It's the first of the month, and you know what that means, it's time for yet another chapter of "A Quincy's Fairy Tail"!

In this chapter, our hero's finally manage to return home, but things have changed quite a bit in the week they've been away and in more ways than one.

Well, without further delay, let's get this show on the road!

Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shönen Jump. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Weekly Shönen Magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.


"Um… Lil?" Bambietta asked as she and the rest of her group of friends couldn't help but look upwards, their jaws agape. The only ones not currently present were Candice and Juvia.

"Yes, Bambi?" The petite Quincy asked as she too partook in the confusion.

"I know we've been gone for a bit so refresh my memory...was the guild always this big?"

"No, no it wasn't."

"Okay, good, so that means I can say this genuinely. WHAT!?"

The reason for Bambietta and everyone else's confusion was quite evident. The once-two story, orient-looking guild hall had been replaced by a small looking castle with a large metal gate surrounding its sides. It even had an outdoor cafe with tables abound for people to eat at. To say it was a bit of a change would have been an understatement.

"Oh wow…," Lucy exclaimed.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise," Erza couldn't help but add.

"What's all the commotion? I go get a beer for five minutes and I hear Bambi freaking out," Candice said as she strolled up the group and saw the guild. The lime haired beauty smirked. "Oh, sick! New build for the guild hall?! Killer! Jeez, Bambi, if you lose your cool every time the status quo changes, you'll have wrinkles before you're thirty." Candice snapped her fingers. "Oh, wait, that's right! "

"Candi, stop it," Bambietta muttered.

"You're way past thirty!"

"You're way past thirty too!"

Lucy looked at Bambietta with an odd expression, her eyebrows raised. "What do you two mean by that?"

"Nothing!" They both insisted, the green-haired Quincy quickly remembering Bambietta hadn't divulged that information yet. "It… It was just a joke," Candice insisted, Bambietta letting out a sigh of relief when it seemed that Lucy had accepted that answer with no further questioning.

Candice wasn't going to let up so easily however. "I mean, I know they call you 'The Explode,' but I didn't know that meant outbursts on things that wouldn't even qualify for Ripley's Believe it or Not."

"If Wendy or Erza weren't here, I'd be giving you a butt-whooping you wouldn't forget." Bambietta growled.

"You mean it wasn't always like this?" Momo asked, drawing their attention back to the matter at hand as her eyes wandered the building. This was more than she had expected given what the others had told her about the guild. In fact, most guilds she had seen were small by comparison. I know it's the most powerful guild in the country, but even so…

"No, the original guild hall was much smaller than this. Granted, it was kinda run down for a while, but that was because of those Phantom Lord jerks," Lucy said before turning to face Juvia and Totomaru and blushed with embarrassment. "Oh, um, no offense guys."

"None taken. It's in the past," Totomaru said with Juvia giving a terse nod. "Still, this ought to be a nice change of pace. The old building was getting a bit… cramped."

"Well, I can't say I'm complaining," Bambietta admitted as she walked past the gate. "Say what you want about the Silbern, but at least it was spacious."

"Yeah, but… do we really need a gift shop?" Lucy asked as she looked at the new pavilion.

"Hey there!" A young man with light-brown hair called over to them from the gift shop. "Glad you guys made it back ok! We were really worried after hearing about what happened at the tower."

"Yeah, it was all kinds of rough, but we managed to work it out," Gray said.

"They got you working the gift shop Max?" Happy asked as he flew over towards him. "It's been awhile since we've seen you around the guild."

"Well, Master made me go back to school cause he wanted me to take some business classes," Max admitted sheepishly.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" Lucy exclaimed. "You're Max Aloris! I've read all about you in Sorcerer Weekly!"

"Yes ma'am, that'd be me," He said with a smile and wink. "And you know, I've heard a lot about you, Lucy."

"I don't want to think about the crazy things they probably told ya." Lucy bemoaned, her shoulders slouching.

"Okay, I'll bite. What kind of stuff are you selling here?" Bambietta asked as curiosity got the best of her.

"Oh, you're Bambietta right? Master's told me all about you!" Max said. "Well, take a look. We got t-shirts, wristbands, mugs, towels, and then of course, there's our most popular item."

"Oh, you mean this?" Happy asked as he picked up something from the stand: a miniature version of Lucy. "Wow, it's a Lucy action figure."

Ummmmm okay, kinda creepy, Bambietta thought.

"Gahhhh, nobody asked me if I was cool with that!" Lucy cried out.

"Not only is she posable," Max said as Happy played with the toy... until her clothes came off. "But it can even remove her clothes!"

That got Lucy to screech in utter embarrassment, her face beet-red. "Eyyyyaaaaaaa!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Bambietta yelled before snatching the figure out of Happy's hands and exploding the action figure right in her palm.

"Hey I was playing with that!" Happy complained.

"I don't give a crap!" Bambietta yelled at the cat before glaring at Max. "Listen here pal, I don't want to get off on the wrong foot with someone in my guild, but I demand that you stop selling this crap right freaking now! "

"I can't just do that!" Max said back. "Do you know how much money we put into manufacturing all of these! It'll– woah!"

Bambietta had grabbed Max by the collar of his shirt over the counter as her piercing eyes bore into his. "Buddy, I ain't going to ask again. Stop selling this shit. Now. Lucy is MY girlfriend, which means her problems are MY problems. You think you can just get away with this kind of sh–crap without asking for her damn permission, huh!? Is that it!? I don't care if Master Makarov himself gave the okay on this, I won't stand for this! So, take all of this crap off the shelves this instant, or I'll destroy it personally myself!"

"You haven't even seen the royalties yet!" Max cried out.

"Royalties?" Lucy asked, the blonde immediately breaking out of her embarrassed stupor.

"Yeah, the royalties!" Max said as he reached into his back pocket and took out a check.

Lucy quickly grabbed the piece of paper and scanned it before her eyes slowly widened. "Bambi..."

"What?" Bambietta replied coldly as she continued to hold Max by the collar of his shirt, her anger not lessening in the slightest.

"This is enough to cover our rent… for three months."

"Excuse you, what?" Bambietta replied. She let go of Max then before looking over the check with Lucy, her eyes going wide like saucers, her jaw dropping. "That's... That's a big number. Still…" She looked over at Lucy with some concern. "Are you really okay with this? I mean… Do you really want people to… you know..."

Lucy shook her head. "I mean, maybe it would have been fine at one point, but… I think we can work something out here." Looking back at Max, she spoke up. "Look Max, let's make a deal. Just remove that... feature and we'll call everything even. Sound good?"

"Yeah, I can work with that," Max said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "It'll cost a bit of money, but it's doable. Sorry about all that, I guess I really wasn't thinking about how you'd feel on the whole thing. We good?" He offered his hand then to seal the deal.

"Yeah, it's fine, just… try to run any new merchandise by me first, okay?" Lucy answered as she shook his hand.

"I mean hey, if you want to make an action figure of me shooting out fireballs, I'd be all for it." Bambietta admitted as she shook it next. "I can see it now, 'Buy Bambietta Basterbine action figure, with explosive orb action!'"

"Already in the works, actually," Max said. "We actually got figures for all the other newest members being made as we speak. Luckily, I won't have to worry about any of them having… that problem."

"I mean, I wouldn't mind," Candice said with a grin.

"Of course you wouldn't," Jade, Rukia, Liltotto, and Bambietta all said in unison.

Rukia in particular rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're deplorable."

Momo for her part looked over at Candice, eyebrows raised. Goodness, she makes Rangiku seem like a prude by comparison.

With the situation now resolved, the large group finally made their way inside, and boy, were they in for a surprise. The interior was much larger than it had originally been, two, probably even three times as much. The bar and second floor were still present, but there was now a massive stage of sorts all the way in the back and plenty of dinner tables lined up.

"Pretty…" Happy, Lucy and Wendy exclaimed with stars in their eyes. It was beyond clear that they were impressed with the new guild.

"What was that about wanting more space?" Rukia said to Bambietta.

"Well, I'd say this is that and then some," Bambietta admitted before she smirked. "I like it!"

"Mm. I could get really used to this," Erza added on, nodding her head in agreement.

Gray was about to say something as well until he noticed Natsu sulking underneath his scarf. "Hey man, what's wrong?" It wasn't like Natsu to be like this.

"I'm not good with change," Natsu grumbled.

"Oh come on, don't be like that," Liltotto chided him. "Change is going to happen whenever you want it to or not. Big and small, good or bad. That's just life. You'll have to adapt to the change sooner or later."

"Yeah, well… it doesn't mean that I have to like it," Natsu mumbled.

"Oh my gosh, they've even got a library!" Levy shouted with glee as she ran over to the new room.

"Really!? I'll come right with you!" Momo added with excitement as she quickly followed.

"It would appear the guild has plenty of new renovations," Ulquiorra stated.

"Yeah, it looks like there's even a pool out back," Jade added in, mildly impressed. "Talk about your guild makeovers."

"That's not all, there's a game room in the basement too!" Candice said as she just got back from checking it out. "This is awesome! Finally, I can play some pool whenever I want!"

"There's one more big change as well," Cana said as she walked over, barrel in hand. "Because now everyone is allowed to go up on the second floor."

"Wait, does that mean we can all take S-Class missions now!?" Bambietta asked excitedly.

Cana nodded her head. "Yeah, Master's letting us go on S-Class missions, but only if we have an S-Class mage come along with us. It hasn't happened yet, but it's in the works."

"Well, I'm glad you dunderheads made it back safely."

The large group turned around to see none other than Master Makarov, the small man giving them a smile.

"Master!" All of them sans Ulquiorra and Momo cried out.

That's the guild master? But he's so small! Not even Shiro was that short, Momo couldn't help but think. But even so... I can tell he's got a power equal to that of a captain's! In fact… he's even stronger than Shiro!

Makarov looked at Erza then. "Erza, if you need to talk about what happened–"

"It's… fine," Erza spoke up, her eyes looking downward. "Perhaps another time." She then looked back at her guild master, the sorrow having left her face completely. "Did you receive my letter regarding the S-Class Promotion Trial?"

Makarov nodded before he looked at Bambietta. "Indeed I have. Congratulations, Miss Basterbine, you'll officially be partaking in this year's trial."

Bambietta threw her right fist into the air, grinning. "Aw yeah, S-Class here I come!"

"You know you're going against me too, right?" Liltotto brought up. "I'm not going to just roll over and let you win, ya know?"

Bambietta shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, but last I checked, I'm still stronger than you and Candi, just like I was back home. Pretty sure I got this."

Liltotto narrowed her eyes. "One word: Vollstandig."

"...Oh, right, you still have yours," Bambietta said before her shoulder slumped… only for her to get excited once again. "That just means I got to outlast you, that's all!"

"As good as it is for you to be confident, you'll have others you'll be facing as well," Makarov warned her. "Especially since Freed will be participating this year."

Cana looked dejected while Bambietta raised her brow. "Freed? Never heard of the guy. He a big deal or something?"

"He's part of the Thunder God Tribe," Mirajane said as she just finished serving some guild members a drink. "They're a group of some of Fairy Tails' most powerful mages that work under Laxus. Freed likes to call himself their leader."

"Oh yeah, Laxus told me about those guys," Candice chipped in. "Supposedly he's been sending them out on a lot of missions to really toughen them up, which is why we haven't seen them yet." Candice had to admit, part of her did want to see them herself. After all, if they were good enough for Laxus, they were probably good enough for her.

"Freed is not to be underestimated," Erza warned the Quincies. "Prior to your joining, he was easily the most powerful A-class mage in Fairy Tail. I'll be honest Bambi, if the two of you fought… I honestly don't know who'd emerge the victor."

"Oh… well, shit. Guess I'll have to keep my eye out for that guy then," Bambietta admitted. However, the Quincy couldn't help but feel excited. So, I got another guy who might give me a hard time, huh? Fine by me. I could use a nice, even brawl after the shitfest that was the Tower of Heaven.

"Um… Gray… How do I look?"

Gray turned around to see none other than his girlfriend, Juvia Lockser. However, the blue haired beauty looked rather different now. Her blue hair, which used to go down to her shoulders and curl upwards, was now shorter than Rukia's and spiked towards the back. She now also wore a blue and white dress along with a matching hat.

"Oh, Juvia, you… you..." Gray hadn't been expecting his girlfriend to go through such a dramatic change in appearance. Still, despite this hesitation, he took a step forward and grabbed one of her hands before he smiled. "You look great."

Juvia's face was as red as a tomato, her heart practically skipping a beat before it went a million miles per hour. He… likes it? He likes it, he likes it, he likes it!

Candice for her part couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Aww, ain't that just the cutest thing." Truth be told, she had been the one to come to Juvia with the idea of a new look, though Juvia had insisted on choosing one on her own. In Candice's mind, it had been a complete success, and if not for the pair already dating, she'd probably have tried to have asked Juvia for a one-night stand herself.

Makarov then looked over at Momo. "Oh, and I see that you're the new member that Erza told me about in her most recent letter. Fairy Tail would be honored to have someone of your skills join us."

Momo quickly bowed. "The honor is all mine, Master Makarov. I look forward to being a part of this guild."

"As do I," The guild master replied before looking over to Bambietta. "That said, I have urgent information for Bambietta that I need to give to her immediately in my office. I know you've just come back, but this can't be delayed."

Bambietta nodded her head. "Yeah, sure. Not like I had any major plans or anything. Lead the way, Master."

The brunette and tiny old man began to make their way to his office… but not before Bambietta's ears caught onto something, a horrified gasp from her girlfriend and a cry of outrage from Gray.

"No way! What the hell is he doing here!?"

Bambietta turned her head to ask what the commotion was about, but the question died on her tongue as she found the cause for alarm, eyes first widening with shock before then narrowing in rage. Her fists clenched as she nashed her teeth and growled one word, no, a name, with vitriol.

"Gajeel."

Natsu wasn't much better, already stalking over to confront the Iron Dragon Slayer when a white blur blew right past him, grabbed the black-haired mage and slammed him against the nearest wall by his throat.

To his credit, Gajeel remained mostly stone-cold in his visage, his body lacking in any shaking or sweating that would have been evident in most people in a similar position. However, he could not totally stifle his fear, his eyes unable to meet those of the one who had come within a hair's breadth of ending his life.

Bambietta either didn't notice this fact or didn't care as she went on her tirade. "You son of a bitch! So wrecking one guildhall wasn't enough for you, huh!? Is that it!? Or are you thinking about beating the tar out of one of my best friends again!?" She formed a sword in her right hand as her eyes bore into his. "You know what, I don't give a fuck, I'm gonna–"

"Bambietta, that's enough!"

Before she could recognize the sound of the voice scolding her, Bambietta found herself gripped by Makarov's now massive hand. She was about to retort, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw it.

The Fairy Tail guild mark, on Gajeel's right shoulder.

Bambietta grit her teeth once more as her anger swelled. "Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!" The Quincy glared right back at Makarov before voicing her frustration. "Why the hell does he have a guild mark!? Please, please, tell me this is your idea of a joke!"

"Please, wait!" Juvia cried out as she placed her hand on Bambietta's arm. "I was the one who asked him to come to Fairy Tail! He needed to find work!"

"You what!?" Bambietta demanded. "How could you!? After everything he did, you honestly expect–"

"It wasn't just her!" Totomaru yelled. "I… no, we were really worried about him once we saw him eating whatever iron scraps he found off the streets. I know what he did to your guild, but… we couldn't just leave him like that. He was a friend of ours back in Phantom Lord."

Erza wasn't taking the news much better as she glared at Gajeel. "Juvia and Totomaru joining the guild was one thing, they helped us during our time of need over their own guild. But Gajeel is the one who destroyed our guild hall and hurt our friends!" She clenched her fists as she spoke the last part.

Gajeel simply scoffed before looking away.

"Now now, remember what I taught you," Makarov reminded them. "Yesterday's enemy can be tomorrow's friend, right?"

"That's a bunch of Fairy Tale nonsense!" Bambietta yelled back at him. "Did you even think about how we'd feel about this!? Or Levy!? Do I need to remind you what he did to her!? Because I sure as hell didn't forget! I thought I almost lost one of my closest friends, and you have the gall to let him in–"

"I… I already knew, Bambi. It's... it's alright."

Completely shocked, Bambietta's sword vanished into thin air as Makarov let her go, the brunette looking over at Levy in utter bafflement. "You… knew? How? No, how long did you know!? And… why didn't you tell me!?"

"Well… I found out yesterday before we got on the next train back," Levy told her as she found it hard to look at her friend. "Master sent me a letter to give me a heads up, and… I just wasn't sure how to tell you. Master said he'd handle it, but things got out of control."

Bambietta glared back at Makarov. A part of her was slightly upset at Levy for the secrecy, but she knew deep down that her friend had no malicious intent behind the secret. She knew to an even lesser extent this applied to Makarov as well, but this did little to quell her anger as she pointed her left index finger at him. "I still can't believe you'd let him join after everything he did!"

Makarov gave her a stern look. "Bambietta, I understand how you feel, but if I were to turn him away, he'd more than likely be led astray down the wrong path. At least here–"

"But why here!? Why us!?" Bambietta demanded. "Do you really think we can all just forgive and forget!? How could you let him in after everything he's done!? He's–"

"I let you in despite your own past, didn't I?"

Bambietta's hand immediately fell to her side as his words hit her like a sledgehammer. The former Sternritter grit her teeth, closed her eyes, then took a deep breath.

Lucy hesitantly raised a hand towards Bambietta

"To hell with this."

Everyone present had to gasp as Bambietta blurred out of existence, Gajeel falling to the floor as a result.

Levy sighed. "I… I should have just told her. This is my fault."

"Nonsense, Levy. If there's anyone to blame here it's me," Makarov insisted. "I thought that A-class mission would have kept him occupied at least 'til tomorrow. I wasn't expecting him to return so soon."

Wendy looked up at the blonde beside her. "Lucy… Is what Bambi said true?"

"It… It is, yeah," Lucy admitted as she tore her eyes away from Gajeel.

"Oh… But… He's a good guy now, right?" Wendy asked again.

"I..." Lucy wasn't quite sure how to answer that one. On the one hand, she understood where Master Makarov was coming from, but at the same time, she couldn't deny that she understood why her girlfriend felt the way that she did. "I can't really say."

"I say Bambi's got the right idea!" Natsu said as he flared at Gajeel. "There ain't no way I'm gonna be okay with this! I can't work with someone that I don't trust!"

"What's the big deal?" Gajeel said with a sneer, his cocky demeanor returning upon Bambietta's absence. "It's not like I want to be your buddy. The only reason I'm here is to get work. I hate this stupid guild and everyone in it, but times are tough, so I had no choice but to join."

"Shut up, loser!" Natsu yelled back.

Juvia was busy profusely apologizing to everyone present for Gajeel's attitude while Totomatu groaned internally. Great job making yourself a part of the guild, Gajeel. No one's going to hate us now, totally.

"Listen, I know you kids don't like it, but as master of this guild, it's my duty to help those who have gone astray find the right path," Makarov spoke up. "Please, give him a chance. You might find he's a nice guy." At least, I hope so, Makarov worried internally.

"No way!" Natsu said as his body was enveloped in his own flames. "I oughta beat him black and blue for–"

"You'll do no such thing." Erza insisted as she put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. "Understood?"

"You're not seriously going to tell me that you're okay with this, are you, Erza!?" Gray demanded.

"Of course not," Erza quickly responded. "But while I may not agree with this decision, the master's judgment has never steered us wrong in the past. If he's certain about it, then I believe it's worth a shot." She then looked back at Makarov. "However, I'm letting you know right now that I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on him."

Makarov nodded his head in understanding as Natsu continued to growl at Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer responding in kind before Rukia pushed the two of them aside. "Alright, that's enough of that! Break it up, or else I'll bind you both in the strongest bakudo I know!"

The two Dragon Slayers scoffed at each other before storming off in their own separate directions.

"They act more like dogs than dragons, don't you think?" Macao asked Happy as he took a sip of beer.

"Aye sir, you might want to break out the muzzles to be safe," Happy agreed as he took a bit out of a fish as he sat next to him atop the table.

"I… I guess I can give him a chance," Lucy spoke up. She still wasn't comfortable with the idea, but if it was the master's wish...

"Y-yeah, if I'm okay with it then… surely you guys can give him a chance," Levy murmured. "Though I really wish Master Makarov had managed to tell Bambi about this before things got crazy."

Liltotto sighed. "Man, part of me wants to scold Bambi for going off the handle like that… But..."

Candice looked down at Liltotto. "I've only heard about bits and pieces of what happened, so care to fill me in? What he did to Levy… Was it really that bad?"

The small Quincy looked back at her friend. "Yeah. It was. It… it was the first time I've ever seen her cry. At least, not like that."

"Oh. Ohhhhhhhhh." Candice uttered. Bambi rarely let that side of her out for anyone to see. Bambi cried!? That's nuts! For her to cry openly like that... It must have been terrible.

"She's just worried about Levy, there's nothing wrong about that," Rukia added. "Though, perhaps her reaction was a bit much."

"Even so, sometimes our emotions get the best of us," Momo added, knowing that feeling better than most. "Right now, I think she just needs someone to talk to."

"I'll go find her," Levy said to Momo. "I… I think if she hears it from me, I can-"

"You needn't trouble yourself," Levy heard Ulquiorra utter as he walked past her. "I'll speak with her myself."


"I can't fucking believe the master would just throw that at my face! I mean, seriously! All I'm doing is looking out for the guild! Unlike a certain someone!"

Bambietta was beyond mad. Furious would have been the better term in all actuality. Sure, she may have flown off the handle a bit there, and threatening a new member of the guild was probably not the best move she could have done, but it did little to put off the fire of rage roaring in her heart.

She tossed an orb of "The Explode" at a nearby trash can, then again at a potted plant and even towards a rusted up bench. Destruction of private property was probably going to only make things worse, undoubtedly with a scolding from Erza to follow, but she didn't care. She was an angry former Sternritter and she had to take her anger out on something.

Bambietta cocked her arm back as her eyes fell upon a discarded blue stuffed dragon. She narrowed her eyes as she was just about to throw the orb forming into her hand, her arm stretching out… but the orb never left her hand. Was she really about to destroy some kid's toy and probably make them cry because of her temper tantrum?

No, no she was not.

"Ugh, damn it all!" Bambietta yelled before she crushed the orb in her hand before jumping into the air. What the hell am I even doing!? The Quincy asked herself. Just blowing up a bunch of shit to blow off some steam? Oh yeah, that'll really show Master Makarov alright.

Letting out a sigh filled with both anger and annoyance, she decided to land on the roof of Kardia Cathedral before she sat down, her head buried in-between her legs. She needed to calm down, to think, before she wound up doing something really stupid.

Damn it, so now what do I do huh? Go back and apologize? No way, fuck that! I'm not... He's all wrong about all of this! The Quincy insisted internally. "I'm not apologizing... I'm not." Bambietta insisted to herself.

"So, this is where you've decided to go. A rather interesting choice on your part."

Bambietta had to resist the urge to frown as Ulquiorra landed behind her. Oh great, just what I needed. A lecture from the most stoic man I've ever known. She groaned internally."What do you want?" Bambietta grumbled, not bothering so much as to give him a glance. "If you're going to tell me to go back and apologize, then you can beat it. It's not happening."

Ulquiorra shook his head. "That's not my intention with this visit. I simply wish to know why you're so angry."

"Why? Why!? WHY!? You want to know why I'm so mad!?" Bambietta demanded as she finally got to her feet and spun around. "I'm mad because the person who beat the shit out of my best friend is in my home, with my family, and I'm supposed to act like nothing ever happened! How could I not be upset!?"

She then glared at the Arrancar as she pointed her index finger at him. "You should be pissed off too! Levy's your best friend, and yet here you are stoic as a rock!"

"I fail to see why I should express anger at the situation." He answered simply.

Bambietta rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Please, of course you wouldn't get why! You understand emotions and what it means to be human about as much as a toddler understands rocket science."

She let out a sharp laugh. "Oh, but why should I expect anything else from a fucking Hollow!?"

Her outburst was met with silence and an impassive stare, leaving her to simply stand there stewing in her anger before she realized just what she said, eyes widening in shame. Even if he wasn't a friend of hers per se, he had proven himself trustworthy during their battles in the Tower of Heaven. To say what she had after all of that was out of line. "I… I didn't… I'm sorry."

If Ulquiorra took any offense to what she said, he didn't show it and instead opted to speak his own mind. "I wasn't present for the event, so it's impossible for me to feel any sort of reaction to something that's happened in the past."

"That's because you didn't see what I saw," Bambietta forced out with an undertone of anger. "I was the one who found her. She was strung up like some damn marionette. He beat her black and blue and painted the fucking Phantom Lord guild mark on her belly! He was fucking bragging about it when I fought him! Levy was the first friend I ever had in Fairy Tail! She's… She's always looked out for me. That's why I'm mad! Because of what he did to her!"

"And yet Levy seems to be taking his presence in the guild far better than you are," Ulquiorra reminded her. "If she's alright with it, then why do you insist on your own anger?"

Bambietta looked away from him once more. "Levy... Levy's too kind for her own good sometimes. He doesn't deserve her forgiveness, let alone to be in the same guild as her!"

"Could the same not be said for me?" Ulquiorra told her. "She knows the truth about my past, yet even still she stands by my side. Is this really about Levy… or about you?"

"Me!? How is any of this about me!?" Bambietta demanded. "Levy is–"

"Troubled, but accepting of the situation." Ulquiorra interrupted her. "What I think is truly getting to you isn't just what happened to Levy, but how you felt. What am I missing here?"

"Pardon?" Bambietta asked.

"Based on your interactions with your friends in the guild, you clearly value them considerably. Given all this, you likely see the guild as a safe haven for yourself, the one place you can truly feel safe. Levy no doubt provided the companionship you were desperately missing before joining the guild. I've heard that it is often the case that many of our guild members come from less than desirable situations. With Gajeel Redfox nearly destroying the guild hall and hurting your strongest emotional anchor to this world, it's only natural you would react in the way that you have."

When he was met with silence, he continued. "I believe that these events left you fearful of losing that feeling of safety and comfort both the guild and Levy provided you. That after everything you had already been through, the mere thought of even losing them shook you to your core. You weren't just mad at Gajeel Redfox for hurting Levy; you were afraid of losing everything once more."

"That's… that's…" Bambietta was beginning to find it hard to meet his emotionless gaze. As much as she wanted to deny what he was saying, she couldn't find the right words. Not when his own hit so close to home.

"Given these circumstances, I believe that your anger is misplaced to at least some extent. You're not mad solely at Gajeel Redfox. You're also mad at yourself for not being able to prevent it in the first place. And given how we almost lost Miss Lamperd, it is of little surprise that you reacted to things the way you did. Your anger is merely your attempt at masking just how terrified you really are."

Bambietta couldn't help but stare at the Arrancar in befuddlement. A part of her wanted to deny every one of those ideas he spoke of. Her? Scared? Mad at herself? It was ridiculous! Gajeel was the one at fault for it all in the first place, so the blame should fall on him and him alone! Why on earth would she ever blame herself!?

And yet… his words circulated through her head. Despite how blunt the Arrancar was being, she knew there was no malice in his words. He merely spoke the truth as he saw it.

Maybe… Maybe he's right. I've never really had a place where I felt like I could be myself until I came to Fairy Tail, and Levy... she's always been there for me. I...I always did regret not staying with her the night after our guild hall got destroyed. Not to mention all that shit I saw in my inner world… I couldn't protect my mom, I couldn't stop Hanza from kidnapping Wendy, and I couldn't protect Levy! Damn it all! He's... he's... he really is fucking right. The tension left Bambietta's limbs at that realization, leaving her drained both emotionally and physically.

"...Since when are you so good at reading people?" Bambietta asked him.

"I'm not. I'm simply looking at the facts as they've been presented to me and coming up with my own hypothesis," he answered.

Bambietta snorted. "Yeah, that's a very you answer, isn't it?" She walked over to him and smiled. "But you're right. I mean, I am still mad at that asshole for everything he did, but I can't keep pretending he's the only one I was mad at. I still don't like him being here, but..." But as much as she hated to admit it… she had done much, much worse things than he ever had.

Well, you certainly got me there after all, didn't you Master Makarov? Bambietta thought to herself before she looked back at Ulquiorra. "Alright, I think– I think I'm ready to go back."


Just as the two of them had returned, it seemed as though Mirajane had begun to sing. Something along the lines of it being a celebration of their safe return or something like that. While Bambietta did appreciate the gesture, she was surprised at Ulquiorra's response.

"Her singing... It's quite soothing."

Bambietta slowly turned her head to look at Ulquiorra in utter confusion. "Excuse you, what? "

"I said that her singing is quite–"

"No, I heard that!" Bambietta interrupted him "It's just– Where the hell did that come from!?"

"I was merely making a statement." The arrancar said blatantly.

"...Who are you, and what have you done with the 4th Espada?" Bambietta asked.

"Former 4th Espa–"

"Whatever!" Bambietta interrupted. Still, Ulquiorra wasn't wrong. Mira's melody had brought the usually loud or chaotic guild to an unusual calm. Was that why he found her singing soothing? Regardless of his intention however, Bambietta found herself agreeing wholeheartedly with the Arrancar. "But yeah, this… This is really nice."

She looked over to her friends then, the lot of them enjoying Mirajane's sweet melody. Suddenly, the Quincy was hit with an idea that prompted her to walk over to her girlfriend. She shot Lucy a coy smile and a wink.

"Excuse me miss, but…" Bambietta offered up her hand. "May I have this dance?"

The blonde mage blinked with surprise, not expecting her girlfriend to ask such a thing. Did she even know how to dance? Still, Lucy knew that this was just Bambietta attempting to be more romantic with her, and despite her reservations...

"I'd love to," Lucy answered, taking Bambietta's hand.

The Quincy expertly moved her hand around Lucy's waist and took some steps back, guiding the blonde as she stepped with the beat. Lucy's own experience at the dances her parents made her attend helped her out considerably in the current situation, but she was more surprised at how Bambietta managed to take the lead. There wasn't a single step wasted and no accidental stepping on toes as her eyes gazed into Lucy's.

She's actually really good! Lucy thought with surprise as the two danced right in front of Mirajane's stage.

"Surprised?" Bambietta asked with a slight chuckle.

"Um… yeah, kinda," Lucy had to admit. "I mean, this sort of thing... it's not… I mean–"

"I know, I know. It's not very me now, is it?" Bambietta answered Lucy. "Well, you can thank the second in command back at my former guild. Good old Hashbrown insisted that, when we graduated from the academy for our guild, we all learned how to dance properly for the graduation ball. I thought it was just a pain in the ass back then, but now..."

Bambietta raised her and Lucy's right hand upwards to quickly spin Lucy around before bringing the blonde to a complete stop and leaning downward as she bent Lucy over and smirked. "I think I'm finally starting to see some real benefits, dontcha think?"

As the pair continued their little dance, Candice watched on from her table, resting her head on the palm of her right hand, a small smile on her face. She had never seen Bambietta quite like this before. Sure, she was always an excitable fun loving sort, but this felt like something more. The smile Bambietta was giving Lucy was nothing like her usual grin whenever she watched a fun movie or lost herself in the thrill of battle. No this was something more…pure.

Candice couldn't help but glance back at Juvia then, the woman giving a similar sort of smile to Gray as the pair shared a meal, before Candice found herself closing her eyes. Man, they really look happy don't they? Maybe….Maybe it's time I started finding someone like that for myself.

After the Quincy spun Lucy around one more time, Bambietta gave her a quick wink, Lucy found her heart beating faster and faster as she went red in the face. Wha…What is this?! I've...never felt like this before! The blonde felt as she grew flustered. This wasn't embarrassment like early with the figure Max sold.. No, this was...

Before Lucy could finish her line of thought however, the lights went dark, and Mirajane's song had finished. Smirking, Bambietta stopped their little waltz, bringing the blonde to a quick stop. "So… How was it?" Bambietta asked. "Was it everything you wanted it to be?"

"Bambi, that was amazing!" Lucy exclaimed. "You're–"

Only for the blonde to be interrupted yet again as the lights turned back on. Gone was Mirajane, and in her place was none other than the Iron Dragon Slayer himself, now adorned in a white tuxedo, a matching hat, dark glasses, and a white guitar.

Excuse me, whaaaaaaat? Bambietta thought before she glared. Motherfucker is ruining my moment with Lucy!

"I wrote a tone I like to call, 'Best Friend.'" Gajeel spoke into the microphone. "Would you like to hear it? Well, here it goes."

Just as Gajeel was about to sing, Bambietta prepared an orb of the explode in her right hand, more than prepared to throw it at that stupid guitar… only for her to be promptly beaten to the punch by many members of the guild, the lot of them throwing all sorts of food at the Dragon Slayer.

"I ain't listening to you!"

"Got off the stage, ya bonehead!"

However, it appeared as though Gajeel couldn't have cared less about what they thought and began to sing anyway. "You're sparkling and colorful, shooby doo bop. You caught my eye like a shiny piece of metal. So cool."

However, he wasn't met entirely by boos and jeering. Levy was mostly aghast, but many other members of the guild surprisingly began to cheer him on.

"He's not half bad!" Elfman cheered him on.

"Show 'em what you can do, Gajeel!" Juvia added.

"Rock on!" Max, Macao and Wakaba yelled.

Bambietta looked at the others, and with a sigh, soon dispersed the orb in her hand. If some people were actually enjoying it...

Natsu was having none of it though, the pink haired mage covering his ears as he gritted his teeth. "Man, this has got to be the worst song I've ever heard– Gah!"

The cause for his cry of pain was evident, Gajeel's guitar thrown right at Natsu's face, the musician angrily sounding off with his harmonica. However, Natsu quickly tossed the instrument right back at Gajeel. "You want a piece of me, punk!?"

"Shooby doo bop!" Gajeel yelled back.

The two jumped towards each other, their legs clashing in the air before they fell to the ground to continue their skirmish. All the while did Bambietta watch on with a glare.

"Tch, serves the bastard right," she grumbled. The sole reason she hadn't attacked him earlier was because several members of the guild had gone out of their way to try to support him. While she was still far from happy with his presence in the guild, her years of service within the Wandenreich had helped her learn that there was a right time and place for picking a fight, lest she wished to incur the wrath of the Quincy Kaiser.

...Unfortunately, this restraint went completely out the window when the pair of Dragon Slayers collided with her during their clash, the two standing on top of her while they continued to try to beat on the other.

"Gragh, now look at what you made me do!?" Natsu yelled at Gajeel. "You made me hurt Bambi!"

"Me!? You're the one who tackled me into her, you flame brain!" Gajeel barked back, genuine terror filling his voice at the mere prospect of antagonziing the woman beneath him.

"How's about you're both to blame, you idiots?!" Bambietta screamed before flexing her reiatsu and, with a mighty shout, pushing the pair off of her with a shove. She glared at the two Dragon Slayers before cracking her knuckles.

"You know what actually? I think I just found the perfect way to let out all this anger, so thanks for volunteering!" Briefly fixing them with a mismatched toothy grin and glare, she blurred out of sight only to grab Natsu by his face with her left hand and Gajeel with her right before slamming the both of them to the ground, smashing both of their heads through the floorboards beneath.

"So, what'll it be, boys!? Should I start with kicking your teeth in, or– Grah!"

Just then, both Natsu and Gajeel managed to kick Bambietta in the stomach at the same time, the Quincy stopping herself mid air as they both got up.

"Alright! You want a fight, then bring it on!" Natsu challenged her. This was getting him fired up!

"No way, I got dibs on this one! I still owe her for what she did to me back in Oak Town," Gajeel yelled at Natsu, his bravado only briefly faltering.

"Oh, you actually think you can beat me now!? That's adorable!" Bambietta said as she landed on her two feet. "Hate to tell you this buddy, but I'm way stronger than I was back when I beat your sorry ass. Not to mention, I've learned plenty of new tricks and even got some old ones back! Still, if you really want another beating so badly, then I won't object!"

She then looked over at Natsu. "And as for you, I think it's about time we've had our rematch for Mount Hakobe!" The three gave each other matching blood-thirsty grins before they each let out their own battle cry and tackled into each other, causing even further ruckus.

"Please, stop!" Makarov begged the three of them, but before he knew it, the battle had already begun to spread, the trio crashing into one table after the other. "The guild hall isn't even a week old!" The old man despaired.

However, things only continued to escalate as the Dragon Slayers and Quincy crashed into another table, causing a bowl of cottage cheese to fly out and land right on top of Candice's head, at which she was none too pleased. "My hair! Oh, that's it you bastards, I'm gonna give you the shock of a lifetime!"

Cocking her arm back, Candice tossed a bolt of lightning at the trio, only for them to move past it and for the arrow to instead blast Cana in the back and fry her keg of beer.

"What the hell, Candice!?" Cana yelled at her friend as she quickly got her cards at the ready and rose out of her seat in a huff. "That was a special brew!"

"Not my fault, they moved out of the way!"

"You owe me a new beer!"

"Like hell I do, take it up with them!"

Cards and lightning clashed then as Momo watched on, completely bewildered at the ensuing chaos. "Um... Should we do something?" Momo asked Rukia with concern.

The smaller soul reaper sighed. "No, this is a rather common occurrence. Give it an hour or two and it'll usually work itself out by then."

Momo's right hand covered her mouth. "Oh dear. This place is sounding more and more like Squad Eleven by the minute!"

Rukia smiled. "It's a lot more friendly than that, I can assure you."

"Alright, how's about I show you all how a REAL man fights!" Elfman yeller before punching Totomaru across the face.

The flame mage quickly got up from the punch before he glared at Elfman. "What the hell man, I didn't even do anything!" He protested before kicking Elfman in the stomach.

"Um… I think we should go," Lucy said to Wendy as she placed both of her hands on the wide-eyed mage's shoulders. "It's getting a bit too crazy if you ask me." Sadly, no good deed goes unpunished, as a stray chair chose that moment to crash into the blonde's unsuspecting face. Instantly dazed, the Celestial Spirit Mage wobbled momentarily before falling to the ground whereupon Wendy began to heal her in a panic, Carla still tugging on Wendy's dress in her futile attempts to get her to leave.

"LUCY!" Bambietta screamed as she held Natsu up by his scarf with one arm and Gajeel in an armlock with her other. "Okay, who wants to die!?"

"It was Gray!" Max yelled at her as Gray held him down to the ground.

"The hell it was, you little weasel!" Gray objected. " I… Oh boy."

After an angry shout, Bambietta had immediately tackled him across the guild hall, Juvia quickly coming to his assistance as things grew more and more chaotic.

"Okay, um... I'm going to go now," Jade said as she carefully took a step back. "I'd rather not go home black and blue today." She took another, and another, slowly inching herself towards the guild's front door, until–

*Squish*

Squish? Jade quickly looked down, her eyes happening upon what she had stepped in. A single piece of strawberry cake.

Jade. Run. Now. She heard Aizen warn with a hint of caution.

Run? Run from what? It's just cake, what's the– Oh, right... Fu–

However, the warning came just a little too late as Erza's boot kicked Jade hard across the room. "HOW DARE YOU DESTROY MY STRAWBERRY CAKE!"

"Please, come on, we just built this new guild hall!" Makarov bemoaned. "Please everyone, please!'

"How utterly pointless," Ulquiorra stated as he watched the chaos unfold. This was the one aspect of the guild that continued to irk him. "Why on earth do they insist on involving themselves in such meaningless conflicts?" He looked over to Levy then and he raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps you can provide me with some meaningful insight?"

Levy couldn't help but fidget her fingers as she spoke. "Um, well that's… Uhhhhh." How on earth did one put a meaning to something like this anyway? Far as Levy was concerned, it was just a part of the guild's chaotic nature.

"It's not a pointless conflict, it's a guild brawl."

The two turned around to see none other than Mirajane, the white-haired beauty having somehow managed to avoid getting caught up in the brawl.

"A guild... brawl?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Yeah, they happen from time to time. It's nothing to worry about, nobody ever means anything by them. They're a bit too much for some, but people always come out of them acting like they're best friends despite beating the snot out of each other only minutes earlier. It's kinda weird, but I like it. It's kinda the embodiment of the Fairy Tail spirit I guess you could say," Mirajane answered with a smile.

"Yeah, that does kinda sound right," Levy agreed.

Ulquiorra pondered over her words. He had been wondering as to the most efficient means of forging friendships with people, and if what she said was true, then...

"Like 'best friends,' you said?" He asked as he pointed his index finger.

Every spiritually aware person in the guild felt a surge of reiatsu as green energy began to build up around his finger,

Bambietta sweatdropped. "Aw, crap."

"Cer–"

"WAIIIIIIIIT! NOT LIKE THAT!" Levy quickly yelled as she covered his finger.

Ulquiorra looked down at Levy, befuddled by her answer. "But, she said–"

"The guild brawls are light scraps we give to each other, nothing serious!" Levy told him. "They're much more like... sparring matches! Yeah, that's it! A light-hearted sparring match!"

"I see. Then it appears that I was about to overdo things," Ulquiorra admitted. "But in that case, where do I star–"

However, just before he could finish asking his questions, the Arrancar found himself splashed by a small wave, soaking him from head to toe. His eyes narrowed slightly, clearly annoyed by the 'attack.'

"How dare you look at my Gray like that, you harlot!" Juvia shouted at Bisca.

"I'm not interested in that stripper!" Bisca yelled back. "I have way better standards than that! …No offense, Gray!"

The man in question simply gave a thumbs-up from where he lay on the floor, groaning.

"How dare you insult my beloved! You'll pay for ever disgracing his good name!"

"...On second thought, I believe I know where to start." Ulquiorra stated.

As Ulquiorra made his way over to Juvia, Natsu slowly began to get back to his feet, his eyes looking around the guild. The entire guild was a chaotic mess… and he couldn't help but smile.

"Now it's starting to feel like home."


Finally, after an hour or so of utter chaos, the brawl subsided, just as Mirajane said it would. Everyone quickly pitched in to help get things back in proper order (with some not-so-gentle prompting from Erza). Bambietta, having finished her section of the clean-up early, decided to get some fresh air while her friends finished up their areas, especially now that she knew Lucy was going to be alright.

"Stupid excuse for a jolly, happy soul. Man, I really should give Wendy a treat for fixing Lucy up as fast as she did. Maybe I'll get her some ice cream?" Bambietta said to herself.

However, while she was casually walking the streets of Magnolia to kill some time, she came upon a sight that stopped her in her tracks. There was Gajeel, hanging around at the very same tree he had strung all of Team Shadow Gear from, but more surprising to the Quincy was that Jet, Droy, and Levy were there as well. Such a combination was already enough for concern, but Bambietta furrowed her brow in worry once she noticed her close friend was keeping herself mostly hidden, with only her arms and head peering out from behind the tree to watch.

Huh. Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised they'd want to confront him after the shit he pulled. Bambietta thought. A strong part of her wanted nothing more than to go right up with them and add her own complaints to the Dragon Slayer, itching for any excuse to vent out her frustration once more, but just as she took a step forward to go ahead and do just that, she stopped herself again, clasping her own forehead before groaning in annoyance.

No, no, I should let them be the ones to get it out of their systems. Let the iron bastard know I'm not the only one with a bone to pick with him. Besides… If it was me and Giselle, I wouldn't have wanted anyone else getting in the way anyway. Still, I'd better stick around to make sure things don't get ugly.

She simply couldn't find it within herself to leave, not upon seeing the fearful concern written all over Levy's had proven himself more than willing to hurt them pretty badly in the past, and nothing thus far had convinced her that he wouldn't do it again if agitated.

"So what's the deal? Why'd you ask me to meet you out here?" The Iron Dragon Slayer asked the trio. "Make it fast, I gotta get to work."

"We got a bone to pick with you!" Jet yelled at him.

"After what you did to us, there's no way you're joining our guild!" Droy added.

While the master had informed them of the decision to invite Gajeel into the guild about the same time he had sent out his letter to Levy, the two members of Fairy Tail were unable to follow her example. They promised to Master Makarov that they would try to let bygones be bygones, but seeing him in the guild at all had been another matter altogether.

Gajeel, however, wasn't having any of it. "C'mon guys, can't you just forgive and forget?" He asked sarcastically, placing his hand on his hip.

Bambietta clenched her fists as anger began to cloud her mind once more. "You mother fucker..." She took a step forward, then another, fully intending to give him a piece of her mind before she stopped herself. "No, no, stay calm. Don't do anything stupid," the Quincy told herself. I'm not in the guildhall now, so anything I break now is gonna come out of my own pocket. Let's… Let's not make it impossible to pay the rent this month. Bambietta had surprisingly not garnered a reputation for needless destruction (yet), but she was well aware that if she started a fight with Gajeel, not only would that go out the window, but the expenses that would come with it would place undue stress on Lucy, Wendy, and Rukia.

"Maybe he's right," Levy said as she looked her head out from the tree. "I mean, now that he's in the guild, he's not going to do it again."

Oh Levy, you're waaaaay too kind for your own good, Bambietta thought. Sure, she was well aware and quite grateful that Levy had accepted even the former Sternritter despite finding out the truth about her, sure. Nonetheless, she needed to have more self-respect than this!

"We gotta let him know–" Jet said with barely contained anger.

"He can't mess with us," Droy finished.

The Iron Dragon Slayer didn't seem the least bit concerned though, with Gajeel merely smirking in response to their threats, much to Jet's ire as he clenched his fists.

"That's right, go ahead and act tough…" A magic circle appeared behind Jet, rocketing him forward. "While you still can!"

Then, to Bambietta's surprise, Jet actually managed to punch Gajeel hard enough to knock him into the air while Droy threw some seeds to the ground, causing multiple large vines to erupt from the ground, vines which quickly transformed into fists and pounded into Gajeel further. "Secret Seeds: Knuckle Plants!"

As Gajeel was sent up higher into the air, Jet jumped up even higher before delivering a powerful kick that sent Gajeel tumbling to the ground and destroying the ground beneath. "Falcon Heaven Soar!" The crater created wasn't overly large, but it was more than what Bambietta had expected from them.

Well damn, they actually had the balls to go through with it, Bambietta thought as she looked at the pair, her respect for them going up quite a bit. This entire time she had seen them as nothing more than mere groupies for Levy, but now… It was clear just how much they cared about her. I guess they really can be decent fighters when they want to be. Not half bad guys. Not half bad at all.

"You had enough yet?" Droy asked Gajeel as the Dragon Slayer slowly rose to a kneeling position. While he wasn't seriously injured, the attacks had clearly left their marks as various scuff marks and scratches could now be seen all over his skin.

"Yeah, what happened to the tough guy act?" Jet mocked him.

Bambietta smiled at their bravado… before she quickly realized something. "Ohhhhh, this ain't good." Now that they were starting to actually beat down on Gajeel, it was only a matter of time before he decided to retaliate. To Hell with staying out of this mess, I gotta step in for Levy's own good. But before she could take so much as a step forward, she sensed a powerful presence slowly approaching the group of four. She turned her head to see just who it was, and the moment she did, she swore. "Ah shit. "

"You're not givin' the new guy a hard time, are ya?"

Laxus Dreyar slowly made his way over to the group, his face completely missing the arrogant sneer that was usually plastered all over it. "But seein' as this is the punk that tore down our guild hall, I understand how you feel."

What the hell is he up to? Bambietta wondered. From what she knew about him, it wasn't like Laxus to get involved with this sort of thing. There's no way he's doing any of this out of the goodness of his own heart. One thing was certain, she didn't like this, not one bit.

"I bet the only reason the old geezer let you join the guild is 'cause he was scared of you wreckin' the place again," Laxus said as he slowly walked over to Gajeel before his calm exterior turned into one of complete rage. "We've become the laughing stock of the magic community! Because of you!"

Bambietta felt herself shiver at his rage as Laxus ranted. "On my way back from my last job, I stopped off at a few pubs and I heard some things thatreally pissed me off. Everybody was talkin' about how weak the Fairy Tail guild is now! No one dared to say that about us before you came along!"

Then without warning, a powerful bolt of lightning erupted from Laxus's body before striking down Gajeel, the Dragon Slayer letting out an immense shout of anguish as he was electrocuted from the powerful blast. "GRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"Now you're going to pay!" Laxus shouted before he punched the ground, electricity erupting from his fist into the shape of a large wheel that ran along the ground, tearing it up. Even after it struck Gajeel, it kept going until it struck a nearby tree, destroying it instantly and making Jet and Droy's previous efforts look like child's play by comparison. The Dragon Slayer tried to get up, only to be blasted with another bolt. Before anyone could say anything, Laxus appeared right in front of Gajeel with a flash of lightning before he began to pumble the iron mage into the ground even more.

"You're taking this too far! Calm down, man," Jet told Laxus.

"Yeah man, he's had enough!" Droy added. They may have wanted to take out some of the anger out on the former Phantom Lord mage, but they never intended for him to get this injured.

Either Laxus didn't hear their words or he didn't care. He simply continued to beat down on Gajeel more and more into the dirt, the ground shaking with each blow and causing the entire park to tremble.

Levy herself was flinching with each blow, finding it all hard to watch. No, this… this isn't right! She wanted to go over there, to stop him, but she couldn't. Despite how far she had come in the last few months, as much as she loathed to admit it… she was scared. Not just of Gajeel, but of the sheer anger Laxus was displaying that was unlike anything she had ever seen from him before. What's gotten into him!?

While initially shocked at Laxus's brutality, Bambietta merely watched on with dark satisfaction. That's right… Let the bastard suffer for what he did, Bambietta thought as she witnessed Gajeel's beatdown, a vicious smirk spreading across her face. She may have agreed to no longer antagonize the new member, but as far as she was concerned, Gajeel had every bit of this coming.

Yet, with each punch thrown and cry of pain Gajeel let out, her smile slowly began to fade. She had expected Laxus to stop eventually after a couple of punches, maybe more, but it had already been a couple dozen and Laxus was still going strong with no signs of stopping soon. But much more than that, what really left her befuddled above all else was Gajeel's inaction. Despite everything that was going on, he was just… lying there. He sure as Hell didn't act like this when she fought him.

"Come on… Fight back." Bambietta murmured to herself as the lightning mage continued to pummel the iron Dragon Slayer. I don't get it. I know those attacks hurt like Hell, but he should still be able to move, so… why isn't he fighting back!? Come on, move! Fight! Damn it all, do something, you dumbass!

However, this was when her own mind flashed back briefly to the earlier confrontation with Jet and Droy. Come to think about it, he wasn't doing anything back then either, she thought. But he should have been able to handle them easily. I mean, sure, he might just be playing nice to not get Master mad, but in that case, why bother talking to them at all? He could just leave, so what the Hell is he getting out of thi–

That's when it hit her. After all, it had only been one month ago since she had done the same.


"Are you seriously expecting me to buy that you've changed?" Yulian asked Bambietta with disbelief. "You? The blood night of the Vandenreich? The woman who gleefully slaughter's her enemy's with a smile on her face? What, am I supposed to buy that you're some goody two shoes now on the side of justice?" Yulian tossed his right hand to the side. "Don't try to fool me with any of that nonsense!"

Bambietta sighed before she continued. "Yeah...I don't expect you to just take my word for it, and quite frankly I don't blame you. If I were you I'd be beyond pissed. Your killer out and about, having a good life in a world that you were just about to enjoy until she comes back to bring it all crashing down on you. I don't blame you one damn bit." In fact.I know what that's like too, believe it or not. Bambietta thought as her mind drifted to think about Giselle once more.

She then took her hat and placed it down onto a wooden barrel, as well as her cape before she continued speaking. "And you're likely not going to stop thinking about this until this is resolved in some shape or another. Not a moment of peace...So I'm putting myself at your mercy."


"Son of a bitch is taking the hits on purpose…"

Laxus looked down at the battered and bruised wizard before he sneered. "Oh, I hope you don't think I'm done yet," he said as kicked Gajeel over and over "Because I got a lot more pain where that's coming from! You never should have messed with Fairy Tail, punk! 'Cause now you're gonna have to deal with me!" However, just as he was about to return to punching Gajeel into a bloody smear, he heard a feminine voice cry out.

"That's enough!"

Just before his thunderous fist made impact, his hand was stopped mid-strike. Growling with anger, Laxus turned to the right to see the person who had stopped his punch was none other than Bambietta Basterbine, the Quincy having to use Blut Arterie in order to stop him.

"The Hell is your deal!?" Laxus shouted at her.

"You've made your point. It's time to stop," Bambietta said as she narrowed her eyes at Laxus. "You've already gone too far as it is."

Laxus couldn't help but chuckle. "Too far, too far!? Coming from you!? Last I heard, you almost killed the guy!"

"That was during a war!" Bambietta shouted at Laxus as she tightened her grip. "Look, I don't exactly like the guy either. Trust me on that. Frankly, if it were up to me, I'd rather never see him for the rest of my life, but enough is enough. Now I won't ask you again, Laxus. Stand. Down."

However, despite the determined look she was giving Laxus, Bambietta couldn't help but feel a slight chill go down her spine. For as much strength she had acquired over the last few months, Bambietta knew deep down that, without her divine powers, she was no match for Laxus. Yes, the gap between the two had closed considerably, but not nearly enough. She could only hope Laxus would be the bigger man and not escalate things. He was Master Makarov's grandson after all.

Unfortunately, that idea went completely right out the window as Laxus channeled his body with electricity and shocked the Quincy, causing her to scream in agony before he kicked her into a nearby tavern, Bambietta crashing through the wall and tumbling right onto the floor of the local pub before she got up to her feet. Fuck, that smarts! I knew his lightning would be stronger than Candi's but not by THAT much! Still, determined to not let Laxus just push her around, she slowly emerged from the hole, ignoring all the patrons of the beer parlor before she prepared her sword. "Oi, jackass! You're gonna pay for that!" Bambietta shouted as she pointed her thumb right behind her. "Literally! Because I'm pretty sure the bar owner isn't gonna want to pay for that out of his own pocket, and I sure as Hell ain't paying for it!"

She used Hirenkyaku to get closer to Laxus, but just before she got to the park, she found herself blasted down by yet another lightning bolt, smashing her into the ground. "GRAH!" She yelped out. Ohhhh, I'm gonna fucking hate this, aren't I? Bambietta thought as Laxus approached.

Groaning in pain as she got up, she couldn't help but berate herself. What the fuck am I even doing?! I hate that iron-skinned bastard! She couldn't believe that she let that one moment of comparison between them make her go out of her way to do this! However, as her eyes went down to the park and saw just how hurt he was, she continued to rise to her feet. Yeah, it's official: I'm a fucking idiot.

"Fine, go ahead and get in my way, see what I care!" Laxus shouted at Bambietta as he struck her with yet another lightning bolt, forcing her face to meet the pavement once more."I've been wanting to take you down a peg or two for a while anyways!"

"You can try it!" Bambietta said as she prepared Blute Vein, this time preparing for the next blow. Yet another lightning bolt struck her, and while the pain and damage was lessened, she still fell to her knees. She was just about to get back up when Laxus slammed his foot atop of her head into the ground, indenting it into the pavement.

"All that tough talk and you're already down from just a few attacks!? The fact the old man thinks you're good enough to take the S-Class Promotion Trial just proves how far this guild has fallen!" Laxus insulted Bambietta as he slammed her face onto the ground one final time before he began to charge another bolt of lightning. "Looks like I'm gonna have to teach you some manners, you stupid bi–"

"Stop it!"

Laxus turned around then, his eyes glaring down at none other than the petite Levy McGarden as she looked at him from the park. "Gajeel was just letting you beat down on him so we'd all move on from all of this, and now you're hurting Bambi! You've already done plenty, Laxus. There's no need to keep going, so please just-"

"I'm not taking orders from you!" Laxus shouted at Levy as he fired off another lightning bolt from his hand, this time directing the blast at Levy. Levy's eyes slowly widened as the blast made its way towards her, the blue haired mage knowing full well that there was nothing she could do to stop the oncoming spell. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the coming pain.

But it was not to be, for as soon as she opened up her eyes, Levy saw none other than Gajeel Redfox standing before her, his right arm having turned into iron to take the blast, though the rest of his body looked even worse than before.

"G-Gajeel," Levy sputtered from shock, her hand covering her mouth.

"You… through with me now? 'Cause I got things to do," Gajeel weakly asked as his body wobbled through the pain.

What…? Bambietta wasn't sure if she was seeing things right. It was kind of hard to tell through the pain. Did– Did he really just save her!? This doesn't make any sense, he's the one who hurt her, and yet…

Laxus's eyes narrowed. "As a matter of fact, I'm not." He stalked forward to strike Gajeel yet again, cocking his right arm back to prepare another lightning attack. "I'm not gonna stop 'til I can fit what's left of you in a toolbox!"

But just before he could do anything, he felt a vice-like grip on his wrist before turning around to see none other than Ulquiorra Cifer. "Who the hell are you?!" Laxus demanded. He vaguely knew about the guild having received another new member before Gajeel, but this was the first time he had ever seen him face to face. "What, is the circus in town or somethin'?"

(Song of choice: Fiesta De Gurerra Bleach OST 3)

"I must request that you cease any further assault on my guildmates," Ulquiorra demanded as he stared at Laxus. "Especially on Miss McGarden."

An amused smirk creased Laxus's face as he got a better look at the pale man and retorted with a mocking tone. "Why, is she your girlfriend or something? Surely you can do better than that plank of wood."

"No," Ulquiorra replied bluntly. "But she is somebody I respect and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. It's thanks to her that I've found a new purpose in my life. It would be dishonorable of me not to protect her if it's within my power. So, unless you stop this foolishness, I'll stop you myself."

Electricity danced around Laxus, his smug visage devolving into one of barely restrained agitation. "Oh, a tough guy, are we? I'd like to see you try."

Ulquiorra's posture remained placid despite the implications behind his words, though Bambietta and Levy noticed a hint of warning behind his otherwise usual tone of voice as he responded once more. "This is your last chance. Stand down."

Laxus growled and ripped his arm out of Ulquiorra's grasp. "You damn newbie, don't tell me what to do!" He shouted angrily, all the sparks surrounding him becoming bigger and more sporadic.

With his right arm thrown forward, he released a surge of lightning at Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra disappeared with the familiar boom of Sonido before emerging at Laxus' left side, attempting to chop Laxus directly at his face with his left hand. Laxus saw the attack coming from out of the corner of his eye but did nothing to react. He merely smirked once more as, right before Ulquiorra made contact, lightning erupted from Laxus's body and arced around Ulquiorra's hand. However, much to Laxus' surprise, rather than the cry of pain he was expecting, Ulquiorra retracted his hand in time before any significant damage could be done, the pale man not even giving the barest of reactions to the lightning's effect on him. Not a twinge of discomfort or even the smallest flinch. It was almost unnerving.

Laxus tried to take the opportunity to strike back, but Ulquiorra suddenly appeared to his right side and made another attempt to attack him with another chopping motion, this time going for his throat. However, just like before, Laxus released lightning around his body, forcing Ulquiorra to retreat. This time, the Arrancar tried attacking right in his blind spot, directly behind his neck, but the attempt was met with similar failure.

He reappeared with another hum of Sonido and stood across from Laxus again as they locked eyes, the Arrancar pondering his next move. I see. He doesn't just produce lightning out of his body. He can freely manipulate it, even from his blindspots. Total control over his elemental manifestation. It's no wonder he's an S-Class wizard like Erza or Mystogan.

"Not bad, newbie. Not bad at all," Laxus praised, mildly impressed, though he remained at the ready, lightning still protecting his body. "Actually, let me ask you something. You seem different from the others, not a softie like the rest. So why aren't you showing the same frustrations towards that ex-Phantom Lord guy? You talked about honor for protecting one of your guildmates, but what about the honor of the guild itself? I already said he's been ruining the guild's reputation ever since he destroyed the guild hall. Doesn't protecting him and standing up for him break whatever honor code you're babbling on about?"

At first, Ulquiorra was silent, glancing at Gajeel for a brief moment before he finally answered. "Despite his actions, I have nothing personal against Gajeel Redfox. It was in the past, before I ever joined. Even if I did have reservations, Master Makarov has chosen to make him a member of Fairy Tail. Therefore, any thoughts or opinions about it would be irrelevant. It's the master's choice, and I accept it." He removed his right hand from his pocket and held it before himself, his hand hanging down as if all muscle had gone slack from his wrist up. "Furthermore, what you're currently doing isn't any more acceptable. Even if Sarusuke and Droy attacked Gajeel first, their actions were nowhere near as extreme or malicious as what you were doing. Right now, you're acting no different than a rabid dog."

Jet inwardly groaned. Why did Levy have to tell that guy my real name?

Laxus frowned at Ulquiorra's choice of words. How dare this loser talk down to him! "Who do you think you are, ya half-helmet wearing freak?! What gives you the right to judge me?! I oughta–!"

*DON*

Laxus lurched forward from a sudden and unexpected impact to his stomach, the tall blond almost toppling over before recomposing himself. He looked down, quickly taking note of the small hole now present in his shirt. While he couldn't see any serious injury from the blow, merely a slight scratch, it didn't change the fact that it still hurt. Glaring back at the pale man, Laxus took note of the distinct green electrical sparks coming around his hand. The Hell was that!? I didn't even see a magic circle emerge. What kind of magic does he even use?

Before he could ponder further, Laxus felt another sudden burst of concussive force, but this time, he was able to slightly perceive the attack that had fired from Ulquiorra's hand. It was a small projectile, about the size of his fist, that had been the cause of his recent discomfort. Snarling, Laxus charged forward with a crack of thunder, the Arrancar continuing his assault with this strange, new technique.

Bambietta couldn't help but smirk as she watched on. Heh, gotta hand it to ya, using a Bala while his guard was down like that was pretty smart. However, her smile soon turned into a frown as Laxus closed the gap. But it looks like he's starting to figure out how it works. Be careful Ulquiorra, this isn't going to be easy.

Having rushed through the barrage of Balas, Laxus had managed to significantly close the distance between himself and this newcomer to the guild. He reared back his right hand, preparing to land a powerful jab to Ulquiorra's face, only for him to hear a distinctly staticky boom before the Arrancar vanished from his very eyes. "What!? Where the hell did he go!?" Laxus demanded, before his eyes finally went skywards, the pale man somehow standing on the very air itself, well above any of Magnolia's infrastructure.

While initially taken aback by Ulqiuorra's speed and strange ability, Laxus's wrath quickly reared its ugly head once more. "Hey! Get down here and face me, you coward!" Laxus shouted. Ulquiorra, however, did not respond to his taunt in the slightest. He remained where he was, looking down at Laxus impassively. "Fine! If you won't come to me, then I'll come straight to you!"

Almost like a missile, Laxus took off from the ground, lightning propelling him upward. He landed a powerful blow against Ulquiorra's right cheek, the Arrancar going back several feet before Laxus transformed himself into a bolt of electricity and kicked Ulquiorra up further into the sky. Vanishing once more to appear above him, he clasped both of his hands above himself before slamming them down on Ulquiorra's head, knocking him towards the ground.

Laxus smirked before he suddenly grunted, looking down at his hands. They were… sore? What the Hell? That's a first. He couldn't recall a time in recent memory when punching an enemy had actually hurt him.

Ulquiorra barely stopped himself from falling to the ground and tried to right himself in the air only for Laxus to appear in front of him once more. The Arrancar just barely managed to dodge out of the way of the first strike with Sonido only for a second fist to slam into his face, his feet skidding across the air from the blow.

His speed, it's much greater than expected, Ulquiorra thought right before he barely dodged underneath another lightning-fueled haymaker and prepared to counter with a Bala, but Laxus saw Ulquiorra's raised hand and managed to land a powerful kick to his stomach before he could make the attempt.

Ulquiorra looked back at the S-Class mage, his eyes narrowing. No, it's not just his speed. His power is also beyond my predictions. It's almost as if I were sparring against Harribel without her Resurrección. While the 3rd Espada was stronger than him without the use of Segunda Etapa, the gap had always been considerably minor. Usually, the result of their sparring matches came down less due to the gap in power and more to her experience with a blade, the woman having more time with one due to her time as a Vasto Lorde having given her one. Thus, knowing there was still a chance at victory, the former Espada took off into the air once more, Laxus quickly following behind.

"Not so tough now, are ya!?" Laxus yelled as he nearly landed an uppercut on Ulquiorra, the Arrancar once again barely dodging out of the way with Sonido before he unleashed more Balas at Laxus. Lightning streaked the air as Laxus dodged the blasts of reiatsu, now used to the movements made before he performed the technique, and gradually closed in on Ulquiorra. With a final burst of speed, Laxus appeared directly in front of the Arrancar, grabbed hold of both sides of the pale man's head, and began to course lightning throughout his body. Laxus laughed in triumph.

"Ha! All bark and no bite! Now it's time to– the Hell are you doing?" Looking down, Laxus noticed the Arrancar was pointing his index finger directly at his chest, swirling green energy gathered in the form of an expanding sphere at the tip. While he didn't exactly know what it was, years of experience as a mage made it quite obvious that it was an attack he'd be far better off avoiding. However, just as he was about to let go of Ulquiorra's head to escape, the gathered energy was released in an arcing blast that scraped the sky, forcing Laxus to let go and sending him skyward.

The dust eventually faded to reveal Laxus somewhat worse for wear, his arms crossed in front of his face, though they were littered with cuts, bruises and scorch marks, the sleeves on his shirt completely destroyed. Laxus lowered his arms, though his fists remained clenched. Eyes fixed on his opponent, he snarled. "Oi. That one hurt."

Laxus promptly whipped off his coat and rocketed towards Ulquiorra, yelling at the top of his lungs as he did so. "That one actually hurt, you prick!"

Meanwhile, everyone in the park, Jet and Droy especially, watched on in complete awe at the spectacle. "Whoa. I can't believe Ulquiorra's going toe to toe with Laxus," Jet commented, his jaw agape. He knew that Levy had held his power in rather high regard, but it was another matter entirely to see him fighting relatively on par with one of their S-Class mages!

"Yeah, no kidding," Droy added. "That last attack seemed really strong too. What was that anyway? Some kind of laser magic?"

Levy stepped up between them, keeping her eyes on the sky as Ulquiorra and Laxus continued to battle each other, the pair creating shockwaves in the air with each collision. "I remember him using this once before on the day we met. He says it's a 'Cero'. It's…kinda like a strong wave motion spell. Like the Jupiter Cannon."

"WHAT, SERIOUSLY!?" Her two friends asked in unison, their jaws nearly hitting the floor from shock. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"Oh, it's no joke," Bambietta piped up as she observed the monstrous battle taking place overhead. "He could easily destroy half of Magnolia if he wanted with something like that. No, the whole town, actually. The fact he's insisting on keeping this fight in the air means he's trying to keep collateral damage down to a minimum." She then smirked. "Looks like someone doesn't want to add more to Fairy Tail's destructive rep." Then again, she could relate, Bambietta having tried similarly to avoid collateral… even if it was mostly to avoid Erza's wrath.

Planting herself right in front of her fellow members of Team Shadow Gear, Levy made her feelings heard. "Look, I know you guys think he was kinda weird, but Ulquiorra's honestly a good person who cares about his guildmates and innocent people when it comes down to it."

She briefly smiled, fondly recalling moments when Ulquiorra displayed possession of the very same 'heart' he could not understand. "Even though he comes off as cold or aloof, he does care. Even if it's in his own special way."

"Yeah… I guess you got a point." Droy said, his shoulders slumped. "Guess we owe the guy an apology."

"We can get him a drink later," Jet said as he put a hand on Droy's shoulder. "Least we can do, I say."

"Who the hell is that guy?" Gajeel couldn't help but wonder as he watched on. One moment, he and the woman who handed him his ass were getting trounced by Laxus, the next, this new guy comes out of nowhere and holds his own against the raging asshole. Gajeel's eyes widened as he realized something.

Boy, am I glad we didn't attack Fairy Tail when both of these guys were around.

(Song of choice: Clavar La Espada Bleach ost 3)

"Take this, you son of a bitch!" Laxus shouted as he used his lightning to fly behind the Arrancar, Ulquiorra turning just in time to block another of Laxus's blows as he was sent skidding across the sky before then pointing his finger to fire off yet another Cero.

Ceros and lightning clashed in the sky above, both Ulquiorra and Laxus firing their respective techniques before deciding to gain further distance to continue their clash, the sky filling with thunderous noises to the point it could even be heard well past Magnolia's borders. Hearing the commotion, Makarov promptly walked out the front entrance of the guild hall. The old man soon frowned with irritation at the sight of lightning arcing across the sky, knowing full well who was responsible. "What on earth are you up to now, Laxus?"

"All right, I'll admit it, you're strong! I'll give you that," Laxus allowed. "But I'm stronger! I'm the very best in Fairy Tail! You hear me?!" Laxus said with growing anger as he blasted Ulquiorra once more. "I don't care how fast you are, how durable you are, or how powerful whatever the hell kinda magic you're using is! I'm better than you, better than Erza, Mystogan and even the old man! I'm the best wizard in all of Fiore, and you're gonna learn that the hard way, right now!"

Ulquiorra said nothing in response, not simply out of apathy, but also from relative exhaustion, body now covered in scorch marks and sweat thanks to the lightning mage having given him more of a challenge than expected. This is getting out of hand. I'll need to take things to the next level if I wish to finish things quickly, Ulquiorra pondered. However, at the rate this is going… he'll be a danger not just to the guild, but all of Magnolia.

But more than that, the more he was continuing his battle with Laxus, the more and more he was starting to remind him of Grimmjow. Yes, he had made a similar comparison to Natsu, but that had been a premature conclusion. Natsu's desire for battle came from nothing more than an immature desire for fun and to improve himself. It was, in hindsight, rather harmless. But Laxus? It seemed that his every action revolved around one single thing: his pride. And it was that very pride that was enabling him to take things to such extremes and bring harm to not just his guildmates but potentially the entire town.

"We'll see how you like this!" The sky began to boom with thunder as it darkened around Laxus, swirling storm clouds forming above him before a massive bolt of lightning came down. At the same time, a stream of electricity erupted from his raised left arm, the two channels of electric power meeting and combining to form a steadily growing ball of energy in the middle. "Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!" Swinging his raised arm forward, Laxus cast his spell with nothing but white visible in his eyes.

"Raging Bolt!"

The gathered electricity barreled down on Ulquiorra, but he stood his ground and held out his left hand in an attempt to stop the technique. For the first second, it seemed to have worked, the sturdy arrancar managing to stop the energy with his bare hand, but literally only a second later, the energy forced him downwards before he held out his other hand to try to hold the force of energy back. Despite his best efforts, it was simply too much. Within mere moments, the lightning completely consumed him and he was sent spiraling out of control. Jet, Droy, Levy and even Bambietta were left utterly stupefied as Ulquiorra crashed into the ground, leaving a massive crater in the once pristine park. All present were forced to turn away as the ball of energy expanded in a violent show of light and electricity.

Her hands covering her mouth, Levy couldn't help but cry out with concern. "No! Ulquiorra!"

Finally, after a few more seconds passed, enough dust had cleared that the result could be seen. Smoke rose up from the large hole in the field of the park, the onlookers approaching with concern for their fellow guildmate as Laxus laughed in maniacal victory. "That's right! That's what you get, you pathetic excuse of a Fairy Tail mage! Next time, learn your place among the pecking–" His boisterous laughter was brought to an abrupt halt when he noticed a silhouette rise from the crater. "Order?

"Impressive. Even using both my hands, I couldn't stop it completely. That's only ever happened once before."

Ulquiorra's voice came from the silhouette in the crater as it showed him with tattered clothing and ruffled hair, the "4" on his chest exposed. He was more damaged than before, even more scorch marks now covering various parts of his exposed skin along with some cuts, but he thankfully hadn't taken any serious injuries. The four Fairy Tail members seemed relieved, Jet and Droy respectfully cheering him on.

"Alright, Ulquiorra!" Jety cheered on.

"Man, he's tough!" Droy added before they two looked at each other and raised their fists into the air in unison and cheered him on. "GO GET HIM BUDDY!

"How…" Laxus muttered before he scowled. "Okay. I guess you're stronger than I thought. But that doesn't mean you're stronger than me! Let's take things up a notch!"

"What an ironic choice of words," Ulquiorra stated as he drew out his zanpakutō, and without any hesitation, cut his own palm, causing all of team Shadow Gear to wince from the sheer brutality the Arrancar had brought to his own hand. However, before any could ask why he would do such a thing, a Cero was already forming in the palm of his hand. This one seemed much different than the ones used prior however, the green energy now much darker in appearance as the attack built up. But even more noticeable than that was how the Cero began to twist in his palm, and how the space around his hand began to warp as well. "Because I'll be taking things a step further as well. Gran Rey Cero."

The attack fired out in a massive torrent of green energy before it compressed itself into a sphere and spun like a razor. Even from this distance, the sheer speed and power Laxus could sense from it made him flinch instinctively before he gathered up electricity to fire another bolt of electricity just as powerful as the one he had used before. As the storm above him raged, he let loose his attack with an intense shout, the immensely powerful lightning blast connecting with the cero. "Raging Bolt!"

Laxus smirked, confident that he would easily overpower Ulqiuorra's latest technique until he quickly noticed that the massive bolt of lightning was doing little to slow it down until his own attack dispersed completely from the clash while Ulquiorra's raged onwards. Panicking, more lightning bolts were fired down in an attempt to stop it, but each and every one was swallowed up by the massive Cero. "What!? What kind of spell is this!?"

At the very last second, Laxus managed to transform his body into lightning to hastily escape the attack, the immensely powerful Cero missing him by only mere inches as it passed him, shooting up high into the sky and exploding with enough force to disperse the storm brewing in the air and shaking the entire town as a result. Laxus felt himself shudder as his body returned to normal, breaking into a nervous sweat. "That attack… That had to be at least as strong as the Jupiter Cannon! No, stronger!" Laxus said in a mixture of anger and awe. "Who the hell is this guy?!"

With Laxus's guard now dropped, Ulquiorra was able to properly sneak up behind him with Sonido, his blade drawn back. Were it not for the static boom the move emitted, the Arrancar would have probably landed a serious blow. However, thanks to the sound cue of the high-speed movement technique, Laxus was able to reel his head back just in time to dodge the Arrancar's blade, though the right spike coming out the side of his headphones had its tip sliced off. Ulquiorra continued using his zanpakutō, thrusting at maximum speed, forcing Laxus to keep his distance.

Eventually, the blade scraped his left shoulder, drawing a small dribble of blood which caused Laxus to hiss in pain before he punched the Arrancar hard across the face and dodged out of the way of his sword, only to vanish behind Ulquiorra and kick him hard in the back, sending the Arrancar flying through the air before he stopped himself.

Droy couldn't help but whistle in amazement as the pair continued to battle in the sky. "Man, look at them go. If they were on the ground right now, the whole park might be destroyed."

"Yeah," Jet said, feeling the same as his teammate. "I guess that's why Ulquiorra flew up earlier."

As the battle raged on, Levy couldn't help but recall the battle Ulquiorra had during the Tower of Heaven and the power he had displayed with his Ressureción. While that was no doubt still an option… She shuddered at the mere thought of it being used here. "I really hope they don't feel the need to go all out. I don't think the town could handle it," she said quietly as she clutched her hands right in front of her chest.

"You're more right than you know," Bambietta spoke with her own mild concern. "Everyone with the rank of Espada could destroy Las Noches with a Gran Rey Cero, if they tried. Just for reference, that's a fortress that's way, way bigger than Magnolia is. If he fires another one at the ground… Well, let's just say a hell of a lot more than just Magnolia is going to be fucked up."

"What!?" All of Team Shadow Gear exclaimed, Levy in particular falling to her knees as she looked up once more, her eyes slowly weiling up with tears. That means if this doesn't stop soon…

Ulquiorra appeared right above Laxus with Sonido, his blade swinging down with full force. Knowing full well the kind of damage a blow like that could do, Laxus crossed his arms in front of himself, lightning encasing his entire body as a form of protective coating. Fortunately for him, the metal of Ulquiorra's weapon was kept at bay with the force of Laxus's generated magic, the resulting shockwave knocking the both of them back.

Fist and blade clashed, emitting a shockwave that shook all of Magnolia and caused the wind to blow like a storm. Neither combatant let up, Laxus's elbow striking Ulquiorra right in the face before the Arrancar delivered a powerful kick to his left side. Laxus let out a sharp cry before grasping onto both of Ulquiorra's arms, hands sparking. Sensing a potential for escalation, Ulquiorra flew upwards along with his foe before he gave Laxus a powerful headbut. Growling, Laxus quickly countered with a powerful punch that knocked Ulquiorra's head back, but the Espada grabbed the next punch with his spare hand, the Arrancar quickly firing off a Cero in his left hand to counter a lightning blast that Laxus was charging in his own.

Ulquiorra swing his blade at Laxus's neck, but he dodged below the blow and delivered a powerful uppercut to the pale Arrancar, but Ulquiorra responded in kind by attempting to slice Laxus with his zanpakuto, the mage quickly vanishing from sight and trying to deliver a powerful lightning infused fist to Ulquiorra's back, but the espada managed to turn around just in the nick of time to block with his blade.

Laxus let out a powerful yell, and grabbed onto the horn on Ulquiorra's helmet with his right hand before he began to rapidly punch at his stomach with his left before the Arrancar kicked Laxus on the chin. The lightning mage attempted to blast him with yet another bolt, but not before the former Espada swung his zanpaktou against Laxus's chest, the S-Class mage moving back from the strike as blood began to slowly drip from his chest. Laxus moved his right hand over the cut and inspected own blood in his finger tips before clenching his fist and destroying it with electricity. "Okay, that does it!"

As Laxus began to generate more lightning than ever before, the Espada narrowed his eyes, sensing the mage steadily increase his strength. "Alright, I think it's time I finally take things up a notch! Let's see how you handle me when I start getting really serious!"

Bambietta couldn't help but gasp, fear etched across her face as she felt Laxus's power increase to new heights. "What the fuck!? Right now he's almost as strong as that bitch Ikaruga!" Was Laxus even fighting at full strength yet!? If not, then she shuddered to think about how strong the S-Class mage was now. If he's still not going all out, then he might actually be as strong as Jellal was!

Ulquiorra's eyes widened considerably as he sensed Laxus's power skyrocket and promptly placed his zanpakutō in front of him, his body surrounded by a dark green reiatsu. This one is far stronger than I gave him credit for. As I am now, I wouldn't stand a chance against him. It seems that I have no choice but to further escalate. Fortunately, he was more than high enough in the sky for what he had planned next."Imprison, Murciéla-"

"ENOUGH!"

Laxus and Ulquiorra turned to the side, seeing none other than Master Makarov, and he was gigantic, easily towering above the rest of the buildings in Magnolia. Bambietta couldn't believe her eyes. This was a much greater size than the day Lucy had first joined Fairy Tail. His voice echoed out then, just as intimidating as his massive size. "Ulquiorra. Laxus. The both of you will cease this conflict this instant!"

"Of course. My apologies, Master Makarov. I was merely trying to stop Laxus from going any further with harming his guildmates," Ulquiorra explained as he sheathed his zanpakutō and descended to the park below.

"Is that right?" Makarov replied before turning his full attention to Laxus. "Laxus, you should have known better than to take things this far!" He looked down at the park where the others were, Gajeel's current condition causing him to clench his fists with rage before he turned his attention to Laxus again. Makarov spoke with barely contained anger. "Whatever has happened here ends now. Stop fighting, and leave your guildmates be!"

"Oh, come on, old man!" Laxus yelled irritably. "That guy was part of Phantom Lord! They trashed our guild and made a mockery of it! It was one thing when you had those two people from the Element Four join, but that's the guy who wrecked the guild hall. That's crazy!"

"I am your guild master! That means you're to accept whatever decision I make for our guild, regardless of how you feel! Now, I won't say it again: cease this conflict this instant!"

The lightning mage clenched his fists but hung his head. The electricity arcing wildly around his body slowly dissipated as he touched the ground and scoffed, walking away from the park. You got lucky this time, punk! Next time we fight, I won't need to hold back!

As Makarov shrunk down, Ulquiorra bowed his head and fell to one knee. "My apologies for escalating the situation, Master, but I felt that if I hadn't interevend, then–"

Makarov simply raised up his right hand, his demeanor changing back to the jovial old man the guild knew and loved. "You needn't worry about any punishment. I know that you were only doing what you did to protect your friends. You did the right thing."

Surprised at the master's lack of anger but not willing to push the matter any further, Ulquiorra swiftly rose to his feet, gave the master a quick bow, and made his way over to Team Shadow Gear, the group clamoring around him with excitement.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Jet exclaimed. "You can be part of our team any time!"

"Yeah, a friend of Levy's is a friend of ours!" Droy couldn't help but add in with a smile.

Levy smiled as Ulquiorra simply nodded his head in agreement. I'm glad to see they're all now finally getting along! Besides, now we can take on the even harder missions with him on our team!

"Boy, am I glad he's on our side," Bambietta commented as she watched Team Shadow Gear. She was about to speak to Makarov, but she quickly noticed her guild master making his own way back to the guild, no doubt to get Wendy to help Gajeel recover. Thank goodness he showed up when he did. I know Ulquiorra is one tough son of a bitch without his Resurreción, but with how things were going… She couldn't help but shudder at the thought.

But while Bambietta was very grateful for Ulquiorra's and Masters' interventions, it once again brought up a fear of hers once more. She grit her teeth as she glared at Laxus's retreating form, her hands shaking. But that doesn't change the fact that Laxus handed me my ass! I was right, without my original full power, or those god powers, I'm… I'm just... She quickly shook her head to disperse those thoughts. No, no, no! None of that! I gotta remember Laxus is one of the guild's top dogs, and one of the best in Fiore! Whether or not he is as strong as Jellal, he's still stronger than anyone else I've fought in Earth Land, even that pink-haired geisha bitch. I… I just gotta keep training, that's all!

She looked over at Levy and smiled. What mattered most was that she was safe. Levy had stuck out her neck for both her and Gajeel and thankfully didn't have to suffer for it. You really are one hell of a woman, Levy, with a heart of gold to match, Bambietta thought. She turned her head to see how Gajeel was doing, wanting to speak to him about what happened, but to her surprise she found him slowly limping away from the park.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," she muttered.

Gajeel took one weak step forward, then another as he used his right arm to press against a nearby wall as he made his way out of Magnolia. This was a mistake, I should have known they'd never accept me after all that, the Iron Dragon Slayer thought. That old man had no idea what he was asking when he brought me in. After this next job, I'll just let him know that I'm gonna have to go somewhere else before–

"Hey! Hey! Gajeel!"

Gajeel felt a chill go down his spine as he heard Bambietta's voice call out to him. Oh great, not her, he lamented. Out of everyone in the guild, she was the one person he'd rather not deal with. Other than Laxus, she had been the one sole person to not only defeat him so utterly, but also the only person to nearly kill him. He'd never admit it to anyone, but the truth was that she terrified him. He only acted tough during the guild brawl to save face, nothing more. Honestly, he'd sooner fight Erza than her. With Erza, he at least knew the red-haired mage wouldn't murderhim. Hell, maybe even Laxus would have been preferable!

Still, refusing to show any fear of her outright, he turned around and glared at her, but try as he might, he looked more exhausted than anything else after the beating he recieved. "What do you want?" He asked tiredly. He really, truly hoped it wasn't a fight. Not after all that. "If you want to give me more crap about me being in the guild, don't bother. I'm going to leave as soon as I–"

"I'm sorry!"

Gajeel blinked in surprise as he heard her speak. That… couldn't have been any further than what he had expected from her. He shook his head before he looked at her. "Okay, you'll have to repeat that, I think I'm hearing things after the ass-kicking that jerk gave me."

"I said I'm sorry, alright!?" Bambietta yelled at him before she clenched her right arm and looked away. "Y-You know… for earlier."

The Iron Dragon Slayer couldn't believe the words coming out of the brunette's mouth. "You're screwing with me." Gajeel responded, eyebrows raised. "You hate my guts, I know you do, and now I'm supposed to buy your apology for that beating you gave me back at my old guild?"

Bambietta let out a short yet loud guffaw at his words. "Pfft, hahahaha! Ahh… No. No, no, no, no no. I ain't apologizing for that," she said as she wagged her pointer finger with each 'no.' "Far as I'm concerned, you had every bit of that beating coming for what you did, and I'll stand by that. I'm not apologizing for the guild brawl either. No, I'm apologizing for what happened when I first saw you in the guild."

Gajeel's confusion didn't lessen from the slightest. If anything, it only grew. "You're kidding right? What changed your mind?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Bambietta answered before she looked away sheepishly "You took a hit for Levy. You… You didn't have to do that."

Gajeel snorted at her answer. "Oh, that? That was just me paying back a debt I owed her for saving my life when Hanza tried to kill me, so now we're even." He then turned his back to Bambietta. "That's all it was, so don't go thinking about it too much."

But before he could take his leave, Bambietta reached out and grabbed his left shoulder before turning him around. "Yeah, no. I'm going to call bullshit on that. If that's all you did, then I might have bought that, but that doesn't explain why you let Jet and Droy hurt you as much as you let them. I know how strong you are, you could have handled that easily!"

"What's your damn point?" Gajeel asked before he shoved her away. "I just didn't feel like beating up a bunch of weaklings is all. You don't know what the hell you're even talking about. "

"I know exactly what I'm talking about!" Bambietta yelled at him as he began to walk away. "You can try to hide it all you want, but I know the truth. You might be trying to act all badass and shit, but I know, deep down, you feel like shit for what you did!"

He took a weak step forward, then another before Bambietta spoke quietly, but not quietly enough for his keen ears not to pick up what she said next. "You haven't been able to stop thinking about what you did, haven't you?"

Gajeel slowly turned around, his eyes wide with shock. "H-How on earth did you–"

"Because I've gone through something similar," Bambietta said as she walked over to him once more. "Your sins of the past coming back to haunt your dreams? The faces of those you hurt forever etched into your memories? The pain of knowing that, no matter what you do, you can never undo it? Yeah, I've been there, and believe it or not, it's from worse things than even you did." Much, much worse things, she thought glumly.

Bambietta let her words hang in the air and stared at the Dragon Slayer, giving him this one chance to open up. After a minute of silence, she had expected she would need to speak up again... only for Gajeel to beat her to the punch

"I… I didn't think about it much. Not for the first week or so anyways," he admitted as he looked away. "But after that… She just kept on appearing in my head, ya know? The bruises, the blood, her cries. I… I couldn't stop thinking about it no matter how much I try and it's driving me nuts!"

Bambietta raised an eyebrow, surprised at the level of emotion on display. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but… why? Doesn't seem like something you'd let bother you."

He punched the nearby wall, leaving a fist sized hole in it before he looked at Bambietta, scowling. "Because despite all of that, she still saved my life when Hanza tried to kill me! Me, the asshole who beat the shit out of her and her friends in the first place! How could I not feel like shit after that!?" He punched the wall again and again, filling it with even more holes as he continued to rant. "Why did she do it, huh!? Why save me!? She could have died! Hell, she would have if you didn't show up! Was it all so I'd feel like this later, huh? Is that it!?"

"No, that's… That's not Levy at all," Bambietta said as she made her way over towards Gajeel. "She helped you because that's just the kind of person she is." She then placed a hand on his left shoulder. "The fact that you're feeling like this at all proves to me that you're not the monster that I thought you were. At least, not anymore. You've changed… Just like I have."

Gajeel looked over at her. "So what, are you trying to say we should be friends now or something? Should we hold hands and start singing kumbaya while we're at it?"

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Bambietta shook her head. "Hardly. Despite it all, I'm... I'm still not over what you did to Levy. Not yet. But... I'm willing to at least tolerate you being in the guild now." She then looked over in the direction of the guild hall to see Lucy and Wendy running towards them before turning back to face Gajeel. "Whether I like you or not, the fact remains that the guild could really use someone like you. You're strong. Maybe not as strong as me, but more than strong enough."

Her mind flashed briefly through her experiences from the Battle of Clover, to the war with Phantom Lord, to the near losses of Erza and Liltotto at the Tower of Heaven before she spoke. "Right now, we need as many strong new members as we can get. I've come too close to losing the people that I care about far more than I'd like. I may not like you, but if having you in the guild means they'll be safer, then I'm ready to put my own personal grudge aside."

She then extended her right hand to Gajeel. "Truce?"

Gajeel looked down at her hand for several seconds, then looked her dead in the eyes. "Truce." He firmly grasped her hand and shook it, giving her a smirk and a light chuckle. "Geehee."

Bambietta smirked back at him. "Glad we got that all worked out. Now, let's get you over to Wendy so she can fix you right up. I don't think you want to go on your next job all beaten up like that."

"What's that squirt gonna do?" Gajeel asked her as they slowly made their way over.

Bambietta settled into a proud smile. "Well, I know healing is considered a Lost Magic these days, but Wendy over there is a Dragon Slayer like you. The Sky Dragon Slayer, to be exact."

Gajeel stumbled before he looked at Bambietta, exasperated at the revelation. "That kid's a Dragon Slayer!?" He exclaimed. He figured he, Salamander, and Raios were the only ones left!

"Yeah, and pretty strong too if I do say so myself. She's probably been wanting to speak to you anyways. I'll introduce you," Bambietta told him before her eyes narrowed and she frowned. "But if you make her cry, then I will beat you into a bloody pulp. Understand?"

Gajeel snorted. "What kind of an asshole do you take me for? I ain't got no reason to make some kid cry."

Bambietta smiled. Well now. Maybe, just maybe, we can be friends someday after all.

One thing was for certain, the future was looking bright.


"Fucking can't belive I got stuck with sweeping the floor." Candice grumbled as she walked outside of the guild hall. "I should have been one of the first ones finished, not the last!"

"I mean, to be fair, you were the one who threw an entire table's worth of food on the floor. You kinda had it coming." Jade added, the emerald haired mage quickly following after her. "Beside's, we still got the rest of the day ahead of us, right?"

"Yeah yeah, I guess you got a point." Candice said with a sigh. "But chores and me don't exactly have the best relationship. Never did them at home, and I certainly didn't like doing them back at my own guild, so why would I-The fuck happened to you two!?"

It wasn't hard to figure out what Candice was talking about, Jade quickly taking note of Bambietta and Gajeel laying on their backs on the ground, Wendy Marvell doing what she could to promptly heal their injuries. While there wasn't any excessive bleeding, the two were still covered in all sorts of scorch marks. "What, did you just have to give Gajeel a piece of your mind again? I thought you told Master that you'd try to get over it. That was what, 2 hours ago?"

Bambietta rolled her eyes before she looked back at Candice. "Ok, first of all, you're lucky that I swore in front of Wendy earlier or else I'd be giving you an earful. Second of all, no, this wasn't from me and this lug fighting it out. You can thank your favorite boytoy for that."

Candice's expression changed then, her smirk quickly turning into a small frown while her eyes looked...Cold. Not filled with their usual liveliness. Bambietta felt herself shudder then, the quincy promptly recalling the one other time she had seen Candice give her that look. One that would stay in her memories for the rest of her days.


"We'd miss you Bambi."


Quickly snapping back into reality, Bambietta narrowed her eyes as she snarled. "What's wrong? Don't like the fact that I'm going to talk shit about your favorite bed buddy is that it? Well go ahead then, go sleep with him and forget all the shit he just did to me, because I don't need you hanging around if your about to stand up for that piece of-"

But before Bambietta could continue her rant, Candice walked over to Wendy, and slowly ruffled the young mage's hair before she smiled at her. "Thanks for patching her up Wendy. You're... you're doing a great job."

Before either of them could say anything to her in response, Candice promptly walked away, the green quincy pulling the vizor of her hat downwards. Jade quickly rushed after her friend as Bambietta continued to lay there, but as she stared at her friend's retreating form, Bambietta could swear that she saw Candice snarling. Candi, you...

"Candi, wait up!" Jade called out to her, the former thief slowly beginning to fall behind. "What are you thinking right now Candi? I-"

"Jade."

The dark-skinned beauty found herself stopping in her tracks completely. Never in all the time she had been with Candice had she ever heard her voice like...that. Gone was the loud volume, usually filled with either excitement or anger. No, that one single work was devoid of all emotion...and it concerned her.

"Just...go back to Fairy Hills," Candice said as she adjusted her hat. "I don't want you to be involved with what I'm about to do."

Then, before Jade could asker Candice what she meant by any of that, she was gone, disappearing out of her line of sight with Hirenkyaku


As soon as he found himself alone, the S-Class mage of Fairy Tail let out a snarl before the sparks surrounding body shot out, destroying every window in the small corner of town he found himself in. "Damn it!" Laxus yelled as he swung his right fist to the side, destroying a small corner of a building as his lightning-infused fist plowed through it like a sledgehammer. "I can't believe I let that-that freak give me so much trouble!" He hadn't used his full power during their exchange, but that did little to quell his inner fury. That was way closer than it had any right to be! I'm the strongest damn it, you hear, the strongest!

He'd make him pay, Oh yes. Once he could begin in full, he'd make sure he'd take that punk down a level or two by showing him what he was really capable of. He had pushed his body to the limit several times at Mount Hakubei during the last few months to climb to new heights of power and that pale newbie would be the first to feel the full extent of his wrath!

"Hey, dirtbag! You forgot something!"

Laxus rolled his eyes in utter annoyance, the grandson of Makarov almost immediately recognizing the voice. Ugh, I don't have time for this. Laxus thought as he turned around to see none other than Candice Catnipp slowly make her way towards him in the alleyway. No doubt she was going to chew him out for what he did at the guild hall before she insisted on laying with him in bed for another fuck. It was far from the first time they'd done this, the pair having gone off to have their own fun whenever he came back to the guild after his rigorous new training, right now he was having none of it. "Look babe, I'm not in the mood for what you have in mind, so how's about we save the fun time for tomorr-"

*SLAP!*

It was nothing more than a slap but it felt like a clap of thunder with how loud and forceful it was. Laxus' ears weren't just ringing. If Candice had hit him harder, he was sure she'd have dislodged a tooth. Candice had put her back into that slap, reiatsu flaring from shoulder to the tips of her fingers. Laxus' cheek wasn't just red, it burned like fire. The pain might cause the area to swell as it slowly tried to heal and it throbbed with every heart beat. Any harder and Candice might've drawn blood by her reiatsu searing off the skin. It hurt. A LOT. And she had never slapped him or anyone like that before. Laxus had seen women slap Peeping Toms with less force.

"How dare you." Candice growled with vitriol as her eyes burned with fury. "You have some damn nerve thinking you could just beat the shit out of my best friend and still expect for me to sleep with you! I've always known you were an asshole, but never this much of one! Now you have five minutes to unfuck yourself and explain what the everloving fuck you were thinking before I decide to finish what Bambietta and Ulquiorra started!"

Laxus snorted in irritation as he resisted the urge to once again roll his eyes. "Tch, I don't have to explain anything to you." He spat.

"Wow, seriously? That's what I get for sleeping with you!?" Candice asked with exasperation. "Listen jackass, you're not nearly as cool as you think you are and I guarantee you won't find anyone else willing to put up with that shit attitude of yours like I do, so unless you never want any this ever again-" Candice said before gestured down her whole body with her hands. "You'll tell me what the hell your deal is!"

Laxus let out an irritable sigh before he turned around. "Look, just forget about it, alright? I got a lot of shit going on right now and I don't exactly feel like talking about it right now, ok? So just leave me be and we'll call it even, got it?"

Candice was far from willing to just drop it however before she spun him around. "Ohhh no! You're not getting off that easily! Not after what you did!" The green haired Quincy placed both of her hands on her hips then before she continued. "Look, I get it. You're not happy about all the shit talk people are throwing at Fairy Tail as of late. I get it, I've been to the pubs, and I've heard it all. And I know how you've felt about letting sub par mages into the guild when we're supposed to be the best of the best, but right now you're just acting like a bully, and instead of actually doing something about your problems, you just beat up whoever gets on your nerves to you get it out of your system! That's not how Fairy Tail is supposed to be!"

"And what would you know about it, huh!?" Laxus demanded. "I've been in Fairy Tail my whole life! The guilds name used to mean something damn it! Now look at us! You haven't even been here for a year so I don't want to hear it!"

"It still means something! We fought off Phantom Lord before I even got here! We're topping every chart in the magazines! Granted, sometimes we end up on Most Collateral Damage listings, but no one's perfect. Look, where I grew up, the land was free and people were stupid but it was still the best place to live on the planet before I got to my first guild. And it had plenty of flaws. So does Fairy Tail. That doesn't make it bad."

She then sighed. "You're right about one thing, I haven't been here for long, I'll give you that much." Candice admitted. "But this is the only place I've ever felt at home! No one here has tried to change me, or force me to conform to some bullshit way of living! This is the first place I've ever been allowed to truly be me! This isn't just some place I come to to get drinks and pick up jobs and then some fuck buddies. This is my home, and I'm not going to let you ruin it like some abusive older brother!"

Laxus scoffed. "If they're a bunch of weaklings then they shouldn't be here in the first place. If they can't handle some tough love, then they should just beat it!"

"Bullshit!" Candice screamed at him. "I've seen plenty of tough love in the guild before, lord knows Erza and all those guild brawls have given me plenty of that. But you? You're not doing what you are out of some sense of comradery, you're doing it because you're an asshole!"

She then looked downward, the visor of her hat covering her eyes. "And what about me, huh? Where do I fall on your so-called tier list?"

"That depends." Laxus replied. "Are you stronger than that friend of yours or not? Because if not then your no better than the rest–OW!"

Before he had finished his sentence, Candice had slammed her forehead onto his, the S class mage taking a step back before he snarled at her. "I'm warning you Candice, you're making a big mistake!"

"Trust me, the feelings fucking mutual." Candice muttered before her face softened slightly. "But frankly, I'd really rather not go that route. Not this time. So come on, let's go get some drinks and maybe you can tell me what's up?" Candice wasn't exactly any happier with him, far from it, but it was beginning to get clear that further antagonizing him was going to get her nowhere

"After all that, yeah, not happening." Laxus spat before he turned around and began to make his way out of the alleyway. "Far as I'm concerned, you and me? We're done."

"Even though I'm the only person who sees right through all your shit for who you really are?"

Laxus stopped in his tracks as Candice continued. "I get it, it can't be easy, always being compared to someone else. You've been trying for all these years to stand out on your own two feet, but it's never enough to walk out of Makarov's shadow, has it?"

"What the hell would you know about it?" Laxus spat.

"Because back in my own guild, I was always playing second fiddle to Bambi." Candice admitted. "She was really strong back in the day. Way stronger than she is now. She was like, our Erza, the strongest female mage in our whole guild. Almost all the guys wanted to be with her. She...she was what I wanted to be."

She sighed. "It wasn't that I wasn't strong l, or that people didn't want me. Far from it. I had popularity and I damn well knew how to use it, but compared to Bambi, I...I just didn't compare. No matter what I did, or how strong I got, she was always just one step ahead.l, and honestly...I was jealous of her."

She then looked upwards. "But you know something? I didn't let it get to me. At least, not like how you're letting it. If anything, that's what pushed me forward, so I'd one day finally catch up to her. I've never told her...or frankly anyone this but she always kept pushing me forward."

"So what exactly are you getting at here?" Laxus asked.

"I'm saying just because you're trying to prove yourself doesn't mean you have to be an asshole!" Candice yelled. "Because you know what? I got what I wanted eventually when I thought I lost her forever, and let me tell you, all that attention it brought me didn't mean a goddamn thing compared to the friend I lost! You might think that this is what you want, but I guarantee you that the moment you lose all your friends in the guild, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!"

"You think I give a shit about those losers?" Laxus retorted."I don't need any of them! I've got the Thunder Legion and they're the only friends I'll ever need!"

"You seriously think that's all you need? A bunch of yes men who'll tell you that you're the best shit on the planet?" Candice retorted. "Those aren't friends, those are groupies!"

"Yeah well maybe that's because they see me for what I really am!" Laxus yelled. "The strongest mage in all of Fiore!"

Candice scoffed back at him. "Strongest, huh? Yeah keep telling yourself that. You know, I can't believe I actually saw something in you, because I was certain deep down inside that Makarov raised some kind of gentleman!"

"Well maybe that's because the stupid old man did a shit job of it!" Laxus yelled back. "Far as I'm concerned, he never raised me at all!"

"Well that certainly explains a lot!" Candice shouted. "Because I know fucking vulcans who have better manners than you!"

"Excuse you!?" Laxus exclaimed.

"Yeah you heard me!" Candice screamed as she leaned forward. "Lord knows you're just as loud and obnoxious as one! I guess the only thing you got going for you is that you're just as hung!"

"You know what, fuck you!" Laxus yelled.

"Fuck you!"

"That's right, fuck me, if you're man enough that is!" Candice demanded.

"Candice, knock it off, now!"

"Aww is the big tough guy too macho to hit a girl, is that it?" Candice mocked him. "But you and I both damn well know that I-"

A bolt of lightning struck the ground, the attack just mere inches from having struck Candice, stopping the quincy mid rant. She glanced over towards Laxus then, her body shaking from the near hit. "L-laxus?" She stammered uncharacteristically.

"I told you to fucking back off. If you don't, then I'll have no problems showing you just why I'm considered the best in Fairy Tail. Got it?" Laxus snarled out. With Candice's stunned silence, the lighting mage scoffed before he turned around, heading off to work off some steam.

Candice couldn't stop her shaking as she wheezed. That attack….that could have done some serious damage to her if it had hit, enough so that Wendy would have needed to heal her up to speed, or else she'd spend the next few months in a full body cast.

She gripped one of her fists as she looked back at Laxus, her eyes watering slightly towards the bottom as sadness began to build up within her.

Laxus….what's happening to you?


I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather be fighting for my life back at the Tower Of Heaven than having to be a part of...this.

Jade clenched one of her arms as she and Emberella made thier way towards a secluded and abandoned barnyard a few miles past the outskirts of Magnolia. It was nearly pitch black out, and if not for Emberella using her flames to light the way, Jade was positive that she'd have tripped on the occasional fallen log they ran into on their treck.

This was it. The final meeting between Emberella, her subordinates and Laxus before the coup they would launch during the Miss Fairy Tail contest. It was taking every fiber of her being to hide her fear and disgust at the mere notion of it all. If not for the loyalty and love she had for Emberella, Jade would have wanted absolutely nothing to do with her mother's scheme's.

As they entered the dimley lit barn, Jade saw several familiar faces...along with some she didn't recognize.

The first two, belonged to Emberellas other subordinates. Joshua Codenera, and John Sageeza. Like Emberella, they shared her vision in the eradication of the Magic Council, though thier reasons couldn't have been more different. Whereas Johan wanted revenge for the Magic Council for a complete lack of intrigue or funding for his "Ultra Mage" project, while Joshua was simply an anarchist and zealot believer in Zeref, and Emberella's desire for the fall of the Magic Council was much more... personal.

Another she recognized was none other than the grandson of Fairy Tails guild master, Laxus Dreyer. From what Emberella had told her, the idea of a coup for the rights to lead Fairy Tail had been a tempting idea for Laxus before their partnership. However, Emberella had gone a step further to place a minor spell of mental control on him unknowingly so he would be more agreeable to ideas he would have normally rejected outright. In theory, it meant she would be the one truly in charge,

But while it had allowed them to convince Laxus of the ideas of bringing in dark guilds to increase their number, it was becoming more evident by the day that she could only go so far with the commands, as any attempt to take command of the coup from Laxus had resulted at him snapping at her. Thus, she simply took on the role as "advisor" to properly guide him down the path she found most advisable to further their own schemes.

The last one she knew was a man she has only seen less than a handful of times. Supposedly, he was among Grimiore Heart's most powerful, exceeding the powers of even the Seven Kin of Purgatory. He was a man with black hair done up in a short ponytail, black eyes and stubble adorning his chin. He also seemed to wear a tight green suit and, bizarrely enough, a white and black cape of some sort tied around his left shoulder. Lastly was a katana that lay at his right hip. His real name was unknown to most, even Emberella, simply going by Scott, no doubt an alias of some sort, Most ,however, knew him by his nickname. Slipstream.

Then there were the one's Jade hadn't seen before. All of them wore white and had a skeletal like structure of some sort adorning thier face with the exception of the one who wore pure white spectacles with pink hair and yellow eyes. The largest one, one who managed to make Elfman look like a twig by comparison, was over 7 and a half feet tall, and was quite muscular. He has tan skin, a blad scalpe aside from his long black pony tail, orange eyebrows and red markings on his cheek, with a massive skeletal jawbone of sorts fused into his chin.

The other one was a lanky individual, though despite his lack of bulk, he was almost as tall as the massive brute. He had shoulder length black hair and black eyes, and wore a massive white eye patch that covered his left eye. There was something quite unsettling about him, and she felt herself shiver the moment he began to leer at her.

Lastly was.. well she couldn't quite tell. The last person there was in some kind of pod. The how's and why's she couldn't begin to guess, but she had a feeling whoever was inside was nothing but bad news.

She was suddenly surprised when she could hear Sosuke Aizen chuckling within her mind, but she wasn't going to let that slide without inquiring. Ok, out with it. What's so funny?

I'm just finding it amusing that my former subordinates are willing to ally themselves with someone of your mother's caliber. Baragan must be desperate indeed if he's considering an alliance with the likes of her. Aizen answered.

Jade rolled her eyes. I'm going to ignore the fact that you basically insulted my mom and ask how the hell you know that Barragan guy is even their leader. Last I checked this is the first time I've seen any of these guys.

Let's just say that I couldn't imagine anyone else who could gather up members of the Espada and force them to align with one another once more. With very few exceptions, it was quite clear to me that they despised one another.

'..So you're calling this Baragan guy desperate despite the fact that you're the one who made an elite fighting force of people who hated each other. The pot sure is calling the kettle black here, isn't it? Jade asked.

I'd focus your attention on the meeting at hand, they're about to begin.

Rather than bring up the fact that he hadn't bothered to give her a real retort, Jade brought herself to the situation at hand as Joshua's gave them a sickening sneer and slight cackle.

"Oh, so it looks like your pet finally came back from her vacation. Excellent, now we can finally get things rolling so I can get some proper sacrifices for Lord Zeref."

Jade resisted the temptation to flip the man off before Emberella came to her defense. "Now now, she was only playing the role I gave her to maintain everyone's trust in her, so I'd say she's done an excellent job so far. Now then, I believe it's time we got down to business. Jonathon, are you certain that your devices will prevent word of any of this reaching outside of Magnolia?"

John scoffed at her question. "Of course they will. Once I place down my sentry towers on the outskirts of Magnolia, they'll be more than capable of blocking any attempts to use telepathy magic to make contact, as well as disrupt any communication lacrima within the town."

"Excellent." Emberella replied before looking over at Laxus. "And what about you, my dear Laxus? Is everything going to plan on your end of things?"

Laxus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Of course they are. The Thunder God Tribe should be here tomorrow morning. I'll fill them in on the specifics once they arrive. Freed should have everything ready with plenty of time to spare. Besides, I've trained more than enough to say I'd be able to trounce Jose if he ever showed his sorry face to me again. We've got this thing in the bag." He then gave Emberella a confident sneer. "Not to mention...I've finally mastered Fairy Law."

Emberellas eyes lit up as she heard those words. Excellent. With Fairy Law in hand, not even the 4 God's of Ishgar will be able to stop us now. "Well done Laxus. Yes, I'm positive now that we have everything that we'll need to achieve victory... especially with the help of our friends from Las Noches."

"Well of course. I can assure you that there's nothing to worry about." The pink haired man spoke. "The average members of our guild far outclass that of the typical S-Class mage. With the assistance of our Espada, your chances of victory are all but garunteed."

"I'll have you know our A-Class tends to be on par with most S-Class mages, so forgive me if I'm not exactly all that impressed." Laxus scoffed. "Besides, I only see three of you here anyway."

"You don't need more than three jackass, why I'm positive that I could take on the whole guild by myself!" The lanky one said before he pointed his polearm like weapon at Laxus. "How's about you and me go at it right here and now! Killing ya ought to shut your mouth!"

"Ya really think you can? I'd like to see you try!" Laxus remarked as lightning began to surround him.

However just as it looked like the two were about to fight, a fireball shot past them. The two turned around to see it coming from none other than Emberella. "Enough. This bickering is pointless. The only thing infighting like this brings is hindrance. You can have your fight once this is over. Szayelaporro, please control your ally."

"I have to concur. As much as I'd enjoy the ensuing data a battle between you two would give me, that would also completely take away our element of surprise. So how's about you just calm down and put your weapon down...or do you really wish to incur Lord Baragan's wrath, Nnoitera?"

"Tch. You get to live this time ass-wipe." Nnoitera proclaimed before taking his weapon away from Laxus.

"I think we should just stroll in and wipe them out in one go." The large one said, looking bored out of his mind. "None of them could hope to beat me."

"At your full power, absolutely. However, it takes time for your resurrecion to reach that level of power. Or do I need to remind you why you were killed in the first place, Yammy?" Szayelaporro told him.

Yammy simply rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Those two captains would have been toast if I got to full strength."

"And what of you, Slipstream?" Emberella asked the swordsman. "Is Master Hades alright with you leaving his side for a few days?"

"But of course." Slipstream said with a sly grin. "Destroying Fairy Tail coincides with his plans. Besides, I've been rather bored just sitting around the airship. My blade and I have been longing for a worthy fie for quite some time...and I believe Miss Scarlet is just what I've been looking for."

Laxus almost wanted to rebuke him for thinking thar Erza was a worthy foe, but held his tongue. Much as he loathed to admit it, she was amoung Fairy Tails most powerful. Up untill now he was positive he was handily stronger than her, but after word of her defeating Jellal began to spread, he could no longer deny her strength. If he had remained as he was prior to Phantom Lord, he'd lose, no doubt about it. However, thanks to his rigorous training over the past few months, he was positive he'd emerge victorious over her even now,.

"I'm sure that you'll get your fun. If she was truly strong enough to defeat Jellal then I'm certain of it." Emberella spoke with certainty. "It seems that everything is falling into place. All that's left to do now is wrap up loose ends."

Joshua couldn't help but cackle. "Ooooohhhhh, you mean that traitor, Bronze! Oh I'd loooooove to make him pay for turning his back on us!"

Jade couldn't help but voice her confusion. "Wait, Bronze left us?" Bronze wasn't exactly someone she was close to per say, but he was the person amoung Emberella's associates she spent time with the most. For the most part he was fairly stoic, but he had looked out for her from time to time, like the time she had failed one of her earlier assassinations. Rather than let her take the full brunt of the failure, Bronze had insisted he was the one to blame. In a sense, age supposed he was like an older brother of sorts to her.

"Yes. Apparently he's had gone soft and fallen in love with some widow." John spoke irritably. "He even looks after her children while she's away, the fool."

"It's a shame we lost one of our strongest warriors to something so unpredictable, but it hardly matters." Emberella spoke. "He gave me his word that he wouldn't dare speak out against us, but I can hardly just take his word for that now can we? So, I believe it would be wise if we... disposed of him and his new family."

What!? Jade screamed internally. Up until now the only people she and Emberella had killed were corrupt members of the council, gang lords or other dark mages they were hired to take out. This...As far as she was aware, was the very first time they'd take the lives of someone innocent!

She was about to speak up, to voice her displeasure, only for a certain voice in her head to speak up. If you say anything about sparing him it'll only fall in deaf ears. That's not to mention the level of suspension that'll be thrown towards you. It would be best if you simply remained silent.

But...but...but that's... Jade stuttered within her mind before Emberella spoke once more.

"Jade, given your abilities, you'll be the one given this task. I'm sure you'll be able to finish this task and come back with time to spare. Just make sure you take the earliest train tomorrow morning to insure your timely arrival." Emerella told her,

What?! No! I...I...I couldn't possibly do that! That family has nothing to do with any of this! And Bronze is...Bronze is... The desire to yell, scream, cry out to her mother just how wrong this all was was almost overwhelming. The pit of guilt in her stomach continued to grow more and more, the Emerald haired assassin feeling like she wanted to hurl...but it was with every single ounce of her will power that allowed her to answer the way she had.

"Yes… It shall be done... Emberella." She spoke sternly.

Emberella smiled. "Excellent. Just be sure that you come back with time to spare. Your illusory powers will be quite helpful for the festival. The longer the magic council is left unaware of things the better."

She then looked over to the strange pod that Syazelapparo had brought in. "If you mind me asking, what's this contraption for, Mr Granz?"

"Oh this? It's just a project of mine. One of our ..comerades so to speak has been missing for a long time. So I've simply created a replica of him. He's just as powerful as the original, and as ruthless. The only thing that's been altered has been his... rebelliousness. He'll follow every order to a T."

He then stepped back as the pod door slowly opened up, revealing a tall muscular man with spiky blue hair and blue eyes, with small green lines going below them and a jawbone of sorts attached to his right cheek bone. "Allow me to introduce you to my Regai prototype of the sixth Espada Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. I couldn't think of a better field test for him, so here we are. I still plan on doing just a little more fine tuning before activation however."

"A copy you say? How interesting." Emberella smirked. "Any chance you could make some of the Wizard Saints?"

"I'm afraid not." Syazelapparo answered. "I'm still rather new to the process. I was only able to recreate Grimjow thanks to the data I already have on him. However, I'm still a very long ways away from being able to replicate the process with mages." He wouldn't say it, but magic was the main contributing factor. Unlike zanpaktou of soul reapers and arrancar, Magic varied much more wildly from person to person.

"I see. What a shame. Oh well, it impedes nothing." Emberella said with a shrug.

Hmmm. To think Kageroza's project could be modified enough to create an arrancar. How interesting. Syazelapparo was more intelligent than I gave him credit for. Aizen pondered.

Could we please be less impressed by your former minion and be more concerned about the guild!? Jade yelled internally. This is bad! Really, really bad!

"Well, I believe that's everything that we needed to discuss." Emberella said. "Take the next 6 days to properly prepare for the festival. If we do this right, Fairy Tail itself will be ours. And then..." The fire mage couldn't help but smirk.

"The Magic Council will burn to cinders."


A Quincy's Fairy Tail Noncanonical Omake Spectacular!

"I'm not taking orders from you!" Laxus shouted at Levy as he fired off another lightning bolt from his hand, this time directing the blast at Levy. Levy's eyes slowly widened as the blast made its way towards her, the blue haired mage knowing full well that there was nothing she could do to stop the oncoming spell. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the coming pain.

Only for a green blast to stop the attack dead in its tracks. The dust slowly settled, revealing the former fourth Espada, Ulquiorra Cifer, narrowing his eyes at Laxus.

Bambietta let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god you're here. I was worried for a second that Levy-"

"Ohhh, so another one of the newbies has decided to show up?" Laxus asked with a grin. "Well, it hardly matters." The blond stated as he pointed his finger at the arrancar. "You're next."

"You bastard. Laxus!" Ulquiorra stated in an uncharacteristically angry tone, as he slowly approached the Lighting Mage, his fists clenching.

Bambietta's eyebrows rose up slightly. "Huh, that's….not like him. At all. In fact, it kinda reminds me of-"

Laxus' voice proceeded to interrupt her as he gazed at his new foe. "Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away you're actually coming right to me? Even though your guild mates, Gajeel and Bambietta's attempts at defeating me were no better than an exam student scrambling to finish the problems on an exam until the last moments before the chime?!"

Bambietta blinked. "Wait…did, did you just-"

"I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer." Ulquiorra stated as he continued to stride over towards Laxus.

Bambietta's head snapped over to the arrancar. "Wait a minute, hold the fuck on! Are you two actually doing a mother fucking Jojo's reference?"

Laxus smirked at the approaching arrancar, not paying Bambietta any attention. "Oh ho! Then come as close as you like!"

"Oh my god, you are! You two are totally having a Jojo Moment right now!"" Bambietta remarked. "What the fuck, how do either of you even know what the hell that is!?" Bambietta demanded. "Besides, I'm the only one allowed to make such blatant references in this fanfic!"

However, by the time she had already asked her question the two had already begun to exchange blows, both warriors trying their best to punch at each other in a flurry of blows.

"ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA!"

"MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!"

Both of Bambietta's hands covered her face. "Oh my god, we're actually doing this! Is there anyways we could be any more blatant!?"

(Song of choice: Roundabout)

Bambietta screamed with annoyance. "Oh for god's sake, that's not even from the same part! We're just doing it now for the sake of it! Could this get any more-


TO BE CONTINUED


Bambietta simply covered her face in her hands once more before she simply groaned three words.

"Oh my god."


My apologies for such a blatant reference for an Omake, but when I saw the chance to use it I just had to go for it. Not to mention the fact that, for the english dub at least, Laxus and Dio share a voice. Honestly, this was going to happen sooner rather than later.

Anyways, I'm very pleased with how this chapter came out. This one took me quite a while to write, as I'm sure most of you can imagine with how long it is. (over fifty pages)

Bambietta and Gajeel's little reunion was something I've been looking forward to writing for some time. I personally hope it met all of your expectations, and I eagerly look forward to seeing what you all thought of this chapter in particular.

And yes, the "arrancar" subplot, as well as Jade's struggle with her loyalty to her mother, Emberella is now finally about to come back into play. I have some really fun stuff planned for it all, and I hope that you'll all enjoy what is to come.

Lasty, Bambietta's first real animated appearance has finally happened, and I couldn't be any happier. My own personal hope is that this will inevitably bring not only more fanart, but also more readers to this story. So far I've really enjoyed the adaptation of "The Thousand Year Blood War" and I eagerly await to see more of it. At the very least, Shiro Saigisu hasn't lost his touch.

Anyways, thank you all very much. I look forward to your reviews.

MPFS:

Droy: 450

Jet: 680

Gajeel: 2875

Bambietta: 4150

Ulquiorra: 5250

Laxus (start of fight, canon BOF): 6000

Laxus (powering up): 6380