I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
Ragnas Bredvolts: I'm glad to see you like it. Mountain Dragon Slayer was something I thought of for another fic that I ended up cancelling, so I figured that I shouldn't let good material go to waste. As for his personality, I figured would make him be more down to earth and laid back than the likes of Ultear (or Zalty as she goes by during this arc). Also, I hadn't heard of Gregor Clegane until I read your review, and I'm just throwing it out there now that I don't watch Game of Thrones. The gag of Natsu trying not to curse in front of Lisanna is something I'll be keeping going for awhile, so we'll see how that one pans out later on. And yes, I'm already aware that I need an editor.
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"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."
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Luke and the others gazed in a mix of anger and horror at the sight before them, in the form of the Fairy Tail guild hall having been ripped apart by several metal rods bursting out of the building "Well on one hand you guys won't have to deal with that for the time being, on the other hand what the actual fuck happened to the guild hall?"
"You can thank Phantom Lord for that."
Luke glanced back to see Cana standing nearby looking pissed as all hell "Phantom Lord went out of their way to do this to our guild? Was anyone hurt?"
"No they're all fine, they're inside but they got us good. Come on, I'll take you to where the others are and we'll talk there."
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Soon enough, Cana led the group down to the basement of the Fairy Tail guild hall, where everyone was nursing their broken spirits "Lucky for us no one was here when they pulled that stunt, but it still sucks."
"You can say that again." Luke muttered "I don't get it, I know we've never been on the best of terms with Phantom Lord but this is a new low even for the likes of them."
"Hey, what's up kids?" Makarov waved to them from where he was sitting at a table drinking some booze "Welcome back."
"Sorry we weren't here sooner, but if it helps we didn't take any reward money from the people of Galuna Island since we didn't deserve it."
"Okay good, but you guys still have to be punished."
"Why the hell are you guys just sitting around down here!" Natsu barked, only to receive a glare and a chop to the head, with Gray receiving the same, as well as Lisanna, only she got one to the butt.
"Quiet, you kids know that you're in trouble don't you?"
"But the guild hall just got totally wrecked, why the hell aren't we doing anything about it gramps?!"
"Oh pipe down already, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything."
"What?!"
"That just goes to show you how cowardly those asshats in the Phantom Lord guild really are, they attacked when there was no one here so is that really anything worth bragging about?"
Luke breathed a sigh "Well no one got hurt so that helps at least a little bit."
"They wrecked the place sometime last night after everyone went home." Cana told him "At least no one got hurt so that's the important thing."
"I guess so."
"You're thinking too much into this." Makarov waved it off "We shouldn't bother to trouble ourselves over worry about a bunch of people who don't even have the guts to come and face us head on, I say forget about those idiots."
"BULLSHIT!" Natsu promptly slammed his fist into the side of the wall "There's not a chance in hell of that happening gramps, we can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"
"I'm not talking about this any longer, we'll be handling job requests from down here until the upstairs is repaired."
"We shouldn't be worrying about jobs right now-"
"Natsu that's enough out of you!" he extended his hand… and for some reason he ended up spanking Lucy's ass.
Luke grabbed him by the extending arm "Master we talked about this, behave and keep your hands to yourself or I'm telling the others about what I found in your office that day."
"...Sorry, gotta go bye!" and then he rushed off.
"And there he goes."
"WHERE THE HELL IS HE GOING?!" Natsu exploded.
"My guess is to reorganize his closet."
"I just don't get it, how the hell can you guys be like this?"
"Natsu think for a second, this is just as hard on the rest of us as it is on you. Of course we're all pissed about this but the Magic Council has strictly forbidden any conflict between wizard guilds."
"But that's not fair, those asshats from Phantom Lord started it!"
"You think the council is gonna care about that? If the master decides that they're not worth any sort of retaliation then that's all there is to it, all we can do is respect his choice."
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Nightfall came.
Luke was making his way back home to his apartment, his mind drifting 'Looks like we've got ourselves into a pretty big mess right now, and we're not even the ones who started it this time. I mean Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord have always had some bad blood, but it's never been as bad as this before now. Truth be told I actually did think about joining them before I came to Fairy Tail in the first place, but all things considered I think I made the right call choosing the guild that I did. I love being part of Fairy Tail, and I swore that day that I would get strong enough to protect all of them, and if I have to take down Phantom Lord by myself to keep them safe then that's what I'll do. Fairy Tail is like my family, each and every one of them.' he made his way toward the door to his apartment, only to find Lucy sitting outside his door reading a book "Let me guess, they're all in there aren't they?"
"Yep." Lucy barely looked up from the book.
"Figures." he opened the door.
Sure enough, Cana and the others (Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lisanna, as well as the two cats) were sitting at his dining room table and making themselves at home "You never said your new place was so roomy."
"And they never bother to tell you they're gonna barge in and make themselves at home, they just do."
"Since the guild hall was attacked only recently we can assume that there are members of Phantom Lord here in Magnolia." Erza told him "They've also most likely found out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now, we agreed that it would be safer for all of us if we stayed together for the time being."
"Meaning that you suggested it and the others are too scared of you to disagree, but anyway I get where you're coming from."
"To be fair you and Cana are young and attractive teenagers, I wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of the two of you being alone here together, so I had Natsu and the others come and join us as well. After all, I felt that I could only relax if I stayed here as well."
"And you just decided on staying in my apartment without asking me."
"I offered it." Bolt told him.
"Of course you did, look I'm fine with this but if any of you touch my stuff then I'm hurling you out the window."
"Hey cool check this out." this was when Happy came in wearing one of Luke's red cowboy boots, only to get kicked so hard he literally flew out the window.
"What the actual fuck did I just say?"
"Please that's nothing." Natsu pulled a quarter zip out of Luke's closet "How many of these things do you wear?" he received a chop to the head "Ow."
"What the hell are you doing?"
"What's it look like, I'm trying to find something good to eat."
"You eat everything you get your hands on."
"Hey I need to get some shut eye, you guys mind keeping it down?" Gray told them.
"I know some people say to make yourselves at home but this is just too much, so I'm trying to be nice when I say this. Get. Out. Now!" he was ignored.
"We have a very serious problem here." Erza shot a glare over at Natsu and Gray "The hygiene of you two boys, I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."
"Here's an idea, have them take a bath at your place so you can keep an eye on them over there okay?"
"Actually that's quite an excellent idea." Erza slugged both Natsu and Gray and slung them over their shoulders "Come on boys, now we'll be able to take a bath together like we did when we were younger. Lisanna, Happy, come." and she dragged them out of the door.
"Well… that was just way too easy. Anyway Cana, Lucy I've got a guest room that you guys can use and Bolt just sleeps with me so… break I guess."
"Yeah let me stop you right there." Cana grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in with a sly smirk "I think I've got a better arrangement."
"...Erza you clever bitch."
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At the same time, Team Shadow Gear, consisting of Levy, Jet and Droy, were making their way through the streets of Magnolia, only to suddenly get attacked by an unknown figure in secrecy, as to preserve silence.
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Soon enough, Lucy had finished up with taking a batch in Luke's apartment "Alright well I'm done, who's up next for bathing in Luke's bathroom? For the record it's a lot cleaner in there than I was expecting."
"Because unlike the likes of Natsu and Gray I'm not a pig." Luke didn't even glance up from the book he was reading.
"And we're all thankful for it."
"Yeah well just be glad he showers after he trains, otherwise the entire place would smell like testosterone." Cana let out a sigh from where she was sprawled out on the bed clad in only a towel that wrapped around her curvy figure, with her hair in a ponytail.
"Well you seem to be getting yourself comfortable, so are you gonna get some clothes on or what?"
"Hold that thought." Cana threw away her towel to cover Luke's eyes, and once she uncovered them she was clad in a simple t shirt and a pair of pajama shorts "That work for you?"
"More or less yeah."
"If you're done stripping in my room I think we should get to the task at hand." Luke pointed out flatly.
"Yeah that's a good point, I mean why did Phantom Lord attack us out of the blue like that in the first place?"
"I don't really know, I mean we have had our fair share of grudge matches with them in the past like when I crashed their open mic night a few months ago, but it's never been anything this extreme before."
"Well this just sucks." Natsu grumbled from his place in the window "If gramps wasn't so scared of them then we could wipe out those assholes once and for all."
"When the hell did you get here? Anyway that's not true and you know it Natsu, unlike you he realizes that humoring their stupid grudge isn't worth it. Besides it's obvious that Makarov could take out the entire guild by himself if he wanted to, keep in mind that he is one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Also why the hell are you here?"
"Because I don't wanna bathe with Erza and Gray again."
"Well yeah I get that but-" it was at that moment that Luke realized that Natsu was sitting in his windowsill naked "Okay that's it, get out and stay out."
"Why the hell should I leave, we're talking about smashing Phantom-"
"No we're not and we've been over this, I'm not letting you in my apartment if you don't have any clothes on!" he promptly kicked Natsu in the jaw, sending him flying towards the moon "At least Gray has the decency to wear underwear!" he shut the window and then proceeded to lock it tight "Okay, where were we?"
"Talking about the master being one of the Ten Wizard Saints." Lucy told him "What's the deal with these Ten Wizard Saint guys anyway?"
"It's an honor bestowed in wizards by the Magic Council, it's an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent."
"Wait are you serious?"
"Yep, but the downside of that is that Jose the master of Phantom Lord is one of them too, the same with Siegrain of the Magic Council. That guy is pretty shady and he and Erza have some bad blood, but I've done some work for him in exchange for him sticking up for Fairy Tail in the past. During the last year and a half I actually spent some time training with the top ranked wizard saint, and he's a user of Dragon Slayer magic like me and Natsu, only he uses 8 different types. Word has it he's the most powerful mage on the continent."
"Gramps is afraid!" Natsu busted in through the door "He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"
"That's a load of bullshit and you know it Natsu. It's like I told you before, the consequences of going to war with a guild like Phantom Lord are nowhere near worth the fight. For all we know they probably just did this to get a rise out of us exactly like how you're acting right now. The order of the magical world is at stake here. Also, having a shirt is not what I meant." he promptly threw Natsu out the door and then locked it.
"But what's the deal exactly, are they that strong?" asked Lucy.
"That's a pretty tough subject for debate, but the fact of the matter is that if we were to go to war with them then there's a fair chance that neither guild would come out unscathed. Their strength is equal to ours. Like I told you before Jose is one of the Ten Wizard Saints like Makarov, so that means that he could take out a good majority of the guild single handedly if he wanted to. They also have an elite group of S class wizards similar to ours they call the Element 4, each one using different kinds of elemental magic: Air, Water, Earth and Fire. But their biggest threat aside from their master would have to be Gajeel of the Black Steel, there's a pretty fair chance he's the one behind the guild hall being wrecked. The biggest thing to remember about him is that he's an Iron Dragon Slayer, a Dragon Slayer like me and Natsu, but while I use lightning and Natsu uses fire, Gajeel uses iron and metal."
"He's a Dragon Slayer too? I thought you and Natsu were the only ones! But wait, if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer then does that mean he eats iron?"
"Yep. I fought him when I crashed Phantom Lord's open mic night, he's actually a pretty good singer. We fought after that when some of their guys insulted the guild, I kicked one of them out with one move, Gajeel challenged me, we fought and I beat him pretty easily but only because it was his iron against my lightning. Strength wise I'd say he's just as strong as Natsu, maybe even a little bit stronger."
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Meanwhile, in the Phantom Lord guild hall…
A certain Iron Dragon Slayer was sitting at a table eating a pile of metal objects, as well as writing something down on a notepad "You're sparkling and colorful… Shoo-bee-doo-ba… You caught my eye… like a shiny piece of metal…"
That was when one of the members of Phantom Lord interrupted him "So Gajeel word around the guild hall is that you made a mess out of the Fairy Tail guild hall, oh man I wish I could've seen their faces. For all we know they probably just broke down crying, serves those asshats right for thinking they can measure up to us-" he was promptly silenced by an iron club to the face, much to the amusement of the rest of the members.
"How many times do I have to tell you idiots? I don't like to be bothered when I'm doing one of three things: eating, training, or working on my music." Gajeel let out a snarl "And besides I just did what the master told me to do, if that's what he wants then I'll get that shit done and over with, setting the wheels in motion or whatever."
"The die has been cast." this was when their master Jose stepped out from the shadows and into the candlelight "I must commend you for your excellent work Gajeel."
"I did what you told me to do master, but did I really have to do that other thing?"
"I know Makarov isn't the type to be lured out by the likes of simple a broken guild hall, so we need to give him a little bit of a present that's sure to get his attention."
"Yeah well it'll get their panties in a knot."
"Very good my boy, be sure to take extra care that no harm comes to that one specific person if you would be so kind."
"I didn't touch her."
"I know the drill."
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The next morning, in Magnolia Southgate Park…
Morning came, and the sun was shining brightly, but the city of Magnolia had been shaken by a shocking revelation.
"It's alright we're from the same guild as them, just let us through." Luke pushed his way through the crowd, with Lucy, Bolt and Cana right behind him, only to be met with the horrifying sight of Levy and the rest of team Shadow Gear bound to the tree by iron stakes, heavily injured with the Phantom Lord guild mark signed onto Levy's stomach "I don't think I need to say it but I will anyway, they've crossed the line this time."
"Those Phantom bastards did this…" Natsu was literally blazing with rage.
"Well I hope you're ready Natsu, you're about to get what you asked for." Luke glanced back a short distance "You know what we have to do don't you master?"
Sure enough, Makarov made his way to the front of the crowd, his rage causing his magic energy to surge and his cane to shatter "I can take the likes of our headquarters being reduced to rubble, but under no circumstances will I allow harm to come to my children without taking revenge on those responsible! We have no choice now, if it's a war Jose wants then it's a war Jose is going to get!"
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Later, in Magnolia hospital…
Lucy sat in the hospital room being used by Levy and the others, looking over their unconscious forms 'Droy… Jet… and poor Levy… I never knew Phantom Lord could be so heartless and cruel, how could they do something like this? When you discovered I was writing a novel I promised you that you would be the first one to read it, and just the other day she worked so hard to help all of us out with that body switching incident. What they've done is unforgivable, they have to pay for this.' a few tears fell down her cheeks.
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Meanwhile, in Oak Town, the Phantom Lord guild hall…
At the same time, the Phantom Lord guild was celebrating their recent actions against Fairy Tail in the same way they would… by drinking, yelling and breaking stuff.
"Oh hell to the yeah, that's totally priceless!"
"Those clowns from Fairy Tail got what was coming to them!"
"I heard Gajeel went and took out three of them himself!"
"Well we can't let him have all the fun, I say we try and clip the wings off a few fairies ourselves, now who's with me?" that guy was cut off by the door getting blown down in his face, sending him tumbling backwards in a charred heap.
When the smoke cleared, it revealed Makarov standing at the doorway, with Luke and the rest of them right behind him "Fairy Tail has come calling!" this prompted several of the Phantom Lord members to charge forward.
"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" Natsu quickly burst through several Phantom Lord members with a fire enhanced attack "Alright guys, who wants to play with fire?!"
"And if not fire then what about those who want to get struck by lightning? Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Strike!" Luke thrusted his dragon scale sword forward and unleashed a blast of lightning from the blade, engulfing several Phantom Lord members in the explosion that followed.
"Purple Net!" Macao quickly used his fire magic to trap several men "Now Wakaba, do it already!"
"I'm already on it! Smoke Crush!" Wakaba quickly used his smoke magic to take out several members.
"Guns Magic: Spark Shot!" Alzack quickly fired one of his pistols at several members, causing them to hit the ground with a loud thud "Now that's what I like to call my Spark Shot." he glanced back and noticed one of them aiming an attack at him from behind, only for that guy to be shot down by Bisca "Well now, very nice shooting Bisca."
"More like you getting a little bit rusty there Al, anyway I'm locked on target, so now… Homing Shot!" Bisca quickly fired a barrage of homing shots that blew away a large number of Phantom Lord members.
"Picto Magic: Wild Stampede!" Reedus used his painting magic to summon several wild boars and send them after the Phantom Lord Members.
"Wood Make magic: Dam of Bashful Love!" contrary to the name, Laki used her Wood Make magic to summon several wooden hammers, blowing away several Phantom Lord members.
"Animal Soul: Cat!" Lisanna quickly transformed into her cat form and started clawing away at any Phantom Lord members that came across her path.
"Leprechaun Magic: Fairy Machine Gun!" Evergreen of the Thunder Legion used her Fairy Machine Gun to blast the Phantom Lord members.
"Dark Ecriture: Pain!" using his sword, Freed quickly cast his runes onto several members, causing them to cry out in agony.
"Go for it babies! Line Formation!" Bickslow summoned his magic dolls in their Line Formation, blowing through several Phantom Lord members at once.
"Card Magic: Summoned Lightning! Reverse Tower! Lovers! Fate of Lightning!" Cana was quick to use her card magic to summon a large bolt of lightning, blasting several surrounding Phantom Lord members with it.
"Ring Magic: Twister!" Loke summoned a powerful tornado, engulfing several members within it.
"Come on and man up, don't you wanna be like me?!" Elfman used his Beast Soul magic to give himself a reptile arm and punch out several opponents like a real man would. #Realman.
"You shall pay for the harm you've brought upon my children!" Makarov on the other hand wasted no time in changing to his giant form and pounding several Phantom Lord members into the ground.
One of them still had the courage to speak afterwards "He… He's a monster!"
"And you dared to lay your filthy hands on the children of this monster! Were you foolish enough to believe that the laws of humans would protect you from my rage?! JOSE! Come out and show yourself!"
"Dragon Sword Style: Lightning Hammer!" Luke thrusted his sword into the ground and summoned a massive bolt of lightning to strike a large number of Phantom Lord members "Now start talking you guys, where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4?"
What they didn't realize was that Gajeel was looking down on them from a level higher up in the building "Looks like we've got an old friend joining the fun, Luke the Thunderclap and even the legend herself Titania Erza. I guess Mystogan didn't give enough of a damn to show up. Either way, I guess Master Jose knew exactly how this was gonna go down. Looks like for a bunch of fairies they're better than I gave them credit for."
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At the same time, Lucy was making her way home with some groceries while contemplating the recent events, only to end up being captured by Juvia and Sol, two of the Element 4, and taken away, leaving her gate keys behind.
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The battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord raged on.
Natsu was quick to devour a fire spell with a malicious grin on his face "Oh yeah, now I've got a fire in my belly."
Luke quickly consumed a lightning spell being fired at him as well "And I've got some lightning raging inside of my soul that I'm just about to let loose. You ready to blow them away with a combination attack?"
"Oh hell yeah."
"Good, on 3. 1… 2…"
"3! Dragon Slayer Combination Attack!"
"Lightning Flame Dragon…"
"Lightning Flame Dragon…"
"ROAR!" the two of them let out two simultaneous roars, one of fire and one of lightning, the two of them intertwining with each other to create a combination blast that blew the Phantom Lord members away, and then they fist bumped "You know you've gotten a lot stronger while I've been gone haven't you?"
"Bout time you noticed Lightning Ass, why do you think I wanted to fight you so bad?"
"Well that'll have to wait until you become S class like me, but in the meantime we've got them right where we want them."
"Luke! Erza!" this was when Makarov got their attention from where he was fighting his way to the second floor "I'll leave the rabble to the two of you!"
"We're on it master, just do what you have to do."
"I intend to." Makarov forced his way through the several unnamed Phantom Lord members until he reached the second floor "Jose must be lurking on the top floor, when I find him there will be hell to pay." he quickly burst through a door and made his way inside.
Gajeel took this chance to leap down from his spot from above "Well now that their master is out of the picture I think it's about time I throw myself into the mix." and with an eager chuckle he leapt down onto the scene, shattering the Phantom Lord sign beneath him on impact "I'm pretty sure there's an advertisement about this somewhere. Whassup?"
Erza's gaze hardened as she laid eyes on Gajeel "It's Gajeel of the Black Steel, he's the Iron Dragon Slayer."
"YOU ATTACKED LEVY YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Nab wasted no time in charging at Gajeel in a blind rage.
"Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel quickly turned his arm into an iron club and slammed it directly into Nab's gut, sending him crashing to the ground and knocking out several other Phantom Lord members in the process, shocking several members of Fairy Tail "Yeah yeah I know, I knocked out my own guys with that attack but in my defense they're assholes. So anyway who's up for showing me what they've got, I know there's at least one of you who's got enough balls of steel to see what a real Dragon Slayer is capable of, so are the rest of you too scared or not?"
"Too scared?! Real men don't know fear!" Elfman charged at Gajeel at full speed.
Gajeel quickly used his Iron Dragon Club to block the attack "I've heard of you, you're Elfman aren't you? Yeah the guy that kills monsters and absorbs their power for himself." he extended an iron club from his arm, and then one from his leg.
Elfman dodged the arm and quickly caught the leg using his beast arm.
"Well what do you know, not too bad big guy."
"Well that's just because I'm a real man."
"Is that a fact? Well then let's just see how a real man handles this!" Gajeel shot several iron clubs out of his iron leg, hitting several Phantom Lord members.
"What the hell, what kind of real man attacks their own men?"
"The kind who knows it'll distract their opponent!" Gajeel slugged Elfman in the face using an iron club, sending him flying backwards "Also I'm careful to pick out the ones who diss my music."
"At least I don't fall into that category." Luke dropped down in front of him, with Natsu right next to him "What's up Mr Shoo Bee Doo Ba?"
"Bout time I run into someone with good taste, so we gonna go at it?"
"Nope, I'm leaving you up to Natsu here." and then he leapt off the scene.
"I don't suppose you like good music when you hear it?"
"I don't know, let's try it! Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu dealt Gajeel a fire fist before he was able to react, sending him flying backwards into a nearby wall "Music to my ears you son of a mother fucker. Now allow me to introduce myself, I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer of Fairy Tail and I'm here to kick your ass."
Gajeel promptly pulled himself back to his feet and spat out some rubble "The feeling is mutual punk."
"Elfman just hang back, this asshat is all mine."
"Oh come on!" Elfman protested "First you try to use me like a springboard, and now you want to steal a fight from one man to another?"
"Pretty much yeah."
"Works for me! Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel morphed his arm into an iron club and promptly slammed it into Natsu's gut, sending him skidding backwards.
Natsu grabbed onto the iron club and forced himself to a stop "You fucked up our guild hall, you attacked Levy and her team."
"I did what Jose ordered me to do."
"I don't give a damn, you're gonna pay!" Natsu covered his arms in flames, gripped onto the iron club and threw Gajeel into the air.
Gajeel rebounded off of one of the support pillars and charged at Natsu, his fist being covered in iron scales "Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" the two attacks collided, the force blowing both of them back a short distance as they licked their minor wounds "Not too shabby."
"You either, Thunderclap mentioned that the Fairies had another Dragon Slayer aside from him but I figured he was all talk."
"Well he's not, and I'm gonna surpass him one day."
"Alright fine." Elfman let out a sigh "Yeah you're manlier than I thought. I'll let you have this one, but you've gotta promise me that you're gonna-"
"You can bet on it, I'll beat this guy until he's just a pile of scrap metal."
"For the record I'm still standing right now." Gajeel pointed out.
"True but you're not gonna be for much longer?"
"You wanna bet?" Gajeel suddenly burst forward at full speed.
"Oh son of a-" Natsu was cut off by an iron club enhanced uppercut kick to the jaw, sending him flying across the building "Ow."
"Oh come on Salamander, don't tell me that your bark is worse than your bite. What you can dish it out but you can't take the good shit? You're giving Dragon Slayers a bad name."
"You wanna bet?" Natsu burst back up to his feet with a cocky smirk "It's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down."
"You seriously think you've got what it takes to take me down don't you Pyro?"
"The hell with think, I know for a fact that I can."
"We'll see about that. Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel fired his Iron Club forward.
Natsu caught the beam with his bare hand as it began radiating flames "Your steel beams can't even touch me, you're gonna have to step up your game!"
"It's not steel it's iron you moron. Still the rumors are true, you're way more powerful than you look. That actually stung a little bit, so do you have what it takes to keep going Salamander?"
"That was just a warmup, I'm just getting started. You haven't seen anything from me yet you metal freak!" Natsu charged forward in a rage.
"We'll see about that." Gajeel blocked Natsu's fist and dealt him a quick kick to the gut, sending him skidding backwards.
'Dammit this guy's tough, but I'm not backing down to him! Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu was quick to stop Gajeel's next attack with a fire enhanced uppercut kick to the jaw.
Gajeel quickly summoned some iron foot blades in the soles of his feet, hooking himself onto the support beams, and then he blocked Natsu's next attack using his iron club, though he was sent crashing through several support beams before latching onto another.
"How do you like that one asshat?"
"Don't let yourself get too cocky punk, it's not gonna happen again."
"I think we'll see about that."
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Luke quickly cut down another member of Phantom Lord using his dragon scale sword, only to notice the entire building shaking "And now this is happening."
"You know damn well what that's gonna mean." Cana shot him a smirk "This is what happens when people piss off our master."
"The wrath of a giant combined with the wrath of an angry parent, Jose doesn't have a chance in hell of defeating him."
"The same with any of us, Makarov is a fucking beast when he's mad."
"Jose's probably on the same level as him though."
"No Jose is tough but he's got nothing on Makarov, I might be able to take him but that's a pretty big if."
"You're fucking with me right now."
"I don't fuck with people, not with you at least. A good chunk of the time I was gone was spent preparing a special trump card meant specifically for taking on people on the levels of the Ten Wizard Saints, but as long as we have Master Makarov with us you won't even see it in action."
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Sure enough, Makarov had eventually stormed his way up to the top floor, his rage ripping the building apart at the seams "JOSE!"
"Well well well, look what the cat dragged in." Jose let out a chuckle from where he was seated on his throne.
"Why are you attacking Fairy Tail?! TELL ME!"
"It's been quite some time since we've seen each other hasn't it Makarov, six years ago at the guild master conference I believe. I remember that day all too well, I was quite a mess. I can't hold my liquor as well as the rest of you."
"SILENCE!" Makarov fired a gigantic fist forward, smashing the throne with ease "I didn't come here to make small talk Jose, what I want is answers!"
Jose simply let out a chuckle, his appearance flickering.
"A projection? You coward, I should've known you would've fled with your tail between your legs."
"This is far from cowardice Makarov, I'm simply trying to avoid a fight between two of the Ten Wizard Saints. In lieu of that mess I prefer a sensible victory without all of the unnecessary commotion."
"Why are you hiding? Come out and face me like a man!" the only answer Makarov received was a projection of the tied up form of Lucy appearing before him "Lucy, but why?"
"Why you ask? You mean to tell me she's a member of your guild and you don't even know about that? I'm quite surprised that miss Lucy Heartfilia never told you the truth." he summoned a Magic Circle coated with black energy.
"No don't!" Makarov quickly sensed the presence of another being in the room and whipped around 'Where did he come from? I wasn't even able to sense the presence of this one!'
As it turns out, standing behind Makarov was a large heavy set man by the name of Aria, his attire consisting of a large overcoat, a top hat and a blind fold, with tears streaming down his face endlessly "It's so sad, it's just so sad!"
"What the-" but then Makarov was suddenly engulfed in a white light.
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A few minutes later…
"Dragon Sword Style-" Luke was about to unleash a spell from his dragon scale sword, only to stop at the sound of something crashing to the ground "What the hell was that?"
"Something bad would be my guess." Cana noted dryly, only to suddenly turn pale almost immediately at the sight "That however is something way worse than whatever the hell I was expecting."
"No doubt about it."
"Why?!" Aira bellowed from his place at the top of the building "Why am I suddenly feeling melancholy? It must be because the world has just lost a truly great wizard, such sorrow has filled the air.
"Oh crap, master!"
Makarov was lying in the crater motionless, his skin a sickly green 'What happened to me? I feel so weak… my magic… it's gone…'
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Jose looked down upon the scene from above, three other shadowy figures by his side "Absolutely excellent, Makarov is powerless now thanks to Aria of the Heavens, a member of the Phantom's Element 4. He has the ability to make the powers of other wizards disappear into thin air. I think it's safe to say we've won this round Fairy Tail."
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Makarov was now being cared for by the likes of Luke, Cana and the others "My power is… My magic power is…"
"Take it easy master, just try and calm yourself down." Luke assured him.
"What the hell happened to him?" asked Cana.
"I don't know, but whatever it is I can't sense any magic power coming from him."
"But what does that mean, are you saying he's just an ordinary old man now?"
"Whatever it is it means that he won't be able to fight anymore, which means that we're at a serious disadvantage."
"But it just doesn't make any sense, the master is so powerful so how the hell could they beat him like that?"
"There's only one way to find out, we'll have to go up there."
Unfortunately, the remaining members of Phantom Lord had other ideas, case and point.
"Hey you guys are you seeing this? Their master has been defeated!"
"Hell to the yeah, that means we can beat them!"
"None of these clowns are anywhere near as strong without their master, we have Gajeel and the Element 4 on our side."
"Now's our chance, let's get them!"
"Yeah let's give them what they deserve!"
"Don't start getting cocky! Dragon Sword Style: Lightning Surge!" Luke stuck the blade of his sword into the ground, resulting in a surge of lightning that blew away a large number of Phantom Lord members.
"Now take this! Tri Element Combo Attack!" three members of Phantom Lord unleashed a combination attack aimed at Cana while she was attacking another member, leaving her unable to react in time.
"Cana get down! Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap Strike!" Luke jumped in front of her and unleashed a blast of lightning from his sword, cancelling out the combination attack and blowing the Phantom Lord members away, and then he knelt down next to Cana "Looks like I did it just in time, are you alright?"
Cana nodded "Yeah I'm fine but you shouldn't push yourself too hard, the last thing any of us need is for you to get yourself killed."
"Yeah well it's not looking like I have too much of a choice. Now that the master is out they're starting to get the upper hand and our moral is dangerously low, not to mention that even if we take down these guys we still have Gajeel and the Elemnt 4 to deal with, along with one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"You thinking about retreating?"
"I think I'm more than willing to risk my life but not any of the others, especially not yours." he gripped her hand gently, gave her a reassuring nod "We have to retreat, everyone fall back and head back to the guild!"
"What?!" Natsu exploded at him from where he was punching out some nameless thug "There's no way in hell any of us can just give up, a wizard of Fairy Tail knows never to give up against punks like these guys! Besides we've all still got plenty of fight in us!"
"This isn't up for discussion, the fact is that none of you stand a chance against Jose! Now stop whining and retreat already, I don't like ordering you guys around like this but I am right now, so go!"
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Gajeel looked down upon the scene from his place overhead "Well that's a damn shame, I never got the chance to finish up my fight with Salamander, and maybe see if Thunderclap could live up to the hype."
"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts."
Gajeel glanced up to see standing on a pillar above him "Aira huh? I can see that you're still just as creepy as ever, still I've gotta give you points for taking down the Fairy Tail geezer like that."
"I just followed the orders given to me by Master Jose, but thank you!" and then he started crying again.
"Why the hell are you always crying? For fuck's sake, and people wonder why I consider you creepy. So what happened to that blonde chick?" now this was what got Luke's attention.
"She was captured by Juvia and Sol, the poor wretch is being held in a gloomy cell at our headquarters."
"So much for giving her a warm welcome huh?"
"Dammit…" Luke let out an outright snarl.
Bolt glanced up at him from where he was strangling some nameless thug "Hey Luke what's the matter?"
"Gajeel get down here!"
Gajeel shot him a look and shrugged "Sorry to disappoint you Thunderclap, but we'll finish this someday." and then he and Aira disappeared.
'So they went after Lucy too? Dammit. Alright move it, everyone get out of here and head back to the guild!"
"There's no way I'm going back yet, they have to pay for what they did to us!" Natsu fired up another attack, only to be grabbed by Luke and the attack snuffed out by the sheer pressure he was radiating.
"I told you this isn't up for discussion, now go back to the guild with the others!"
"Not until-"
"I'm not gonna let there be a repeat of what happened with Mira dammit!"
Whatever comeback Natsu had prepared died in his throat.
"This is the only option we have, I'm more than willing to put my life on the line but I won't let any of you get hurt when I know I can prevent it. Go back with the others, I'll meet you there soon."
"But then what are you gonna do?"
"What else? Those bastards kidnapped Lucy, I'm gonna go save her."
"...I'll let the others know." and so Natsu slung Happy over his shoulder and left at the back of the group.
Luke on the other hand grabbed one of the nameless thugs that was chasing Fairy Tail out of the guild hall "Sup?"
"Oh crap…" the guy was sweating "The Thunderclap and one of the cats, he killed three of our guys!"
"You're damn right he did, and you and I have some talking to do."
"Please don't hurt me!"
"Do what I say and I won't have to."
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Soon enough, Luke was leading both Bolt and the nameless Phantom thug through the mountain path behind the guild hall "Alright let's get moving."
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Bolt.
"What the hell do you think, we're gonna go save Lucy. Alright buddy start talking, tell me where the hell they took her."
"How the hell should I know, I don't know any Lucy." the guy spat out, only to be zapped by a quick flash of lightning, causing him to cry out in pain "Oh god oh god this hurts, make it stop I'm begging you!"
"Start talking."
"I already told you dude, I don't know shit! I'm serious dude now quit zapping me before I get set on fire!"
"I won't hesitate to obliterate your entire guild if you and your Phantom buddies hurt another one of my friends, you understand me?" that freaked the guy out even more.
"I'm telling you I've never heard of this Lucy chick, if I knew where she was then I would've told you by now!"
"Funny you should say that, I was thinking that I should've fried you to a crisp by now."
"Look man our headquarters is up ahead, if I had to guess I would say they probably got her locked up in there okay?"
"Why the hell didn't you just say that in the first place? You could've saved both of us a lot of crap." Luke let go of the thug and grabbed onto Bolt "Come on, we don't have any time to waste."
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Lucy slowly opened her eyes, and once she was fully aware she bolted upright, only to find herself tied up in a cell "What the heck, how did I get here?"
"So you're finally awake." the door opened to reveal Jose standing before her "I must admit I was getting quite worried about you Lucy."
"And just who are you?"
"Well my name is Jose Porla, and I am the master of the Phantom Lord guild."
"You're with Phantom Lord? That's right, I was captured by two of the Element 4.'
"I would like to apologize for this dingy cell, and being tied up must be degrading but I'm afraid I had no choice my dear. That is how you treat a prisoner after all."
"You're the son of a bitch who attacked my friend Levy, you'd better let me go! My friends are gonna come looking for me!"
"Depending on how willing you are to cooperate, I'm fully prepared to treat you as an esteemed guest of Phantom Lord rather than a lowly prisoner."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" she let out a shriek of terror when she noticed a bug on her leg "Oh my god that bug just crawled on me!"
"Now you see, you don't want to stay here do you? I have a beautifully decorated suite waiting for you if you promise to behave."
"Why the hell does your guild keep attacking us?!"
"Who is us exactly? Oh I'm sorry, were you talking about Fairy Tail? That was nothing more than a means to an end."
"What?"
"You see we were working towards our main objective of acquiring a certain someone, they actually happen to be a member of Fairy Tail so if we have to destroy the guild to get a hold of them then that's simply a working benefit."
"Who the heck are you talking about?"
"Oh my you truly are such a naive young lady, not at all what I'd expect from a debutante. I'm talking about you of course, Lady Lucy the privileged daughter of the wealthy Heartfilia family." that shook Lucy to the core.
"But… But how did you find out about that?"
"You know I'm surprised you never told your fellow guild members the truth, and I don't understand the daughter of a wealthy tycoon would stoop to such cheap and dangerous work as wizarding for such a low class guild, so do you?"
"So you mean… I've been kidnapped?"
"No far from it my dear, I assure you it's not like that. We're not looking for ransom money or anything of that sort, we're just doing our job. We were hired by your father to bring you home to him." and that left Lucy downright terrified.
"No… I don't understand, why the hell would he want me back?"
"Why do you seem so confused? Any father would go looking for a daughter who ran away from home."
"No not him, I'm honestly shocked he even noticed that I was gone. I'm not ever gonna go back to that house, I don't want anything to do with him!"
"Oh dear, I should've known that you would be problematic."
"Well then you might as well just let me go."
"I'm sorry but I can't do that."
"Please… I need to go to the bathroom."
"Oh give me a break, you don't think I'd fall for the oldest trick in the book do you?"
"No for real, I'm totally dying here!"
"Fine then." Jose promptly placed a bucket in front of her "Go ahead."
"A bucket?!"
"I'm ready for any old trick you might throw my way."
"Well then I guess it'll have to work." she stood up and prepared to pull down her skirt "Well here goes…"
"You mean you're actually gonna use it?! Well I have never met such a vulgar young lady, but I'll turn away because I'm a gentleman." so he promptly turned around.
"Good enough for me." so Lucy promptly launched one foot right between Jose's legs, nailing him right in the crotch and sending him falling to his knees "You know there's a good reason why old tricks are still around, it's because they work. Well I'll be seeing you, now take care okay?" she made a beeline for the window, only to stop when she realized that she was several stories off the ground.
"Oh yes, right…" Jose pulled himself back to his feet, still in a great deal of pain "I forgot to mention it before, this cell is several stories high. I must admit you really did a number on me young lady but you're not going to get away with it, you will be punished for this. I'm going to show you just how terrifying the Phantom Lord guild can be."
"I think we'll see about that." and with that, Lucy shut her eyes, took a deep breath and promptly leapt off the ledge, sending her plummeting to the ground below.
'...Oh shit, that wasn't what I was expecting.' and then he fell to the ground again.
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Lucy, on the other hand, was freely falling to the ground below, her mind racing 'I was able to hear him in the distance, I know that he's here. LUKE!"
"Lucy I'm coming, just hang on!" Luke burst onto the scene, used his lightning magic to elevate himself into the air, caught Lucy with one arm and used the other arm to drive his dragon scale sword into the wall, slowing their descent until it finally came to a screeching halt a few feet above the ground "Looks like we made it just in the nick of time."
"Yeah you're telling me." Bolt floated down in front of them "Not everyone can say they had a busty blonde fall out of the sky and into their waiting arms."
"Ignoring your snark, Lucy are you okay?"
Lucy nodded in a rather shaken fashion "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. I could hear you coming so I knew you would save me, thank you."
"Good thing I did, you could've gotten yourself killed." Luke promptly cut her hands free using his sword "He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No, I kicked him in the crotch before he could."
"Huh. Respect."
"Not like he didn't have that coming." Bolt pointed out "In the meantime we'd better get a move on and start busting some heads."
"Not on your life, we're going back to the guild."
"Why the heck would we do that? That's their headquarters, I say we get them!"
"We only came here to rescue Lucy, our mission is done so now we're going back."
"You're the one who told them to retreat so we could bust some heads without them getting hurt by them, it's so we could face them without having to worry!"
"And what happens if the guild gets attacked while we're gone, that's a risk I'm not willing to take."
"You saw what they did to the master."
"Exactly, and that's why I had them retreat so no one else would end up like him."
"You're more than strong enough to defeat these guys on your own, hell you might even be able to beat their master by yourself."
"I got as strong as I did so that something like that would never happen again, that's the only reason and you know that!"
"I know that you idiot, I was with you!"
"Everyone is hurt and some are worse!"
"You're not hurt!"
"Makarov might be dying, Nab has a broken arm and who knows how bad everyone else is right now!"
"So what, you're stronger than him anyway!"
"Macao and Wakaba and the others were hurt too, and they almost killed Cana!"
"Those two are old geezers and you saved Cana, let's just do this and avenge them!"
"No way in hell, I'm not taking that risk and that's final."
"I… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" Lucy quickly cut their argument short, with tears streaming down her face "All of this… everything… all of it is my fault… But I don't wanna leave… I want to stay with you guys, because I love being in Fairy Tail.
Luke's gaze softened as he knelt down next to her and gently wiped her tears away "Come on, dry those tears Lucy. There's no reason for you to get so upset. Look when people join Fairy Tail they become more than just part of the guild, they become part of a real family, and family is for life. You're one of the family now Lucy, and as long as we have a say in the matter you will never have to leave."
"Come on, I think we should probably head back to the guild now." Bolt told him quietly.
"Yeah good idea. Come on Lucy, let's get going." Luke gently took Lucy onto his back "Are you okay to make the trip if I carry you like this?" he was met with only more sobbing "I'll take that as a yes."
"Way to go heartbreaker, if you can make some blonde chick cry just by carrying her on your back then you don't have a chance in hell of scoring with Cana."
"I swear to god I will make you into catskin slippers if you don't stop talking and just start flying already." they started to make the trip back to Magnolia, but before they did Luke spared one final glance up at the top of the tower 'You destroyed my guild… You attacked some of my comrades… You made one of my friends cry… I hope you're ready Jose, because if it's a war you want then it's a war you're going to get.'
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Jose sat in front of the window, still groaning and writhing in agony over Lucy's low blow from a few minutes prior, until the pain subsided and was replaced by unyielding rage, evil magic energy radiating from his body "That does it… she's made me very angry, and she won't like me when I'm angry! She and her guild will pay, and they'll pay in their blood!"
A/N:
And thus we begin the first act of the Phantom Lord arc, which I've been eagerly anticipating for some time now. I know that some people claim that this is where they started to dislike Lucy, I'm not naming any names, but I don't have a problem with her backstory. Not every anime character needs to have a tragic backstory with everyone they know and love being butchered right in front of them, and children who grew up rich have it differently, not that I would know. Also, in regards to the discussion between Luke, Lucy and Cana about the Ten Wizard Saints and Luke training with one of them, see if you can guess who he's talking about.
Not much changed in canon as of yet, aside from me toning down on Gajeel being a prick in this version, seeing how he joined Fairy Tail later on and in this version he met Luke some time beforehand. Also, I'm just gonna go on record and say that I think Gajeel is an amazing singer, at least in the dub that is.
Just so you know, the speed at which I update my stories will most likely get slower since I'm about to start my next semester of college on August 26th, but I promise I'll update as regularly as I can, so please be patient with me.