Zrocker119: Not gonna lie, kind of surprised by the response from last chapter and by that I mean how most of them were about how the lemon scene was too short. Well sorry to say but an future lemons will be of similar length and detail. Anyway, onto the story.

-START-

"I can't believe this!"

From within the confines of the Magic Council HQ, a roar of outrage could be heard. Any employees that happened to be walking by the main chambers wisely chose to continue moving.

"Would you please settle down Gran Doma," pleaded Yajima as his fellow council member prepared to go on another rant.

"You would be the one to ask," was the response he received from the chairman. "Your former guild is responsible for the near complete destruction of Hargeon!" exclaimed Gran Doma as he held the reports detailing the extent of the damage. "More than half the buildings along the coast line, just up and gone in fire."

"Isn't it about time that we did something about Fairy Tail," asked Michello as he read his copy of the report. "They've always caused more harm than good, even more so during the last decade." Many of the other council members nodded in agreement at his statement.

Wherever that guild went to, a trail of destruction was sure to follow.

"I'm in agreement with Michello," the one that spoke this time was Belno. "We've been very lenient with them, yet our generosity can only go so far. How many more times can we give them a slap on the wrist before other guilds start to think that we can't keep them in line? We'll be accused of playing favorites."

A chuckle drew everyone's attention to a single member. With a smirk present Siegrain spoke, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I personally find them to be quite entertaining."

Org frowned at the younger member's behavior, "Try and take this more seriously Siegrain. Fairy Tail has gotten out of control and personal feelings aside," he sent a pointed look in Yajima's direction, "we can't let this latest act slide."

"Then quit talking about it and do something."

Despite their best efforts, all members of the council felt a shiver crawl up their spines as the only non-council member spoke.

All eyes turned towards the fedora wearing Rune Knight commander, Gin Ichimaru. Under normal circumstances he would not be present during such a meeting, but he was currently undergoing the process of becoming a member himself. While many current members didn't like the man, they could not deny the fact that the reputation of the Rune Knights wouldn't be where it was today if it weren't for him.

Gin alone was responsible for ten percent of the arrests made in the last year, had reworked the training regiment for the soldiers from the ground up and created a whole new branch that the public had dubbed, "The Axe of the Council". The new branch had only a few dozen members and existed for one purpose. To hunt down and terminate dangerous criminals, regardless of magic capabilities or not.

"But," Gin continued, "that would mean the disbandment of the strongest and number one poster guild in the country." He covered his mouth in mock worry, "just imagine the public outcry such an action would bring about."

"Don't even try and spin it that way Gin," Scolded Org making Gin frown playfully, "We all know of your close ties to the guild. If it comes to sending your branch as insurance then so be it."

"I wouldn't even consider following that order." Gin's frown became a serious one, his playful manner gone and replaced with a calculated one. "Much like Yajima, I know that Fairy Tail is full of nothing but good people," he gave a lazy wave of his hand, "besides I don't want my men or any other poor saps you'd send to get slaughtered."

"Oh yes," Spoke Ultear as she twirled some of her hair around her finger. "I've read the reports on your friend, Ryu Sato. With the kind of power he possesses, I'm surprised I haven't seen his name on the candidate list for becoming a Wizard Saint."

"Oh I've put his name forward many times," Gin tilted his head in the chairman's direction, "but I always get stonewalled. Something about not wanting Fairy Tail to have two of the ten Saints as members."

Gran Doma slammed his hand onto his stand, "Enough Gin! We know the risks involved with disbanding Fairy Tail, but if they keep going at this rate then we'll have no choice."

Gin offered a lazy shrug before appearing at the exit with a quick use of Shunpo, "I'll go and have a talk with Makarov. From what Ryu has told me, the old man is always willing to listen to reason." He offered a wave before he turned to leave.

"This meeting isn't o-" Org sighed as the door closed behind the Rune Knight Commander. "I still have a hard time believing that that man is a capable leader."

Gin hummed a merry tune as he walked along the halls of the HQ. He paused when he saw someone waiting for him around the bend. "Now, aren't you still back in the chambers?"

Siegrain smirked at the man. "I'm just a thought projection, but you already knew that." He pushed off of the wall to stand before the former Shinigami captain, "You should really stop messing with the other members, or else your candidacy could be tossed out."

"I'm not too worried about that," Gin replied with a smile that sent a chill down Siegrains back. "So instead of worrying about me, you should focus on your own actions, or should I say the actions of your brother."

Siegrain's smirked is replaced by a look of shock. 'How does he-'

"Judging by the look on your face," Gin said as he placed a hand on his hat, "You're probably wondering how I know about him." He leaned down so that his eyes were level with his, "It's my job to keep on the look for dangerous people and your brother is one of them. I don't know what the two of you are up to, so I can't do anything...yet."

Gin's eyes cracked open ever so slightly, pinning the Wizard Saint in place with his gaze. "But know this. The moment you fuck up," Siegrain became aware of the blade the was stabbed through his throat. His body may have just been a projection, but the intent behind the gesture was quite clear.

Seeing that the message had gotten through, Gin sheathed his sword and continued on his way, "See you around, Siegrain." Said council member turned to stare at Gin's retreating form, but the man that had proven to be an enigma to him had already disappeared.

The Shinigami turned Rune Knight commander rubbed his eyes as he leaned back into the cushions of his seat. He was currently riding in the first class section of a train that was bound for Clover Town. He was originally supposed to head to Magnolia, but was informed that the monthly meeting between guildmasters was today. So he now had a much longer ride and had decided to use the extra time it took to get there to catch up on some paperwork.

Gin momentarily turned away from his work when he felt a sudden spike of magic energy. It had been strange at first to feel the magic that permeated this world, but Gin was a prodigy for a reason and so it had only taken him a few weeks to get used to sensing it.

Brushing off the spike as the train passing a mage in midst of training, Gin went back to his papers, only for the train to come to a screeching halt. Gin grabbed the table to keep himself from falling out of his seat but the stack of papers weren't so lucky, now scattered all along the cart's floor.

Gin stared at the mess in horror as he realized that he would have to reorganize every single one of them. Grumbling to himself, Gin produced a lacrima from within his coat and activated it. All of the paper glowed momentarily before disappearing. Even though the mess was cleaned, Gin was still depressed at the thought of having to sort them.

Suppressing those feelings, Gin got up and moved toward the back of the train as he realized that the source of the magic he detected earlier was actually located there. The train had begun to move again, slowly gaining speed.

The sound of shattering glass caused Gin to move faster, reaching the very back of the train moments later. Standing by a shattered window was a man with black hair that was done up in a way eerily similar to that of a certain, red-headed lieutenant he once knew.

The commander's eyes shifted to the man's hand, where he noticed what looked like a flute that had a three eyed skull on one end.

Gin recognized the item easily, having read about a certain cursed object that had the same description in the council's archives.

"Well well well." The man jumped, caught completely off guard by Gin's voice, "that is an interesting flute you've got there."

Kageyama shot around to face him, only to freeze when he found Gin's middle and index finger inches from his chest.

"Bakudo #61, Rikujokoro."

Before the Eizenwald mage could react, his midsection was pierced by six wide beams of light. "Wh-what the hell is this!?" He wasn't in any pain but try as he might, Kageyama could no longer move his body.

With his target completely immobilized, the silver-haired man was free to reach down and take the demon flute from his grasp. "Now that that's taken care of," Gin wore a mock smile that did nothing to alleviate the mage's fears, "Why don't you tell me why a mage from a dark guild would be carrying something like this."

Earlier that day

Fairy Tails resident Arrancar let out a groan of irritation as the sun shone through a crack between the curtains of his bedroom window. The beam of light had angled perfectly to strike Ryu's closed eyes, making it impossible for him to ignore the rising sun.

While he was weighing the ramifications of what would happen should he destroy the sun, his partner in bed shifted so that she faced him, her back to the light.

"Oh no you don't," Ryu said as he wrapped an arm around her, "If I have to wake up then so do you."

That earned him a growl as Mira dragged a finger down his chest, dark lightning sparking dangerously at the tip. "Don't you start with me. It's too early," she grumbled as she worked to make herself comfortable against his chest.

"I guess we can stay like this for a little bit," Ryu said as he pulled her closer into his embrace.

"You're just going along with it so you can feel my chest pressed up against you," came her dry response, even as she hugged him closer, pressing her sizable assets against his side. "Had I known you were such a pervert, I wouldn't have started dating you."

"Please," Ryu kissed her forehead, "I'm only perverted when it comes to you."

Seeing that her boyfriend would prevent her from getting any further sleep, Mira decided that she might as well get up and get ready for the day. Throwing the covers off her, Mira sat on the edge of the bed. Ryu propped himself up with one arm, admiring Mira's shapely body as she stretched.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

The poster girl let out a playful scoff, "Only every time we wake up in the morning." Mira paused as she felt his arms wrap around her waist and rest his chin on her shoulder.

"Good," he gave her gave quick peck on the neck. "Be sure to remind me if I ever fail to do so." He caught her rolling her eyes, "Hey, cut me some slack, I'm a helpless romantic."

"Oh I know," she responded as she made her way to the bathroom. Ryu shook his head as the door closed, having not missed the enticing sway she put into her hips, but sadly he wouldn't be joining her in the shower this morning.

Throwing on a pair of pajama pants to cover his nudity, Ryu headed down to the kitchen to get started on breakfast. Mira told him the other day that she, Lisanna, Natsu and Grey would be accompanying Erza on some sort of mission later. He would have tagged along but with that many of the guilds heavy hitters teamed up, adding himself into the mix would just be overkill.

Since he had just gotten back from a job last night, he was going to use the day to catch up on some training. Because of his defeat at the hands of Aizen, Ryu realized that he was too cocky and now strived to reach the peak in his power. Progress was painfully slow without the constant supply of hollow reishi in the air to absorb, but at least he was growing stronger.

Checking the time he saw that there was about an hour and a half left until they were all supposed to meet up at the train station. Plenty of time to cook a good meal to kick start the day.

Several hours later

"I can't believe you left Natsu on the train," Mira said with a sigh. She was currently riding shotgun in a magic four wheeler that was chasing after the aforementioned train. Erza was at the wheel, Lisanna was in the back with Happy in her lap and Gray seated beside her. The eldest Strauss sibling turned her attention to the newest guild member that was situated in the seat directly behind herself and Erza.

Lucy was a beautiful young woman with brown eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair, with part of it kept to the side in a small ponytail. She currently wore a cute orange top and blue skirt that did nothing to hide her curvaceous figure. She had a brown belt that held a whip and a bunch of keys.

From what Lisanna had told her, Lucy was a Celestial Spirit Mage. Mira had never encountered one before and was looking forward to seeing what the blonde beauty could do.

"I can see the train," Lucy said as she pointed to the train that was just ahead of them. They should be right up beside it in just a few-

The party watched as a figure came crashing out of one of the windows. From the pink hair and scarf, they all immediately knew that it was the dragonslayer that they had left behind. The pinkette bounced off the roof of the vehicle before crashing and rolling on the ground behind them.

Erze swerved to a stop, letting them all jump out to check on their guildmate.

"Are you okay," Lisanna asked, helping her boyfriend up to his feet.

"Just peachy," was Natsu's response as he tried to work out the kink in his neck. "How could you guys leave me on that death machine!?"

Happy raised a paw, "You were so quiet that we all forgot that you were even there."

"That's because Erza frigging knocked me out!"

"Anyway," Gray cut in before Natsu could throttle the guild's little blue mascot. "Why exactly did you jump out the window?"

Natsu crossed his arms defensively, "Some guy sat across from me and started being a total jackass. Said some suggestive things about the women in our guild, mentioned something called Eizenwald and started attacking me." He stomped his foot in frustration, "I wanted to send his head spinning, but like hell I'm gonna fight someone on a damn train!"

For several seconds all was silent as they all took time to register his words. Erza's hand slowly curled into a fist, shaking with barely concealed rage. Everyone but Natsu takes note of this and wisely back away.

"Huh? Why the heck are you gu-"

"You idiot!" The dragon slayer didn't have any time to react as Erza's armored fist embedded itself into his face. The poor man was sent hurtling dozens of feet across the ground before coming to a stop when he finally hit a boulder.

He didn't stay down long as the armored redhead lifted him by his jacket and started to violently shake him, "That man's a part of the guild we're going after!"

"Ummm shouldn't we be stopping this?" Lucy asked as they all just watched the redhead go to town on Natsu. "Cause that train's getting farther and farther away." Lisanna and Gray shared a look and turned to Mirajane, only to sweatdrop as the only other S-class mage casually looked over her nails.

Mira eventually took note of their gaze and let out a sigh before heading over to stop her friend/rival from killing her sister's boyfriend.

Within the train station of Oshibana Town, it looked like a slaughter had taken place. Several of the station's guards were in various states of injury, ranging from cuts, bruises, broken bones and even missing limbs. Situated in the center of all the carnage is a large group of thuggish looking men.

Seated on the roof of one of the unmoving trains was a man with white hair, a body covered with tattoos and a giant scythe. He seemed to be irritated if the frown on his face was anything to go by.

"What the hell is taking Kageyama so long!?" The man growled as he watched the entrance for any signs of his subordinate.

One of the guild members, a plump, green-haired man spoke up. "I'm sure he's on his way Erigor. Maybe he ran into some trouble."

The leader of the group stood up and stabbed his scythe into the train's roof in frustration. They should've stuck with the original plan of meeting up on the train, but no, he had to listen to the others and change the meeting place to the station. Now they were stuck waiting in this damn place. To make matters even worse the stench of the bodies was starting to fill the room.

"I think I hear someone!" called out one of the members. Erigor focused on his hearing and could indeed hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

"God damn it Kageyama," he cursed as he ripped his weapon free, "What took you so-" He stopped as he finally saw who it was. Instead of his pineapple-haired guildmate, it was a man in a brown suit casually strolling towards them.

The man paid no mind to any of them until he was only a few meters away. "My my," he spoke as he took in his surrounding, "You all sure made of mess of this place. And here I was hoping to catch a train to clovertown." He glanced up at Erigor who couldn't help but shiver at the man's disturbingly calm smile. "But I guess I could take some time to deal with you all."

Erigor shoved down the slight fear this man instilled in him as he observed the stranger. It was only a few seconds later before that fear came crawling back up as he figured out who the man before them was.

"Brown suit and hat, silver hair and a mocking smile." Erigor brought up his weapon in a defensive stance. "The hell is Gin Ichimaru doing here!" At the mention of his name, the effects were instantaneous. Every member of the dark guild took several steps back out of fear.

The man before them was famous among the common people, but for wizards like themselves, he was infamous. Things were perfect a few years ago, the council and Rune Knights were nice and lazy, but then this man showed up out of the blue and fucked up their perfect world.

Now dark guilds across the country were disappearing left and right, all thanks to the rising star before them.

"Ah good, you know of me," Gin gave them a mock applause, "then that should make what happens next all the easier. You have two options before you. The first is that you surrender here and now, where you'll receive a fair trial and face imprisonment. Or you can choose to resist and face your executioner."

"What did you do with Kageyama," Erigor questioned as he prepared a wind spell behind his back.

Gin's head tilted in confusion before he snapped his fingers, "So that was his name." He reached into his jacket and withdrew the cursed flute, twirling it between his fingers as the dark guild tensed up. "I ran into him on my way here. But don't worry, he's been taken care of."

Erigor had heard enough and brought his hand forward, revealing the magic circle that he had been charging. Grabbing his scythe he transferred the energy into its blade then swung it in a wide arc.

"WIND'S EDGE!"

A large crescent blade of wind shot from the scythe, closing the distance between it and Gin in seconds. While the attack was nearly instantaneous for everyone watching, to the former Captain it may as well have been crawling towards him at a snail's pace.

Without batting an eye Gin drew his zanpakuto and slashed right before the wind struck him, causing it to dissipate harmlessly. Erigor froze at the sight of his spell being swatted aside like it was nothing more than a warm summer breeze. He knew just how dangerous this man was and had put everything he had into that attack.

"Talk about a cheap knockoff," Gin spoke as he thought about how similar the attack looked to Ichigo Kurosaki's signature attack. "I guess it's my turn now." He slid one foot back and bent down to the side, his blade poised for a thrust.

While Erigor couldn't even begin to understand why the Rune Knight took that stance with such a short blade, he did know that it wouldn't be good for them if he was allowed to finish his preparations.

"ATTACK HIM YOU FOOLS!"

The guild members that had been scared stiff so far were finally shaken from their stupor. With a battle cry, dozens of wizards charged against one man.

"Shoot to kill."

Their recklessness would prove to be their undoing, "Shinso!"

"Ma'am for the last time, I can't let you go in," spoke the man tasked with guarding the entrance to the train station.

"Look, we're mages from Fairy Tail and we're here to help," Erza explained as she tried to convince the guard to let them pass. They had arrived a few moments ago to find that a crowd alreading surrounding the station entrance.

After working their way to the front, courtesy of Mira and Erza scaring the shit out of anyone dumb enough to get in their way, they found themselves unable to move forward do to the man in front of them.

He was dressed in mostly dark colored clothes consisting of a brown vest over a white dress shirt. His pants were grey and tucked into brown leather boots. Over it all he wore a grey duster coat. His hands and forearms were covered by a pair of black gauntlets.

He seemed to be in his mid to late twenties with spiky, ash colored hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and dark brown eyes. Well, eye anyway, as his left one was covered by an eyepatch. The last notable feature about him would have to be the faint, cross-like scar that ran down his right eye and across the bridge of his nose.

"I don't care if you're the guildmaster," the man said with a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice, "Until my superior officer says otherwise, no one may enter."

"Screw that noise," shouted Natsu as he tried to shoulder passed the man, the key word being 'tried'. Just as he passed the man, the Dragonslayer seemed to smack face first into an invisible wall. A little wave could be seen from the point of impact that moved outward, revealing that a barrier had the entire station completely sealed off.

"As I just said," reaching out a hand, the man grabbed Natsu by his scarf and threw him back to the group with minimal effort. "None may enter. Besides the commander should be finishing up shortly."

"Wait, hold on a sec. There's only a single person confronting an entire guild?" Lucy questioned. The man opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when what sounded like footsteps.

With a flick of his wrist a serrated trench knife appeared in his hand as he turned to see who it was. When he saw that it was the commander, the tension disappeared along with the knife and folded his arms behind his back.

"Commander," the man said, standing at attention.

"No need to be so serious Mo," Gin chided as he approached the group.

"With all due respect sir," the now named Mo responded, "One of us has to be."

Gin shrugged and messed with his hat, stepping through the barrier had put it out of place, "Any problems on this end?"

Mo spared a glance at the Fairy Tail mages before giving his commander a shrug, "Just annoyances. What about Eizenwald?"

"The threat has been deal with," Gin answered with a slight frown, "Contact HQ and have them dispatch medical personnel along a containment group. I want you to stay here and keep up the barrier until they arrive. No one gets in or out."

Mo nodded, his orders clear. "What shall you be doing sir?"

"I'll resume making my way to Clover Town," Gin started as he began walking away. "Afterwards… we'll I'm long overdue for a day off."

Mo allowed his serious look to slip for a moment as he shook his head at his commanders lackluster attitude.

Meanwhile as all of this was going on, Erza and the others had been watching silently from the sidelines.

"Soooo," Gray began as he watched the apparent commander walk away, "I guess we came all the way out here for no reason."

Natsu kicked the ground in disappointment, "Ah man. I really wanted to punch some guy's lights out too."

Mira looked over to Erza, who was still looking at the retreating form of the commander guy. "What's with you?"

"That man said he was heading towards clover town," She said as she began walking to catch up to the man. "That's where the guild masters meeting takes place."

Gin was once more humming a tune as he got ready to use shunpo. He wanted to get this over with and take the rest of the day to ponder what he would do with his day off.

"Excuse me!"

He stopped just as he was about to disappear and turned around. Gin was not too surprised to see that it was one of the Fairy Tail members that had called out. "Yes, can I help you?"

"I overheard you say that you were going to Clover Town." Erza came to a stop beside him, having to look up slightly to meet his eyes. Or tried to anyway as his were almost always closed. "Why do you have to go there?"

"My my," Gin gave her his trademark smile, "First you eavesdrop on mine and my subordinate's conversation and now demand to know what I'm doing. You're quite nosy, Ms. Scarlet."

Erza narrowed her eyes and frowned, "How do you-"

"You shouldn't be too surprised that I know who you are," Gin spoke, "you and everyone else in your little group are quite famous after all." He looked to the others that had just caught up. His smile turned into a frown though when he saw someone he didn't recognize. "I can't say I know you."

Lucy rubbed her head in embarrassment, "I'm Lucy, I just joined a few days ago."

"Ah that explains it," Gin said with a snap of his fingers. "Well to answer your question Erza, I'm on my way to the guild masters meeting to inform them all that I just stopped an assassination attempt on all of their lives."

The carefree way he relayed this information served to unnerve the Fairies.

"If that's the case," Gin turned to Lisanna who had been the one to speak, "Would it be too much trouble to ask if we tag along? We have a vehicle so we could give you a ride. It beats walking all the way there."

"Also I want to fight you!" Natsu shouted with a look of excitement, making them all sweatdrop.

Gin felt the corner of his mouth twitch just a bit at the pinkettes declaration. They were just as Ryu described them to be. "Well," the former shinigami gave a very lazy wave, "I don't see why not."

"Umm, question." They all looked down to see Happy with a single paw in the air, "Where is everyone going to sit?"

They ended up figuring out a seating arrangement. Erza was the one driving and Gin was the guest, so their seats were guaranteed. No one was dumb enough to try and take Mirajane's spot, so she was safe. Happy argued that he was a cat and therefore should be given a seat and, for reasons that Gin couldn't understand, everyone rolled with it.

Gin then pointed out that the ladies should be given seats as well, so Lisanna and Lucy were in. That left Natsu and Gray hanging high and dry when it came to seats. With no spots left, the fire and ice duo sat on the roof of the vehicle.

From there it was nothing but smooth sailing as they rode to Clover town. Sure it would've been faster if Gin had just gone by himself using Shunpo, but then he wouldn't have the company of so many beautiful ladies.

"Couldn't the two of them have just sat on either side of her?" Gin whispered to Erza as he gestured to the empty spaces one either side of Mira.

"They're afraid of her," she said bluntly, causing him to raise a brow.

"So," Mira spoke up from behind them, "I know this is a bit late and all, but we never got your name."

Gin would've blink if his eyes weren't already closed, "Huh, I guess I never did introduce myself." He tipped his hat to them, "The name's Gin Ichimaru, Executive Commander of the Rune Knights."

The vehicle swerved slightly as Erza turned toward him in shock.

"Hey watch where you're driving!" shouted Gray as he and Natsu's peeked down from the roof, "You almost threw us off!" The pinkette would've complained as well if it weren't for the fact that he was currently holding in his lunch.

"You're a Rune Knight," Lisanna asked.

Lucy held her chin, "Suddenly that Mo guy calling him commander makes sense."

"Wait what!?" Natsu cried as he look at Gin, "But you took out all of those dark guild assholes!"

"And?"

"Well Rune Knights suck at fighting."

The other tensed slightly, thinking that Gin would have some choice words for their friend, but to their surprise Gin didn't seem offended at all by Natsu's statement, "Oh almost the entirety of the Rune Knights are worthless, but I'm slowly changing that."

He perked up as their destination was beginning to come into view. As they came closer Gin felt that of all the magic signatures he was feeling, the strongest of them seemed to be a ways away from the meeting hall. Given that Makarov was one of the ten wizard saints, it was a safe bet that the lone one was him.

"I sense a strong magic presence coming from over there. I'm guessing that it's your master," Gin spoke as he relayed the information to the others. Stopping at the treeline the group exited the vehicle and followed Gin to a clearing. At the center was their Guildmaster, seated on a tree stump and...was he giggling?

"Hehehehe, the women are getting sexier and sexier," Makarov giggled perversely as he looked through the newest issue of sorcerer weekly, specifically the modeling section.

"Master!"

"Gah!" The aged guildmaster jumped as the unexpected guest made themselves known. Quickly hiding the magazine behind his back, he composed himself before turning to them. "Huh, what are you brats doing here?"

Erza was quick to inform him of everything that had transpired since the beginning of that day. By the time she finished, it was already getting dark out as the sun began to go down.

"Hmm," Makarov rubbed his chin, "To think a dark guild would go to these extents. This is disturbing news indeed." He spared a look towards Gin, who had been silently observing them with his never changing smile. "What is to become of those that were caught?"

Gin shrugged his shoulders, "Most will face imprisonment, but many are wanted for multiple murders. They will face trial and are most likely to be executed."

"Hmmm." Makarov allowed the information to sink in, "If that is what the justice system decides, then so be it. Regardless, a lot of people owe you their lives. Not just me and my fellow guildmaster, but all those that would've been caught in the flutes range."

The Rune Knight waved his hand in a lazy manner. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"Quick question," Lucy raised her hand, "Where's the flute anyway?" She watched as Gin rummaged around in his coat for a moment before retrieving the flute from within its depths. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Well the Council would want me to hand it over to them so that they can safeguard it," He said as he casually tossed it back and forth between his hands, "But I'm gonna save us a lot of trouble and just destroy it."

"Destroy me!"

Everyone's eyes, Gin included, widened as an unknown voice permeated throughout the air.

"You think a pathetic being like you can destroy me!" Their attention turned to the flute as it shot out of Gin's hand and into the air. In a brilliant flash of purple light, the flute transformed into a enormous tree-like demon, its three red eyes glaring down at them. "I'll consume your souls for su-"

Lullaby is interrupted by a fireball exploding against its face. The Fairies turned towards Natsu with an exasperated look.

"What? That wasn't me."

"So you're a monster that likes to consume souls," As Gin spoke, the smoke from the kido still hanging around his hand. He took calm steps forward, putting himself between Lullaby and the others. "Then this will be just like home."

Erza and Mira made to go stand with him, but a raised hand from Makarov kept them at bay. He and the rest watched with anticipation as Gin reached into his coat, only to be put off when he withdrew an incredibly short sword that was barely the length of the man forearm.

"What's he plan to do with that?" Natsu whispered not so quietly to the others. "That thing's tiny."

"I wonder if by killing you," Gin spoke as he calmly poised his blade at the center of his chest, "that if I will free all the souls you've eaten."

"It doesn't matter," Lullaby said as it reared back one of its enormous fists, "I'll be adding yours to my collection soon enough!" Its fist fell, but not in the way everyone was expecting.

There was a quick flicker of movement, and Lullaby's arm was sliced clean off from its body. The demon roared in agony as it grasped at the stump that used to be its limb.

"W-what just happened?" Gray asked in alarm as his eyes hadn't been able to track anything. It was just too fast for him to process. It wasn't just him either as everyone had trouble understanding what just went down. That is, everyone but Makarov and the two S-class mages. The aged guild master had a little trouble tracking Gin's attack, but the speed was something he had only seen in incredibly powerful mages.

Mira and Erza on the other hand had barely been able to keep track, having only caught the glint of the blade.

"His sword extended," her voice was barely a whisper, but the others had no trouble hearing Mira's words. She stared at the back of Gin's head, trying to process what she just saw. The only other person she had seen attack with such speed was Ryu when they sparred. 'Just who is this guy?'

"Y-Y-YOU BASTARD!" As Lullaby roared in anger, a magic circle appeared in front of its mouth. As it went to fire the beam, Gin appeared in the air before it, poised for a thrust.

"Bye-bye," he said cheerfully as his blade shot forward. Lullaby didn't have time to process what happened before a hole appeared in the center of its head. Not quite finished, Gin swiped his blade downwards, splitting the demon clean in two.

Landing before the dumbstruck Fairies, Gin stashed his Zanpakuto back into his coat and smiled as the giant corpse fell with a thunderous thud and disintegrated behind him. "So now that that's over and done with, mind if I talk with you in private?" he asked Makarov.

The Guild master finally snapped out of his stupor and looked at the Rune Knight curiously. What could he possibly want to speak with him about?

-END-