Natsu wiped his brow and let out a groan as he rotated his shoulders. Even though he was out in the cold, he was shirtless and working up a sweat as he was in the process of building a brick shed in his yard. It was a decent distance from any other building on the estate since he planned on manufacturing multiple varieties of smokeless powder for both standard and hybrid-cased ammunition inside it using automated machines. Since the process used volatile chemicals, he decided it was in his best interest to keep it away from the manor. He had already laid the power cabling and the concrete foundation as well as erected the frame the previous day, and was in the process of laying the brick walls when he felt multiple eyes boring holes into him.

"Master, you have visitors." Henrietta called out as she approached the man holding a silver tray with a cold glass and jug of water. When Natsu turned to her, his eyes narrowed slightly. She was accompanied by Natsumi, Erza, and Makarov.

"I take it from your presence here that you know who I am, Makarov." Natsu called out to the old man as he pushed a brick down onto mortar.

"Yes, both Erza and Natsumi informed me of your identity and circumstances." Makarov replied with a quick glance at the building that Natsu was making. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Not particularly, no. I can talk while I work." Natsu spared a quick glance over his shoulder as he grabbed another brick and a trowel of mortar. "What can I do for you?"

Makarov's eyes flicked across the man's scarred tanned skin and he felt a little bit of pity for the man who had obviously seen many life-and-death battles. "I mainly wanted to meet with you. Natsumi told me more than Erza did, about your previous life. I won't pry into that, I know a little bit of what the pain you're going through is like, but even what I've experienced can't compare to the losses you've sustained."

"Mhm." Natsu gave the brick in his hand a small snarl, but he quickly straightened up his face and continued to lay a full line of bricks before sticking the trowel into the wheelbarrow and taking the glass of water from Henrietta. "Thank you, by the way." His eyes flicked across to his guests once more. He took a quick break to take a drink of water and he let out a gentle sigh. "I'm trying to bury my past and move on. It's not exactly easy, though. I don't think I'll ever fully escape it; all I can do is accept it and live on. That's what she would've wanted me to do anyway."

"She being Lucy Heartfilia?"

"Lucy Dragneel, actually." Natsu quietly corrected the old man. "But yes."

"I'm sor-"

"Stop." Natsu forcefully interrupted the man's irritating but unintended cookie-cutter response. "I don't need your pity or sympathy. Everything I've lost was because of my own fault, my own inaction caused the death of those closest to me. Though, many others that you know had died before that."

"Even if you say that, you can't stop others from feeling that towards you." Makarov calmly rebuked. He adjusted his coat and looked around the estate, fog coming from his nose with every breath. "What is this building going to be used for?"

"Creating propellants for munitions. Since it's a dangerous process even if the final product is relatively safe to handle, I've decided that it would be a really good idea not to do it inside my basement. I'd rather not blow my home to kingdom come."

"A smart decision." Erza murmured. She pressed her forefinger to her chin and came up to the man's side. "Do you want some help?"

"While I'm not about to turn down a helping hand, do you even have any experience in building stuff?" Natsu half-turned to the woman and tilted his head slightly. "Forgive me for being a bit presumptuous, but the Erza I knew was kind of clumsy outside of battle. She was exceedingly confident but it led to her overestimating her abilities."

"Nothing's different here." Natsumi took the opportunity to take a playful jab at her childhood friend. She nudged the slightly taller woman with her elbow while grinning broadly, not even faltering in the slightest under her glare. "What? You know it's true."

"I'm not that bad."

"Regardless of what you think. I'm sorry, but I want this to be done properly, for safety's sake." Natsu gave the redheaded knight a firmly worded apology, but he glanced at the diminishing pile of bricks on the pallet nearby. "But if you could bring over another pallet of bricks for me, I'd be grateful."

Erza looked around and found a line of pallets loaded with bricks closer to the manor. "Hm… It might be a little too heavy for me, even with telekinesis magic."

Natsu looked back at the woman with a surprised expression before letting out a gentle sigh. "Ah, sorry. It's a little difficult to differentiate what my Erza could do and what a normal one would be able to do."

"Because you were both super soldiers, right?" Erza asked.

"Wait, wouldn't one of those pallets weigh somewhere around a tonne?!" Natsumi exclaimed, her eyes shooting wide open as she watched the man walk over and lift one like it was nothing. "You're kidding me…"

"Hmm, probably closer to two tonnes by the feel of it." Natsu replied as he casually carried the building materials back to his construction site and sat them down next to the first pallet. "And you're right, Erza."

"You're taking this rather well, considering you're in top form and don't seem slightly disturbed by Master Makarov's and my presence. And it's not like you're worn out this time."

"I've had a bit of time to adjust and settle in compared to the last two times we've met. Though, it doesn't hurt that I've got something to focus on."

Henrietta placed the silver tray atop the new pile of bricks and removed her brand new black woollen coat. She placed it beside the tray and began to help the man without a second thought, which drew a curious gaze from Makarov.

"You know, I'm surprised you talk so freely about your previous life around your maid."

"Why wouldn't he?" Henrietta lightly asked, turning to look at the short man after placing down a brick. "Oh. You think I'm a normal human woman, don't you? I'm actually an android, Mr Dreyar. This body was brought over from my master's world and he created the artificial intelligence that inhabits it. So, it would make sense that he trusts me."

Makarov blinked a few times then slowly ran his eyes down the woman's body. "Natsu, how do I say this…"

"Fucking perv." Natsumi grumbled softly and rolled her eyes at her guild master. But when Natsu shot her a look that said 'and you aren't?', she quickly glanced at him with smouldering eyes and hid her vulpine grin behind her hand

"Henrietta is a combat infiltrator class biosynthetic android." Natsu explained slowly. "Her body is one-to-one with a normal human's body, well, that's only true of her appearance. She's got a few extra parts inside her but on the outside, there's no difference between her and – let's say Erza."

"I see." Makarov tore his attention from the androids amazingly realistic body and refocused onto the shirtless man he came here to meet. "Is there anything I can do to help with your situation?"

"Not really, not yet anyway. I'm still trying to put my life back together."

"Then do you mind if I at least tell those in Fairy Tail about you? So that they're aware of you at the very least."

"I'll leave it to your discretion." Natsu glanced over his shoulder at the man. "However, I don't want to be inundated by people who think the best way to help me is to take pity on me. I've already got two reliable people who I can turn to if I'm not at my best, three if you count the goddess who brought me here."

"Very well, I'll let them know."

"We'll, since you came all the way out here. The least I can do is allow you to have a look around." Natsu turned to the man and looked up to the third floor where he could see three purple-haired women watching him through their bedroom window. "Just be aware that I do have some guests temporarily living here until I can sort out their new home here."

"Yes, Natsumi told me about the job she went on with you and the archbishop."

"Well, if you decided to head down into the basement, let one of Henrietta's clockwork bodies show you around. It's not that I don't trust you, Makarov, but I've got some sensitive equipment down there that I don't want messed with. And I've also got weapon parts and ammo stored down there, as well as machines to make more ammo for my own weapons."

"Oh, Master, that gives me an idea." Henrietta glanced at the pink-haired man. "Do you have enough parts to make another M7 or SR32?"

"Yeah, plus some other weapons. However, Ceres did say she liked raiding the ruins of my world so maybe I can get her to grab you one or both to give her something to do. I would've had two complete ones since both Wendy and Gray had an M7 but his was damaged beyond safe use when he was vaporised by the nuke."

"The Battle Rifle will do for now… Um, maybe it'll be best if both were acquired so I can switch out when needed?"

"There were lots of guns in that carrier that had crashed into Magnolia, maybe she could get some from there?" Natsumi chimed in, looking between her counterpart and the maid. "Admittedly, I haven't seen your guns aside from the pistol and that MP10 thingy that you got from that carrier, so I don't know what an M7 or SR32 actually looks like..."

"Oh, Natsu. Before I forget, I'm not going to be home tonight since the girls and I are getting together for a night at Lucy's house."

"That's fine." The man waved away the dragon princess and he could feel Natsumi, Erza, and Makarov retreat to the warmth of the manor. Once they were out of earshot, he turned his head to the woman beside him. "I've had Ceres grab a harness for you, so we can have you carry your own munitions and attach a pistol holster under your left arm. It's a fair bit more conspicuous than Lelyanna's though since it's braced to your chest with straps above and below the breasts and over the shoulders. But that also means that it's much more secure than hers so you can move at full speeds without the holster and magazine pouches flapping about on you."

"Can I try it on right now?" Henrietta asked excitedly, practically jumping for joy at the gift from her master. She watched Natsu clean off his hands on a nearby cloth and approach her. A black harness appeared in his right hand and she instinctively turned and worked with him to put it on her, she didn't even need any help you affix it to her body or check the tightness as she did what naturally came to her mind. "Hm, it feels odd but also normal, and I don't feel any form of restrictions to my breathing or movement."

Natsu did his best to ignore how the harness accentuated the woman's well-endowed figure and how soft and squishy she felt when his hands bumped up against her left breast while he fastened one of the holsters from his fallen friends to the harness under her left arm. He took one of the M12 pistols he had in his Requip's storage and unfastened the quick-detach suppressor from the end. He slid tube into the top section of the holster and closed the flap before sliding the handgun into the bottom section then secured it in place by lowering the security strap. "Ok, that's all set. Where do you want the magazines, under the right arm or do you want them on a weapons belt?"

Following the android woman's request, Natsu affixed a small black pouch under her right arm that had four individual elastic sections designed to firmly hold the magazines in place. Once he had filled all four with a loaded magazine, he took a step closer and brought his arms around her waist. A thick belt appeared in his hands and he fastened it around her slim waist so it sat snugly at the top of her hips. He paused for a moment with his hands resting on her hips, lost in thought.

"Master?" Henrietta raised her gaze to the man's abyssal eyes. She wasn't the least bit uncomfortable, in fact, the warmth of the man's body staved off the cold weather and warmed her chilled body.

"I think I'll let you have Wendy's rifle. I'll just build a new one for myself from the parts in the basement." Natsu turned his head slightly to the side and looked at the ground nearby. He was still on the fence with the idea but having someone as competent as Henrietta should be armed with only a pistol would be a waste of her talent. He clicked his tongue and forced himself to make a decision.

"Right. Yeah. You can use her gun." With his mind made up, he refocused his attention onto the woman and placed two sets of magazine pouches onto the belt. They were sat at the front of her left and right hips which gave her enough room to go prone without the pouches getting in the way. He slipped a loaded magazine into each one and stepped back as the M7 Battle Rifle flashed into his hands. "Here. Like the pistol, it's already loaded and ready to go."

Henrietta immediately slung the weapon over her shoulder and let it hang behind her back as she leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the man's neck. She cried out happily, "Thank you, Master!"

"Knock, knock~!" Called out a bubbly yet naturally seductive voice from beyond the front door as a series of quick heavy thumps echoed through the wood.

"Coming!" A blonde hurried through her house and smiled brightly as she opened the door. "Hiya, Natsumi, Erza." The woman moved aside and beckoned them in with an eager wave of the hand. "Come in. Wendy and Grace are already here."

"Sorry that we're a little late, Lucy." Natsumi apologised to her best friend. She quickly flung her arms around the blonde and pulled her into a deep hug. "I got caught up with some business with the old man."

"Makarov? Was it about the job you went on?" Lucy brought her arms around the pinkette and glanced at Erza, silently asking her to close the door for her, and giving her a warm smile when the redhead got the hint.

"Something similar. Makarov wanted to meet him, to get a judge of his character and see if there was anything he could do to help." Natsumi replied as she let the woman go and followed her into the lounge room. "He's not a bad guy. I wish that the rest of you could meet him, but after what he's been through, he needs to mend himself. And it's a rather slow process."

"I understand." Lucy gave the dragon princess a sad smile and sat down on the couch beside Wendy. "He had lost everyone, right? I don't think I could go on living if that happened to me. It's a wonder he can do it."

"I think there are times where he finds himself at his limits…" Natsumi admitted quietly. She sat down across from the woman and next to Grace. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms as an uncomfortable look grew on her face. "He and I have the same empathetic sense, so I can tell what he's feeling when I'm near him… and for the most part, I just sense sadness and grief, hatred directed at himself. It's very rare for him to be happy, and when he is, it's not long before he falls into that pit again. There's only so much that Lelyanna and I can do for him, and I'm afraid that if I bring anyone else to him then it'll only cause more harm than good."

"How bad do you think he'd react if he saw us?" Wendy asked quietly, her eyes darting between Natsumi and Erza.

"Well, er, considering he misses his wife…" Natsumi trailed off, letting the unsaid fact that the man was clearly lonely hang in the air.

"When he first saw me, he seemed alright but there was conflict behind his eyes. Apparently, he didn't take it very well and was very angry with himself for letting the other me die, that's what he told us the second time I met him."

"He sounds like a bigger pussy than Natsumi is." Grace joked but a quick glare from Natsumi and Erza made her backpedal on that statement. "I mean, if he's that fragile then-"

"Fuck off, Grace." Natsumi growled, the spike in her emotions causing her demon side to rise to the surface and make her eyes turn red. "How do you think you'd handle being in his situation. What would you do if you had to watch the four of us die right before your eyes? And how about everyone in the guild too? And on top of that! Do you think you'd be able to wander for a full month in a world with no other living beings, all while knowing that you're the only person left alive? Having to scavenge for food and water that is safe to eat and drink?" Natsumi quickly fired off her questions, each one becoming louder and more aggressive than the last. "That man has been through a hell far worse than any of us can even imagine. I've seen what remains of his world, I can't even begin to wrap my head around the things he's seen and done, what he's had to live through. If you think that man's a pussy, then no one will be able to live up to your expectations. And I feel fucking sorry for Kai."

"Okay, okay. I take it back." Grace threw up her hands in surrender and leaned away from infuriated pinkette.

"A-anyway." Lucy cut in between her friends, trying to stop the argument before it got even more heated. "The kettle just finished boiling right before you two arrived; the usual?"

Natsumi sighed and slumped back in the couch, her red eyes quickly fading back to their vibrant onyx. "Yeah, please."

"On the surface he's very cold and stone-faced, but he's very caring and tries his best to look after those he's with." Natsumi replied loudly. "He's also got a playful domineering side, and it's so hot! I know a little bit of it was due to the exposure to the aphrodisiac candles from that whorehouse we had to check out, for the job, but I don't think I've ever been as horny as I was when he got rough with me."

"I wanted to, I was ready to fight for dominance then and there, and likely end up getting railed so good! But Lelyanna had asked him to take care of her first, you know, that kind of first. She wanted it to be with someone she trusted instead of stolen by some motherfucker who decided to rape her."

"So… did they, um, do it?" Erza's face started to become as red as her hair as a perverse glint sparkled in her eyes.

"Oh yeah. For someone as cute as she is, she's got a set of lungs in her." Natsumi laughed loudly. "While he bossed me around with his hand tightly fisted in my hair, he was so tender with her. It was actually kind of sweet."

"I wanted to know what kind of man he was, not what he was like in bed!" Lucy shrieked.

"Honestly, Luce." Natsumi looked over the back of the couch at the back of the blonde's head. "Lelyanna knows him better than I do. But from what I could tell, he's a lot like I am. Except he's got a lot more mental baggage weighing him down. You'll know what I mean when you look in his eyes, they're practically dead. But there's a side to him that I don't have."

"Meaning?" Wendy asked quietly, her face redder than Erza's thanks to the explicit topic from moments before.

"I haven't seen it personally, but Lelyanna told me everything about the first job they went on." Natsumi glanced at the younger woman then to her best friend who was coming back with their drinks and the fish and chips which were wrapped in newspaper. Once she had sat down and unwrapped the food, Natsumi immediately leaned in and snatched a chip. "Anyway, it was mostly standard fare. It was that missing persons investigation. But towards the end of the week, they spotted some motorcars coming into the town. It was bandits who were kidnapping whole families and killing the males. They were keeping the women to sell into slavery."

"Urgh… That's awful…" Grace scrunched up her face in disgust. "What did he do?"

"Apparently, he snuck though the house they had invaded and found two of them violating a pair of girls. Both he and Lelyanna took them out with these pistols from his world, they make almost no sound at all. Then she took the girls outside while he went to deal with the leftovers. According to her, he tortured one of them for the location of their camp then crushed his head under his boot; burst it like a grape. Then executed the one he had kept alive outside the house just in case he couldn't get any answers from those inside the house, without even looking at him. Oh, the reason he was so brutal on this guy, was because he was buttfucking some poor dude's wife while he was being forced to watch; dry too."

All five of the women shifted in their seats, feeling sympathetic for the unknown woman. But Natsumi wasn't finished explaining what happened.

"Since he got the location, they headed to a nearby farm and he told her to wait on the outskirts. It was just before dawn and apparently there was something like thirty bandits there. He took them out by himself with just a knife and his pistol, and whatever else he could get his hands on. However, there was one particular thing that she recalled in great detail…" Natsumi paused to grab some food and wash it down with her tea. She looked at each woman's face, they were on tender hooks and clearly wanted to know what the archbishop had seen. "So, apparently these eight bandits were finishing their patrol and were heading to the main house. He had dropped from the top floor of the barn and moved so quick that he was a streak of black and pink. The first bandit had a knife thrown into the back of his head and in an instant, Natsu had kicked the knife through the man's skull and into the man leading the group. He shot the third and pulled the knife from the second, driving it straight through the fourth's neck and decapitating him. The fifth took a bullet to the chest and head, the sixth; a knife to the heart and a bullet up through the jaw. The seventh got the same as the fifth, and then he apparently dragged the knife out the side of the sixth's body and stabbed it into the eighth, right here." Natsumi tapped her temple. "And he shot him in the chest, right through the heart. The kicker; this all happened before the first one had even hit the ground…"

The women were all shocked into silence for a short while before Grace cut through it, loudly.

"Bullshit."

"She wasn't lying." Natsumi asserted, lifting her chin and staring directly at the woman, overtly challenging her. "I could feel the fear she felt when she recalled it, and I could hear it in her voice. That man, when he enters combat, he changes. Like I said, I haven't seen it in person. But I know that Lelyanna wasn't embellishing the story. And what reason would she have to do it in the first place? And that was only for the bandits, the next day they had to deal with a horde of goblins led by six or more orcs. And they had captives…"

"Oh no…" Lucy murmured softly, her eyes widening in horror. "What happened?"

"He slaughtered the goblins and orcs. Impaled some of the goblins with Thorns, beheaded an Orc that he had wanted to duel him – in an instant, again. They saved who they could, but some of the women were beyond saving and had to be… given mercy." Natsumi leaned forward once more towards the blonde, clasping her hands together as she rested them on her knees. "Look, all of us here know what I am. But over the many years he's spent at war, the untold amount of people he had to kill and watch die, and all the friends and family that had been torn from him… brutally, I'm guessing. There isn't much humanity left in him. I've seen a small glimpse of that other side when he used Macro to stop Lelyanna and I from fighting when I was about to punch her, and the look he had was terrifying. I'd hate to be the person who causes his switch to flip."

"Wait… Natsumi," Wendy looked at the woman with a slightly confused expression while holding a potato cake between her teeth. "When you get angry, you can do some scary things…"

"He's different. My life here has been heaven compared to his life over there." Natsumi replied gently. "Even without seeing the full extent of it, I can easily say that there is a massive difference in that regard."

"The way you talk about him kind of makes it seem like he's not actually as nice as you first mentioned." Lucy mumbled with a weak smile. "He actually sounds extremely dangerous."

"Maybe if you're his enemy, Lucy. But we aren't his enemy." Natsumi shook her head gently and looked at the members of her team but namely Lucy, Erza, and Wendy. "However, we do cause him pain. Seeing you three would stir up both good and bad memories in him."

"I think this is more than enough time spent on the topic of that man." Erza said, glancing at each of her friends. "We should finish off the food before it gets cold."

Lucy glanced out of the nearby window at the dark sky, a chill running down her spine. "For some reason… I have a bad feeling about tonight."

It turned out that Lucy's intuition was as sharp as ever. Just an hour and a half into their girls night, a loud alarm rang through the city and set the group of women instantly into a state of readiness. After the alarm had reached its third cycle, it became a little quieter and a broadcast from the Jaegers Association was sent out across the city of Magnolia.

"To all available Jaegers: A horde of undead have been spotted approaching the city from the Northwest. Please proceed to the Northwest border and prepare for combat.

To all available Guards: Proceed to the Agatha District and take up defensive positions.

This is not a drill. I repeat: This is not a drill.

All available Jaegers are to proceed to the Northwest border and all available Guards are to take up defensive positions within the Agatha District."

As the broadcast came to an end, a sudden oppressive wave of negative emotion struck Natsumi and she doubled over, grasping the sides of her head as her eyes turned a vivid red and the ember markings she kept hidden ignited on her skin. "Gaahh!"

"Damn, we need to hurry." Erza ordered. She shot to her feet as her body was obscured by a brilliant light and she donned her armour. "Does everyone have their gear?"

"Mine's by the door…" Natsumi groaned as she stumbled to the front of the house.

"I'll go get mine!" Lucy shouted while sprinting in the other direction.

"Grace, Wendy?"

"I left mine at home, but if they're just undead, then my ice should be enough."

"Same here! I'll provide support from the rear."

The three women hurried to the front door where they found Natsumi attaching her falchions to her belt, and moments later, they were joined by Lucy who had her keys and whip.

"All set?" Erza asked, quickly. With all four women giving her a nod, she hurried out the front door and to the street. A truck loaded with both guards and jaegers in the bed came to a stop beside them.

"Hurry, get on board!" Yelled the guard driving the truck through the open passenger window.

"All aboard the party bus." Natsumi murmured playfully. Erza, Wendy, and her leapt up with ease and the pinkette quickly turned and pulled Grace and Lucy up into the back. "All set!"

Erza banged her armoured fist on the roof of the truck cap three times. "Go!"

The truck lurched forward and Natsumi fell against Lucy's chest, prompting the younger woman to hold her shoulders to keep her stable. "Are you ok?"

"No…" Natsumi admitted quietly. "I'm a little dizzy from the rush of panic and terror. Just give me a moment, I'll adjust soon."

"We can only afford enough time for the trip over." Erza moved to the back of truck while lowering her voice so they wouldn't easily be overheard. "Take this time to rest and adjust. We'll need you at full capacity."

"I wonder if he will be there, what do you all think?" Wendy asked her older teammates, looking up at them with eyes filled with curiosity.

"I don't know, it's not like they do a roll call or anything." Natsumi chuckled quietly and gave the young woman a weak smile. "It depends on him, really. He despises himself for not acting on his instinct which could've saved everyone, so chances are that we might actually see him in action. But in what capacity, I can't say for sure." She sat down in the back left corner of the truck's bed and closed her eyes, trying to adjust as quickly as she could. "But… you'll know him when you see him."

Once they reached the city outskirts, Erza reached down and lightly shook Natsumi's shoulder, her gauntlet clattering softly. "Hey. We're here. Are you in better shape now?"

"For the most part." Natsumi groaned softly. She pushed herself up onto her feet and steadied herself against the redhead when the truck came to a quick stop. "I should be able to fight properly, at the very least. How the hell did he fight like this…"

"Alright. Let's go." Erza ordered. She helped the woman stand on her own and then leapt to the ground.

The guards formed up and headed towards the city while the jaegers headed in the opposite direction, heading out into the wilds beyond the city limits. It was a cold, moonless night and the air felt like it had a faint charge; the calm before the storm. A combination of spotlights and floodlights had been set up on the edge of the city, directed out towards the landscape in front of them. They illuminated a fair swath of land but they only had so much power and the warm light they provided dimmed rapidly after a hundred metres.

The five women grouped up with the members of their guild who weren't out on a job. And soon after, Makarov came up to the front and addressed those gathered before him.

"Everyone! As was announced, we've got a horde of undead marching on the city. We aren't sure whether it's just a random group or whether a necromancer had summoned them, but scouts have sighted a large group with numbers well over a few hundred. The group seems to be consisting of zombies and skeletons created from the corpses of various races. If a necromancer or group of necromancers are controlling them, then they're a dangerous force, they'll move and attack intelligently. If things start to get too much for you, then disengage immediately and fall back to another member. Do not risk your life by taking on too many at once, I will not have anyone die here."

Even though Fairy Tail was the largest and most powerful guild in Magnolia and contained both regular mages and jaegers, they weren't the only one residing in the city. Nearly a dozen smaller groups had congregated at the edge of the city and their leaders were giving their own version of Makarov's speech. But unfortunately, even with all groups combined and the various Independent Jaegers who resided in the city, they were at a significant numerical disadvantage, and they all knew it.

Natsumi could feel the fear in those around her, the uncertainty of whether they'll make it through the night. "Come on, Natsu… where are you?" She murmured under her breath, her eyes darting around all the gathered groups. But she couldn't spot the familiar mop of long salmon spikes nor could she see the archbishop anywhere.

"INCOMING!"

The warning shout drew everyone's attention to the small hills in front of them that seemed to shift uncannily. It was the undead, and they were coming at them in droves.

"CHARGE!"

Natsumi drew her falchions as the blonde stood next to him was enveloped in golden light. Lucy had donned her Cancer Star Dress and wielded twin scissor blades. Both women raced forward, Natsumi using her raw physical speed while Lucy used the enhanced speed offered to her by her magic attire. The blonde quickly summoned three of her spirits; Leo, Taurus, and Sagittarius. The archer hung back and provided covering fire as Leo and Taurus followed the Celestial Princess into battle.

Erza flashed past them, her body angled close to the ground as she accelerated towards the horde, clad in her flight armour with the tips of her twin swords skimming just above the grass. "Grace! Focus on blocking their advance and attacking at range! Wendy, support those who find themselves in trouble! Only use Dragon Force as a last resort, prioritise magical stamina over power!"

"On it!" Wendy called out. A pair of feathered wings shot from her back and she took flight. She flew low along the ground and used her sky dragon magic to buffet the undead, causing them to stumble and fall which opened them up for a hail of icicles from the heavens.

Smoke seeped from the corners of Natsumi's mouth as her right leg whipped around and she sent an elven corpse flying back into the horde. Smoke turned to embers then a torrent of flames turned the corpses into charred hunks of unmoving flesh, she had unleased a devastating roar into the monsters' ranks.

A similar pair of roars ripped through the horde, one of fierce winds and the other a storm of iron particles. The wind caused the iron to hang in the air, a cloud of fine metal particles dispersed among dozens of zombies and skeletons. To finish the chain attack off, a powerful bolt of lightning raced through the cloud and arced to the monsters, electrocuting the zombies but the skeletons remained unharmed.

"Fuck." The nearby blonde man growled.

Mira flew through the front most ranks of the horde, using her Satan Soul's claws to slice through the zombies and her brute strength and powerful dark magic to blast apart the skeletons that Laxus' lightning had no effect on. "Leave the skeletons to others, Laxus!" She called out as she raced past the man. "Unless you want to start swinging like Elfman over there."

"I am Fucking MANLY!" The beastly man roared as he barrelled through dozens of monsters, swinging his large arms through skeletons and zombies.

Bolts of lights shot forth from a pair of gunslinging mages, punching through the heads of the ever-encroaching horde.

"Holy hell, how many of these bastards are there?" Bisca called out as she quickly slotted bullets into the magazine tube of her lever-action rifle and then charged them with magic to increase their impact strength. She snapped the iron sights up in line with her eye and drilled a bullet into the sun-bleached skull of a skeleton, shattering it and punching into the monster behind it. "There're more monsters than I have bullets! I knew we should've stopped by the gun store to pick up some ammo today!"

"We've just gotta keep them at bay, keep dwindling their numbers until they retreat." Alzack replied quickly. He fanned the hammer on his revolver into a zombie that was getting a little too close for comfort then dumped the empty cartridges on the ground and used a speed loader to slot in six more into the cylinder.

"That's if they retreat, Al!" Bisca shot back. She turned and pat the man's shoulder as she ran back a few metres. "It seems like we're the ones getting pushed back."

"We're holding our own well enough."

"Yeah, but we can't say the same for the other groups."

Lucy fought alongside her spirits, slicing the heads off of any zombie that she got close to while Loke fought off any that she couldn't get to in time and Taurus crushed anything and everything in his path like the battlefield was a china shop.

The blonde beauty charged forth as Natsumi flew across the battlefield with her flaming wings. She intermittently let out fire dragon roars, sending torrents of fire down at her foes. The dragon princess flew low and landed on the edge of the horde then shot the spell off through a row of undead, scorching them and causing them to fall to their second deaths.

But just as she was about to move on, a large fist punched up through the pile of charred corpses and from within emerged a large horned corpse, a zombie from the Quin'ael race. A member of the beast races with the hulking form of a humanoid bull creature that stood an average of two metres tall without including their horns. They were related to minotaur and shared in their hardy hide and strong resistance to fire. It must have only recently died as it let out a bestial roar and charged at the nearest jaeger, its head held low so they'd be impaled by its large horns.

"Lucy!" Natsumi bellowed, trying to warn the woman who had strayed into the monster's path. She charged forward as Lucy slowly turned her head to the incoming monster and the pinkette felt a strong wave of fear and panic flow from the woman.

Lucy tried to run faster but the charging beast was closing the distance quicker than she could. She stumbled backward, falling out of the path of the horns, but she was now in danger of being trampled no matter how far she tried to scoot away. She could hear Loke's shouts and Taurus' thunderous footsteps but the undead beastman was gaining too quickly.

Suddenly, six flares raced across the sky and lit up the entire horde with an intense red light that overpowered the lights they had set up. They were quickly followed by six more objects, but they didn't hang in the air like the flares. Instead, they arced through the sky and exploded deep within the hordes, shredding dozens across all six blasts. But that wasn't the end of it as a further six more explosives were shot from the edge of the city.

The explosions rocked the ground and caused the hulking zombie to stumble, but it quickly found its footing and resumed the charge towards the terrified woman. But an oppressive, terrifying presence shrouded the battlefield, one even greater than the horde of monsters threatening to engulf the city. A blur flew past the sprinting redhead and flying dragon princess and forced the Quin'ael zombie to come to a dead stop right over the top of the blonde woman.

Lucy looked up at the shadow hovering over her, a pair of tanned hands were gripping the horns so tightly that they began to crack and break, and a pair of burning red eyes glowed from the towering figure. No matter how hard the zombie struggled to move or break free, nothing could break the iron grip. "W-who-?"

"Are you hurt?"

It was a man's strangely cool voice that came from the shadowy face and the eyes flicked down to Lucy. But instead of panicking even further, she was overcome by a strange calmness. "Just some scratches."

"You should move, Natsumi's worried about you." The man jerked his head back and the blonde looked between his legs to see her best friend, frozen solid in midair with wide red eyes filled with shock, the same eyes as the man above her. "Move, now."

"Yes, moving." Lucy said quickly and she shot between the man's legs. Once she was clear, she spun around to look at who had saved her from certain death. The first thing she saw was long pink spikes, reminiscent of Natsumi's but darker, a strong yet lean and athletic build only somewhat hidden by his coat which had two swords of different lengths harnessed to his back. She was about to give him her thanks but she was interrupted by a heavy thud. The monster was dropped to the ground and the man placed his boot on the back of its head before crushing it with a single downward push.

…then crushed his head under his boot; burst it like a grape…

"Do you need healing?" Asked a woman, who was clad in white. She moved in front of Lucy, blocking the man from view and looked her up and down. She was holding a small and unusual weapon in both her hands. A second woman, clad in black, glanced at the blonde as she moved past her. In her hands was a rifle unlike anything she had seen before. "Excuse me…" Came the woman's gentle voice once more as she waved her left hand in front of the blonde's face. "I think she's in shock…"

"Leave her to Natsumi." The salmon-haired man ordered with a glance over his shoulder. "Lelyanna, do what you normally do at these attacks and look after anyone who needs to be healed. Henrietta, clean up the stragglers who are left on this side of those craters."

"Yes, Master." The woman in a black Lolita dress replied coolly. Up to this point, she had been walking just one step behind and to the right of the man as he advanced on the undead horde but now, she veered off and approached the monsters trying to crawl away. "It seems that the flares have caused these monsters to try and retreat. Fear of the sun?"

The gathered jaegers tried to run down the fleeing monsters but a sea of fire stopped them in their tracks. The two-metre-tall wave raced up the small hill in front of them and engulfed the undead, clinging to them like tree sap.

"Makarov! Call a retreat, I don't want people caught up in this!" The red-eyed man called out across the battlefield as he strolled through the raging inferno.

Before the old man could yell any orders, a crack pieced the night. The ashen-haired woman had executed one of the monsters with a shot to the head. She didn't alter her grip on the weapon as she shifted her sights onto her next target. Another crack rang out, and the monster's head was blown apart.

"All Jaegers Fall Back!" Makarov bellowed. His gaze darted around the battlefield, checking to see who had followed his orders and who hadn't. Thought thankfully, it seemed that all present had accepted his call and started to pull back. So, the old man shifted his attention to the lone man who was walking through a hellish inferno, carrying with him an aura so frightful that even the monsters were cowed before him. This wasn't the man he had met earlier that day, no, this was the monster he had sensed lurking within him. One born of the horrors of war. He was a predator who roamed the battlefield, ready to slaughter those who he considered his enemy.

Lucy stayed rooted to the spot; her eyes glued to the man as he crested the hill. A light flashed within his hands and he levelled a weapon even stranger than the one that Lelyanna and Henrietta had. It had some kind of box where it stored the ammunition, which was linked together and seemed to feed into the left side of the weapon. Her heart thumped once, twice, and then the firearm emitted a noise that sounded like the world itself was being viciously sawed in two. Casings and linkages spewed from the right side but vanished after thirty centimetres of the gun in short, half-second bursts as violent muzzle flashes pulsed from the muzzle and illuminated the man's vicious snarl.

"He finally came. And boy, does he feel pissed off." Natsumi let out a relieved sigh as she hurried to her best friend's side. "You were wondering who that is? That him, that is Natsu."

"Princess, are you okay?" Loke asked hurriedly as he came to a stop beside the blonde just as Taurus reached her. But he didn't get a response from the woman.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispered the man's name softly. She was unable to take her eyes off him as he continued to walk forwards, unfazed by the forces exerted on his body by the gun he was using. She saw the man's head twitch slightly and his glowing eyes shift towards her for a brief second when she had said his name but he quickly refocused on the task at hand. His gun clicked empty but a moment later, it started back up once more, sounding like a buzzsaw as it tore through the reanimated corpses, ripping flesh to giblets and grinding bones to powder. "What is he even using?"

"One of the weapons from his world. Those two women he arrived with," Natsumi directed Lucy's attention from the man and to them. "The one in the white dress with those glowing turquoise eyes is Archbishop Lelyanna; she usually has that veiled capelet covering her eyes but it seems she didn't put it on tonight. And that one in black with the long ashen hair is Henrietta, his android maid. We found her body in a laboratory in his old world and he built her artificial intelligence. They both are using weapons from his world too."

"Holy crap! Did you see him stop that Quin'ael dead in its tracks?" Grace called out as she raced over to her friends, quickly followed by Erza and Wendy. "I take it back, he's definitely not a pussy. He's some kind of monster."

"He can hear you; you know…" Natsumi muttered in a deadpanned tone. She tapped her left ear lightly, and flicked her glowing red eyes from her friend and to the man who was slowly making his way down the other side of the hill.

Lucy took a step towards the hill. She had seen something in the man's eyes, and it caused something to click within her mind. He was Natsumi from another world, there had been a Lucy there too. And since she had such a good relationship with Natsumi, a woman, if she was a guy then it was only natural to feel… The other Lucy would've been in love with a man like him, and the look she had been given confirmed that. There was pain and sadness in his eyes when he saved her, more than what it would've been if they were just friends. He missed his wife… he missed her. But he couldn't face it just yet, he had a job to do. He had to protect those he wasn't able to protect in his world…

"I need to talk to him..." Lucy murmured over her shoulder. While she was lost in her thoughts, she had begun running without realising it. Running towards the hill and through the raging inferno, she ignored her friends' panicked shouts and crested the hill unharmed just as the gunfire died down. She saw the man standing not far from here with the muzzle of his gun raised to the night sky, the barrel glowing red from the barrage of bullets he had unleased on the monsters. "N-Natsu, right?"

"Lucy, why did you follow me?" Natsu asked quietly. He didn't turn to look at the woman, instead he kept his eyes on the fleeing monsters; wondering if he should pursue them or let them go.

"I… I don't know why… Why didn't those flames hurt me when you had ordered everyone to fall back?"

"Master, I've cleaned up back here." Henrietta reported calmly as she walked past the blonde without even glancing at her. "I've also collected the casings from the shots I fired. I know you don't like leaving evidence behind." She held out a small bag for the man and it vanished with the touch of his finger. "Are we going to pursue the targets?"

"I'm considering it." Natsu replied to the android before slowly turning to face the woman who had the high ground. "This isn't over, they may still return."

"You didn't answer my question." Lucy stubbornly crossed her arms and leaned in a little.

"The flames were only ever going to harm the undead." Natsu explained. He slowly made his way up the hill and stopped right in front of the woman. "The real issue was that my weapons are exceptionally lethal and I didn't want anyone to accidentally stumble into my field of fire." The now-cooled gun vanished from his right hand and he brought it up between them as a ball of fire grew from his palm. "People naturally fear fire. Very few would run through it without a second thought, just like you had."

"You…" Lucy gulped and glanced at the warm orange flames, dragon flames, then raised her gaze to the man's demonic eyes. "I know for certain that she would never let her fire harm me, and I have no doubt in my mind that the same goes for you." As if to prove her point, Lucy suddenly grabbed the man's hand with both of her smaller hands and they were engulfed by the orange fire but all it did was gently tickle her skin.

"Gutsy as ever." Natsu murmured to himself. He lifted his gaze from the woman's beautiful chocolate brown eyes and looked at the sky above him as the flares began to peter out and they were bathed in darkness once more.

"I'd like to hear about her… Your wife… I-if that's okay with you, that is."

"Later." Natsu shook his head lightly and gently pulled free of her grasp. He turned away from the blonde as Lelyanna and Henrietta quietly came to a stop beside him. "Head back to your friends. I've made my decision. It was nice meeting you, Lucy." Natsu drew his Messers and turned toward the retreating monsters. Leaving the beautiful blonde standing on the hill, he started walking away from the city with both of his female companions silently following him.

Once more, Lucy found herself rooted to the spot; watching the man march towards danger like it was just another day for him; facing down a horde of enemies. Though, he had probably faced much worse where he came from. The thunderous sound of multiple dozens of footsteps came from behind her and someone called out for her, so she looked over her shoulder to see her guild members rushing through the fire like she had, not one of them getting burnt by it. From their position on the hill, they could see the horde regrouping ahead of the trio. But not one of their steps faltered.

"Who is that, Master?" Mira asked gently as she released her Take-Over magic. "He felt exactly like Natsumi…"

"That's because they are essentially the same person." The old man replied. "That man is Natsu Dragneel. A man from another version of our world. He was brought here after everyone in his world died from an unfathomably devastating war."

"We're not exactly the same." Natsumi corrected her guild master. "It's clear that our genetics are different, even though we have the same background. I mean, our hair is a different shade of pink, our skin has a different undertone, and from the old photos of him that I've seen, his eyes are a darker shade of onyx-green than mine… Well, now they're as dark as the abyss but they weren't always like that."

"Their faces are also different, beyond masculine and feminine differences." Lucy softly added. "But that comforting warmth is still there. And that strong will."

"What's the plan, Master?" Erza glanced down at the old man standing nearby. "I don't think he'd be happy if we follow him, but I don't think we should return home until he comes back."

"You're right, Erza, on both accounts." Makarov nodded slowly. He looked back at the now extinguished fire and the city beyond. "Let's clean this place up for now while we wait for his return. In the meantime, I'll tell you all what I know of him. Erza, Natsumi, please feel free to fill in any gaps or add your own opinions."

"I've got no issues with that." Natsumi shrugged and headed towards the nearest charred corpse. She lit it on fire and watched it as it slowly began to turn to ash. "And anyway, he did say it was alright for us to talk about him now, after all."

And another one bites the dust. This one was simple and only grew by about 50 to 60 words. I did have other scenes and greater adjustments in mind but with how the second scene has Lucy, Natsumi and the others as the focus instead of Natsu, I decided not to add in an additional scene where Natsu and Co hunts down the necromancers and captures them.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one.