Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail, Rave Master, and Eden's Zero are all owned by Hiro Mashima. Please support the official release.

Chapter 4: Terror of the Northern Devil

(Que Fairy Tail OP)

Meanwhile at the guild conference.

Makarov received a letter from Mirajane from the guild. He waved his hand over the seal, and a light projection of Mira came to life before Makarov and glowed with her usual smile.

"Hi master." said the light Mira, "I'm glad you made it to the conference safe and sound. You're not gonna believe what happened. It may be the greatest thing in the history of Fairy Tail. Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Cynthia have formed a team together. An amazing combination, huh? They may be the strongest team ever for generations."

Makarov was in total terror and shock. How could the world create such a catastrophe?

"Not-Not them." whimpered Makarov as he collapsed onto his back.

'I can't believe those people are together.' thought Makarov, remembering the destructive power of Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu, 'They could flatten an entire city. I hope nothing happens until I get back.'


The team arrived at Ohibana Station, which had been taken over by Eisenwald. They ran in to find the whole guild standing before them. Erigor floated in the air above them. He planned to broadcast the death song via the station's communications. When he disappeared, Erza ordered Gray and Natsu to chase after him. Two from Eisenwald chased after them in exchange.

"We'll catch up with them once we finish them off." said Erza.

"Got it." said Cynthia, grabbing Taurus' key.

They stood their ground, but none of Eisenwald charged. They were dead still. Erza was at a loss of their enemies' hesitance.

"Why are they just standing there?" wondered Erza.

Cynthia gasped. "Could they be..."

"They are." said Lucy. On her face was the most villainous smile that stretched so wide, it revealed her sharp, demon teeth. There was a smell in the air that awakened another side of Lucy. It was a sweet, addictive scent she missed in her travels in Northern Ishgar. The smell of fear. "Tell me, are all of you from Northern Ishgar?"

Erza was at a complete loss. She asked Cynthia, who was perplexed about Erza's lack of knowledge.

"Have you heard of the bandit and dark guilds being wiped out in Northern Ishgar?" said Cynthia.

"Yes, I have." said Erza, "For three years, all the bandits and dark guilds were completely wiped out. They say it was just one person that they call the Northern Devil."

"Worse than that." said Cynthia, "In her first year, she didn't spare anyone. She made sure she ate every single soul before I met her. Even still, her raids were nothing but brutal."

"What?" exclaimed Erza, "Are you saying Lucy is the - Northern Devil of Ishgar!?"

The wizards of Eisenwald mumbled in fear before Lucy, who accosted to them slowly with that demon's grin.

"No, not her!"

"The Northern Devil!"

"I don't want to go through that again."

"That monster is here."

"I can certainly say that I recognize a few faces here." said Lucy menacingly, "Magic Blades, Rukon Power, and Claws n' Daggers. It's been a very, very long time since I've smelled your fear."

In unison, they summoned all there courage. "You'll pay, monster!"

They combined their magic into a powerful blast that blinded the room. It only served to widen Lucy's smile and her demon skin grew.

"Fire Demon's Killer Fist."

Lucy deflected the blast away with a fire punch. Erza looked surprised at Lucy's power, but Cynthia was trembling. She hated this side of Lucy. The wizards succumbed to terror before Lucy in their failure.

"A monster, am I? No." said Lucy as her demon skin spread further over her body till it stopped at her left shoulder and her smile sharpened. "I'm a devil, remember?"

The pupils in Lucy's eyes became devoid of humanity and replaced it with an otherworldly sadism. Erza could feel the menace from Lucy.

"Is that really," gasped Erza, "Lucy?"

They all surrendered without putting up more of a fight. Suddenly, Lucy made them fly in the air with a fire whip. Erza was in complete shock and tried to hold Lucy back.

"Lucy, stop!" shouted Erza, "They've given up."

"Let me have my fun." snarled Lucy.

One guy managed to stand up to Lucy. She let him charge head-on with a raised sword. With a swipe of her hand, Lucy shattered the blade and held the thug by his neck.

"I wonder what you taste like." hissed Lucy, opening her mouth.

There was a howl in the air. A gaseous substance leaked out of the thug's mouth and slowly swept toward Lucy's mouth. As it did, the life in the thug's eyes were dwindling. Cynthia had enough and put all her will in her voice.

"Lucy, don't." Cynthia cried, "This isn't you."

Lucy gasped. The air of menace disappeared, and the demon skin shrank to only encompass half of Lucy's face and body. She realized what she was about to do, and dropped the thug who then scrambled away in fear. Her hand still twitched with a vile will to kill that terrified Lucy.

"I-I'm so sorry, Cynthia." Lucy apologized, "Erza, I wished you never saw that. I don't know what came over me."

Erza closed her eyes and pondered on the situation. She was about to take a life, but she was a member of Fairy Tail and she immediately regretted her decision. Whatever happened in Lucy's past, Erza was willing to look over it. When you join Fairy Tail, you start a new life.


Gray froze the bindings on his arms, destroying his opponent's magic. He was furious. Their plan wasn't to kill the people, but the guild masters in clover. This was personal. Even as he froze the goon in ice, he still kept that smile.

"There's nothing you can do." said the goon, "Erigor has probably already reached Clover and is killing your precious masters right-"

Gray held the guy's throat. His voice became more like a phantom.

"You listen here, you fucking bastard," growled Gray, "the moment you targeted the masters, you made an enemy of all of us. They may be old, but their the closest thing we have to family."

The thug smiled. "As if any of you wizard clowns scare me."

"True." said Gray menacingly, his right eye glowing red, "but their only human."

First, the goon felt a fear beyond anything as that red eye stared back at him. Next, he felt a cold right to his soul as a purple ice grew over his face until he was frozen into a purple ice sculpture. The room was filled with an unrivaled chilly mist as Gray left the goon be, and his eye went back to normal.

"When I get my hands on them," muttered Gray, "I'll show them the wrath of Fairy Tail is more terrifying than any dark guild."


(Time-Skip)

Without Kage, the team couldn't get past the wind barrier. They couldn't give up, not now. Not with the all the guild masters lives at stake. Erigor may already be there in Clover as they resist.

"I'm pretty sure we could catch him with the magic mobile," said Gray, "but we can't do anything until we get passed this magic barrier."

"What do we do then?" exclaimed Cynthia.

As Erza tried to wake up Kage, Natsu stubbornly faced the barrier with brute force. The red fire of dragons roared in his wake, but his power was blown back against him by the wind. No matter how much damage he took, Natsu always lashed back. Every time he was hurt, Lucy's heart felt like it was stabbed.

'This idiot.' thought Lucy, 'This stupid, brave, selfless idiot.'

"We have to break through." roared Natsu, "We have to save Makarov."

For the seventh time, Natsu was blown back and added more scratches and bruises.

"Cut it out, you idiot." said Gray, "Obviously, brute force-"

"Fire Demon's Killer Fist. Fire Demon's Whip Lash."

To everyone's surprise, Lucy joined Natsu's effort and added injuries to her own. She would rather feel pain than let this go on.

"Lucy, you know-" cried Cynthia.

"I don't care." shouted Lucy as she and Natsu struck the barrier again and again, "I'm not gonna let anyone of my friends down. I'll fight to the end for their sake. Fire Demon's Killer Fist."

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist."

Lucy and Natsu became more in sync, enhancing the power of their attack. Yet again, they were blown back by the wind barrier and the pain was as great as their strength. Fire slayers don't know how to quit.

"I'm not gonna let anyone die." cried Lucy/Natsu.

The air around them burned in the wake of their intense heat. Erza, Gray, Cynthia, and Happy felt a pressure spike around them on the nape of their necks. They raged the fires within them to the max as they stood side by side.

"Fire Demon's Rage."

"Fire Dragon's Roar."

Once they unleashed their fire breath, the two streams of flame attracted to each other. Before making impact, they combined into a flame that burned a blinding blue light. Fairy Tail braced themselves as the fire breath exploded with the force of hundreds of pounds of TNT. When they came to, Gray, Cynthia, Happy, and even Erza were aghast that the combined magic was so powerful that it completely dispelled the wind barrier.

"Was that," gasped Erza, "a unison raid?"

"How the heck did they manage to cough up enough power to do that?!" exclaimed Gray in disbelief.

"Im-Impossible!" groaned Kage who received consciousness.

Lucy and Natsu were on their knees exhausted. Even if they catch up to Erigor, they didn't have enough magic to fight anymore. Lucy admitted it was stupid to use all her magic on a sealing barrier. Stupid waste of her magic and getting herself hurt. But Lucy would gladly do it again as long as it was with this brave idiot fire-breather named Natsu.

Lucy made a resolve. She poured all her remaining magic into the palm of her left to create a bright ball of demon fire, and handed it to Natsu. He was perplexed why Lucy was offering her own magic.

"Eat." said Lucy, panting, "You can catch up to Erigor with Happy and stop him from killing the masters."

"But," Natsu argued, "we could beat him together."

"There's no way both of us right now can even fight him." snapped Lucy, "Please. Save our guilds. Our family."

Natsu couldn't argue with Lucy. Hesitantly, he sucked up the golden fire like a straw into his mouth and then to his gut. After a little burp, his magic was replenished.

"That tasted great." said Natsu, "Thank you."

Happy just gave Cynthia the Zodiac Virgo before he and Natsu flew off at Mach speeds after Erigor. Erza was still astounded by Lucy and Natsu's surprising teamwork and power that even overcame a barrier she herself couldn't go through.

"To create a unison raid without trying," said Erza, "Lucy and Natsu must be really close."

"She liiiiiikes him." Cynthia teased with a snicker.

"Shut it, Cynthia!" snapped Lucy.

Before heading out via the magic mobile, Cynthia summoned Virgo to work out a contract. Lucy and Cynthia were surprised to find a tiny girl with fairy wings in a maid's dress standing before them instead of a gorilla of a woman from Everlue Mansion.

Cynthia hugged Virgo and squealed, "Aww, you're so pretty when you're a fairy."

"How the fuck does she look like that?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Hello, queen." Virgo greeted Cynthia.

"Queen?" said Cynthia, "Can you call me something else?"

"Would 'milady' suffice?" said Virgo.

"Oh yeah, definitely." agreed Cynthia.

"I can't believe this is happening." grumbled Lucy. "You better not die on me, Natsu. I couldn't bear..."

"Bear what?" Cynthia sneered as she overheard, "A world without him?"

"I WILL EAT YOUR SOUL!" howled Lucy.


When they reached Natsu, they found him half-naked with bruises but Erigor beaten into the tracks. As soon as the car stopped, Lucy didn't know what came over her. She ran out the door and jumped after Natsu to wrap her arms around him. The next thing Natsu knew, Lucy was on top of him nuzzling their heats together.

"Thank goodness." Lucy mumbled at the point of tears.

"Uh, Lucy." said Natsu, confused, "What are you doing?"

Lucy just realized what she was doing, and immediately got off. She put up her usual persona and turned her back to Natsu to hide her blushed face. Cynthia already moved to tease Lucy.

"Lucy," said Cynthia, "you're making this way too easy."

"Aye." agreed Happy, "You liiiike him."

Suddenly, the car was flipped over. Kage had betrayed them and made off with the flute with their magic mobile.

"Shouldn't have let your guard down." cried Kage.

Embarrassment was overwhelmed by an unyielding rage. The angrier she got, the more intense Lucy's flames became till golden fire burned around her again.

"When I get my hands on that fucker," roared Lucy, "I'm going to castrate him!"


(Time-Skip)

"I've grown tired of you weak-willed wizards!" cried Lullabye.

Before their eyes, the Lullabye's true form was unleashed. The next thing the wizard's knew, a monster as tall as the mountains loomed over them. The physical manifestation of one of the Demons of Zeref, Lullabye.

"I shall come forth to devour you myself." howled Lullabye, "I shall feast upon your pitiful souls."

Cynthia squealed in terror, "It's so freaking huge."

"Erigor didn't say anything about a monster!" exclaimed Kage.

"That's Lullabye's true form right there." said Lucy, igniting her fists in fire. Even though this was the demon in its true form, Lucy couldn't help but feel something else was coming as well.

'Why do I get the feeling this thing has something else.' thought Lucy.

The demon hunched forward to look at the wizards. "Now, which delectable soul shall I devour first?"

"Delectable soul?" said Natsu, "Do you think souls are tasty?"

"Yeah, they are." answered Lucy.

"Don't encourage him." exclaimed Gray.

"Your clothes Gray." said Happy.

After the demon showed some of its power by flattening a mountain, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Erza took their stand while the guild masters watched from afar. Cynthia decided this was too much for her in terms of power and hid in the masters' crowd. The demon's roar was something else as it shook to the soul, but it didn't faze the masters or Fairy Tail's most powerful team.

"Ready?" said Erza, requipping into Heaven's Wheel.

"Let's go!" cried Lucy, Natsu, and Gray.

Erza flew up to the demon's face to deliver a wide slash down from its cheek to its throat.

"Ice Make: Lance."

Gray followed up with a barrage of shooting ice lances across its entire body. Where each one impacted, a hole pierced through.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist."

Natus jumped high to the demon's face to deliver a fire punch across its face. Next, Lucy followed-up aiming for Lullabye's stomach.

"Fire Demon's Killer Fist."

Lucy put all her strength into that one punch. The force was so strong, the giant demon toppled over. As much as victory seemed certain, Lucy couldn't shake the feeling this was too easy.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack."

Natsu kept Lullabye on the ground by beating it with wings of fire. Lullabye fired a blast of magic to keep the wizards away. Once the dust cleared, Lullabye was on its feet. The demon started to suck the life out of the plants to empower its song.

"That can't be good." exclaimed Cynthia.

"It's about to use its song." cried Happy.

But it stopped itself. It turned to Fairy Tail's strongest with a giant grin.

"You are quite clever." said Lullabye, "Putting holes in my body to break my song. Hmph. I'll just sacrifice my song for greater power."

"Sacrifice!?" exclaimed Erza.

"I knew it!" cried Lucy, "It was hiding something."

A dark magic circle came to life in the air, and a light surrounded the demon. It shrank down to a smaller size, only three times bigger than the average man. A pillar of dark magic ascended into the air, parting the clouds. It then imploded and released a bunch of particles in the air when the transformation was done. Before Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Happy, Erza, and the masters stood a terrifying power.

Lullabye took a more devil-like appearance, and its body structure was more masculine. His skin was still akin to wood, but it had organic parts such as piercing eyes and teeth of demon kind. He unfolded bat-like, brown wings and swung a tail with spines all over it. The ends of its fingers and toes were claws, and his head was adorned with a crown of thorn-like horns.

When Lullabye spoke, his voice was deeper, masculine, and refined. "Rejoice, humans. No one in centuries has borne witness to my original form except the black wizard, Zeref. This was me before he chopped me apart and fixed me back together in his own design. In this form, I've relinquished my song for the true power of demon kind. As such."

They were in shock when he suddenly zipped out of sight, then to suddenly reappear to deal a lariat upon Gray and Natsu. The blow made them skip over the ground for several yards.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, her heart squeezed in shock.

"What kind of power is that?!" gasped Erza.

"As if." cried Gray, "Ice Make: Hammer."

Gray jumped the distance between and swung down a hammer. Lullabye merely extended a fist, and the hammer shattered. He grabbed Gray with his tail and started beating him down by swinging down and up from the ground.

"Fire Demon's Killer Fist."

Lucy landed a clear shot across Lullabye's cheek, but it left no damage. He grabbed Lucy by her throat and smiled looking at those demon eyes.

"Leave them be." roared Erza, requipping into Dragon Wing Armor.

Lullabye didn't even look as he blasted Erza away with dark magic from his palm. Cynthia summoned up her courage and joined the fight.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus."

Once Taurus, the bull spirit jumped over Lullabye with axe raised. With a swipe of his arm, Lullabye shattered his axe and then dealt a shocking blow to Taurus' gut. Cynthia was frozen in terror on the spot.

"We have no choice." cried Makarov, "We have to help them."

"I don't think so." said Lullabye, "Dark Wood Seal."

Before they could help, they were sealed away by a solid dome of black wood. The dark magics used prevented any sort of escape even by Makarov's means. Next, Lullabye threw Gray aside into a few trees. He studied Lucy and read the thoughts.

"Such demonic rage in those eyes." said Lullabye with a smile, "Vengeance against my kind? No. Against Zeref and my brothers and sisters. For what they did to you, and what they took as well."

"Fire Demon's-"

Lullabye slammed Lucy into the ground multiple times and pinned her down under his heel. With a subtle addition of pressure, a bone cracked and Lucy screamed out in pain. He kicked her away.

"Tenrou Giant."

Cynthia "summoned" a forest giant the size of the mountains. It roared with a real voice, but Lullabye wasn't fazed.

"Illusions of any caliber won't work on me, girl." said Lullabye, "Evil Forest."

Roots of black wood shot out like spines from the ground in all directions. Out of nowhere, Cynthia was knocked out of her illusion and the giant disappeared. Lullabye cupped a ball of dark magic and aimed for Cynthia.

"You're annoying." growled Lullabye as he launched the ball.

At last second, Lucy came in between and she and Cynthia were blown away, but Lucy took the brunt of the force. When Cynthia came to, she found her friend with a nasty burn on her stomach. Cynthia was shedding tears.

"You bastard." roared Natsu as he erupted in a pillar of dragon fire, "I'll make you pay for what you did to Lucy."

Natsu launched himself with an Iron Fist after Lullabye, but he caught it with one hand. However, Natsu followed-up and landed a gut punch that managed to stagger the demon a little.

"That's neat." said Lullabye with a grin, "I forgot how exquisite you dragons are."

From his left flank, Erza reappeared sword in mid-swing and inches from Lullabye. In the blink of an eye, Lullabye summoned his own sword of dark wood, yet hard enough to match Erza in Dragon Wing Armor. He stretched his smile wider, excited to see the strength in these two.

"I forgot how it feels," said Lullabye, 'to meet a challenge."

"I'll burn that face of yours." roared Natsu, "Fire Dragon's Roar."

Natsu breathed a wave of red fire at point-blank range. Lullabye was pushed back, his face hidden behind a cross guard. Erza charged him down, and they clashed with a flurry of their blades. However, where Erza used two-hands, Lullabye used one and still managed to stay on top of Erza's offense with his strength. Her speed could only nick Lullabye here and there.

Natsu joined Erza, sending fire punches as fast as her swings, but it only made Lullabye use two hands. His tail swiped them back and he ascended to the air. Natsu anchored his feet into the ground to stay standing. Erza chased after Lullabye into the air.

"Moon Flash."

Lullabye was caught by surprise and barely managed to block Erza's swords before they made their pincer maneuver.

"Out of my sight." Lullabye roared, blasting Erza down to the ground. But she was a distraction.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame."

Lullabye couldn't counter as a ball of raging fire sped towards him. He covered his face with a cross guard and the fireball hit him with the force of a HE shell. When the smoke cleared, Lullabye emerged with some burns on his arms, but unharmed. He spread out his wings and they glowed with dark magic.

"Black Dawn."

His wings fired an endless wave of dark magic that destroyed the forest around them. Earth flew in the air and the ground was ripped apart. Natsu, Erza, and Gray were helpless in this storm of magic.

Cynthia rocked Lucy to get her up. Lucy stirred, wincing in pain.

"C'mon." cried Cynthia, "You have to get up and help them."

"He's too powerful." groaned Lucy.

"Does it matter?!" exclaimed Cynthia, crying, "If you don't do something, they'll be gone. Makarov, Erza, Gray, Happy, Natsu. They'll die without you."

Lucy's heart trembled at the thought of Natsu dead. Her eyes widened. She tried to move her body, but the damage she took was too much. Lucy couldn't let him die. Even with such a broken body and limited magic, Lucy could never bear Natsu dead. But what can she really do almost out of magic?

Lucy looked to the sky and gasped. Particles from Lullabye's transformation still sparkled around them. Cynthia gasped, recognizing them as demon particles. As far as they knew, they were like Etherion and Lacrima as they contained magic, but they were unique in their own right.

"Demon particles." said Cynthia.

"I know what to do." said Lucy, resolving to a gamble, "Cynthia, I'm gonna need some sky magic here."

Cynthia pouted, "You know I'm not good with that."

"I'm not asking for much." groaned Lucy, "I just - need you to create a funnel directed to my mouth."

Cynthia gasped. "Are you crazy?! I know you're a Demon Slayer, but we have no idea what they'll do to you."

"I don't care!" snarled Lucy, "I have to do something, or else they'll die. I won't let that happen."

Cynthia hesitated, but agreed. She managed to create a powerful enough funnel of wind that attracted the demon particles, and Lucy opened her mouth to meet her mystery meal. Cynthia glanced back at Lucy with a small smile.

"You," said Cynthia, "really are in love with Natsu, aren't you?"

Lucy barked softly, "Can you shut the fuck up?"

"Alright," cried Cynthia, waving her hands down, "here it comes."

Lucy ate the funnel of demon particles as she would with fire. It felt like her body was burning from the overflow of magic from the demon particles, but Lucy needed more. Gold fire danced off her body, and even Lucy's wound began to heal into a bruise. Her body barely endured, but Lucy was on her feet again. However, Cynthia had to stand back as Lucy's fires grew more intense than they thought possible. A transformation began to take hold on Lucy.

Lullabye had turned the forest into a barren wasteland. Erza and Natsu were on the ground, breathing but beaten. As he was about to finish them off, an explosion of fire caught their attention. Natsu recognized the giant infernos as Lucy's fire. They all gasped when Lucy revealed herself through the flames, transformed.

(Que "Dragonforce")

The demon skin had fully grown all over Lucy's body, sparing her face, chest, palms, and feet in a patching pattern with her human skin. The white of her eyes were replaced with black. The tips of Lucy's fingers were more sharp. Horns of fire had grown on top of her head. Her fires were so intense, they blocked out the sky in a golden firestorm. Most notably was Lucy's extraordinary boost in power that dwarfed herself a moment ago. This amazing transformation of power is the first of its kind: Demonforce.

"Go get him, Lucy." cheered Cynthia.

"Lucy's changed?!" gasped Erza in surprise.

"Woah." Natsu said, "She's..."

Lullabye seemed on edge. "Are you... a demon, too?"

"RAAAAAUUUGH!" Lucy roared was so powerful, the ground broke apart in its shock. Lullabye could do nothing as Lucy blinked the distance between them and uppercutted him into the sky. Lucy chased after him by shooting fire out of her feet. The golden fires also freed the masters so they could watch the spectacle of Lucy's power.

"Is that Lucy?" gasped Makarov.

"That's one of yours?!" exclaimed Goldmine.

Lucy was so fast, she was like a shooting star as she barraged Lullabye from all directions. Each blow cracked through the air like firecrackers. They ascended higher into the sky until Lucy sent Lullabye into a free fall with an uppercut.

"Now I see it." said Lullabye, "Zeref has completed his work. I know who you truly are. You're neither demon or human. You're the half of the destroyer. E-N-"

"I don't give a fuck!" screamed Lucy, igniting her fist in flames that rivaled the sun, "It doesn't matter if I lose my humanity. I'll gladly throw away my hate and vengeance for the sake of my friends - my family."

"You worthless fleshbag!" roared Lullabye. He glowed to the max, and poured all his magic into his sword. The two sped after each other for their final attack.

"Erza," screamed Lucy, "Gray, Happy, Cynthia. And Natsu. I've discovered one truth with them. Without them at my side, my life would be nothing."

They clashed with a bang and a bright light between them. The masters and wizards braced themselves before the pressure of their colliding powers. It seemed they would kill each other, but Lullabye felt himself pushed by Lucy's burning will.

"Im-Impossible!" cried Lullabye, losing the contest of power.

"Fire Demon's Hidden Fire Form: Blazed Glory: Zero Cannon."

From Lucy's hand fired a world-breaker inferno that engulfed Lullabye completely. It completely eviscerated the land below, searing earth and stone into ash. The bright flames blinded the masters and wizards till the fires calmed down and the pressure was lifted. When all was silent, there was no trace of Lullabye.

"She did it!" praised Cynthia, "She beat him!"

But there was also no sight of Lucy. Natsu's hopes were high because he could still smell her. He looked up to the sky and saw her golden head come through the clouds, followed by the rest of her body. Erza, Natsu, Cynthia, Happy, and Gray were elated Lucy was in one piece.

"I've gotta say, Makey," said Bob, "that gal of yours is something else."

"She sure is." said Makarov.

Then, Cynthia realized that Lucy was making no move to slow her descent to the ground. She was completely out cold.

"She isn't stopping." exclaimed Cynthia.

Natsu was the one to spring into action after Lucy. He ran so fast his legs screamed in pain, but he ignored it. Flames shot out from his feet and rocketed him toward Lucy. He caught Lucy into his arms and took the fall for her. In his arms, Natsu's heart stopped when he felt how cold she was and when he heard the faint beat of her heart.

"Wake up." coaxed Natsu, shaking her head.

When the others caught up to him, they feared the worst. Cynthia held her mouth to hold in any exclaims of sorrow. As Natsu heard her heartbeat start to dim, his eyes began to fill with tears. In a desperate act, Natsu made a red flame on his palm and held it to Lucy's mouth.

"Please, wake up, Lucy." cried Natsu softly, "Don't die on me."

Lucy stirred slightly and her mouth puckered. The red fire drained into her mouth weakly, but Natsu felt hope and joy once he heard Lucy's heart quicken to its normal pace. Once Lucy ate her little snack, her eyes opened to see Natsu shedding tears of joy.

"Natsu." groaned Lucy weakly.

To her shock and surprise, Natsu pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. Lucy could feel the heat of his body and the beat of his quickening heart. Her cheeks blushed red so close to him.

"Don't ever die on me." muttered Natsu.

Lucy didn't want to leave him. Not ever. Her hand unconsciously wrapped around his neck, and she happily embraced Natsu.

"She looooves you." teased Happy.

"I WILL COOK AND EAT YOUR SOUL, CAT!" screamed Lucy.

"You did a fine job." said Makarov, "All of you. You make these old bones of mine proud. But..."

He pointed ahead. The wizards followed his gaze and their jaws dropped. Lucy's attack was so powerful, it bore a giant pit into the earth, and most of Clover town was destroyed.

"... YOU DANG KIDS REALLY WENT OVERBOARD!" ranted Makarov, "THE COUNCIL'S GOING TO GIVE ME HELL FOR THIS!"

Before they knew, Fairy Tail and Master Makarov set their heading back to Fairy Tail. With the railway damaged, they had to go on foot which relieved Lucy and Natsu. He carried Lucy still in his arms, which made Lucy feel a little funny.

"You don't mind," asked Natsu, "if I carry you?"

In response, Lucy rested her arm over Natsu's shoulder. "It's okay by me. Carry me as long as you want."

"You loooove him." teased Cynthia.

"I WILL FUCKING MURDER YOU!" screamed Lucy, her eyes so filled with rage one would think they were on fire. This time though, Lucy didn't hide her embarrassment from Natsu.


I had to make Lullabye/Keyes powerful to show Demonforce. Next up, the Living with Natsu.