"Ugh…" Wendy sat up from the pile of snow, shivering as she looked around. "W-Where am I…?" She stood up, only to notice movement within the pile of snow near the door. "…!" She jumped back immediately, cheeks puffing out as she prepared a Sky Dragon's Roar.

"Gah…" Cynthia popped her head up from the snow, shaking her head to remove the snow from her hair. "My hair…I just got it all shiny for the festival too…" She groaned, blinking once she noticed Wendy with her cheeks puffed out, staring with a blank expression. "Oh. Hi there…"

"Hi…" Wendy said as she exhaled gently. "Are you okay?"

"I think so…" Cynthia said as she stood up, suddenly shivering immensely with a blue face. "There's snow in my pants…!" She then began to flail around while patting the bottom of her pants. "It's so cold!"

"You could just melt it…" Alex said while climbing out of the snow completely unfazed.

"Then it'll look like I wet myself…!" Cynthia groaned.

"Is everyone okay?" Warren asked via telepathic communication.

"Warren, is that you?" Cana asked.

"We're fine over here…!" Lucy exclaimed.

"GOSH!" Shadowlore groaned loudly. "Can't you guys have sunshine and rainbows JUST ONCE?!"

"Don't act like this is all our fault! That isn't manly!" Elfman shouted in reply to Shadowlore.

"It IS all your fault!" Shadowlore responded. "Bad luck seems to be attached to all of you!"

"You know, I can't argue with him there…" Carla said.

"Now that we've established Fairy Tail's luck, or lack thereof," Cygnus started. "What's the game plan now? We're in, but that doesn't mean much if we don't know what we're doing."

"Well, we're all split up…" Magnus replied before coming up with an idea. "Perhaps we should all see where each of our paths lead. I imagine we've all been split up into groups…you know, this would be much easier if we had the aces in this conversation. Where are they, telepathy mage?"

"I can't seem to get a connection with Gildarts or Sidney…" Warren responded. "I'll keep trying. You guys go on ahead and see what we can do about this place." After that, the connection cut off.

.

.

"To be honest I don't think Sidney would want to talk to them anyway…" Luke shrugged before looking to his side. It seemed as though he was paired with Lucy once again. "…Oh. No wonder your voice sounded much closer."

"You and I again, huh?" Lucy shrugged, giving Luke a slight smile. "Well, let's hope things don't turn out like they did last year, right?"

"Let's not even bring it up," Luke replied with a few nods.

"Mhm…" Lucy gave a nod of agreement before a worried expression came across her face, looking back towards the closed door with piles of snow in front of it. "Even though I know how strong Erza is, I can't help but worry about her right now…"

"She's against that Knightwalker chick, right?" Luke asked with his arms crossed, beginning to walk down the corridor with Lucy right beside him.

"Yeah…" Lucy replied. "Knightwalker and Erza are both extremely powerful, but I worry that Aiden did something to Knightwalker to give her the edge…"

"Eh, she's a fairy. You guys are stubborn for god knows why," Luke replied with a subtle shrug. He wasn't saying it outright, but he was trying to reassure Lucy that Erza would be fine. "We're gonna kick this guy's ass again and make it out of here alright, got it?"

Lucy blinked, a bit surprised at Luke's words. A soft smile appeared on her face as she patted her key ring. "You've changed. But with you guys at my side, I don't feel so worried after all, heheh!"

"Don't get all mushy on me now…" Luke groaned in a slightly comical fashion, keeping ahead in case something decided to jump out at the two. "Just stay on your guard, I'm not about to be a substitute for saving your hide in place of Salamander!"

.

.

"Hm…" Aiden was in a different room of the lab now, monitoring all of the mages inside and out. He used his hand to move the surveillance cameras off to the side. Eventually, a slight grin found its way onto his face once he saw all the pairs. "Things are moving in motion just perfectly…The biggest problem, Gaia, is facing off against the Artificial Dragon, and Knightwalker is finally going to get her revenge against Erza after all this time."

"It's a beautiful production, is it not…?" A familiar voice from the shadows asked.

"Oh, yes, I agree." Aiden gave a nod of agreement. "Things are going swimmingly. I noticed that they were just barely able to defeat Hollow and the others, but now that I've given them all substantial upgrades, I do believe that they will all fall before the real fun begins."

"Real fun?" The voice seemed quite interested in what Aiden had to say. "Pray tell, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, that's right, I haven't told you…" Aiden grinned, turning around to face the figure he was speaking to. The scientist closed his hand, generating flames identical to Natsu's, while lightning identical to Laxus' surged for an exact copy of the infamous Lightning Flame mode, but just around that fist. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Oh ho…" The voice chuckled slightly. "Now, that is rather interesting if you ask me…But, if you'll excuse me for a few short moments, I need to go make sure things play out accordingly. I'm sure they won't ruin things this time, I've planned this out and I must say…" The male stepped out of the shadows, his top hat covering his face, but his sinister grin was still visible. "This plan is nothing less than perfection and excellence…"

.

.

Erza charged Knightwalker, now in her Heaven's Wheel armor. Titania quickly flew up before the two reached each other, a circle of swords appearing around her. "Dance, my blades! Circle sword!" The ring of blades around Erza spun around, aimed to slice Knightwalker.

"That trick won't work on me!" Knightwalker exclaimed while instantly changing her spear into her Vacuum Spear, immediately firing off an extremely powerful bust of wind that managed to hold off both Erza and the Circle Sword.

"Ngh!" Erza crossed the two swords in her hands into an X, attempting to push back against the burst of wind. After the attack was over, she went on the offensive once again, rushing Knightwalker with a series of fast slashes, from both swords. Knightwalker wasn't going to let Erza best her in any way shape or form, so the two entered intense close combat, sparks flying off of their weapons from each collision. "You're making a mistake!" Erza exclaimed to her Edolas Counterpart. "Aiden is a terrible man! I can understand that you want to settle the score, but you shouldn't be working with him!"

"Shut up!" Knightwalker immediately replied with a shout. "I'm doing exactly what I want to, Aiden has no influence on me. All he's done is help me achieve my goal, and I will defeat you here today, Scarlet!" The two jumped back, glaring at each other. Suddenly, a flash of a memory occurred in Knightwalker's mind, when she was just leaving Edolas. "Ah…that's right, I almost forgot…"

"Forgot what…?" Erza asked.

"Just as I was leaving Edolas, I took the life of one of those Fairy scum. Lucy Ashley, I believe it was the one who looks like your blonde. The look on her face when Hollow attacked her? That was the same expression Ashley had on her face before she died…" Knightwalker cooed the last part of her sentence, a sadistic smile on her face. "You hear that, blonde?"

(Elsewhere in the lab)

Knightwalker's little speech was made known via intercom, due to Aiden's efforts. Once Lucy caught wind of this news, her expression paled and her eyes widened. "S…She killed Ashley…?"

(Back to the fight scene)

"You…" Erza's eyes widened at Knightwalker's statement. She didn't know Ashley all that well, but she did know one thing. Ashley was a member of Fairy Tail, even if from an alternate world. The grip she had on her swords tightened immensely, a red aura now seeping from around her body. "You will not be forgiven for your action."

"Yes…" Knightwalker's grin widened at Erza's deadly glare. "Come at me with everything you have! I'm going to crush you at your best, Scarlet!"

.

.

Wendy, Cynthia, and Alex carefully treaded through the hallways of the laboratory, making sure to keep their guards up in case a sneak attack of some kind made way at them. Eventually, they made it into a particular room, filled with all sort of fancy technology that even the scientist of Fiore didn't have access to. "So many things…" Wendy said, slightly impressed by the amount of high tech in the room.

"How does he keep up with all this stuff, I have no idea…" Alex said while examining a few screens. A bunch of unfamiliar words and numbers ran up the screen, causing comical swirls to appear in her eyes. "Gah..! Too many things…!"

"Oi, oi, calm down…!" Cynthia said while fanning her elder sister in a comical manner.

"What's it say?" Wendy asked.

"Okay, okay, hold on…" Alex said while examining the computer and the machine it was linked to. "This…whoa!"

"What is it?!" Cynthia asked while flailing. "I can't take the suspense anymore!"

"This…This is a machine that can manipulate the flow of time…!" Alex said with wide eyes, and her exclamation shocked the other two girls as well.

"What does that mean!?" Cynthia asked.

"It means that with machine he can pull anything from however far in the future…!" Alex gasped.

"Ah!" Wendy gasped as well, as for her, it clicked. This entire time there was something that didn't belong in this timeline, and she had been wondering how they got back to this time. "Future Rogue…It's starting to make sense now, I think…Aiden must've used this to pull Future Rogue from his future."

"No way!" Cynthia clenched her fists in annoyance. "He tried to get that future-telling guy on his side! Well I can see how that worked out for him!"

"Future telling…?" Wendy blinked, looking at Cynthia with a confused look. "Did he tell you something when you two were fighting…?"

"I…" Cynthia stopped immediately, ushering Alex to keep going. "Is there anything else we need to be worried about.

"Well…this machine seems to be a bit broken…" Alex said as she scrolled through the damage reports. "See that little gate over there? It's apparently been gathering large amounts of magic for a while now. I guess Future Rogue broke it and it just didn't turn off…"

"What else is there in the future that could possibly come out…?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, there's…" Suddenly, she stopped, face going pale. "NO! NO NO NO NO NO!" The three females saw the report of what was coming in, and what WOULD be coming if the machine wasn't stopped soon.

"DESTROY IT!" Cynthia nearly screamed. She puffed out her cheeks and unleashed a Omega Fire Dragon's Roar onto the machine built by Aiden, a small explosion signifying massive damage was dealt.

"Whew…" Wendy placed her hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat. It was erratic from the scare, but it was all okay now. "That could've been disastrous…"

"No kidding…let's get going…" Cynthia nodded slowly, and the three girls left the room without a second though. Seconds after they left, the time machine began to spark before turning on once again, a low "whirr" sound occurring as the machine continued its exact objective as before, drawing in magic energy to summon something from the future…

.

fJuvia walked down a hallway until they walked into a large, open room. The two mages looked around but failed to find anything of interest, minus the large pool that was a few feet below them. "Water?" Juvia blinked a few times; something about this situation ringing a bell she'd rather not remember. "Juvia has a bad feeling about this, Gajeel-kun…"

"Hm…" Gajeel grunted, taking a step forward. "Something about this ain't right, I can say that much. This much water in one room? What for?"

"Hehe, it's good to see you again…" Brachio said as he emerged from the water, already within his takeover form resembling the loch-ness monster, only orange. Something about him was much different than the prior encounter.

"Brachio!" Juvia exclaimed, clenching her fist in anger. "Juvia defeated you!"

"Yes, and I won't forget about that either!" Brachio replied to the water mage while snapping his jaws at her. "You humiliated me in my own element, but that won't happen again!"

"Gieheh…" Gajeel gave his signature laugh towards the sea creature. "You lost to Juvia in water, that's only natural. Now, with me and her here, you don't stand a chance!"

"Against the old Brachio, perhaps…" Brachio admitted with a nod. "But I am no longer Brachio! I am Brachio Version 2!"

"Version 2…?" Juvia tilted her head in confusion.

"Faster, stronger, more durable, you won't be beating me this time!" Brachio exclaimed, and as he did, the floor under Gajeel and Juvia suddenly gave out, forcing them into the water. "You're in my element now, and this time, I won't be defeated!"

.

.

The festival in Magnolia didn't exactly die off with Fairy Tail's absence. In fact, most of the others were doing what they could to try and keep the festivities alive. "They'll be back soon. What are we worried about?" Macao said with a laugh. "They showed that fraud of a scientist what for last time!"

"Yeah!" Romeo siad with a firm nod. "Natsu-nii and the others will be back before we know it!"

"Laxus is there as well. So, it won't take him long to handle business." Freed said.

"And my siblings!" Lisanna nodded. Everyone was fairly confident that the others would be back before long. Things continued, although she couldn't help but notice Ace standing a fair distance away. "Ace?" She approached him. "What's the matter?"

"Eh?" Ace blinked and smiled at Lisanna. He had a few snacks in hand, munching on them loudly as usual. It was annoying for anyone nearby, but Lisanna was willing to bear with it. "What's up? Not worried about things, are you?"

"I am worried." Lisanna placed her hands on her hips, looking directly at Ace. "About you! You've been looking fairly distant since the festival started. What's wrong?"

Geez, Lisanna sure knew him. Ace glanced off to the side for a moment. "Nothing's wrong, Lisanna. I'm good, I promise."

'I don't believe you." Lisanna shook her head. She was hoping Ace would be upfront about it, but she'd had to drag it out in that case. "You were thinking about what happened with Jack, weren't you...?"

"...Yes and no." Ace admitted, crossing his arms and letting out a sigh. "It's just...this town could've burned down to nothing because of Jack. You guys pretty much did everything you could...and I was nowhere to be seen until the very end."

"That's not your fault." Lisanna shook your head. During her time with Ace, she learned that he put a lot of responsibilty on himself. "And even though Jack was strong...we weren't going to give up until it was all over."

"Jack beat Natsu..." Ace grit his teeth. "It was close, but close isn't cutting it."

"Erza also beat Heartless!" Lisanna exclaimed, trying to ease Ace's worries. "We can do this, Ace. You have to trust us more. I know you feel like you have to do everything huge by yourself, but..."

"It's not that I don't trust you guys. I know you're strong..." But it was clear that Ace was having some doubts. Dealer was strong... "I'm starting to worry I put you all in danger, and that I should've continued to do this myself. I can hardly say what I've done to help you all, that I haven't just done for myself. Everyone's been getting stronger, we don't know what King is planning, at the end of the day, Joker will always be stronger..."

Lisanna couldn't bear to stand Ace talking like this. She knew that this came from a place of concern. It was only natural to have doubts knowing the strength of the enemy, but Lisanna had faith in Fairy Tail. Ace scouted Fairy Tail and everyone else for their strength, and she wasn't going to let him forget that. "I think you need to be taught a lesson, Ace."

"Huh?" The fact Lisanna said it so firmly caught him by surprise.

Lisanna pointed at Ace, a determined expression appearing on her face. This outburst caught everyone's attention. "You need to see for yourself the fire that Fairy Tail has inside. I'll be the person to show it to you! Acid Ace...fight me!"

.

.

Ace: Are you sure about this, Lisanna?

Lisanna: Absolutely. I want to show you what I've learned...and I'm going to teach you something as well! Don't you dare hold back on me!

Ace: Okay. If this is what you want...I won't hold back!

Next time: Ace vs. Lisanna!