Danians are loyal to each other. It would be hard to imagine that one of them would betray their tribe, but one of them has. A danian named Skartalas has been making deals with underworlders behind his tribe's back.

"When can I expect you?" Skartalas asked as he was speaking into a communication crystal. "Very well. Just get here soon and make sure no one sees you." Skartalas is working behind the scenes and no one knows a thing, but one person does and is trying to do something. Zach kept himself hidden so that Skartalas wouldn't see him.

"What are you up to this time?" Zach questioned. He tried moving a little closer, but he made a sound and alerted him.

"A human!" Skartalas said. He tried attacking, but Zach ported right out of there. "No one can know what's really going on. I just need to lay low for a little while longer."

...

Chaotic

Zach ported right back to Chaotic. It was hard for a danian player like him to believe one of them would actually betray the hive and he wasn't sure how he can stop him exactly.

"Hey, Zach." Lucy said as she and the others gathered around him.

"Where were you?" Erza said.

"Perim. I had a little something to take care of." Zach said.

"That's the third time this week." Natsu said. "What have you been doing? You port to Perim, but you haven't been coming back with any new scans."

"What's going on? You know you can tell us." Erza said.

"I've...I've actually been doing a little spying." Zach said. That caught their attention. "Do you guys remember when Van Bloot kidnapped Lucy? We learned that the danian named Skartalas has actually been helping him in secret. Well, I've been trying my best to keep an eye on him. If he's willing to work with someone like Van Bloot, he obviously can't be trusted. So I've been trying to catch him in the act or something."

"Why don't you just go to the queen of the danians and alert her about Skartalas?" Lucy questioned.

"Danians are loyal to each other. They put the hive first." Zach said. "They're not going to believe a human over one of their own. Especially since I don't have any proof. That's why I need to catch that traitor."

"Makes sense. It's common sense that you can't accuse someone without proof." Erza said.

"So how are you planning to bust that danian traitor?" Natsu questioned.

"I'm planning on doing it tonight." Zach said. "I overheard Skartalas talking to someone. He's planning to meet them tonight for something. If I can get proof there, I can show it to Faash or someone and I can show the proof to Queen Illexia. The problem is that Skartalas knows I'm on to him. He spotted me just before I ported out."

"So Skartalas will be keeping his guard up." Erza said.

"Do you have a plan?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah. Skartalas already knows I've been following him. That means he'll be expecting me again soon. Just leave everything to me." Zach said. Zach is a fan of the danians and he appears to be loyal to them like the actual members of the tribe. That's why he's willing to help sniff out the traitor.

...

Mount Pillar

Skartalas is obviously a good actor. None of his fellow danians ever suspected he was a working with underworlders. That's why he can walk right out and past the guards that were guarding the exit. He came out with a bi-mowercycle and past the guards.

"I'm heading out. I'm needed elsewhere." Skartalas said. "Keep your guards up. There've been some humans poking around here lately." The guards understood and he drove off. As Skartalas was driving, Zach remained hidden and saw him leaving the place. Luckily, Skartalas was driving towards Zach. Zach stayed hidden as Skartalas came over and pulled out the crystal once he believed he was alone. "I'm on my way to the caverns. I'll be there soon." Skartalas put it away and drove off.

"Heading towards the caverns, are we?" Zach said as he believes he has him now. He reached for his scanner and called Lucy. "Lucy, Skartalas is heading towards his secret meeting. Did you and Erza find Skartalas chamber yet?"

"We have." Lucy said. "We'll look around and see if we can find any proof that ties Skartalas to the underworlders."

"Great. I'm going after Skartalas." Zach said.

"Be careful, Zach." Lucy said. Zach ended the call and ported away as he went after Skartalas.

...

The Girls

With Skartalas gone, it gave Lucy and Erza the perfect chance to look around. They were able to find his chambers and if they're planning to expose him, they need to find real evidence that proves his guilt.

"I've never been inside a danian's private room before." Lucy said as she stepped inside. "It's more organized than I thought."

"Let's just find what we need and get out of here." Erza said. "You look around and see if you can find anything. I'll stand guard in case some other danians show up. If they catch us, it's going to look bad for us." Lucy went in and looked around for anything that could help them.

"Do you even know what I should be looking for?" Lucy said.

"He could have underworld battlegear or messages he's kept." Erza said. Lucy looked for anything, but she's also hoping that Zach is doing okay.

...

Zach

Zach was able to get to the caverns Skartalas was heading to. Once he got there, he tracked down Skartalas and stayed hidden. He was able to find Skartalas and saw he was just standing there.

'I wish I knew who he was meeting.' Zach thought. Zach kept himself hidden and quiet. Especially when he saw someone coming to Skartalas. Once he was able to see enough, he saw it was a creature named Skithia.

"I'm glad you made it." Skartalas said.

"Save it. we're here on business." Skithia said.

'That's Skithia. She worked for Van Bloot.' Zach thought as he listened in carefully.

"Did you bring it?" Skartalas questioned.

"It's right here." Skithia as she pulled out a piece of paper. "A map to Underworld Prison, marked with where Van Bloot is hiding. Just remember our deal."

"Of course." Skartalas said. "I help you free Van Bloot and I give you samples of our battlegear as well as some mugic. Other danians might see this as treason, but I see it as protecting the hive by any means necessary."

'So that's it. Skartalas is helping free Van Bloot.' Zach thought.

"So we have a deal?" Skithia said.

"We do." Skartalas said as he took the paper and the two of them shook hands.

"Just one more thing." Skithia said.

"What?" Skartalas said. Skithia launched a fire attack to the side and it was heading for Zach. He had no choice, but to jump out of the way and reveal himself.

"You again!" Skartalas said.

"It's over, Skartalas!" Zach said. "I know what you've been doing and once the rest of the hive knows about this, you're going down...hard."

"You won't be telling anyone anything." Skartalas said as he launched an attack at him. The attack landed near him and it knocked Zach off his feet and dropped his scanner.

"My scanner!" Zach said as he tried to reach for it, but Skithia and Skartalas attacked him to keep him away from it. Zach had no choice, but to fall back and leave his scanner. When he ran off, Skartalas went to his scanner and grabbed it.

"We need to get him before he spoils everything." Skithia said.

"Leave it. From what I understand about these humans, they can't get very far without these scanners." Skartalas said. "Even if he makes it back to Mount Pillar, they'll never believe a human over a fellow danian. Still, I should be getting back."

"Fine. You just keep your end of the bargain." Skithia said as she was leaving. Skartalas took Zach's scanner and made it over to his bi-mowercylce as he left the place. When those two left, Zach retreated back.

"Natsu? You there? Did you get it?" Zach said.

"Right here." Natsu said as he showed himself. "I got all that we need. Nice plan."

"Thanks, but we better hurry back to Mount Pillar. Skartalas just took my scanner." Zach said. "You port back there and show it to Queen Illexia. I'll get there as fast as I can."

"No way. I'm not going without you. You should be the big hero that exposes him. Let's hurry." Natsu said as he ran out of there as fast as he could and Zach followed after him.

...

Lucy and Erza

Lucy kept searching through Skartalas' chamber. She still hasn't found anything that ties Skartalas to the underworlders.

"Anything? The longer we're here, the greater the risk we have." Erza said.

"I'm trying, but he seems to know how to cover his tracks." Lucy said as she looked through some papers. "We can't let Zach down. There must be something we can find." She heard her scanner going off. She was about to answer, but she felt someone grab her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy turned around and was faced with danian guards and they had Erza.

...

Queen Illexia

Once Lucy and Erza got caught, they were brought to Queen Illexia for judgement. Lucy and Erza tried to defend themselves and explain themselves. Their claims is what convinced the danians to bring them to the queen.

"What is the meaning of this?" Illexia questioned.

"Queen Illexia, we didn't come here to cause problems." Erza said.

"We have reason to believe that your fellow danian named Skartalas is a traitor." Lucy said. "He's made deals with underworlders like Van Bloot and we feared on what might happen here."

"You dare accuse a fellow danian of treason?" Illexia said.

"We knew you wouldn't believe us. That's why we were in his private chamber." Erza said. "We were trying to find the evidence to show you. Skartalas is meeting with an underworlder right now."

"What nonsense." They all turned around and saw Skartalas enter the chamber. "I received the hive call and came as soon as I could. These humans have the nerve to accuse me of such actions."

"I agree. Where is this proof that Skartalas has done what you said?" Illexia said.

"We were trying to find that when we got caught." Lucy said.

"That doesn't mean Skartalas isn't lying." All of them looked and saw Zach was able to make it to them in time.

"You again! He's obviously an accomplice to these humans. He's been following me and spying on me." Skartalas said.

"Yeah because we saw you work with Van Bloot before." Zach said. "Speaking of which, I want my scanner back. Queen Illexia, he is a traitor and I found the proof needed. Actually, Natsu has it."

"Hi." Natsu said as he ported right next to Queen Illexia. The guards readied their weapons. "Hold on. Look here." He showed his scanner to Queen Illexia and it showed a recording of Skartalas when he met with Skithia. Queen Illexia couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Guards, seize the traitor!" Illexia said.

"What?! No!" Skartalas said as he was grabbed and being dragged away. "Queen Illexia, I did what I could for the hive." He was taken away to be punished for his treason.

"I thank you for exposing a traitor. Surely, you must be rewarded for this." Illexia said.

"Well, I do need to get my scanner back from Skartalas." Zach said as they had a little laugh.

...

Chaotic

"Sweet. These danian scans rock." Lucy said as they all enjoyed some new scans they had.

"I feel bad about taking some of these, but Queen Illexia did insist." Natsu said.

"I'm just glad Skartalas was stopped before they could free Van Bloot." Zach said.

"What's going to happen to Skartalas now?" Erza questioned.

"Not sure, but they'll probably have him locked away for a while." Zach said.

"It was great what you just did, Zach." Lucy said. "You really helped out the danians even though you knew they might not want to hear it. I say you're just as loyal as any danian."

"Yeah. You're buggy like them too." Natsu said.

"Hey!" Zach said as they all had a laugh. A traitor caught and Zach standing for what is right. You don't need to be part of the danian tribe to show loyalty to others.