AN: Thanks InstinctMW, Wadeparker, Goku275, NinjaFang1331, BoredAsUsual34, AliceCullen3, Earth Dragon Arnighte, SkyAlpha, TMS Hobbes, and Xerzo LotCN.

Now that you mention it, Earth Dragon Arnight, Jiemma was more passive in canon. I suppose I could justify it as the Jiemma of my story doing whatever it takes for his guild to reach the top rather than the Jiemma of canon who is already on top and has let 6 years of GMG victories go to his head convince him that nothing would ever change that. As for the Sabertooth group, though I may not have conveyed it well, I tried to show that they made mistakes and were genuinely remorseful unlike Gajeel, who was knowingly and willingly cruel.

Also, my inclusion of the word "nakama" was because I read online translations of the manga that were not fully translated and I was not sure if nakama meant "friend" or "family." Recently, I found out that it translates to the former, so I no longer need to use "nakama" and likely won't from now on.

Xerzo LotCN, Sho and Wally did not join Fairy Tail for what I assume is the same reason they were not seen joining a guild in canon; because they did not feel like it. I will not share what team replaces Sabertooth in the next GMG, although I will admit that I plan for a few teams to have different lineups from canon. Speaking of which, you do not need to worry about Flare being in Raven Tail. Mavis has not met with Natsu because her spirit is within the Fairy Sphere on Tenrou, alongside the others. Finally, Natsu will not be the one who gets a duel element dragon slayer mode (as he already has a power-up in the form of Fire Dragon King Mode) or Fire God Slayer Magic, though I do have plans for others to get them.

This chapter takes place several months after the last one, not long after the S-Class Trial that I briefly mentioned Minerva winning two chapters ago. Anyways, enjoy!

It was an average day in Fairy Tail's Guild Hall. Mages were brawling, drinking, and selecting jobs. However, everyone stopped what they were doing when Jet and Droy burst into the building with horrible news.

"Tartaros attacked the Magic Council Headquarters! All of the councilors are dead!"

Yajima frowned as he read the latest newspaper. He was currently in his restaurant, 8-Island. The establishment was currently empty (aside from himself and the Fairy Tail mages he hired), but that would change once the dinner rush began. For now, though, they were simply making preparations.

"This is terrible," he said to himself. "A total of 119 casualties, including all nine councilors."

"It's a good thing you quit the council," commented Happy. He, Millianna, and Blaze were the ones who accepted Yajima's job.

"You fool!" shouted Yajima. "Learn some tact!"

"Why?" asked Blaze. "Happy is right, isn't he? You didn't die or get hurt."

"That doesn't make it any less rude!" chastised Yajima.

"They're just trying to look on the bright side," said Millianna, attempting to mediate.

"There's nothing bright about this… this massacre," stated Yajima sourly.

At that moment, a cloaked man entered the restaurant. Before Happy or Blaze could walk up to him and take his order, a tornado erupted into existence around the man. It demolished the building before concentrating around his body. Propelled by his cyclone, the man shot toward Yajima.

"No you don't!" shouted Millianna, moving between the man and Yajima. "Nekōsoku Tube!"

Her binding tubes wrapped around the cloaked man, trapping his arms against his body. However, the tornado remained intact and his charge continued.

"Look out!" shouted Happy, shifting to his humanoid form and activating his Aera. He pushed Millianna and Yajima out of the way of the man's attack.

The man, having missed his target, dispelled the tornado. A fire then ignited from his body, which burned away Millianna's spell.

"How did you do that!?" shouted Millianna. "My Nekōsoku Tube should have disabled your magic!"

"I use the power of Curses, not magic," stated the man. "I am one of the Nine Demon Gates… I herald calamity for humanity."

"A member of Tartaros!" exclaimed Yajima, horrified. Not much was known about the Dark Guild, but the name of their elite team was one of the few bits of information that had been discovered.

The cloaked man inhaled, then breathed a blanket of fire across what remained of 8-Island. But, to his surprise, Blaze sucked up the flames before they could harm anyone.

"Never use fire against a Hell Flame Dragon Slayer, mya!" shouted Blaze, excited. She had originally been annoyed that she was on such a boring job. Now, there was an opportunity for her to fight a powerful Dark Mage from the last remaining guild of the infamous Balam Alliance. This was the best day ever!

"Now that I'm all fired up, I'll kick your ass!" continued Blaze. "Flame Form, mya!"

Hell flames enveloped her body as Blaze headbutted the man's stomach.

"Guh!" gasped the man as he was forced back a step. His robe was set alight by Blaze's attack, forcing him to discard it and reveal his animal-like appearance.

"What the hell!?" shouted Blaze. "What are you?"

"I am an Etherious, child," answered the man, slightly irritated. "Now die."

The man wrapped a small tornado around his fist and swung it at Blaze. But, before he could hit her, the flat of a sword struck his arm. His aim thrown off, and the man's fist drilled into the ground instead of into Blaze.

"If you want to hurt Blaze, you'll have to go through me!" declared Happy, glaring at the Etherious. His Musica Sword, rather than being the massive size Panther Lily defaulted to, was the length of a short sword.

"And me!" yelled Millianna as the man pulled his arm out of the ground. "Kitten Blast!"

Several tubes shot at the Etherious's face, forcing him to block. Happy took advantage of this, launching a barrage of slashes. The Etherious blocked them with his arms, again wrapped in wind. Before he could follow up with a counterattack, though, Millianna began firing more Kitten Blasts.

Forced onto the defensive by the two of them, the man made the mistake of forgetting about his third opponent. Unfortunately for him, while Blaze may have been a child, she was also a dragon slayer and a Dragneel.

"Fire Spin!" shouted Blaze from behind the Etherious. The hell flames around her morphed into a twister as she slammed into his back.

The man grunted as he felt pain and shock in equal measure. The body of an Etherious was incredibly durable, yet the fire produced by a human child's magic was hot enough to burn him.

Happy noticed the man's distraction and took advantage of it, shooting at him with a burst of Max Speed. The Exceed stabbed his Musica Sword into the Etherious's chest, the blade piercing it with enough force to come out the other end.

The man froze, gawking at the sword impaled in his body. Happy and the others began to relax. None of them believed that anyone, even an Etherious, could survive such a major injury.

Sadly, they underestimated the strength of a demon created by Zeref. Breaking out of his stupor, the man grabbed Happy's head before the cat-boy could react.

"Is that all?" the Etherious said, a cyclone forming around his arm. The tornado exploded forward, the devastating force hammering Happy into a wall. The Exceed lost consciousness when his head slammed into the wall, transforming back to his normal form as his limp body fell to the ground.

"Happy!" shouted Millianna and Blaze, distraught. Mother and daughter turned toward the Etherious, full of murderous fury.

"Kitten Blaze!"

"Hell Flame Dragon's Roar!"

The two attacks shot forth, merging into what looked like a flaming cat.

"Unison Raid?" said the man, not expecting something so advanced when one of his opponents was a little girl (although he should have known better by that point).

This moment of confusion cost him dearly. The Unison Raid slammed into the hilt of Happy's sword, pushing the entire blade into the body of the Etherious. Some of the flames also spread into his body through the wound, leaving him scorched both inside and out. The man fell onto his back, groaning.

"Take that, mya!" exclaimed Blaze, dispersing her Flame Form.

"Nobody harms a cat in front of me and my daughter and gets away with it," spoke Millianna in a serious tone. "Especially not Happy."

"I underestimated you," stated the man. "I did not expect to take so much damage from humans, especially when one of them was a child. Perhaps I should go ahead and die."

"Die?" asked Yajima, confused more by the way the Etherious spoke rather than what he said. The man was covered in burns and had a sword in his torso, after all.

"You have chosen the wrong opponents, humans," declared the Etherious ominously.

At that moment, his body exploded into a rapidly-expanding cloud of dark mist.

"What is this stuff?" asked Millianna, a sense of unease building in her.

"Mankind cannot defeat this malady," emanated the voice of the Etherious, coming from the mist itself. "These are Magical Barrier Particles. They pollute the air, eradicating the Ethernano in it."

Yajima and the Dragneel girls started coughing as the particles sapped their strength.

"What you are feeling is magic anemia," continued the man's disembodied voice. "The onset of Magic Deficiency Disease. This disease is fatal to mages."

Everyone's eyes widened at this.

"My one weakness is that I cannot regenerate my body until I return to our main guild hall. You are as good as dead now. Perhaps we will meet again one day… in the Underworld!"

"Mommy!" hacked Blaze, grabbing her throat. "It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"What do I do?" thought Millianna, panicked.

"We need to run!" yelled Yajima through coughs. "Get away from the mist!"

"But it's spreading so fast," fretted Millianna. "And what about the townspeople?"

"Ungh," grunted Yajima, passing out.

"No! I must do something!"

"Help me…" Blaze trailed off, fainting.

"Think! How can I stop these Magical Barrier Particles?"

Millianna's mind raced, struggling to think of a solution. Then, she had an epiphany.

"Wait! They're Magical Barrier Particles, not a Curse! Maybe if I… but my spell isn't meant for that."

Millianna hesitated as she considered a risky gambit. However, one look at her daughter's face cleared all her doubts.

"If it's for Blaze, then I will do it!" decided Millianna. She began drawing upon her Magic Power, shaping it into her signature Nekōsoku Tube spell. Expect, instead of creating a tube, she forcefully pushed a massive field of Binding Magic from her body.

"Ahhhhhhh!" screamed Millianna, her body suffering from the mixture of Magic Barrier Particles and using her magic in a way it wasn't intended for.

Fortunately, her idea appeared to work. A field of Binding Magic erupted from her body, expanding to cover the entirety of 8-Island's ruins. The spell nullified every Magical Barrier Particle it covered, completely eliminating the deadly mist.

The Binding Magic faded after a few second. Millianna collapsed, her Magic Power exhausted.

"Blaze… Happy… you're safe now. Mommy… did it…"

The Dragneel girls, Happy, and Yajima were brought to Fairy Tail's guild hall, where they received treatment from Porlyusica. The elderly woman confirmed that they would be fine, Millianna's spell having even erased the Magical Barrier Particles inside of their bodies. They simply needed to recover from the significant loss of Magic Power.

Happy was the first to wake up. Being knocked out slowed his breathing, minimizing the intake of Magical Barrier Particles. Porlyusica treated the injuries given to him by the Etherious and gave him medicine to recover his Magic Power.

As Happy filled them in, everybody in Fairy Tail grew furious. Tartaros had harmed countless people, almost killing several of their own!

Natsu summed up everyone's thoughts with three words.

"THIS IS WAR!"

"Sorry to bother you, Kyôka," apologized the Etherious who attacked 8-Island. He was being regrown in a large test tube, although only the upper right part of his body had been reproduced so far.

"Be at ease Tempester," responded Kyôka, one of his fellow Nine Demon Gates.

"Tempester?" said the man. "Is that… my name? Whenever I lose my body, I forget my name. It makes no sense to me. How long will my rebirth take?"

"Hmm…" hummed Kyôka. "You should be completely regenerated in a day."

"You should be glad for that," spoke a rude voice. Kyôka and Tempester looked and saw Franmalth, another of the Nine Demon Gates. "Geh heh heh! You shouldn't go spreading Magical Barrier Particles for no reason!"

"Fairy Tail," muttered Tempester. "Three of them interfered; a mother, her daughter, and a cat. If it weren't for them…"

"Fairy Tail?" echoed Kyôka, recalling the name. They had identified it as the guild containing E.N.D.

"Wait!" exclaimed Kyôka, suddenly becoming serious. "Tempester, did the mother and daughter both look somewhat like cats?"

"Huh?" responded Tempester. He considered the question before replying. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

"Heh heh heh," chuckled Kyôka. "If your Magical Barrier Particles did their job, then you just killed the family of Master E.N.D.'s human host."

Tempester and Franmalth's eyes widened, before they joined their guildmate in celebrating. Mard had told them that the negative emotions in E.N.D.'s host would feed his Curse power and accelerate the master's awakening. Their research had identified the host as a short-tempered, emotional fool (even by human standards), so he would no doubt be filled with grief and hatred. If they were lucky, he would even come to Tartaros of his own volition as part of a pointless attempt at vengeance.

It seemed that E.N.D.'s awakening would come even sooner than anticipated.

Omake

"When I find a member of Tartaros, I'm going to force a White Dragon's Holy Breath down their throat!" declared Sting. The Dark Guild would pay for harming his guildmates… no… his friends.

"I'll trap them in my Territory and bombard them with explosions until they're nothing but a mangled corpse!" contributed Minerva, hatred in her eyes. Tartaros had harmed her little sister (in spirit).

"I won't even leave a corpse!" screamed Natsu, the angriest of them all. "Once I'm done with them, nothing but ash will remain of that guild!"

If a random civilian was present in the guild hall at this moment, they would wonder whether or not Fairy Tail was the Dark Guild in this situation. Especially since these statements were uttered before Fairy Tail knew that Tartaros consisted entirely of demons created by Zeref.

AN: I did not include Jackal's attack on the Magic Council and Doranbolt's conversation with Cobra/Erik because it was the same as canon. Similarly, I will not include the Jellal/Oraciòn Seis battle as Ultear does not participate in it.

Goodbye for now!