I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.
Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. The time skip has come and gone, but not all was well about it.
Donumah36: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I'm glad to see someone caught onto the mentioning of the Infinity Clock arc, though that was more glossed over because it was just a filler arc, so I thought I should get that out of the way.
Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I have to admit, I was worried about potential backlash of killing off certain characters, but yeah they were the most logical choice of who it would be. Yes, I decided to give Ivan Lightning Demon Slayer magic because, well to put it simply, they did next to nothing with him in canon. I mean he's Makarov's blood son for crying out loud, they couldn't just not do anything with him. So to put it simply, because he was so underutilized, and because lightning magic apparently runs in the Dreyar bloodline, I decided to give him Lightning Demon Slayer magic. Yeah, I used the deaths of Jet and Droy so that I could give some more development to Gajeel and Levy's relationship, seeing how they're the only one of the major ships that have actually sailed. At least, the only one so far. I mostly glossed over the Infinity Clock arc because that was a gigantic filler arc, along with almost everything in it. As for the Jiggle Butt Gang, no they won't be appearing in this fic. As for the two Dragon Slayers you mentioned, they're going to be the only ones in Sabertooth, at least in this fic, but there's going to be one difference with at least one of them. And yes, Ivan is going to get what's coming to him soon enough, and it's going to be better than in canon, that much I can guarantee.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. I was unsure about killing off the characters at first, but I think it turned out well, and it gave me a chance to show a nice little bonding moment between Gajeel and Levy. And yes, the Dragon Prince is awesome, and I seriously can't wait for season 4.
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Things were quiet in a certain grassy plane, with the exception of two lone figures standing in the field in question.
The first one, a young man by the name of Sting with spiky blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, was the one who started the conversation "So the word going around is that they're finally back after all this time."
"Who would "they" be in this cased?" asked the second one, a young man by the name of Rogue, with messy black hair that covered up the right side of his face, red eyes with slit pupils and a dark cloak covering most of his body "Who are you talking about?"
"Who do you think genius, the Fairy Tail members who went missing during all of that hell back on Tenrou Island 7 years ago."
"...I see. I couldn't care less though."
"Don't even bother trying to play cool with me dude, you know as well as I do that the two of us used to look up to Natsu and the rest of them like fucking crazy."
"You're right, I used to, but that was a long time ago. I stopped looking up to him when I realized that he's the kind of person who solves every problem by hitting it."
"Oh yeah, you started looking up to Luke and Gajeel, the former even moreso. That only makes sense, he's just like us after all."
"He's not just like us, he's similar in some ways, but very different in others." Rogue then pulled himself to his feet and let out a sigh "You go ahead and take care of that job, I have something I want to check on." and then he disappeared via Teleportation magic, not leaving any room for objections.
"...And I thought I was a goddamn fanboy."
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Word of the return of the Tenrou Team of Fairy Tail had spread throughout the kingdom like wildfire.
At the headquarters of the Magic Council, Org had informed Lahar and Doranbolt about the return of the missing members of Fairy Tail, and while Lahar thought that Doranbolt should've been relieved by the news, Doranbolt admitted that he had not thought about any of them in a while. Org then went on to tell both of them about how not much had happened in the past seven years since their disappearance. The Magic Council had been keeping a close eye on a certain guild by the name of Sabertooth, and yet Tartaros had done anything significant since the loss of the Oracion Seis or Grimoire Heart. Doranbolt went on to ask Org if he was saying that Fairy Tail had somehow caused this silent period, to which Org simply laughed and then walked away, claiming how he must have been getting old if he was putting so much importance on the guild in such a way.
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Things were calm in Fairy Tail, which was a pretty rare thing for anyone who knew anything about them.
Luke raised an eyebrow at what he was hearing "Her grave? Sounds like something kind of morbid to hear about first thing in the morning."
"It's not something to hurt yourself thinking about." Cana gave a shrug "Since Mira didn't actually die and we're all back from Tenrou Island, there really isn't any sort of need for us to keep that thing up. Besides, I doubt that any of us would want to have to keep looking at that thing, especially not Lisanna, Elfman or even you for that matter."
"Yeah that's true, so are they going to do it?"
"Hard to say, apparently the church said it's up to Elfman and Lisanna, so they have time to think it through."
"Knowing what Natsu is like, I doubt there's a chance in hell he'd ever agree to tear down the one he made, being the big softie he is."
"Considering we're talking about Natsu right now, I'd have to say that he's more like a tsundere than a softy. Plus there is another problem to consider in terms of getting rid of the gravestone, can they really afford that right now? I mean they do have to pay for the 7 years we were all stuck on Tenrou Island, so that might be out of the question."
"True, but that would mostly be the case if they decided to go with their other plan of keeping it up as a monument to the day she came back to Earth Land."
"Sounds pretty nice actually."
"Yeah but it's still pricy. Well I'll leave you to your business, I'm gonna go take a shower and get dressed." and with a wave, she made her way off towards her own room of their apartment.
'Cana taking a shower, huh… Fuck, get these thoughts out of my head!' Luke laid back on the couch in the living room, only to rool over and then jump at the sight of Bolt sitting a mere few inches away from his face "Dammit Bolt, what the hell was that for?!"
"You tell me, you're the one acting like a jackass." Bolt pointed out dryly as he flashed into his humanoid form "Seriously, you've been fidgeting and acting awkward as fuck ever since you and the others got back, and on top of that when you've been training you haven't been able to concentrate, which I can tell plain as day. Now spill it, are you gonna tell me what the problem is or not?"
"Alright alright, I don't know if I would say that there's a problem per say, but there is definitely something distracting me."
"Enough of that crap, spit it out already."
"Fine." so with a deep breath, Luke decided to come clean "I think I'm in love with Cana." he was met with silence, but for only a moment.
"...Oh thank fucking god."
"Come again?"
"You heard me lover boy, I thought you were just being angsty over the guilt of the others getting killed, which got really old after the first time it happened, but you finally realized that you've got the hots for her? It's about fucking time."
"That's your takeaway from this? Whatever, that can wait until later. The short version is that I was about to be killed by the master of Grimoire Heart, I saw my life flash before my eyes, and true to what Aftershock told me I only saw the things that were really important to me."
"Which would include pretty much all of Fairy Tail."
"Exactly, but I saw her more than anything."
"And that led you to the conclusion that you might be in love with her?"
"That's the conclusion I arrived at yeah, and I thought I would be thrilled about that but it's driving me up the fucking wall. I can barely eat, I can't sleep, I can't concentrate on any of my training, she's all that I can think about. I close my eyes and I see her, I hear a song and it reminds me of her, I invited her to live in our apartment for crying out loud!"
"In case you forgot genius, you're the one who invited her to live with us, which also made me give up my own room."
"Why the hell do you need your own room? You're a cat!"
"I'm not a cat you dipshit, I'm an Exceed!"
"Whatever, the point is you only come up to my kneecap and don't need a room. Seriously, I could've just stuck you in the corner of the room with a lamp, a football and an air mattress and that's all you would need."
"Enough with the Drake & Josh references! My point is that I don't need my own room but to me it's like car insurance, you don't need it but you still like to have it just in case."
"Well then- You know what, we're getting way off topic."
"Yeah tell me about it, chances are you're gonna have a metrick fuckton of work ahead of you if you want to be Cana's boyfriend."
"Her boyfriend… Oh dear god…" Luke suddenly became increasingly pale "I never gave that part in itself much thought."
"Then what the fuck was going through your mind when you came to the sudden realization that you're in love with her?"
"I don't know man, I just want to be with her whenever I can, I want to keep her by my side and hold her in my arms, I want to protect her as obvious as that one is, I just want to hold her in my arms and all the good stuff."
"Yeah, that's a relationship between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, and clearly when it does happen it sure as hell isn't going to be you wearing the pants in your relationship."
"Thanks for that." note the obvious sarcasm in his tone "But there is one other problem that I would have to consider."
"Which is what exactly?"
"How in the name of fuck am I going to survive if and when Gildarts tries to rip me apart for taking away his newly discovered baby girl's innocence? We both knew that's going to happen at some point."
"...Oh yeah dude, you're fucked on so many levels."
"I know! So what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Well there's only one thing I can think of right about now, and that's head over to the guild hall and get something to eat. Work for you?"
"...Yeah I might as well, just because I'm screwed doesn't mean that I have to die on an empty stomach or something."
"Truer words have never been spoken."
"And I'm sure any of the other Dragon Slayers would agree."
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About an hour passed, and the sun was rising over the skies of Magnolia.
By this point, a certain figure with black hair and red eyes stepped off a train, or comically rolled off of the train as the case is with him, and he breathed a sigh of relief 'At last I'm here, now I can breath again without having to strain myself to keep everything inside of me.' he took a moment to regain his composure, then let out a sigh 'Now then, if it's true that they're back then I should see for myself just how strong they are.'
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Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail…
By this point, the typical antics of Fairy Tail had gotten underway as they usually did.
Luke was enjoying some breakfast from his place at the bar, and was now in the middle of a certain discussion with Bolt "So they actually hinted that the Tobey Maguire version of Spider Man might make an appearance in the next Doctor Strange movie?"
"That's what I hear anyway." Bolt gave a shrug, now back in his cat form and sitting on top of the bar next to Luke "And apparently that's supposed to be the MCU equivalent of a horror movie."
"Sounds interesting. Tell me something though, am I the only one who doesn't actually believe that Tobey Maguire was a good Spider Man?"
"No, I don't think he does that good of a job either. Playing Peter Parker is one thing, but when he puts on that mask I think it's safe to say that his "quips" and "jokes" and other snarky stuff, if you can call it that, are both really poorly timed and downright cringy."
"Tell me about it." Gajeel let out a snort "I think it's safe to say that he could learn a thing or two about knowing what people want to hear."
"That's totally rich coming from you."
"And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that if you did something about that garbage disposal you call a voice, people might actually be able to tolerate your singing."
"Oh so now we're going about fucking with people's talents, how about you take that axe off your back and show me that you can fight without it you cocky little bastard!"
At this, Luke could only let out a sigh "Please Mavis, Zeref or whoever the hell is listening to me right now, someone send a distraction." he was met with the sound of the door creaking open, and he took a whiff of the air "Wait a second, I know that smell."
"Hey Luke, Gajeel, the two of you have a visitor!" this was when Romeo came into the building with a certain male with black hair and red eyes "The dude with the Sonic the Hedgehog haircut and the one with the glasses and sword, they're the ones you want."
'Hold on, is that…'
"Thank you for the help, I appreciate it." the black hair figured stepped forward, his expression unreadable and stoic as he eyed the two of them "So the rumors are true, you and the others are all back now."
"Son of a… is that you Ryos?"
"So you remember me then."
"How the hell could either of us forget?" Luke yanked Gajeel up by the collar and pulled him to his feet, and then he patted Rogue on the shoulder "Looks to me like you've really grown into your own since the days we trained together."
"Back up a second, the two of you know each other?" asked Lucy.
"That we do, I met him during the year and a half I was away training through the kingdom, back before you joined the guild. I met up with him and I took him under my wing so to speak."
"Really? How come you never mentioned him?"
"To be fair a lot has been going on since then, one example of which being sucked into another dimension."
"Oh yeah. Fair enough."
"Perhaps I should try again and introduce myself properly." Rogue breathed a small sight "My name is Rogue Cheney, the main reason I came here was to see for myself it the rumors I hears were true, about the return of Gajeel, my sworn older brother, and Luke, my former mentor, both of whom are my fellow Dragon Slayers."
"...Back up, WHAT?!"
"I see, so he never mentioned me. I shouldn't be surprised by that."
"Yeah I heard that you joined up with some minor guild that I had never heard of before, and that was the last I heard of you."
"The guild is known as Sabertooth, and I can understand that no one had ever heard of them, because I honestly hadn't either."
"So going to back to the whole thing about you and Gajeel being brothers." Bolt made his way up to them and let out a low whistle "Sounds to me like his dragon Metallicana has been one busy fucker."
"I said sworn brothers, I was taught my magic by Skiadrum, the Shadow dragon. Wait a second, is that you Bolt?"
"Sup ya Shikamaru reject, it's been awhile."
"I'm pretty sure that's Kageyama from Eisenwald you're thinking of." Luke told him dryly.
"I know what I say, so don't fuck with my style."
"...It would seem that you haven't changed a bit." Rogue noted dryly.
"You on the other hand, you're a different story."
"It has been almost 10 years since we last met, so it shouldn't be surprising."
"So what brings you over here to Fairy Tail anyway?" asked Luke.
"As I said, I wanted to see if the rumors about your return were true. However, if that did pan out then I would have a secondary purpose. I wanted to see what you and Gajeel were capable of in battle."
"So to put it simply, you want to fight the both of us?"
"In a word, yes."
"...Alright then, follow me. We'll do this out in the East Forest, we can't afford to blow this building to hell since we're kind of in a financial rut right now."
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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…
Lisanna glanced over to see Natsu brooding from his place on a stool at the bar "Hey what's the matter Natsu, you look kind of confused."
"I totally get it now." Natsu muttered "That dude is from the future, it makes perfect sense."
"I don't think you really get it at all."
"Even though we've been bringing this up constantly ever since we got back to the guild, it looks like somehow he forgot we spent 7 years stuck on Tenrou Island." Happy pointed out "So when you stop and think about it, it makes perfect sense that this other Rogue guy looks as big as the rest of us do, even if he is Gajeel's illegitimate younger brother." he was met with a dull and confused look from Natsu "Uh, did I break him?"
"No he'll be fine, it's just that his poor little brain can't handle all of this."
"Yeah that's true, his brain is a few sizes smaller than the average person, so it makes sense why he's so stupid."
"That might be a little bit too far in that case Happy."
"I'm just saying."
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Meanwhile, back with the main characters of this chapter…
So back with the main Dragon Slayers, Luke brought Rogue to the East Forest and removed his sword from his back "So you said you wanted to see what I'm capable of even after being sealed away for 7 years, you sure this will suffice?"
"From what I've heard you've defeated a horde of powerful foes one after another." Rogue then ripped off his cloak from his back and dropped into a stance "I have to admit, a small part of me has been looking forward to this moment for some time, now let's go." and he suddenly blitzed out of view in a black flash of energy.
'He's faster than I thought.' Luke was able to block Rogue's first attack, which resulted in him and Rogue trading a fierce barrage of punches and kicks, sending a number of shockwaves hurtling throughout the forest, before the two of them broke away from each other "Looks to me like you've gotten a lot faster than you used to be."
"I've had 7 years to hone my Dragon Slayer magic, but even despite that you're able to keep up with me so easily."
"I don't know if I would go that far, but you and I both know that you're still holding back a fair amount of your power."
"The same could be said for you, so I think it's about time the two of us got serious, because I want to see what you can really do. Shadow Drive!" his body was instantly engulfed in a black aura.
"If that's what you want then so be it. Thunder Drive!" Luke activated his Thunder Drive, his body surging with electricity "So you ready?"
"I've been ready for this for a long time." Rogue blitzed forward towards Luke and fired off a swift kick at his head.
Luke blocked the kick and dealt Rogue a swift palm strike to the chest, the force sending him skidding backwards "Lightning Dragon ROAR!" he let out a roar and with it a powerful blast of lightning.
"Shadow Dragon ROAR!" Rogue let out a roar of his own, the two roars colliding and sending a series of explosions throughout the forest.
Luke spiked his magic power slightly in order to clear away the flames and smoke, his body crackling with electricity "Alright listen up Ryos or Rogue, or whatever it is now, I don't want to risk poking the sleeping bear in the form of the moody healer of our guild, so I say we do one more attack from each of us."
"Fine by me." Rogue coated his fist in dark energy "Come at me with an attack of equal measure, I expect that much from you at least."
"Oh believe me, I can and I will. Lightning Dragon… IRON FIST!"
"Shadow Dragon… CRUSHING FANG!" the two attacks collided, resulting in an explosion, and when it cleared both of them had burn marks on their dominant arm "Pretty impressive, you really have come a long way over the years."
"To think that you're out of practce by 7 years, and yet you're able to do this much… I clearly underestimated you."
"So how about it then, are you satisfied?"
"No, not yet at least. This gave me a feel for the fact that we're equals, but I want to see what you're capable of at full power, both you and Gajeel."
"Uh huh. Okay here's the plan, give it a few days and then here's what we're gonna do. A one on one battle, you and me going at each other with everything we've got."
"Why wait a few days, why not now?"
"Because I've got other shit going on in my personal life, and frankly I don't like being interrupted when I'm in the middle of breakfast, lunch or anything in between."
"Oh. Sorry. So would tomorrow work then?"
"Tomorrow at noon, at the foot of Mount Hakobe. That's the big one covered in snow, it's about a day away on foot for either one of us."
"I'll be there, and I'll be ready."
"I don't doubt that."
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Meanwhile, back at the guild hall…
By this point, Natsu and the others were hearing about a certain guild "So who the hell are these Sabertooth guys again?"
"They're a guild that's incredibly strong, way more than you think." Romeo told him "These guys were able to surpass Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale awhile back, so now they're considered to be the strongest wizard guild in the entire kingdom."
"Kind of surprising, I had never heard of them until today."
"I don't blame you for that, around the time you guys left pretty much no one had ever heard of them."
"Then what happened?" asked Gray "Did they just start picking up new members and growing like crazy all of a sudden?"
"Not exactly, it all started once a new master took charge of the guild and after he took over, 5 incredibly strong wizards joined and apparently that was all it took."
"You expect me to believe that 5 wizards was all it took?"
"To which we counter with Luke, Erza, Laxus, Gildarts, the list goes on." Bolt told him, his tone as dry as ever.
"So what about us then?" asked Wendy "If they're the number one guild, then does that mean that Fairy Tail is the second best?"
"What the hell have you been smoking kid? Look around you, if we were anywhere near that then we wouldn't be stuck in a place like this. The fact is that only one really capable member, give you one guess who that is, won't be enough to save you from being dead last. You just had to ask it didn't you?"
"Oh, I'm sorry everyone."
"Forget it kid, it was bound to come up eventually."
"Oh you've gotta be kidding me, we're totally in last place?" Natsu just burst out laughing, which earned a number of WTF looks from everyone else "That's just fucking perfect, this is gonna be fun!"
"You wanna elaborate on that or do we have to send you to an insane asylum?"
"Just stop and think about it you guys, it's gonna be totally awesome clawing our way back up to the top all over again!"
"...Oh for fuck's sake, I can't believe I missed this part of the package deal."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Optimism and unyielding determination are one thing you idiot, but you forget that you guys are out of practice by about 7 years. You've got a metric fuckton of work ahead of you if you want to catch up."
"And we're pursuing initiatives in that regard." this was when Erza and Gray made their way onto the scene "I myself have already taken on a new job request, there are some bandits in the process of stealing gold and my objective to catch them and turn them in."
"I pray to the love of god that it's not the Jiggle Butt Gang again, and no you don't want to know who the fuck they are."
"Well whoever it is, we have to put a stop to them. Do you wish to join me?"
"Sorry but you're on your own for this one, I've got my own initiatives that I need to pursue and I've got blondie and Luke involved in it too, so chances are you two are on your own. Except for the Salamander here."
"Oh yeah I'm in, just one thing though." Natsu told him.
"What's that?"
"FIGHT ME!" Natsu pounced at Bolt, only to be hit with a surge of electricity and sent flying through the roof.
"Yeah you're on your own."
"So I can see." Erza noted dryly "What about Gray?"
"Last I heard he's brooding in the forest and hiding from Juvia somewhere. I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, if she was a dude then there was no way in hell the crap that she pulls would ever pass with anyone."
"I see. Well if that's the case, then we might as well be leaving now. After all, if I hurry then I might be able to make it back before nightfall, so I should get going while I can."
"Wreck some shit out there Titania."
"Believe me, I intend to." and on that note, Erza promptly took her leave of the guild hall.
"And there she goes. But speaking of Juvia, we all know that what I said is true, that kind of shit she pulls would never pass if she was a dude."
"None of us are objecting to that." Max pointed out.
"Then why the fuck do people keep ignoring it?" he was met with silence.
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
After having Bolt send him flying, Natsu crash landed in the East Forest and found Happy sitting by a pond fishing by himself "Ow… Oh hey little buddy, you're fishing again? I don't know how you can manage that, it's so boring."
"Don't be like that Natsu, it's a matter of clutch or death here." Happy told him "I don't see how anyone can be bored by that. Pull up a rod and come join me."
"I'm making no such promise."
"...Yeah that's probably for the best, you'd probably fall asleep knowing what you're like."
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Meanwhile, in another part of the forest…
At the same time, Laxus was making his way through the woods of the East Forest, only to find himself attracting some unwanted attention "And what the hell do you want?"
As it turns out, a Gorian had been following him with a greedy look in his eyes and a smirk plastered across his face "I was just thinking about how much I want to settle the score with those losers from Fairy Tail, and all of a sudden one of them gives himself a death sentence by walking on my turf."
"So what, you monkeys have a bone to pick or something?"
"You could say that, I have to pick which one I want to snap like a twig! I think I'll start with your face!"
"Hate to break it to you furball, but you're in for the shock of your life." Laxus let out a surge of his lightning magic, which electrocuted the Gorian on the spot, something that attracted attention for miles around.
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Meanwhile, back with a certain Dragon Slayer…
Natsu's head snapped up at the sight of the surge of lightning magic "No doubt about it, I know what that means."
"What are you talking about?" asked Happy.
"That sort of thing is too flashy for Luke's taste, so it must mean that Laxus is here. Part of me was wondering where he had run off too, I guess he picked the wrong neighborhood."
"But the master didn't let him get back into the guild did he? I wonder what he's doing around here."
"The hell if I know, but I'm gonna find out." Natsu promptly took off running.
"Hey Natsu, wait for me!"
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Meanwhile, on another end of the forest…
From where he was training, Luke glanced up at the surge of lightning magic 'That magic power and the electricity, that's Laxus, no doubt about it. From what I can smell, Natsu and Gray are on their way.'
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Meanwhile, with Natsu…
Soon enough, Natsu was running through the forest in search of Laxus, but then he quickly took notice of Gray running up alongside him "I thought you were hiding like a sucker again, so what the hell gives?"
"None of your business flame brain!" Gray barked at him.
"What, you going somewhere?"
"No, what about you?"
"I asked you first ice dick!"
"Yeah and your mistake was thinking I give a shit you flame hole!"
"You're not following me!"
"Who said I want to follow you, so do the world a favor and piss off!"
"Why don't you?!" the two of them stopped running and started butting heads.
"Hey would you two cut it out already?!" Happy tried to call them off "I thought we were gonna go and see what that random lightning strike was about!"
"What's there to see about it? I already told you that it was Laxus who did it, and now I'm gonna go give him the beating of a lifetime!"
"What the fuck have you been smoking?" Gray let out a scoff "Do you really think you have a chance in hell of taking him down on your own, or did you forget about what happened the last time we took him on? Face it you idiot, if it wasn't for Mystogan then he would've killed the both of us for sure, and he's not here to save your ass this time."
"You can mock me all you want you goddam stripper, but I didn't need your help then and I don't need it now! I'm gonna rip him a new one with my own two hands!"
"Not if I get my hands on him!"
"Listen you son of a-"
"Who's ripping who a new one exactly?" this was when Laxus himself showed up on the scene and interrupted their petty squabble.
"Laxus… so that lightning really was you after all."
"I should've thought that was obvious, Luke isn't known for being that flashy, at least not these days."
"Laxus!" this was when Freed and the rest of the Thunder Legion showed up on the scene "It would seem that you're not alone either, so what's going on exactly?"
"There isn't anything going on right now, especially not with these two."
"So what's the deal then?" asked Natsu "Have you been living out in the woods ever since we got back?"
"I've done a lot of travelling all over the continent since I got kicked out, but I've been here for a little while, since we got back at least."
"Then why not make it official." Gray told him "If you're this close then you might as well just come back to the guild already."
"Why's that, have the two of you been missing me?"
"I personally don't give a crap if you come back or not." Natsu gave a shrug "But since the two of us are here already, I say you and I should throw down and see which one of us comes out on top."
"Oh is that right?"
"It sounds pretty good to me." Gray was met with a loud scoff.
"You two dipshits really want me to take the bait don't you, you want to try and get me all riled up and ready to fight. Well I hate to break it to you, actually no I don't, but I have a lot of better things to do."
"Like what exactly, run away like a coward?" Natsu shot him a smirk.
"You wanna run that by me again?"
"You've never been the type of guy who backed down from a challenge, so what exactly are you scared of?"
'...Every time I see him the little shit is just begging to get his ass kicked. Alright fine, if that's the way you want to play it then I guess I might as well humor the two of you." he glanced back towards Freed and the others "No need to start preaching or anything like that, I fully intend to teach these assclowns a lesson all by myself."
"It sounds like a metrick fuckton of fun to me."
"Alright Natsu, I guess you're gonna be the first to get his ass handed to him." the two of them started spiking their respective magic powers, when…
"Hold on a second!" this was when Wendy showed up on the scene "If the two of you really want to go through with this then you have to make sure that it's a special occasion."
"I'm not following you kid, what the hell are you going on about?"
"I'm saying that the match is going to take place tomorrow at noon."
"...Yeah works for me."
"Alright, if you insist then have it your way." Natsu gave a shrug "I can wait one more day to give him the beating of a lifetime."
"Or continue living in a fantasy world as is the case with you. Meet me tomorrow under the big sola tree in South Gate park."
"Fine by me."
"And when he gets his ass handed to him, it's gonna be my turn." Gray told him.
"Sounds like a plan to me, see you two idiots then." and so Laxus promptly walked away, which caused Wendy to sigh in relief.
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Sunset came.
Luke and Bolt made their way to the South Gate Park of Magnolia, where he found Cana by herself standing underneath the tree "Hey where are the others? I thought you said this was a whole thing with the rest of the team."
"Yeah about that, I lied through my fucking teeth." Bolt shot him a smirk "The others aren't coming, and I'm gonna go binge Dragon Prince for the seventh time."
"You going to explain why?"
"It's not that complicated." his voice lowered "It's because they aren't in love with Cana, and neither am I."
"Believe me I know, you keep pining after the two main girls from Inuyasha."
"Kagome and Sango are best girls, plain and simple. I mean granted Cana's got her assets too, physical and mental and all of that good shit, but that's off topic, now go out there and try not to make a fool of yourself."
"What are you out of your mind? I can't do this, there's no way in hell that she's going to take me seriously. All I'm gonna do is end up making a fool of myself for her."
"Come on dude, you're not giving yourself anywhere near enough credit. Just show her the you that gives you such a fucking huge army of fangirls."
"Back up, what now?"
"Oh yeah right, I never actually told you about that army of fangirls that tried to rape you while you were asleep."
"Wait what?"
"Nevermind, I'll tell you about that later. Just show her the version of you that you've been showing her up till now."
"Which version is that?"
"The one who constantly mentions how he doesn't want to live in a Fairy Tail without her, so basically the insecure touchy feely she-male that sounds a metrick fuckton like Natsu whenever he's around Lisanna."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better because?"
"Because it's gotten him to the point where they're basically a married couple in their 90's. Is that good enough for you?"
"...Yeah that works, wish me luck."
"Good luck, you'll need it you poor clueless bastard." and so Bolt disappeared in a flash.
"The sad thing is, I think he's right?"
"Bolt driving you up the wall again?" this was when Cana made her way over to him, which caused him to freeze for a fraction of a second.
'Okay man, keep your cool. You've been around her hundreds of times over the years and you haven't felt a thing, so now isn't the time to lose your shit. So how are you holding up, you know with everything that happened?"
"Well aside from our little living arrangement, thanks again for that by the way, things have been pretty low key for me. Well aside from the fact that Papa Gildarts is pretty much driving me up the wall. What about you? You seem kind of fidgety lately."
"You think so?"
"Yeah I do, it's just that you seem kind of tense lately. You're still upset over finding out about what happened to Nab and the others aren't you?"
"...Well part of me is yeah, but I'm not going to dwell on it." Luke breathed a sigh "If there's one thing I've learned over the past two years, or nine years as it is now apparently, it's that it doesn't help to think about what might have happened. Maybe I could've stopped Ivan, maybe I might have ended up being killed alongside the others. I may not have been able to protect them, but I'm here now and I'm going to make the most of it."
"You… You've really come a long way haven't you?"
"I'd like to think so, both physically and mentally. I'm not the only one either, and frankly I'm relieved by it. You know what I'm talking about."
"You mean me confessing to my dad don't you?" Cana let out a sigh and gave a small smile "I have to admit, it does feel good to have that weight lifted off my chest."
"Not to mention that you don't have to follow that self imposed promise that you'd have to leave the guild, to which I say thank god." he suddenly pulled her into a hug "I've said it numerous times before and I'll say it again, I don't want to imagine life in Fairy Tail without you, or a world without you for that matter. I'm gonna make sure it stays that way too, that much I can promise you."
"Yeah, I know." Cana slowly returned the hug, but broke it off after a moment "I appreciate the thought, but don't think that I'm some defenseless damsel in distress or something. I'm not gonna sit around on my butt and let you do all the work." she held up her arm and pulled up her sleeve, revealing the Fairy Gliter mark "The First Master herself entrusted this power to me, so I might as well make use of it. Don't think I'm some pushover either, you know as well as I do that I have my own way of doing things."
"And that's exactly what I'm counting on." Luke breathed a sigh 'Well so far I haven't made a fool of myself, so I think that's a definite plus.'
"So going back to the whole thing with Gildarts, do you have any idea where he is? I haven't seen him around all day, usually he'd be fawning all over me."
"Yeah I saw him earlier, he said something about him and master visiting the old guild hall together."
"Well that's kind of a relief to be honest, I need some space from him for crying out loud."
"Come on now, be fair about this. How would you have reacted if you found out that you had a long lost daughter you knew nothing about? Plus keep in mind, overbearing dad or not, he's still the most powerful wizard our guild has to offer."
"I'm not so sure about that, if I had to guess then I would say that you surpassed him by a fair amount when you tore into Hades with your Dual Element Dragon Force."
"Yeah but you know the major difference, he can tap into his full power without exploding in a fountain of blood. I've got a lot more work to do. There are a lot more challenges to come, I just hope that whatever happens you're there by my side. Along with the others of course."
"Trust me, I fully intend to be."
"And I'm glad to hear it." and on that note, they decided to change the topic "So I take it you heard about this showdown?"
"I can imagine people have heard about it all the way to Crocus, so add that to the comically long list of stupid choices made by Natsu."
"At the top of which is still, stealing an S-class quest without permission when you're nowhere near qualified."
"So did you know that Laxus was still in town? Apparently he's been living in the woods in the East Forest for the past few weeks."
"I caught his scent a few days after we got back, but knowing him I figured he just wanted to be left alone. He's been training hard over the year he was gone though, if I had to guess then him at full power is probably stronger than me in Dragon Force."
"If that is the case, then shouldn't anyone be concerned about Natsu and Gray getting hurt or something?"
"Oh they're gonna get hurt, Natsu in particular is about to get a major ass kicking. Gray on the other hand, well he's smart enough to know when to back off, but at the same time he can be just as stubborn and prideful as Natsu. So did everyone else hear about it yet?"
"Oh yeah, I stopped by the guild hall earlier and they were planning on some kind of party and they're inviting the entire city to get in on it. Macao even gave his stamp of approval as the fourth guild master."
"I still don't get how the hell he became the guild master."
"To be fair, it was either him or Bolt."
"...They made the right call."
"No kidding, he'd be a dictator."
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At the same time, it turns out that Makarov was showing Gildarts a secret passage in the old guild hall for Fairy Tail, which he revealed would lead to the greatest secret Fairy Tail had to offer, the true essence of the guild as Mavis Vermillion herself had spoken of: the Lumen Histoire.
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Nightfall came, with the stars shining brightly over the skies of Magnolia, and the festival was in full swing.
Rogue merely raised an eyebrow at the sight of the festivities, at least from his place atop a high branch hanging off of the park's tree 'Things are certainly more lively than anything I would ever see back at Sabertooth.'
"Not a fan of crowds huh?"
Rogue glanced down to see Lucy looking up at him "That's one way of looking at it. I'm not used to lots of festivities like this." he lowered himself to the ground in order to meet her at eye level "What are all of the festivities about in the first place? It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I'm going to be facing off with Luke tomorrow will it?"
"I'm pretty sure no one even knew about that, so no. Everyone decided to put all of this together when they heard that Natsu and Gray are going to be fighting against Laxus, so they decided that they might as well celebrate the occasion."
"I've never been a fan of crowds personally, or drinking for that matter. Whenever we do get involved in big parties or festivities like this, I usually end up having to play babysitter to my partner Sting."
"Oh, sorry to hear it."
"I'm used to it by now. That's one thing that's most likely never going to change."
"I know what you mean. If there's one thing that I've learned during my time as a member of Fairy Tail, and one thing that hasn't changed in the 7 years we've been gone, it's that the people of Magnolia sure as heck love to party." she let out a sigh as she looked around, her thoughts starting to drift "We missed so much since we've been gone, and we've lost 7 full years that we're never going to be able to get back."
"Perhaps, but it doesn't help to wonder what might have been. You're here now, and that's the most important thing."
"Yeah… You know Luke would probably say the same thing."
"I can imagine so, he always tries to be hopeful and optimistic."
"Yeah…" then a brief pause, and she let out an awkward cough "Well I'm sure I've kept you occupied long enough, so I'll leave you to your business, whatever that might be." and so she took her leave of the scene, her mind racing 'Why the hell did things get so awkward between me and him?' then she noticed Levy sitting on a bench by herself, still looking downcast 'She's been so reclusive and sad ever since she learned about Jet, Droy and the others.
'She seems so upbeat and cheerful just like the rest of them, but at the same time she holds what seems to be a lingering sadness. I notice a similar sensation from most of the other members that I've come across. Is this the Fairy Tail guild that Luke always spoke of so highly? If so… then I'm not sure what to think.'
"I can hardly believe it, it's so cool!" at the same time on the stage attracting the attention of everyone else was none other than Jason, the blonde guy from Sorcerer Weekly "Ladies and gentlemen it's been far too long, but your favorite reporter Jason is back! It's the kind of reunion that's been a full 7 years in the making, and what a cool way to celebrate it, because this is gonna be the most insane awesome fight in the history of fighting!"
'Well he deserves credit for one thing, he knows how to get the crowd excited.' Rogue then glanced over to see Natsu sitting on the sidelines with what looked a t-shirt and a foam finger, each with a certain someone's face on it.
"And so without further ado, it's my great honor to announce the woman whose proven herself to be the very definition of beauty, the lovely and super talented Miss Lisanna Strauss!"
Sure enough, Lisanna stood on the stage for everyone to see, and she gave away her typical bright yet gentle smile "Hi everyone, thanks for coming out here tonight."
"FUCK YEAH!" that one came from Natsu and Happy simultaneously, which was echoed by pretty much every single guy in the crowd.
"Please refrain from strong language."
"Alright little sis!" Mira and Elfman started cheering for her "Light up the stage and show these idiots what you can do!"
"Well I hate to break it to you, but my poor throat has actually been feeling rather sore over the past few days. So instead allow me to introduce a certain performer whose got both soul and style going for him, a true one of a kind performer like you've never seen. Give it up for the main man himself, Gajeel!"
Sure enough, Gajeel sat on a stool on the stage "Thanks idiots, I totally appreciate all of you coming out to see me tonight."
"BLOW IT OUT YOUR ASS!" Natsu then started throwing stuff at him "I came out here so I could see Lisanna on stage, not your metal ass you hedgehog reject!" he was promptly hit in the face with with an iron club.
"Glad to see there are no objections from anyone whose opinion means anything to me. Now then, by special request I'd like to start with a little ditty I wrote myself. Okay maybe not request, but she's one of the few people whose opinions I give a shit about, which is the best you're getting out of me at the moment, so deal with it."
"You're telling me someone actually likes your singing?!" Natsu was met with a second iron club to the face.
"I call this Best Friend, so here we go."
"Don't you know any other songs?!"
"You're sparking and colorful
Shoo-Bee-Doo-Ba
You caught my eye
Like a shiny piece of metal…"
"Oh dear god…" Lucy let out a sigh and glanced over at Levy "I'm gonna go out on a whim and assume that you're one of the many people that doesn't exactly like this side of him. His singing is pretty terrible after all."
"I don't know, I mean it's kind of growing on me." Levy glanced over at Lucy, revealing that she had tears streaming down her face, but she quickly wiped them away and gave a smile "I think that in his own way, he's actually being kind of sweet. He's kind of a big lug now that I think about it."
"SHOO-BEE-DOO-BA!" Gajeel finished his song and let out a howl "Eat your fucking heart out Steven Tyler, and thank you Magnolia!"
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Meanwhile, with a certain Dragon Slayer…
'Honestly, his voice is…' Rogue cringed at the sound of Gajeel singing, then glanced over only to see Natsu stuffing his face at one of the various booths "It was my understanding that you had a battle coming tomorrow."
"Yeah, what's your point?" Natsu barely looked up from his food.
"Shouldn't you be making sure that you're properly prepared?"
"Yeah well I don't see the need for it, I was just planning on hitting the bastard hard with everything I've already got."
"So to put it simply, you don't have a strategy for your battle?"
"What's your point?"
"My point is simply this, what you're displaying goes beyond confidence in your abilities. What I see from you is simply arrogance, and that will undoubtedly be your undoing."
"Then all I have to do is hit him hard enough before he can get me."
"And I rest my case."
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Meanwhile, with the main character…
While all of the festivities were going on, Luke was alone in the East Forest going through various stances with his sword 'Dammit, what the hell is wrong with me? I feel so off.'
"I can tell that you feel lost my boy." this was when Makarov made himself known standing before him.
"Yeah well, tell me something that I don't know."
"You're frustrated with yourself and you want to find a way to fix this problem, and yet you don't know how to go about it, so you only end up stuck in place, and that leads you to become even more frustrated. I can tell all of that simply because I notice the little hesitations that you fail to restrain in your movements and footwork."
"Yeah, I figured as much." Luke breathed a sigh "Before you ask, this isn't because I wasn't able to defeat Hades back on Tenrou Island, not on my own, but it actually does have something to do with that. Right when he was about to finish me with Grimoire Law, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Combine that with some life advice I got from Aftershock, and it led me to a life changing realization… that I'm in love with Cana. I know this should be a good thing, but now she's all I can think about. I can barely sleep or eat, and the worst part of it, aside from the constant fear of Gildarts ripping me a new one, I can't concentrate on my training."
"In the moments where we feel our life may be over, those are the moments we see what we truly believe is important to us."
"Yeah, but when life continues on past that point, what do you do with the newfound realization and categorize it with your priorities?"
"The answer to that is different based on each individual. Tell me my boy, what do you think the answer is to that?"
"Well you know what my highest priority is, protecting everyone in Fairy Tail. Even after we ended up getting Mira back during that whole thing in Edolas, that didn't change. Even though I know for certain how I feel about Cana, I still want to protect her, now more than I ever did before actually." he let out a sigh "I've gotta sleep on this."
"Do what you must my boy, but in the meantime I have some business to attend to myself."
"You had the talk with Gildarts about making him the new master?"
"Indeed I did, now he knows the burden that comes with being the master of this guild, of this family. What he chooses to do is up to him now."
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The next day came, and the crowd was still going wild.
It was only now that Laxus had made his way onto the scene and found all of the festivities going on "So what's the big occasion?"
"When the word got out about how you were gonna go at it with Natsu and Gray, the whole town decided to throw a big party." Bickslow told him "Even after all the crap back in the day, I guess you're still one hell of a big celebrity around here."
"What I see is that they're all still a bunch of idiots."
"You're a true legend of the Fairy Tail guild." Freed told him "So why don't you realize just how desperately we need you to be a part of it again?!"
"Dammit dude, why don't you get ahold of yourself already."
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Meanwhile, with Wendy…
Unlike the majority of the people of Magnolia and Fairy Tail, Wendy was more concerned about the fight than excited "This is horrible, I only reason I tried to get them to wait a day so that they would calm down a bit and call off the fight."
"I hate to break it to you child, but it seems that as well intentioned as your plan was, it may have backfired." Carla told her dryly.
"Yeah I know, so what are we going to do? I never thought it would turn into such a big deal like this."
"Is there something troubling you Wendy?" this was when Makarov came onto the scene before the two of them.
"Actually there is master, and I don't know what to do about it, so I was hoping you would be able to help."
"Of course my dear, is something the matter?"
"I think Natsu and Gray are going to end up in a lot of trouble, the both of them are about to have a fight against Laxus."
"...THEY'RE DOING WHAT?!"
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Meanwhile, with the fight…
"COOL!" sure enough, the fight was about to begin any moment now, and Jason was reporting the entire event "It's plain as day from here that Laxus is so calm and collected over the whole event it's terrifying! Sweet, Gray of the Ice Maker is totally prepared to throw down! The two heroes stare down their opponent, the tension is so thick you can cut right through it like a hot knife through butter! Natsu has arrived on the scene as well, and now all three warriors are in their places!"
"Alright you guys, just stand back and enjoy the show." Natsu dropped into a stance with a smirk plastered across his face.
"Laxus stands up and looks ready for a fight, it looks like Natsu is going to be the first one to get a crack at him."
"Come on Laxus, if you're man enough."
"If that's what you need to tell yourself." Laxus promptly cracked his neck "Let's get this underway, but it's only fair for me to warn you that I'm not going to hold back."
"I wouldn't blame you."
"I don't think you get it, if you get barbecued to a crisp that's not going to be my fault."
"I can say the exact same thing for you you big blonde bastard." Natsu started summoning a massive amount of flames.
"And again I say, whatever you need to tell yourself." Laxus started flaring his magic power as his body surged with electricity "Come at me whenever you're ready."
"Oh trust me, that's exactly what I plan on!" Natsu summoned an even greater amount of flames all across his body.
'Looks to me like he's really trying to get serious about this. One thing has to be taken into consideration though, and that's the fact that if he throws the first punch, then he's going to lose for sure.'
Sure enough, with a primal roar Natsu burst forward and threw the first punch… only to be downed in less than three seconds by a single blow from Laxus.
"I think that might be a new record."
"And that's a major TKO, and Natsu didn't even manage to land a single blow!"
"I don't know about that, he hit the ground pretty hard."
"Yes, your magnificence has never faded!" Freed and the others didn't waste any time as they started praising and/or worshipping him, unaware of Gray sweating buckets over the sight of the downed form of Natsu "Even after all this time has passed, he had absolutely no chance of being able to defeat you!"
"Yeah well, training like that will do it to you. So what about you then, are you ready for the second round?" Laxus turned around to face Gray, only to find that he just disappeared "And he's gone apparently."
"Woah now, from the looks of things I'd say Gray just ghosted on us!"
"Points for the alliteration, not much else."
"You mean that lousy coward ran away on us?!" Macao and the rest of the guild members present promptly took off running in search of Gray "Come on you guys, let's track him down and drag him back by his underwear if we have to!"
'Apparently self preservation won out with that one.'
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" with her magic power surging with her comical rage, Juvia then blitzed in front of the crowd and engulfed all of them in a massive water sphere "I won't allow any of you to lay a single hand on my prince! I shall find him and protect him from all of your unjustified wrath!" and then she bolted off the scene.
Lisanna and Happy on the other hand, they were more concerned about Natsu's comically downed form on the ground "Are you gonna be okay Natsu? If you're in any form of pain that goes beyond being funny, just say the safe word." she was met with comical screaming "Okay good, that's nothing he isn't used to."
"And just like that, the relationship that you have with him unnerves me on a at least a few different levels." on that note, Laxus turned to see Makarov, with Wendy and Carla following right behind him, standing before him, the two of them eyeing each other in silence. After a moment passed filled with uncomfortable silence, he turned around and started to walk away from the scene.
Needless to say, Freed and the others weren't happy about this "You mean you're going to just leave again? Please Laxus, you have to come back to Laxus!" they received no reply, and so they turned their attention to Makarov "Please master, you have to be sensible about this! We've been without him for more than a year now, and 8 years in total now, so hasn't his expulsion from the guild lasted long enough already? Please take him back!" this pleading was met with only silence from both Makarov and Laxus, with the latter just quietly walking away.
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Meanwhile, at the base of Mount Hakobe…
Rogue sat at the bottom of the mountain, gazing out at the snowy landscape surrounding him, his mind drifting 'It's rather strange, the way Fairy Tail operates seems to be so different from anything I've seen during my time in Sabertooth.'
"Sorry to keep you waiting." this was when Luke flashed onto the scene in front of him "I had some personal business to take care of."
"Do what you must, you're here now and that's the most important thing."
"You sure you still want to do this?"
"If nothing else, I wish to see how I can compare to you after all this time. The question is, are you able to fight to your fullest after being out of practive by so many years?"
"Probably not if I'm gonna be completely honest, but if it's all the same to you, I'll be damned if I don't try."
"I expected no less from you." Rogue's body started surging with dark magic energy as he activated his Shadow Drive "You claim that you even if you may not be able to fight to your fullest you would still rather try, so go ahead and power up already."
"Way ahead of you." Thunder Drive!" Luke then activated his Thunder Drive "I can tell just from that spar we went through yesterday that you've done a lot of improving since the last time we met, but if you want to see first hand what I can do when I get serious, then that's something you're going to have to earn."
'He's so calm and focused, and his stance alone doesn't have any openings that one would be able to exploit. Judging by the first glance, I may very well have to use it against him. So this is what you show me at first glance, what you're truly capable of in a battle when you actually decide to get serious?"
"To put it simply, yes but only at the moment. I learned a lot during my time training away from the guild, and in the time since we last met. I don't know what path you've chose for yourself, but I learned what mine is a long time ago. It's a lot more than just a path, it's my goal, my purpose and my destiny. I know that sounds like something out of Spider Man."
"I think it's quite fitting for you actually. You spent so long training for the purpose of protecting your guild, whereas I have yet to discover my purpose, and over the years I've simply been training and honing my Dragon Slayer magic in the hopes of finding it. Just when I had finally settled into what I believed was my purpose, you and Gajeel come out of the blue, and both of you are so different from what I remember you as. What my purpose is doesn't matter at this moment, all I wish to know is how far I've come in comparison to you!" and so Rogue charged forward and met Luke in an explosive collision, as well as an elbow to the face.
Luke dodged his next attack and began to launch a counterattack with a rapid barrage of punches and kicks, this resulting in the two of them trading even blows across the snow covered landscape until their fists collided in a blinding flash, lightning against shadows and darkness "Lightning Dragon ROAR!" the very instant they broke away from their collision he let out a powerful roar and with it a massive stream of lightning.
"Shadow Dragon SWORD!" Rogue quickly leapt out of the way of Luke's roar and thrusted forward a sword made of dark energy.
Luke was able to weave his way around the shadow sword, though he ended up taking a gash to the shoulder, drawing a small amount of blood "You're doing pretty well so far, but I think you and I both know that you're still holding back."
"Like you said, if one wishes to see his opponent's full power, then it's going to have to be earned." Rogue blitzed behind Luke and dealt him a sharp kick to the face, sending him crashing into the side of a snowy mountain "And now to show you what I can do. Shadow Dragon ROAR!" he let out a powerful roar, and with it a blast of dark energy.
"Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Luke was able to rebound in time to unleash his own Roar in order to counter that of Rogue, the force of his roar overpowering it and winning the clash in a brilliant display.
Rogue quickly blitzed out of the path of the spell, then blitzed over towards Luke and dealt him a solid blow to the chest while he was still preoccupied with the roar, and then he promptly began forcing Luke on the defensive with a rapid barrage of attacks.
'So he's trying to force me on the defensive so I won't be able to attack.' seeing what the strategy in play was and thinking quick, Luke dealt Rogue a lightning enhanced fist to the chest, followed by a Lightning Dragon Talon, the force of the lightning-enhanced kick sending him tumbling backwards a great distance across the snowly landscape.
Rogue was able to rebound from this attack nearly instantly as the two of them began blitzing along the side of the mountain, their different colored magic powers blending together, black against gold, in a brilliant display.
Luke took the chance to hit Rogue with a rapid barrage of attacks, dealing him a series of blows directly to his spine "I said that you would have to earn my full power in this fight, but who the hell said you were allowed to hold out on me?" the two of them started dealing each other a series of repeated blows to the face and torso, which ended with the both of them grappling with each other in a fierce power struggle "You said that you wanted me to take this seriously, so then why are you still holding out on me?" he gripped Rogue by the arm and threw him high into the air, his body surging with even more magic power as he did so "I know for a fact that you're still holding out on me, I told you that I wanted to see you show me everything you've got!"
"You wish to see my everything? If that's what you wish for then so be it, but keep in mind that you asked for this!" with a mighty roar, Rogue's body was covered in black dragon scales: the mark of him entering Dragon Force "Are you satisfied?"
"I said you for to give me everything you've got, but now that you are I want to see if it was worth it."
"Oh believe me, you will." Rogue blitzed forward towards Luke at full speed, far too fast for the ordinary untrained eye to keep track of, resulting in a blinding clash of their respective magic powers that came to an abrupt end when he buried his fist into Luke's gut with all of the force he was able to muster.
Quickly activating his own Dragon Force, his body being covered in dragon scales, Luke quickly recovered and then countered this by dealing Rogue a brutal fist to the gut, and then one to the face as well "Come on Ryos, you'd better come at me with everything you've got."
"The same could easily be said for you." Rogue let his magic power surge even higher "Now come on then Luke, I think it's about time for the two of us to end this."
"On that we can agree." Luke held out one arm as it started surging with electricity "One final attack, all or nothing, and we end this. Does that sound good?"
"As good as it could as far as I'm concerned." Rogue held out one arm himself as it was bathed in dark energy "Dragon Slayer Secret Art…"
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art…"
"Lingering Malice…"
"Indra's Wrath…"
"SIN OF VENGEANCE!" Rogue burst forward and unleashed all of the dark energy in his fist in an explosive display.
"ROARING THUNDER!" Luke burst forward and met Rogue's Sin of Vengeance with a Roaring Thunder blast, resulting in a blinding collision and powerful explosion that covered the entire mountain and surrounding area. When the blast subsided, Luke was revealed to have lost his Dragon Force and he fell to one knee "So how about it, you have enough yet?"
The smoke cleared to reveal that Rogue had been blown out of his Dragon Force as well, only he had been forced to both knees and coughed up a small amount of blood "Yes… I yield. On some level, I feel I should be disappointed with myself. Even after all this time, even with you out of practice by 7 years, I still ended up losing to you."
"Don't beat yourself up over it, regardless of what you believe I came a lot closer to losing to you than I would've liked. If there are even more people out there now that are as strong as you, then that just proves how much work I've got ahead of me."
"So that's how you see things then? You view a powerful opponent you face not just as an obstacle that you must overcome, but their power as a measure of what is possible?"
"That's one way of looking at it, and no offense man, but I think you're being somewhat too high strung about this. You'd better try to relax or you're gonna end up in a lot of trouble, maybe not now but I can guarantee it will cause problems for you in the long run. Take some time to stop and smell the roses. If you do then you'll be able to see things you couldn't see before, and hear things you were never able to hear. Life can turn out to be a lot of fun, all you have to do is give it a chance."
"...You know something Luke, the way that you look at life has always interested me. I suppose that even now, I have a lot to think about."
"So you heading out then? At least let Wendy use her Sky magic to heal you."
"I'll be fine, I've dealt with much worse." Rogue pulled himself back to his feet and wiped the snow away from his cloak as he put it back on "You should be warned though, our guilds might meet sooner than you think, especially if yours intends to participate in the games this year." and on that note, Rogue promptly disappeared in a flash of dark energy.
'Games huh, I wonder what he means by that. Either way, I should probably head back to the city before Bolt or any of the others do anything stupid.' and on that note, Luke disappeared from the scene as well.
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Meanwhile, with Rogue…
By this point, Rogue was making his way through the streets of Magnolia, on a path that led him out of the city 'I suppose I have a lot to think about.'
"So you're leaving then?"
Rogue glanced back to see Lucy coming up alongside him "I have other business to attend to back in my guild, otherwise my partner Sting is bound to do something stupid."
"I know the feeling." Lucy let out a sigh "Almost in Fairy Tail is pretty crazy most of the time, but it's still a lot of fun."
"The past day has been entertaining if nothing else."
"That's usually where people start. Is something on your mind?"
"I'm simply thinking about Gajeel. It's rather strange, I had never been able to understand the reason why he had decided to join Fairy Tail in the first place. It took me a long time, but seeing him and everyone else now, I think I've finally come to understand it, or at least I'm starting to anyway."
"You want to talk about it?" she was met with a sigh
"I don't know if he actually remembers this or not, and I don't blame him because it was such a long time ago. I was just a kid back then, no older than that Dragon Slayer girl with the blue hair, I think her name was Wendy, but anyway I was just a kid who looked up to him former guild Phantom Lord, but more than anything I looked up to yohimu. As a kid, it was one of my biggest dreams in my life to become a member of that guild when the day came. Unfortunately I never got the chance to make that dream come true. Phantom Lord was forced to disband when they decided to challenge Fairy Tail and lost, and yet I wasn't surprised in the slightest when I had heard that Luke was the one who defeated their master Jose. And of all of the guilds Gajeel had the opportunity to join, him chose the one that had just defeated them. He joined Fairy Tail, and I was left devastated and heartbroken by such an act. The fact that he had chosen to become part of the guild that just ripped through his old one, it was something that I just wasn't able to wrap my head around. I was so confused, and deep down I knew there had to be a reason, but I wasn't able to figure it out for the life of me. That's part of the reason why I came here, to try and find what that reason is, and to see how different things are in this guild compared to Sabertooth. I guess that means I have a lot to think about. The games are in about three to four months, and I expect to see your guild there. Maybe then I'll be able to figure out what it is that made him join you, and why you're believed to be as powerful as you are." and with that, Rogue took his leave of the city, leaving Lucy alone and rather dumbstruck.
'He seems pretty different compared to some of the other Dragon Slayers I've met, but he doesn't really seem like a bad guy either.'
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Nightfall came, and the moon and stars were now shining brightly over the skies of Magnolia.
By this point, Luke had returned to his apartment and was talking with Bolt over the events of the day
"So, I take it Natsu got his ass handed to him?"
"In the way that only he can." Bolt told him dryly "Laxus took him down in one hit and left him in a squealing heap on the ground."
"Not that I should be surprised. Don't get me wrong, him and Gray taking Laxus down was pretty impressive, but you've gotta look at that realistically. Laxus was insanely powerful, but he was wasting magic power by using his Thunder Palace and the Fairy Law, so even with the power of Dragon Force on his side, he didn't have enough left in the metaphorical tank to take the two of them down. At the same time though, if he had been at full power, then they probably wouldn't have lasted a minute."
"Notice nobody disagreeing with you about that."
"Smart people then. But let's put that on the blackburn for now, what about Gray?"
"Apparently he took off from the scene when nobody was looking, Macao and the others went out looking for him, and Juvia went ahead of them to prevent them from dragging him back by his set of skimpies. Most likely so she would be able to do it herself."
"Well that sounds about right. I fought Rogue and I won, and then he went back to his own guild awhile ago."
"So should we expect him and his guild to try and attack us at some point?"
"I wouldn't worry about that, but if I had to guess then I'd say that he's got a lot of stuff to think about for the time being."
"He's not the only one either, what are you gonna do about Cana?"
"Well the way I see it, right now there's only one thing I can do. I can't waste all of my time just freaking out over it, so rather than panic over how I'm gonna handle it, I'm just gonna take that energy and channel it into my training."
"Is that really what you want to do?"
"It's really all I can do, at least at the moment."
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Another day came, and the sun was shining brightly over Magnolia.
Gildarts stood in the middle of the pathway to his house, the one leading over the river, his mind drifting over what Makarov had shown him before 'The Lumen Histoire… the essence of Fairy Tail, and on top of that, one of the heaviest burdens that comes with being guild master. I never once thought of myself as being guild master.'
"I take it you've got something on your mind?"
Gildarts glanced over to see Luke coming up to him "You might say that."
"Let me take a wild guess, master talked to you about making you the new guild master?"
"He did more than just talk, he showed me something that's gonna be etched into my memory for as long as I live. Before you ask, it's a guild master secret."
"I wasn't going to pry, but I probably should apologize for that. Master had the talk with me about making me guild master awhile back, after Phantom Lord actually, and I flat out turned him down. For all we know, if I had said yes then I might be in your position right now. But still, I doubt I'd make a good master to be honest, and I told master that to his face. I said that I would rather than be a good man and wizard than a great master."
"Sounds to me like you made the right call. Speaking of which, when he actually does swear me in as master, I was hoping you could do me a small favor."
"I'm listening."
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Meanwhile, with two other Dragon Slayers…
Sting was sitting on top of a rock in the middle of a battlefield, when he glanced up at the sound of footsteps to see Rogue making his way onto the scene "So how did it go, you find what you were looking for?"
"You might say that." Rogue told him flatly.
"It sure as hell takes you back doesn't it? Think about it, the last time we saw them we only came up to about the kneecaps on Natsu and Gajeel. You were a pretty big fan of Gajeel's back then weren't you? I didn't care for him personally, he scared the crap out of me."
"It doesn't help to bring up the past when it doesn't even have any relevance. Keep in mind that we made the choice to follow a different path from the one they've travelled."
"Yeah I know."
"I found you sons of bitches, now take this!" this was when a lone archer rushed onto the scene and aimed a white colored arrow at the back of Rogue's head while his back was turned.
"That's a big fat NOPE. And so is this." Sting promptly caught the arrow with his bare hand and started eating it.
"You've gotta be kidding me, he's eating the arrow?!" and then the archer felt the horrifying realization kick in "No you've gotta be kidding me, don't tell me it's him!"
"Yep, it's me." Sting finished eating the white arrow and let out a quick roar, which actually ended up missing the archer but blew clear through the wall behind him "Aw dammit I missed, I guess I'm out of practice then. What other explanation would there be for his head to still be attached to his body?"
"I-I knew it, it really is you! You guys are the Twin Dragons of the Sabertooth guild in the very flesh, Sting the White Dragon and Rogue the Shadow Dragon, the Dragon Slayer duo!" and then he ran away screaming.
"What's your deal dude, you're just gonna leave your buddies behind?" Sting glanced back at all of the downed thugs lying on the ground behind him "Not gonna lie dude, that's pretty harsh."
"He's part of a dark guild." Rogue pointed out "You shouldn't have had very high expectations for him in the first place."
"Yeah I know, but still…"
"For crying out loud sting, you don't know when to hold back do you?"
Sting glanced over at the sound of a new voice and gave a smirk "Hey check it out, it's Lector and Frosch. I was wondering where you guys went."
"Oh you know, just doing some recon stuff." Lector and Frosch made their way towards the two Dragon Slayers, Lector being a red Exceed clad in a blue vest, and Frosch being a green Exceed clad in a pink frog suit "We thought we would try and track down the enemy before they were able to ambush us, but it looks like you were able to take care of them already, and that was well before Rogue even got back. Looks to me like they totally got what they deserve for messing with a kickass Dragon Slayer."
"You're damn straight, nobody can beat us." Sting caught Rogue in a little high five.
"Fro thinks so too, Rogue is bestest ever!" Frosch promptly sprouted a set of wings and flew straight into Rogue's chest "Fro missed Rogue, Fro was worried about Rogue being gone for so long!"
Rogue's eyes softened as he pulled Frosch into a gentle hug "I'm sorry Frosch, I didn't mean to make you worry like that. It was just something I had to do."
"Fro understands Rogue, Fro knows that Rogue is the best Dragon Slayer ever."
"Thanks Frosch, I appreciate that."
"You look more alive than that time we watched milady try to burn the creators of Teen Titans Go alive." Sting pointed out "Looks to me like you're feeling pretty good, and frankly I don't blame you. The way I see it, if we had the chance to go up against Natsu and Gajeel then we'd rip them a new one."
"I saw them in action to an extent, and frankly I wasn't impressed. Those two aren't worth any of my time. Luke however, he's a different matter."
"Yeah I know what you mean, a Dragon Slayer who took down a Wizard Saint and the master of Grimoire Heart. That's gonna be one hell of a fight."
"In regards to Luke, I actually agree with you. In regards to Natsu and Gajeel however, I think I'll pass, so thanks but no thanks."
"Fro thinks so too!" and then the four of them left the scene.
A/V:
And with this chapter, after god only knows how many chapters of action and drama, albeit with some pretty good comedy sprinkled in, we get some much needed light relief in the form of anothe Omake chapter. This focuses on introducing one or two new characters that debut somewhat earlier than they did in canon, and giving them more spotlight and delving into their characters than they did in canon. In this case, I'm mainly talking about Sting and Rogue, the Third Generation White and Shadow Dragon Slayers of the Sabertooth guild, though focusing more on the latter in this case. To be completely honest, while I do like both of these characters, I prefer Rogue over Sting by miles without question. However, this chapter does have a secondary purpose, as in it involves Luke struggling over his newly discovered feelings for Cana, as well as a little bit of action with Laxus.
So yes, I'm introducing Rogue (along with Sting, Frosch and Lector) earlier than in canon for the sake of building some relationships between the two of them and certain members of Fairy Tail, most notably two of their fellow Dragon Slayers and a certain blond Celestial wizard. Yeah that's right, it's a Rogue x Lucy pairing for this story. I wasn't very sure about this pairing at first, but after reading a numer of fics that paired them together, it grew to be one of my favorites, and since this is not a NaLu story (I think I made that particularly clear with a certain scene back in the first chapter of the Tenrou Island arc), I need to pair Lucy with someone else. Also, I've always loved fics that feature bonding moments between Lucy and Frosch, which eventually lead into the pairing between Lucy and Rogue. The most notable fics in that regard are by the author Tiger Priestess. She's got really good work, so I totally recommend you go and check her out.
For those of you who noticed, I used elements of the Key of the Starry Sky arc in this chapter, most notably with the scenes introducing Rogue to the guild, and then the "rematch" between Natsu, Gray and Laxus. I didn't go into the arc in full because, to put it simply, it's filler, and more than 20 episodes of filler for that matter, and that's a big fat "nope" for me. Still though, it's good for some slice of life stuff.
So no, Luke and Cana aren't in an official relationship just yet, though they do know of the feelings they have for the other, they just don't know how the other one feels in return. As for Luke, his feelings are unchanged, but rather than continue fretting over it, he's taking those feelings and pouring them into his training. To be honest, this part was particularly hard for me to write out. I don't really know a lot about relationships, or anything really, since I've never actually been in a relationship myself, so if this turned out poorly in your eyes, then I apologize for that.
Just a heads up, as I've done twice now, I'm putting this story on hiatus for the time being, and for the same reason as the other times, that being that I want to work on my other stories. After all, my DBGT fic is almost done with, and I want to work on my Naruto and DBZ fics, and you guys are more than welcome to check out any of those if you like.