Fairy Tail S

by ZenkaiPower

For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ

8. Chapter 7

Chapter VII: Reclaimer

At the Kingdom of Fiore's Akane Beach Resort…

The Flame God Slayer Zancrow teleported onto the sandy shores before the park's entrance as soon as the sun had set. For a brief moment he closed his eyes and wished he were there simply to enjoy the place with Merudy, and he then hoped none of her friends would try to interfere; but he quickly suppressed his kinder emotions, knowing his master was somewhere watching, before striding towards the stairs leading to the massive hotel's entrance. He knew that he would have to be merciless tonight, no matter who he ended up facing.

Preparing himself for the intense power he was about to give himself, Zancrow focused his mind and magical power before accessing the curse powers of his master; and he soon felt the familiar dark power taking hold of him, causing a dark mist to rise from random sections of his body like steam. But instead of feeling the basic power-up these curses gave him, Zancrow felt his whole body begin to strengthen by tenfold, at the very least; and his skin began to turn black as the overwhelming surge of dark power began to consume him. He could feel his mind emptying, like he was quickly being shoved off a cliff into deep void; and at the bottom, he could sense nothing but wild mania.

For an instant, he began to think had failed as he felt the last few strands of his consciousness fighting what felt to be a second, less stable form of consciousness from taking over; but his instincts took over, inspired by an image of the woman he loved, and he slammed a foot on the ground while bringing his fists to his sides with a yell. Black fire radiated from his body as he used his god slaying powers purge the divine darkness from within himself.

As soon as he felt he was in total control of his body, Zancrow once again attempted to access the powers of his master; but this time he tried to blend his power with Edo's, hoping the purging facet of his magic would temper the overriding impulses of whatever was trying to obtain control over him.

It worked; and the next moment, Zancrow ceased emanating fire or darkness; and he felt all facets of his strength increase staggeringly one more time, having reached a new height of power earned from maintaining total control of his ki, curse, and magic powers all at once. Testing his ability, he lifted his left hand before himself and manifested the powers in his hand; and he grinned triumphantly upon seeing a black flame that had a black mist rising off it like smoke. Touching the tip of the flame with his right index finger, he could feel his energy had actually solidified the flame; and where he touched was very sharp. He believed the only reason his finger was not cut was because it was his power; but the thought did not matter to him, now, he was more concerned with completing his master's orders.

Finally resuming his walk towards the hotel's entrance, he looked around to locate the sources of light that shone down on the front area of the resort's lot; and he waved his right hand lazily before fire engulfed the necessary lights and immolated them with a 'pop', causing the area he was standing in to become pitch black.

So this is it… He thought to himself as he came up with a way to easily describe his power, The power of a Dark-God and a Flame God Slayer… a Dark Flame God Slayer…

Turning his back to the front face of the building, Zancrow slowly moved his right arm from left to right while aiming his palm at the ground a few feet ahead of him; and the power he activated turned the ground into a black rift, looking as if he were painting the ground with a massive invisible brush.

Looking inside the large rift, Zancrow watched as his master's newest creations began to climb out; and he was glad for his heightened senses, otherwise he would barely have seen them due to their bodies being composed of nothing but darkness incarnate.

When stationary, the tops of these creatures' amorphous bodies reached around five and a half feet tall; but it was hard for Zancrow to exactly tell, since the Enenrae all looked like imps made of billowing jet-black fire or smoke. The only way he could easily track their movement was by their wedge-shaped eyes, which were the same dark blue color as his master's hair; and he had a faint sense of their mental presence, feeling like their minds were somehow linked to his.

Taking a headcount, Zancrow numbered twenty of them before testing his influence over them. Looking to two of the Enenra on the right end of the group, he ordered them to move towards one of the broken lights alone; and he grinned when he saw the specified pair reach the nearest light lacrima in a few leaps and looking back to him patiently after doing so.

"You two." He pointed to another pair for one final test, "Try to kill each other."

The Dark Flame God Slayer grinned amusedly when the two obediently began to try clawing at each other, with one eventually wrapping their claws around what he guessed was the other's neck before he interrupted them.

"Alright, that's enough." He told them, and they stopped before he gave his next command, "Now follow me."

Turning back to the entrance of the hotel, Zancrow walked indoors through the extended entryway; and he only stopped when he was greeted by the resort's concierge, who he briefly ignored to admire the sight of the hotel's interior until he decided he had spent enough time enjoying himself.

"Before you give me the sales pitch," He told a young brunette woman in a uniform that was about to greet him, "I need to know something: can you see anything standing behind me?"

Confused by the awkwardly rude greeting and bizarre question, she looked at the apparently empty hallway behind him for a second before answering him.

"No, sir…" She tried her best to not sound as confused as she was, but she was also masking her fear; as the eyes of the yellow haired man had an intimidating wildness to them, "I don't see anything…"

"Really?" Zancrow questioned her one more time with a dark grin, and she nodded timidly before he added a remark, "That's a shame… this is going to be more confusing than terrifying for you, I guess."

The concierge began to question what he meant, but he interrupted her by giving a command to the creatures behind him.

"One of you, hold her." He said with his back to her, and he could hear her screaming as one of the Enenra leapt past him and onto her; but he ignored her confused pleading for help as he gave out more orders.

"Once we're done with her, four of you will need to turn over everywhere that looks important and stealing anything that could be valuable. I need four of you to start hunting the people staying in their rooms, and I need five of you to go after anyone on the attractions inside while two more hunt down anyone that could be in the spas or baths. Two of you will remain at my side and protect me from any surprises while two more of you take the casino downstairs; and the last of you will remain here, making sure no one interferes.

"Now," He finalized his commands as he turned back to look down on the poor girl that was pinned underneath one of his underlings, "Except for the first four of you I gave orders to, go do my bidding, and spare only a handful of people as you go."

He grinned evilly before ordering the creature atop the blonde to release her; and she quickly tried to get up and run, though the dark wizard was much quicker.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He tutted at her as he grabbed her by the throat with his right hand, and he heated his hand immensely as he spoke, "Where do you think you're going? Don't you know it's rude to walk away without saying goodbye?"

The young woman began to yell in pain as he created a hand-shaped burn around her neck.

"Well, since it seems like you're incapable of friendly conversation," He taunted her, "Perhaps I should let you go and find someone I can talk to. Still, I do have a message I'd like for you to spread.

"I'm going to ask this once and only once," He said as he eased his grip and slowly cooled his hand, "Can I trust you to properly convey my message to anyone you can?"

The girl weakly nodded as she whimpered hurtfully.

"Good." Zancrow told his hostage, "Now here's what you must say: Akane Resort now belongs to Edo's Enenrae; and anyone that hasn't escaped our little takeover, will either be killed or consumed by our power.

"Go." He ordered her before tossing her towards the entrance and adding with a yell.

"And remember this well, because this isn't a bluff: tell everyone you can, or you'll meet the same fate as the rest of the people here."

Back on Earth, at Grandpa Gohan's House…

Son Goten and Natsu Dragneel were sitting in the grass a few yards before small blue house while chatting with a very large campfire roaring between them; and atop the pyre was a massive fish, at least twenty-five feet long, which was suspended with an equally large, makeshift rotisserie that was manned by the fire mage.

They had talked about aimlessly while the fish cooked. Goten answered more of Natsu's questions about Earth and about the Z Fighters, at topic the Salamander was frequently interested in; and Natsu would trade that information with any story about Fairy Tail that he knew Goten did not. There was one point where one of them mentioned the Keepers, but the other discouraged him; and they had talked about their friends from Earthland instead, until Natsu noticed the fish was nearly finished roasting.

"I think it's ready," He declared with suppressed eagerness, remembering how good it looked when he pulled it out the nearby river as he reached for one end of the spit; and he lifted the fish off the fire with both hands while Goten quickly went into the blue hut and grabbed some plates.

When he came back outside, he saw Natsu was eating the campfire like one long string of spaghetti while still holding up their dinner; and he smirked amusedly as he watched the Salamander completely extinguish the fire by consuming it.

"Pretty good," Natsu remarked before placing the fish back on the rotisserie and adding, "The fish should be even better… you wanna slice it up first?"

"You're the one that pulled it out the river," The demi-Saiyan reminded him, "You should have that honor."

"Fine by me." Natsu remarked eagerly while licking his lips, and he quickly got to work.

After a minute or so, the two were once again sat cross-legged in the grass while chowing down with full plates in their laps.

"Hey, Goten," The wizard had a thought, speaking between bites and swallows as he did, "How 'bout we see who can eat more of this fish before it's gone?"

"Okay," His friend agreed with some excitement, gulping down another chunk of fish before adding, "We should count by plates."

"Good idea," Natsu commented before wondering, "Are we starting right now?"

Goten nodded, and without another word, the pair rapidly accelerated their pace; and after ten or so minutes, only a skeleton of a fish remained resting on the spit.

"Mmm…" Goten almost purred in satisfaction as he finished his final plate, nearly having forgotten about their little challenge for a few seconds until Natsu spoke up.

"Man…" He whined in defeat while rubbing his bulging gut, "Maybe if I didn't eat that fire right before…"

Goten chuckled faintly before Natsu consoled himself.

"Well, at least Happy wasn't here to see me lose like that." He thought aloud, "Or any of the times I've lost here…"

Goten gave the pink haired wizard a sympathetic look as he continued to listen.

"Your dad beat me, you beat me every time we spar; and even Trunks beat me in that one fight we had last week. To be honest, I was kinda hoping I could win this; but I guess all that stuff Bulma and Gohan said about Saiyans is true. I knew you could eat a lot; but you did it so fast… I mean, you even stopped at one point so I could catch up!"

Goten gave him a weak smirk before replying.

"Yeah, Bulma and my brother weren't kidding about our appetites; but I doubt I'd beat you in a fire-eating contest."

Natsu smiled for a second after realizing his friend was trying to comfort him; and he did his best to clarify what he meant.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm not all hung up about the losing streak; and I really don't feel bad about losing to your dad. From the moment I got here, I've been learning so much… about Earth, about myself, about Saiyans, or about life in general… But I think the most important thing I've learned from all this time is how to lose."

Goten gave him a slightly puzzled look, so he continued his explanation.

"When my Igneel died fighting Acnologia, I abandoned nearly all of my friends so I could train. At the time, I thought I was out getting stronger for everyone at Fairy Tail's sake; but after I finally came back, I realized that a big part of why I left was actually because I was afraid to lose anyone else. I didn't bother to think about Lucy; and she lost Aquarius just before I lost Igneel. She could have easily went and trained with me and Happy, and she needed my help to grieve; but I didn't do any of that, I was too caught up in what I lost. I needed to deal with that fear of losing; and being here, losing constantly, it's helped. Even made me smarter, too; if you can believe it…"

"Oh, I do." Goten agreed, "I'm the one that's been training with you every other day of the week, after all. You've always had this kind of cleverness when it came to fighting; but I think, overall, you are getting smarter like you said."

"Thanks, man." Natsu accepted the compliment before remarking, "Now if only I could somehow use my Dragon Instinct form without fighting your dad, that would be amazing…"

"So that's what you're calling it?" The demi-Saiyan asked rhetorically before adding, "I like it."

"Yeah?" Natsu shrugged the second compliment aside with is own skepticism, "I mean, it is still Dragon Force; but it didn't seem right to call it that since it's on a totally different level."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I still haven't been able to use Ultra Instinct; and I've been trying for two months now." Goten reminded his friend in consolation.

"It helps." The wizard admitted agreeably, and the pair sat quietly for a second to savor the memory of their meal once more before Natsu sighed pleasantly and admitted something that slightly surprised Goten.

"I wish Lucy was here." He said quietly, and more to himself, "It woulda been nice, living out here with just her…"

"I didn't know you thought about that kinda stuff, Natsu." Goten commented, trying his best to not sound like he was teasing his friend.

"I usually don't." The fire mage conceded before revealing, "But sometimes, when Lucy was around, I would; and there are some pervy people at the guild, it's really hard to not think about that kinda stuff when they're around.

"But here, you all don't see your friends nearly every day like the people in Fairy Tail do; and when you guys talk about relationships and stuff, it's way different from how folks at Fairy Tail do."

Goten shrugged in agreement, knowing the exact people Natsu was probably referring to; and he remained quiet since he could tell the wizard had more to say.

"And back home, it was kinda hard to imagine living something close to a normal life, you know? But then I see the way Gohan and Videl live together, or your mom and dad, or Trunks and Lisanna; it's pretty easy to imagine what living the good life would be like after being around you guys."

Goten could hear the bittersweet tone in his friend's voice, and he was beginning to wonder why Natsu was bringing all of this up; after all, he wasn't usually this openly talkative.

"I can picture it now, which is good; but it hurts a little, too. Me, Lucy, and Happy might have the chance to run away from all the problems of Earthland; but what would that say about us, if we abandoned our friends? I'm sure you guys will beat Edo and the Keepers, but I have to fight my brother if I want everyone to be safe; and according to Edo, I'll die even if I manage to beat him… I know Lucy already loves me like I love her; but I can't let her get anymore invested, I can't give her hope of something better... not now."

Goten suddenly realized something as he listened to his friend's confession: in a few ways, both he and Natsu, by forces beyond their control, were being forced to distance themselves from the people they wanted to be with. But Goten's optimism refused to let him believe in his friend's grim fate.

"I know how you feel, Natsu," He replied sincerely, "But I don't think you should trust everything Edo said about you. Even when he's not lying, he mixes the truth up by playing word games, or by leaving things out. He did that when he was talking to me about Wendy…"

Now it was Natsu's turn to be surprised, since he knew Goten had been more than reluctant to talk about what happened on his birthday with anyone; and he patiently waited for the demi-Saiyan to keep speaking.

"If I knew what he actually meant when he said I could lose her, I wouldn't have gone over there. The thought of her being with someone else is painful enough; but I couldn't handle seeing her with Romeo in person, just as Edo hoped I wouldn't…"

Natsu was once again beginning to feel sorry for the young Saiyan; and in trying to put himself in his friend's place, he found he could never imagine that Lucy would fall for someone else, given that she seemed to be attracted to him since the day they met. The only thing the dragon slayer could imagine was how angry Goten must have been when he first found out about Wendy and Romeo.

"Iga tried to comfort me, but you heard all those things Edo said about him…" Goten confessed as he referenced Edo's party-crashing speech, "I did what Edo wanted: I got angry and tried to hurt Iga; and I didn't care how bad…I was so focused on what I could be losing that I wasn't thinking about my chances of winning; it the chances might be slim that Wendy will end up with me, but I'm going to believe in 'em anyway.

"And you should believe in yourself." Goten concluded with a smile, "With people like Wendy and Lucy, and everyone else we know on Earth and Earthland working together; there's no way we won't find a way to save you."

The two exchanged smiles before Goten suddenly sensed a familiar energy approaching from the west.

"Huh, Trunks is coming over…" He thought aloud, getting a little concerned when noticed the speed of their guest's approach, "I wonder what's he's in such a hurry."

Thinking the reason could have something to do with the Keepers, he quickly got up and hurried to his own house; and he looked through the place until he found the Nyoibo before taking it and heading back outdoors, leaving his mother and father slightly confused in the process.

By the time he was back outside and had the Nyoibo tied around his torso, Goten could see Trunks on the horizon; and he quickly moved to stand by Natsu, who met him halfway and waited with him in front of the little blue house until Trunks was in earshot.

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten called out with wave hello, believing the possibility of a threat even more when he noticed Trunks had the Brave Sword on his back, "What's up? Is it the Keepers?"

"Not exactly!" Trunks called back; so the confused duo waited until he landed before asking for an explanation.

"So why the rush to get over here?" Natsu asked before Goten could.

"I got a note from Master Iga," The older demi-Saiyan announced as he walked closer to his friends, "He said he and Vesta should have gathered six of the Dragon Balls by sometime tomorrow; but he's going to need our help getting the last one. According to Vesta, the Keeper Cosmos has it."

"Really?" Natsu questioned in surprised disappointment, but Goten was more interested in another piece of information his friend had casually revealed.

"Wait, did you say 'Vesta'?" He stepped slightly closer to his friend in order to show how curious he was, "Iga's dead wife?"

"You know about her?" Trunks replied with some surprise, and Goten nodded and answered while a confused Salamander listened to them.

"He told me about her after I fought him, right before ending my birthday party." He revealed with a hint of guilt in his tone, "She was killed by Edo; and the pain of that memory is why prefers to be called by his nickname."

"Well, he's getting over that, apparently." Trunks pointed out as he revealed another small detail about his master's note, "He signed it as 'Igneel'… But hang on, you fought my Master?"

"Yeah, I did." Goten scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he apologized, "I tried to hurt him really bad; and I wasn't thinking about what he meant to you back then. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry I avoided telling you what happened every time you asked about it."

"Oh, you don't need to apologize, Goten." Trunks reassured his best friend, moving closer and patting a hand on one of his shoulders, "I'm sure whatever Edo showed you made you pretty mad that night; and it finally answers my question about why Edo even bothered to give a speech about Iga that night. I'm really asking if you fought because I'd love to know if you learned of a way to beat him; Master told me that that was the main goal of my training under him, with the promise of a serious power up as a reward, too."

"Really?" Goten said, feeling surprised once again for a moment before continuing the conversation, "Well, to be honest, it wasn't much of a fight; and I could tell that he was holding back… That's another reason why I feel bad for what I did that night. But you said 'Vesta', right? How's she alive?"

"Oh, right." Trunks responded as he remembered his friend's question, "So, it turns out that she became the Keeper of Light at some point after she died; and after she fought Master Iga, she switched sides."

"Huh." Goten replied, feeling less surprised than he thought he should; he was more focused on a new thought he was having: If Iga's wife died hundreds of years ago, and somehow still came back to him; there's no way I don't have a chance with Wendy…

Trunks saw a weird grin forming on his best friend's face; and Natsu smirked knowingly upon seeing the face of pure inspiration, eagerly awaiting to hear whatever thought was running through the demi-Saiyan's mind.

"Um… Goten?" Trunks said with some hesitation, knowing the current expression on his friend's face usually led to them getting in trouble, "Why're you looking at me like that?"

"You said we only got a day to finish training, right?" Goten repeated the information in question form.

"Yeah, why?"

Before Trunks could get a response from him, Goten turned to hurry back to his house; but his grin widened when he saw the person he was looking for had come out to investigate the commotion.

"Dad," Goten asked his father as he walked halfway towards the Saiyan, "Has anyone ever tested the two-person rule with the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"

"I don't think so," Goku replied while confusedly scratching the back of his head, "I've never seen Dende let more than two people in at once."

"You didn't because you were dead when it happened." Trunks surprised the Saiyan as he chimed in, "We did it as Gotenks, remember? We were fighting Majin Buu, Piccolo was helping?"

"Oh, yeah!" Goten recalled after jogging his memory for a second, "That means we can have more than two people in there…"

"You're thinking we should train there?" Trunks guessed, adding his sole concern with the thought, "But, haven't we spent too much time there? We've definitely got less than a day left…"

"It doesn't matter if the exit closes on us or not." Goten assured him, though he only managed to confuse him, "We just need to be able to get in."

"Hey, guys?" Natsu reminded the pair of Saiyans he was still standing there, "What's a hyperba-sumthin' changer?"

"Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Trunks repeated the phrase slowly for him before Goten also replied.

"It's a place where time moves way faster than in real life." He explained with his grin still present, "One day in the real world is the same as a year inside the Chamber."

Turning back to his father, who was still standing behind the trio while wondering if he should say anything; Goten quickly gave him a request, "Hey, Dad; can you take us to Dende's Lookout?"

"I guess…" Goku said slowly, but Goten ignored his father's confusion as he made everyone form a human chain; and in the next instant, the group was standing before Dende and Mr. Popo just outside the pair's home.

"Hey, guys." The young Namekian greeted them while Popo bowed to them respectfully; and the group of new arrivals noticed Dende seemed more nervous than surprised by their sudden appearance, "You're here to train… right?"

"That's right." Goten spoke first, but Trunks was still nervous about his friend's scheme; and seeing Dende nervous was not helping him.

"You heard what we were talking about, right?" The older demi-Saiyan asked, and the Namekian nodded before Trunks added, "Are you sure we can bring more than two people into the Time Chamber?"

"I think so," The Guardian of Earth answered slowly, scratching his forehead nervously as he did, "But no one's ever explained to me why the Time Chamber had the two-person limit… the door might not open to let three people out; but for all I know, it could one of the rules the Keepers created a long time ago. I mean, we did break the rule with letting Majin Buu in, and no one scolded me for that; but that could be because it was such an unusual situation… What do you think, Mr. Popo?"

"Well, Kami always followed the instructions of his predecessor very strictly," the genie responded thoughtfully, "So I never knew we could actually break the rule until our ordeal with Majin Buu; and it is as you said, sir, we were never reprimanded for our actions on that day. And no one used the door to get out then, either; so there's no way to know if it would have let any of them out or not."

"I hope it is a rule the Keepers made up," Natsu chimed in, having finally finished taking in their surroundings just in time to hear talk about their enemies, "Because I'd really love to break it if it is!"

"We can ask Vesta if it is later. And if anyone is going to get in trouble for this; we'll make sure it's us." Goten said before politely asking Dende if he could lead them to their destination; and as soon as he agreed, Goku finally spoke up after having stayed awkwardly silent behind the two demi-Saiyans the whole time.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," He declared humorously, "Chi Chi is probably wondering where I went."

"Oh," Dende replied with some surprise, "You're not going to stay and train with them, Goku? You know that this kind of opportunity to train doesn't come up frequently."

"I was tempted to." Goku admitted, "But I don't really need to rush my training that bad; and no offense, but Chi Chi's cooking is way better than the food that's in there."

Dende smiled amusedly at the Saiyan's response, and he assured Goku he took no offense before the Saiyan said goodbye to everyone and disappeared.

"Alright," Dende said as soon as Goku was gone, "Lead the way, Mr. Popo."

The group soon entered the building atop the Lookout, with Natsu properly introducing himself to the two while they walked; and Popo gave him a tour guide's speech about the Lookout for the rest of the way to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. By the end of Popo's speech, Natsu only had one question.

"So, I get that we can do a lot of training in this Hyperbole Time Camper," He summarized his understanding of the mystical room; and Dende quietly flinched from his terrible butchering of the phrase's pronunciation.

"Hyperbolic Time Chamber." Goten and Trunks said simultaneously with a hint of impatience and embarrassment.

"Yeah, sure; whatever," Natsu playfully dismissed their correction before getting back to his question, looking at the large wooden door of the Chamber, "What I'm trying to say is: what kind of training are we going to do when we're in there?"

"Well, it's good you're immune to heat," Trunks volunteered some information, "And that you've fought Gray so much… The environment in there is not normal in any way; sometimes, it's like the room itself tries to find ways to put your body through stress. The further in you go, the more dangerous it can get."

"Sounds fun." Natsu remarked with poorly hidden sarcasm, "And we plan to spend a year in a place like that?"

"We sure do." Goten replied confidently before informing him, "And getting used to being in the room is the easy part; you'll be over that in a day, at the worst.

"But after we help you get your bearings; you, me, and Trunks are going to be fighting each other constantly; and you better be ready, Natsu, because Trunks and I can't afford to hold back. The only thing we can promise is that Trunks and I will do our best to make sure you don't die. And the only time we plan to take any kind of break is to eat and sleep; or if someone gets knocked out, then we put them in a bed and go back to it."

Natsu looked even less comforted by his words, so he added another, more optimistic piece of info.

"But, just surviving the training will make you a lot stronger; you might even get closer to that Dragon Instinct form from here. And Trunks…"

Turning to face his best friend, he revealed his plans for him and himself while even becoming visibly excited.

"I want us to reach the next level of Super Saiyan, so we're going to steal a trick that Gohan and my Dad used a long time ago: While we're in there, we're going to try to live as Blue Super Saiyans for the whole year."

Trunks was quietly surprised by the thought; but Dende gasped at the idea, with Mr. Popo looking faintly bothered by the concept as well.

"Goten," Dende tried getting him to see reason, "Don't you know how much stamina that form drains?! For a mortal to try to live even one day with the powers of a god is risky! You could die if you're not careful!"

"We'll be careful." Trunks promised Dende, though he was staring intently at Goten as he spoke; and the black-haired demi-Saiyan grinned eagerly, glad that someone was finally sharing his optimism. Reading the new vibe between the two Saiyans, Natsu found the excitement infectious; and he grinned the widest grin he had ever formed before speaking up.

"Well, what are we waiting for, guys? Let's get in there!" He cheered happily, "Oh, I can't wait… By this time tomorrow, we'll be total badasses!"

Dende opened the door for the trio, and the pair entered without a word before Dende closed the door behind them; at which point he saw the Lookout's caretaker was sweating nervously.

"What's wrong, Mr. Popo? I know there's only two beds in there, but I'm sure they'll figure it out." He questioned the genie curiously, who wiped the sweat off his forehead before replying.

"I'm not worried about the furniture, Dende, I'm worried about the entire Chamber! I know we've reinforced it since Vegeta kept destroying it; but I still think those three are going to break that room!"

Back at Mt. Paozu…

Goku and Chi Chi were trying to eat a relatively romantic dinner alone, sitting in seats next to each other, for a change, as they eat; and they were having a rather personal conversation when their oldest son suddenly appeared standing just behind them.

"Gohan!" Chi Chi instantly scolded her son, "You cannot just pop into people's houses like that, especially since you live next door! Why do you even need to?!"

"Sorry, Mom!" Gohan quickly defended himself, "Trunks, Natsu, and Goten disappeared; and I'm trying to find out why!"

"Disappeared?" his mother replied with some concern, "What do you mean? Where did they go?"

"They're in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber at Kami's Lookout." Goku revealed, slightly nervous his wife would get angry; but lucky for him, his son sighed dejectedly and spoke before anyone else could.

"Those three are so impulsive… They really could have used my help training in there.

"Wait, what am I saying?" He quickly questioned himself, "Can't you only put two people in the room at once?"

"That's the rule," Goku confirmed before adding with some confusion, "But they wanted to break the rule anyway, or something like that. I don't know if anyone actually cares if they break the rules though, so I let them go in…"

"And you didn't go with them?!" Chi Chi nearly yelled accusingly at her husband, though she was slightly disarmed by his response.

"Well, I didn't want to leave you by yourself without saying anything; that would have been rude."

His wife softened her glare at him as he spoke, and he looked back to his son before continuing.

"They also mentioned something about having one day to train; so I figured this would be the perfect time to for us to get one really good training session in!"

"Really?" Gohan asked, intrigued; and his father nodded before explaining.

"Really! I've been wanting to test out your new power ever since you came back; but you've been so busy lately, I never got a good chance to ask. You and I should fight all out, either now or early in the morning."

"You're not fighting anywhere near here!" Chi Chi reminded them with some force; and her husband quickly reassured her in response.

"Don't worry, Chi, we won't. We'll be fighting on the edge of space, like I did with Lord Beerus."

Chi Chi was not sure whether she should be reassured or frightened by what her husband was saying.

"And we both have Instant Transmission," He added after seeing the increasingly-nervous expression on his wife's face, "So no matter who wins or what shape they're in, they'll be able to catch the loser before he falls and take him to Korin's Tower to get healed."

"It's a solid plan." Gohan agreed aloud, mainly just to help his father in reassuring his mother before admitting, "And to be honest, I was a little jealous of Natsu and Goten when they got to fight you two months ago."

"Whatever you do," Chi Chi finally replied, sounding a little defeated as she did, "Just try to be careful, okay?"

"We will, Mom." Gohan promised before turning to his father, "If we only have one day before we have to fight the Keepers, we should do this sooner rather than later. You ready, Dad?"

"You bet I am," Goku almost cheered excitedly as he jumped out his seat, "Let's get going!"

Gohan nodded eagerly, though with less enthusiasm than his father; he knew how difficult this upcoming battle was going to be, and he was more focused on staying optimistic about his slim chances of success as he followed his father out the front door after saying goodbye to his mother.

Back on Earthland, in the Fairy Tail guild hall…

Erza Scarlet was sitting by the middle of the bar, between a few of her teammates, as she chatted with them while they waited for the dinner. Despite a few protests from her recruits, her first order for the new team meant that everyone on it had to wake up around four in the morning; and since she knew she was essentially ruining all their nights by forcing them to have to sleep so soon, she decided she could at least treat them to a nice dinner before they went off to bed.

Wendy Marvell was sitting to Erza's left, with Carla, Happy, and Romeo Conbolt seated to the left of her; and Gajeel Redfox was sitting to Erza's right, with Pantherlily and Levy McGarden seated to his right. The group were chatting as they waited for their meals; and the solid-script mage was just starting to voice her one complaint about the selection of the two teams their guild master had created.

"I wish I was going to visit Sabertooth with you guys," She told the group sadly, though she began to sound happier the more she spoke, "But Mira's right about needing my help with her project; so it's really nice of you to be buying everyone dinner, Erza. It's been awhile since we've sat and ate together at the guild."

"Same." Romeo agreed, and he gestured to Wendy and Carla as he added, "We've been spending so much time in Crocus lately, it is pretty cool that we're finally relaxing here for a change."

"And I'm sure Erza's glad she came up with the idea," the Iron Dragon Slayer predicted impatiently, "Can we quit with all the niceness before it gets sappy? I don't wanna lose my appetite right before I eat…"

Romeo, Wendy, Happy, and Erza chuckled at his remark while Levy forced Pantherlily to scold him for his rudeness, though the dragon slayer easily shrugged off Levy and the Exceed's comments to him; and Carla spoke next by changing the subject.

"Regardless of how we feel about our current assignments, or our dining routines, we should be discussing how we'll fight Edo or one of his allies; because I'm sure we're only going to find them when they want to be found."

"Carla makes a good point, and that's even more of a reason to appreciate the 'sappy' moments, Gajeel." The black-fur feline finished scolding his partner, "We know that any fight with Edo's dark wizards will be very dangerous; and if we fought Edo himself there's a strong chance that some, if not most of us, could be seriously hurt or worse."

"Such a downer…" Happy sighed sadly; and the group was awkwardly silent for a moment as they processed the truth of the feline's words, until Wendy spoke up.

"Come on, you guys; we shouldn't be talking like that right now; we should be excited." The Sky Maiden told them well-concealed impatience, surprising everyone except Romeo and Carla with her over-confidence, "It's been so long since we've had a real challenge; we should be happy that we're about to take the fight to Edo! Besides, it would make for great training before we beat Zeref and Acnologia!"

Almost everyone that looked at Wendy while she spoke were able to quickly figure out by her mannerisms that she was imitating Natsu; but Erza, who simply smiled to herself as she continued to watch the door to the kitchen, did not need to see the sky mage's face to recognize Natsu's attitude in her tone. And the Knight slightly widened her smile when she finally saw the kitchen door open to reveal first Mirajane and then Kinana, with both women carrying the group's dinners to the bar just as Wendy finished cheering up her guildmates.

"Spoken like a true warrior." Erza remarked while watching Mirajane serve her and Gajeel.

"So cool… I could have sworn that I heard Natsu just now." Happy told the Sky Dragon Slayer as Kinana placed a few fish before him; and Wendy blushed from the two's compliments, feeling a mix of pride and embarrassment at being compared to one of her idols.

The team began to eat with their spirits raised, and they discussed much happier topics as they ate; but when a majority of the group had halfway finished their meals, a new commotion broke out as Mest Gryder suddenly appeared at the entrance to the guild.

"Erza!" He shouted in alarm as soon as he appeared, and he hurried over the bar area while addressing the Knight, "I know this is sooner than Master Makarov planned, but please tell me you've started to gather your team!"

"You're looking at it, pal." Gajeel informed him flatly; but Wendy and a few others were more concerned with their guildmate's behavior, so the Sky Mage was the next to speak.

"What's wrong, Mest?" She asked for the group.

"There's been an attack at Akane Beach, and Edo's the one that ordered it," He answered quickly, causing most of the attentive group to nearly leap out their seats in surprise at the name, "We don't know why, but his people have taken over the resort; and they've killed most of the people that were staying there!"

"Those bastards…" Romeo grumbled angrily, about to say more until Wendy put a hand on one of his arms to successfully calm him; and Mest continued to detail the current emergency before making his request for aid.

"I gave Crime Sorciere a lacrima with some of my magic inside it, so they should be recruiting help from Sabertooth as we speak. I can say more when we get to the rendezvous point we mapped out; but I need anyone that wants to help, and I need them now."

Before anyone sitting at the bar could volunteer, Erza stood up before speaking while looking at her team.

"I hope you all have eaten enough, because our work will begin much sooner than we thought; Team Slayer-Hunters, I'm sure you know what your new orders are."

Happy grinned upon hearing Erza officially adopt the team's moniker he suggested to the group earlier, and he joined the rest of his teammates in forming a human chain.

"It might take us a bit longer to reach our destination since there's so many of us, it's limiting the range of my magic." Mest informed them as the team moved into position and held hands, "Don't worry, though, it won't seriously slow us down. Is everyone ready?"

Just before everyone replied to him, Levy latched onto Gajeel's free arm; and the Iron Dragon Slayer immediately began to protest her decision.

"What're you doing, short-stuff?" He said teasingly as he began to remind her, "You're not a part-"

"It doesn't matter if I'm on your stinking team. He said 'anyone'!" the script mage interrupted while tightening her grip on his arm. In response, Gajeel looked to Mest and Erza, hoping either one of them would help him; but the two simply shrugged neutrally.

"I did say 'anyone'." Mest conceded, and Levy grinned while Gajeel grumbled to himself before the teleport mage asked if everyone was ready one final time. The entire group nodded before vanishing the next second, leaving Mirajane to be the only one standing near the bar; and she vented some of her annoyance at the group's early and unexpected departure, focusing particularly on the manner of their exit.

"Sure, Levy, you can go ahead and help them; it's not like my team needs you or anything… Why does Erza always get the popular jobs?"

On a mountain peak overlooking Akane Resort…

Jellal Fernandes, Erik, Sawyer, and Macbeth of Crime Sorciere were standing next to Sting Eucliffe, Rogue Cheney, and Yukino Agria of Sabertooth as they all surveyed the northern side of the resort while they waited through a mostly awkward silence, until the Poison Dragon Slayer had heard enough of the younger men's skeptical thoughts.

"Not all of us want to be here, either; you know!" He informed them bitterly, "And it's kinda hard to listen to what's going on in there, when you two kids are here with all your whining!"

"We weren't saying anything!" Sting argued back, annoyed more than his friend was at being called a child, "If you don't want to hear our thoughts, than quit listening to them!"

"There's no on and off switch for my ears!" the poison wizard retorted, "If you can tell me that you know how to selectively turn off your hearing, then maybe I'll give it a try. But until then, you two need to get over whatever you got against us; because I'm not sure if you noticed, but, we're here to help you, numbskull!"

"And you should be more respectful when you're talking to the master of my guild." Rogue calmly defended his friend; and Sting grinned with pride until Erik argued with the shadow mage as well.

"Heh, I'm glad you told me," He chuckled humorously, "Otherwise, I'd have assumed he was the whiny brat that he sounds like."

"I have no problem warming up for this fight by kicking the crap out of you, old man!" Sting quipped angrily as he took a step towards the former dark wizard; until Yukino quickly moved between them.

"That's enough, Master; it doesn't matter what you're thinking." She faced Sting first, putting a reassuring hand on his chest and adding, "And it doesn't matter what he thinks, either.

"And you," She said next as she spun around and looked at Erik, "Do you think Master Sting or Rogue are going to feel better about working with you if you're going to be so rude to them?"

The Poison Dragon Slayer had nothing to say to that; and his will to argue eventually died when Jellal finally spoke up.

"She's got you there, Erik." He told his guildmate with a smirk, "Besides, you know that we can't judge people for every negative thought they have. There are some exceptions to the rule, but it's a person's words and deeds that they should be judged by; and that's it."

"Thank you." Sting replied with grateful relief, about to add more to say thanks when the group of Fairy Tail wizards finally appeared.

"It's about time." Sawyer commented with a mix of relief and annoyance, but everyone mainly ignored his comment as Jellal greeted Mest and his guildmates.

"I'm impressed," He said as he looked between Erza and the teleport mage, "You managed to gather this many people in such a short amount of time."

"We were lucky," Mest explained briefly, "Erza had gathered her team for a meal just before we heard about what was happening here."

"What is happening here?" Erza got straight to business before any of her less patient teammates could.

"I told them everything I know," Mest added to Jellal in order to save time, "But we were hoping you could learn more before we got here."

"I ran around the outside earlier," Sawyer informed the new arrivals, "But I couldn't see anything no matter where I looked."

"And I can't hear many unusual sounds coming from inside, but none of the attractions have stopped since we got here; and they are extremely noisy. I hate amusement parks…" Erik chipped in, whining about his sensitive hearing for a moment before getting back on topic.

"I think there's only one person in there now," He concluded, though his final statement only created more questions from everyone, "But there's something weird going on: if I focus my hearing as best I can, I think I can hear something moving; and it's a whole lotta of somethings, if I'm not imagining things."

"Something?" Happy repeated, sounding slightly nervous as he asked, "What do you mean by 'something'?"

"It means I don't know what to call them." The poison wizard replied with a hint of frustration, "Whatever they are, their movements don't sound like normal humans."

"Wait, if that's true," Mest suddenly pointed out, "Then, our main witness' story is more reliable than we thought. We thought Zancrow might have just been toying with her, or that he was hoping she'd give us false information."

"Hey, everyone…" Wendy suddenly called out from ahead of them, and the rest of the group realized they were so focused on the conversation that the Sky Maiden had already begun to work while she listened to their conversation.

Only the top half of her body was visible to the group, as Wendy had apparently begun to climb down towards the giant red letters built onto the face of the mountain that spelled out 'AKANE RESORT'; and she had seen something very bizarre before she could try jumping onto one of the letters, instead deciding to climb halfway back up and calling for her friends' attentions before doing anything else.

"Wendy, what are you doing over there?!" Carla demanded in concern, but Rogue answered for the Sky Maiden as he began to walk over to Wendy with his guildmates in tow.

"She's doing what we should have been doing while you guys got caught up." He pointed out while gesturing to himself and Sting, "We didn't have to be standing right next to you guys to hear the conversation."

"And what?" Sting added humorously, "You're worried about 'The Sky Maiden' falling off of something? Heh."

Carla transformed into her human form before responding, slightly surprising the group of Sabertooth wizards as she argued back, despite appearing slightly embarrassed; she even walked towards Sting and tried to stare him down after getting in front of him.

"Listen, you, I will worry about Wendy however much I want; is that clear?"

Wendy blushed faintly at her friend's stubborn loyalty before interrupting them.

"We don't have time to argue anymore, Carla! You guys need to be looking at that!"

Everyone looked towards the giant, white-frame Ferris wheel she was pointing at; but only a few of her allies responded the way she expected they would.

"What is that thing?" Sting wondered with interest, and Yukino replied first.

"I'm not sure," She said honestly, "It's really dark-colored, and I don't have good eyesight like you do…"

"I don't see anything." Gajeel declared from the back of the group, slightly confusing Wendy and Sting in the process; until Levy moved closer to Yukino before speaking up next.

"No, I think I do see something." The script mage stated, "There is something dark-colored moving on top that ride."

Carla, after returning to her feline form, flew with Happy to be at Wendy's side, and they both gasped at the sight while Romeo tried to get as close to them as he could without having to climb down.

"What?" He questioned them as soon as he walked as close as he could, "Do you see what they're seeing? Because I can't see anything."

"It's some kind of creature," Carla answered first, "But it doesn't look like any monster I've ever seen."

"It's looks like some kinda ghost..." Happy did his best to explain, starting to feel spooked with every observation he was making, "Like, I don't think it has a solid body; it looks like it's made out of some sorta black mist or something…"

"Sounds creepy." Erik remarked humorously before changing to a more serious tone, "Wish I could see it, but I can hear it moving; so, you guys are not hallucinating."

"It must have a solid body, though," Levy speculated, "It wouldn't be climbing on things if it didn't…"

"And I wouldn't hear its movement the way I do if it didn't have a solid figure, either." The poison mage added his deduction to hers, which prompted Jellal to speak up.

"Then before we do anything else, we need to figure out who among us can see this creature and who cannot. After that, we'll begin to try to figure why only some of us can see it; it's likely Zancrow would know something about that."

"We already know Wendy, Happy, Carla, Levy, and our friends from Sabertooth can see it," Erza helped Jellal with getting his tally, "But can anyone else?"

"I can." Pantherlily spoke up, but he was the only other person to do so; though Erza noted that Macbeth seemed to be asleep, so she decided to ask him later before Jellal spoke again.

"Okay," He said thoughtfully as he began to form a strategy, "We'll need to split up by pairing people who can see the creature with people that can't; however, since none of us in Crime Sorciere seem capable of spotting this monster, we will focus on taking down Zancrow. We only need two people that can see the creature to come with us."

"I'm going." Happy quickly volunteered, "If this guy had something to do with Natsu getting kidnapped, then I want a piece of him myself."

"I will join up with Pantherlily, Gajeel, and Levy, then." Erza announced next.

"And I'll come with you to provide another set of eyes." Rogue told the Knight, who nodded in consent to his offer.

"Then I'll go with you guys to take down Zancrow," Sting decided aloud before looking to Yukino, "You should go with Wendy or Erza's group; we've already got a bit of a crowd trying to go after this one guy."

"If we get split up, you can stick with me and Romeo if you want, Yukino." Wendy offered the celestial mage, who kindly accepted before Wendy turned to her female Exceed companion, "And I'm guessing that you're going wherever I go?"

"I sure am." Carla confirmed with a smile.

"Then that settles it." Jellal declared before turning to Mest, "You should probably head for the nearest Council headquarters and do what you have to; we all know the drill by now."

"Right." The teleport mage agreed before saying goodbye, "Good luck, everyone."

As soon as Mest had vanished, Jellal turned to Erza and spoke again.

"You and Wendy's group should get a closer look at the monster atop the Ferris wheel; maybe those that can see it will be able to discern more about it's nature. From Erik's description of the sounds inside the main building, we know that there will be more creatures like it inside there. We can handle any we may run into on our way to Zancrow, but the rest of you should be careful and take your time to learn about our enemy as you retake the place. And take one of these, they're communication lacrima."

"Understood." Erza replied as she caught a magic orb that he tossed to her, masking the fact that she was annoyed with Jellal for putting himself at the most risk once again; and Jellal tossed another lacrima to Yukino while Erza continued to speak calmly to her current partners.

"Let's get a move on, folks." She ordered them, "The resort's not going to save itself."

"But how are we getting down?" Levy questioned, not seeing the eager grins appearing on a few of her guildmates' faces as she asked, "We're on the top of a mountain!"

"That's easy." Gajeel said with a smirk before lifting her up without warning, and he jumped off the peak while running and yelling, "We'll get down like this!"

"Carla, take Yukino," Wendy ordered her partner next before she grabbed Romeo around the waist and began to hover while he tried to hide the fact that he was blushing from the sudden closeness with his crush. The four quickly followed Gajeel down before Pantherlily grabbed a hold of Erza while Rogue nodded farewell to Sting before turning into a shadow and following Gajeel his own way down.

"Try to be careful, Jellal." Erza told her friend caringly, and she fought off her sense of embarrassment when she saw his cheeks redden at her words.

"You should know that that's impossible by now." Jellal did his best to alleviate her concerns with a joke before adding, "Just stay focused on leading your team, and we'll all be just fine. We can't let Edo play any more of his mind games on us."

Erza nodded before Pantherlily lifted her into the air; and Jellal turned to his guildmates as the two flew away.

"Macbeth, time to wake up." He said before getting to his real orders for them, tossing the third of his four lacrima to Sting as he continued to speak.

"Happy, you're with me and Sawyer. Everyone else will stick with Sting once we're inside; you might not like it, but he is your extra set of eyes for tonight, so get used to him."

Erik did not have to look at Jellal to know who he was looking and speaking to, so he merely frowned in response before once again listening to his guild master as he gave orders.

"We're going to split up and search the important areas inside while our friends investigate the monster; we will probably run into its kin, but our focus should be on finding and capturing Zancrow. All our intel points to him being in direct control of them at the moment, so if we can subdue him, and if none of his allies interfere; we should be able to bring an end to this situation. As soon as we find Zancrow, we signal everyone; and we'll reinforce whoever engages him first."

"Hey, boss," Erik suddenly chimed in, "I don't think we're going to have to do much searching to find him."

To the entire group's surprise, they turned to look behind them where the poison mage was looking; and they all saw Zancrow standing before them, having just casually walked out a portal to greet them.

"How convenient." Jellal remarked before Zancrow grinned and replied.

"Jellal! It's so good to see you!" He feigned happiness at the sight before asking him jokingly, "What brings you over to my new home, and with so many guests?"

"Cut the act, Zancrow." Jellal confronted him immediately, "You're going to tell me why you did this; and then you're going to tell me everything about your Master."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" The Flame God Slayer mocked him instead of answering, "Please, you wouldn't want to hurt Meldy like that; and you're all just getting over your old habit of killing people anyway. I guess this is kinda like offering a beer to a recovering alcoholic; you guys want to kill me, but you know it'd be better if you didn't…"

"I got no problem punching you in the face, though!" Sting retorted before charging towards Zancrow, who easily leapt away from the punch that was thrown at him; and he silently complained to himself as he landed a safer distance from Sting. He was angry that Sabertooth and Fairy Tail wizards showed up, knowing that they were unintentionally tampering with the quality of his Master's experiments while also knowing he could not back down; and he had to remember what he told himself earlier: he had to be merciless.

"Come on, Master Eucliffe," Zancrow teased the Sabertooth mage, "Surely you're faster than that?"

"You want fast?" Sawyer shouted at the dark wizard, taking a ready-to-run stance before rushing straight at him; and Zancrow easily dodged the attacks that followed.

"How is he that fast?!" Sawyer wondered angrily after giving up his attempt at a direct attack, "Is my magic not working?!"

"It is." Zancrow revealed with a smirk, "But my Master's power is so great that it defies time in ways you can only begin to imagine! Only a god would stand a chance here…"

"Even if your power is as great as you say it is," Jellal responded calmly, "You will not be able to defeat all of us."

Zancrow's face flickered with annoyance for a second before Jellal added an offer to the dark wizard.

"Surrendering now would save us all a lot of time; and it guarantees your safety. Stand down right now, and you can join Crime Sorciere with a slap on the wrist; you're only real punishment will be having to take orders from me."

"That's a solid offer, pal; I think you should take it." Erik chimed in with barely-mustered confidence, quietly hiding the fact that he could not hear Zancrow's thoughts. To be more accurate, he was physically able to hear the Flame God Slayer's thoughts; but he could also hear something closer to white noise as well. There was occasionally Edo's voice, but that other noise was constant; and it was much louder than any thought Erik had ever heard, making it very . He wondered if Edo had to train Zancrow mentally on how to remain in control of his own thoughts; and he stared intensely at Zancrow as soon as their eyes met, hoping to not show his sudden lack of confidence.

The God Slayer listened to the pair for half a second, at the most, before he had suddenly heard his Master speaking in his head; as Edo decided to give his pupil a strategy, seeing that this little 'field test' of his had now escalated into a full-on battle.

Well, it certainly seems like you could use some assistance… I suppose your best move here would be to split them up; use my power to scatter them around the resort, and let my Enenra wear them down before you finish them off…

Not realizing Zancrow was busy conversing with his Master, Jellal spoke up again.

"You're only getting this offer once, Zancrow." He warned the dark mage, "Meldy would not want us to fight you; and I know she wouldn't-"

"Don't you dare talk about her!" The Dark Flame God Slayer interrupted angrily, "Not NOW! Dark Fire God's Scythe!"

Before Jellal could realize his mistake, Zancrow quickly put his hands together while preparing to focus all three forms of his power into a different facet of his upcoming attack; and in the next moment, he began to create a rather large, dark, and fiery scythe that he drew from his left hand with his right.

"Zancrow!" Jellal shouted with a hint of desperation before Sting had had enough; and he launched back at the dark wizard with an angry yell as he tried to punch Zancrow.

"White Dragon's Holy Fist!"

"Sting, wait!" Jellal warned his ally at the last second; but Zancrow was too quick for anyone to react. And with one spinning swipe of his scythe, he sent solid black flames flying all around him, which simultaneously forced everyone backwards and burned them with intense heat; but none of the people shielding themselves from the attack expected to have a dark portal suddenly appear behind them, sending them to random locations inside the resort. Even Macbeth shouted in confused protest as his reflect magic failed him, though the portal sealing behind him muted his complaints to the others still left on the mountaintop.

Only Jellal, Happy, and Sting were able to avoid getting sent away; but Sting did not dodge the attack like Jellal and the Exceed. His closer proximity to Zancrow's attack led to him getting sliced across his left side and slightly across the front of his abdomen as well; and Sting felt intense pain as a small section of one of his ribs was sliced away before the heat of the scythe partially cauterized the wound it caused before he could reflexively leap away.

"Sting!" Happy shouted in concern as soon as he could see the dragon slayer's singed and slow-bleeding injury, "Are you alright?!"

Zancrow had remained standing where he was, but he released his hold on the scythe as he dismissed it from existence; and he stared at the blue feline before replying.

"Relax, furball, I only grazed him!" Zancrow laughed as he spoke, "Though I could have taken the idiot's lung out if had gotten any closer. Ha! What a shame that would have been…"

"What do we do, Jellal?!" Happy quickly and quietly asked, "We're gonna do something, right?!"

"Stay calm, Happy." The former Wizard Saint said as he took as ready stance and removed his dark-blue cloak, "Now, grab onto Sting so you fly together and follow my lead, just like you did with Natsu."

While Happy complied and grabbed onto his current partner's back as soon as he flew over to him, Jellal focused his magic into casting his first spell.

"Meteor!"

As soon as he began to radiate with a familiar golden light, Jellal looked to Sting and shouted as he began to hover off the ground thanks to Happy.

"Sting, remember that your power can weaken his if you use it correctly! Go full power and follow my lead, otherwise we're not making it out of here alive!"

Sting nodded cooperatively, having now realized his overconfidence; but Zancrow responded to their scheming with another attack meant for Jellal, firing a large amount of solid black fire and energy from his mouth with a yell.

"Dark Flame God's Bellow!"

The attack forced Jellal to leap straight into the air to avoid the attack; and Jellal quickly countered by creating a magic seal before himself, with Happy quickly figuring out what he was trying to do.

"Sting, now!" Jellal shouted as he and Happy began to dart around in the sky above Zancrow, who had to turn and face the dragon slayer before he could deal with his flying attackers.

"Over here, chump!" Sting taunted before firing his own attack after activating his Dragon Force powers, "White Dragon's Roar!"

Focusing his power into his right hand, Zancrow met the white beam of magic light head-on with an attack of his own.

"Dark Fire God's Explosive Flame!"

Zancrow was the first to be surprised, as he initially felt resistance when he tried to push a dark sphere through Sting's attack; but then Sting was next to be surprised as Zancrow's counterattack shot through his spell after only an instant's delay, rocketing like a spherical, black bullet train through a bright white tunnel. A second later, the modestly sized sphere collided with Sting's chest before expanding into an absurdly large explosion that singed him and sent him flying sideways.

The wizard in the sky had finished his task just as the black, fiery explosion detonated; and Zancrow looked up to them only after Jellal had started firing his first attack.

"Grand Chariot!"

Seven solid beams of golden light rained directly onto the ground, forming the familiar constellation on the ground beneath Zancrow before causing it to erupt violently in seven separate, golden explosions.

Knowing that his first attack was certainly not enough to win the fight, Jellal used his magic power to dive straight towards Zancrow before the smoke could clear; and he attempted to punch and kick the dark wizard a few times, though Zancrow parried them with ease. Getting slightly nervous, Jellal leapt back a few feet while drawing his right arm back and aiming his left palm at Zancrow with a shout.

"Nine Lightning Stars!"

As soon as he spoke, nine blades of radiant golden light formed behind Jellal; and then he jumped forward while swinging his right arm at Zancrow, causing the nine swords to go flying into the dark wizard and resulting in nine rapid explosions.

On the far side of the crater that was created by the attack, Happy and Sting finished recovering as the last of the nine explosions ended; and they waited with their ally for the smoke to clear while preparing for another counterattack from the dark wizard, until the lacrima in one of Jellal's pockets started to speak to him.

"Jellal, can you hear me?" They heard Erza's voice coming from the magic orb, "What's going on up there?"

Scolding himself for forgetting about the lacrima, Jellal reached into his pocket before quickly activating it and responding.

"We've found Zancrow and are fighting him now, but only Sting and Happy are with me; Zancrow sent my guildmates somewhere… and none of them have a communication lacrima, either."

"We'll focus on trying to find them," They heard Yukino's voice add to the conversation, "I can sense their magic powers are still nearby."

"I can too," Jellal realized aloud, having been too busy fighting Zancrow to focus his magic sense on anything else, "Judging by how much magic energy they're putting out, they're also in the middle of a fight."

"We're already running their way!" They heard the celestial mage announce before Erza spoke again.

"Jellal, my group is coming to you; so just keep Zancrow occupied until we arrive!"

"No!" Jellal argued to everyone's surprise except Erza's, "You need to stay focused on retaking the resort and learning about our new enemy!"

He guessed Erza must have knew he was only going to argue more, there was a brief silence before she replied.

"Very well… My team will follow Wendy's inside the resort, then."

Before Jellal could thank her for cooperating, the three guild wizards on the mountaintop heard Zancrow laughing hysterically.

"You can't be serious!" He taunted the former Wizard Saint as the smoke revealed him to be totally unharmed by all their attacks, "Did you actually just turn down your reinforcements?! Hah! You're dumber than I thought!"

"There's not a scratch on him…" Happy observed nervously.

"Don't worry, little guy, we'll put a few on him eventually." Sting assured him, acting more confident than he really was, "We just gotta wear him down a bit, first."

"Good luck with that!" Zancrow remarked amusedly before growing tired of their underestimating him; and he held his open hands horizontally over each other before his chest, creating a small sphere of black fire and energy between them.

"Dark Fire God's Kagutsuchi…" He yelled as he raised both hands and swung them back down, aiming directly at Sting with both palms; and the dark orb rapidly expanded and moved toward the low-flying duo, who quickly flew higher to successfully dodge the blast.

Zancrow moved to leap after the pair, but Jellal interrupted with another attack of his own.

"Pleiades!" He shouted while raising his right hand to the sky; and from it, six rays of golden light streaked towards Zancrow, colliding with him to create six more rapid explosions.

Seeing an opportunity to attack, Sting and Happy continued ascending as Jellal's attack descended from the heavens; and just as the first of the six explosions went off, Sting fired off another spell.

"White Dragon's Holy Breath!" He roared while Happy did his best to hover in place as his partner fired an even larger beam of white light at their enemy; and a seventh, much larger, explosion occurred before the smoke from the previous six began to clear.

"Did we get him?" Happy asked his partner, who shook his head in response. Sting knew that last attack would have sent Zancrow flying if it was not blocked; and judging by the laughter that soon came from inside the dissipating smoke, Zancrow had certainly shielded himself from the attacks.

"Now that's a little better!" The dark wizard complimented them as he hovered in place, looking between the two above him and the one below him with a smug grin as he spoke, "But you're going to have to do better if you want to actually impress me!"

"You want better?!" Jellal argued back, and he crossed his hands above his head as he formed his next spell, "Altairis!"

A large golden magic circle flashed above Jellal's hands for an instant before it changed it the familiar black hole-like orb that expanded rapidly as it attempted to pull everything around it towards itself; and then it launched towards Zancrow after Jellal quickly aimed his hands at the dark wizard, who boldly charged straight for it and punched it with his right fist. The resulting explosion forced Happy to put some effort into maintaining his and Sting's altitude while Jellal had to shield his face from dirt and debris; and by the time they had returned their focus to their enemy, they saw through the clearing smoke that he was still completely unharmed.

"I'll admit it, Jellal," the trio heard Zancrow mock the former Wizard Saint, "That was better!"

"I guess I can turn things up a notch," He added while stretching his arms and legs in a showy fashion, "Just don't complain to me when you get killed, though; you've had plenty of chances to run by now…"

Finished warming up, Zancrow increased his power level slightly before raising his open right hand above his head; and a jet-black sphere of ki and flames, matching the size of Jellal's previous spell, appeared above him as he spoke.

"Okay, Jellal… let's see how you like a real attack!"

In the Shadow of the World…

Edo and Cel Rhea were sitting together on the edge of his bed, watching their own brand of television. The Dark God had created a portal on the wall across the room from them; and then he shrunk the room to bring the wall closer to the foot of the bed, while Cel had used some of her ki to cook some popcorn where she sat. The portal showed them the ongoing battle at Akane Resort, at first mainly displaying Zancrow's efforts; but Edo soon wanted to monitor the status of his creations, changing the portal's image to show the several scuffles playing out like changing channels on a T.V. Occasionally he would stop to witness something interesting before moving onto to resume watching another fight; but eventually Cel had an interesting suggestion.

"Hey, this is fun and all," she said quietly while keeping an eye on the portal as she munched on some of her snack food, "But I just thought something that might make this really interesting!"

"Oh, really?" Edo replied with an amused smirk as he leaned in closer to her, "Do tell…"

Cel pressed her side against his and brought her lips close to his ear before whispering into it; and Edo's grin widened as he listened, waiting until she was finished speaking before responding to her.

"Cel my dear," He praised her enthusiastically, "Sometimes, you're more devious than even I am! I love it!"

In the massive basement of Akane Resort…

Wendy, Romeo, Yukino, and Carla had just made their way down from the first floor when they heard the start of a fight breaking out from somewhere ahead of and below them; so without thinking to stop and enjoy the vibrant scenery of the casino they had just entered, the group hurriedly ran towards the sound. Wendy and Carla were the quickest; and they reached the nearest balcony railing before quickly looking down onto the main floor of the casino, just as Yukino and Romeo caught up to them.

Romeo saw the Poison Dragon Slayer from Crime Sorciere attempting to fend off some invisible foe; but he quickly guessed the other three people with him were more than likely seeing another one of Edo's creatures.

"He's fighting another one of those things, isn't he?" He asked them quickly, getting nods from all three in return; and before the four could react to what they were seeing, they heard Erik shout out to them.

"Idiots, turn around, there's more than one in here! It's an ambush!"

Wheeling around as soon as the former dark wizard began to yell at them, Wendy spun on her heels and fired a light-blue ki blast from her right hand, directly at the shadowy creature she had sensed leaping towards her and her friends even before the warning she was given; and the black shadow creature recoiled in pain as the small blast detonated on its face and knocked it prone onto its back, though it quickly recovered and leapt away while returning to its mist-like form.

"You gotta wait for them to attack before you can!" The four heard Erik yell over to them as he did his best to dodge another attack from the Enenra he was battling, "Or catch 'em off-guard, if you can!"

"We know!" Romeo informed him quickly, "We helped Erza's group take out the first one we met outside!"

"Well isn't that swell?!" Erik shouted back sarcastically before leaping away from the creature and swiping an arm before himself to create a cloud of purple poison in an expanding forward arc, which made creature back away from him as he intended before adding, "Now, can one of you get down here and lend me a hand! I'm having some difficulty predicting its moves, and not being able to see it isn't helping!"

"Coming!" Yukino called back, and she quickly leapt over the balcony railing before smoothly landing on the ground below and hurrying over to her ally.

"Romeo, Carla, go with her and help them." Wendy told her guildmates stood behind her as she stared down the Enenra, "I can handle this one by myself."

Carla hesitated for a moment, but she quickly complied and flew after Yukino; but Wendy noticed that Romeo had remained where he was, briefly glancing towards him just as he replied to her.

"Sorry, Wendy," He apologized for his disobedience before adding, "But I'm sticking with you, no matter what happens."

Ignoring the fact that she was faintly blushing, Wendy quickly looked back to the creature; and she noticed that it appeared to be finished sizing up its threats before it began to randomly leap around the area before them.

Finding a pattern in the monster's movement as she tracked it, Wendy quickly gave her partner an order before it could find an opening in her defense.

"Romeo, now!"

Mimicking a sweeping attack that he saw Rogue and Gajeel use to attack the first creature they encountered, Romeo created a wide-arcing wave of purple fire; and as the creature became solid in order to leap away as Wendy expected, she focused a decent amount of ki and magic energy into one well-placed attack.

"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

The Sky Maiden shouted as she jumped over the creature before clawing at the top of its head with her right hand; and she smirked triumphantly when her attack connected. The keenly focused wind at her fingertips sliced through its head; and the ki she combined into her attack gave her slashing an additional, explosive effect, causing the top half of the Enenra's body to be blown away from the resulting light-blue explosion.

Wendy landed and leapt away from the creature before quickly turning around to see the top half of it's body was slowly regenerating; and that it had reflexively returned to its shadow form upon taking damage, which slightly annoyed Wendy as she confirmed one of her allies' theories about Edo's monsters.

"Carla was right, we do have to take these things out in one shot." She told her partner as she watched the Enenra finish regaining its body, trying to form a new strategy as she did.

Figuring out what she needed to do, Wendy gave a Romeo a look that was familiar to him; and he smirked faintly before nodding in silent agreement. The Sky Maiden replied by quickly raising both hands before herself and chanting the activation of three of her spells.

"Arms, Armor, Vernier!"

A bright blue magic circle appeared both beneath Romeo and before Wendy's hands as she casted the enchantments, and they both soon began to feel the vast improvement in their powers as soon as the circles faded from sight. Wendy watched the Enenra the entire time; and she noticed that its posture slightly changed as they powered up, seeming to have taken a more cautious stance in response.

Before either of the wizards could perform an attack, the creature surprised them by revealing one of its few curse abilities. Waving an arm at the pair, the black mist of its arms rapidly exploded forward in a similar fashion to Romeo's last attack; but the more shocking part of the Enenra's attack was that Romeo was able to see the incoming cloud of black mist, which he hesitated to dodge amidst his surprise and confusion. Luckily, Wendy had just staggeringly enhanced his agility; so he was able to leap away with her at the last possible instant, leaping over the balcony railing behind them and landing safely on the floor below.

"Well at least I can see some of its attacks…" Romeo remarked optimistically as he and his partner looked back up to the railing they had just vaulted over. Wendy was slow to respond, having been more focused on trying to relocate their opponent first; and after not seeing it appear on the balcony above, she quietly listened to their surroundings and used her magic senses to track the monster. It took her a second, but she was able to figure out where the Enenra was, and what it was doing.

"It's running!" She quickly informed her partner, and she quickly leapt back onto the balcony before Romeo could react.

"Wendy, wait!" He shouted with some concern as he jumped after her, though she ignored him and continued her rapid pursuit, which led back towards the stairs they used on the way in. Romeo was worried the creature might have been luring her into another kind of trick or ambush, and that Wendy was easily taking the bait; but as soon as she was in the stairway with the Enenra just above her, the Sky Maiden promptly surprised her partner by yelling at the creature.

"Try dodging this one, monster! Sky Dragon's Wave Wind!"

Romeo had to suddenly stop his chase and take a few cautionary steps backwards as he saw his partner create a massive tornado inside the relatively small stairwell; but then he had to leap backwards to a much safer distance, as he could feel the intense vacuum-like effect of the wind rushing up the stairs.

Near the top of the stairs, the Enenra was about to leap through the entryway to the first floor when their stairway beneath suddenly became an extreme type of wind tunnel; and it found itself in a predicament with no clear way to dodge the Sky Maiden's attack.

Wendy smirked as she flew with the air current to catch up, and she was in view of the creature in an instant before seeing that it had decided to remain in its solid form; but its choice had resulted in it getting pinned against the wall by the intense gale-force winds.

"I was wondering what form you'd choose," She said as she maintained the air's intense current to keep her target pinned, thinking aloud more than actually talking to anyone, "You must be afraid that my spell would split your shadow form apart beyond repair…

"Thing is, you were going to be destroyed either way." she added as she aimed a hand at the creature and created a cyan ki sphere that was slightly bigger than the monster, "I don't normally like killing, even most monsters are just doing what they think is right; but you seem smarter, and eviler, than the usual monster. After all the innocent people you've harmed, I have no problem with doing this!"

The Enenra let out a defiant screech as it tried to resist the pinning gust and leap away from the danger; but Wendy silenced it by firing the ki blast, which detonated on impact. The smoke and debris from the blast was swept away in the wind before Wendy smiled when she saw the only thing remaining from where her attack landed was a massive hole in the wall, and she quickly ended her spell after sensing no trace of the creature she had slain. Romeo noticed the air current's immediate return to normal, and he hurried up the stairs as soon as he could to greet her halfway.

"Did you get it?" He asked quickly while trying to hide how relieved he was to see she was unharmed.

"I think so." She confirmed, resuming her jog down the stairs before adding, "But we should get back to Carla and the others."

"Good idea." He agreed while smirking and following her, "I'd hate to waste the power-up you gave me, anyway."

"Don't worry, you won't." She told him after giving him an amused smirk of her own, "I've got more than enough magic power to keep these enchantments active for the whole night."

"Good to know…" He said thoughtfully before they finally arrived at the upper level of the casino once again; but they both quickly noticed that there was no longer any sounds of battle coming from below, causing both of them to instinctively hurry to the balcony railing to investigate.

They were relieved to see Carla, Yukino, and Erik were safe, though a number of the games on the main floor were damaged or destroyed; and the Poison Dragon Slayer was nursing a few minor injuries. Libra was standing beside the celestial mage as well, and Wendy assumed the spirit had something to do with the moderate-size crater in the ground at the four's feet.

"Are you guys okay?" Romeo asked them, seeing them nod before adding, "Did you kill the monster that was here?"

"We did," Erik answered, feeling slightly bitter that he was the only one that got hurt from the fight, "No thanks to you two."

"Hey!" Romeo defended himself and his partner, "We were busy killing the other one, for your information!"

"Well at least you did something right." Erik quipped dismissively before Wendy ignored him by asking Yukino for the communication lacrima; and after the Sabertooth wizard tossed it up to her, she spoke into the magic device.

"Guys, we found Erik in the casino; He's okay, and we took out two more of the monsters in the process… How are you guys doing?"

While waiting for a response from her other allies, Wendy jumped down to stand before the Poison Dragon Slayer; and since no one replied to her yet, she spoke to him instead while trying to ignore her growing concern for her allies. Erik spoke first, however, having heard her thoughts.

"Alright, I'll sit still, but make it quick." He told her as she began to heal him, "We've got to find the rest of my guildmates -annoying as they may be…"

"They're not that bad," Wendy replied honestly after giggling at him, having finished healing him as she spoke, "But I bet you like them, even if you don't admit it."

"And you're a lot tougher than we met last time," Erik quipped humorously to dismiss the fact that she was right, "I should probably start learning up on this 'ki' stuff if I wanna keep ahead of you."

Before she could ask how he knew about ki, he replied to her thoughts once more.

"Made you think about it by talking about your change in power," He explained with a smirk before surprising her by leaning in close to her and quietly adding, "And since you were nice enough to patch me up, I'll do you a little favor by telling you something about that old boyfriend you were just thinking about…"

Wendy's eyes widened in surprise as she wondered what he was about to say, but they were both interrupted by the voice of Rogue Cheney coming from the communication lacrima.

"If anyone's still in the basement, get away from the center of it, now!"

Before anyone could wonder about Rogue's warning, the oval-shaped purple portion of the ceiling began to crumble; and the group of heroes in the casino found themselves running for cover as most of the roof collapsed onto them.

Back outside…

Jellal was doing his best to hide the fact that he was starting to feel exhausted while he stared at Zancrow, having just hit the dark wizard with another powerful combination of spells with his allies just before Rogue's call to Wendy's team came through his and Sting's lacrima; and the three battling the God Slayer heard a grim chuckle from him through the clearing smoke.

"Sounds like the Enenra are giving your friends some trouble." Zancrow remarked as he waited for the trio to be able to see the grin on his face before adding, "They don't realize it, but they're the lucky ones: unlike my Master's monsters, I'm expected to kill anyone that interferes with my task here; well, I have to try, at least."

"And besides, I knew this fight between us was inevitable." He informed Jellal while looking directly at him without a hint of amusement left on his face, "There's only one 'good' way this could end; but none of you are strong enough to make it happen. Maybe if I was without the power of my Master, you'd have a chance; but even then, I'm no fool like Orga, either. I wouldn't let you wear down and capture me like he did; I can't afford it."

Jellal read the dark wizard's expressions as he listened, and after hearing everything; he finally replied.

"You confuse me, Zancrow, more so than most of the interesting people I know. Back when you were with Grimoire Heart, there was a kind of purity in the way you acted; your loyalty to that guild was a very near-sighted code, but it was something you stuck to anyway. And I might not be your biggest fan, but I can tell that you figured out how to use that sense of honor for good; you're not this evil façade that's battling me, you can't be."

"Think you've got me pegged, don't you?" Zancrow replied rhetorically, "You're close, but you missed something: I don't believe in 'right and wrong', or in 'good and evil', for that matter. The only thing I believe in is what I can do for the people that I care about; and that's it. Anyone tries to stop me from getting what I want, I kill them!"

"Kill this, nutjob!" Sting instantly replied before rushing towards the dark wizard; but Zancrow was more than ready for his attack. The Dark Flame God Slayer easily leapt over the Dragon Slayer with a flip; and he quickly pulled Happy off the guild wizard's back midair before landing behind Sting and casting another, more powerful, fiery bellow into his back.

"Hey! No, Sting!" Happy shouted in protest and concern for his partner as he struggled and failed to free himself from the dark wizard's grip, "Lemme go!"

"Whatever you say, cat!" Zancrow complied, tossing Happy roughly onto the ground before punting him all the way into one of the towers of Akane Resort.

Jellal could only watch as both his allies were dispatched effortlessly; but he was completely taken by surprise when suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Zancrow was choking him with one hand.

"Now do you see how much I've been holding back?" The dark wizard told him quietly while lifting him up and tightening the grip on his neck, "It doesn't matter how much you try to boost your speed, because I'm still only using a fraction of the power my Master has given me!"

Jellal tried to argue back, but the lack of oxygen and pain in his throat made it too difficult to speak; so Zancrow spoke again.

"I didn't want our fight to end like this," He admitted grimly, "But let's be honest with ourselves, here. We both knew this was only going to play out one way; I just hope Meldy forgives me for it…"

Jellal felt the vice around his neck began to tighten, grunting in pain before desperately punching Zancrow, who did not even flinch upon being struck; and Jellal's vision was becoming hazy when he suddenly heard a loud slicing noise, which somehow forced Zancrow to drop him.

Falling to his hands and knees with a gasp, Jellal slowly knelt up to see Zancrow had leapt a few yards away from him; and he could also see that there was a two-foot gash running along the right side of Zancrow's abdomen, which the dark wizard was busy cauterizing with his left hand while swearing loudly.

"I'm sorry I waited so long to help," Jellal ignored Zancrow as he heard the instantly familiar voice speak to him from behind, "But I couldn't find a clear opportunity for an attack that could bring him down."

Turning to look backwards, he saw Erza was looking down at him with a bright radiance around her that quickly dimmed, having just changed back into her usual armor; and she offered him a hand that he accepted before standing up with her help.

"I would be angry with you for ignoring what I said," He told her with a smirk, "But I knew you were coming the moment Rogue spoke through your lacrima."

"You're not about to scold me and send me away, are you?" She replied pointedly, though slightly amusedly as well, but Jellal shook his head.

"Sorry," He feigned an apology, "But I don't think I can afford to pick another unwinnable fight at the moment…"

Erza matched the smirk on Jellal's face, planning to respond to him when Zancrow finally interrupted them.

"You sneaky bitch!" He shouted while clenching his right fist angrily, and flames began to grow around him as he added, "You're gonna regret that!"

"I assure you, Zancrow," Erza retorted as she returned her focus to him, "I won't."

The Knight quickly changed her armor once again, this time equipping her Flame Empress Armor while summoning the Sea Empress Sword into her right hand; and Jellal took a stance to her left as he began to regather the remainder of his magic energy.

"That armor won't protect you from my flames, Titania!" Zancrow replied after grimacing irritably at her confident remark, "And that sword won't help you, either!"

Before either of the duo could respond to him, Zancrow promptly fired a black ki wave large enough to engulf both of them; and while perfectly mirroring each other's movements, Jellal leapt to the left while Erza went right before they both rushed Zancrow's sides, creating a blur of movement as Zancrow dodged all of their attacks. And after one very near miss from Erza's blade, the Dark Flame God Slayer decided to boost his speed once again before attempting a counterattack, having grown wary and bored at the same time.

Zancrow waited until he was able to corral both of his opponents in front of him, occasionally jabbing at them just to move them where he wanted; and when the timing was right, he leapt backwards before casting his Flame God's Supper without bothering to call it out, creating a large, fiery maw that he quickly closed onto the pair.

Jellal and Erza were roughly slammed together as scorching-hot black flames and ki engulfed them from both sides; only gasping in shock at the sudden burst of intense speed from the dark wizard, before grunting in pain as the fire began to burn them. Zancrow chuckled before speaking again as he held them in place.

"You know, I'd say I'm sorry for killing you this way; but you really did piss me off…"

The heat of Zancrow's attack suddenly spiked, and Jellal yelled in pain before Erza quickly joined him; and she struggled to cut throw the flames with her blade, until the pain caused her to lose her grip. Jellal also tried to force his way out, but he was already too exhausted; and the pain was too distracting for him to genuinely focus his power.

"You two really should say something besides screaming," Zancrow taunted them as they writhed in agony before him, "They will be your last words, after all!"

"They will not!" Erza yelled defiantly through the pain, attempting one last time at escaping; but she only managed to get a tip of a finger through before Zancrow raised the temperature more and pressed the attack harder into them.

"That wasn't a bad try," Zancrow complimented her, actually surprised that she even managed to push through his flames and energy at all, "But it wasn't good enough, I'm afraid!"

Finally having no more strength to resist, Jellal could only gather the strength to speak to his partner as his clothes and her armor began to slowly burn away.

"Erza, I'm… sorry…"

Shifting so that her chest was pressed against his, Erza used the last bit of her strength to hug him tightly and whisper to him, knowing exactly what he was feeling guilty for.

"Don't be… I couldn't… let you… do this… alone."

"How romantic: a real burning passion, right before my very eyes!" Zancrow remarked humorously as he watched their skin begin to burn; but that was when he was suddenly struck in the side a massive beam of white light, as Sting had finally managed to recover and climb back up the mountain before roaring desperately at Zancrow upon seeing his two allies' dire predicament.

Zancrow was swept aside as the blames flames and energy around Erza and Jellal quickly vanished; and the barely-clothed pair fell onto the dirt, with Jellal's back to the ground and Erza laying atop him.

"Guys!" Sting said worriedly as he scrambled over to them, "Tell me you're okay!"

"We're alive…" Erza pointed out the obvious while wincing in pain.

"For now…" Jellal added weakly; but for some odd reason, he and Erza shared a smile as soon as they made eye contact.

"Yeah, no way can you two fight right now…" Sting pointed out the obvious after getting a closer look at them, and he knew he had to act quickly if he was going to save them before Zancrow would return, "Well, I hope you guys can forgive me for the rough treatment, but we gotta move, now!"

Without much of a warning, the dragon slayer picked them both up before jogging to the edge of the mountain peak and unceremoniously dumping them both off the cliff; and he hoped they survived the tumble as he turned around spoke into his communication lacrima.

"Guys, if you can hear this, Jellal and Erza are hurt pretty bad; and I had to send them rolling down the mountain to get them away from Zancrow. Get them to Wendy as quick as you can."

As he spoke, Sting saw the dark wizard emerge from a portal on the ground about ten yards ahead; and Zancrow surprisingly grinned in amusement before they both heard Rogue's voice come from the lacrima.

"Sting, tell me you aren't facing Zancrow by yourself!"

"Heh," Sting chuckled at his friend's concern, "I am sure am."

"You damn idiot! Fine, just stay alive long enough for us to get to you -I'm on my way now!"

"He'll be here too late…" Zancrow said dramatically before snapping the fingers on his right hand once, finally signaling his Enenra escort to attack; and before Sting could react, he was tackled face-down into the dirt by two of the shadow monsters.

"I was waiting to get you alone…" The dark mage revealed as Sting tried to wrestle his way out, but the Enenrae were able to pin both of his arms and legs after a couple seconds of struggling.

"You see, your magic power has been disrupting my ability to control all these powers, just like it affected Orga; but I've been preparing to encounter you ever since that big oaf got captured. I made sure that I'd never lose control of this power!"

"Oh, I'm gonna do more than make you lose control," Sting promised him angrily, "After everything you've done to my friends, and my guildmates, I'm going to take all that dark power outta you; and then I'm gonna stomp you into the dirt!"

"That's some very big words for someone with such a small amount of strength!" Zancrow retorted in annoyance; but Sting only chuckled in response before quickly flaring as much magic energy as he could, temporarily blinding the dark wizard and sending the Enenra flying before rushing him and surprising even himself as he landed a punch on Zancrow's forehead.

A huge white explosion detonated in the dark wizard's face; and he tumbled backwards for a brief instant before turning his momentum in a flip that he landed smoothly, looking up just in time to feel his body beginning to lock up. A white magic seal suddenly appeared before his eyes, blinding him once again with its radiance; but he found he was unable to shield his eyes, nor was he able to move at all.

"The damn stigma…" Zancrow recalled the white mage's binding spell, "You know this isn't going to hold me… If that weak little Salamander could burn through it, so can I!"

Instead of arguing back, Sting punched Zancrow's face again with another light-wreathed fist.

"Good luck! It's gonna be hard controlling your magic while I'm doing this!" He taunted the dark wizard before punching him with one fist repeatedly, holding Zancrow by the hair with his left hand and taking his time with each one to make sure they were fully powered and over-charged with magic energy each time.

"This one's for Orga!"

"This one's for trashing my guild hall!"

"This one's for all the people you've hurt!"

"This one's for picking a fight with my friends!"

"This one's 'cause I don't like ya!"

"And this one's for being an evil scumbag!"

Sting stopped shouting at him, but he kept punching Zancrow until the dark mage changed his escape tactic; and Sting began to fall with his opponent into a jet-black portal when he suddenly felt someone grab the back of his jacket.

"Oh, no you don't!" Sting heard his best friend shout before being pulled away from the rift, though his grip on Zancrow slipped; and the dark wizard fell into the closing portal as Rogue released Sting to let him stand on his own.

"Thanks, man." Sting said gratefully, "Who knows where I would have ended up if I fell through that thing…"

"No problem. It's a shame you couldn't hang onto him, though." Rogue responded after nodding to accept his friend's gratitude.

"Don't worry, he'll be back as soon as he burns off that stigma," Sting informed him before jogging for the cliff facing the resort, "We should be more worried about Jellal and Erza right now."

"Or…" Rogue said with a concerned tone that instantly drew his friend's attention, and Sting turned to see his friend was staring down the two Enenrae that had accompanied the dark wizard,

"We can worry about them."

In the basement of Akane Resort, a few minutes ago…

The ruins of the casino echoed as Sting's voice emanated from the lacrima Wendy was carrying; but she was more preoccupied with rescuing Carla and Yukino, who were not able to dodge the falling ceiling like her and Erik. She had been digging with Romeo and the other dragon slayer as soon as she heard Carla's calls for help, which informed them that Yukino was hurt.

Seconds after they could hear Rogue responding to Sting, they managed to free the two guild wizards; and they discovered that Yukino had shielded Carla from the debris just before it fell atop them. Wendy immediately began to inspect her injuries after seeing Carla was unharmed; and she saw that most of Yukino's injuries were internal, aside from a few cuts and some bruises.

As soon as she was finally able to lay her hands on the celestial mage, she could sense Yukino had received a concussion from the falling debris, along with a few cracked ribs and a broken right ulna -which was broken in three places, at least. Wendy quickly got to working healing her; and after a couple minutes, Yukino was waking up as Wendy finished her work. The Sabertooth mage grunted faintly in pain as she woke before realizing that she was not in as much pain as she expected she would be.

"Thank goodness…" Carla immediately sighed with relief at the sight.

"Wendy…?" Yukino questioned the young woman crouching over her, "You healed me?"

"I sure did." Wendy confirmed with a friendly smile before asking carefully, "How do you feel?"

"Pretty good, considering the circumstances…" Yukino answered while Wendy examined her one final time, "My arm's a little sore, though."

"Yeah, it was the hardest to heal," The Sky Maiden explained, "I'd try to avoid using it for a little while; but otherwise, you should be okay."

"Thank you, Wendy." The tigress said gratefully, and the fairy smiled in return before offering to take her left hand to help her friend up.

"You don't have to thank me," Wendy replied modestly as Yukino finished standing, "I owed you for protecting Carla."

The white-fur Exceed gave a grateful nod to the celestial mage before they were interrupted.

"Yeah, this is real heartwarming and all that…" Erik chimed in sarcastically before getting to his point, "But don't we have somewhere else to be, right now? Jellal and his girlfriend are pretty messed up, from what I heard."

"Girlfriend?" Yukino repeated curiously, "I didn't know Erza and Jellal were a thing…"

"They're not, but they are close." Wendy quickly explained before gesturing to Erik and adding, "He's exaggerating."

"Pardon my interrupting, but," Carla spoke up, "Don't we have more to worry about right now than our friends' relationship statuses?"

"The cat's right," Erik agreed, "We should get moving."

Before anyone responded to him, the group heard another loud rumbling coming from somewhere above them.

"Oh yeah, there's that, too." Erik remembered to inform the group, "That noise is Erza's group, probably fighting some more of the monsters at the moment; the commotion is making it hard for me to track specific people…"

"Maybe we should split up?" Romeo suggested, "Wendy and I can go and help Erza while you guys go and find the others."

"Shouldn't we send more than just you two?" Carla quickly questioned, "That's where Zancrow is!"

"I know, but that's another reason I'm going there." Wendy revealed with a confident smirk, "If Sting is there too, we might be able to free Zancrow from his master's control like we did with Orga."

"Well, there's no point in that." Erik informed her, "From what I know about that wacko's situation, I'm pretty sure he wants to be under Edo's control."

"Okay, well," Romeo concluded optimistically, "Maybe we can just take his powers from him. Even if we don't catch him, he'll have to go back to his Master to get his power-up back."

"I think it's worth a shot." Wendy agreed with her friend.

"Then you two should get a move on," Erik told them, "We've been standing around for way too long as it is…"

Wendy nodded before quickly taking the communication lacrima and handing it back to Yukino.

"Here, take it." she said as she moved towards the celestial mage, "Jellal had two more on him, so we can get one from him if we need it."

Taking a second to focus her ki sense, Wendy closed her eyes before taking a few seconds to locate her injured allies.

"I'm pretty sure I know where they are," She told the group after reopening her eyes, "But their energy feels very low... We need to take the short way."

"Okay," Romeo replied, curiously and cautiously, "And which way is that?"

Instead of answering with words, Wendy quickly grabbed Romeo around the waist, causing him to blush at the sudden closeness; and she only gave him one warning:

"Now take a deep breath; and hang on tight."

The pair rocketed through the massive hole in the ceiling before Wendy used her energy to blast through a wall on the first floor, exiting the building within the blink of an eye.

Back outside…

A few minutes after Sting dumped her off a cliff, Erza woke up with a pained groan as her senses slowly came back to her; and she blinked a few times as her vision adjusted, slowly trying to shove off whatever was laying atop her as she did -until she realized who she was shoving.

"Jellal?" She muttered curiously before quickly remembering how she ended up in her current position.

The bluenette grunted painfully as her hands pushed against him, and Erza immediately began to blush; as she realized the very familiar position they were laying in, thinking instantly about that one night before the Grand Magic Games. She knew they should probably get up and try to help the others, if they even could; but she also did not want to move, especially after Jellal began to wake and realize where he was.

"Erza?" He said slowly while planting his hands on the ground, just above her shoulders; and he also took a few seconds to recall what had happened to himself and his partner.

"How bad are you hurt?" She asked with a quiet and caring tone.

"I'm not sure," Jellal answered honestly, "Body feels mostly numb, actually."

"Mine too." Erza revealed, sounding slightly confused with herself, "It's odd… You'd think we be in so much pain with these injuries, but I'm not…"

"Well, we do have a high tolerance for pain." He remarked with grim humor, "Especially after the lives we've lived…"

"Don't." She interrupted him with a hint of humor in her tone.

"Don't what?" He replied, wondering if he should be ready to either laugh or defend himself.

"Start beating yourself up again." She told him, "You do it every time you talk about your past…"

Jellal blinked nervously when Erza gently held both sides of his face in her hands before looking him directly in the eye and speaking again.

"I know you've heard this before; but it's in the past, Jellal. You don't have to let it shape your future."

Putting his weight on his left hand, Jellal instinctively placed his right hand over Erza's left; and he briefly enjoyed the intimate contact before responding.

"I'm not." He explained honestly, "Believe it or not, I… I think I'm just… scared… Even if we tried to have that normal, 'happy' life; this world exists in a constant cycle of violence, and every threat that comes is always worse than the one before it…"

Erza was sympathetic to Jellal's concerns, which she guessed were on a near-infinite list considering she knew how vivid his imagination could be; and at first, she could not decide whether to agree with him or not.

"I know, Jellal…" She interrupted him while softly pulling him slightly closer to her,

"And you're not a coward for being afraid of what could happen, but… you're forgetting something very important: you aren't alone in your fight anymore, Jellal; every single guild is on our side now, not to mention all our friends! Even if we have to help our friends defeat Edo, Zeref, and Acnologia; our life after doesn't have to be like this… Our friends would easily fill our shoes if we wanted to go and live a peaceful life, something close to normal…"

Jellal could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth, having never imagined Erza would consider leaving Fairy Tail; and his surprise must have been obvious, because Erza seemed to become more nervous and embarrassed the more she spoke.

"It doesn't mean we'll be avoiding training or anything like that… We'd train together, of course. I mean, if we ever tried to settle down, we'd still have to be strong enough to protect ourselves, or… any… um… you know… we might…"

Jellal blinked nervously as Erza blushed intensely while hesitating to finish her point. He knew very well what she was thinking about; but he had never thought that she had considered being with him this much -he had never thought anyone, Erza included, would consider having that sort of life with him. Also, the only time he had ever considered the prospect of a family life was when he met Gohan and Videl and saw how happy they were together; and Jellal quietly concluded they had a similar effect on Erza as well, judging by the subject matter they both chose.

"Point is…" Erza decided to move past the more embarrassing topics, "We don't have to stop worrying about what could happen, and we don't have to live in fear, either. We could just live, Jellal. It doesn't matter where or how, but all I want is for you to be happy… to find peace… and… to feel… loved…"

Jellal was breathless and speechless for a brief moment, and he had no clue how to respond at first; but then he noticed that Erza's eyes became watery as she finished speaking, and the sight of her sparked something inside him. Without even having to try, Erza always made him feel special and content; but in this moment, he could not find a way to describe what he was feeling. His mind was in total conflict with his heart; when suddenly, he found his body relying on instinct. He moved his free hand away from hers to wipe the tears from her eyes before he hesitantly said the only clear thought that was running through his mind.

"Erza, I… I lo-"

Before he could finish, however; Erza quickly raised her head and pulled his lips to hers, causing him to widen his eyes in shock before she eased her grip on him and rested her head on the ground again, whispering a humorous remark with a weak smirk.

"If you think I didn't know that by now…" She informed him, "You must think I'm some kind of fool…"

Jellal chuckled faintly before he saw the expression on her face return to a more serious form.

"Just promise me, that when all this is over… promise me that we'll try being a normal couple at some point…"

There was a tense but brief silence between them until Jellal finally decided to answer with actions instead of words; and he quickly kissed her back before his mind could reject the impulse.

Erza happily returned the kiss before removing her hands from his face to wrap her arms around him and pull him tight against her, deepening the kiss in the process; and since she had put all of his weight onto herself, Jellal was able to use both hands to hold her. After a few seconds, Erza moaned into him; and he was about to use his hands to massage her while they kissed, but an awkward cough from someone in front of them suddenly brought them back to reality.

"H-hey, guys…" A beet-red Romeo greeted them tentatively before commenting, "I guess you're not hurt that bad after all…"

"R-Romeo…?" Erza stuttered nervously.

"No, they are hurt; they probably just don't feel it." Wendy remarked honestly while trying to hide the fact that she was blushing as well, "Serious burns can damage the skin's nerves; and if you damage them too much, you won't feel at all."

Erza could not believe she let two of her younger guild members witness her first kiss; and Jellal was on a similar level of embarrassment right alongside her.

"So," Romeo concluded, "You're saying it's going to be harder to heal them, even though they're acting like they're okay?"

"That's right." The Sky Maiden confirmed before she knelt over the two and finally spoke to them.

"If anyone asks us later, Romeo and I are going to say we found you unconscious, if that's what you want."

Feeling slightly relieved with the promise of the duo's discretion, Jellal and Erza gratefully nodded together before Wendy quickly began to heal Erza first.

"Hey, Jellal," Romeo questioned him curiously while Wendy focused on her work, "Do you still have one of those lacrima on you? We should probably tell everyone that we found you."

Jellal shook his head apologetically before explaining, "I gave one to Sting, but I think I dropped the other one when my clothes got burned. Sorry…"

"It's fine." Romeo reassured him, "We'll just pick it up after we go help Sting and Rogue."

Now that Romeo mentioned it, Jellal and Erza could faintly hear the sounds of a battle raging above them.

"We should probably get Jellal some clothes first." Wendy observed as she finished healing Erza, "He's only got that little plate of armor left on, after all…"

"Good idea." Jellal agreed sheepishly while Erza reequipped her casual Heart Kreuz armor before slowly standing up and speaking.

"I may have a pair of pants you could fit into," She said thoughtfully, "But it won't be anything very practical. Or flattering…"

"And beggars don't get to be choosers…" Jellal replied with a weak smirk, and Erza matched his grin before raising a hand before herself and summoning a maroon and pink pair of Heart Kreuz-branded pajama pants.

"Thanks." Jellal told Erza as Wendy finished healing him, and he quickly thanked the Sky Maiden as well before standing up, causing everyone else to look away until he had finished putting on his borrowed clothes.

"I sorry I don't have any shoes that fit you," Erza apologized before jokingly, "Unless you'd like to try running around here in heels, I've got a few of those you might fit into."

"I think I'll be okay." Jellal assured her amusedly as he examined what was left of the scorched armor plate he usually wore over his torso, and then he looked back to the mountaintop before adding, "At least my cloak should still be up there; Meldy will kill me if I tell her that I lost another one…"

Wendy and Erza lightly chuckled at him before Romeo got the group back on track.

"Come on, everyone," He said to get their attention, "Sting and Rogue probably need our help up there."

"Right," Wendy agreed aloud while her other allies nodded before she quickly held her hands out with her palms aimed at Erza and Jellal.

"Arms, Armor, Vernier!"

The pair began to levitate as the spells activated until they gained full control of their heightened abilities, and they both gently landed before nodding gratefully to Wendy and saying simultaneously,

"Let's go!"

Atop the mountain peak, Sting and Rogue were still struggling to eliminate the two Enenra, which were clever and quick enough to avoid being obliterated by the Twin Dragons' attacks; but the Enenrae also seemed to be behaving more cautious than before Rogue had arrived, which was for good reason: Upon casting the first spell he managed to hit one of the monsters with, Rogue discovered that his Shadow Magic allowed him to touch the Enenra no matter their form. After that discovery, the two creatures took advantage of their extreme speed and used it to evade most of their foes' attacks; and they were trying their best to not let the Twin Dragons coordinate their attacks, and only attacking when they found a chance -though any attack they did land was too quick and cautious to deal significant damage; and the dragon slayers had only received a few cuts and scrapes so far.

"Rrrgh!" Sting began to complain after standing nearly back to back with his partner once more, "They don't friggin sit still long enough for me to hit 'em!"

"Their speed is impressive," Rogue conceded coolly, staring at the Enenra ahead of him before making a reassuring observation to his partner, "But they're nowhere near as strong as I thought they'd be."

"It kinda feels like they're holding back, to be honest." Sting agreed with a faintly annoyed tone while looking at the monster ahead of him, until he glanced back to his partner and asked him, "But they can't be smart enough to play games with us, can they?"

"Some monsters are pretty clever," Rogue reminded his guild master, "There's even a few kinds that are considered 'sentient'; and they're usually the most dangerous kinds of monsters to face, as well."

"You think these guys are that kinda monster?" Sting concluded, and he did not have to look at Rogue to see his friend nodding in response; so he added an additional comment next, "Well, they don't seem all that dangerous right now."

"You might be right about them holding back," The Shadow Dragon Slayer remarked thoughtfully, "Zancrow could've ordered them to stall us; or he could be controlling them right now."

"Yeah, he should have burned off that Stigma by now." The White Dragon Slayer added before he sensed a sudden burst in magic energy coming from below and behind him; and he grinned confidently before adding, "But if Zancrow did tell these two to play with us, they're about to pay for his mistake."

Rogue glanced at his friend, confused at first; but then he also used his magic sense, which helped him to easily understand the mischievous smirk Sting was currently giving him.

"You wanna trade dancing partners?" Sting asked amusedly, and Rogue nodded while giving his friend a faint grin of his own. The Enenra before Rogue was caught off-guard when the shadow slayer suddenly performed a flip over Sting, who instantly blinded the monster with a bright flash of light before Rogue grabbed the White Dragon Slayer by the shoulders halfway through the flip; and Sting let himself get thrown over the second Enenra before he fired a few beams of white magic in a semi-circle behind it, forcing it to leap towards Rogue, who then focused his magic energy into his hands before grabbing the monster and throwing it at its stunned companion.

As soon as the two monsters collided, Sting and Rogue combined their magic powers into a swift attack that was meant more to keep them in place, rather than actually harm them; and Sting rushed their left side while Rogue rushed their right, chanting together as they attacked,

"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!"

As soon as they were close enough, both dragon slayers slashed at the monsters with thin black and white threads of magic flowing from their fingertips. The Enenrae could only freeze in pain as they suffered through the rapid assault, with Rogue's magic forcing them to feel being pierced and sliced while Sting's burned and weakened them; but they were surprised when the Twin Dragons suddenly ceased their attacks and leapt backward, until the appearance of four other guild wizards explained the duo's actions.

Seeing exactly where Sting and Rogue's magic was slicing, Erza, Romeo, and Jellal were able to join Wendy in launching a massive combined attack; and the two pinned-down Enenra went out with a defiant screech as they, along with a large chunk of the rocky ground they were standing on, were completely erased by one multicolored and oversized blast of raw magic energy.

Inside Akane Resort…

Gajeel, Erik, Levy, Pantherlily, Carla, and Yukino were jogging down a long hallway in the hotel section of the resort when they had first run into Sawyer, who had apparently found himself in a desperate stalemate with two more of Edo's Enenrae; and they swiftly came to his aid and eliminated the creatures with ease before searching the upper floors to find and eliminate two more.

After dispatching the last of the monsters in the hotel area, the group hurried back towards the amusement park, where they sensed Macbeth; and they arrived after a couple minutes to surprisingly see that he was holding off five of the Enenrae by himself, who managed to finally dispatch them with the aid of his reinforcements. But upon killing the last of the five, the group had no time to celebrate their accomplishments; and no one could explain it, but everyone one of them could sense a very ominous presence in their vicinity.

That presence revealed itself to be Zancrow emerging from a portal that was in the pathway to the resort's entrance; and a dark mist began to rise from his body as he clenched a fiery fist angrily and shouted at them.

"Well look what we have here: it's a bunch of annoying meddlers, all grouped up nice and neatly for me! I really should thank you for making it easy; because now I can kill the lot of you together!"

"Oh, blah, blah, blah; yadda yadda." Gajeel was the first to retort, "You gonna actually try something, or are you just gonna shout at us?"

A few of the Iron Dragon Slayer's friends cringed nervously at the furious glare Zancrow gave him in response; but they all stood firm when the God Slayer replied.

"Oh, don't worry, Gajeel. I assure you that I have no desire to spend any more time dealing with you people than I actually have to! But I need to do a few things before we can get to that…

"First, I'd like to test this out…" Zancrow began counting off his list while secretly focusing his power, with the only sign he was up to something being a faint motion of his hand, "And Gajeel, do me a favor and let me know if you feel any kind of familiar sensations…"

Briefly confused, the whole group watched the God Slayer nervously until Gajeel suddenly felt and understood what Zancrow had meant.

"Ah, crap! Not this again! Wait, one of you guys-" He whined to his group before Erik suddenly interrupted him by hitting the back of his head as hard as possible, which caused the majority of their nearby allies to look on in shock.

"Why did you do that?!" Levy immediately demanded, "Did you kill him?!"

"Relax, he's just knocked out." The Poison Dragon Slayer reassured her before explaining, "And he wanted to be knocked out, too."

"Why would he ever have wanted that?!" The script mage argued back, but she was slightly surprised when Pantherlily answered her question.

"Because there wasn't time to do anything else." The Exceed informed the group, "Zancrow must have been trying to control Gajeel like Edo once did."

Zancrow quietly smirked to confirm his theory, and Levy quickly wondered how controlling Gajeel was possible.

"It's the darkness inside him, you see." Zancrow was eager to answer, "He may not be a shadow or dark mage, but that power he stole from Rogue -and that little bit of darkness tucked away inside his heart- it's all I need to make Gajeel my puppet, just like the Enenrae!"

"Gajeel probably was about to ask us to knock him out," Pantherlily concluded aloud after Zancrow stopped speaking, "And I think Erik just saved us from a decent bit of trouble…"

The group would have felt reassured if Zancrow had not replied first.

"Well, he would have… if I was only trying to control him…"

"Erik… Sawyer…" the group heard Macbeth surprisingly pleading to his guildmates, "Help… I can't… move…"

"You know, you chumps in Crime Sorciere are some of my favorite kind of idiots…" Zancrow teased the trio with a chuckle, "You wanna know why?

"It's because you suckers think that you're one of the good guys now!" He revealed with a widened grin, "Don't you remember? You're all murderers and thieves trying to undo all the so called 'bad' that you've done; but nothing you mere mortals do will ever bring your victims back, will they? The moment you killed for some selfish crusade was the moment that stained your heart forever! If I had the full powers of my Master, I could control anyone with corrupted hearts like yours; but I'll settle for only being able to take over those corrupt beings that were foolish enough to even venture into the darkness themselves…"

Knowing he had heard more than enough to understand what was happening, Erik quickly tried to knock Macbeth unconscious like he did Gajeel; but Macbeth, while awkwardly apologizing, redirected the poison mage's attack and sent him flying into a nearby concession stand instead.

Zancrow immediately began to laugh amusingly at the sight, suddenly changing his mind about wasting time toying with them as he did; and he taunted the group once again, next.

"I've said it once, and I'll say it again… If none of you are gods, then none of you will have a chance; so do us all a huge favor by picking up scrap-for-brains and just walk away before this gets any messier. Hell, I'll even let my new pet go home with you!"

With both Erik and Gajeel seemingly out of commission, the remaining four guild wizards were unsure how they should react.

"Listen to him…" Macbeth pleaded to them, "I don't… like this… fe- ah!"

"Yeah, that's enough outta you." Zancrow remarked with mild annoyance before tightening his control over the former dark wizard's mind to silence him; and he returned his gaze to the four once more before demanding a response.

"So what's it gonna be, 'heroes'?" He questioned them with a hint of sarcasm, "Do you all wanna die here and now; or do you wanna die later when you come back with all your other friends?"

Each of the five were trying to quietly form some sort of strategy as they listened to the God Slayer, but none of them could even begin to conceive of way to defeat both Zancrow and Macbeth on their own. Only their pride was keeping them from turning tail and fleeing; but reason and survival instincts slowly won them over.

After looking back and forth between his comrades and seeing exactly how nervous and reluctant they all were to make the choice, Pantherlily knew he had to step forward and make the responsible decision.

"Okay, okay…" He spoke calmingly, "You win, Zancrow. We'll stand down, for now; but you have to release Macbeth first."

The dark wizard seemed to consider refusing the Exceed's request for a sign of good faith; but after a few seconds, he smirked devilishly once again before replying.

"Oh, fine." He said playfully, "If it makes you feel better about admitting your defeat, I'll do it."

"You're so kind." Levy remarked sarcastically, and Zancrow gave her an annoyed glance before deciding to ignore her and to keep on grinning. He waved his right hand in a showy fashion; and Macbeth twitched awkwardly for a second before sighing in tired relief.

"There, I've done my part." Zancrow told the group before Macbeth or his allies could speak with each other, "Now, pick up your other two friends and get out of my sight."

The group was slow to react, still feeling slightly apprehensive about their surrender; but Levy soon moved to pick Gajeel up, which gave Yukino and Sawyer enough courage to move and check on Erik. The script mage was able to reach her partner, but her other two allies were only halfway over to where they last saw Erik when the whole group was suddenly interrupted; as six different portals opened in an instant, with one behind Zancrow while the other five each appeared near one of the surrendering guild wizards. Yukino, Carla, Pantherlily, and Levy only managed to shout in protest before an Enenra burst forth from each of the four portals and pinned them to the ground. Only Sawyer managed to evade the monster that lunged at him by darting a few yards away from the portal as soon as it opened, and he quickly spun around with a plan to free his friends and form some sort of counterattack; but the sight of his allies in danger quickly confused him.

The anti-speedster noticed that Macbeth was not pinned down either, giving him a half-second's worth of hope before his rational mind caught up to him: Macbeth was free, but he was not helping anyone either. In fact, he was not moving at all.

"Macbeth, what are you doing?!" He quickly questioned his guildmate, "Get those things off of them, now!"

Taking advantage of Sawyer being distracted, Zancrow grabbed the Crime Sorciere mage by the back of his neck in the blink of an eye; and the God Slayer tightened his one-handed grip immensely, causing his captive to briefly shout painfully while he cackled triumphantly.

"Sorry, Sawyer," He taunted cheerily, "But you really are alone in this pointless little struggle. I mean, did you guys really think that I'd just give up my new toy that easily? Hah! No way! If any of you had the brains to use your magic sense, you'd have known that something was off about our little deal from the start! But lucky for me, you guild wizards are a naïve bunch of idealists; and you're so easy to manipulate… It's so convenient!"

"I'm sorry, Saw…yer…" Macbeth apologized as Zancrow momentarily relaxed his control.

"I bet you are!" Zancrow agreed humorously before silencing his puppet once again; and he looked back to the man he was choking before asking him, "Now, what should I do with you?

"Thanks to your efforts, I don't have enough Enenrae to hold all of you hostage," The dark mage added before he began to menacingly list off the options he could think of.

"I could just kill you and get you out of the way, but that's just too easy; or I could try and banish you from this dimension… that's a trick of my Master's I haven't tried yet, though- it might just kill you. Let see…"

Sawyer winced once more as the grip around his neck tightened before his captor continued.

"I could maim you and then knock you out, but you wouldn't learn anything from that lesson yet; I'm pretty sure I'd have to torture you a lot before you'd actually be afraid to face me again…

"Oh, I know!" He declared excitedly after focusing his dark powers on the former dark wizard, "You've got that little murderer's stain on your soul, too, don't ya? Maybe I should try controlling you as well!"

Before Sawyer could attempt to respond, the black aura radiating off Zancrow began to expand over him; but the Crime Sorciere mage could feel an immensely painful sensation starting from his neck and slowly spreading as every fiber of his mind and body began to reject whatever essence Zancrow's power was putting into him.

"Oh yeah, I shoulda warned you," Zancrow apologized sarcastically after Sawyer began to howl in defiant pain, "If I can't gain control of you, there's a good chance that I'll scramble your mind instead. Your resistance is only making this worse."

Sawyer's screaming grew louder, but Zancrow continued his attempt anyway; and his captive began to flail in his grip before he spoke again.

"You want this pain to end, right?" He questioned his victim rhetorically, "Then give in! Surrender yourself to me, and I can guarantee that the pain will stop."

"N-… N-No!" Sawyer gasped out; and he desperately to kick at Zancrow, though his efforts had no positive effect on the situation.

"Moron!" Zancrow only grew more annoyed by his resistance, "Don't you get it?! If you resist, you can end up worse than dead; do you hear me?!"

In the next instant, someone else responded for Zancrow; as Erik sprung from his impromptu hiding spot with a shout.

"I can hear you, you dumb bastard!" He remarked angrily before attempting to cast a spell large enough to hit Zancrow and all the Enenrae; but he was interrupted before he could strike.

"Poison Dra-" Was all he managed to say before Zancrow, in the blink of an eye, appeared in front of Erik, created a blade of flame with his right hand and drove it into the center dragon slayer's abdomen.

The four heroes pinned to the ground each reacted in their own forms of shock at the sight of their friend being stabbed; but Zancrow only chuckled as he withdrew his fiery blade and kicked Erik onto his back, who only gasped and grunted in pain as he landed harshly.

"I told you this could happen, you know." The dark wizard reminded them as he stood over Erik, "I wasn't lying when I said that resisting me could get you killed or worse."

Hoping to intimidate them even further, Zancrow kept the blade of his right hand formed to let them see Erik's blood dripping off its tip; and he grinned devilishly before locking eyes with Yukino and licking the blade once, making Carla grimace in disgust whine Levy and the celestial mage squirmed awkwardly.

"You… bastard…" Sawyer groaned painfully, having only recovered enough strength to watch events unfold before him.

"Be quiet, and I'll get back to you in a second." Zancrow told him off impatiently before turning to the two idle Enenrae and ordering them.

"You, hold him down; and make sure he doesn't dodge you this time, for your sake. And you, let's wake the tin head up if you can."

The first creature quickly obeyed by tackling Sawyer without hesitation, but the second took a more cautious approach towards its orders as it shuffled over to Gajeel; and it looked him over carefully before doing anything else.

"Well," Zancrow said thoughtfully as his two minions complied, "I guess we don't need you four around for this part."

Waving a hand lazily, he created portals underneath Levy, Yukino, Carla, and Pantherlily before the Enenrae on top of them made sure they fell through; and while taking a moment to examine his three victims, he telepathically ordered the four monsters to secure their prisoners before making their return to the resort.

"Now," Zancrow questioned Sawyer as soon as he finished communicating his commands, "Where were we?"

A couples minutes later…

Jellal, Erza, Wendy, Romeo, Sting, and Rogue quickly hurried down the mountainside and into the main building of the resort the moment they sensed a few of their friend's magic energies disappear; and they discovered most of the building was deserted until they were greeted, in what remained of the main hall, by a cocky, smirking Zancrow.

"Hey, guys. How's things?" He asked them playfully, standing on the edge of the floor's caved-in center; but Jellal had no more patience for the dark wizard's games.

"What did you do with our friends?" He demanded forcefully.

"And if you say you hurt any of them, I swear…" Sting added menacingly, knowing he did not need to finish his sentence for the threat to get across.

"Oh, please," Zancrow remarked dismissively, "None of you are going to do a damn thing to me, and I know it."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, if I were you." Erza replied sternly, but the dark wizard only grinned wider upon hearing her words.

"Oh, but I would." He told her gravely before briefly waving a hand to create four separate, six-foot square portals; and the six heroes were instantly shocked to see that Levy, Yukino, Carla, and Pantherlily were each being held in separate rooms of near total darkness.

"Carla!"

"Yukino!"

Wendy shouted in horror just as Sting called out to Yukino with serious concern; and both dragon slayers started to rush towards the two portals, until Romeo grabbed Wendy by the wrist and Rogue grabbed Sting by the back of his collar.

"Wendy, wait!" The multi-flame mage whispered to her urgently, "We can't do anything crazy right now!"

"You son of bitch!" The White Dragon Slayer barked angrily at the dark wizard while trying to free himself from his friend's grip, "I'm going to kill you!"

As soon as Sting threatened Zancrow, Wendy and Rogue saw six Enenrae emerging from portals on the ground between them and Zancrow; and though the rest of the group only saw the rifts they were climbing out of, they did not need to ask Wendy or Rogue to know what the two were seeing.

"Relax, everyone," Zancrow assured them teasingly as the Enenrae's portals faded from view, "If you cooperate with me, those poor saps have got nothing to worry about; and you guys can walk away with all four of them. But…"

"But there's a catch, isn't there?" Jellal interrupted him with some impatience.

"There's always a catch." Romeo and Sting grumbled simultaneously.

"Well," Zancrow replied pointedly, "That would be why they call it a 'conditional surrender', nimrods.

"Look, I'm gonna be honest." He added honestly before silently ordering the Enenrae in the center of the room to move out his way as he stepped forward, "Tonight's little escapade has turned out to be a lot more annoying and complicated than I thought it would; and I'd rather be doing other things than roughing up a bunch of weaklings. In fact, this whole battle is just one big waste of our time."

"I don't see it that way." Jellal argued coolly, "How many innocent people were here when you started attacking the place? A couple hundred, at least? I might have been able to forgive you for attack guild wizards; but you've targeted ordinary people, who had no chance of defending themselves. And that is something I cannot forgive."

"Then it's a good thing I don't need your forgiveness, Jellal," Zancrow retorted with a hint of scorn towards the former Wizard Saint's name, "All I need is your cooperation; and in case you haven't heard me say this before, I really don't give a damn what you think of me."

"Then maybe you should speak quickly," Erza suggested impatiently, "Instead of playing games like your master."

Although Zancrow maintained his prideful expression as he listened, Jellal and Erza were able to notice that his face twitched irritably for barely an instant before he replied.

"I guess I can do that, since you asked so politely…" The god slayer remarked humorously before getting to the point, "What I want here should be pretty obvious, even to you stubborn jackasses: I like this place, but let's be honest; a guy like me would never have been able to just visit here like any of the common rabble. So, I decided to take the place over for myself."

"And you want us to let you just have the place?" Wendy questioned Zancrow skeptically.

"It doesn't have to be a permanent arrangement," The dark wizard conceded, "I get bored pretty easily; so I'd say that I only really need this place for week or two, but yeah… You are gonna have to let me keep the place. Heck, I might even be nice enough to fix the damage that you idiots did to the place when you were killing off the Enenra."

"Your monster buddies were just as responsible for that as we are." Rogue defended himself honestly.

"Whatever the case," Erza interjected, staring only at Zancrow as she spoke, "You should know that the Magic Council and the kingdom would oppose any sort of agreement we may come to, no matter the terms."

"Well, no shit, Sherlock." Zancrow agreed with her mockingly, "But be honest with me, when was the last time that the Magic Council ever protected something from people like me? And I don't really have to tell you guys about how bad things get when the royalty actually tries to save people… Nah, I'm not worried about them at all. But you guys are strong and crazy enough to demolish the place before I can enjoy it; so you gotta go, one way or another."

"But you'd prefer to win with as little collateral damage as possible." Jellal deduced quickly.

"Bingo." Zancrow confirmed before adding, "But you should also keep in mind that refusing my offer in any way will get your friends killed; and it's not just me you've got to worry about, after all. They're all in my Master's Shadow now; and they're not getting out unless we let them out."

"Yeah, right!" Sting contested, "Unless rescuing Orga was some kind of fluke, you're talking out your ass!"

The group of heroes noticed that Zancrow was becoming visibly impatient now; and the tone of his response clearly matched the annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, please, none of you would have done that if my Master hadn't allowed it; and you can keep that over-sized disappointment, for all I care!"

Sting and Rogue both scowled at the dark wizard in annoyance, but Jellal spoke to them before they could keep arguing with Zancrow.

"Stay focused, you two." He said while trying to sound reassuring, "We can argue with him after we've saved our friends."

"I couldn't agree more." Zancrow concurred with a hint of gratitude before continuing to make his offer, "Here's the deal: if you swear to leave this place, and to keep more of your friends from coming back either; then I will give you back most of your friends unharmed."

"'Most'?" Wendy repeated before doing her best to avoid yelling at Zancrow as she questioned him, "You said you were going to let all four of them go, remember?!"

The dark wizard was surprisingly not annoyed by her rude tone; instead, he seemed more amused before he spoke.

"I did, and I will give them to you." He confirmed before revealing, "But they're not the only hostages I have."

"They're not?!" Romeo gasped while Erza and Jellal only grimaced, finally having some of their suspicions regrettably affirmed; and Wendy stepped forward to shout at the dark wizard while Sting and Rogue quietly simmered in intense anger.

"We're not making any kind of deal unless we know that we'll get everyone back!" She told him sternly; and this time, Zancrow was visibly annoyed once again as he replied.

"Don't be naïve, Sky Maiden!" He quipped pointedly, "You think I'd trust you guild wizards to leave me be for a whole month without proper motivation, then you're still that same child I so easily beat back at Phantom Lord!"

Everyone in the massive room was silent for a second as they each cooled off and processed their thoughts on the situation, until Jellal spoke up next.

"These other hostages," He deduced gravely, "They're my guildmates, aren't they?"

"And Gajeel…" Zancrow confirmed with another wide grin, and he ignored the group's disdainful expressions as he decided to reveal another piece of shocking information, "And Rogue."

"Rogue?" Sting remarked in confusion, "What are you talking about? He's standing right next to me; and I don't plan on letting him give himself up!"

"Oh?" Zancrow replied confidently, "Are you so sure of that?"

"Sting," The Shadow Dragon Slayer spoke up with a faint hint of nervousness in his voice, "I think… I think I should… stay…"

Turning to look at his friend with instant disbelief, Sting quickly realized something was wrong with his friend, who was almost completely still as he appeared to be struggling to move; and the rest of their group quickly figured out what was happening just before Zancrow gave them a somewhat honest apology.

"I am actually sorry about this part of the deal." He informed them with the smallest hint of humor his tone had held throughout the entire conversation, "But I planned on keeping four of you guys; and since I kinda broke one of the four I already collected, I need a replacement."

Jellal's eyes widened nervously at the man's words, but Zancrow ignored the Crime Sorciere leader as he spoke to his new target.

"You see, I was hoping to keep only the ones with the 'sordid' pasts and all that; but I think you'll be do just fine. I mean, you did want to be a dark wizard just like Gajeel at one point, didn't you, Ryos?"

"Not like… this…" Rogue managed to argue back, "And… my name isn't…"

"Oh, relax, kid…" Zancrow tried to assure him, "If you simply agree to stay for a little while, I assure you: that power that's hurting you right now will make you feel more alive than you've ever been. All you have to do is relax and let me call the shots for a while."

"Zancrow," Jellal finally had to interrupt him, "What did you do?"

"Huh?" The dark fire mage asked with initial confusion, "Oh, you're asking about Erik… Yeah, I killed him."

Erza quickly looked to Jellal in shocked concern; but she was slightly surprised to see that Jellal had somehow maintained his stern expression, until she noticed the intensity in his eyes. She had only seen that wildness in his eyes twice in her life; but she knew it well enough to begin preparing to intervene before he could do something they would all regret.

"You… killed… him?" Jellal repeated the words, almost refusing to belief the thought.

"Well, he might not be dead yet," Zancrow clarified with hint of grim humor in his tone, "But that hole in his gut brought him down pretty quick, and there was so much blood… I almost slipped on some when I left him."

"Erik…" Jellal said apologetically, and Erza finally moved to him in an attempt to comfort him.

"Jellal…" She spoke softly while gently placing a hand on his arm, "I'm sorry…"

"As am I." He remarked honestly before looking at the floor in shame.

"I guess I can add Erik to that long list of people I've failed to protect…" Jellal added bitterly; and Erza's grip on his arm tightened nervously until he finally got his emotions back in check, "And I cannot add any other names to that list today…"

"Wait…" Romeo chimed in, "We're not actually considering his offer after hearing that, are we?! He's a cold-blooded murderer! How could we trust him?!"

"Oh, I'm the furthest thing from cold-blooded, you little brat." Zancrow retorted, "And for the record, I only stabbed him because he refused to stay down and out my way; I wanted to recruit him, just like the others."

"Murder is murder!" Sting argued, "And you can't just friggin replace one person with another!"

"So I guess that means you still object to our deal?" Zancrow asked him rhetorically.

"No…" Rogue answered for his friend, "He will…"

"Try and stay quiet, Rogue," Sting told him as kindly as he could while still sounding forceful, "If he's been trying to get in your head, agreeing with him not even be your idea!"

"You can't… fight…" Rogue pleaded anyway, "Please, Sting… This… IS…me…talking…"

"That's it!" Wendy suddenly declared, "I've heard enough!"

Moving over to Sting and Rogue, she quickly gave the White Dragon Slayer a serious expression that he immediately understood; and they both laid a hand on Rogue's chest after Sting gave Wendy a quick nod, focusing their magic powers as soon as they started to reach for their friend.

Zancrow looked at them curiously for a few seconds before sensing his control over Rogue was starting to fade, and he quickly reacted as soon as he had caught on.

"Oh, no you don't!" He exclaimed angrily before waving his right hand aggressively to create three new portals around the huddled trio; and Macbeth, Sawyer, and Gajeel each emerged from them before they each grabbed one of the trio and pulled them apart, just as the dark portals disappeared.

"Hey!" Romeo shouted in instant concern upon seeing Gajeel roughly grab and pull Wendy an arm, "What are you doing, Gajeel?!"

"Get off me, creep!" Sting whined to Sawyer, who was bending one of Sting's arms at an awkward angle that kept him from moving.

"Sorry," Macbeth apologized to the group, and he quickly released Rogue as he did so, "But we can't resist our master's commands. Not anymore -it feels too good now…"

"Heh…" Zancrow chuckled at the surprise on some of his enemies' faces, "You see? Anyone that stays here with me won't be suffering some terrible fate; it'll be more like they're on their own little vacation with me."

"Sorry, kid." Gajeel apologized to Wendy in an attempt to convince her to quit struggling, "But if Levy and Lily get to go home safe, I'll happily stay here."

"You really should listen to your friend, Wendy." Zancrow told her as politely as he could, "After all, what does it say about you if you can't take the deal? Gajeel gave himself up to save his feline friend; but all you've got to do to save your friend is just walk away! And yet, here you are, letting your pride get the better of you."

"It's not pride!" Wendy informed him honestly as she once again tried unsuccessfully to escape Gajeel's grasp, "I don't want to take your deal because they're all my friends; and I'm not going anywhere until you give them all back, right now!"

The room was silent as they watched Wendy rub her watering eyes with one hand before staring down Zancrow once again and speaking once again, having truly had more than enough of the dark wizard's scheming.

"If you want to take any of our people from us, I will fight you; and I'm not going to stop unless you kill me!"

The Dark Flame God Slayer met The Sky Maiden's glare with equal intensity, and only Romeo dared to speak in the middle of the exchange.

"Wendy!" He desperately yelled at her as quietly as he could, "What are you saying?! I know how strong you are, but you can't fight hi-"

"We can always fight, Romeo." The dragon slayer interrupted him while still aggressively staring at Zancrow, "What you really mean to say is that I can't win."

Romeo went quiet since he was unsure how to respond; and Wendy quickly spoke again before anyone else could join Romeo in arguing, still staring down Zancrow as she did.

"Everyone, please, listen to me!" She pleaded with some force before making her request, "If I fight him, I don't want any of you to interfere!"

Zancrow chuckled amusingly though he still looked at Wendy intensely; and he allowed Gajeel to release her while he silently appreciated her bravery before speaking to her and her allies.

"Well, you're definitely not that kid I ran into at Phantom Lord… You're an even dumber one, now! You really want to throw your life away, just for some foolish dream to save everyone? Well then, let me be the first to tell you this: whenever people like me are involved, you'll never save everyone!"

Despite his harsh criticism of her, Wendy's defiant stance never waivered as she listened to him; and when Zancrow had finally finished, she let him smirk for a half-second more before making one simple conclusion.

"Then I guess that means I'll just have to kill you."

"Ha!" Zancrow cheered, finally breaking his eye contact with Wendy in order to tilt his head back and laugh, "You really do have a death wish, don't you? Fine! You wanna fight me this badly? I'll let you. And to hell with it, if you manage do the impossible and beat me; I'll even give all your friends back to you!"

"Wendy! Do not accept that offer!" Erza demanded nervously, "As your team's commander, I order you to stop this nonsense at once!"

"Seriously, stop!" Romeo added desperately, "Carla wouldn't want you to do this! I don't want you to do this!"

Wendy smiled warmly before glancing towards Romeo, who somehow was not comforted by her smile; and she only spoke after her friend could see how committed she was to her current plan.

"I know that, Romeo." She said seriously, "But I still have to do this. I'm sorry."

"Wendy…" Her friend whined in quiet defeat as he fought off the urge to get too upset.

"Rrrr, dammit!" Everyone heard Sting shout before almost the entire group was surprised to see him step forward and shout angrily at Wendy.

"Now you listen here, you little brat: if there's anyone here that's gonna kill that heap of crap, it's gonna be me!"

Zancrow tilted his head partially sideways in intrigue as he watched the White Dragon Slayer get in the Sky Maiden's face.

"You hear me, little girl?!" Sting continued to berate her, "If you try to take that from me, I don't care who you are; I'll kick your freakin' ass!"

Wendy was initially surprised by the Sabertooth master's actions; but after taking a second to pay attention to him, she quickly figured out what he was up to just as Zancrow cackled enthusiastically at them.

"Oh, this is too good!" He commented gleefully, "Now you're all fighting each other over me? Guys, I'm touched!"

"Would you shut up already?!" Both Wendy and Sting shouted at Zancrow angrily; and for the third time in so few moments, Zancrow found himself surprised by the pair's sheer audacity.

"I'll get to you in just a second!" Sting promised the dark wizard before returning to his staring contest with Wendy.

"Sting, you need to stay out of my way!" She said impatiently, "I already told you that I don't want anyone else to get involved!"

"Yeah, well, too bad!" He quipped angrily, "I said I was gonna kill him way before you even thought about fighting him; so if anyone's getting in the way of anything, it's you!"

The two dragon slayers were staring at each other so intensely, the others were too off-put to actually consider interrupting them.

"So what's is gonna be, princess?" Sting goaded Wendy one more time, "Are you going to get out my way, like a good little girl; or are gonna do something?!"

In the next instant, only two people were not surprised as Wendy punched Sting directly in the jaw with a right hook; and the white mage stumbled backwards at the impact while most of their spectator's jaws dropped.

"I warned you that this would happen, Sting!" Wendy told him irritably, "I have to fight Zancrow; and I'm not afraid to fight you too if you're going to stop me!"

Sting quickly regained his balance after taking a couple steps backwards; and while Romeo and Erza gasped in shock at the sight, Sting only grinned as he rubbed the side of his face before responding.

"That's better…" He remarked with surprising eagerness as he began to take a fighting stance, "Heh… To be honest, I'm kinda looking forward to this."

Back on Earth, only minutes ago…

After having decided to leave East City around late afternoon instead of staying there overnight, Igneel and Vesta had continued several miles north to easily discover the Seven-Star Dragon Ball in a heap of snow near the bottom of a snowy mountain valley; and since they were both slightly disappointed with the lack of challenge to completing their objective, Vesta challenged her partner to a foot race up the tallest mountain as soon as they had stashed the Dragon Ball with the others. Thinking of nothing better to do, Iga readily accepted; and they both sprinted their way up the valley before quickly reaching their destination in barely half a minute.

"Yes!" Vesta had declared triumphantly as she skidded to a halt just before she could run right off the edge of the mountain's summit, and she quickly spun around to taunt the loser of their race, "I told you I would win!"

"You did say that," Iga agreed before arguing, "But I think that was more of a tie than anything."

"Whaddaya talking about?" She quipped impatiently, "I crossed the finish line and turned around to see you, which means you must have lost!"

"Just 'cause you ran further doesn't mean you ran faster." He said matter-of-factly, and he grinned when he saw a vein in her forehead start to throb.

"Oh, shut up, Igneel!" She told him playfully before turning her back to him and grumbling, "You're just trying to rile me up because you're a sore loser."

"You're probably right." Iga revealed before flopping down into a small heap of snow in order to sit down and relax, "Care to join me?"

"And get my clothes wet by sitting in snow next to a warm-body like you?" She glanced back at him with her own smirk, "No thanks."

The Keeper of Light appreciated the view from the top before briefly surveying the surrounding area.

"So," She asked after a few seconds of silence, "Do we feel like camping tonight, or do we wanna use that capsule house again? 'Cause the only other places I can see nearby are this tiny little village to the northeast and some broken tower a little further north."

"Hmm…" Iga hummed thoughtfully before wondering, "How small's the village?"

"I don't know, maybe ten houses total?" She guessed without bothering to use her magic to be accurate, and she turned back to Iga to question him, "You plan on asking the locals for food or something?"

"Maybe." He answered amusingly, "But maybe I just wanna say hi."

"Heh, like you know anyone here." Vesta chuckled at him before moving to stand over him and adding, "And we might need food since we skipped East City, but I doubt there's anyone grocery shopping down there..."

"So we'll just do the 'road-show' act." He revealed his scheme lazily, but Vesta sneered at the idea.

"You mean the 'side-show' act." She corrected him before whining, "And come on, you know I hate that plan."

"Why?" He questioned rhetorically, "I'm sure we won't have to do much to entertain them. Small town people like these are usually easy to impress.

"Heck, they might even need our help with something around town." He added as his wife offered him a hand up, which he accepted as she responded to him.

"If we're lucky, that is." She commented skeptically, and Iga hopped to his feet with her help before he replied.

"Come on, we should probably head down there before it gets too late." He suggested as he walked to the cliff that overlooked the village; and Vesta agreed with him before they began to fly to an area near the village that Iga picked out, which took only a minute for them to reach.

"So what's the play?" Vesta asked as they landed and began to walk on the snow-covered road that led into the village, "Who are we this time?"

"We're us, of course." Iga replied with joke he never tired of using before seriously answering her, "But yeah, let's just say we're a couple of very talented fighters like we've been doing. We'll show 'em a few cool tricks, offer our abilities for food or money; and if they don't need help with anything, then we'll go along with the 'road-show' bit.

"But, you know, we may end up luckier than you think we are." He added thoughtfully after seeing his partner stick her tongue out in disgust at the very mention of the backup plan, "I'm sure a town surrounded by snow will have some use for our fire powers."

"Hopefully." Vesta agreed as she walked beside him; and they began to talk about less important topics as they neared the first of the village houses until they were in the center of town, from where they could see an over-sized man in a green jacket and blue turtleneck ducking his way out the wooden door of a pink, double-dome house.

"Oh?" The pair barely heard him talking to himself over the faint howl of the wind, "Strangers… out here?"

"Sounds like we've finally been spotted." Vesta prepared Iga to greet the man just in case he had not heard him.

"But, it is weird that we had to walk through half the town before we were." She added an observation before letting Iga take the lead.

"I don't think that's it." He replied quietly before concluding, "I'm thinking this guy is the welcoming committee."

"Hey there!" The two heard the large stranger call to them with a friendly wave as he began to hurry closer, "Wait there, please!"

Upon hearing the man's request, the pair halted and watched until the man lumbered towards them; and they realized he was much bigger than they realized as he finally neared them.

"Where's the fire, big guy?" Iga asked him playfully while quietly noting that the stranger was at least a head taller than him, and twice as wide as well.

"There's no fire." The large man said honestly, "I hurried over to meet you because I know how cold it is out here."

"Really?" Vesta remarked curiously, "You're a considerate one, aren't you?"

"I try to be." The large stranger confirmed bashfully before asking them, "Do either of you need a coat?"

The man was looking directly at Iga when he spoke, and Iga could tell the man was trying to avoid acting either too shocked or concerned about the fact that he was shirtless while walking through the snow.

"Thanks, but we'll be fine." Iga replied with an honest smirk, "The cold doesn't affect us."

"Really?" the man said curiously before adding amiably, "Most of the time, it doesn't bother me, either."

"How quaint." Vesta remarked dismissively, and Iga gave her a look that said 'be nice' before asking the man a question.

"I'm guessing you're not the only person in this village, are you?"

"I'm not," the man explained, "But the villagers asked me to start meeting all the new people that come here ever since we had trouble with some bandits nearly a week ago."

"Bandits?" Vesta perked up at the word, "You don't say…"

"Wait, you're not one of them, are you?" the stranger asked rather bluntly; and Vesta, while wondering why any intelligent bandits would ever honestly answer that question, smirked at the man's lack of cunning as Iga politely answered.

"I know we might look mean and tough, but we're not bandits." He said honestly, "We were just in the area, and we decided to see what's around."

"Finding some food wouldn't hurt, either." Vesta added pointedly, getting a smirk from her husband before the stranger spoke again.

"Well, if that is true, then you're more than welcome here in Jingle Village. My name's Eighter."

"It's nice to meet you, Eighter; my name is Igneel Flaremane," Iga surprised his partner by introducing himself with his full name before side stepping closer to her and wrapping his right arm over her shoulders, "And this is my wife Vesta."

"Hey." She said to Eighter while quietly enjoying being in her husband's grasp; and Eighter greeted her similarly before the three heard a young woman call out to them from the same pink house from before.

"Eighter? Is everything okay over there?"

Looking towards where the voice came from, they saw a red-haired woman with a yellow coat and wool knit cap walking towards them.

"Oh, sorry, Suno!" Eighter said as he suddenly realized he had forgotten to give the town the all-clear, "I was just about to bring our guests over, since they seem nice."

Igneel and Vesta both put on their best charming smile upon being complimented, but the newcomer to the conversation was slightly concerned for them.

"And they aren't cold, are they?" She wondered aloud, and the three all shook their heads at once.

"Actually, the cold's kinda nice." Iga admitted, who only shocked Suno more since he was shirtless, "Refreshing, really."

"But you're barely wearing anything…" She observed with some confusion; and Iga decided words might not be enough to convince her.

"Vesta likes to look fashionable; but neither of us need to wear anything to stay warm," He explained before holding out his left hand, "We can do stuff like this."

As soon as he finished his sentence, Iga made a snapping noise with his left thumb and ring finger before a small ball of red flame appeared in his hand; and Suno took half a step back in surprise while Eighter's gaze widened in awe.

"How are you-?" Suno slightly stuttered as she watched the flame dancing above Iga's open palm, "Is this some kind of magic trick?"

Iga and his wife both grinned at the mention of 'magic'; but they both shook their heads gently before Iga closed his hand to extinguish the flame and answered.

"Close." He told her while mixing the truth with some fiction, "But it's more like a physical ability we learned; you see, we're both martial artists."

"And we're both incredibly strong and talented." Vesta added.

"You look like it." Suno agreed with a hint of shyness as she realized the couple noticed she was staring at Iga's scarred, muscular torso; but the pair only smiled in appreciation for her compliment as she quietly apologized for staring.

"Aw, don't sweat it." Vesta told her jokingly, "I don't have a lot of money or fancy cars to show off, so I like it when people stare at my trophy husband. Just don't get too handsy with him."

"Hey…" Iga whined at being objectified, but Suno giggled with Vesta at his complaining while Eighter rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"We should head inside before it gets dark," Suno suggested to Eighter after she stopped giggling, and she looked back to the red-head couple next, "You're a bit late for dinner, but I can make you something simple, if you'd like."

As if on cue, Iga's stomach grumbled loudly; and the couple both smirked with a bizarre mix of pride and embarrassment, though Eighter quickly recognized something about their behavior that felt weirdly familiar to him.

"We'd love that." Vesta chuckled; and Suno smiled back before leading them to the house with Eighter walking beside her.

"Hey, Suno," He whispered to her when they were halfway there, not knowing they couple could hear him, "Do these two seem familiar to you?"

"Kinda." She said even quieter, to the point that Iga was somehow struggling to hear what she was saying over the wind, "But I know haven't seen them before, either."

Though they were both glad to hear that their usual charm was rubbing off on the two, Vesta had noticed her husband's brow furrowing in thought.

"Hey guy," Iga asked with a curious tone, "You said your name is Eighter, right?"

"That's right." Eighter answered with some nervous relief since he was worried Iga had overheard him.

"No offense, but I can't help but think that it's an odd name." The immortal remarked as politely as he could before failing to resist his urge to crack a joke, "Did your parents have too many kids or something?"

Suno giggled again while Vesta gave Iga a scolding glare for potentially insulting the man, but Eighter only smiled in shy amusement before looking back to them and answering Iga.

"No, it's not that. Believe it or not, I actually don't have any parents; I'm an android."

Vesta gave Eighter an intrigued look while Iga only appeared pensive as he connected dots in his mind.

"Then, you must have been the eighth one that was made?" The female Flaremane concluded; and Eighter nodded before Iga made a realization aloud, just as they were near the pink house.

"Your creator would happen to have been Dr. Gero, was it?"

Iga grinned when he immediately got his answer, seeing both Eighter and Suno instantly freeze in shock at the fact that he knew about the mad scientist; and the redhead grinned knowingly as they both turned to face him.

"How do you know about him?" Eighter asked with nervous curiosity.

"I have a few friends that fought and made friends with Androids 17 and 18 a long time ago." Iga revealed with his iconic grin, "In fact, I like to think I'm part of their team now, too. 'The Z Fighters'… It's not a phrase they use often, but it's got a nice ring to it."

"Excuse me, sir," Suno asked him curiously, "But you said you two are martial artists?"

Iga and Vesta promptly answered her simultaneously.

"That's right."

"Sure did."

Suno stepped a bit closer to them interest as she asked her real question,

"Do you two know Goku?"

Both Iga and Vesta grinned before they both chuckled.

"Know him?" Vesta repeated the question, "Boy, do we. Not too long ago, his son nearly kicked the crud outta my hubby here."

"Really?" Suno looked to Iga for confirmation, who nodded before speaking again.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to be surprised." remarked in amusement, "I brush up on my all my rival's backgrounds, but I'll admit I kinda skimmed over Goku's early days."

Suno and Eighter did not completely understand what Iga was talking about towards the end of his statement, but they set their confusion aside to focus on the more interesting topic.

"Oh, well now you must come inside," Suno insisted with polite eagerness, "After all, I'd be more than happy to make a huge meal for any of Goku's friends, no matter how late it is!"

The couple grinned and nodded eagerly before their host opened the door for them, and they walked through with Eighter in tow before taking their shoes off and setting them by the door.

"Mmm… I can smell whatever you had for dinner," Iga purred pleasantly before looking to Suno and complimenting her, "And I can already tell that you must be an amazing cook."

"Thanks," She replied gratefully while taking off her coat and cap before she directed them towards the one of the seats in her living room, "You can wait here while I make your dinner, if you'd like."

Without needing any more invitations to get comfy, Vesta brushed the snow out of her hair before leaping over the couch in the center of the room and gently landing on it with her legs crossed; and Iga politely walked around the couch as his wife turned and laid across the couch to rest her head on the couch's arm, which prompted a scolding from him when he tried to take the seat her feet and legs were occupying.

"Hey, don't be greedy." He told her playfully; and she rolled her eyes at him before briefly moving her feet back, only just to rest them on his lap after he sat down.

Eighter watched them in amusement as he sat in an over-sized armchair that faced the couch; and Iga gave his wife a warning look before giving up and getting as comfy as he could.

"So, Eighter," He wondered as he crossed his hands behind his head and leaned back as far as he could, "How do you know Goku? I'm guessing he beat he up somebody for you?"

"He fought a lot of people for us," The android explained eagerly, since this story was his favorite to tell, "If you know about Dr. Gero, then you must know about the Red Ribbon Army, right?"

Iga nodded to allow Eighter to continue.

"Well, the army came here once a long time ago to find a Dragon Ball."

"So, that wrecked tower to the north..." Vesta deduced quickly, "Was that their fortress or something?"

"It was." Eighter confirmed, "It wasn't their headquarters, but they kept plenty of soldiers there."

"And who was the one to knock it down?" Iga asked curiously before guessing, "Goku?"

"No," Eighter answered with a shake of his head, "I did that, after I realized how horrible those army commanders were."

"That explains how you ended up living with the village." Iga remarked thoughtfully, which Eighter nodded in response to.

"And it was all thanks to Goku's help." He informed the pair, "Without him, none of those evil men would have ever left this village alone."

"But there's some new type of trouble now, isn't there?" Iga questioned him casually, "You mentioned bandits, right?"

"That's right, it seems like a group of them camped out in the mountains to the southwest," Eighter replied, "Although, they're nothing compared to the Red Ribbon Army. So far, we've only seen one or two of them; but the chief and a few others are worried there'll be more, eventually."

"There always are." Iga sighed depressingly before quickly perking up, "But hey, since you guys are nice enough to take in two complete strangers and feed them for nothing, we'll take care of those bandits for you. Heck, I'll even scare them so terribly that they'll go home telling stories about us; that way, you shouldn't have to worry about dealing with a big group of bad guys for a while."

"Really? You will?" Eighter replied hopefully, and Iga nodded before the android began to thank him and Vesta; but Iga noticed his wife was slightly distracted as he responded to Eighter's gratitude.

"You really don't have to thank us," He said while glancing towards Vesta to see her eyes were closed, making him wonder if she was even listening as he carried on, "After all, we're just repaying one favor with another."

Eighter was in the middle of complimenting the man's modesty when Vesta abruptly interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, Igneel?" She said with a faint tone of concern in her voice that only Iga could recognize, "You know that girl you asked me to keep an eye on? I think she's about to get into a world of trouble."

"Yeah?" Iga quickly faced his wife as he replied, "What kinda trouble?"

"I think you should see for yourself." She answered cryptically; and Eighter, though slightly confused, could not help but feel nervous at the concerned look on Iga's face.

"Hey, Eighter," He asked curiously, "How much longer do you think this 'big meal' is gonna take Suno to make?"

The android pondered the answer for a brief moment with a hum before guessing, "Ten minutes, maybe?"

"I can work with that." Iga remarked before asking another question, "Tell me, how good are you at keeping a secret? We really don't want other people to know that we can do what I'm about to do; but this sounds like it's an emergency. So, I'm gonna need you to pretend that you never saw or heard anything weird while we were waiting, okay?"

"Okay…" Eighter responded in slow confusion; and he was about to say he was not that good of a liar when Iga interrupted him.

"Fantastic! Thank you, my new friend." He said quickly before waving his right hand to create a small portal before himself, which made an already confused and flattered Eighter gasp in shock at the mirror version of the image that suddenly manifested before the redhaired man; but Iga was busy doing a double-take in shocked concern at what he was seeing, until he finally sighed sadly.

"Well, that's just downright inconvenient."