Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail. If I did, I would be rich.

Anyways, word of warning, there is some rude language used, and we see how topsy-turvy Carbuncle can be.

Regardless, I hope you enjoy enough to read and review.

Oh Yeah semi-important A/N at the bottom, for those wondering about their OCs.

Vertigo, thy name is Carbuncle.

Pleasure to meet you.

The lance, the purple-black-blue ray of pure, untempered fear that was previously racing through the air had stopped, and was floating innocently as if it wasn't a bolt of material terror. Squinting, perplexed, Carbuncle couldn't help but be at a loss for words. This was something that he hadn't really expected to happen, or ever thought he would experience in his life. But, hey, he was currently underground, surrounded by a girl who had a strange fixation on her gauntlet, a male who he was sure wasn't human, and a guy who looked as if he belonged in a budget horror film.

…Why am I suddenly so bitchy?

Shrugging it off, despite still being slightly perturbed, the azure-haired agent was still slightly confused by how the world was so frozen. Everything, from the crumbling sanguine walls of the premature battlefield, the empty cold eyes of the Creation Mage, and even the bloodlust in the demon's eyes had paused. It was a curious event; an event that he knew could not have come from him, no matter how awesome it would be if it had.

This left only one person – the enigma known as Blaine.

No matter how much it pained him (he was scared that, if he looked away, time would start once more and he'd be run through by the lance); he had to look away from the dangerous creation, and at the stoical Blaine. She was focused – not staring at anything other than what was right in front of her. If Carbuncle didn't see her breathing, then he would assume that she too was frozen in time, and then he would be left all alone.

That's a scary thought. All alone, in a frozen world, without anyone to insult…

"H-How are you doing that?" Carbuncle asked, astonishment dancing in his eyes, flickering through like jack o-lanterns. "You're manipulating time itself…are you a…?" It was obvious, then and there, that he was wrong before. Wrong-wrong-wrong-wrong. She wasn't an augmentation mage, increasing the abilities of her allies whilst hampering those of her enemies (like that incident with Natsu that he had tried to burn out of his memories.)

She was an honest to Chronos Time Mage.

Complete silence was his response, for she was too silent and too busy making sure that they weren't pulverised by the attack. Seeing this, there was no other option but to put that out of his mind, and to focus on the present. Ruby-sheathed gloves latched onto the statue of a girl, dragging the girl back through the door-way, as time stuttered returned to normal. As he was running, Carbuncle could see the walls distorting, accommodating the sudden shift in time.

Little cracks that were non-existent previously, exploded, zigzagging rapidly across the bloody vanilla expanse. The duo barely managed to dodge parts of the ceiling when it caved in from the battle taking place behind them.

"What is even going on?" An angry and confused Carbuncle was not a pretty site at all, the jagged crystal on his arm glowing slightly as his confusion caused his magic to spike. Noting that, maybe his current apparel isn't the best to wear when escaping a collapsing Dark Guild (which sort of leads to the question of what sort of ensemble would you wear to a building collapsing?) and shifted to a more appropriate paradigm.

Feeling his spell, 'Ruby Shell', dissipate, Carbuncle let out a sigh of relief as he felt it be replaced by the aquamarine crystals, allowing him to easily avoid any debris without incident as it gave him a considerable speed boost.

"…I don't know." He nearly tripped up, as the answer from the equally astounded girl nearly gave him a heart attack. "That has never happened before…Carbuncle; tell me, what exactly does Ruby Shell do?" It sounded like something occurred to her, and if it would help them figure out what was happening, then he would oblige her. Not that it didn't stop him from judging her – Carbuncle was pretty sure that he had told her what it does before.

"Well…it does what I said, protect from magical attacks. It disperses it outwards, so the person with it doesn't feel pain," He desperately wanted to add 'much' on the end, but decided against it – let her think it was better than it actually was,"It also takes on other aspect of the other three forms of the spell." He had the sudden feeling that he hadn't explained those parts, but oh well, not like anyone had died or anything.

…Look around genius.

"…What do you mean 'other three forms'?"

"Well, each of my spells have three separate forms: one pseudo-attack that does something, an armour based spell, and a 'buff'," He explained, scaling some stairs as he did so. They were nearing the exit, and Carbuncle could feel that they were going to reach the end soon enough.

"So what does the armour based spell do?"

"Well, Ruby Armadura augments magic attacks." When he remembered that, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened. "Oh wow, I honestly didn't expect that to happen." She must have come to the same conclusion, as he didn't even have to look behind him to see her eye roll. "You're time stopping abilities must have gotten enhanced to the point where you could stop reality. But this is all conjecture, as I am not exactly the leading knowledge on time powers."

"So in other words, you act as an amplifier then?" He only nodded in response, not even replying at this point. Carbuncle had to dodge things after all, and one wrong move could possibly be the end of them.

Blaine must have seen this, as Carbuncle heard the exasperated sigh before he felt her move away from him, overtaking him as they made their way out of the collapsing labyrinth. It wasn't as if it was a race or anything, running for their lives and all.

Even if he did try to drag her down a little.

…oh no.

Time seemed to slow once more (a feeling that he had felt far too much for one day), as his foot landed in an awkward position. It slipped, eliciting a startled 'meep' – though Carbuncle would argue that it was more dignified than anything else, and those naysayers who claimed he was scared are just saying that – sending him to a one way deluxe no-questions-asked trip to the cold hard ground.

…This may not be the right time, but I'm sure that there is a Taylor Swift song for this.

Blaine, after hearing the crash-and-splash (it was the only way to describe it to Carbuncle's stunned mind, which was already trying to remove the incident from memory) turned around, giving him a look that spoke volumes. Carbuncle just glared back, daring her to say anything about his current dripping wet state. Lifting a hand to his hair, he felt around, making sure that everything was okay. Blood (a mixture of his own and of that on the floor) was dripping off his hand as it hung limply at his side.

Stopping Blaine before she could say anything more, the aquamarine-clad boy just rushed passed her, heading straight for the exit before they got crushed. Heading out into the sunlight (after the time-incident, Carbuncle had lost all sense of what was going on, his head still spinning slightly from the effects of the freeze) he collapsed, cradling his head from the pounding headache the sunlight caused. A soft rustle was all that he heard as Blaine sidled up beside him, leaning down to check-up on him.

"Are you okay? I am not sure what to do about this?"

Carbuncle found the sentiment nice, but he had better things to do. Like hunt down some aspirin and gorge himself on them, or drown his head in ice. Both options sounded nice, but he had neither on him.

…I hate the world. Let's destroy it. Preferably with fire. Carbuncle was almost inclined to go with the crazy thoughts of his subconscious, but decided against it. He didn't want to deal with the hassle of the Magic Militia, or even his own unit.

"I think I'm ready for some answers." Short and simple, Carbuncle wanted answers. Now. It was obvious that he was about to respond with a smart comment, but he was tired of running around in circles. Carbuncle decided that the only way he was going to get answers was if he forced them out of her. "I think it's time you told me just what you're doing here, Scorpio, and why you have Time Magic."

"…I think I heard something about this." She seemed to be deep in thought, pondering over something. Carbuncle didn't care, far too annoyed with life to accommodate others. He was expecting her to answer the question when her eye lit up, but was mistaken when the withdrawn rugby tackled him to the floor.

Carbuncle didn't know what to say. He had seen enough romance films to know where this was going, and the Crystal Mage did not know how to proceed. It was the number one rule in romance novels that, when someone falls for you, they obvious love you (well, if they fall metaphorically – he didn't know women well enough to know if it worked the same, but he might as well go with it) and want to spend their life with you.

And then it all made sense. The fact that she was so cold, but caring in her own way. He had seen Zimi call the eccentric girl a 'Tsundere', and Carbuncle wasn't so dense as to not know what that meant. They were obviously girls who were aggressive in their love, and shown it through violence. Sort of like with Arrow and the rest of the world, or with the obvious Blaine, or with him and Cobra. It was something like that…

Actually, no, he was probably delusional. It must be true – it's not as if Carbuncle cared for him or anything. That would be like saying rain is red, or like the surroundings were about to explode – things that aren't exactly real, and never will be.

"…Blaine. Why are you still hugging me to the ground?" Carbuncle still had a massive headache, and it didn't help that a heavy girl had thrown him to the ground. It may be that she did like him, but he should ask out of courtesy, at the very least. "I know that I'm Zeref's gift to women, but that doesn't mean you should be all over me." Sarcastic, he pulled his hair from behind his back so that he could lift his head up without being trapped by his locks.

"I-I could have sworn that there would be an explosion…" Sheepish, the duo scrambled to their feet, feeling slightly awkward after the tackle. "Well, I'm not too certain about this time period…but still." Blaine seemed annoyed at herself, long flaxen hair covering herself as she looked down at her feet. "Bummer…" And there she goes again, with her strange lexis.

Now's as good a time as any to ask, before we get interrupted again.

About to ask, he was interrupted by the building going up in flames, kicking up a shower of red water and dust as the building exploded. The haze rapidly invaded his sight, obscuring the wreckage from view. Stumbling, Carbuncle almost lost his balance as the turbulent winds sliced and tore at his skin, buffeting them as they struggled to remain balanced. The shrill vibrato that followed was deafening, the heated sounds of battle following the shroud of smoke.

Flipping backwards, Carbuncle launched himself out of the haze, regaining the visibility that he desperately needed. Looking left, he saw nothing. Looking right, he saw nothing. Looking behind, he saw nothing.

Where's Blaine? And really, that's just typical. Scowling at the irony, he tried to discern something, anything from the haze, but came back with nothing. This wouldn't be an issue for him usually – he would just blow away the smoke with an explosion – but he couldn't do that whilst Blaine was in there. Unless Carbuncle wanted Filet Blaine, but let's just say that particular dish wasn't on any menu in his restaurant.

It may pain the teenager, but he had to go back in the smoke. Scowl still etched onto his face, Carbuncle tore off a piece of cloth on his clothes, (despite how much it made him cringe to have a random patch of skin exposed around cloth and crystal) and wrapped it around his face. Suitably protected, Carbuncle clamped his eyes shut and ran back into the smoke. They had to regroup, fast. If they didn't then both of them would be at risk.

Are you sure we can't blow it like a crack whore?

A silver fusillade followed, as knives were lambasted in each direction. Obviously the work of Iname, he scowled. Carbuncle did not want to be in a battle around these two. The creation mage must be lurking somewhere, battling with the other. He just needed to escape. Escape with Blaine, that is. Feeling his magic pulse, the crystals adorning his body shifted, mimicking a configuration that he despised above all others.

Crystal Magic: Ruby Armadura.

Grunting from the exertion, he almost fell to his knees. The amount of magic he had used today was unbelievable, and he wasn't used to it. Carbuncle gathered up a small portion of magic and let it coalesce inside the tiny ruby fragments. He would need them.

"What are you?"

He perked up – that was undeniably Blaine. It was now that he wished Carbuncle had an offensive attack, but the only one he had ever used had resulted in one of his fingers turning to crystal. Leaping into action, Carbuncle wasn't prepared for the fist that stopped him in his tracks, sending him backpedalling. Glaring through the fog, he couldn't make out who it was, but that didn't mean he didn't know who it was.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name." Rubbing the area he was hit, he cringed. That would leave a bruise later.

"I don't talk to humans." Well isn't that cute. Mr Fear has a God Complex.

"Cute. You must have so many friends." Carbuncle knew where this was going. There was only one direction it could go.

"I have no need for friends from human scum." Is it possible to be racist to humanity?

Schlink. The sound was the only warning he got - the position he was in before now hosting a stygian scythe. Evade, block, counter. The words of his old teacher rung through his head, echoing and echoing and echoing like a battle anthem. Evading was hard. The oppressive smoke made it hard to see, but he got by. Ducking the curved blade, Carbuncle was under pressure. He could only move out the way of the blade, nothing more. He had no means of attack, only defence, so he had to be on his toes or he could well and truly die.

"Do you know that I've slaughtered countless humans?" Carbuncle launched into the air, dodging the swipe. "And do you know what makes it fun? When they drown in their fear." An all too familiar sense of fear creeped along his subconscious, as a familiar bolt of energy appeared in the grey.

If that struck him, he would be down and out.

"Well, just like all my first dates then."

The magic stored within the ruby gems vibrated erratically, before exploding outwards in a wave of crimson light.

"Ruby Flare, motherfucker."

When faced with fear, you had two options – drown in it, or laugh it off with bravado. And Carbuncle chose to laugh through the fear, no matter how crazy it looked or sounded.

Flipping in the air, Carbuncle fell, aiming straight for the demon. Landing heel first, he lashed out with a devastating roundhouse. He couldn't help but smirk in satisfaction when hearing the grunt.

Making it all too shocking when the mage felt pain.

Careening backwards, he was launched out of the smoke, tumbling helplessly along the ground.

Carbuncle felt weak. It was as if all his energy had left him, sucked up in some void that just took and took and took, leaving him with absolutely nothing. Muscles straining, he managed to crawl to his hands and knees, coughing up blood as he did so. It must have been his magic, but Carbuncle had no idea how to counter it. He had never seen it before.

"I hope you savour this. This large, choking sensation. It will be the last thing you'll ever feel." (Oh Lord this really is just like my first dates. Choking on large things) If he wasn't so weak, he would have said it. But sadly Carbuncle was in no position for that.

He was on his knees, in front of someone he doesn't even know. He didn't want to go out like this, but life wasn't fair. So he would have to accept that this is how he dies.

No matter how sad it was.

He closed his eyes.

"LIGHT RAY!" A ray of light crackled past him, so close that he could feel the heat roaring above him, and crashed into the powerful mage. "Come on Carbuncle. It's not like you to bow down before others." Opening his eyes, Carbuncle looked into Jayne's warm blue eyes as she helped him up. Even if she was smiling, he could see that Jayne was worried by his current state.

"…Just find Blaine." She was obviously conflicted, and looked as if she was about to protest, but a soft "please" from the pitiful-looking Carbuncle stopped that. Jayne only sighed, a look in her eye that said she would rather stay here.

"You were looking for me?" Carbuncle didn't even have the strength to look up at Blaine. "I am sorry."

"What for?" He was numb, leaving the two girls to talk it out. Carbuncle was still suffering from the after effects of that last attack. "And please, can we move? Everyone is on the outskirts, waiting."

Everyone can see me like this?

Everyone.

EVERYONE?

Just what he needed. Extra embarrassment on top of his current trauma. Karma must've been a human form of one of his dates. What other explanation could there be for his life being so ridiculous. Struggling to his feet, clothes in tatters, he set about removing his clothes.

"I'm sorry but what." Jayne was slightly confused. Addled even. Maybe even nebulous if she was feeling sassy. Not like Jayne was the only one, Blaine was feeling the same way.

Though he doesn't blame them. It's not as if it is an everyday occurrence, a guy stripping. Unless you live with Fairy Tail.

Then you see things that can't be unseen. Like Gray's dangly bits. Which he has had the displeasure of seeing.

He needs to get that stripping under control. Not everyone wants to know about his unmentionables.

Undressed, all he was in was his ruby armour. Armour that didn't leave much to the imagination. From his perspective, it was hard to describe. All he could describe it as was embarrassing. The garment consisted of crystal fashioned in the shape of knee-high boots (I hate these stripper heels), ruby-red gauntlets and a codpiece. That is it. Nothing more. Blushing from the scrutiny, he threw a caustic glare at the girls staring, daring them to say anything about his appearance.

"Take a picture, it will last longer," Oh my days why on Fiore am I doing this, "On second thought, don't. I don't know what you would do with it." He was aware that there was still a battle going on around them, so Carbuncle would have to be quick.

"I'm just going to go. I'm surprised we weren't attacked during this little exchange." Exit stage left Carbuncle. Smart move. Wary of the battle, and not willing to be hit by the same attack, he decided it would be sensible to regroup and form a combined offensive.

"I'm sorry, but why is that armour so revealing?" He could feel the light mage's stare, it was that intense.

"I'm sorry, but why on Earth are you staring so closely?" It was almost like the time they first met. Except he was wearing less. And they were surrounded by knives.

So not like when we first met then. Wait, when did those knives get there?

"I'm sorry, but don't you know it is rude to answer a question with a question?"

"I'm sorry, but I feel as if this is the pot calling the kettle black." She is being a bit hypocritical, isn't she?

"Why won't you just answer the question?" Exasperated, Jayne almost stamped her feet in irritation, face flushed deep red.

"Because it is too fun winding you up." Mischievous, the banter continued with Blaine keeping quiet as the other two talked. It didn't take them long to escape the battlefield, forgotten as the two titans continued their fight without them getting involved. It felt natural, funnily enough, running away. It felt like it was something that he would be doing a lot of in the future. This isn't exactly the best feeling in the world to have, considering his new line of work.

As a Dark Mage. It wouldn't do his 'rep' (that's what the kids call it, right?) any good if running was his best defence. He'd cause the guild to look bad, which would probably make them mad. Like, mad enough to get Angel to murder him in his sleep, or hire assassins to hunt him down, or (even worse) get Cobra's massive snake to eat him whole.

I hate myself sometimes. That sounds ridiculously like an innuendo.

It didn't take them long to catch up with the others. Or what should have been the others, but was only Zimi. Impatient as always, the capricious child was shifting back and forth, tapping her feet in some mockery of a tune. If he strained his ears, it sounded oddly like the theme of Dora the Explorer, but that would be a strange thing to tap. Regardless, she seemed to be lost in thought, looking up at the sky, not noticing their arrival.

How unusual.

Carbuncle managed to get near to the youth, before falling to the ground – tired muscles aching from the fight, and the constant drain of his magic from his spell. He would have just went around with his 'Aquamarine Armour' on, but the drain on his magic would be too much so he decided on the less strenuous 'Ruby'.

"Nii-san," Zimi paused, trying to say what she was about to say 'politely', "Why do you look like a cheap prostitute?"

Was it bad that he felt slightly insulted at being called 'cheap', and not 'classy'? Carbuncle was walking around in rubies alone – that alone had to be worth something, and he also came with a simply stunning personality.

What more could anyone want?

"I know right. Do you think that he'd be willing to 'work' with Cobra if we paid him enough?" Jayne proposed as if he wasn't there, whilst the two other girls soon joined in with the conversation. Carbuncle would let them have their fun – one day he would get his revenge.

And it would be absolutely glorious.

"What is a prostitute?" He didn't know whether to find Blaine's lack of knowledge endearing or scary.

"Well, prostitutes are people who like to show off their body for money. It's actually kind of lucrative, now that I think on it – places like Shirotsume have a booming stripper population." Carbuncle wanted to tack on a hasty 'not that I am speaking from personal experience', but it wasn't as if it would have made a difference in the long run.

Because that always works. Totally.

They were the type of people to not let something go. Not that it bothered him, as he was the exact same.

"Well, from your dealings with Cobra, I'm sure that you know all about the stripper industry." He had almost forgotten that Zimi had seen him on that first day.

Crap. Who knows what she'll think now.

"What you saw then was all an illusion." She was young – kids were supposed to be gullible. Right? Or was that only in X600s, like that whole period with moustaches.

The kings of Fiore were strange, strange people.

"Whilst I am interested, I don't think," Jayne had to pause as the sounds of maniacal laughter (and was that a chainsaw in there?) interrupted her, "As I was saying, I think we should leave before we get re-involved with that fight."

"Good idea."

"Guess that we are running again."

"I concur."

Before the group could get caught back up into the conflict, they moved away – Carbuncle leaning on Jayne for support as he wasn't ready yet to run.

"Blaine, did you catch the name of that guy?" Carbuncle was curious. While he might have been preoccupied by distracting events, Carbuncle could've been able to learn through Kagero.

"The Creation Mage told me he was called Styles Kaizu, but nothing more." She was hiding something – another thing on the long list of things he had to question her about.

"Styles Kaizu, huh?" He would have to remember that name. Revenge, after all, is a dish best served cold. "At least I have a name to a face. Oh yeah, nice hit out there Jayne."

"Thanks, but I don't think I had enough power behind it. I always have issues with power." Jayne noted sheepishly. The girl may be acting modest, but she was obviously proud of the hit. At the word 'power', curiously enough, Zimi seemed to want to say something, but stopped herself.

Yet another thing he would have to ask about. What was with it and Team Crystallux being so secretive? He wouldn't be surprised if Jayne suddenly turned around and said her real name was 'Lunaria Crack Bath Salts Celeste Methamphetamine Opium Galaxia' and that she was secretly a goddess from outer space on a man-hunt.

That was just how secretive they are.

"How did you get out of the fight with Kagero, anyway?" Carbuncle had to know.

"I just dropped the name Oracion Seis, and he seemed to back off. He just mentioned something about the Balam Alliance and the Guild Grimoire Heart, and searched for the guy you were fighting. He was also the source of the smoke, believe it or not, and used his magic to make more." Blaine visibly inhaled after that spiel, not used to talking in such detail (the last time he heard her talk that much was over a Yaoi definition), before returning to her usual pace. "But other than that, he didn't reveal much."

"Well there is no point in thinking about it now, is there? Let's just focus on escaping now. Everybody remember the Three Cs and we'll be a-ok," With a cheesy smile, the perpetual optimist twirled away, continuing in the direction of Narcisca.

"I'm surprised we managed to escape so easily." It seemed far too easy. It was almost too easy.

"Stop!" Following her cue, everyone paused to stare at Blaine. She was staring intensely at a street corner, as if it held some dastardly secret. "Sorry, I thought I sensed something."

He thought he heard a sigh of relief, but it was probably a trick of the mind. Kind of like how when someone says you might have nits your head starts itching.

"Where are Eevee an Arrow, anyway?" This time it was Blaine that asked.

"Well, they had to go do something about their mission." Jayne answered, not pausing from her stride. After a soft sound of acknowledgement from the rest, the conversation died down. Not that the silence lasted long, as Zimi quickly broke it.

"Nii-san, I have a question for you?"

"What Zimi?"

"I think I have a new name for your ship."

"My ship?"

"StripperShipping is the new Cobrancle."

Sometimes Carbuncle wondered why he hung around with these people, but then he remembered that he didn't choose to, they just followed him.

…Wait a second. Why am I the submissive one in this relationship? Actually, why am I even getting angry over this?

"Zimi, you have five seconds to run."

But she was gone before he even started counting.

Chapter 10, Fin~

Well, this is the next chapter. And I am well aware that you are all thinking 'What happened in the fight between Kagero/Styles, after the team ran away?' or if you aren't thinking that, then you are probably thinking 'Where did Jayne and Zimi come from, and where are Eevee and Arrow?'

Have no fear, they will be answered in the next chapter, which will mark the end of the Ruby Arc, and then we will be in Sapphire. I am so excited about that, because plot is a thing then. That, an all the OCs that haven't been announced at the moment will be talked about then, and those that haven't really been talked about in detail will hit the spotlight.

Plus, back-story will be a thing, as the Team will go through some character development, have parts of their back-story revealed, an all that good stuff. All in all, I'm looking forward to getting to the real bulk of the story~

There might be a gap between the next chapter and this one, an that is because I am super busy. But I'll try and upload when I can.

So after all that, let's move on to the OC Table.

OC Table:

Ocs introduced:

The Lazy Bitch's: Zimi

QueenKazza's: Jayne

Hikari-Angel143's: Eevee

motordog's: Blaine

Arcobaleno-Lover's: 'Arrow'

Cute-Kawaii-Girl's: Hale

Hollow-Kyuubi's: Iname Kagero

Apostle of Regeneration's: ? - (Spoilers~ That will be talked about in Sapphire :D~)

LyricsgirlR5's: Jessica

Saiyan-Styles: ? (Name not yet revealed~)

Oc's mentioned:

Arcobaleno-lover's: Rydia

LyricsgirlR5's: Nikita

Let me just say that you guy are awesome. We are at 61 reviews, 9 Favourites and 20 Follows - let's keep this up :D

Well, that is all really, so until next time,

HalcyonNight.

P.S: Remember - Any questions, just drop me a Pm and I'll answer them to the best of my ability - even if it is something as simple as what a word means or to clarify what happened in a particular bit, or even just to say hi - I don't mind~ :D