Chapter Four: Laxus' Wrath

"Nani?!" Natsu and Gray yelled in unison. They were eating dinner inside the Fairy Tail guildhall when Lucy arrived and told them everything about their pal, Loke. The celestial mage had to laugh at their flabbergasted expressions. They were just too cute.

Leo was currently in the celestial spirit world, and Lucy couldn't wait to get started with her training tomorrow. She might have had shed tears back in the Heartfilia Residence earlier in the day, but her unwavering drive to enhance her magic ability was more than enough to keep her in high spirits.

"Ne, Lucy. Does this mean that Loke won't be hangin' out with us anymore?" demanded Natsu, frowning, as he bit into his fried chicken.

"Well, he still can if he wants to," replied Lucy, absentmindedly poking her fork into her salad bowl. "I mean, he's different from the other Zodiac spirits."

"How's so?" he asked, taking another bite at his food.

"Supposedly, when a gate key holder dies, their celestial spirit goes back to their own world until a new owner finds their gate key. But in Loke's case, he's able to use his own magic to travel back and forth from his world to ours," she explained. "Being the leader of the Zodiac twelve probably gives him that kind of magic ability to do so at will."

"So, Loke's real name is Leo," mumbled Gray. He thought for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. "Nah, I think I'll stick to Loke."

"Yeah, I agree with ya," said the fire mage, nodding his head.

"Anyway," said Lucy elatedly. "I'm psyched to go on training with Leo—er—Loke tomorrow, although I'm not sure yet what we're going to be doing exactly."

"Oh, I think I know," teased Happy, snickering on the table with his fish hanging from his mouth. "Eroi!"

"Not what you think, you dumb cat," she snapped, rolling her eyes. "I really want to learn how to enhance my celestial magic. The stronger my magic ability is, the more powerful my celestial spirits become!"

Natsu grinned at her. "That's the spirit, Luce. But you're still taggin' along with us to work on a job tomorrow, though, right?"

The celestial mage stared at her nakama, looking hesitant. "But… how am I supposed to train if I'm on a mission fighting the bad guys?"

"Fightin' the bad guys is training," he told her simply, helping himself into another piece of fried chicken on the table. "Just summon Loke in battle or somethin'."

She shook her head. "No. I was thinking of focusing on my magic energy and then expanding it somehow. At this rate, just summoning one Zodiac spirit already drains a lot of my magic," she explained, clasping her hands together. "I know this may sound ambitious, but I do want to summon all my Zodiac spirits at once someday in case I come across a really powerful opponent."

Without thinking, she turned her head to the direction of the second floor, where only the S-Class mages were allowed to access. Unsurprisingly, she found Laxus leaning against the balustrade with a bored expression on his face. Moments later, their eyes locked, and his expression shifted into something that Lucy couldn't fathom. Then, she saw him smirk at her.

"You mean Laxus?" asked Gray, observing her. "Are you thinking of fighting him?"

Lucy tore her eyes away from Laxus' and then looked at her nakama. "What? No, of course not," she said, chuckling nervously. "I'd be stupid to do that. It's just… Whenever I think of a really powerful opponent, his face appears in my head somehow."

Happy gasped. "Lushi, you looove him!"

"What?!" she exclaimed, now flustered. "No, I don't. Enough of your incessant matchmaking already, you stupid cat!"

"Well, no one's stupid enough to go out with Lucy, that's for sure," said Natsu over a mouthful of chicken meat. "I'd only feel sorry for the poor guy."

"Oh, that's real funny, Natsu," she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Gray regarded her thoughtfully. "I don't know," he said slowly, rubbing his chin. "I'd go out with Lucy if she'd go out with me."

The fire mage choked on his food. "You'd—you'd what?" he sputtered.

"Ugh, you three are incorrigible," said Lucy, rolling her eyes.

All of a sudden, the double doors of the guildhall opened. Distracted, the celestial mage turned her head to see who had arrived and then widened her eyes in shock when she saw them.

Gajeel and Juvia had just stepped into the guildhall.


Laxus was hanging out on the second floor with his sound pods clamped in his ears while watching his target over the balustrade. Much to his amusement, he noticed that her face quickly paled upon seeing Gajeel and Juvia's arrival.

Well, that was something. It only implied that the blonde chick didn't know that the Phantom Lord duo had joined Fairy Tail. Natsu probably hadn't told her about them because the boy suddenly looked guilty.

His amusement only heightened when he saw the fire mage move in front of Lucy protectively as Gajeel walked over to her. The iron mage was saying something to the both of them while Juvia tried to hide behind him. To his surprise, the celestial mage extended her hand at her former abductors and smiled.

After they had beaten her senseless, she forgave them. Just like that, he mused.

Then, he saw them all laughing together. Laxus caught himself remembering the times when he had been doing the same thing with his comrades many years ago. That was when his father had still been around.

He shook his head, trying to hinder his mind from treading on memory lane. His mission right now was to get rid of the celestial mage. Period. The only question was how. He wasn't allowed to harm her now, and that made him despise her even more.

When he visited the blonde chick's father earlier in the day, it had only been to see what kind of deal he would get in return for making Lucy leave the magic guild. But then, after learning that Jude knew about Ivan's whereabouts, Laxus was now more compelled to complete his job.

"Aren't you ever tired of looking at your comrades from up here, Laxus?" came Mirajane's soft voice from behind him. "You know, you're always welcome to join us downstairs."

Laxus spun around to face his fellow S-Class mage and then frowned at her. "Lay off, Mira."

She sighed and moved closer toward him. "What's happened to you? Don't you care about your guildmates?"

"I said, lay off," he snarled. He moved past her and headed toward his grandfather's office. He knocked on the door twice and then pushed open the door.

Laxus found Makarov sitting on his desk and arranging a pile of papers on the table. The elderly mage looked tired and worn out, judging from the dark bags under his eyes.

"Jiji," he said quietly, closing the door behind him.

"What is it, Laxus?" said Makarov, glancing up at him.

"How long are you going to keep your position as Guild Master?" he asked, deciding to go straight to the point. "Isn't it about time that you retire and, I don't know, become drinking buddies with Yajima-sama?"

The elderly mage glared at his grandson. "I will retire once Gildarts is home," he told him.

"Are you seriously considering Gildarts?" growled Laxus. "But that old man likes to travel a lot. How can you hand over your position to someone who's gone most of the time?"

"What do you suggest then?" spat Makarov. "Hand over my position to you? You who are so obsessed with being the most powerful that you never regarded your nakama as your own family!"

"That's not true!" he shouted, trembling with anger. "What do you know about how I feel, huh, Jiji?!"

"Is this about Ivan again? I already told you that excommunicating your father was the best decision. I know you might hold a grudge against me for sending him away, but I was only watching over you like I always have! However, the way you treat your comrades is unacceptable. I refuse you to let you be the master of this guild!"

Makarov had said it with such finality that Laxus stepped back in shock. So, his grandfather wasn't going to let him succeed him should he retire after all. Overwhelmed with rage, he stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut behind him.


Gajeel was quite surprised when Lucy readily accepted his and Juvia's apology. He didn't know whether the blonde girl was just kind or utterly naïve. He had been willing to accept any form of retaliation from her or anyone in Fairy Tail, but he received none since he joined the guild.

In the meantime, Juvia was eyeing Gray shyly. The ice mage was the one who had defeated her during the battle between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail. After their fight, she had been able to lift the curse of being followed relentlessly by the rain. Of course, Gajeel had been against her feelings for Gray, saying that she should get to know the guy first before falling head over heels for him—or she would get brokenhearted again for the nth time.

"Oi, iron man," growled Natsu, slinging an arm around Gajeel's shoulders. "How about a rematch, eh?"

"Fine," said Gajeel, shrugging off the fire mage's arm. "But I won't lose to you this time."

"Oh, yeah? How about we meet under the Sola Tree in South Gate Park tomorrow morning at seven o'clock? Then, we'll see who the stronger dragon slayer really is."

The iron mage grinned. "It's a date."

Lucy and Gray laughed.

"Gray-sama," said Juvia, blushing furiously. "Juvia would like a rematch with Gray-sama, too—for old time's sake?"

The ice mage turned his attention to the blue-haired girl and raised his eyebrows. "You don't have to be so formal, Juvia," he told her kindly. "If you want a rematch, then let's have it tomorrow morning after Gajeel and flame-brain's fight."

The water mage stared at him in awe. "Juvy!" she squealed in delight, throwing her arms around Gray's neck. At last, Juvia can finally confess her love to Gray-sama, she thought happily.

"Oi, oi," Gray and Gajeel both said in surprise. The ice mage strived to wriggle himself out of Juvia's tight embrace while the iron mage held her by the shoulders and tried to pull her away.

There she goes again, always falling for the wrong guy, thought Gajeel as he managed to yank the crazy girl from her obvious next prey. What's wrong with you, Juvia?

"Juvia is sorry," said the water mage in a sad tone, bowing her head to Gray. "Juvia got carried away."

Natsu and Lucy wordlessly exchanged startled looks. Happy, on the other hand, kept yapping, "Eroi. Eroi."

"So, it's settled then," said Gray, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "We all meet under the Sola Tree in South Gate Park tomorrow morning for a battle rematch."

Suddenly, there was a loud thunderclap, and Laxus materialized at the center of the guildhall, streaks of lightning surrounding his massive body. He was looking at Team Natsu and the former Phantom Lord S-Class mages menacingly. "Why don't you all just fight me right now?" he sneered at them.

Everyone jumped and then stared at him.

"Oi, oi. Don't get cocky, Laxus," snarled Natsu, pointing his finger at him. "I can take you on by myself. What do you say?"

In response to the fire mage's taunt, Laxus pitched a lightning bolt at him, but Gajeel quickly moved in between them and then took the powerful blast; it immediately sent him flying across the table.

"No!" shouted Juvia, instinctively summoning her water magic, but she, too, got electrocuted by the lightning mage. She fell right beside Gajeel, her small body going into uncontrollable spasms.

"Gajeel! Juvia!" cried Lucy, running toward them. "Are you all right?" Then, she glared at Laxus.

Laxus glared back and then looked at everyone in the guild, growling. "I've had it with all of you, weaklings!" he seethed, clenching his fists.


Lucy couldn't believe what was happening; Laxus was going berserk. He had attacked practically everyone in the guild in one fast movement. Natsu and Gray were on the floor along with Gajeel and Juvia, wheezing in pain and breathing heavily. The rest of her guildmates backed away, their faces filled with panic.

If only Erza-san was here! Maybe she'd be able to stop him, she thought desperately. But she heard that the requip mage was out of town, taking on a job request along with the rest of the veteran members of Fairy Tail.

The celestial mage quickly pulled out one of her golden gate keys. "Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" she shouted.

Leo appeared immediately. This time, he had a change of appearance. He now wore a dark suit with a red tie, and his spiky orange hair appeared longer than before, with animal ears sticking out from it.

For a moment, Laxus looked at him, surprised. But then he regained his composure and started attacking the celestial warrior. Loke was able to evade his lightning assault, and then he jumped back and placed himself in front of his mistress.

"What the hell is going on with you, Laxus?" demanded Leo, his hands engulfed in white orbs. "Why are you attacking your friends?"

But Laxus didn't answer him. Instead, he entered into a full berserker-like state, his eyes gleaming white, and a vast amount of lightning engulfed his entire body. Moments later, his muscle mass increased, ripping his shirt off and showing his tribal tattoo and Fairy Tail guild mark. His arms started to have scales, a reminiscent of a dragon's.

"I don't believe it," said Gajeel, his arm around Juvia, who was slowly trying to get up from the floor. "Laxus... Laxus is also a dragon slayer?!"

"I'm not yet done with you, Laxus!" shouted Natsu. He threw himself toward the lightning mage, his fist ablaze in flames. "Karyu noTekken!" His dynamic fire punch collided with Laxus' jaw, and his lightning magic quickly dissipated on the impact. The taller mage crashed against the tables, breaking them.

"Laxus, that's enough!"

Makarov finally stood on the balustrade on the second floor, glaring at his grandson. "How dare you attack your nakama so violently inside the guild, you insolent brat?!" he roared.

Laxus staggered to his feet, gasping for air. His eyes bore so much loathing. He could no longer think clearly.

"I'm going to end this," he told his grandfather, placing his palms close to each other and casting a bright orb in between them. Then, he closed his eyes to focus all his magic energy into the orb. It's over. I'll recreate Fairy Tail and eliminate those who oppose me, including you, Jiji. I don't care anymore.

"Laxus, stop it!" cried Mirajane. "Don't use that spell!" She knew Laxus cared about his comrades—so why? Why would he do something that he knew might kill everyone? It wasn't supposed to be like this. Someone should stop him.

"Huh? "What—what is that spell?" stammered Lucy in alarm, staring at Mirajane and then at Laxus. But Natsu, Gray, and Loke already moved in front of her protectively.

"Stay back, Lucy," said the fire mage.

Laxus opened his eyes and stared at the celestial mage, his eyes blazing. Moments later, as if answering her question, he opened his mouth and uttered, "Fairy Law."

"Laxus, you fool!" Makarov was screaming, his own body expanding itself and turning into a hulk-like figure. He was about to reach out to his grandson when the bright orb between Laxus' hands burst into a glaring light, blinding everyone in the vicinity.

Lucy shielded her eyes with her arms from the beams of light streaking everywhere in the guildhall, her entire body trembling at the feel of such a powerful spell. She never knew that Laxus was capable of such magnificent magic.

Spirits! What's going to happen to us?