It was a new day over at Fairy Tail, the guild as lively as ever, especially with Gildarts's temporary return. Markarov was speaking with Erza about a particular mission he wanted her to complete. "Another dark guild?" Erza replied, eying the master carefully.

Markarov nodded slowly. "Yes, it appears they have been causing too much trouble, and a few of the other guilds have had a hard time with them. I would like you, along with a few others to go and handle them."

"Who should I take?" Erza asked, looking around the guild.

"Anyone you see fit," Markarov replied as he took a sip of his beer.

"Alright…" Erza nodded, and then raised her voice to get everyone's attention. "EVERYONE." Everything stopped as everyone looked over in Erza's direction. "Good. Now, I've gotten a report of a group of dark mages causing other guilds trouble, and the Magic Council has a report of someone they are hunting down as well. They don't know anything about the girl, but it's likely she could be with these dark mages. Now, I'm going to take a few of you to help me hunt them down." After she finished speaking, the guild erupted into a light murmur as they talked about who might be taken.

"TAKE ME!" Natsu raised his hand high. Actually, he stood on a table and raised his hand, hopping up and down.

"I've already made my decision on who to take," Erza replied. "Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Cynthia, Laki, Gajeel, and Elfman," She went down her list one by one, nodding at each name that was spoke.

The purple haired wood-make mage poked her head up after hearing her name called, "M-Me?"

"Yes, you," Erza replied, looking at Laki.

Laki felt surprised; she usually felt like she was a background character, so a chance to go on a mission with those who usually do more than her felt great. "That's great!"

"As a man I will get the job done!" Elfman grinned, flexing one of his muscles in a manly way.

"Good luck, Elf-niichan!" Lisanna grinned, clapping for her older sibling.

"She picked me…?" Cynthia blinked a few times in confusion and surprise.

"Even Erza's taken notice of you!" Wendy replied. "Plus, if I'll be right there if you lose control."

"Right…" Cynthia nodded slowly.

"The exceed squad is coming too!" Happy nodded, looking over at Carla with hearts in his eyes.

"Gihehe, this shouldn't be too hard," Gajeel said, standing up from the chair he was sitting in. "When do we move out?"

"Right now," Erza said. "There have been reports in the nearby forest about suspicious mages roaming around. I hope you all are ready."

"I'm fired up!" Natsu grinned, letting flames surround his body. With that, the group Erza selected headed out of the guild doors. Juvia was watching the entire thing, gritting her teeth from annoyance.

"Erza-san picked Gray-sama…but not Juvia…Erza-san must want Gray-sama all to herself! Love rival…" Juvia did the only thing that seemed rational at that point. She slowly crept out of the guild, and followed behind the group, keeping her attention on Gray.

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Reve stood on the balcony of White Eclipse, looking down at all the members present. "Alright, listen up. Calium has given me orders to select a squad to head out and investigate a group of dark mages causing too much trouble around Fiore.

"Dark mages? Again?" Luke sighed, rubbing his head.

"Shut up and listen, Cloud," Reve said towards Luke. "Anyway, I would do this alone, but Calium is forcing me to take some of you guys, so I'll take the few that annoy me the least, you guys ready?"

"Do we really have a choice?" Michio snorted.

"Funny, because you're on the list, Michio," Reve smirked.

"Oh…joy…" Michio rolled his eyes as he stood off to the side.

"Heh. Now then, the rest of you; Selena, Zalen, Aira, Luke, Takeru…and Taya. You guys are with me." Reve continued, watching as they walked off to the side, smirking as he mentioned the last name.

"Ah man…" Cygnus grunted, as he wasn't picked.

"Are you serious, cowboy?" Taya asked, crossing her arms as she walked over to the group.

"Oh, don't worry," Reve hopped from the balcony, landing on his feet with a smirk, "You'll be fine as long as you stick with me, hehe."

"That's one way to hit on a girl…" Aira mumbled to herself.

"When do we get moving?" Zalen asked, cleaning his glasses.

"Right now," Reve replied, starting his way down the mountain trail into the nearby forest. "Heard word that some mages were roaming around in the forest area, so it would be wise to start there."

"Well, this should be fun," Taya sighed, walking behind Reve.

"I say we split up when we get there…" Luke whispered.

"I won't need to work with anyone," Takeru replied, looking forward.

"Hm, let's just make it quick. I dislike people…" Michio replied.

"What's the worst that could happen?" Luke asked, chuckling softly.

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Team Fairy Tail entered the forest slowly taking in their surroundings. "This place is huge," Cynthia said aloud.

"Seems like a shady enough place for foul villains to do their deeds," Laki nodded, unable to help give a side-glance at Gajeel.

"What did I do?!" Gajeel huffed, looking away from the wood mage, "Geez, you destroy a guild one time…"

"Focus," Erza demanded, looking around the forest. "We'll cover more ground if we split up, but stay on guard, we don't know what these mages are capable of.

"Should we make our own teams?" Lucy asked.

"Either that or I decide for you," Erza replied in a stern tone.

"Y-Yeesh! I uh…I'll go with Natsu and Happy!" Lucy nodded, walking over to the two.

"Cynthia, Carla, and I could be a team!" Wendy nodded happily, dragging Cynthia over next to her.

"I don't need to work with any of you, Lily come on," Gajeel said, walking off into a random area of the forest with Patherlily flying on his side.

"Rude," Laki huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Would you go keep an eye on him?" Erza asked.

"I can't promise anything," Laki shrugged, heading in the general direction she saw Gajeel and Patherlily walk.

"That leaves Elfman and Gray," Erza turned to face them, only to see that Elfman was gone. "Where did…"

"He said something about being a man and ran off in…uh…some direction," Cynthia replied.

"You're joking, right?" Erza groaned. "I'll go find him, the rest of you should be careful.

"Don't worry; I'll pound any mage who dares to attack us!" Natsu grinned, grabbing Lucy's hand and ran off in a direction. While Erza, Wendy's group, and Gray split apart as well. Juvia was watching Gray, following him behind the trees silently.

"Juvia should be Gray-sama's partner, but Erza-san tried to keep him away from her…" Juvia huffed under her breath and continued following her beloved ice make mage, unbeknownst to him.

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On the other side of the forest, Team White Eclipse walked in, Reve leading the way with a smirk. "Alright, so how do you guys want to do this? We can either split up, or we can go together?"

"I'm going alone," Takeru said almost immediately, breaking off from the group as he headed south.

"Well…that answers that…" Luke said, rubbing the back of his head. "So, Michio, Selene, Aira, anyone wanna team up with me?"

"Psh, normally I would but…" Michio looked around, sensing a familiar presence. "I sense someone…heh…" Michio ran off east.

"Yeesh, does no one want to team up?" Luke let out a sigh as he looked towards Aira and Selene. "Lemme guess." Aira nodded quickly, then dragged Selene away, much to her discomfort.

"Wah!" Selene cried as Aira dragged her off west.

"Well I guess that leaves…" Luke turned to Taya, Zalen, and Reve…who weren't even there anymore. "Fun…" Luke sighed, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked off in a random direction.

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Laki wandered around the forest, looking for any sign of the Iron Dragon Slayer. She sighed, realizing that she probably wasn't going to be finding Gajeel or his exceed any time soon. "Just my luck," She groaned, leaning against a tree. "I would get stuck with the job nobody wants." She took a seat, using the time to rest her feet. The next thing she knew, a silver fist struck the part of the tree just above her, causing the entire tree to collapse. Luckily, the wood make mage rolled out of the way just in time. "Who was that!?"

"Drat, I missed!" Melody walked out from behind a tree. "Oh, you're one of those Fairy Tail mages…you're not Gray-sama!" Melody huffed, pouting as she crossed her arms. "I KNOW HE'S HERE WHERE IS HE!?"

"I don't know!" Laki stood up, dusting herself off as she glared at Melody. "You're one of those Dark mages around here, aren't you?"

"Maybe I am," Melody gave a sadistic smirk before pointing a hand forward, a silver magic circle appearing, "Of course, the others wouldn't be too happy with me if I let you live after seeing me so…Silver Make: Lance!" Silver lances shot out from the magic circle towards Laki, who quickly placed her fist into her palm.

"Wood Make: Wall!" A wall of wood shot up from the ground, however it proved useless against the silver lances as they all easily destroyed the wall, and made direct contact with Laki, sending her rolling across the ground. "Gah! W-What was that!?"

"My silver is stronger than Ice, so it's obviously stronger than your stupid wood…" Melody scoffed, giggling slightly.

"Oh yeah? Don't underestimate a Fairy Tail wizard! Wood Make: Violent Approach!" Laki created a wooden spike ball that shot towards Melody at an alarming rate.

"Silver Make: Wall!" A silver wall appeared, Laki's attack destroyed once it made contact with the wall.

"W-What!?" Laki's eyes widened once more, as she stumbled back; she had a feeling she wasn't going to be able to win this battle.

"Cute," Melody grinned sadistically as she jumped into the air. "Silver Make: Hammer!" A giant silver hammer appeared in Melody's hands as she brought it down on Laki, a shockwave echoing throughout the forest as the attack landed.