Titania and The Hunter

by Master Attlon

Born as a human. Treated as a demon. Gathered as a slave. Viewed as a leader. Traveled as a Mage. Grew as a Legend. The journey and life of The Hunter, Naruto Uzumaki

22. Hunting Down The Beast

Titania and The Hunter

Chapter 22: Hunting Down The Beast

I have my line-up for the season; Irregular at Magic School, Brynhilder, Kawai Complex, Comic Artist, If Her Flag Breaks, No Game no Life, Black Bullet, Is the Order a Rabbit, Dragonar, Date A Live and to round it all up, Fairy Tail!

Na na na na na na na na Oh na na na na na Hey Hey!

########Hunter########

April X782

Erza and Levy looked up from the picture book they were reading to the little Senju girl as their attention was stolen by the smirking goth. Erza asked the Strauss girl in confusion, "You're going on another S-Class request?"

"That's right! And I'm taking Elfman and Lisanna with me! Hahaha!" Mira bellowed with her arms crossed under her chest as she aimed a smug look at Erza, "Team Mirajane is taking the frontline!"

Levy gave a weak chuckle, "O-oh wow, I completely forgot there were teams."

"There's always teams! And mine's winning!" Mira looked towards the red-headed S-Class at the table, "How does that sound Erza?"

"Heh." Erza gave a condescending scoff as she reopened the picture book in Levy's hands and held it for the young Senju girl to read, "You can do what you want Mirajane. Today's my day off and I have better things to do with it than argue with you. Isn't that right Koyuki?"

"Ya!"

Mira furrowed her eyes at the woman that just brushed off her challenge like that. Mira kept her scowl on for a moment before her eyes caught the little Senju girl and she formed an evil idea. She leaned over the table to get the little girl's attention with a pleasant smile, "Hey Koyuki, who's team are you on? Mira's the strongest right? Mira! Mira!"

"Mira! Mira!" Koyuki replied with a giggle as she followed along with the older Strauss girl.

Erza glared at Mira as she chuckled lowly, "Looks like she's got my back."

"Don't just use Koyuki like a tool, you bitch!" Erza swiped her hand at Mira as she leaned out of her reach and stuck her tongue out at her. The two mages glared and started heatedly cursing at each other.

Levy sighed. These two were a part of the small group that made up the guild's best mages. Actually...all of their S-Class mages acted like this. They set the bar really low in comparison to other guilds attidutde.

On the other side of the hall, Gray looked at the large hulking member of their age group that prepared to head off for his next mission. He stared at the larger man in disbelief, "Seriously? You get to go on an S-Class job?" He shook his head with a look that said he couldn't believe this was happening, "Geez, I need to start sucking up to Mira."

Elfman crossed his arms and firmly glared at the ivory-haired Ice-Make Mage, "You can't just expect to earn the right for a job like that just by sucking up! Only real men can head into the dark unknown like this without any fear!"

"Pfft, a dead man maybe." Cana deadpanned before she took a sip of the booze in her mug. She cherished the taste before looking back at her friend, "Don't get yourself killed man. One wrong move and Mira might not be able to save you."

"She doesn't need to save me! A true man can take care of himself!" Elfman yelled with confidence and burning spirit evident in his voice. The two quieter members of the guild couldn't bring themselves to argue with him when his manly soul was burning this brightly.

"Elfman!" The tall Strauss brother looked back to see his older sister calling him over. She motioned with her hand, "C'mon, it's time to go. We've gotta pick up Lisanna before we head out."

"OSU!" The manly Take-Over Mage yelled before he dashed out of the guild hall in anticipation of their first S-Class job as a family. Mira waved a few of their guildmates goodbye before following after her brother. All they had to do was pick up the youngest sister and they were on their way...

Wait.

Where was Lisanna anyway?

########Hunter########

The youngest sibling of the Strauss family was happily walking on the border of the South Gate Park as she felt a warm breeze rush over her. She opened her eyes again and looked over to the bulky tree in the middle of the park.

And at the certain duo that sat at the base of it.

She had a soft smile on her face as she started making her way down the hill and over to their position. As she got closer to them, she could hear the last bit of their argument heating up.

"IT WAS MY FISH! MINE! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO EAT IT!" Happy cried with little passionate tears coming into the corners of his eyes.

"I HAD EVERY RIGHT TO EAT IT! I PAID FOR THE DAMN THING!" Natsu yelled back with a vein throbbing in his temple. The two best friends had been having this argument for the last several hours. And they were still keeping the same level of intensity they had when they started.

"YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I WANTED TO EAT IT! IT WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE ON THE PLATE! TRAITOR! YOU SUCK NATSU!"

"OH PLEASE! YOU EAT-LIKE-300 POUNDS OF FISH A DAY!"

"AND I ENJOY EVERY POUND I EAT!" Happy's eyes started to water again before he turned away and cried into his paws, "Wahhhh! I've lost a friend for life!"

"Pfft. Drama queen." Natsu venomously spit out as he crossed his arms and turned away from the melodramatic cat. If the little blue cat wasn't gonna listen to him then he wasn't gonna try to mend the bridge.

"Geez, are you two still fighting?" The dragon and cat looked over to see their mutual white-haired friend walking over with a giggle in her voice. She kneeled down between them and laughed as they both huffed and looked away from each other, "Can't you just kiss and make up?"

"I WOULD NEVER KISS HIM(X2)!" The two former best friends yelled as they pointed at each other before seething and turning away again.

"Seems like you two are still on the same wavelength."

"Wahhhhhh~!" Happy cried and jumped into Lisanna embrace as he looked up at her with watery eyes, "Lisanna~, how could Natsu be so mean to me? I was saving that fish and-and-and he just took it! And he fried it too! That's the worst part!"

"That's the worst part?"

"I hadn't eaten all day. And it was just lying there in the open. I thought I could just take a quick bite before he came back."

"LIES! NOTHING BUT LIES!" Happy accused before burying himself back into Lisanna's chest. The Strauus girl just patted his back and gave him some words of comfort.

Lisanna looked back up at Natsu with a little pout, "Come on Natsu, you can't just steal his fish like that. You have to be more responsible when you're his caretaker."

Natsu's jaw fell agape as he stared at his friend in disbelief. He felt cheated, "I can't believe you would pick his side over mine. He over reacts like this over every damn thing!" Natsu huffed and crossed his arms in irritation at his lack of support, "I ain't got anybody on my side."

"Oh come on Natsu, you know how sensitive Happy can be about his fish." Lisanna giggled a little when Natsu looked even more fed up with the two of them teaming up against him. She titled her head, "How would you feel if he ate some fire you had put away on the side for later?"

"I'd never let him eat my fire! That's my favorite dammit!"

Lisanna laughed before she looked down ga the blue cat, "Well Happy, if you want to get back at Natsu, you might have to eat some of his fire."

"I-I can't eat fire, LIsanna!" Happy announced with fear in his eyes, "Cats have very sensitive tongues and I'm sure I wouldn't like the taste!" He said with a bit of pride in his voice before he thought of a follow-up, "Not to mention I'm pretty sure it would horribly burn my insides and cripple my sense of taste forever."

"That's right, so don't even think about eating my fire!"

"Well if that's the choice you've made, I guess all that's left for you two to do is forgive and make-up."

The two boys looked at her in confusion before looking between each other. And then back at Lisanna while shaking their head, "No. I don't think that's possible at this point."

"Look..." Lisanna placed Happy down besides Natsu and pointed at them sternly, "You two are best friends. And best friends aren't allowed to be mad at each other for long. It's just impossible."

Natsu and Happy grumbled and peered at each other through the corner of their eyes.

"Listen up." She grabbed their chins and forced them to look at her as she continued to try and make peace between them, "I know how things work between you two. One of you does something to make the other one mad. Then you both pout, argue, insult each other and try to ignore the other. Then you guys make a gesture of peace, you make-up and become friends again. Rinse and repeat."

Happy and Natsu both had shocked looks on their faces before sweat-drops ran down their necks. Happy said in a dry tone, "She knows us way too well."

"Definitely."

"I know because you two can never stay mad at each other. That's the benefit of being best friends." She said with a smile when Natsu and Happy looked between each other and struggled to argue with her point. She pushed herself back up to her feet, "Look, I expect both of you to make-up by the time I get back."

That caught the Dragon-Slayer's and flying cat's interests as they looked up at her, "When you get back? Where are you going?"

"I'm going on an S-Class job with Mira-Nee and Elf-niichan."

"WHAT?!" Natsu yelled as he jumped back up to his feet and looked at her in complete shock, "YOU'RE GOING ON AN S-CLASS JOB WITH MIRA AND ELFMAN?! NO FAIR! I WANNA COME!"

"Sorry Natsu!" The group of three looked back to see Mirajane and Elfman standing a few meters away from them. Elfman yelled again, "But it's just us this time! We're off to go prove the manliness of our family's power!"

Happy chuckled weakly, "But 2/3rds of your group are girls. How can they be manly?"

"That's not fair!" Natsu whined as he looked at Lisanna, "I wanna take an S-Class job too!"

Lisanna looked at him, "Well why don't you ask Erza to take you on one? Or Naruto? I'm sure if you tried you could convince them-"

"NO WAY!" Natsu started to grumble under his breath with an angry tone, "I couldn't handle trying to ask them something like that. Erza would probably start lecturing me about responsibility and upholding the good name of the guild while on the job. And Naruto...he'd have the biggest, smug-ass smile on his face as he'd demand me to kiss his boots or something."

"E-ehehehe, w-well that does sound like something they'd do." Lisanna gave a weak laugh before she started turning away, "Well, I'll see you later."

"Lisanna!" She looked back to see Natsu with a worried look on his face, "Be careful, all right?" He said it with a strange seriousness in his, "Make sure you don't get into anything over your head."

Lisanna blinked in surprise for a moment before a happy smile showed on her face. It was always comforting to know he worried and cared about her safety. She pointed her finger towards the sky and gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. I promise we'll be okay."

Natsu looked at her for a moment before he smiled and copied her gesture.

"C'mon Lisanna! We're burning daylight!" Mirajane yelled with her hands cupped over her mouth, "If Natsu's holding you back just kick him in the nuts and we can get moving!"

"I know Mira-Nee! I'm coming! And don't talk about those kind of things in public!" Lisanna yelled back as she made her way over to her siblings waiting spot. The three of them started heading towards the towns gate to head off to their job.

Natsu and Happy were left alone in the park. They looked at each other and then back forward. Natsu inquired, "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Do you forgive me yet?"

"Hmmm...not yet."

"Okay."

...

"How about if we go buy some fish at the market and eat them back home?"

"Natsu!" Happy cried happily as he wrapped his little paws around Natsu's face and rubbed his cheek against the Dragon-Slayer's. He cheered, "I'm not angry anymore!"

"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't be!" Natsu and Happy both grinned at each other before dashing towards the market place, "C'mon! First one there picks the grub!"

"Aye sir!"

########Hunter########

The middle-aged shopkeeper wrote down the details of his next shipment form on the counter-top as his client waited patiently. Parker placed the pen down and held the form out for her to take, "Here you go young lady, that's the last of it. All 12 crates of supplies are signed for delivery. All that's left is to transport them."

"Great. But..." The young woman looked the owner over, believing he might not be the best one to carry all these heavy crates to her wagon. She looked at him in concern, "D-do you need help moving them? They're all very heavy and I'd feel bad making you do all the work."

"Oh nonsense. I couldn't ask you to help move your own purchase. That isn't how I do my business. On the other hand, I don't actually like lifting them myself. Fortunately..." The usually apathetic man smiled at the young lady and reassured her there were no problems, "I've got a helper monkey to do all the hard work around here." He turned towards the storage place behind him, "Monkey boy~! C'mon out~! Time to do your job~!"

An unamused whiskered man walked out of the storage space and glared at the older man in anger. He spat out, "Go fuck yourself old man."

"Maybe later." He waved his hand towards the crates in a stuck-up fashion, "Go help this young lady move these crates. They're very heavy."

Naruto grumbled angrily as he pulled up his sleeves and grabbed the wooden crates from underneath. He lifted them up with a huff and started making his way towards the exit, "This is no way for an S-Class Mage to be treated."

"Yeah well this ain't an S-Class job. And you took this job personally." He pointed outside, "Now quit your bitchin' and get moving!"

Naruto seethed before he looked over and glared at the storage merchant, "One of these days old man-"

"Well if it ain't today then stop wasting my time!"

"Dammit Parker-jisan, stop interrupting me and let me get a threat out!"

"Shut up and get moving brat!"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Naruto ran outside with the crate in hand as he couldn't get a word in edgewise with the store owner.

The young business owner looked between the shopkeeper and worker awkwardly. She looked to Parker, "U-um, was-was that your son?"

Parker looked at her stupidly, "What? No way is that stupid kid my son." He rubbed the back of his neck, "Naw, he's just some Mage brat who took my request to work here. He always does."

"O-oh. Because you two seem pretty close."

Parker looked back at the exit where he saw Naruto begrudgingly throw the crate on the wagon. He closed his eyes and chuckled...

"If you say so."

########Hunter########

"You're here for the S-Class job, right?" The old mayor said from behind the desk in his office. He looked up at the small group of mages, "The one to take out 'The Beast', correct?"

"That's right." The leader of the little group of three, a white-haired girl in revealing gothic clothes said with a smile on her face. She grinned and tapped her fist against her chest, "You've got the Strauss Siblings of Fairy Tail on your side today sir. You couldn't wish for any better luck then that."

"Yes, I do hope you'll be able to help us." The mayor took out a small handkerchief and wiped some nervous sweat over his brow, "That Beast has been causing nothing but problems in town for months now. It eats the live stock. Destroys our buildings. Our civilians have even been hospitalized if they travel too deeply into the forest." He clasped his hands and bowed his head towards the Strauss family, "Please, stop that monster."

Lisanna nodded her head towards the town's mayor, "Don't worry sir. You can count on us."

"UWOOOHHHHHH!" Elfman yelled as he grew more and more excited with the prospect of the request, "FIGHTING OFF MONSTERS AND SAVING THE INNOCENT! THERE IS NOTHING MORE MANLY THAN THAT!" Elfman dashed out the door of the mayor's office.

"WE'RE NOT ALL MEN YOU IDIOT!" Mira yelled back as she started making chase after her excitable little brother, "AND WHAT'S WITH ALL THE MANLY CRAP LATELY ANYWAY?! YOU WANNA TELL US SOMETHING YOU'VE BEEN HIDING?!"

Lisanna nervously laughed at her older siblings' antics before bowing to the mayor and following after them. After they had left city hall, they made their way to a small bar in town and were planning their strategy for taking out The Beast.

"Okay." Mirajane said with all seriousness as she looked at the map set down on their table. She pointed to the farthest point of the forest to the east, "From what we've gathered around town, this is where The Beast is nesting. Deep inside the cave formation. And we probably wouldn't be able to bring out the 'King of Beasts' with just charging in."

Elfman sat back into his chair as it creaked underneath his weight, "So what should we do?"

Lisanna thought for a moment before she pointed towards a small pathway between two rock formations. She looked up at her siblings, "What about here? This place looks too small for The Beast to move through."

Mira and Elfman looked between each other before they looked to their little sister again, "Yeah? So what?"

"Well..." Lisanna started to trifle through her bag and pulled out several Lacrima to show her siblings, "What if we lure it into a cramped place so it can't move? And then we can set off these Explosive Lacrima to dislodge the rocks above it to make an avalanche and trap it. That way we don't kill it and we minimize the danger and damage as much as possible."

Mira and Elfman blinked systematically while looking at their youngest sister. "Lisanna...that's..."

"A really good idea."

Lisanna beamed a proud smile at her brother and sister, "I have my moments."

Mira looked at the map again, "The Beast is nocturnal, so we have until sunset to plan our move." She leaned her face against her hand and narrowed her eyes in thought, "So...what should we do?"

"We need to lead the monster out of its cave. Maybe..." Elfman crossed his arms and tried to contemplate an appropriate course of action to bring the monster out of its den. He slammed his fist into his palm, "Bait!"

"Bait?"

Elfman nodded his head, "Nothing better to lure out a raging monster than a moving, taunting target."

Lisanna and Mirajane looked at each other in silence.

"It's dangerous..."

"But it could work."

Elfman grinned and pushed himself out of his seat, "Of course it will!" He flexed his right arm proudly and grasped his bicep, "And I'll lure The Beast out with a manly challenge before we strike it down!"

Lisanna felt a hitch in her throat when she saw her older brother say that with such pride. Normally, she would cheer her brother on and on with any crazy proclamation and promise he made to prove his strength. But this time...

Lisanna looked up at her brother in worry, "Elf-niichan, maybe it would be best if you-um-"

"No Elfman. You aren't going to lure The Beast out." Mira plainly stated as she looked up to her little brother, "I'll handle that job."

Elfman blinked in surprise before he shook his head, "No! No way! It was my idea! I should be the one on the front line!"

"It's too dangerous for you to be the bait!" Mira argued back as she met Elfman's strong look with one of her own.

"Nee-chan! I have to do this!"

"No you don't!" Mira stood out of her seat and looked her only brother directly in the eyes, "You don't have to prove anything to anyone Elfman! And you don't have to risk your life to prove you're strong!"

The bar was silent for a moment as everyone looked at the table with the Fairy siblings. Lisanna looked around nervously at all the spectators they had earned from their little yelling match. But she ignored all the strangers so she could look up at her family.

Elfman had a surprised look on his face after hearing Mira's exclamation. Mira gave her brother a sorry look as her tone shifted, "Elfman, I know how much you want to prove you are strong without your magic. You've always done that. Even when we were kids and we were learning under Mom and Dad. But if you can't use a Full-Body Take-Over...I don't want you to be in any kind of danger."

Elfman struggled to find an argument with her point but he couldn't think of one. The strong look in his eyes started to fall and he sent an unpleasant look down at his right arm. He spoke of manly spirit and the guts to do anything you want to if you just push yourself. But even with all that big talk, he was still falling behind in comparison to his sisters.

It was his biggest shame. He was only learning a mid-tier level of Take-Over magic, same level as Lisanna and a weaker set of skills than Mirajane. Yet those two had already activated and mastered their styles and forms. And he couldn't even make it past his right arm.

It was pathetic.

Elfman felt a hand rest on his shoulder as he looked up to see Mira giving him a soft smile. She gently helped him sit back down in his chair before she gave him a soft pat, "I'm the big sister here you moron. You've gotta let me risk my life stupidly if I wanna catch up to all your attempts." Elfman's dejected look swapped out for a small, solemn smile at his sister's little joke.

"Yeah." Lisanna added in as she leaned over the table and grasped Elfman's large hand in hers. She smiled up at him, "Everything'll be fine. We'll show that Beast what the best Take-Over mages in Fairy Tail can do."

Elfman felt a sense of relief fill him after seeing his sisters cheer him back up. He pumped his arm to hype himself up, "OSU! Let's show that monster what real men are like!"

"Once again, we aren't men Elfman. Mostly in part of the fact we've got boobs and we are missing a dick."

"M-Mira-Nee, you really need to filter what you say in public." Lisanna whined as her face had a small pink hue of embarrassment from all the strange stares everyone was giving them. She leaned closer to her older sister, "When that little voice in your head tells you what to say, you might want to listen to it."

"Nope."

"A real man says what's on his mind!"

"Oh my god, what did I just say?"

The three Staruss siblings continued their little argument as the tension from their preparing mission faded and they relaxed in each other's presence.

########Hunter########

Parker started to count through his money and chart down the profits for the day. While he was crunching his numbers, his pseudo-employee came into the front room and picked up another crate to bring into the back storage space. Naruto picked the crate up with a grunt before looking over to the older man, "I've only got a few more of these to go. Once I'm done I think I'm gonna head back home."

"All right. Good work today kid." Parker complimented the young man's effort as he started to gather the papers back into one pile, "You really put your back into it today."

"Enough to get some decent pay?"

"Nope."

"Figures." Naruto begrudgingly shrugged his shoulders before continuing with his work. He wasn't actually expecting to get a raise but it sorta sucks the old bastard shot him down so quickly.

While they each did their part to close up shop, Parker decided to start a topic with the boy as he was moving the cargo. He leaned over the counter, "So, what's it like being an S-Class Mage now, huh? Must be easier to get jobs now that you aren't stealing them from the guild."

Naruto sighed and gave the man a pointed look, "Geez, is no one gonna move past that? That was-like-3 years ago. Get over it already." Naruto picked up another crate, "It's fun. The jobs are a whole lot easier in comparison to the one I stole a few years back but they're still challenging. I fight monsters, I save people, and every now and then I get to kick the asses of a few Dark Guild members." He chuckled darkly towards the old man, "I like that part the best."

Parker actually had a good laugh at the boy's pride in talking about beating up criminals. He touched a pile of papers at his side, "I bet. I'm reading more and more articles of a crazy blond psycho from Fairy Tail who completely wrecks anyone who gets in his way."

He had a shifty look in his eyes as he tried to avoid the older man's gaze. He chuckled nervously, "T-that could totally be someone else. Using Fairy Tail's name for benefit has become sorta popular recently." He looked over to Parker, "And I'm not the only blond in the guild! Do you know Laxus? Crazy blond bastard could be either of us at this point!"

Parker lifted up one of the newspapers, "It says 'Beware the Wrath of Fairy Tail's Hunter! New S-Class Mage Continues to Stir Trouble for Illegal Guilds.'" He looked over the details of the paper, "It seems like something you'd do. They're even using that little nickname you got for yourself."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that thing." Naruto came back out from the back and scratched his head, "Who called me that anyway? Were they trying to make me sound terrifying?"

"They probably did it to match your nasty attitude." Naruto sent an angry scowl at the shopkeeper as the man just chuckled and ignored his venomous glare. He flipped another paper open and had a more pleasant look on his face, "Good to see Erza-chan's picking up the slack though. Definitely earned the title of 'Queen of Fairies' if you ask me."

Naruto had a small smile on his face as he walked over to the last crate. He picked it up, "Yeah, well that's Erza. Expect nothing less." The whiskered Fairy Mage picked up the last crate and head for th-

"So how's things been between you and Erza-chan? You make 'kissy-kissy' yet?"

*Thud*

Naruto was caught off-guard by the question and dropped the crate of merchandise on the floor. They were both silent for a moment...

"If that breaks, you're paying for it."

"Wh-what the hell old man?! Where did that come from?!" Naruto yelled as he ran up to the counter and grabbed it while glaring at his pseudo-guardian, "Don't just bring up something random like that!"

"It isn't random." Parker said as he dug into his ear with a lazy look on his face, "Last time she came with Koyuki-chan, I asked her the same question. She pushed the topic off and tried to start something else. But when I looked over to her, her face was a little red." He gave the young blond a cheeky smile, "Did something happen?"

"Nothing happened! I don't know what you're-"

Naruto froze in spot as something popped back into his head. After he had earned the S-Class title and they had celebrated at the guild, him and Erza were walking back home. And then she made them stop in the middle of the street and...

Naruto's face turned red before he turned away and tried to hide it from the teasing old man.

Parker looked at the young man strangely before he decided to drop the topic. He fixed some stuff behind the counter, "Whatever. Anyway, you two have a kid now, so you have to be more responsible, okay?"

Naruto jumped back up in anger, "We don't have a kid! Why does everyone always say it like that?!"

"Because it's funny to watch you two squirm."

Naruto just gave the man a weak look before he let out a defeated sigh. He sank to the floor and stayed like that for a moment before he felt a rough hand placed on his shoulder.

He looked up to see Parker with a rough smile before he pulled him back up to his feet. The middle-aged shopkeeper just looked the boy over for a moment. He had grown to about the same height as him, nothing like the little boy he had taken in off a raft six years ago. The chubby-faced little brat he had taken into his home had grown into a man with a strong, unyielding look in his eyes. For better or for worse, he had changed so much in the time Parker had known him.

It reminded him of his own son before he died.

Parker just silently patted the boy's shoulder, "I'm proud of you Naruto. I want you to know that."

Naruto was quiet for a moment as he was surprised by the kind tone in the usually stoic and apathetic man's voice. He stayed silent for a moment before he looked at the older man, "W-what the heck? Are you going crazy old man?"

"Nah, I ain't crazy." Then Parker ruffled the blond's spiky hair and grinned at him, "I'm just happy I got to see how much you've grown up. I still can't believe that little shitty brat I picked up off a raft became the shitty little brat I see today." He chuckled after giving him that weak compliment.

Naruto was stunned for a moment before a pink hue grew on his face and he looked away from the man. He knocked the man's hand off his head, "S-shut up Parker-jisan. Hearing you talk always pisses me off."

The older man just laughed as Naruto glared at him and started slapping his hands away.

########Hunter########

The sun had finally set.

It was time for them to make their move.

Mira was sitting crossed legged in front of the massive cave as she mindlessly played with the sand. She looked up at the black, starless sky and took in a deep breah. She exhaled before looking up at the cave with a little smirk.

"Okay. Let's start."

Mira stood up and looked above the cave. She saw her little brother standing on top of the cave as he looked down at for the sign to begin their plan. She nodded at him before he nodded back.

Elfman started trekking back until he was at a center point. He grasped his right shoulder and formed his Beast Arm: Black Bull until his arm had completely changed. He kneeled down and placed his fist against the rock.

"HA!"

He repeatedly punched the roof of the cave as it rumbled under his strikes. He continued to shake the foundation of the cave in an attempt to either destroy the cave or wakeTthe Beast out of its nap. Elfman continued to punch it as hard as he could-

The whole area shook as the ground rumbled from a massive weight settling on the ground. Mira narrowed her eyes, "I knew it'd be too easy to crush it under rocks."

Hulking into the natural luminescence of the moon, Mira's eyes caught sight of a large pair of bird talons pushing themselves out of the cave. Two massive, scaly arms swung out and grabbed the edges of the cave's open entrance to assist pulling it out. Elfman slid down the curve of the large cave and ran around the risen level of land to get a better view of the massive monster with horns protruding from its head. Finally, the last thing they noticed was the horrifying face of the creature, massive teeth to shred through everything it bites and a long black mane starting at its head and going down its back.

This was The Beast. The King of all Monsters.

The gargantuan monster threw its head back, "GRRRRRAAHHHH!"

Mira and Elfman covered their ears as The Beast let out its mighty roar. The entire surrounding area shook violently as the vibrations from the roar would almost deafen anyone who didn't prepare themselves. The Beast's primal yell tapered off and the horrifying monster's gaze landed on the white-haired goth standing in front of it.

Mira lowered her hands from her ears and scowled at The Beast, "Geez, you're one loud motherfucker. Ugly too." Her hands fell to her side as her whole body was enveloped in a bright light and systematic squares. When they disappeared, she had transformed into her Satan Soul form. She cracked her knuckles and smirked at The Beast, "Let's go big guy."

The Beast pounced forward and Mira jumped back out of the spot where it's fist crashed into the ground, extending her wings and floating until she reached closer to face level. The Beast once again swung its bulging arms out in a wide arc to catch the flying demon but to no avail.

Mira smiled and decided to toy with the massive monster a little. She flew around its arms and barreled straight into its side until it doubled over. It threw out another punch on instinct but Mira just caught the strike with ease. She then grabbed the large fist with both of hands and spun with a mighty pull to throw The Beast around the clearing.

The Beast pulled itself back up before letting out a loud roar at the flying Strauss girl. It charged forward at an unexpected speed and Mira had to concentrate on dodging out of its way. But when Mira turned her back to it for a moment, The Beast grabbed her tail and caused her to yelp in pain. She looked back in shock before she was pulled down and spun over the hulking monstrosity's head. She was tossed into the forest and she crashed through a series of trees.

"Nee-chan!" Elfman screamed worriedly as he started running over to her position. Mira pulled herself out of the broken wood, no worse for wear as she shook her head. She ran her hand through her hair and pulled it out of her eyes as she looked at her target. She gave a dark chuckle and smirked...

"Pretty good. But time to finish this up."

Mira flew through the woods and landed a passing strike against The Beast. She knocked it down on its back and waited for it to pull itself back up again. The Beast had an vicious, animalistic look in its empty eyes as they locked onto Mira. She gestured for the monster to follow her as she flew closer to the ground and further down the rocky path.

"GRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The Beast chased after the Fairy Mage, running on all fours as it's only thought at this point was to crush the girl between its hands. Mira weaved around the rocks and through any obstacles in her way as The Beast just barreled through them with its superior momentum. She kept escaping out of The Beast's reach as they started approaching a narrow passage between two large rock points.

Atop the two points, Lisanna finished setting up the Explosive Lacrima for their trap. She looked up from her post and saw the top of The Beast's head over the trees. She planted the rest of the Lacrima before jumping off the side of the ledge. She held out her arms as they morphed with her Take-Over magic, "Animal Soul: Wings!"

Lisanna's arms changed into a pair of wings as she soared towards the top of the trees. She landed on a branch and deactivated her magic as she waited patiently for their plan to contiune.

Mira flew over the ground and approached her destination. She looked over her shoulder to catch a momentary glance of The Beast charging after her. She narrowed her eyes before looking back forward and constricting her wings to get a little more speed to her glide.

The Beast continued to chase after the woman wildly as it let out a heavy growl. It watched as the demon girl flew between the two cliffs and prepared to crush her while charging through the straight path. It ro-

The Beast immediately dug its hands and talons into the ground as it skidded through the ground. Mira stopped her escape as she looked back at the monster in surprise at its sudden halt. Lisanna and Elfman watched in confusion from their respective positions as The Beast raised its nose into the air.

It let out a low hum as it continued to sniff the night air. It caught the scent of something akin to explosive powder and stone/crystal resting above it. The Beast snarled before jumping forward and punched the base of the rock structure so hard that the entire formation shook. It was so violent, the Explosive Lacrima positioned on top jostled out of place and started falling through the air. Before they lit up...

*BOOM*

With all the shaking, the Explosive Lacrima detonated prematurely and lit the entire rock formation in a massive chain of explosions and smoke. The two rocky points broke apart and fell into the narrow pass. Lisanna and Elfman looked on in horror, "NEE-CHAN/MIRA-NEE!"

Mira clicked her teeth at the failure of their plan before speeding through the rest of the passage and away from the falling rocks. Mira heard something behind her and looked back to see The Beast jumping up on the cliff and running on its edge to keep up with her. Mira flew faster to try and exit the passage before the monster could cut her off and attack.

The Beast leaped off the rock and fell down towards Mira's intended exit. Mira sped up, barely evading The Beast and its full-body fall but still in range of the wind pressure. Mira was blown back by the force of its fall and she slid over the rocks. She pushed herself back up and glared at The Beast as it settled into the ground and glared at the girl.

It charged forward on all fours, "GRRRAAAHHHHHH!"

Mira pushed off the ground and flew at the charging monstrosity, "AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The two forces collided and caused a loud shockwave to emanated through the forest. It was so loud that Lisanna had to cover her ears after she had descended the tree and stood back on ground. Lisanna stumbled over to the edge of the cliff and watched in fear as her big sister battled The Beast. She covered her mouth, "Oh no."

"Lisanna!" The youngest sister turned around to see Elfman jog over to her before he started panting. He looked at the infighting his eldest sister was engaged in and took a step forward, "W-what happened? I heard The Beast yell, then the Lacrima exploded before it even got into position! Did you-"

Lisanna shook her head,"N-no, I didn't set them off! They blew up because they were shaken out of the set points!" Lisanna looked back to the fight, "The Beast just-I-I don't know! It looked like it was sniffing the air! I think it knew where the Lacrima were placed!"

"Damn!" Elfman looked at the massive monster in anger, "That thing has an amazing sense of smell. And it's smarter than we thought." Elfman started stepping forward to the edge with the idea of joining his sister in battle, "We're gonna have to-"

Lisanna grabbed her brother's arm, stopping his trudge forward and making him look back. But he was confused when he saw Lisanna look the other way, "Lisanna? What's-"

"Do you hear that?"

Elfman shut up and listened to the noise around them that wasn't blocked out by the fighting. He heard the sounds of dozens of hooves and paws pound against the surface. Lisanna and Elfman waited anxiously as the sounds grew louder and louder.

From out of the trees, hundreds of animals stampeded through the area and headed in one direction. Elfman grabbed Lisanna and dove off the cliff before they were trampled by the wild-life animals. The legion of animals charged through the bushes, knocking down trees and uprooting the earth beneath them as they all headed to one goal.

Elfman and Lisanna groaned as they pulled themselves back up and looked at the animals as they left. Elfman gingerly touched his shoulder as he was confused by the sudden appearance of the animals. He looked to his little sister, "What the hell was that?"

Lisanna shook her head, "I-I don't know." She thought for a moment, "They all looked so frightened...so adamant to-"

Lisanna's eyes widened in horror and her breath hitched, "Oh no."

"What?"

"That stampede!" Lisanna pointed towards its destination, "It's heading for the town!"

Elfman's looked at her in shock, "What?! Why are they heading towards the town?! They have no reason to!"

Lisanna looked over to The Beast, "It called them! It realized it was under attack and ordered all of the animals surrounding it to attack the town!" Lisanna looked back to the retreating horde of animals, "It must have thought that the people in town were the ones to call us to hurt it! It's striking back!"

"Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!" Elfman cursed as he gripped his hands tightly and gnashed his teeth. He closed his eyes before breathing in and exhaling slowly. He looked over to his sister, "Lisanna, get to the town. Evacuate the people. Get them out of the way before the animals wreck everything."

Lisanna looked at Elfman in worry, "What about you?"

Elfman held out his right arm as it changed into its Beast Arm: Iron Bull and clenched his fist. He started making his way over to his older sister, "I'm gonna help Nee-chan."

"Elf-niichan you can't! If you-"

"Don't argue! Just go!" He yelled while throwing out his hand for her to stay quiet and leave.

Lisanna stayed put for a moment as she struggled with the options. She looked away in shame before running towards the town and changing her arms into wings. She flew off after the pack of animals as Elfman ran towards The Beast.

"HA!"

Mira exclaimed as she uppercutted The Beast, making it stumble back from the force. They were both beaten and brusied, blood dripping down their mouths after severely beating each other. Mira hit hard, but The Beast's scales and body were extremely durable. She had been wailing on the damn thing for about five minutes and all she had to show for it was broken teeth and some shattered scales. She need to make more substantial damage.

"HA!"

Elfman punched the back of The Beast's perched legs and stunned it. Long enough for Mira to find an opening and charge into its jaw again and knock it off its foundation. The Beast landed on its back as Mira looked down to see her brother standing where The Beast once stood.

"Elfman! What the hell are you doing?!"

Elfman looked up at her, "I came to help! The plan failed so we need to stop this thing our own way!"

Mirajane looked around the area, "Where's Lisanna?!"

"She went to go warn the townspeople to run away before the stampede destroys everything!" Elfman punched his own palm, "Let's take this thing down!"

Mira didn't have any room to argue at this point so she just nodded and flew towards The Beast as it pulled itself up. Elfman dug his hand into the ground and pulled out a large boulder. He ran forward before chucking it at The Beast's head with all his might.

The stone landed against The Beast's face and caused it to stumble back in pain. Mira flew in and started to punch it over and over again, yelling as she felt each and every one of her punches make a crunch into its face.

"GRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The Beast struck Mira away and roared in primal anger at its beaten state. Elfman charged forward and tackled The Beast's leg, knocking it off its balance and almost tipping it over...

Before it slammed its leg and kicked Elfman back in anger. Elfman was hurt by the heavy kick before he looked up to see The Beast raising its arm and forming a fist. Elfman raised his arm to his right side to guard the attack before it crippled him. But the swing still hit him so hard that his Iron Bull dug into his face and ripped up the tissue beneath his eye.

Elfman was sent flying through the air and violently crashed into the stone surrounding them before he flopped on the ground. His magic deactivated and he laid motionless on the ground, eyes wide open and blood dripped down the right side of his face from the horrible gash going from his right eye down his cheek.

"ELFMAN!"

The Beast looked over to Mirajane and pounced on her, trying to crush her with its arms but finding resistance in Mira holding them. She struggled to push the heavy limbs back as her feet started to dig into the ground because of the massive weight. Mira couldn't push back any further in this position. She was at a disadvantage. She was running out of options. Mira glared up at The Beast...

She was going to have to use Sitri. She was running out of magic but maybe using her trump card could give her the upper hand long enough to defeat the monster. But in order for her to change, she had to come out of her Satan form. Mira tried to push back...

"GAH!"

Elfman circled his arms around The Beast's legs and tried to pull it away from his sister. He struggled to stand on his feet and everything was blurry from pain but...

He couldn't abandon her now.

Mira stared at him in shock, "Elfman! Get away from here! You can't fight anymore!"

"N-no!" Elfman continued to try and pull The Beast's leg away from his sister long enough to give her an opening but to no avail. He couldn't find the strength to fight anymore. He panted, "I-I can't leave you...I won't...n-not when you need me here."

"You can't do anything here! You're too hurt! Please!"

"I-I'll protect you...both of you...t-that's the job Mom and Dad left me with...I won't-"

Elfman looked up with blurry eyes to see that The Beast didn't even notice he had grabbed onto it. He wasn't even worthy of being acknowledged by this damn monster. All it had on its mind was to try and kill his sister. And he couldn't do anything.

Elfman looked up in horror before his head fell and his eyes were covered by his hair. He gripped The Beast's leg even tighter as his whole body started to glow, "Y-you bastard..."

Mira opened her eyes long enough to see Elfman being bathed in a bright light. She panicked, "Elfman no! Control yourself!"

"You-you think you can just hurt my sister...and I won't be able to stop you?!"

"Don't-"

"GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OF MY SISTER YOU BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR-"

Elfman's screamed changed from its angry tone to a feral, beastly roar. The Beast stopped applying weight as it saw a bright light coming off the ground near its leg. It turned around to see a small figure of pure light taking several steps back away from it. Before it started to grow in size until it was exactly the same height as The Beast.

The light faded away and standing opposite of the monster was an exact duplicate of it. Same massive size. Same body type. Same everything. The only difference was that the copy had an ivory mane instead if an ebony one. And underneath the duplicate's right eye was a fresh gash that still dripped with blood.

Mira looked on in horror as her brother had taken the form of The Beast. But the real Beast did not bend to his whim or follow his instructions. It was still the same. Which meant...

Elfman didn't control it.

She shook her head with horror evident in her eyes, "Oh god no."

The original Beast sniffed the air around Elfman's Take-Over form as it recognized the same smell from its body coming off from this reflection. It started to huff and growl as the white-haired Beast just stood completely still. They were motionless for a moment...

Until Elfman's Beast struck the other one across the face. It let out a loud roar as it continued to land blow after blow against the original. After several punches, the original grabbed the strike before it could land and countered with its own punches.

Mira watched as the two Beasts continued to trade blows. She was shocked to see both of them revert to just pure feral, instinctive bashing. Her brother wasn't even trying to apprehend the monster anymore, concerned only with beating it back.

"GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

The white-haired Beast momentarily gained the upper-hand with a powerful punch that knocked The Beast off its feet. Once the original Beast fell on its back, Elfman grabbed a massive boulder he had spotted off to the side and pulled it out of the ground. He held it overhead before slamming it down on The Beast's face.

And again. And again. Over and over until the rock started to crack apart from the stress and fall apart into rubble. In place, Elfman switched out to just repeatedly punching The Beast in the skull and add to the already horrendous wounds it had garnered from the continuous beatings. Elfman kept smashing The Beast's head until a squelching noise rang out through the area.

Mirajane watched in horror as Elfman's arms started to become coated in blood. The original Beast's body jumped up a few times with each punch before it laid on the floor lifeless. But Elfman just gave into his animal instincts and continued smashing until there was nothing but a mushy puddle. It was just overkill at this point.

Mira's voice hitched, "E-Elfman-"

"GRAAAH!"

"E-Elfman, stop-"

"GRRRRRAAAAHHHHH-"

"ELFMAN IT'S DEAD!"

The Take-Over Beast stopped pounding its fists into the bloody corpse and started panting heavily. It lifted its hulking body up off the deceased 'King of Monsters' as drops of blood fell from its hands. The scene was tense after the brutal execution as Mira took a step towards her brother. She looked up at his large back and worriedly asked, "Elfman?...If you can hear me, please-"

The Take-Over Beast swung out its fist and broke Mira's right arm, catching her by surprise as she tried to pierce the fog that was once his mind. She was sent flying through the trees and broke through several of them before she finally slowed down.

Mira gasped in pain as she looked down at her side. Her arm was broken like a twig, feeling and seeing where the fracture occurred and protruded against her skin. She spit up some blood before looking back up at the monster that was once her beloved little brother. The New Beast threw its head back-

"GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

########Hunter########

Naruto leaned back into his spot on the train and raised his feet to take up the rest of the space on the seat. There was barely anyone else in this car, he might as well take the luxury and relax. He put his arms behind his head and smiled as he enjoyed the restful position.

He loved peaceful moments like this. He was all pumped and ready for action and adventure when it came to going out on jobs but when there wasn't anything to do he loved to just relax like this. Sometimes when he was home he'd lie on the couch and take a nap after all the excitement at the guild.

Hell, sometimes Koyuki begged him to pick her up so she could sleep besides him. He thought that was just adorable. She always wanted to be right besides him whenever they were together. Reedus even captured a few moments of them peacefully napping together in his paintings.

Sometimes all the responsibilities of taking care of her piled up and became more troublesome. But those moments when she smiled up at him, happily cheered when he did something cool or when she giggled at her own little amusement made up for all the difficulties.

He was happy to have the little Senju girl as a baby sister.

Erza thought exactly the same. She spoiled the little brunette whenever she got the chance to with whatever she could. Candy. Sweets. Piggyback rides. You name it. She just adored Koyuki. And Koyuki adored Erza.

He had a little smile on his face as a mental image of everyone in the guild celebrating manifested. Those were the moments he cherished most in the guild. He couldn't wait to get back home.

He settled into his seat as he prepared to drift off into his thoughts.

A female in the same car gasped, "Look at that."

"Oh my god."

"What happened?"

Naruto opened one eye for a moment to see what they were all concerned about and spared a glance out the window. Before he sat up and stared out the window in shock.

A small town a few hundred meters away had a column of black smoke rising from it. There was a small horde of animals near the forest close to the train that appeared to be resting after a long run. And right in front of the train were several sets of civilians waving at it to stop.

The train came to a screeching halt, knocking all the passengers off there balance and having to grab something to hold them up. Every car opened up as the people near the train started coming onto the train.

One person looked at the people coming aboard, "What are you doing?!"

"W-we're sorry! We didn't mean to halt your train but our town was suddenly charged by a horde of animals!"

A man followed into the car, "Our homes were destroyed and everything's going up in flames!"

"Oh no!" Someone yelled in horror, "Was anybody hurt?!"

"No, thank god!" One of them said as they started waving towards their former town, "Luckily we had a Mage from Fairy Tail come and warn us beforehand!"

Naruto perked up at that and smiled. Someone from the guild was taking care of this. Then it won't be a problem if-

"But I don't know where the rest of them went! There were three of them but two of them are missing! We asked them to fight a monster that was causing everyone trouble but-"

*CRACK*

Everyone in the car was silenced as they jumped back in shock with the sound of shattering glass. They looked over to see one of the windows broken and glass spread out over the floor.

They looked back through the window to see the retreating back on a blond man in black. Sprinting faster than any normal human could even dream as he charged towards the burning town. He gritted his teeth as he had to get to the problem before it was too late.

########Hunter########

Lisanna flapped her wings as she flew over the tops of the trees. She had followed Elfman's orders and had told the townspeople to evacuate before it was too late. None of them believed her at first but when the sight of charging animals came into view they became far more cooperative.

But even though both Mirajane and Elfman were fighting against The Beast, Lisanna couldn't help this nagging sensation in the back of her head that something was wrong.

She saw a large dust cloud explode from the ground and Lisanna knew that's where she needed to be. She flew over the ground to see Mirajane changing back into her base form as The Beast slowly started marching over to her. She was holding her arm at a bad angle so Lisanna immediately knew she was hurt.

She landed on the ground and turned back to normal as she ran over to her sister. She kneeled in front of Mirajane as she positioned her body to cover her injured sister in case something went wrong, "Mira-Nee! What happened?! Wh-why is your arm-"

"Lisanna!" Mira said in a deathly serious tone as she looked up and panted while glaring at The Beast, "You need to get out of here and hide. This just became far more dangerous than we thought."

Lisanna shook her head, "I won't! I can't leave you with The Beast!" She looked around, "All we have to do is get Elf-niichan and run and we-"

"The Beast is dead."

Lisanna stopped talking and looked back her sister in confusion, "I-it's dead?" She slowly looked back up at the massive monster that was slowly trudging over to them. She made a loud gulp, "Then...what is that?"

"It's Elfman." Mira wheezed out as she tried to keep her vision clear, "He used a Full-Body Take-Over against The Beast and lost control. He killed it and now...he's rampaging."

"That's Elf-niichan?!" Lisanna yelled as she looked up at The New Beast in horror. On closer inspection, Lisanna noticed that this Beast didn't have the jet black mane as the original but instead a familiar white mane around its face and down its back. She realized that it really was her brother. And after realizing that, a sense of fear and dread grew inside her.

She looked back to Mira, "W-what do we do?"

"I have to stop him." Mira used her good arm to push herself off her knee to stand back up, "I'm gonna use Sitri to knock him back to his senses and-AH!" Mira fell back to her knees as the pain in her arm sent a shock through her body.

"You can't!" Lisanna grabbed Mira's shoulder to try and keep her steady, "You're hurt and you're tired from all the fighting. A-and if we try to force him out of this, it could hurt him! He might never be able to use magic again-"

"And that's worse than being a monster?!" Mira exclaimed at her little sister, revealing a look of desperation and uncertainty in her eyes as she could not think of a way to solve this situation. She shook her head, "If we don't do anything soon, whatever is left of Elfman will be completely swallowed away! All that will be left is The Beast!" Mira's voice caught for a second as she looked down, "I-I can't-"

The two sisters were silent as The New Beast finally arrived in front of them and stopped moving. Lisanna looked over her shoulder at the massive creature her brother had become. She closed her eyes before standing back up, getting Mira's attention as she looked up at her.

"I'll talk Elf-niichan down."

Mira's eyes widened and she reached out to Lisanna as she walked away, "No! Lisanna you can't! Elfman might already be too far gone! It's too dangerous!"

"Nonsense." Lisanna said nervously as she walked up to her brother and tried to calm her nerves, "Mom and Dad used to help us if we couldn't control our magic. It wasn't too hard."

"We aren't Mom and Dad! They had years of practice with stuff like this!" Lisanna stopped moving and Elfman's Beast form looked down at her as Mira could only watch, "Lisanna!"

"Elf-niichan..." Lisanna said in a soft tone as she gave her brother an honest smile, "I can't believe you finally got to use your Full-Body magic. I'm so proud of you, I knew you could do it." She fiddled with her hands a little as she tried to think of what to say, "You probably had to use it because you wanted to protect Mira-Nee, right? Hehe, that's just like something you would do."

Lisanna wiped a tear from her eyes as she looked up at her rampaging brother, "I'm sorry I couldn't help fight, Elf-niichan. Maybe...if I was stronger...you wouldn't have had to risk your life to stop The Beast." Her voice broke and started to waver as she let out a quick sob at her failure to help her siblings, "I'm sorry. T-this is my fault. I'm so sorry Elf-niichan."

Mira watched as everything was silent besides Lisanna's voice calming down Eflman's Beast. Lisanna swallowed her fear and shook her head, "But it's okay now...you did it Elf-niichan. You saved us." She smiled up at him as The New Beast let out some soft hums, "I know you can come out of this. Because your my Big Brother. You can do anything."

Lisanna opened her arms wide for a hug and looked up at Elfman, "So c'mon. Come back home. Let's all go back to the guild together. Okay?"

Everything was silent. Lisanna kept her arms open as Elfman's Beast form didn't make a single move. Mirajane looked on in surprise as Lisanna had succeeded. She had stopped Elfman. She brought him back. Mira felt a sense of hope grow in her chest...

Until the Beast swung through with his arm and sent a limp Lisanna flying over the trees and out of sight in an instant.

Despair overwhelmed Mirajane. Her heart sunk deep into her chest like a block of lead. Her eyes constricted as she watched her precious little sister being sent through the air like a rag doll. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she cried out-

"LISSSANNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

########Hunter########

She couldn't feel anything.

No pain. No relief. No weightlessness or bright light.

The last thing she remembered was Elf-niichan had changed into The Beast and smacked her across the mountain like a broken toy.

Was that it?

Was...was she dead?

"Sh...u...na!"

What was that?

"Li...it...e!"

Was someone talking to her?

"Lisan...'t die on..."

She...could hear something.

"Lisanna! Open your eyes dammit, c'mon! I'm not losing you too!"

Lisanna's eyelids started to weakly peel open as all she could see was a single blur of color. Her eyesight started to focus again as she started noticing shapes and the surroundings. And finally, the amorphous blob that was crouching besides her started to come into full detail...

Lisanna barely moved her head as she looked over to the anxious blond, "N...Naru...to?"

Naruto looked up from where he was using the Sky sword to heal her wounds and smiled in relief when he heard her say his name. He leaned forward and held her cheek as he looked into her weak eyes, "Lisanna! Oh thank god you're okay! Look at me alright! You're gonna be fine! Your ribs are broken but I've taken care of the worst of it! You need to rest, okay?!"

Lisanna blinked slowly before she gave him a single nod. Naruto nodded back before concentrating on fixing the younger girl's side. He was running through town before he caught sight of the youngest Strauss sibling flying through the air. He didn't have any time to think as he leapt up and caught her before she could land. She had a horrible gash in the left side of her torso and some broken bones but he was able to fix most of it.

Naruto knew that there was still trouble and he wanted nothing more than to go help. But right now he knew that Lisanna needed his help the most. The last time someone was lying in front of him with horrible wounds, he couldn't heal them no matter how hard he tried.

This time, he didn't care if the sword took all of his magic. He was going to help his friend through this.

Lisanna was still in shock from the severe trauma and wounds but she willed herself to talk, "M-Mira-Nee...Elf-n-niichan..."

"I know Lisanna! I'll go help Mira and Elfman when I'm done here!" Naruto said as he looked back down at the task at hand, "Right now I have to-"

Lisanna's hand limply landed on his as he looked up to see her eyes start to water. She pleaded, "Please..."

Naruto looked down at the healing sword and thought about what to do. She was stable at this point, all he was doing now was trying to relieve the pain and heal her wounds a little faster. But if she was so badly injured and still believed her siblings were in worse danger than her...

Naruto grabbed Lisanna's hand and placed the Sky sword in it before lying it softly on her chest. He leaned over to her, "Can you still channel your magic?"

She gave a weak hum to confirm.

He pointed at her hand, "Channel your magic through the sword. It will start to glow green and help with your wounds." He stood back up but still in the girl's sight, "I'll be right back, I promise."

Naruto tentatively took some steps back while still keeping an eye on the poor girl. When he saw that the sword started glowing green, he turned around and dashed back towards the town.

########Hunter########

Mirajane stumbled out of the forest and towards the burning town as she held her broken arm. She shuffled her feet a little longer before her legs gave out and she fell on her knees. From behind her, she could hear the sound of The New Beast chasing after her.

But she couldn't react. She couldn't do anything. She couldn't even activate her magic anymore. Her entire system was in shock. There were still tears coming down her face.

Lisanna was dead. She had watched her little sister get killed right before her eyes. She was doing her damnedest to save their brother and bring him back but the Beast Take-Over was just too strong. And now Lisanna was somewhere else, alone, covered in blood and writhing in pain as her life faded from her eyes.

And Elfman...he had to be gone now. Trapped in the farthest recesses of his own mind as his entire body was controlled by the King of Monsters. He had become nothing more than a mindless animal that followed their basic instincts only. He was even forced to kill his little sister. Her brother was no more.

And it was all her fault.

Mira looked up at the night sky in despair as she couldn't bring herself to run anymore.

This was her idea. She suggested they all come on this job together. She made her little brother and sister come on a job they weren't ready for yet. Elfman was gone. Lisanna was dead. And it was all her fault. She had trained for years...fought to the last ounce of strength...promised so many people that she would keep protecting what she cherished...

And now it was all gone.

She was all alone.

The New Beast emerged from the forest and started running at the fallen Strauss. Mira didn't react in time as The New Beast's fist came down on her-

"HA!"

Naruto came flying in and landed a devastating punch into The Beast's jaw, breaking a few of its teeth and knocking it away from a shocked Mira. Naruto skidded against the ground before he chambered his fist and dashed forward again.

He planted his Armor covered fist into The Beast's gut and planted his feet into the ground, "Flying Gauntlet!"

The Beast was sent flying backwards as the concentrated magic attacked moved through its body. Naruto stood strong as he watched the monster bounce off the ground and away from them. He turned around to see Mira looking up at him with empty eyes. Some sense came back into her mind, "N-Naru-"

"No time!" He picked her up in a bridal carry before sprinting away from the recovering monster. He ran through the burning town and into the other forest across from it. He ran a little longer until he knew he was a safe distance away.

He placed Mira's feet back on the ground as he looked over to the burning village. He exhaled in relief and gave a soft chuckle, "Okay, I think we're safe. That thing shouldn't come chasing after us if we're-"

Before he could finish, Mira dug her face into his chest and gripped his shirt with her good hand. He looked down at her, "Mira?"

"I-I couldn't do anything Naruto. They were right besides me...I could have done something but-but..." She looked up at her blond friend as her pain and sadness filled her eyes and tears spilled down her face, "They're gone! I couldn't save them! I tried so hard but it didn't mean anything!" She screamed and sobbed as she couldn't control herself anymore, "Lisanna's dead! She-she-"

Naruto held Mira's cheeks so she looked up at him and said in a strong voice, "Lisanna isn't dead."

Mira's eyes widened as she tried to understand what he meant. She sobbed a little, "W-what-"

"M...Mira...Nee..."

Mirajane immediately turned around to see Lisanna pulling herself up against a tree to see her older sister. She faintly said in relief, "L-Lisanna?" Mira lost all control as she covered her mouth, her eyes welled up with tears again before she ran forward and enveloped her sister in a hug with one arm.

Mira pulled back and looked over Lisanna, "B-but how-"

"Naruto...he..."

"Lisanna is still hurt." Naruto said as he kneeled by her side and took the Sky sword out of Lisanna's feeble hands. He handed it over to Mira and looked her in the eye, "Mira, I know you're in pain but Lisanna still needs treatment. You have to use this sword and help her, okay?"

Mira looked at the sword placed in her hand before she narrowed her eyes and gripped it tightly. She turned and placed the sword against her little sister's chest and sent a wave of magic through its handle.

Naruto stood back up before unsheathing his Kokuryū and gripping the handle tightly in anger, "I'll go take care of that monster." He started making his way towards the town, "If that thing thinks it can hurt my friends then-"

"Naruto don't!" Mira yelled as she got his attention before it was too late. She looked down in shame and stated, "That monster...it's Elfman."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as he looked back towards town where he could see the massive monster's form reaching over the houses. He looked back at the S-Class Mage, "That thing?! That's Elfman?! What happened?!"

"Elfman tried to Take-Over a monster we were sent here to scare away. But it was too powerful for him to control and now he's going on a rampage. He can't control himself. I know it might seem too late but..." Mira's shoulder shook as she looked up at him with pleading eyes, "Naruto, he's my brother. Please..."

Naruto looked between the two girls and the former brother of the Strauss family currently roaring like an animal. He looked down at the blade in his hand before he sheathed it and sent it to his Requip space for good measure. He cracked his knuckles and lessened his neck, "Stay here...I'll bring him back."

Mira jumped up in surprise and looked at the blond's back, "Naruto, please! To bring him back at this point, you would have to try and talk him back to sanity! And even Lisanna couldn't do that! You have to capture him so we can-"

"Mira." He interrupted her plead as he kept looking forward at the town. He stated over his shoulder, "You can trust me, remember?"

It was just a simple statement. But what it brought back to, their conversation on the boat and their promise to always rely on each other, slated her fears and placed a reassurance in her heart. She nodded her head before Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed.

########Hunter########

The Hunter of Fairy Tail landed back in town as he stood several meters away from the beastly Elfman. He clicked his tongue and furrowed his eyes in annoyance, "I said all that, but what the hell am I gonna do now?"

Elfman hadn't noticed his presence yet so he had a moment to think. He shrugged his shoulder, "Might as well start with the basics." He cupped his hands around his mouth, "Elfman! Are you in there?! It's me, Naruto! Wake up man! This has gone on long enough!"

Elfman turned around in place, spotting Naruto and furrowing his eyes. He dug his hands under the ground and pulled out a giant slab of rock that he threw at the blond with deadly force. Naruto reacted, "Should've guessed that!"

He dove out of the way and kept his distance as Elfman continued to throw more rocks at him. Naruto ran through the burning wrecks that were once homes as he tried to think of another method to stop his guildmate.

Naruto's hand glowed and the Earth dragon cleaver appeared in its place. He jumped over some wreckage and into the air as he headed towards the monster. He yelled and slammed the sword into the ground, causing two large slabs of rock to pop out of the dirt and pin Elfman in his spot.

Naruto jumped and landed on the rock pin before grabbing the horn on Elfman's head and yelling, "Elfman! Dammit, wake up! You need to come back and-"

"GRAAAHH!"

Elfman broke out of his restraints and swung his free arm at Naruto as he jumped back for safety. He shattered the rest of the rock holding him down and roared at the blond that clicked his tongue. Naruto angrily scoffed, "Okay, should've known it wasn't gonna be that easy."

Naruto's sword changed into a darker, more horrifying design. The Shadow sword started to emanate a black energy as he gripped it and sprinted towards the wild Elfman, "Let's try this!"

Elfman gave a wide punch in an attempt to knock the whiskered Mage off his feet but the blond just slid under his fist and between his legs. He swung the sword in a circle while leaving a wave of Shadow magic to restrain Elfman's legs, "Black Shroud!"

The crazed Strauss brother tried to grab the blond when he jumped back up on the other side but found his movement halted by the swarming black entity. He tried to pull it off his legs but to no prevail.

Naruto swung the Shadow blade over the rampaging Elfman and covered him in another Black Shroud. The magic stilled and everything besides Elfman's head was covered in a sheet of Shadow magic. The Take-Over Mage roared as he tried to pull himself off the ground and attack the blond Fairy Mage standing besides him.

"All right, you're gonna stay here while me and the girls try to figure out how to help you." Naruto sent his sword back into his Requip while running a hand through his hair. How the hell did everything come to this? Mira and Lisanna were beaten worse than he had ever seen. And Elfman had nearly lost himself to The Beast. And how the hell were they gonna bring him out of this? Maybe if they could bring him back to Magnolia, Jiji could find some way to bring him back.

Crap, this was going from bad to-

"GRRRAAHHHHH!"

Naruto turned around to see Elfman bash his horned head over and over into the ground. He kept injuring himself as the shroud started to break and reveal parts of his scaly body. Naruto stepped back in surprise as Elfman continued to roar and struggle his way to freedom. His body was already damaged from fighting the original Beast, Mirajane in her Satan form and taking a surprise haymaker from Naruto, yet he still pushed himself. That's when Naruto realized that he didn't care about his physical state anymore.

He had become an animal. Only concerned with killing that which threatened his survival.

Elfman broke out of his shadowy restraints and let out a roar that shook everything around them. He got into a predatory stance as his cold eyes locked onto Naruto.

Naruto had an angry scowl as he ditched his swords and clenched his fists. He didn't want to resort to actual fighting but it looked like he wasn't gonna restrain the rampaging Take-Over Mage in any other way besides total knockout. Elfman made a mad dash towards Naruto as his Wind chakra swirled around his fist.

He punched and sent an unbelievably quick and compressed ball of air at the charging monster's shoulder. And again at the ankle. Hand. Forehead. Talon. With a loud yell, Naruto sent wave after wave of Storm Fists at the uncontrollable Elfman as he couldn't do anything but try and protect himself from the blond man's attacks. These attacks specialized more on speed than power but when he sent a barrage of them that blocked everything else in sight he was expecting results.

Elfman struggled to stand against the dozens of attacks as the ground around him was obliterated by the wind attacks. Naruto kept punching until his arms started to slow down and he could no longer see Elfman within the cloud. He stood up straight and listened for any sign that the Strauss monster was still conscious.

"Grah."

Naruto heard a weak growl come from the center of the dust cloud and a grim look came upon his face. He had hoped that all those attack would help knock him down...but apparently his durable scales could still hold against some really strong attacks.

Naruto furrowed his eyes and decided he had to end this now. He was gonna tackle him into the ground and hold him there until he could knock him out. He got into a long stance and braced his shoulder for impact. His Armor surrounded him and Wind picked up under his feet. He pounced forward at the speed of sound, "Storm Step!"

Naruto cratered the ground he kicked off of and soared at the dust cloud. He prepared to tackle Elfman's beaten form-

But Elfman charged out of the dust cloud first and rammed Naruto's oncoming form with his bulky shoulder. Naruto's head crashed against Elfman's durable shoulder and the two opposing forces blew off each other. Naruto came in at an unbelievable speed but with Elfman's current weight and form, he evened out the opposing momentum.

Elfman's shoulder had a horrible wound on the joint where Naruto had slammed himself against. It was severely cracked and there was blood spurting out from the fresh wound. And Naruto flew back in the air with a pained look on his face. He felt like his head was just spilt open against a giant rock as he felt blood seep down his scalp. He prepared to land-

But felt his legs get crushed together and held in a strong grip. He looked down to see Elfman had grabbed him out of mid-air and held him overhead before slamming him into the ground. Again and again and again. Naruto grunted in pain every time he was slammed into the rocks and dirt.

After a minute, Elfman lifted up the bloody blond as he was no longer responsive to his attacks. Elfman adjusted him so that he was pinned between both of his hands. Elfman squeezed the whiskered Mage between his hands and roared as he was sure he had killed the last remaining threat to his existence.

"You...happy now, dumbass?"

Elfman's roar was interrupted by the weak, wheezy question asked by the blond with blood trickling down his face. He let out a weak chuckle as he pulled his head up to look at Elfman, "Congratulations, you did what monsters do. Rampage and destroy. But hey, at least you were able to keep with the Fairy Tail guarantee and cause a little collateral damage. Great job. And look, you finally got that Full-Body Take-Over you always wanted. I hope your proud because let me tell you something..." Naruto slowly raised his hand to grab Elfman's horn.

"YOU'RE FUCKING PATHETIC!"

Naruto yelled as he slammed his forehead against Elfman's and locked his angry scowl with the Strauss boy's empty white eyes. He exclaimed, "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED ELFMAN?! TO BECOME A MINDLESS MONSTER AND TRY TO KILL YOUR OWN SISTERS?! BECAUSE IF YOU DID, MISSION FUCKING ACCOMPLISHED!" He pulled down the massive Beast's head so he could glare even deeper into his empty eyes, "MIRA AND LISANNA ARE SO SCARED RIGHT NOW THEY AREN'T EVEN SURE YOU CAN COME BACK! BUT THEY DIDN'T GIVE UP ON YOU! AND THIS IS HOW YOU WANT TO PROTECT THEM?! RAMPAGING THROUGH THE TOWN LIKE AN ANIMAL?!"

Naruto coughed up a little blood after all the yelling and struggled to talk again. But after a moment he looked back at Elfman, "Didn't you want to be the man of the family? Someone that could protect your sisters after losing your parents? Mira took on the responsibility all by herself because she didn't want either of you to be afraid. And Lisanna always does her best because she wants to prove herself to you and Mirajane. But is this what you're gonna do? Give up and lose to a damn animal? Just like that? That isn't how a real man fights dammit!"

"You better come back to us you stupid bastard. Because you can't leave your sisters alone like this just yet." He shook his head in pain, "No way in hell."

It was silent between the corrupted Take-Over Mage and the bloody blond as Naruto's words hung in the air for a moment. Naruto let go of Elfman's horns as he didn't feel his ribs being stressed upon by the two hands crushing him.

Small pupils reappeared in Elfman's white eyes as for a moment, some clarity formed in the fog. Elfman stuttered, "N...Naruto?"

The grip weakened and Naruto fell back down to his feet. Elfman took several steps back as his large form was covered in a bright light. The form of The Beast crumbled away and in its place was a wounded, bloody Elfman. After the last of the Take-Over magic left his body, he stumbled back and held the gash under his right eye.

He groaned in pain before looking up and staring at everything in sight. The town was abandoned and left to burn in a fire. The ground around them was destroyed and uprooted. And his fellow Fairy Mage was using his knees to support himself as he was panting.

Elfman pulled his hand off his face and looked at the blood that stained his shaky form. His mouth opened and closed as he tried to find the right words to say. Before looking at Naruto in horror...

"What...what did I do?"

########Hunter#######

"Hey Happy, do you wanna take a job today?"

The little blue cat looked over to his closest friend as he floated by his head, "Huh? What brought that on?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders while his hands were behind his head. He let out a bored grunt, "I don't know. I haven't taken a job yet this week and I'm kinda bored." He pulled his arms down and grinned, "I need some excitement!"

"Well why didn't we take a job yesterday then?" Happy questioned as he touched his cheek with his paw.

Natsu just looked away, "I just didn't really feel like it at the time."

"Oh~, I get it." Happy said in a cheeky fashion as his smiled twirled in a nosy fashion, "You didn't wanna go yesterday cause your were worried about Lisanna, right?" He chuckled before giving an annoying grin at the Dragon-Slayer, "You like her~."

"I do not!" Natsu yelled as he tried to grab Happy who effortlessly flew between the gaps of his arms. He growled angrily before chasing after the blue cat, "Come back here you little bastard! You've got a beating come for ya!"

"Hahaha! You like her! You like her! You-GAH!" Happy was tackled to the ground as the two friends rolled against the pavement. They finally stopped and Natsu had Happy in a headlock.

He smirked, "Punishment time!" He started giving the little animal a noogey and laughing maniacally the whole time.

Happy squirmed in discomfort, "NO! NOOOOOOO! THIS IS CRUEL AND UNUSUAL! HELP! SOMEONE!"

"Ahahahaha! No one can help you now! I-"

Natsu stopped in the middle of his rough-housing and looked up to the entrance of the guild. He spotted most of their guildmates crowding around the front of the hall. He and Happy looked between each other in confusion as they pushed themselves back up and started making their way in.

Natsu heard a bunch of them whispering between themselves as he tried to make his way through the mob. He weaved and nudged some of them out of the way until he came out the other end.

Sitting at the table was Levy, Cana, Bisca and Koyuki as they all sat around Lisanna. The youngest Take-Over Mage had bandages wrapped all over her chest and up her neck, arms and legs. She had a large bandaid on her cheek and crutches lying right besides her to help her stand up.

Sitting away from everyone else was a similarly bandaged up Elfman. He had a patch around the right side of his face and he looked completely distraught. Some of the other members had tried to get a response out of him but he was just so...defeated.

Lisanna noticed another presence and looked up to see the horrified faces of Natsu and Happy looking straight at her. She was silent for a moment before she gave them a weak smile, "Hey, did you two make up like I said?"

Natsu took a step forward as Happy flew up and stood on the table to better address her. He looked up at the white-haired girl, "Lisanna, what happened?"

Lisanna's eyes grew from weak to dark and faded as she hung her head. They started to water and she shook her head, "Something...bad."

Natsu saw as everyone else was worried about the girl but wanted to give her some space. But he took a step forward and kneeled by her side, grabbing her shoulder to get her attention. Lisanna looked over to Natsu and saw a soft look in his eyes as he tried to console the sad girl.

Lisanna felt tears gather in her eyes and she leaned her head against his shoulder before quietly sobbing. Natsu could do nothing else but wrap her in a hug and just let her cry. So that's exactly what he did.

########Hunter########

Mira, Erza and Makarov were all sitting in the back room as the bandaged up S-Class gave her report on the request. Her right arm was in a cast and sling to keep all movement to a minimum as Mira looked down at her lap. Erza had a sad look on her face as she looked at the distressed Mira lean back in her chair. Makarov sighed and ran his hand through his beard. He looked at the young Stauss girl, "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Mira gave a solemn nod as she fiddled with her chair arm, "Yeah, if Naruto didn't get there in time to help then..." She just shook her head, "I don't know what would've happened."

Erza stood off the desk she was leaning in and walked over to Mira's side, "How are the others taking this?"

"Lisanna's still a little frightened. She had a near-death experience trying to save Elfman. And I think she blames herself for what happened because she couldn't help us. And Elfman..." Mira slouched in her chair and covered her face with her hand. She pulled back, "He hasn't said a single word since we left. I don't know what's going through his mind."

Erza saw the conflict in Mira's eyes and held the gothic girl's shoulder tenderly. Mira looked up at her as Erza kneeled down besides her, "I'm sorry Mira. I really am."

Mira looked at the hand on her shoulder and gently grasped it with her own. She gave the red-head a thankful look, "Thanks Erza."

Erza gave a small smile in return. Makarov stood up on the desk and before jumping back on the floor, "Well, you can come and ask if you need anything. Take some time to work this out and you can come back to take a job when you feel you are ready." Makarov reassured the young lady with a kind smile.

"Actually Master..." Mira looked at the little Mage for a moment before shaking her head, "I think...I'm gonna take a break from job requests for a while."

Erza and Makarov looked between each other in confusion. They looked back over to the Strauss girl as Makarov inquired, "Are you sure Mira? You can take a break for as long as you want but I didn't think-"

"I'm sure." Mira interrupted as she looked down at her guild master with a firm nod. She couldn't tell them that since the accident, she couldn't even activate her Satan Soul powers anymore because she still wanted to keep an image. But the idea of going back out on jobs so soon after what happened...it just scared her.

Makarov saw the doubt in her eyes and understood what she was trying to say. He nodded, "Of course. I understand."

Mira gave him a grateful look and closed her eyes for a moment of peace.

The door slammed open and Gray charged in, "Jii-San!"

Makarov looked over to the Ice-Make Mage, "What is it?"

"It's Elfman! He's-he's gone!"

Mira jumped out of her chair, "What?!"

"We looked away for a minute and he was just gone! He isn't anywhere in the guild! We don't know where he is!"

Mira worried about her little brother and scowled her face, "You idiot." She sprinted past Gray and through the guild as she made her way into town.

########Hunter########

Elfman calmly walked through town as he tried to avoid any unnecessary attention from anybody. Of course, he was walking through a busy street with a bandage and bandaid over the stitches under his right eye so there were a few stares. But a least he had his outfit on so he nobody could see the bandages over his body.

Elfman stopped in the middle of his walk and looked back in the direction of his guild. It was currently out of sight due to all the buildings in its way but that didn't matter. Elfman wasn't going to come back.

He was too ashamed to take a step inside that guild.

He was too ashamed to even go home.

Hell, he couldn't even look in his sisters' general direction anymore without imagining what he did to them. To him it was all just one big blur. He couldn't remember a single detail of what he had done or why he did it. But all that mattered was that it happened.

He broke Mirajane's arm and beat her around while she tried to control him from hurting himself. He had nearly killed Lisanna when she tried to communicate to him through all of his madness. And he had hurt Naruto while the powerful S-Class stopped him from completely losing himself before it was too late.

He just wanted to disappear. He never wanted to cause trouble for his sisters and everyone else ever again. Maybe, if he just faded out of sight...all of their problems would go away as well. Elfman rounded a corner as he made his way to the town's exit.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Elfman stopped and looked up at the lamp post to see Naruto hanging upside down and looking at him. He pulled his feet from the metal and landed in front of Elfman before turning around and crossing his arms, "I don't think a guy that just went through what you did should be up and moving just yet."

"What about you?" Elfman noted the bandages over Naruto's forehead and around his jaw after the fighting he had done.

Naruto shrugged, "Nah, this ain't the first time by brain's been bounced around in my head. I'm used to it." He looked at Elfman, "Where're you going?"

"Just walking out."

"Really?" Naruto looked behind him towards the town's gate, "Because to me, it looks like you're trying to leave town."

Elfman looked at the blond before averting his eye, "Well maybe that's for the best."

"Are you just going to leave Elfman?" Naruto asked in a cold fashion as he looked at Elfman dissapointedly, "Just like that?"

"If it makes it easier for them then yes, I will." Elfman tried to move past the blond but he just raised his arm in the larger man's way. Elfman looked down at Naruto as he looked up.

"I'm not letting you get past me."

Elfman took a deep breath, "Naruto, move."

"No."

"Please."

"I won't."

"Just let me get past!" Elfman tried to force his way past Naruto's arm. But just when the thing holding him back moved, Elfman felt a fist dig into the center of his chest. He gagged before falling on his knees and coughing, clutching his chest as he felt all the air escape his lungs.

Elfman struggled to pull himself up and looked at the black boots that stood in front of him. He couldn't find the strength to pull his head back any further and just laid his head on the pavement. He shook, "What am I supposed to do?"

He pounded his fist against the concrete and struggled, "I've never seen them so...scared. Not even after our parents die did they ever look so frightened to see someone before." He stayed quiet for a moment and shook his head, "I don't know what to do. When I look at them, I'm just so...scared! I think about what I did to them and how I almost ruined everything! For what?! So I can get 'stronger'?! So I can 'prove myself'?! My 'pride'?!" He yelled, "I'm pathetic! I'm a joke!"

"I don't know what to do." Elfman sobbed as some tears dripped onto the sidewalk, "I can't think straight anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I think about what I did. I-I don't-" he broke down and lost his voice for a moment as the image of Lisanna and Mira dead at his hands flashed in his head. He sputtered, "What do I do Naruto? I don't know what to do."

He wasn't really expecting an answer from the blond, but he needed to say this. He wanted someone else to know he really was trying to think of something to do. But every time he did, he came up short.

Naruto grabbed Elfman by the collar, jerked his head up and lifted the Take-Over Mage so his watery, surprised eyes looked into his. Naruto glared at Elfman, "You stand up...and you make it right."

Elfman's eyes were wide as Naruto kept his focus, "I've been in your position before Elfman. I've questioned myself. Doubted myself. I've done stuff I couldn't move past. And I've even considered bailing out before. Because it hurt too much to come back and see everyone so happy when you feel so out of place." Naruto's eyes momentarily softened as he looked at the younger man in understanding, "I didn't know what to do. I never did. I'm just too afraid. But you know what..."

"You can't let it control you."

Naruto lowered his arms so Elfman was lying back on his knees and loosened his grip on his collar. Naruto let his hands fall to his side, "I couldn't live with myself knowing I made a mistake without trying to confront the people I hurt. I thought I could run away...but it isn't that easy Elfman. You have to live with your mistake and your past because they will always follow you. But you can accept what happened...and try to make up for it." Naruto walked forward until he was standing besides the distraught Strauss man and grabbed his shoulder, "I know it might hurt...but it's time to face your mistakes buddy. That's what a real man would do."

The air was still as everything was silent between the two mages.

"Elfman! Elfman, where are you?!" Mira came running past the corner in search of her brother. And she stopped when she saw Naruto standing next to her brother as he had fallen to the ground. She looked between them before landing on the blond, "What happened?"

Lisanna came around the corner next as she had heard Mirajane stop calling for their missing sibling. She looked at the scene in front of her and didn't know what to say.

Naruto just silently walked away from the crestfallen man and over to Mira and Lisanna's side. He motioned his head to the male Strauss before walking around the corner. Lisanna and Mira looked between each other and then over to Elfman. Mira took a step forward, "Elfman?..."

"I'm sorry." Elfman finally said as his shoulders sank. "I'm sorry for everything Nee-chan, Lisanna. I-I thought I could help you. I thought I was strong enough to handle The Beast and my magic but...I wasn't. And it wasn't bad enough that I screwed up the mission...I..." Elfman sobbed a little and tried to catch his voice again, "I hurt you both doing it. I almost killed you both because of my pride. And I can't ever make up for that. But I'm sorry. I'm..."

Elfman felt something hit the back of his head and he grabbed it in pain before looking behind him. Lisanna was holding one of her crutches like a bat as Mira looked at her little sister in surprise. Lisanna started to beat him with it, "L-Lisanna-"

"Idiot! Dumbass! Moron! Jerk! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Lisanna yelled loudly as she kept hitting her brother with the crutch and he tried to protect himself. After a few more whacks, Lisanna fell to her knees as well and had her eyes covered by her hair. She sniffed, "I-I-"

"I thought we lost you!" Lisanna cried as she looked up at Elfman with tears spilling from her eyes. She grabbed his shirt, "You fought Mira-Nee a-and I thought you were gone! I was so scared! I thought we were never gonna see you again!" She looked up at Elfman with pleading eyes and shook her head, "Please-please Elf-niichan, don't do that again! Don't scare us like that!"

Before he could answer, Mira enveloped them both in a tight hug and buried her face in their shoulders. They looked at her in surprise as her shoulder started to shake, "You're both idiots. Stupid, stupid idiots. Risking your lives...almost dying...I-I thought I lost both of you." She pulled her head back to reveal the tears going down her cheeks, "I thought I was alone! And I've never felt so afraid before! Please...don't do that to me again! If I lost you two-then I'd-"

Elfman and Lisanna couldn't hold back their tears and held their oldest sister in a tight hug. All three siblings screamed and cried as they embraced each other after their horrible nightmare had passed.

Naruto leaned against the wall around the corner as he smiled while the three of them cried. It was hard, but at least they weren't bottling it up anymore. He could tell. He was an expert when it came to that field. He pushed himself off the wall and decided to walk back to the guild to tell everyone they were fine.

But of course they were fine. They were together.

They were still a family.

########Omake: Their Accomplishments, Our Goals########

"Ugh!" Naruto grunted as he sat at the table and slammed his head into the wood. Gray and Cana were the only other people at the table so they looked between themselves in confusion.

Gray sat besides the tired blond and leaned over to him, "Naruto? Are you okay man? You seem...kinda out of it."

"I'm tired. So tired." He pulled his head back and rested on his chin while looking over to his friend, "The last mission I took required me to stay up all night to watch for robbers. I'm so drained I can't bring myself to do anything else!"

"Well here." Cana slid a mug of booze over to his side and lifted her own, "This always does the trick for me. Give it a try."

Naruto and Gray sent a dry look between each other before Naruto pushed the mug away from him. He shook his head, "No thanks. I've seen what that does to you, Gildarts and Jiji. It ain't pretty."

"Yeah. Plus..." Gray looked at Naruto, "I don't wanna know how you would be when you are drunk. You're kinda crazy as is so adding booze to that equation would..."

"Be bad, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto and Gray nodded between themselves as Cana just scoffed and picked the full mug up. She looked at them in disappointment before chugging the whole thing in a minute.

Naruto just folded his arms and rested his head, "I think I'm gonna *yawn* take a nap. Reenergize."

Gray shrugged his shoulder before going back to his meal, "Whatever man. Good night."

Naruto enjoyed those few moments of blissful peace until-

"Hey guys! Look at this!" Levy's voice got everyone to look at her as she pulled out today's paper. She placed it on the table and pointed to the main article, "Look! Look!"

Everybody except Naruto started crowding around and looking at the paper. Lisanna asked, "What is it?"

"They just appointed a new member into the Wizard Saints! It's all over the news!"

"Who is it?"

"Someone from Lamia Scale!" Levy read the name so she didn't screw up, "'Iron Rock' Jura Neekis."

Naruto's ears perked up at the name.

"Jura Neekis?" Erza crossed her arms as she thought of the name before nodding, "Oh yes, I've heard of him. He's apparently supposed to be an extremely powerful and competent Mage. And very respectable too."

Mira raised an eyebrow before smirking, "I bet I could take him."

"No you couldn't."

"A new Wizard Saint? You mean like the same thing Jii-chan is?" Natsu asked as Levy nodded in agreement. Natsu perked up, "Oh man, I wanna fight him!"

"Calm down you idiot, that guy would probably kick your ass in an instant."

"Well, I'll never know until I try!"

"Geez, when you think Wizard Saint, you think of some old fart that's had the title for years. But this guy got it so quick. That's cool." Cana took a swig of her drink, "What is he, like Gildarts' age? Or Mahiro's?"

"Um...it says here he's..." Levy looked through the details before grimacing and letting out a little chuckle, "25."

"What?!" They all exclaimed as they looked at the provided picture. Gray pointed at it in disbelief, "But he's bald! What 25-year old dude is bald?!"

Makarov watched all his kids argued about the article until Naruto walked up and placed an S-Class request in front of him. Makarov looked down at it and whistled, "That looks like a tough one Naruto. You sure you wanna take it after just coming back-"

"Smug bastard."

Makarov blinked in confusion when he heard the blond mumble that. He tilted his head, "Huh?"

"I bet right now that bald jerk is laughing it up in his guild. Enjoying the fact that he pulled one over on me." Naruto had a vicious grin on his face while he cracked his knuckles, "Well enjoy it while it lasts Jura. I'm gonna show you who the real best is."

Naruto pulled the request and sprinted out of the guild, "I'll show you what's what, Magic Head!"

Everyone watched him as he laughed and ran down the street. Everyone blinked in surprise as they heard him cackle like a maniac and scare everyone else in his way.

"What was that about?"

########Hunter########

Done

I only have two more chapters until we reach canon. And that's only because I have two more things I need to address before we can bring in everyone's favorite Celestial Spirit Mage.

I'm nervous about the next chapter. Because I want it to be great.

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Thank You and Bye