wondering, when I'm going to introduce the fact that Nero is actually part demon to Fairy Tail, well, be patient and it will appear. Now, I do plan on making a chapter where Nero goes on a job to hunt down a Demon and subsequently gain a new Devil Arm. I won't give details about the arm yet, but it will pay homage to Nevan.

Another update, Nero's gonna get a new ability from a wizard during this arc. Won't say who, but just wait and see. Also, I will be show casing bits of Nero's demonic heritage a bit more in coming chapters before going full Devil Trigger during the climax.

Anyway, I hope you're enjoying the story, sorry if it seems like I'm following too closely to Ultimate Fairy where I'm basically copying Ultimate10's work, that is not my intention. Long story short, getting this chapter going.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Kudos to Ultimate10 for inspiring me, credit goes to him and the makers of Fairy Tail and Devil May Cry.

Devil Tail

Chapter 10: Phantom Lord

10 Miles outside of Magnolia

Things had been going pretty well for Team Sparda. Currently, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Happy, and Erza were returning from a successful quest. Nero had, unfortunately, been able to join them as a last second quest came in that involved demons attacking a nearby village. The demon promised to meet back up with them after the job was done.

A few days ago, the team had been involved a spell mishap known as the Changeling spell. While it took some time to figure out, everything was returned to normal, or about as normal as what passed in Fairy Tail Guild. Thanks to Levy, the team was back in their original bodies, though a mishap did occur in the form of other wizards swapping bodies.

After taking a look at the request, Nero figured out that Levy had just mispronounced the words backwards which in turn caused the other Guild members to be switched amongst each other. However, the incident had been resolved and now everything was back to normal…well as normal as things could get for a demon and team of wizards.

At the moment, the team was passing through a small village that was on their way back to Magnolia, and also happened to be the one where Nero was doing the job.

"So where do you think, Nero is?" Asked Happy, to Natsu.

"Eh, he can't be far," brushed off the Dragon Slayer casually as he folded his arms behind his head.

"What kind of job was he doing again?" Asked Lucy, having forgot since she was focused on her own quest.

However, before either Gray or Erza could answer, a twisted cackle filled the air, sending everyone on edge.

"What was that?!" Shivered Happy, looking around.

Leaping down from a building, a form landed in front of the group of wizards. It had a rag-like body, poorly stitched together, wooden peg legs, a single wooden arm, and a massive executioner's curved blade. It has blank eyes and wobbled on its peg legs.

"The heck is that?" Demanded Natsu, having never seen something like this.

"I think it's a demon," suggested Gray. However, it wasn't long before the demon had its attention directed on them. Rushing towards them, the Arm Scarescrow raised its blade up into the air.

It didn't get very far because Erza sprubg into action and impaled both her swords into the chest of the Demon. The creature let out a hiss before sliding off the blade and fell onto its back. Blood leaking out from the wound as the blood on Erza's swords crystallized and evaporated.

"Pitiful," Commented Titania.

"You beat me to the last one," said a familiar voice, causing all the wizards to turn around and see Nero walking towards them, Red Queen resting on his left shoulder while Blue Rose was in his right hand.

"Hello, Nero, how goes your-" Greeted Erza, however, stopped abruptly when Nero suddenly aimed Blue Rose at her and fired. Instead of Erza being shot, a screech echoed through the area. Everyone spun around to see the Arm Scarecrow fall back, missing its head as the body melted away.

"First rule of Demon Hunting: never turn your back to a demon, for any reason," instructed Nero, as he spun Blue Rose on his finger and holstered it.

"No kidding," Commented Natsu as he looked at the spot where the Demon previous was, "the hell was that?"

"Scarecrow, lesser demon. Easy by itself, a littleharder in a large groups," Replied the platinum blonde as he sheathed Red Queen.

"I did not realize that these demons were more resilient than they appear," commented Erza, before turning to Nero, "thank you for correcting my error of assuming the demon would fall so easily."

She then grabbed Nero head and lightly slammed it into her armored chest. It was her way of showing gratitude or apologizing to her friends, in this case both. When she let go, Nero leaned back a bit, with his face flushed.

"Yeah...*cough*...n-no problem," stuttered Nero, scratching his nose as he grinned nervously.

"Yes, it is," Erza argued bluntly, "Forgive me. I'm sorry that I doubted you, it won't happen again. If you want, you may punish me."

"Just don't forget what I told you about Demons and we're even," countered Nero, composing himself, "I'm not into that punishment stuff."

"Smart move," the others commented.

"Right," drawled Nero, as he rolled his eyes, "I'll go talk to the mayor and get paid, then we'll head back."

2 hours later...

Magnolia

Team Sparda, which consisted of Nero, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy, has finally returned to Magnolia, Nero from a successful Demon Extermination and the others from a quest of their own. Nero had been filled in on the details of the quest and found that it sounded quite interesting, almost so that he wished he was with there. But he was shaking a stick at his own quest which paid a hefty 50,000 jewels. He found a personal enjoyment that he as making more of a profit than Dante mostly likely was.

At the moment, Team Sparda was currently walking down the street to Fairy Tail Guild. Erza was bringing up the rear of the group, pulling her cart full of suitcases. Nero couldn't understand why she brought so much stuff with her on jobs, or even how she possibly carried it around all the time. The Demon Hunter though decided to look past it, since there were many things in this world full of magic that he didn't really comprehend.

"Was that an awesome job or what?" Natsu laughed a hearty laugh with rosy cheeks.

"Well, the client sure seemed to think so," Happy replied.

"Sounds like you guys had fun," Commented Nero, on hand in his pocket and the other holding a bag of his payment, "almost makes me think you didn't break anything."

"Come on!" Groaned Natsu, shooting the hunter an annoyed look, "we don't break that much stuff!"

"I believe it when you start to get along with Gray," taunted Nero, chuckling.

Gray scoffed playfully, "Face it; you guys are just lucky that I decided to come along."

"We're lucky that you begged to come with us?" Natsu countered, "How do yah figure?"

"Because you're as helpful as one of Erza's suitcases," Gray responded.

The Dragon Slayer and ice mage got in one another's face with angry looks, "You better watch your mouth or I'm gonna pack you like a suitcase, pal!" Natsu growled.

"That doesn't make any sense," Gray retorted.

"I rest my case," Commented Nero, before leaning over to Lucy, "they're never gonna get along, are they?"

"No, they are not," Lucy deadpanned. Instead of wearing her usual attire, she was sporting a tight pink shirt with a black skirt. Also, in her arms was her Celestial spirit, Plue. Nero took notice that whenever they were relaxing or not on a job, that was the spirit Lucy tended to summon.

Erza got between the two and forced them apart easily, "Enough boys!" she then turned to Gray, "Now please get dressed."

It was true. Gray had somehow stripped down into a pair of black boxers within the blink of an eye. Nero just rolled his eyes, at this point, he wasn't surprised that Gray couldn't keep his clothes on.

Gray's expression fell into shock, "For crying out loud how does this keep happening?!"

"Piece of advice, Gray," Happy suggested, "Never get in a fight in your underwear."

"Words to live by," snorted Nero in amusement.

"Uh guys, hate to interrupt your conversation, but…," Lucy intervened.

"What's up?" Natsu asked.

She held up the request, which depicted a five hundred jewel reward, "When I took this job I was hoping for it to be a solo mission. So, why did you all come along?" She asked sheepishly.

"Oh come on, isn't it obvious?" the Dragon Slayer said.

"No I don't think so," Lucy replied.

Natsu gave her his trademark toothy grin and a 'thumbs up', "We're Fairy Tail's ultimate team, so we have to stick together."

"Aye sir," Happy agreed.

"And don't you forget it," Gray added.

"With all the craziness and benefits that come with us," added Nero with a smirk along with the others at the blonde mage, "like it or not, you're stuck with us to the bitter end."

Erza only nodded in agreement.

Lucy was blank for a short moment before she smiled, "Yeah we are!"

"No job is too tough, " Natsu stated with confidence, "Not for me, Happy, Nero, Erza, and even droopy pants here."

"Don't call me that," Gray said.

"We are quite a capable bunch," Erza admitted happily.

"A band of misfits," added Nero, "reminds me of my uncles business."

"Aye," Happy agreed.

"HEY! You forgot about me!" Lucy yelled.

As the group continued down the stone street, Natsu laughed a bit, "Oh lighten up Luppy; I'm just messin' with yah."

"Well I don't appreciate it and that is not my name," Lucy replied, annoyed.

Erza stopped as she clenched her fist tightly, "Please, forgive me," She said sincerely, "I truly did not mean to upset you. I let myself get carried away, it will not happen again. If you would like, you may strike me now."

'Going a little extreme, even with me,' Thought Nero.

"That's okay; I really don't think it's in my best interest," Lucy responded.

"Smart move," Natsu and Gray said simultaneously.

As the team strolled down the street, passing Magnolia citizens stared at them and whispered to one another. They looked at them with albeit…sympathy?

Nero narrowed his eyes, not totally unaccustomed to being looked at, even back in Fortuna shortly after the incident that killed his foster parents; however, the way these people were looking at them seemed suspicious.

"Something's off," Commented Nero, "why is everyone staring at us?"

"It's not the good kind of staring." Happy commented.

"They feel so pity…" Erza said. The redhead then looked forward and quickly stopped in her tracks.

The rest of the group followed her gaze and were dumbstruck. From the distance, the Guild Hall looked very peculiar. They couldn't see much, but from here there appeared to be large poles sticking out in random spots all over the building.

"The hell?" Demanded Nero, mostly to himself, "what happened?"

"What? Why does the Guild look so…bizarre?" Erza inquired.

"Standing here isn't gonna answer that question," retorted Nero as he picked up the pace, "let's go."

Team Sparda continued down the path that led to the Guild Hall. When they finally reached their destination, they were dumbstruck. Several giant iron pillars were protruding out everywhere across the pagoda-shaped building, one was even sticking out through the Fairy Tail sign above the front doors.

"No way," Gray muttered.

"What's happened to it?" Erza asked.

"No," Lucy whimpered lightly, holding her hand over her mouth. "I don't understand."

Nero said nothing as he clenched his right hand. The knuckles of Devil Bringer popping under the pressure. He didn't take jokes too well.

A moment passed as the group stood stationary, gazing in a mixture of shock, confusion, and in Natsu's case, anger.

"Our Guild," Natsu snarled, clenching his fists, "Someone did this to our Guild."

"But who would do such a thing?" Titania said.

"It was Phantom," a female voice answered.

The team, minus Natsu, turned around to see Mirajane standing behind them, ready to break into tears.

"Are you serious?" Gray said calmly.

Natsu turned to look at Mirajane with pure fury, "You mean Phantom did this?" he growled.

"We couldn't do anything to stop them. They got us good," Mirajane sobbed.

"Someone mind telling me, who the hell Phantom is?" Demanded Nero, looking between the gathered wizards.

"Phantom Lord," answered Gray, turning to Nero, "they're a powerful rival Guild. We've never been on the best terms with those jerks…as you can see."

"Rivalry, Huh?" Said Nero, "looks a little more than that."

Later, the group proceeded into the building and headed down a flight of stairs that led to the basement. The basement was usually used for storage but since there were iron pillars everywhere, it was the only place in the Guild Hall unaffected by the devastation.

The rest of the Guild was sitting at makeshift tables, either eating, drinking, or moping. Anyone could tell that their morale was very low. Nero even saw that his friends' seemed disheartened too. This didn't sit well with him. Not even one bit.

"Yo! What's up kids?" Makarov slurred, holding a mug of beer. It was obvious that the master was drunk.

"Uh…hi," Lucy said awkwardly.

"Sorry we weren't here sooner," Erza added, skipping preamble.

"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu demanded angrily.

Natsu was ignored as the old mage shifted his gaze to Lucy, "How did it go, Lucy? Did yah finish the job like a good girl?"

"Yeah…I guess so," Lucy replied.

"Master," Erza said firmly, "do you not understand the gravity of this situation?"

"The Guild Hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu inputted.

"There's no need to get yourselves worked up," Makarov responded, "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything," He then took another big gulp of beer.

"What?" Gray asked.

"Hmph," Makarov continued, "just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are. They struck when no one was here, is that anything worth bragging about?"

"No one was here?" Erza queried.

"It was after everyone had already left for the night." murmured Mirajane.

"Good time to hit," Commented Nero bitterly, "least nobody got hurt."

Yes," Erza agreed. "Thank goodness for that."

"We shouldn't trouble ourselves with people who don't even have the guts to face us head-on," Makarov asserted, "Forget about those fools."

Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist into a wooden crate, putting a huge dent in it and sending wooden chips flying.

"Ain't gonna happen, gramps!" the pink haired mage shouted, "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"

"We're not talking about this any longer," Makarov replied calmly, "We'll handle job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired."

"We shouldn't be worrying about…" began the Dragon Slayer, however, the Master wasn't having any of it.

"NATSU!" Makarov yelled, cutting off the aforementioned wizard, "That's enough out of you!"

Unexpectedly, the old man reached out his hand and slapped Lucy's rear.

"Yep," snorted Nero, not entirely surprised, "totally wasted."

"And you spanked me because…," Lucy trailed off to let the old man explain his actions.

"Because he's drunk," supplied Nero, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"Hands to yourself, master!" Mirajane admonished, forgetting what Nero said as her attention was on the old man.

Makarov pulled back his hand and laughed sheepishly. He then jumped off the crate he was sitting on and ran across the room.

"Where are you going?" Natsu demanded.

"Oh, keep your dress on," Makarov retorted, "I gotta take a leak."

Natsu's ire dimmed a bit as he looked at the floor, "I don't understand why he's being like this."

"Listen," said Mirajane, "this is just as hard on him as it is for you. He's mad, but conflict between the Guilds is strictly prohibited."

"But that's not fair!" yelled Natsu, "Those Phantom creeps started this!"

"I know, but that doesn't matter," The white-haired beauty responded.

"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it," Erza said, although there was a hint of reluctance in her voice.

Nero, then looked around the guild, seeing the downcast expressions of all the wizards, and not just the ire of Natsu. It didn't feel right, the Hall being this down. It felt wrong. An idea entered his mind, the time trick he pulled a while back. While he had no clue whether or not he could turn back time or had the power to do that. Seeing how everyone was like this just pissed off Nero to no end.

"If it's of any consolation," began Nero, glancing over at Mira out of the corner of his eye, "I think I might know a way to get the hall back in shape."

"Huh?" Mirajane gapped lightly, "You can do that?"

The rest of the team and the Guild, who overheard Nero's offer, all turned to him bemused and slightly amazed. A few of the Guild members muttered comments, some which questioned Nero's sanity. Though their skepticism was granted; how could one person fix an entire Guild Hall?

"Got a trick I learned from my uncle," supplied Nero, "should be able to fix everything. If not, well...just means we got our work cut out for us."

"Really?" Erza cocked a brow, folding her arms over her chest, unconvinced.

"10 jewels says you're wrong," challenged Nero, folding his arms.

"Well," Mirajane's tone seemed to perk up a bit, "If you can do it, then please do."

"Right," nodded Nero, "first thing I need is for everyone to clear out."

Soon, Nero and the rest of the Guild made its way out of the basement to stand outside the ruined building. They gave Nero a little room as per his request. The newbie member stood in front of the main doors, looking over the damage that had been inflicted.

"Welp," Said Nero to himself, looking down at the gloved Devil Bringer, it pulsed lightly, Nero's eyes flashed crimson red as the power of the appendage flowed through his body, "no turning back now."

Devil Bringer began to glow brightly, nearly glowing through his sleeve and his glove. Nero wasn't sure if he could turn back time. But at the very least, he could just try to fix it the old fashioned way while time was frozen. Raising his right, hand, black and white energy collected around the glove. Before anyone could ask when he would start or what he would do, Nero snapped his fingers.

Then entire turned black and white. Like someone hit the negative light on reality. But what stood out was that everyone was frozen. The birds in the sky were frozen.

Nero turned to look at everyone and saw they were all frozen. He then looked down at Devil Bringer and saw that it was glowing fiercely.

"Guess Deliora gave me a little extra other than the swords," mused Nero, "time to get to work."

Reaching into his coat, Nero drew out his headphones and his phone. A little while back, Nero took it upon himself to get his beloved music player repaired, doing it himself. He got some parts from around with the help of Mira and soon they were playing his tunes like new. Placing the headset on, he began scrolling through his songs until he found what he was looking for.

*Hustler, By Zayde Wølf*

As the music started Nero channeled energy back into Devil Bringer and snapped his fingers again. Another pulse of energy shot out around the area. Suddenly, the iron bars vanished while the pieces of debris began to move back into place. Nero was watching everything repair itself, or more accurately, reverse itself before it was defaced by the Phantom Lords.

As the guild was restoring itself, Nero's eyes flashed red and the demon hunter felt himself grasp his chest as his breathing hitched.

'Power...' hissed a voice in his mind. The hunter knew that voice. He pushed it aside and focused on the guild.

Two minutes into the repair, Nero was running on fumes, but the guild only needed a few more seconds to repair itself. Gasping slightly, Nero felt Devil Bringer tap out and the area around him returned to normal. As the negative effect faded, in its wake was a fully repaired Fairy Tail Guild Hall. Some wizards gasped in shock while others, like Erza, stared in amazement. The Guild's spirits quickly lifted into joy from the sight of the repaired building. To them it happened in the time it took for Nero to snap his fingers.

The Fairy Tail mages all stared in astonishment and confusion. Natsu stared blankly until realization washed across his face.

"Hey!" he said, starting to smile, "I remember you doing that! You used your time powers to fix the Guild, huh?"

"Yep," gasped Nero as he stumbled slightly, his headphones falling around his neck as the song ended.

Seeing he was about to fall, Erza went over to support him.

"Time powers?" Erza questioned with a raised brow.

"Trick my uncle had and I improve on," wheezed Nero as he tried to support himself, "calls it Quicksilver."

Seeing him so weakened, the rest of Team Sparda joined Erza by Nero; Natsu leaned down by his side.

"You okay, dude?" Natsu asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm good," coughed Nero, "not doing that again for a while."

Natsu offered the demon hunter a hand, which he accepted and supported himself under his own power. Erza turned to look at the fully repaired Guild as the rest of the Guild flooded in with raised spirits, thanking Nero on their way in.

"Good work, Nero," Erza complimented, "That was very kind of you."

She then grabbed Nero's head and lightly slammed it into her armored chest like how she did when he saved her from getting filleted by the Scarecrow earlier in the day.

"It's like what I did for you this morning, no big deal," shrugged Nero, somewhat awkwardly as he lightly blushed, unconsciously scratching his nose, "a friend of mine told me to help out whoever I can."

His mind went back to Kyrie. She would do everything she could to get this place back in order.

"Yes, it is," Erza retorted, snapping Nero back to reality, "Forgive me. I'm sorry that I doubted you, it won't happen again. If you want, you may-"

"If you say 'punish me' I will lose all form of respect for you and punch you," cut off Nero, much to the surprise of his entire time and a little to Erza, having never been cut off before, by anyone other than Makarov, "even then, I wouldn't do anything. An apology is fine."

"Smart move," the others commented.

"Come on," gestured Nero towards the Guild Hall, "drinks are on me."

Later

Everyone had an excellent time, reaching into the waning hours of the day until dusk had settled in. Lucy was currently walking home, heading across a canal on a street that went through Magnolia. She was pulling her suitcases behind her. Her faithful companion Plue was in front of her. The blonde mage was thinking about the damage done to the Guild by the Phantom Lords, even though it had been repaired by Nero.

"Well, this is some mess we're in now, isn't it Plue?" Lucy asked.

"Huh," the little spirit said.

"I didn't know that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them." She noted.

"Uh-huh," Plue remarked before he started dancing around her, a large smile on his face.

"Honestly," Lucy admitted, "I thought about joining them before I met up with Natsu. They have a reputation that's just as crazy as Fairy Tail's." the Celestial mage paused, and then smiled. "But I love our Guild, and I don't regret my decision at all."

"Fairy Tail's kinda like my family," Lucy confessed as she opened the door.

As soon as she entered, her eyes bulged open. Sitting at her dinner table eating a large, cooked fish was Erza, Gray, and Nero. Erza was at the front while Gray and Nero were on each side, the latter leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Natsu and Happy were on the floor, the latter was eating a fish of his own.

Nero kept his coat on, however, he did take his holster for Blue Rose and sheath for Red Queen and hung them up on a nearby coat rack. Red Queen, obviously too heavy to hang on the rack without pulling it over, was propped against the wall by the coat rack. Erza wore a white shirt with a blue skirt. Gray sported a pair of black pants and a white buttoned up shirt. Natsu was in his regular attire.

"Very nice place you have here," Erza admired.

"YOU CAME IN WITHOUT ASKING FIRST!" the blonde then threw her at suitcase at Natsu, Nero just watching from the side only snorted, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

"Since the Guild has been attacked," Erza answered calmly, holding up a cup of tea, "we can assume that there are still Phantom Lord members in town."

"They probably figured out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Gray added.

Lucy flinched. "Where we live?!" she screeched.

"Mira said it would be safer if we grouped together," Gray clarified, "You know… strength in numbers."

"I guess you're right," Lucy agreed.

"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight," Happy exclaimed.

"You are a very attractive teenage girl after all," Erza explained, "I wasn't entirely comfortable with you being here alone with Nero, Natsu, and Gray. I felt like I could only relax if I stayed here as well."

"Really?" Frowned Nero as he looked at Titania, "I recall that you asked me to come with you even after I offered to stay at the hall in case Phantom decides to come back."

"It's not time to relax!" Natsu inputted angrily.

"So it was already decided that these three would stay with me?" Lucy inquired.

"Only Natsu and Gray," Erza corrected, "As Nero mentioned I convinced him to come along. After all, we are a team and must stick together."

"But why'd they have to come to my place?" demanded Lucy.

"Whoa!" Happy said, going through a basket of laundry, "You sure have a lot of dirty clothes."

"Hey!" Lucy shouted, "You better get out of my stuff or you're dead meat!"

As Happy went through Lucy's laundry, Plue had picked up a pink lollipop off the ground and started licking it. This quickly caught Natsu's attention.

"Hey Plue," Natsu yelled, "Did you find something to eat? Oh come on, don't be hogging it all!"

"Ahh…," Plue said, still licking at the candy.

"Ooh look Erza, I found some frilly panties you might like," Happy offered mischievously, holding up a pink pair of small panties.

Erza took them and examined them with wide eyes and a bit of sweat dripped down her face, "I can't believe you would actually wear something like this, Lucy," She chimed.

Plue eventually found a box full of sweets, which he and Natsu began to devour happily.

"I'm gonna catch some shuteye," Gray said, lying on Lucy's bed, "so could you please keep it down?"

"Not even your bed, Gray," snickered Nero as he shook his head, however, he suddenly stopped and gave the room a hard look, "in the event I do get a place of my own, and if any of you break into my home and do the same, I am shooting you instantly. I don't give a shit if we're on the same team. You break into the home of a demon hunter, you're going to get shot. Also, Gray, you lost something," that last part Nero said as he took a seat in a chair at a table was to Gray. The ice mage panicked when he realized he was in his boxers.

"You guys are taking this 'make yourselves at home' deal a little too far." Lucy moaned.

"We have a serious problem here," Erza glanced back, looking at the two teenage boys and adult hunter, "You boys' hygiene. I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."

"Screw you, I showered this morning," snapped Nero, "If I smelt bad, I would notice."

"I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsu added.

"But I already got into bed," Gray whined.

Erza brought the three together. Natsu and Gray on the outside while Nero stood in the center. The red head stood behind them with her hands on both Natsu's and Gray's shoulders.

"Come on, boys," Erza urged, "Do we have to take a bath together like we did when we were kids?"

"What the shit?" demanded Nero incredulously, spinning around to look at Erza with wide eyes.

Erza then looked at Nero coyly, "As for you, Nero, you may join us if you would like."

"Fuck me...," muttered Nero as he ran his fingers through his hair, his expression shocked as he was definitely flustered. Dante could make soooo many jokes here.

"What kind of relationship do you guys have?!" Lucy shrieked, equally as stunned as Nero.

"Erza's ultimate team!" Happy commented.

"More like strangest team!" the blonde countered.

"Thank God Dante isn't here," said Nero to himself.

*Later...*

About an hour later, Lucy and Erza had finished bathing. Gray and Natsu were still a bit reluctant to go while Nero just outright refused to do so. However, he couldn't help but blush ever so slightly when Erza emerged from the bathroom clad in old a pink tower covering her body, water reflecting light off her wet body. He thanked whatever God that existed that she didn't see him blush, however, what caught his attention was when she Re-Quipped into a pink set of pajamas with purple crosses that littered the fabric.

'Guess the stereotype that women take forever to get ready in the morning doesn't apply to her,' thought Nero.

Later, Natsu was sleeping with his head down on the table while Nero and Lucy sat around him, the former leaning back in his chair, with his feet kicked up on the table. Gray, meanwhile, was sitting at Lucy's desk while Erza took a seat at Lucy's bed in front of the table. Excluding Natsu, the group was discussing an obvious topic, Phantom Lord.

"Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue?" Lucy asked.

"I'm afraid not," Erza replied, "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never on anything of this sort of scale before."

"If Gramps wasn't so scared we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu mumbled.

"You been awake this whole time or did you just now wake up?" Drawled Nero as he glanced at the Dragon Slayer for a second. He sometimes didn't understand Natsu at times.

Gray just glanced at Natsu for a second, "Come on, Natsu," the ice mage scolded the Dragon Slayer lightly, "you know Master Makarov isn't afraid of them. You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"I didn't give you permission to read that!" Lucy shouted at Gray, who was holding a stack of paper in his hand. She quickly snatched it from him and held it close to her.

"You can't just snatch it out of my hand without at least telling me what happens next," Gray complained.

"Yes, I can," Lucy stated, "I promised Levy she would be the first to read it, so you're just gonna have to wait."

Unexpectedly, Erza held out a hand, expecting for Lucy to give it to her, "You're not getting it either!"

"As funny as it is watching you guys bicker, someone mind telling me what the deal is with these Ten Wizard Saints?" asked Nero, after chuckling for a bit.

"It's an honor bestowed from the Magical Council," answered Erza, "It's an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent."

"Guess there's more to shorty than I thought," joked Nero, really impressed by the fact that he's one of the strongest wizards on the continent.

"Wha…really?" Lucy stammered.

"Phantom Lord's Guild Master Jose is one of them too," Happy added.

'That's true,' Erza thought, her mind drifting back to a certain blue haired mage, 'And so is he.'

Natsu slammed his palm onto the table, nearly breaking it, "He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"

"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy suggested weakly.

"That's not true and you know it," Gray rebuked sternly, "It's just like what master and Mira said before. The consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here."

"But I don't understand. Are they really that strong?" the Celestial mage inquired.

Natsu grinned confidently, "They ain't got nothing on us. We can take those clowns."

Erza stood up from the bed, "No. If we were to engage them in battle…neither Guild would survive. Their strength equals ours," that put things into perspective for the Demon Hunter, however, she wasn't finished yet, "Phantom's Master Jose is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class, known as the Element 4. But the strongest out of all of them is Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who I believe was responsible for the destruction done to the Guild Hall."

"There's more than one Dragon Slayer?" interjected Nero, "Thought Natsu was the one and only."

"Yeah, so did I," Lucy added, "So if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats iron?"

'More so than the average person,' mused Nero inwardly.

Phantom Lord Guild Hall, Oak Town

Phantom Lord Guildhall was closely similar to the Fairy Tail Guildhall. However, what was different was that instead of wood, the walls of the hall were made of dark stone with tables aligned pretty much everywhere. Torches were hung from the walls, acting as the only source of light in the main hall. Sitting alone at a table was a young muscular man with long, black hair that was spiked up. He wore a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with silver studded edges, a pair of beige pants, and studded black boots. On his right shoulder was a black wing-like ornament jutting upwards.

This was Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer.

The table he was sitting at was covered in a variety of iron materials such as pots and pans. Gajeel was chowing down, not on regular food, but rather from the actual metal items sprawled across the table.

"Hey Gajeel, I heard you made a mess out of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall." A Phantom mage then smirked. "I also heard that one of their mages completely repaired it. Man, sure sucks for you. I mean, after all that work." He then began to laugh.

Gajeel ceased his eating and growled. He swiftly turned to face the mage. Shockingly, Gajeel's arm transformed into a black iron pillar and extended out, slamming into the fellow's face and sending him careening back. The other Phantom Lord wizards who witnessed this all began to laugh loudly.

"How many times do I have to tell yah?" Gajeel growled as his arm reverted from an iron pillar back to normal, "I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating! And besides," he stopped as he stood up on his table, glaring at all his Guildmates, "whether their precious Guild Hall was repaired or not, those Fairy Tail clowns have got nothing on us. We're way more powerful than they could ever hope to be."

His Guildmates all agreed.

"The die has been cast," A voice said. Everyone looked up to see a tall figure standing by the railing of the second floor, his form shrouded by the darkness. This was the Guild Master, Jose, "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel, despite how Fairy Tail's newest member undid it."

"After that little stunt, I realized that we weren't hard enough on them." Gajeel jeered, "So, I decided to leave them a little something extra. A present. One that's sure to get the panties of that Guild in a knot."

"Very good, my boy," Jose praised, "Be sure to not bring any harm to you-know-who, if you please?"

Gajeel only grinned wickedly.

Magnolia

About twenty four hours after Team Sparda's meeting, Nero, Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, and Happy were getting ready to head back to the fully repaired Fairy Tail Guild, Thanks in part by the aforementioned Demon Hunter. However, as they were heading back, the team spotted some sort of disturbance in Southgate Park. A park that resides within Magnolia and wasn't too far from the hall. Upon approach, Nero immediately noticed that the majority of the gathered crowd were members of the guild and citizens of Magnolia. They were gathered around a large tree, one that resides within the center of the park.

However, when the team arrived, they saw the expressions of the crowd. They looked horrified. When the team saw the cause of the crowds expression, the gasped in shock while Nero narrowed his eyes into deadly slits and growled in fury. Hanging from the trunk of the huge tree was Levy, Droy, and Jet. All three of them looked seriously beaten up. Iron clamps were keeping them pinned to the tree trunk, and painted on the tree was the Phantom Guild mark.

"LEVY!" Lucy cried.

Natsu clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fury. Nero was far less contained of his anger as he immediately drew Blue Rose and fired multiple times into the Phantom Lord Guild symbol. Wood splintered and chips flew as the twin Thorns buried themselves into the tree. Every wizard flinched at the crack of the magnum handgun, and looked right towards the Hunter, the look of rage unnerving a few. He might not know who the Phantom Lord Huild was, but no one messes with his team. They hurt his team's family and hung them up like trophies. To the demon hunter, they were no better than demons.

"I don't care what the law is," muttered Nero to himself as he finished emptying Blue Rose, "nobody messes with my team!"

The crowd grew silent and cleared a path for Master Makarov. Instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a pair of black pants and a white coat with the Ten Wizard Saint symbol on the back; though he still held his familiar cane in his hand.

"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble," hissed Makarov, "but I will not allow harm to come to my children without TAKING REVENGE!" His grip tightened until it promptly crushed his cane's shaft.

Suddenly, golden light began to shine from beneath the old man. Nero raised an eyebrow. He had never seen Makarov like this, and he could feel an insane amount of power radiating off of him. Nothing like what Sanctus had, but still worth noting.

With an enraged scowl on his face, Makarov yelled, "We have no choice but to go to war!"

"'Bout time," muttered Nero as he holstered Blue Rose. He'd been thinking of paying Phantom a visit after their last stunt.

Oak Town, Phantom Lord Guild Hall

Back in Oak Town, a small residence located in the Northeastern area of the Kingdom of Fiore, the Phantom Lord Guild had set up shop. The hall itself was a large, stone structure reminiscent to that of a castle. Not like the cathedral in Fortuna, but you get the idea. The hall rose above the other structures in the town, but even then, the stone walls hardly concealed the noise of the Phantom Lord Members as they lounged around, drank beer, spoke to one another, and laughed. Mainly about the deed that had been done a few hours prior.

Gajeel defeating three Fairy Tail members singlehandedly and hanging them up on a tree in a city park for everyone to see had been the buzz of the spoken conversations. However, there were a few murmurs that Fairy Tail had a new wizard of their own, a Demon Slayer at that. Three wizards were sauntering toward the main doors with smug smirks on their faces.

"Wow," one said, "we should go pick off a few Fairies ourselves."

As they approached the exit, the front doors were blasted off of their hinges by a flaming inferno, sending the three wizards careening back. The Phantoms quickly turned their gaze to the main doors, and as the smoke cleared, standing in the doorway was a pissed off Natsu Dragneel.

Following the Dragon Slayer was Nero, Erza, Gray, and the entirity of the Fairy Tail Guild. Lucy, while absent, offered to stay behind at Fairy Tail to hold down the fort and look after team Shadow Gear back within Magnolia Hospital.

"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Makarov declared.

A group of Phantom Lords immediately jumped at Natsu, letting out battle cries. The Fire Dragon Slayer shot out a wall of fire, blasting back the group, their bodies charred and smoking.

"Alright! Who wants to play with fire?" Natsu roared.

Nero gripped Red Queen in his left hand while he drew Blue Rose with his right, "And if you guys wanna fight," offered the demon hunter as he planted the tip of his sword into the ground, and revved the exceed, "then come a get some."

The Phantom mages quickly got over their shock and charged head-on at Fairy Tail. Natsu and Nero led the charge, going right for the largest group, the former engulfing his fists in flames while the latter aimed Blue Rose at the approaching opponents while simultaneously dragging the tip of Red Queen through the ground, began attacking with fire fists, bullets, and jet-powered sword swings.

Meanwhile, Macao held out his hand, and chanted, "Fish Net!" Without warning, several bluish-purple tendrils of energy manifested out from a purple magic circle on his hand and wrapped up several Phantom Mages, suspending them in the air.

Macao turned to Wakaba behind him, "Now Wakaba!"

The green shirt man smirked. "On it! Here comes, Smoke Punch!" Suddenly, multiple pink magic fists fired out from Wakaba's pipe and punched the Phantom mages trapped in Macao's net.

As each Fairy Tail member held their own fight, Nero was standing in the middle of the Phantom Lord V. Fairy Tail. He had holstered Blue Rose and sheathed Red Queen in order to go for bare fist brawling. He learned a good amount of hand-to-hand combat from Fortuna academy, but Trish and Dante really helped. Which made it all the more easy for Nero to deal with a random member that had used a bench as a springboard to leap at him. Seeing him coming, Nero leaped into the air, flipping in order to catch the man between his legs.

Using the shock, Nero grabbed both sides of the wizard's head and smashed his forehead into the wizards. As they were still suspended, the demon hunter hurled the wizard around and threw him across the room.

After landing back down, a few Phantom Lord wizards charged at Nero from the side, but the hunter just rolled his eyes and summoned two ethereal swords and sent them hurtling at the wizards. The effect was the two being pinned to the wall by the blades before they exploded and knocked them out.

Nero inwardly smirked- he almost felt bad for the Phantom Lord pussies. They were barely anything to him. Even an Assualt or a Scarecrow gave more of a fight than these wannabes. And from the way the battle was shaping out, they had close to nothing on his Guild Mates. But before, Nero could muse any further, he was suddenly surrounded by at least a dozen wizards.

The Hunter just scowled venomously at his foes, "So much for friendly brawling," muttered Nero, before addressing them, "So this is the mighty Phantom Lord? A bunch of wannabes obviously taking big but can't back it up."

"Get that freak!" a Phantom wizard shouted.

Half of the group in front of Nero leaped at Nero, magic circles forming in their hands. However, he wasn't worried instead, he was welcoming it. He raised Devil Bringer, his arm glowing faintly through his sleeve and glove.

"Not so fast," stated the hunter ominously as he suddenly threw his hand out behind him and Spectral Bringer shot out. The ethereal appendage grabbed a wizard by the arm and yanked him right towards Nero faster than the other wizards were traveling.

With a firm grip on the wizard's arm, Nero began using him as a makeshift bludgeon. Letting out a massive battle cry as he swung the poor wizard around, smashing him into his guildmates. Several wizards went flying, a few smashing into walls while others crashed into the ground.

Smashing the wizard he'd been using as a bludgeon, Nero sent him and two other wizards into the air where he'd follow up with Red Queen. Unsheathing Red Queen, he swung it out where the blade connected with the floor in a shower of sparks. Swinging behind him, Nero met the falling wizard with the flat side of his sword to avoid bisecting the man but still allowed Nero to smash him into the other two wizards. Revving up Red Queen's exceed, he sent the trio away where they tumbled across the ground. Nero held his position as his coat billowed behind him. No mercy was to be shown today.

Despite the brutality and the power, Nero was putting out, the other half of the wizards attacked him. One was halfway through bringing his ax down, but the holy knight easily deflected the sword before slashing at the tendon of the wizard, causing his leg to buckle. Ducking under a sword, Nero retaliated by kicking the attacking Phantom in the stomach, sending him flying back. Going back after the wizard he immobilized, Nero thrust the tip of Red Queen right underneath the wizard's arm. Flipping the sword around, he revved the exceed, sending the blade right up, lifting the man into the air and smashed him down onto two other wizards that tried to attack Nero from behind.

Dragging the tip of Red Queen through the floor, the hunter left a long slash as the blade came to rest on his shoulder. Suddenly, a mage had managed to sneak up behind Nero, the hunter spun around and buckled down as his right hand went to the area where the man stabbed Nero.

The man in front of Nero sneered, "Not so tough now, are you Fairy Tail fly?"

"You should know something about flies," stated Nero, his voice completely level as he looked up, straightening himself out to reveal that he caught the magical sword with one hand and was gripping the blade so tightly, he was warping the edge, "some of them can carry diseases."

"W-w-what the…?" he stammered, looking on in shock as the demon hunter snapped his sword in half by just flicking his wrist. Still in shock, he was unprepared for Nero to slug him right in the jaw where the wizard flew backward until he collided with another wizard.

"And I'm not a fly," continued Nero rolling his fingers of Devil Bringer, popping a few joints, leveling a glare at a few Phantom Lord Wizards that had a few of them quaking and other swearing they saw the platnium blonde's eyes flash blood red, "I'm you're worst nightmare." With that, the hunter charged with an enraged yell.

In the midst of the fighting, Makarov stood nonchalantly with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. A large mass of Phantom wizards, who surrounded him, all charged at once. Makarov opened up his eyes, bright golden light shining out of them. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake as Makarov's body increased to a height of sixty feet, about twice the size of the Phantom Nero used when he fought Sanctus Diabloca

He slammed his palm on the stone floor, trapping a few mages underneath. They all stared up in fear and awe.

"He's…a monster!" a Phantom mage said fearfully.

"AND YOU WOULD DARE HURT THIS MONSTER'S CHILDREN!" Makarov bellowed; golden light illuminating off his body. "WERE YOU REALLY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THE COUNCIL'S LAWS WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM MY RAGE?!"

The Phantom Lord members all paused, expressions of shock and awe plastered on their faces. They were amazed by the power shown in Master Makarov and the members of Fairy Tail.

"He's pretty strong." One remarked.

"Yeah, and his members are strong too." Another added.

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

As Fairy Tail continued their onslaught on Phantom Lord, the super-grown Master Makarov glanced around. "JOSE, SHOW YOURSELF!"

Erza, who was in her normal Heart Kreuz outfit, slashing two swords away at her opponents, Re-Quipped into her Flame Empress Armor. This armor was primarily dark red but also sported orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling the limbs of a Dragon. Her bright scarlet hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails. In her right hand was a long red, flaming sword.

Erza cried out as she leapt into the air, slashing her flaming sword at a group of Phantom mages. The attack sent them sprawling back charred and beaten.

"TELL ME!" she yelled. "Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4!?"

Meanwhile, a man with black spiky hair stood atop one of the many timber rafters on the ceiling. Gajeel smirked at the scene taking place. He had to admit, he was impressed by how much power Fairy Tail was showing, beating up his Guild mates like nothing. His eye was especially caught by Master Makarov, Erza, and Nero. And while he had never seen the later, the platinum blonde hair was more than enough to let him know that Nero was the one who repaired the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.

"Ah, the legend herself, Titania Erza," Gajeel said, "I guess Laxus and Mystogan are too scared to play, or do they not care? Either way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was going to go down," He pauses and grins, "Looks like they're really good fighters…for a bunch of scumbags,"

As the battle waged on below, Natsu was consuming the fire that Phantom mages shot at him, which stunned them. The pink haired young man burped as a hungry grin spread on his face, "Oh yeah, now I got a fire in my belly!"

"No way! He ate fire!" a Phantom mage cried.

"You don't think he's one of those?" another asked in fear.

Natsu slammed his fists together, a reddish-orange circle appearing in front of them, "I'm gonna blow you away! Fire Dragon Roar!" He put both hands over his mouth like a trumpeter, a huge torrent of flames bursting out. The fire sent the group flying back with burns.

Gray, who wasn't wearing a shirt, stood in the center of a big pack of Phantom mages. The mages all charged at the raven haired teen, but Gray remained calm. He put his fist on top of his palm and held them out.

"Ice Make: Lance!"

Without warning, a barrage of icy lances shot out from a magic circle in front of Gray. The lances sent the wizards sprawling back uncontrollably.

Erza had Re-Quipped into her Black Wing Armor. It was black with silver trimming with silver crosses in several places, consisting of a silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist-guard, and two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail.

As she flew though the air, she slashed her silver blade at her enemies and threw them around like nothing.

Eventually, Natsu and Gray were back-to-back, the former's hands covered in fire while the latter's were shrouded in icy mist.

"You're not doing so bad for being a snowman," Natsu quipped.

"I could say the same for you too, pyro," Gray replied.

While they were complimenting each other, Nero was busy fighting off dozens of Phantom Lord wizards. The wizards were trying to overwhelm him through sheer numbers and constant attacks, but Nero was more than able to handle them. Lesser Demons often used a similar tactic when fighting, just sending constant waves of attackers and hoping to overwhelm him. The first wave was easy enough, the second one, Nero actually had to work to fight.

A Phantom mage held up a rod and fired a bolt of lightning at Nero. The lightning Bolt struck him in the shoulder, scorching his coat and forcing Nero to steady himself on one knee.

"He's weakened! Take him down!" the wizard who'd shot Nero ordered.

"Yeah, he can't take all of us at once!" another shouted.

Taking their golden opportunity, a squad of at least two dozen Phantoms all jumped at the demon hunter. Nero looked up and just scowled as there wasn't much he could do without killing them, as the wizards began to dog pile him. While the large clique piled on top of the Demon Hunter, ten other wizards surrounded the pile. Some were holding magic swords and axes while others were summoning magic circles.

"He's not so tough after all." A mage commented smugly.

Erza, who was still flying in the air in her Black Wing Armor, witnessed Nero get overwhelmed, "Nero, hang on!" she yelled, taking off toward the large pile with her sword reared back.

However, before she got even close a cyan blue light erupted from pile through whatever openning there was and a giant blast of power sent wizards flying in every direction. Erza made sure to dodge the incoming wizards as they sailed by.

Standing up right, Red Queen in his hand, though the tip and blade were resting on the floor was Nero. His coat was billowing behind him, and his hair flowed like it was in water. What stood out most was the fact that blue energy that appeared to be fire was coursing across him and his right arm appeared to be the source. As for his eyes, they were glowing blood red, like how Erza's did when she got angry. However, these eyes were much worse.

"You think I'm an easy fight?" Demanded Nero, his voice taking on an echo, "Well, Guess I better prove how wrong you are."

The Phantom mages who hadn't been blasted away all stood frozen, shaking, and muttering incoherently. Erza's own eyes widened from seeing this level of power. The energy that came off of Nero, it was not like anything she had sensed, but she could feel it was something that is, no, that was malevolent. Demonic.

"What the hell is this guy?" One shouted.

"What kind of Demon Slayer wizard is this guy?"

"He…he must be very powerful," A guy stuttered timidly.

"WHO CARES!" a brave Phantom wizard shouted, "GET HIM!"

The ten men charged at Nero, but the demon hunter held his ground. If anything, he dared them to attack. With a growl, Nero charged right towards them, Red Queen's Exceed humming as the hunter charged. Getting in range, he began mercilessly, hacking away, sending several mages flying, even snapping weapons like swords and axes in half when Nero swung his sword to intercept the attacks of a few wizards. After swinging down as hard as he could, whilst simultaneously throttling the Exceed in a technique Nero had to take on the attacking ten men; MAX-Act to bring the Exceed up to full, he performed a perform slash, the power of which had him spinning around to keep hold of Red Queen. Flames and metal collided with several wizards and sent the flying back with burns across their bodies and several cuts.

Spinning around to face another band of mages, Nero sheathed Red Queen and drew Blue Rose. Taking aim, he fired at the wizards. Every time he fired, a Summoned Sword would appear and follow each shot. Each shot and sword hit their target, knocking them down and out of the fight. Across the area of unconscious, semi-burned Phantom Guild members, fire was scattered all over and eating away at the air. Erza descended from the air and landed by Nero, just as the power he used vanished and his eyes lost the red glow.

"Quite the impressive display," Commented Erza, looking across the area before turning to Nero.

"Yeah," Said Nero softly, mentally berating himself for nearly losing control. He knew his temper was a big drawback of his. But he couldn't let that get the better of him, "thanks,"

Nero thanked her before turning towards the Titania and immediately noticed her attire. Nero felt a tiny blush form on his face. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but he was also confused, how could something like that protect her? "Interesting Armor you got there, if you can even call it Armor."

"This is my Black Wing Armor," Erza elaborated, "It grants me flight and better offensive capabilities against my enemies."

The duo refocused on their surroundings as another pack of Phantoms was forming a tight circle around them. Nero and Erza were now back-to-back, the former's left hand holstering Blue Rose and wet to Red Queen to rev up the Exceed.

"So," smirked Nero as he glanced at Erza across his shoulder, "you gonna show me just how powerful that armor is?"

Erza smirked, "With pleasure!"

The Phantom Lords yelled as they all jumped at the duo. Erza Scarlet flew into the air and delivered a powerful swipe from her silver blade, sending her attackers careening back. Nero went on the offensive, slashing Red Queen, his foes cried out in pain from the strikes as they flew back and collided with either walls, furniture or whatever was in the hall that wasn't broken or trashed.

Erza landed by Nero's left side, smiling, "Is that powerful enough?" she teased.

"If it has power, it is worth overpowering," smirked Nero as he rested Red Queen on his shoulder.

The two ran over to their other Guild members, stepping over unconscious Phantom Lord members on the way. Some of the wizards who had seen Nero's personality flip were rather surprised, those of them were Natsu.

"Whoa," commented Natsu, "didn't expect that from you, Nero. Didn't think you had a temper like that."

"Like you're one to talk," shot back Nero before his expression shifted, "But the job ain't done yet. Still got some Lord's running around."

It was true. They had successfully subdued a large fraction of Phantom Lord, but there were still plenty left standing. Though they were now wary of Fairy Tail's might, they still surrounded them and were ready to engage. The Fairy Tail Guild stood together and prepared to continue their fight.

"We got 'em right where we want them though," Wakaba said.

"Erza," the redhead looked up the stairs that led to the second floor to see Makarov. He had reverted back to his normal size, but that didn't make him defenseless at all. "I'll leave the rabble to you and the others."

"Yes sir," she acknowledged.

Makarov walked leisurely but with a menacing aura casting off him, "Jose must be on the top floor," he growled, "When I find him, there will be hell to pay."

Erza watched as Makarov disappeared from view, "Please be careful," She prayed.

"He'll be fine, right?" asked Nero, having heard her and turned towards Erza.

The mighty Titania turned to Nero, "Jose is strong, but I'm sure Makarov will be fine."

"Let's hope so," murmured Nero, looking up at the stairs where Makarov disappeared. Despite his size, he knew that the old man was more than strong enough to hold his own in a fight. But still, something bothered him a little.

Makarov walked up to a wall, and without having to touch it, the stone was blasted away. On the rafters above, Gajeel sneered as Makarov proceeded into the giant hole in the wall.

"Now that their little boss man is out of the way," Gajeel said, "it's time I throw myself into the mix."

The Iron Dragon Slayer then jumped off the wooden girders, descending to the floor below. A hungry, sadistic grin spread across his face as he crashed down onto the floor.

Having heard the crash, the members of Fairy Tail Guild and Phantom Lord both turned to the large Phantom Lord sign in the room. Standing on the top was a young man with black spiked hair, a black and silver vest, and had iron studs all over his body.

A few members mumbled in fear from the presence of the man whilst Erza's eyes narrowed from recognition.

"It's the Iron Dragon Slayer," Erza muttered, "Black Steel Gajeel."

"That's him?" asked Nero incredulously, sizing up the wizard, and immediately noting that Gajeel looked more akin to a heavy-metal rocker than a wizard, "Guy looks like a rockstar that Dante would listen to."

Suddenly, Nab, a tan-skinned man wearing a black vest and a necklace of skulls, jumped into view behind Gajeel, "You attacked Levy! AGGHH!"

Before Nab could punch him though, Gajeel transformed his right arm into a large, iron pillar and swiftly slammed it into Nab's torso. Gajeel's iron-club arm kept stretching out until it smashed across the floor, forming a trench and knocking back his own guildmate in the process.

"The hell?" demanded Nero, completely taken by surprise. He attacked his own guildmate.

"What the?!" Gray said; an expression of shock portrayed on his face. "He just knocked back his own guild mates with that attack!"

Black Steel Gajeel jumped from the billboard and landed safely on his feet. He chuckled as his iron-club arm reverted back to normal. "Show me what you got. Unless you scum are too scared to face the great Iron Dragon Slayer." He taunted.

This immediately enraged Elfman. "Too scared!" He lunged straight at Gajeel, his arm, which was transformed into some sort of beast-like appendage, was cocked back. "Real men have no fear!"

An amethyst magic circle appeared in front of Elfman as his beast arm shifted into a bulky, stone-covered one. His stone fist connected with Gajeel's shoulder but had no effect on the black haired man.

"You're Elfman, right?" Gajeel said. He then shifted his other arm into an iron pillar and extended it toward Elfman.

The large white-haired man was quick to dodge the attack though. As Gajeel's arm returned to normal, he then kicked his leg out, which instantly changed into an iron-club and stretched toward Elfman at high speeds. Amazingly, Elfman caught the pillar with his still armored hand.

"Ah, not bad big guy," praised Gajeel.

"Well, that's because I'm a real man," Elfman stated.

"Yeah," Gajeel smirked, "well then, let's see how a real man handles this!"

Without warning, a few lumps grew from Gajeel's leg. They quickly stretched out into miniature pillars and smacked into random Phantom members nearby who were spectating.

"What the hell?!" demanded Nero, his anger spiking, 'He'd willingly attack his own friends?'

"They're Phantom! You attacked your own men?!" Elfman shouted as he looked at the Phantom members being knocked back by Gajeel's manifested pillars.

"Because I knew it would distract yah!" Gajeel explained. His right arm shifted into a club and slammed into Elfman's face, driving him back.

Natsu jumped into view and used Elfman as a springboard to launch himself at Gajeel. He dodged another iron-club that Black Steel attempted to strike him with. The fire mage lite up his hands with flame and delivered a wicked right hook into Gajeel's face. The blow sent the iron mage flying back and crashing through the bar area.

"Whoa," a scared Phantom mage said, "he sent him flying!"

"No one's ever done that before." Another added uneasily.

With a small groan, Gajeel steadily picked himself out from the wreckage of the ruined bar countertop, glaring at the pinked haired mage who had punched him.

"Allow me to introduce myself," Natsu said with his fists still shrouded in fire, "I'm Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer."

A wicked grin grew across Gajeel's face.

"Elfman, leave this guy to me," Natsu demanded.

"Aw come on!" Elfman complained. "First you used me as a springboard and now you're stealing my man-to-man fight?"

Gajeel jumped forward and shouted, "Iron Dragon Club!"

The onyx haired mage's arm shifted into a large, steel colored pillar and extended toward Natsu. Natsu managed to catch the club but was still driven back a few meters.

"Natsu!" shouted Erza, she and Nero both taking a step forward while the latter's hand went to Red Queen. Both of them were worried about their friend and more than ready and willing to get in on the fight.

However, Natsu came to a stop as his feet found a grip on the stone floor. The fire mage's fingers were now smoking as his hold on Gajeel's clubbed arm tightened.

"You tried to destroy our Guild Hall and then you attacked Levy's team," Natsu snarled. He lifted up his head and glared at his opponent. His hands ignited in flames as his fury increased, "I'm gonna make you pay!"

Natsu tossed Gajeel upward. The iron mage, however, used one of the rafters as a springboard to launch himself back at Natsu. But the Fire Dragon Slayer expected this as he reared back and connected his flaming fist with Gajeel's face, sending him crashing into a wall.

"Look's like Natsu's getting serious," commented Nero, keeping hold of Red Queen, but relaxing his grip slightly.

"Yeah, I'd hate to be that other guy." Macao added.

Elfman huffed.

"He's quite a wizard," Erza said proudly.

"Alright fine," Elfman conceded, "You're manlier than I thought. I'll let you have this one, but you gotta promise me that…"

"Too bad," Natsu interrupted, turning around as he placed a hand on his right bicep. He knew Elfman was fixing to say to leave some for him, "I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"

Their attention was grabbed again by the sounds of shifting rocks. They turned to the pile of rubble by the wall that Gajeel had crashed into. A fist broke out and stone fragments were moved aside as Gajeel stood back up. He appeared to be unscathed.

"Nice try," the iron mage mocked, "but I'm still standing."

"You won't be for much longer though," Natsu retorted.

Gajeel's grinned widely. "Oh yeah!"

Suddenly, Gajeel rushed forward at blinding speeds. Natsu was unprepared for his opponent's iron-clubbed leg slamming into him. The pink haired mage was thrown back across the floor, forming a crevasse and throwing up rocks and dirt.

"That hurt," Gray remarked.

"This is pretty crazy," Loke noted.

"Everything about this place is crazy," stated Nero, glancing at Loke giving him a blank look.

"Oh what's the matter?" Gajeel prodded. "You can dish it out but you can't take it?"

Instantly, stones and cracked wooden boards went flying from the trench as fire blazed upward. Natsu jumped out and stood in front of the other Dragon Slayer. A hungry smile was spread across his face.

"It's gonna take more than that to keep me down!" proclaimed Natsu.

The black haired mage grinned. "You seriously think you can beat me, yah pyro!?" A light green magic circle appeared around his right fist.

"What do yah mean think? I know I can!" Natsu countered as a fiery colored magic circle instantly appeared around his fist too.

"We'll see about that!" Gajeel yelled. He shifted his arm into a metal club and shot it toward Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer easily caught it with his flaming hands, only being driven back a couple meters.

"Your steel beams can't even touch me." The metal pillar between Natsu's hand began to liquefy as his anger rose. "You better start stepping up your game!"

"The rumors are true." Gajeel said. "You're way more powerful than yah look."

The iron mage pulled back his club arm as it shifted back to normal, a bit of smoke billowing off of his skin. "Ha! That actually burns a little." he jeered. "Is that all yah got, Salamander?"

"That was only my warm-up." Natsu scowled. "I'm just getting started. You ain't seen nothing yet yah metal freak!"

For a moment, the two Dragon Slayers stared down at each other. Fairy Tail and Phantom had all ceased fighting as they watched the fight. The tension in the room was palpable.

Suddenly, the stone floor beneath both Dragon Slayers erupted as they lunged at one another. Natsu threw a right jab and then a left hook, but Gajeel blocked each attack and then punched Natsu in the face, specifically his left eye.

Natsu went sliding back, he growled in pain from the hit to his eye. "Man this guy is tough." He muttered.

Gajeel leaped high and aimed himself to deliver a powerful kick into Natsu. Salamander though cocked back his flaming fist and punched the sole of Gajeel's boots. He went flying upward, but a couple of spikes popped out from the heels of his boots, allowing him to stand upside down from a wooden rafter.

Natsu crouched low and jumped at Gajeel, intending to strike him again. Gajeel was ready as he shifted his arm into an iron-club to block the blow; however, the force behind it sent the iron mage careening upward as he crashed through a couple rafters.

"How do you like that, huh?!" Natsu yelled.

Gajeel grabbed onto a support beam and pierced the rafter with his spiked heels like he did before. "Don't get too cocky! It won't happen again!"

The two continued to glare at each other, the anger between them was profound. The attention of both Guilds had been captured by Natsu and Gajeel's fight. Nero himself also found the fight engrossing, watching along with everyone else as the brawl continued, but despite this, he was more than ready to get into the fight when things started to look hairy.

Gajeel made the first move as he transformed his arm into an iron-pillar and stretched it toward Natsu. The fire mage was quick to dodge out of the way, letting Gajeel's club destroy the girder he was previously standing on. Natsu lit his feet on fire and blasted himself straight at the iron mage, his fist cocked back.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he yelled.

Gajeel was too slow to jump out of the way, but he held up his iron-clubbed arm and used it to block the punch. However, the firepower and strength behind it sent him hurdling downwards. A few Phantom mages jumped out of the way as Gajeel slammed into the floor, creating a shallow crater.

Natsu descended from the rafters and landed on his feet near the crater edge. A hazy dust cloud was billowing over the hole.

Natsu smirked brightly. "Had enough yet!"

There was no response. Natsu, along with the others watching, were beginning to think Gajeel was down for the count. But suddenly, a huge iron-club shot out from the dust cloud and slammed into Natsu's gut with a lot of force. The blow sent the Salamander smacking hard into a wall, burying him under a big pile of rocky rubble.

"Natsu!" Erza cried.

Gajeel stepped out of the small crater, his arm reverting back to normal. A grin of smugness was adorning his lips.

"Anyone else wanna give me a try?" Gajeel challenged.

The demon hunter narrowed his eyes as he clenched Devil Bringer's fist. He'd had enough of this guy's arrogance. And to be honest, he felt inclined to knock the blowhard down a few pegs.

"If you're challenging," spoke up Nero without a moment of hesitation, stepping towards Gajeel at a leisurely pace, pointing Red Queen at him, "I'm taking."

To add to this, Nero revved Red Queen, holding it longer as flames erupted from the port. He also held up Devil Bringer, letting it glow this time through his glove. At this point, he didn't care anymore if his friends saw. Their safety was more important than his secret.

Swinging out his right arm, Spectral Bringer shot out, closing into a massive fist that struck Gajeel, the blow had enough power to cause a small shockwave that sent him sliding back and made a large cloud of smoke. Some members of Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had to steady themselves under the power of the blow.

Pulling back Spectral Bringer, Nero surveyed the aftermath of the attack. A long trench had been formed, the stone floor crack in several places where the shockwave stuck and a large cloud of smoke billowed into the air.

As the smoke cleared, Fairy Tail was stunned to see Gajeel still standing! He had been forced back a few meters and both of his arms were shifted into thick, iron-clubs, crossed out in front of him. However, there appeared to be some scrapes, a result of being punched through the floor and there was a giant dent in both of his arms. However, he didn't appear to be in any pain.

Gajeel smirked as his arms reverted to normal, "Nice shot. You're that new Demon Slayer mage, right?"

"Who's asking?" retorted Nero, having foregone trying to correct everyone every time they assumed he was a wizard.

Gajeel scowled in response, "You're the guy who undid my makeover to your Guild Hall. I didn't appreciate that!"

"Iron Dragon Club!" He roared.

Nero, in a show of complete insult, lazily lifted his right hand and opened up his palm. Right then and there, Nero caught the pillar, adjusting his footing to avoid being pushed back at all. His coat only billowed behind him as he held the club and stopped it dead with what appeared to be little to no effort.

Gajeel gritted his teeth in frustration as he put more strength into overpowering Nero, but the demon hunter didn't budge and instead calmly adjusted his grip so he could look Gajeel in the eyes.

"Helpful hint," mocked Nero as he shoved the pillar back causing Gajeel to stumble, "take some advice from me, buddy. Shouting your attacks isn't a good way to surprise your enemy."

"Hah!" scoffed Gajeel as the Iron Dragon Slayer's cocky grin grew bigger, "Bring it! You've got nothing on me albino freak!" In Gajeel's mind, he had already beaten Salamander and tanked a giant punch from Nero's Spectral Bringer. He was confident he could win.

"Good," stated Nero, his eyes flashing red, "Means I won't feel bad when I kick your ass!"

Nero suddenly dashed forward.

"Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel's right arm turned into a metallic pillar and outstretched rapidly towards Nero, the demon hunter responded by blocking with the hilt of Red Queen, but was pushed back this time.

Shoving it aside, Nero charged again, viciously hacking at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer dodging each attack, but quickly turned both his arms into metal, blocking the blade. A shower of sparks went up as the two metal surfaces collided, however, Nero had just begun his attack.

Taking hold of Red Queen with both hands, he began mercilessly beating his sword into Gajeel's arms, forcing the Dragon Slayer to grit his teeth as he was being beat down to the point where he had to steady himself on one knee. An enraged look was on Nero's face as he pushed down even harder, causing the ground beneath Gajeel.

"Man," commented one of the Phantoms, both Phantom Lord's wizards and Fairy Tail were taken aback by the brutality Nero was showing, "Even I think this is a little far."

"Just what kind of Demon Slayer is he?" added another Phantom.

The Fairy Tail mages looked on in curiosity, especially Erza. Nero had shown that he was more than able to fight, even surprising her with new feats of strength and some abilities. The Queen of the Fairies stared at Nero quizzically, but this time, a little more interested, having noticed Nero's arm glowing slightly. What was he hiding.

"Nice skin buddy," observed Nero, noting that Gajeel's didn't even have a scratch.

"This isn't just metal buddy, these are the scales of an Iron Dragon; good luck trying to get through this!" Gajeel smirked.

Without warning, Gajeel smashed his head into Nero's, catching the demon hunter off guard. Stumbling back, Nero was put onto the defense as Gajeel leaped at him,

"Iron Dragon Sword!" shouted the Dragon Slayer, his right arm forming into a sword of his own. Gajeel began slashing away at Nero, the Demon Hunter deflecting and countering certain strikes. After one swing, Nero had to leap back into the air before raising Red Queen to block a strike that sent him back to the floor and slid about ten yards.

Snapping his head up, Nero was just able to block another slash from Gajeel, although poorly as he stumbled slightly. In hopes of retaliation, he raised his sword again, but the Iron Dragon Slayer bat Red Queen away where it escaped Nero's grasp. The sword tumbled through the air before embedding itself right in the ground about twelve yards away.

"Nero!" cried out Erza as she was about to run in and help, however, she was too late.

Gajeel suddenly dashed forward, his sword arm pointed right at Nero's chest. The Demon Hunter had nowhere to go and could dodge or raise Devil Bringer fast enough to block it. All Nero could do was take the hit. Gajeel impaled Nero right through his chest, the tip bursting out his back as blood stained the blade.

"NERO!" screamed Erza, her eyes wide.

Everyone in Fairy Tail looks on in shock and horror as their friend was impaled right through the chest.

"Come on, is that all you got?" taunted Black Steel to the seeming life corpse that was stuck on his arm sword, "Look's like you're just all talk."

Gajeel went to pull his arm out of the dead body, but suddenly to his shock and horror and the shock of the Phantom Lord mages, Nero's right arm shot up and grabbed the Iron Dragon Slayer's arm.

"Never...assume a hunter...is out," stated Nero, raising his head to look Gajeel dead in the eyes, his own glowing red. He could tell the Dragon Slayer's eyes were trembling, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen-" Nero grunted as he pulled Gajeel's arm out of his chest, blood spurting as the now open stab wound began to heal itself, "a demon."

"But I… you… that… Just I…" stammered Gajeel.

"You should know, I'm not from around here," continued Nero as he kept his grip on the iron sword. As he said this Gajeel created another sword and tried to slash at Nero again, but the hunter caught the blade in his other hand, "And I'm not like the others."

"What are you!? WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Gajeel demanded in a mixture of anger and fear.

"I'm your worst nightmare," snarled Nero as he tightened his grip on both swords, causing them to warp and bend, the iron mage groaning in discomfort before actually crying out as Nero bent the swords so much, they now were at a 45-degree angle.

However, what Nero did next, shocked and dumbfounded Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. Suddenly jerking his arms to the sides, the demon hunter snapped both of Gajeel's arm swords off!

"AWW!" Gajeel cried out. His arm quickly shrunk and changed back to normal; thankfully, there weren't any injuries. He looked back and glowered at Nero.

"Hey!" the iron mage shouted indignantly but paused when Nero's right arm began glowing brightly. The broken swords in Nero's hands began to glow in response, while his arm glowed cyan blue, the steel began to glow a dusty silver. The pieces continued to glow until they vanished in Nero's hands and his right arm lost its glow.

"Well," remarked Nero, looking at Devil Bringer, feeling the power course through, "guess I got a little extra power to boot."

Without warning, Nero sent Spectral Bringer right towards Gajeel, taking him by surprise. The Iron Dragon Slayer went careening back until he smashed into a wall, a pile of rubble falling over him.

"That was for Levy and his team, prick," commented Nero in a hostile tone.

A groan caught Nero's attention. He looked to the side to see Natsu standing out of the stone debris, rubbing his torso area.

"You good?" asked Nero, checking on Natsu.

Natsu curtly nodded, "Fine," but glanced down to see the hunter's chest drenched in blood, "Why are you covered in blood?"

Before anything else could be said, the building began to shake violently.

"Everything's shaking," Wakaba noted.

"I guess they're going at it," Loke said.

Nero glanced up and looked around, retrieving Red Queen and sheathing it across his back, "Any idea on what's happening?"

"This is what happens when Master Makarov's angry," Cana remarked.

"It's called the Giant's Wrath," Macao explained.

"Nobody will be able to stop him now," Nab said confidently.

A few Phantom Lord wizards began to whimper in fear.

"He's going to make the Guild Hall collapse!" a Phantom mage cried.

"Considering what you guys did to our guild," stated Nero, turning to look directly at that mage, "It's well deserved."

"When the master gets angry, the master's even manlier," Elfman commented.

Erza, who had Re-Quip back into her Heart Kreuz armor, held up her magic sword and slashed it across the air. "Prepare to fight! We cannot lose as long as Master Makarov is with us!" She declared.

All of a sudden, everyone's attention was grabbed as something fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor.

"What was that?" someone asked.

"It fell from the rafters."

When the dust cleared, everyone, excluding Nero, gasped in shock and horror. Lying in a small crater in the floor was Makarov. His skin had turned into a sickly green as well as his eyes and hair only a lighter shade.

"It's Gramps!" Natsu shouted.

"What the hell happened to him?" demanded Nero when he saw the state Makarov was in.

"Master!" Erza yelled in worry.

Gray, Natsu, Erza, and Cana immediately came to Makarov's side. Erza picked him up in a cradling position.

"M-m-my m-magic power…it's…," Makarov stuttered, struggling to form a sentence.

"Master," Erza said softly, "calm down."

"What happened to him?" Cana asked.

"I don't know," Gray said, "But I don't sense any magical energy coming from him at all."

"What does that mean?" demanded Nero, turning to gray.

"Gray," Elfman said in disbelief, "are you saying he's just an ordinary old man now?"

"No, that can't be!" Happy exclaimed, ready to break out in tears.

"Come on Gramps," Natsu encouraged, "you can pull through this."

While the Fairy Tail mages were focused on Makarov, Gajeel picked himself up from the pile of rubble. He wasn't injured too badly, only a minor bruise on his chest. As the rest of the Guild was distracted, he leaped up into the rafters. He stuck his spiked heels into the wooden beam so he could stand upside down with his arms crossed.

"Hmph," he mumbled, "guess the fun's over and just when things were starting to get good. I really wanted to get some payback on that Demon Slayer mage."

"I don't understand." Gray said. "Gramps is so powerful, how did they beat him?"

Nero turned his gaze from Makarov to the ceiling. He could see a straight shot all the way to what he presumed was the top floor, where whoever did this to Makarov would probably still be.

"Only one way to find out," Nero stated.

However, any chance of invading the upstairs was completely crushed as the other Phantom Lords begin to rally.

"Their master's been defeated!" a Phantom shouted.

"For real?"

"He's out!"

"You guys," one said, "We can beat 'em."

"Yeah, we can take these flies!" another added.

Erza, with a tear in her eye, turned to the Phantom mages. She had heard them speaking and knew that with the master out, their spirits would be revived. 'This is not good.' She thought.

"LET'S GET 'EM!" One cried out.

The now recovered Phantom Lord wizards all charged and attacked Fairy Tail. Natsu quickly lit up his fists with fire and punched a Phantom mage who tried to jump him.

"Don't you start getting cocky!" the Dragon Slayer exclaimed.

Nero immediately put himself between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, every single mage that was charging stopped when they saw the murderous look in Nero's eyes. It was an open dare, attack him or his friends at their own peril.

Even with the fact that Nero took being impaled and walked it off with no problem, the Phantom Lord's resumed their attack. A clique of Phantoms lunged at Nero, the Demon Hunter unsheathed Red Queen and blocked all them with no problem and shoved them all back with just as much ease.

Taking out Blue Rose, Nero began firing the custom handgun, the weapon cracking loudly as Summoned Swords flew towards mages. But despite holding his own, the hunter could easily see that Phantom was beginning to gain the advantage due to Fairy Tail's fractured spirits. Though Nero could handle himself just fine against these Phantom creeps, he knew that now that the master was down, they had lost their advantage. Continuing the fight would only cause more injuries and led to defeat.

Erza realized the same thing as Nero as she surveyed the battle, 'I can't do this. Without the master we aren't strong enough and our morale is dangerously low,' Erza thought.

"We must retreat!" Erza commanded. "Everyone, back to the Guild at once!"

Natsu tossed away a Phantom wizard and stared at Erza incredulously. He wasn't the only one. Gray, Loke, and Elfman looked at her with shocked expressions.

"Erza?" Loke stuttered.

"No way!" Gray protested, "We can't give up!"

"Real men never retreat!" Elfman added.

"I still got some fight in me," Macao muttered. He was banged up and had Cana under his shoulder to support him.

"Me too," Cana concurred.

"No," cut in Nero as he approached them, "As much as I hate running from a fight, this isn't something we're gonna win. Besides, from the looks of things, Makarov doesn't look like he'll last long."

is right. Now retreat!" Erza shouted. "That's an order."

Meanwhile, along the rafters of the Phantom Guild Hall, Gajeel watched as Fairy Tail fled out of the building. While still hanging upside down, he sneered as Fairy Tail began to fall back.

"There they go." He noted. "I knew it wouldn't be long before those gutless cowards gave up and started running for their lives."

"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts." A man, standing on the rafter above Gajeel, said.

He was a tall, tan-skinned man with a rectangular face. His eyes were covered by a blindfold. He wore a long, green coat, yellow shirt, and a pair of loose pants. On his head was a green top hat that matched his jacket. This was Aria, the strongest member of the Element 4.

Gajeel flipped back up to stand on the girder next to Aria, "Aria, I can see you're creepier than ever," He commented, "I gotta commend you for taking down that Fairy Tail geezer."

"I just followed Master Jose's orders," Then, a waterfall amount of tears began to pour out from beneath his blindfold, "But…thank you!" Aria sobbed.

"Why are you always crying? Geez, cut it out!" Gajeel said in annoyance. A malevolent grin then grew on the iron mage's lips, "So, what happened to that Lucy girl?"

From below, Natsu's keen hearing had picked up what Gajeel had said. He immediately turned to look up at him.

"She's been captured," Aria replied, "The poor wretch is being held in a gloomy cell at headquarters."

"So much for giving her a warm welcome, huh?" Gajeel joked smugly.

"No way," Natsu whispered, stunned over this new information.

"Is there something wrong?" Happy asked with concern.

Natsu didn't respond as he glared up at the Iron Dragon Slayer, "GAJEEL!"

The Iron Dragon Slayer looked down at Natsu and smirked. "We'll finish this someday, Salamander."

Aria extended his right arm behind Gajeel, and then both wizards vanished into thin air.

"Those jerks kidnapped Lucy." Natsu murmured, his anger boiling high.

Happy screamed in response.

"Everybody out!" Erza yelled as flocks of Fairy Tail mages ran past her, bolting for the main gate, "Let's go!"

"No way! I'm not falling back yet," Gray claimed stubbornly, "They're gonna pay for what they did."

Erza came forward and gently lowered Gray's hand, "Please," she begged.

Gray's eyes widened in shock; he certainly wasn't expecting this from the toughest woman in Fairy Tail. She put her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face.

"We need him," She continued, her voice quivering in-between her usual commando tone and sobbing, "We can't win without the master."

Without a word, Gray gave in. Erza lifted her tear-filled face from his chest as both mages sprinted for the door.

Fairy Tail ran out the main doors as they retreated. Nero, who was bringing the rear, looked back to see a swarm of Phantoms still chasing after his friends. The demon hunter shot the roof several times, causing the entrance to collapse on the floor between him and Phantom Lord, blocking any attempts by them to continue their chase.

"Should buy us some stime," Nero said.

Nerp was just about to follow the others until he noticed that a certain Dragon Slayer and flying cat were still in the Guild Hall.

'What the hell? What are they still doing here?' Nero wondered.

Nero, using every bit of stealth he could muster, went back to the Hall, sneaking in through a window and hid before any Phantom Lord Mages could see him. Though, it seemed like the wizards were more interested in digging their way out than anything else. With that said, Nero continued his search until he found Natsu and Happy. Strolling casually out from a corner and stopped in front of them, Red Queen sheathed on his back as he flipped Blue Rose around on his finger.

"Nero?" Natsu said with a cocked brow, "What are you still doing here?"

"Pretty sure I should be asking you that," Nero replied.

"Natsu says Phantom's kidnapped Lucy!" Happy exclaimed, "He overheard Gajeel talking to one of Guildmatesates."

The demon hunter's eyes widened from this new information. They did what?! Before his anger could get the better of him and rushed off blindly, he needed to think about this.

"Right, we'll find and het her out," Nero stated, "Did that Gajeel say where she was being held?"

"Other than that she's at their headquarters, no," Natsu shook his head. The fire mage then turned his attention to the clique of Phantoms still trying to break through the ice barrier, "But I think one of them might know where that is."

"My thoughts exactly," agreed with Nero as he glanced at Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer stomped over to the nearest unconscious Phantom member and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him off the ground as he dragged him to a nearby storage room where Nero shut the door.

The man woke up and realized who was lifting him. "No!" he screamed, "The Salamander…and the Demon Slayer mage!"

"Hey," Happy shouted angrily, "I'm here too!"

Nero glowered coldly at the man, "You have a lot to tell us, buddy. And trust me, what you saw in the hall, that's nothing compared to what I can really do," swore the hunter.

"Please! Don't hurt me!" The mage begged.

"We won't hurt you," promised Nero, before his eyes flickered blood red, "much."

To Be Continued...