Zrocker119: Sorry for the two month wait everybody. The next one shouldn't take as long. On a side note, this story now has over 100 favorites! Anyway here's chapter 11!

A Hollow's Fairy Tail

-Start-

Within the halls of the guild Phantom Lord, a party was in full swing. Upon hearing of what happened just the other night they had busted out the food and kegs of beer, celebrating what they all saw as a victory over their rival guild.

"GAH," one member exclaimed as he finished chugging a beer. "Man I wish I could've been there to see those punks eating dirt!"

That earned him friendly slap on the shoulder from his drinking buddy. "Same here man! Heard that the four of them hardly put up a fight! Talk about pathetic!" Those gathered around burst into fits of laughter at the expense of their rival guilds pain.

Near the edge of all the partying, one member sat in a secluded corner of the room. This person was a tall and muscular young man with long, spiky black hair, which was usually kept slicked back, revealing his forehead. His eyes were red with slitted dark pupils, and had no visible eyebrows. Most of his exposed body was covered in sets of simple, round studs, the most visible being the ones on his face, with three of them above each of his eyes, and two on his chin, just below his mouth. Even his ears were adorned by two sets of five earrings each.

He also sported four studs on each of his forearms, with his right one being covered in scars. His Phantom Lord mark could be seen at the top of his right shoulder.

His outfit consisted of a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with studded edges, a studded belt around his waist, loose, beige pants tucked inside studded black boots, and a pair of studded brown gloves paired with similarly studded wristbands. He also sported a distinctive wing-like ornament, seemingly made of feathers, jutting upwards, over his right shoulder, attached to his tunic by a large stud.

This was Gajeel Redfox, Iron Dragonslayer and the ace of Phantom Lord. He absentmindedly chewed on a nail as he took some time to ponder his thoughts. The mission he had completed the other night pricked at his conscience.

-The other night-

Gajeel stood before the defeated forms of the Fairies he had been tasked with making a message out of, though the fight hadn't gone nearly as he had expected. While the first three were easy enough, it was the largest of them that put up the biggest fight.

The phantom knew that one of members of his target group was one of the famed Take Over siblings, but their information suggested that the brother was the weak link of the three and barely capable of performing a partial take over.

So imagine the Dragonslayer's surprise when the 'weak link' not only did a full body Take Over, but had also sent him skidding several meters back with a single punch. From there the fight escalated and quickly turned in Gajeel's favor, using his much greater speed to outpace the fairy.

Now standing victoriously over them though, Gajeel thought about just how misinformed his guild may have been. If they were wrong about one guy, there was no telling how wrong the rest of their info was.

Throwing those thoughts aside, Gajeel continued with the next phase of his mission. He had just grabbed the shorty among them and was about to do what he was ordered to, but was halted by a voice.

"St-stop."

He turned around to see Elfman struggling to get back to his feet, "I-I'm not finished just yet." The man's breath was labored, but he managed to mind his footing.

The Dragonslayer's eyes widened as the man took a shaky step toward him. "W-whatever you plan...to do to them...I can take it all. Just...just leave them be."

Gajeel's jaw opened slightly at the declaration . This man had no idea what he was about to do, yet was asking to shoulder all of it, just to spare a few weaklings? It made absolutely no sense to the dragonslayer. "Why the hell would you ask for that?" He found himself wanting to know the answer.

Despite the situation he found himself facing, Elfman smirked. "What kind of a man would I be," he paused to catch his breath, "If I couldn't take this level of pain? Do your worst."

Whether he meant to be or not, Gajeel found himself impressed with the fairy's resolve. Setting the woman back down, he cracked his knuckles.

-Present-

Gajeel flexed his fingers as the memory of Elfman's first punch came to mind. Even though he had brought up his arms to block the attack, it had hurt quite a bit. Managing to even bruise the skin on his forearm.

"So how was it?"

Gajeel glanced to his right to see one of his fellow guild members leaning on the seat beside him.

"What?" he grumbled, popping a couple more nails in his mouth.

"You know," the man must've been drunker than Gajeel thought, as he nudged his shoulder and continued, "Getting a chance to stick it to those shitty Fairies. Wish I could've been there when they found their friends strung up. The look on their faces would be fucking priceless!"

That earned laughs from all around the guild.

Gajeel snorted and resumed eating. He didn't bother informing them of what really happened. Might as well let everyone think he followed through with the original plan. Not like they would learn any different.

As he went to grab more nails Gajeel paused. His dragon instincts were suddenly screaming, telling him that something was wrong and to be on alert.

There was no warning as the door to the guild hall suddenly flew off its hinges, colliding with the man that was just talking to him. Gajeel leapt up to the rafters, taking a knee as everyone looked toward the door.

"JOSE!" Makarov shouted from the center of the doorway, his children flanking both of his sides with the rest of the guild following up behind them. "FAIRY TAIL'S COME A KNOCKING!"

Natsu and Gray were the firsts to break from the others as they both charged forward with fire and ice respectively, pummeling those closest to the door with no difficulty. The rest of the guild quickly followed, each and everyone of them wanting a piece of the action.

Makarov's eyes glowed dangerously as he turned into his giant form, smashing any and all foes that tried and failed to impede his progress. "COME OUT JOSE," another group was swatted aside like the flies they were, "FACE THE MONSTER WHOSE CHILDREN YOU DARED TO HARM!"

From his perch above, Gajeel watched as his guild lost ground faster than they had planned. 'Shit. At this rate, the others won't have time to snatch the target.'

Suddenly the rafter he was on exploded into splinters as something slammed into him from above. Gajeel hit the floor with a thunderous crash, forming a crater several feet deep. He tried to get to his feet, but was immediately sent back down as a foot pressed down onto his stomach.

The foot twisted just a bit, but it carried with it enough force to entice a roar of pain. Partially blinded by pain Gajeel transformed his arm and swung in an attempt ward off his surprise attacker. The attack connected, but his arm flared up as something clamped down on it.

Blinking through the pain, his eyes were finally able to properly focus. Gajeel was greeted by the sight of Ryu leaning over him, his Iron club caught in the redhead's grip.

Ryu's gaze shifted to the club, his eyes showing recognition, before falling back to him. "Looks like you were the one that had the gall to invade my home." His voice was eerily calm as he applied pressure to both his grip and foot.

Gajeel bit his tongue in an attempt to stifle his cries of pain as the pressure slowly built up, the metal on his arm slowly cracking along side his ribs.

"I take it that you were also the one that attacked my friends. If that's the case," then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the pressure was gone. "I'm not the one that deserves to beat you down."

From the corner of his vision Gajeel spotted the form of a thoroughly pissed off Mirajane, her arms already in a Take Over state.

"She does," with that said, Ryu took his foot off Gajeel and walked passed his girlfriend. Mirajane allowed the Dragonslayer to get back to his feet, cracking her knuckles in anticipation while she waited for him to steady himself.

Gajeel suddenly found himself worrying for his life as the eldest of the Take Over siblings emitted a purple aura that promised nothing but pain.

Ryu walked alongside the master as they made their way to the upper levels, leaving a trail of unconscious Phantom members in their wake. Eventually the duo came to a set of large, double doors that were made of metal.

Without saying a word Ryu placed his hand on the door, a cero primed and ready in his palm. With a mere thought the energy detonated, blowing the heavy doors all the way across the room, where they barely missed the seated guildmaster of Phantom Lord.

"Ah Makarov," Jose began as he stood up, ignoring the fact that he had nearly been flattened by his own doors. Now that he was no longer seated, Ryu was able to see that he was rather tall and slim man. His hair was black and straight, reaching down to his shoulders. His face was also long and sharp, with prominent eyelashes, dark lips and pointed ears.

Much like Makarov, Jose too wore what looked like a jester's outfit only his was much more sinister in appearance.

"How long has it been since we last saw each other? Five-no, six years! Bah," the man waved his hand dismissively, "Regardless it's nice to see you."

His vision was suddenly encompassed by the form of Ryu who now appeared before him with his leg raised. The area around the two erupted with smoke and stone shrapnel as his heel hit the floor with explosive force. The smoke cleared, revealing a completely unharmed Jose standing in the air.

"Thought projection," Ryu growled, having taken note of how his attack had fazed through the enemy guildmaster.

"While putting down your rabid dog would no doubt be entertaining," Jose stated confidently as he looked Ryu up and down, "a fight between two Wizard Saints would cause unneeded destruction and I would prefer to win without a fight."

"L-Lucy," Ryu turned around to see Makarov staring at the prone and tied up form of Lucy on the ground. Confused by the sudden appearance of his blonde guildmate Ryu was too late to see the figure that stepped out from the shadows behind his master.

"GAH!" Makarov's cries of pain greeted the young Arrancar's ears as a light appeared around the old man. Ryu watched in horror as the strongest wizard he knew was reduced to an unmoving, sickly green state.

The redhead's shocked state lasted for a moment before he turned his gaze to his grandfather figure's assailant. His pupils shrank to a frightening degree as he let his control over his spiritual pressure slip.

"MASTER!"

The battle in the main hall was going rather smoothly, too smoothly Mira noted as she launched Gajeel across the room with a well placed kick. She had entered her full-body take over shortly after Ryu had left to follow the master, though quickly realized that it was unneeded.

While powerful in his own right, the Iron Dragonslayer was just too outclassed to pose a threat to her. The only reason Mira was still in her full Satan mode was to show her opponent just how far the gap between them was. She wanted him to feel very much afraid and pay for what he had to her friends and sibling.

Approaching the Dragonslayer she absentmindedly lashed out with her tail as another Phantom member that had tried to sneak up on her from behind. Needles to say that he was quickly taken out of the brawl.

Mirajane had been about to continue the one sided beat down against the one that had tortured her brother, when it happened.

All the fighting that was going on around her came to a grinding halt as the what felt like an ocean crashed over them all. The strongest amongst them were floored, herself included, while the weaker members on both sides fainted outright as the very air seemed to quake in fury.

The center of the ceiling collapsed as a form shot down through it and crashed into the floor, kicking up a large cloud of dust and debris. With an immense amount of effort, Mira managed to turn her head toward the impact site as another figure flew down from the freshly made hole, landing in the exact same spot as the last. The sickening sound of bones breaking was heard as body flew out of the smoke, crashing into the far wall.

The body fell and revealed a horribly bruised and bloody Aria. His clothes were in tatters, his limbs bent and broken, and his face looked little more than a mangled lump of flesh. The mage's chest rose and fell with breath, signaling that he was somehow still alive, but barely so.

From the center of smoke came Ryu, a murderous look in his eyes. His right hand was clenched and dripped with fresh blood, a strong indicator that he had been the one that put Aria in such a horrendous state. In his other arm lied the sickly green form of Makarov, cradled protectively to his chest like a child.

"We're leaving," once Ryu spoke those words the choking pressure was gone, disappearing as he reeled in his power. Those that were still conscious could just nod their heads, afraid to speak against his orders.

Mira was still frozen in shock at her boyfriend's brutal display up until he stood before her, hand outstretched. Choosing to ignore the blood Mirajane accepted the offered assistance and got to her feet.

"What happened?" she questioned as he set the master in her arms.

"Bastard surprised us and used a spell that drained the master of all his magic," Ryu explained as he turned to address their guildmates. "Get the old man medical attention, then regroup back at the guild!"

He kept his eyes on the few Phantom members that were still conscious, daring them to try and stop them. Fortunately for them though, none wanted to test themselves against the man that had beaten one of their strongest members into a bloody pulp.

As they exited the hall Ryu reached out with his senses, looking for Lucy's magical signature. He didn't know if what he saw early was just an illusion but he didn't want to take that chance. A moment later he had her position. It was a few miles away but that kind of distance was nothing for him. He wasn't sure how they had captured her but Ryu wasn't about to leave one of his friends behind.

As they left Phantom Lords hall Ryu grabbed Erza by the shoulder. "Make sure everyone gets home safely."

His fellow redhead shot him a questionable look but he had already disappeared with a burst of sonido. Erza glanced over at Mira who could only shake her head and follow after the others. They could do nothing but trust that what ever he left to go do was important.

-Phantom Lords back up base-

Lucy had never felt so helpless in her life. Not only had she been captured with almost no effort, but she learned that all of the events that had transpired over the last few days were all due to her.

Because of her selfish desire to run away from home, one of her best friends was now lying unconscious in a hospital.

Lucy choked back the tears that threatened to spill and glared up at Jose from her seated position. The man that was also responsible for her friends' injuries and her capture. She held her glare for moment longer before shifting her gaze aside.

"...I need to use the bathroom."

Jose blinked at the sudden request. Did she really think he was stupid enough to fall for such an obvious trick? Regardless, he humored her and gestured towards a bucket in the corner of her cell.

"Feel free to-REALLY," he shouted as she got up and started heading toward it. S-she was actually going to use it? "S-such a shameless girl!" Being the gentleman that he was, Jose turned his back to his captive to provide her some semblance of privacy.

His uncomfortable expression turned into one of sheer agony as a boot embedded itself in the spot that every man feared to be hit in. The Wizard Saint dropped to the floor, clutching his crushed manhood in an attempt to stifle the pain.

'I can't believe he fell for the oldest trick in the book.' In a show of childishness Lucy stuck her tongue at him and ran for the door. Her charge came to a sudden stop as she saw the eight story drop that awaited her on the other side.

"Hahaha!" Despite the pain he was currently in, Jose took pleasure in the look of horror on his captive's face. "Such a shame...that we placed you in our sky prison." He managed to fight through the pain between his legs and got to his feet.

As the man approached, Lucy backed up to the very edge of the stone, knocking some pebbles off that fell to the ground far below.

"Unfortunately," a dark aura began to gather around Jose. "I must now punish you for your transgressions against me."

Lucy stole a glance behind her, taking in the drop that would surely kill her. She clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood and stared defiantly back at the rival guildmaster whose eyes went wide.

She couldn't quite explain it, but even though her next decision almost guaranteed death, she couldn't shake the feeling that everything would turn out alright. Her mind made up, Lucy closed her eyes and jumped backwards.

.

.

.

And landed into an open pair of arms.

"Y-you knew that I was behind you right?"

Lucy opened her eyes to see a familiar redhead staring down at her incredulously. Seeing those mismatched eyes she could no longer hold back her tears as they fell freely down her cheeks, no longer restricted by the blonde.

"I-I'm so sorry," she muttered out before burying herself into his chest. "Everything that's happened was because of me."

Ryu sombered slightly as the blonde cried into his chest and held her closer. He turned his gaze to Jose, hardening into a glare that caused the man to subconsciously take a step back as the crushing weight began to make its return.

The arrancar tightened his grip on his crying friend before letting out a sigh and reeled in the power that he had nearly let loose for the second time.

"Let's go home," was all he said before flying away at a decent but slower pace than he was capable of. While sonido would without a doubt get the pair back to the guild in record time, Ryu figured Lucy would prefer it if he was the only one to witness her as she allowed the dam that was her emotions break.

Jose sat at the head of the meeting table located in their headquarters, an ice pack nestled between his still burning loins. Seated before him were three of the elemental four and Gajeel. Aria was currently in their medical wing and in critical condition due to the beating he had received from that damned fairy.

"So what do we do now?" Gajeel asked with his arms crossed. "They have the target. But with Aria out of commission, we can't power the Jupiter cannon or get the base mobile."

"I'll substitute his position until he recovers," Jose calmly stated as he re-adjusted himself. "Regardless of how we do it, we must recover Lucy Heartfilia. Not only is the client expecting her return soon, but the blow we suffered to our reputation demands we strike back."

"But how do you plan on doing that?"

The Phantoms, sans Jose, all leapt to their feet at the unknown voice that reached their ears.

"You've managed to disable an old man, but at the cost of one of your greatest weapons."

Gajeel tried to pinpoint the voice's location, but even with his enhanced hearing he couldn't pin it down as it seemed to emanate from all around them.

"Not only that," the voice focused as a figure stepped out from the shadows. It was easy to discern them as male from their voice, but all of their features were covered up by a heavy black cloak with white buckles along the front and a blank white mask. "But the moment Sato unleashed a glimpse of his power, all of your guild members were rendered immobile."

The masked man turned his gaze towards Gajeel, "Not even your ace could hold a candle to his lovers power while she was clearly holding back."

"And how is it that you know of the events that transpired just an hour ago," Jose questioned as the man walked around the room, not concerned in the slightest as the Phantoms prepared to attack at a moments notice.

"Oh, the group that I represent has it's ways to remaining hidden. At least until we desire to not be." The stranger halted in his pacing as a group of shades suddenly wrapped around his body.

Jose having lost his patience with the stranger spoke in an irritated tone. "I don't take kindly to intruders, and your rambling annoys me. Speak quickly before my patience runs its course and my shades strangle the life out of you."

The masked man doesn't so much as twitch at the shades tightening around his body. "If you reach into the pocket on the right side of my cloak, you'll find two black crystals. One of which is for your injured pawn, while the other is for yourself."

Jose commanded one of his shades to search said pocked and discovered that the stranger was speaking the truth. Directing the shade over ho himself Jose examined them. They were quite small, able to fit both in the mages hand quite easily. "And pray tell, what do these crystals do?"

Even though they couldn't see it, one of the corners of the man's lips curved upward into a grin.

"Turn the tide of the upcoming battle towards your favor."

-End-