Lucy


"I want Lucy Heartfilia handed over! And I want her now!"

José's demands hit like a truck. Lucy's legs felt like noodles, her head spinning and a nauseating feeling slowly crawled up her throat. Her father had allowed her a few months of freedom, but now he wanted her back and was ready to destroy what she loved to do so. Her legacy followed her everywhere like a curse. Never would she be able to live a normal life; the life she always wanted.

"Never!"

"Go die in a ditch José!"

Fairy Tail refused to give in to his demands. Even though her time with them was short, they were her best friends, the only friends she ever had. But she couldn't stay, they couldn't help her now that both Erza and master Makarov were gone. Phantom Lord would kill them all, she had to protect them.

"Then all you will be killed by our hands!" he declared triumphantly, his evil grin on full display and his eyes shining with bloodlust. "And then I will take Lucy Heartfilia myself!"

"This is it," she thought to herself, it was time to go. Time to go back to Heartfilia manor, to her old, boring life and to a father that didn't love her. Lucy stepped forward, ready to go.

"I'll-"

"I'd rather die than hand over a friend!" Gray yelled before she could speak.

"We're never handing her to you!" Macao yelled

"So you can take your threats and shove it!" Wakabe finished

Soon, the entire guild was yelling profanities at José, none would even think twice about his threats. Makarov would have been burning with pride at this scene, Fairy Tail was founded on loyalty and friendship, every member supported one another regardless of their age or how long they were in the guild. Once you joined Fairy Tail, you were family. Fairy Tail was her family now. They would fight for her. Tears streamed down her face. How could she even think about giving herself up? Her friends would never forgive her for that! master and Erza didn't sacrifice themselves just so she could waltz right over to Phantom Lord.

"How could I be so stupid!", she yelled to herself.

Gray and the others looked at her with concern. "Everyone" she began, "thank you so much," tears freely flowed down her chin.

"Don't mention it", Gray replied with a smile forming on the corners of his mouth.

"Protecting a friend is the manliest thing one can do" Elfman proudly stated while showing off his huge biceps. "Besides, we hate those phantom jerks!"

What had she done to deserve friends like these? Lucy made sure to thank whatever god that was watching her, perhaps it was her mother helping from heaven. But there were bigger things to deal with now, she wiped her tears and put on a serious face. It was time for round two of Fairy Tail vs Phantom Lord.

José stood atop his moving guild. The upper part of his was shadowed by the sun behind him, only a scowl that replaced his wicked smile could be seen. Even from afar, Lucy could feel his intense rage and hatred.

"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT THEN THAT'S WHAT YOU'LL GET YOU FAIRY SCUM!" his face contorted into the ugliest expression she had ever seen. She was about to experience the full force of a wizard saint.

"PHANTOM LORD! DESTROY FAIRY TAIL AND BRING ME LUCY HEARTFILIA!"

Out of every window, door and roof, hundreds of Phantom Lord's members started jumping out. Some scaled the walls and landed on the ground, some levitated in the air with their wind magic while others just jumped straight from the building onto the hard ground below them. All of them itching to spill some fairy blood. Soon, all of the enemy forces stood ahead of them, the element 4 stood behind them laughing at their demise; ready to enjoy the sight of the fairies being culled.

Lucy swallowed a lump that formed in her mouth, her chest felt tight, her arms and legs felt jittery. The last time her heart was beating so fast was when she ran away from home, the emotions she felt right now was the same as back then. Excitement, anticipation, hope. Anything but fear. Unlike that day when she was all alone, today she was surrounded by her friends, Fairy Tail was with her the entire way. Either they won this war today… or die trying.

Kluk-kluk-kluk

Loud sounds of gears turning and machinery working echoed through the air. Phantom's base was moving again, the Jupiter cannon was pointed right at the remaining fairies. The deathly electric charging began once more, white magic from the atmosphere started to concentrate and form a sphere at the barrel.

"A celebratory shot for my victory here today!" José proclaimed, "In the rare case of any survivors, I'm sure my minions would love to tear them apart."

Lucy clenched her teeth, they couldn't go down so easily, not without a fight. She racked her brain for anything that could help, which one of her spirits could she call that had the power to stop a massive blast of pure magic? If only she was stronger, if only she had more keys.

"Goodbye, Fairy Tail."

And at that moment, the Jupiter cannon fired.


Lucy


Time seemed to have stopped. Which wasn't as great as it sounded, now Lucy just had more time to watch her only family get blasted to dust by a magical nuke. She had forever to think of anything she could have done different, forever to ponder her regrets and her "what ifs". What if she didn't run away from home, what if she never found Gray on her journey to find Fairy Tail? What if the blast never actually landed? She didn't have to wonder about the last one for too long, perhaps miracles did exist because what happened next was nothing short of a miracle.

The instant the cannon had fired, the ruins of Fairy Tail's base exploded behind her. She didn't even have time to register the explosion because of her impending doom right in front of her. But conveniently, her saviour landed in front of her as well.

At first, she thought maybe Makarov or Erza had shot out the ruins to save the day, but the figure in front of her was nothing like that. It was a skeleton in a weird hat, neither master nor Erza looked like hat-wearing corpses. Even though the thing looked like death it didn't act like it. The skeleton stood straight in front of everyone with its back turned towards, them just the way Erza had done when she absorbed the first blast. It raised its hands in front of its body and let the blast drive forward.

Lucy closed her eyes expecting immense pain, but it never arrived. She peeked open one eye and then stared with both her eyes wide in shock. The skeleton was holding the Jupiter cannon's blast with both hands, not letting it past its own body. Slowly, it retracted its arms closer to its chest as if hugging the magic, the blast turned into a ball and become smaller and smaller and smaller until it was no more.

The entire field was silent. Lucy stared in awe, her friends didn't seem to understand what was happening either. But the look on Phantom Lord's face was priceless. No longer were the element 4 gloating their victory, bloodlust was replaced with shock and confusion. José stared at this new figure with his mouth ajar and his eyes looking as if they were about to pop out of his skull. This…thing, whatever it was just stopped one of the most dangerous magical weapons across the land like it were a child's plaything.

For the first time, Lucy got a good look at what was in front of her. It was a grey figure, wearing loose, baggy tattered grey trousers which must've been white maybe hundreds of years ago. Its chest was thin and its ribs were visible, it held 5 golden bracelets in each arm that looked far too big for its skinny arms. And for whatever reason, its body was steaming.

"Perhaps that blast took a toll?" Lucy wondered.

Yet for as weak and dead as this being looked, it radiated such intense power. Never had she been so incredibly terrified of something, yet this was the most hopeful she felt today. The creature had protected Fairy Tail, maybe it was here to fight alongside them.

"Wh-who are you?" She muttered.

It barely spared a glance at her, the white cloth from its conical hat covered its eyes. The being remained silent facing forwards as it knew what challenges lay ahead. Lucy followed its gaze, right towards José atop his guild.

The skeleton took a deep breath, bringing its hands closer to its stomach in a meditative gesture. Its ribs expanded, its back got larger and much hotter and thicker steam started to bellow from its body. Lucy scrambled away from it, it was suffocating her.

"Hey!" Gray yelled, "Who the hell are you?"

The skeleton ignored him, its gaze not leaving José. Instead, it let out the breath it was holding and bought its left leg behind his body, its hands raised in front. It was challenging José to a fight, no mocking him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE ALL OF YOU WAITING FOR! ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK!" He vehemently dictated. A blood-curdling war cry came from the army, all of them charging forwards, weapons raised, magic ready. Element 4 were no longer smiling but adopted a stern and serious expression instead. But they didn't join their fellow guildmates in the charge just yet.

Gray was yelling some orders but Lucy was enchanted by something else. While Gray was ordering the others, the skeleton dashed forwards in with incredible speed, only a trail of steam gave any indication that it was there. The being fought only with its body, it punched with tremendous strength, its movements were as smooth as water, it seemed to sense an attack coming as if it had eyes on the back of its head. Magic seemed to not affect it because it simply raised its hands like it was catching the magic and then tore it apart as it had done with the Jupiter cannon. The white cloth in front of its face stayed unaffected, swaying with every movement but never revealing its face. The tides of the war were quickly turning in Fairy Tail's favour.

Phantom Lord's army was losing to a lone skeleton.

More and more mages attacked the skeleton at once, but that didn't bother it whatsoever, in fact, it seemed to fight more enthusiastically. Lucy noticed it was getting harder to see. It had started to rain, and more and more steam was coming from the skeleton's body. It's as if the steam had wrapped itself around its body like armour.

"Do we even need to get involved?" Mirajane questioned.

"We don't even know who that is" she continued. Mirajane always greets the new members, she knew everyone's name, everyone's face. If she didn't recognise that guy, then Fairy Tail had been on guard. But clearly, it seemed uninterested in them, its sole focus seemed to be Phantom Lord.

"Whoever that is, they seem to be doing the brunt of our job." Lucy stated, "We should try to rescue master and Erza from the ruins first."

They agreed in unison and ran towards the ruins of their guild, only to be met with a new problem. Element 4 had snuck in behind them. Gajeel Redfox, the leader of the element 4, iron dragon slayer of Phantom Lord and the Levy's assailant, stood in the middle with a sly smirk.

"Going somewhere?" He mocked.

"We got orders from master to let the blondie over there live, too bad for the rest of you lot though!", the 4 cackled together. Each of them was as strong as S class mages, the same level as Erza, they were going up against 4 Erza Scarlets.

"Let us carry out our duties as quickly as possible, Gajeel", the blue-haired woman who kidnapped her, Juvia, was there. Of course! Why hadn't Lucy realised that it just doesn't rain all of a sudden if it was sunny just a few minutes ago! Juvia was a rain woman, she bought the rain with her wherever she went. Lucy was too focused on Fairy Tail's new potential ally to pay attention to her surroundings.

" I agree, with madame! Let us finish this quickly" a plump looking man spoke in a French accent. He was there when she was kidnapped. "Sol" Lucy cursed her terrible memory. She couldn't remember his magic even in a life or death situation.

The iron dragon slayer let out a chuckle as his hands turned to iron pillars. Lucy reached for her keys, she could call out Taurus and maybe if she tried hard she could get Virgo to listen to her as well. She had nothing to lose, her friends were ready to die for her so she is ready to die for them as well. But as soon as she went to grab her key, she felt a large hand grab her head.

"Oh no you don't!", Aria the airspace user teleported behind her. Lucy felt a pull of energy on her scalp as if her insides were fighting their way to her head. Her magic was being stolen, she would be rendered powerless like Makarov.

"A sneak attack is the unmanliest attack of them all!" Elfman yelled as he lifted Aria and tossed him to the ground, promptly teleporting back before he hit the ground. Elfman's muscles weren't just a showpiece, a massive amount of strength lay behind them even when he was in a human form. s.

"Lucy! are you ok?" He asked. Despite Elfman's quick actions, the damage was done, Lucy's magic was gone. She couldn't call any spirits to the fight. Once again, she was helpless.

"I'm sorry" she croaked. "I can't call any spirits." The hope she had before had all gone away, it was her turn to protect them, but she ended up being bailed out again. Now she lost her magic, she significantly hurt the team's chances of winning.

"Ahaha! Good job Aria!", Totomaru said. "Although I don't think she was much of a threat in the first place."

"Enough talking, let's do this now!" Gajeel growled. He extended his iron arms well above his height, he raised them above his head preparing for a massive strike. Gray jumped into action immediately, he used his ice magic to create a wall in front of everyone to hopefully block the attack. With one swift motion, Gajeel bought down his iron hammer. But it never connected.

Gajeel was knocked backwards onto the grounds. His arms are back to normal. Element 4 looked shocked, clearly, no one ever blocked Gajeel's attack, until today. Saving them once again was the skeleton. The steam remained as thick as before making it hard to see what was ahead. But perhaps it was best that Phantom Lord remain blind. Without a moment to waste, the steaming skeleton jumped forward, with a single kick it knocked out Aria, not even taking another single moment it lunged at Sol and sucker-punched him squarely in the face. This was an unfair fight, but Lucy wasn't one to complain. Finally, it was Juvia's turn. She attempted to use her water magic to summon a geyser of water at the skeleton, but it failed miserably. It simply ran through her water attacks unfazed and grabbed her water body. She struggled to get free, but the creature only stared at her with its single eye on the face covering. It slammed Juvia's back straight into a crater in the ground, rendering her unconscious. Phantom Lord's elite, taken out in mere seconds.

Lucy looked back behind her, where the giant army once stood. And what she saw made her jaw drop. The entire army was lying on the ground, every single individual had been defeated by the skeleton in such a short amount of time. She looked back at the skeleton, but there was something different now. The steam was thinning. Visibility was returning to normal. The skeleton was no longer a skeleton. The steam disappeared to reveal flesh on the former skeleton. Its skin was no longer grey but a mellow tan, its arms were now thick and muscular and its bracelets were no longer looked too big for its arms. Long pink hair flowed down its large shoulders and back. Its chest was no longer thin, ribs no longer visible. The steam had disappeared to reveal a body that was carved by the gods themselves. No longer was it a skeleton, no longer could the being be called an 'it'. It was a man, a powerful, muscular man that had emerged from the ruins of Fairy Tail and saved the guild.

The man examined his new body, feeling his biceps, touching his chest and abs. He acted as if this was his first time in a human body.

"It feels good to have my body back after so many years." His voice was firm, deep and filled with authority. Lucy resisted the urge to kneel in front of him when he spoke.

The man turned towards the area he blasted Gajeel, his bracelets making a clinging sound with each movement.

"Iron dragon slayer", he called out, "Get up, I haven't killed you."

Gajeel instantly stood up, either he was already dead and felt obliged to come back to life at his command or he was pretending to play dead in fear.

"Come fight me, it has been quite some time since I've seen an iron dragon slayer"

Gajeel cautiously approached the man, wary of another sudden attack, wary of being blown back into the ground again. "José didn't tell me about another S class being here."

"Your master knows very little"

His teeth clenched, his arms transforming into iron pillars once more, "Who do you think you are you bastard!" he shouted as he lunged at the man with his iron pillars. Only to be swatted away like a fly with a slap of the man's hand.

"You're magic is weak, Gajeel Redfox. You could never slay an iron dragon with that." he casually stated. "As for who I am?" He continued,

"I am Natsu Dragneel, the founder of Fairy Tail."