"The Ultimate Show is ready to begin!" Hyde exclaimed.

"Man, this guy's a huge nut…" Shadowlore said while keeping his guard up.

"Sorry, but there's no show being run today! We're gonna cancel it!" Cynthia shouted while taking a step forward, but Hyde pointed his cane towards Lucy, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. "…!"

"You do care about her, don't you?" Hyde asked while gently tapping his cane on Lucy's forehead. "It would be a shame if there was an…"accident" on set that caused an unfortunate death." As he asked, a sly grin formed on his lips.

"I'm gonna wipe that grin right off your face…!" Natsu shouted, taking a quick dash forward, hoping to reach Hyde before he struck Lucy, but it was a cop out on Hyde's part.

"Phantom Slash!" The Dark Phantom exclaimed, his movements quicker than before. In one swipe of his cape, a large hurricane shot out and engulfed Natsu, causing him to hit the floor roughly. "Ha!"

"Guah!" Natsu let out a yelp of pain as he hit the floor, but he sprang up quickly, panting only just slightly. "Tch…"

"Natsu, are you okay?!" Lucy asked, feeling terrible that it was her fault that everyone was currently in a sticky situation.

"I'll be fine…" Natsu replied with a nod.

"Now, now…" Hyde said while floating above the ground slightly, legs crossed as he took a "seat" in the air. "There's a simple way that anymore harm can come to any of you."

"And what's that…?" Alex asked with a skeptical tone of voice. "I highly don't it's going to be as painless as you say it's going to be…"

"Well, perhaps," Hyde merely shrugged. "It all depends on your cooperation, little girls."

"Little girls?" Alex raised a brow, not liking the direction this was going.

"Oh, don't get a head full of hot air, you're nothing but a side character in this little plot," Hyde stated bluntly.

Alex took an offended stance at Hyde's statement, glaring hatefully at him. "Hey! That's rude and I take a lot of offense to that! I'm not just a side character!"

"Anyway…" Hyde said while changing the subject, shifting his eyes to Cynthia first. "You, Cynthia. You'll be first."

"Wait, what?!" Cynthia narrowed her eyes towards Hyde. "What the heck is that supposed to mean!?"

"It's quite simple." Hyde said while tilting his top hat over his eyes, a malevolent aura emitting from his body. "Here's how things are going to start. You are going to give me your lacrima."

"WHAT!?" Everyone shouted out in unison at Hyde's request.

"Y-You're crazy!" Cynthia said, clutching her hands to her chest immediately.

"You can't do that!" Lucy protested. "Her lacrima is…!"

"Hmm…well, whose problem is that now?" Hyde asked in a condescending tone. "It certainly isn't mine. And she'll do what I ask, she doesn't want to see you hurt, isn't that right?"

"You…" Lucy snarled towards Hyde. "You'll regret this!"

"A perfect production?" Hyde inquired with a sarcastic tone. "Oh yes, it'll go down in flames." He rolled his eyes before pointing at Cynthia once again. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Ngh…" She took a slow step forward, letting out a heavy sigh as her arms dropped. "This isn'y fair…you know I'd kick your butt, so you need a hostage!"

Hyde gave a shrug. "That little trick isn't going to work on me…now stop stalling and cough it up!" Out of a sudden fit of rage, Hyde swung his cape forward, unleashing a Phantom Slash upon Cynthia. She let out a cry of pain as she slid across the floor, falling to a knee.

"Ow…" Cynthia winced, one eye closed shut.

"Hey…!" Alex growled and ran over to Cynthia with Wendy. "Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine…" Cynthia replied.

"YOU…!" Natsu growled, but again, he couldn't take a step forward for Lucy's wellbeing.

Shadowlore let out as light growl, his hands starting to turn into claws. "…"

"Hyde!" Suddenly, the spirit of Vanessa appeared beside Cynthia, glaring towards Hyde. "How dare you hit a defenseless child! Mine, to be exact!"

"Mom!?" Alex's eyes widened at the sight of her deceased mother.

"She's back…" Lucy murmured.

"Oh, Vanessa…?" Hyde tilted his head in confusion. "What's this…? Haven't found peace just yet, it seems? Shoo, you're not in this script…and then again, it's not like you can do anything anyway. Though, I'm sure Aiden would love to see you once more. His beloved wife…" He snickered at the end of his last sentence.

"Tch…" Vanessa scoffed at Hyde before smiling towards Cynthia. "You don't have to worry about a thing, dear. Remember what you're here for, right? All of you. He wanted to defeat the power of your friendship, and you're all falling right into his trap."

"This is a trap?" Alex asked.

"I get it…" Wendy put the pieces together. "Aiden was using Cynthia's bonds with Alex and I against us…!"

"Unlike that time, there won't be anyone to save you now. All of your friends have been dealt with by the generals, in one way or another. Win or lose, it's been made sure that they won't be interfering with this spectacle." Hyde said while tapping his foot on the ground. "Now hurry up, I don't have all day!"

"So…" Natsu smirked slightly, finally beginning to understand how things were working around here. "You're trying to use our friendship against us, and back us into a corner that way…?" His smirk grew wider…it was almost an evil smirk. He took a step forward, causing Hyde to point at Lucy again, but Natsu kept walking.

"Wait a second…!" Hyde growled. "Don't you care about her!?"

"Of course we do!" Cynthia said while taking a step forward herself, deciding to match Natsu's determination.

"I don't…" Shadowlore muttered, yet he smirked still. "Too much, anyway."

"Gee, thanks…" Lucy said with a roll of her eyes.

"You just don't understand it, do you!? I'll kill her right on the spot if you don't stop moving!" Hyde shouted with a growl, wondering what made everyone so bold all of the sudden.

"I don't think so," Natsu said as he began his dash forward, fire flaring around his body. "Because our bonds aren't something you can beat!"

"That's what you think!" Hyde said while raising his cane up, preparing to strike Lucy down with it, but an iron lance shot out from the distance, causing the cane to miss its target horribly. "What!?"

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted, slamming his fiery fist right into Hyde's cheek, causing the play write to stagger back a step.

"Ngh!?" Hyde looked in the direction the iron lace came from, eyes widening slightly. "What the?!"

Gajeel and Juvia stood on a railing high above. Gajeel had his arm extended, his signature smirk on his face. "Gihehe…Now that's a nice shot."

"Excellent shot, Gajeel-kun!" Juvia chimed in.

"What?! I thought you were finished! I wrote you two off myself!" Hyde growled, his fist clenching in anger.

"Sorry, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to knock us down. Lesson one: never throw me down a pit unless you know I'm gonna stay there!" Gajeel replied before aiming his iron lance towards the chains that bound Lucy. He fired off one lance, and with that, cut through her chained arms. "You outta stop getting yourself caught like that."

"As long as you guys are around I'm never worried!" Lucy replied while freeing herself from the leg chains, now standing upright.

"What…no! This isn't…this isn't how this script goes!" Hyde began to shake in anger, then realized something. He pulled up Lucy's keys, jingling them in a taunting manner. "HA! I still have your keys!"

"No you don't!" Juvia exclaimed while whipping her arm back, morphing it into a water whip. "Nobody messes with Juvia's love-rival but Juvia!" She shouted while swiping Lucy's keys from Hyde's grip from such a long range, throwing them over to Lucy after.

"I don't like Gray!" Lucy replied before catching her keys, twirling them around with her pointer finger. "But thanks, Juvia!"

"Well, well…" Alex said with a grin growing. "It looks like your little script isn't going the way you thought it would, huh?"

"Pun!" Plue exclaimed, body jiggling violently as always while giving a grin.

"Hm…." Hyde let out a heavy sigh. "I was hoping things wouldn't take this nasty turn…but I suppose that it couldn't be avoided. Oh well." His sudden nonchalant attitude about the shift in the tides caused everyone to worry once again.

"Oi, which way's the wind blowing with this guy anyway…" Gajeel asked as his eyes narrowed. Something was certainly not right.

"You managed to rescue your dear Celestial mage…" Hyde began. "But, do you think you'll be able to rescue all of them!?" After he spoke, multiple dark spheres appeared around the perimeter of the room, causing everyone's eyes to widen. Within these spheres were most of their guild members. Daryan, Cana, Aira, Luke, Selene, Gray, Jack, Taya, Warren, Reve, Mirajane, Zalen, Waiston, Cygnus, Yakuza, Takeru, and Magnus.

"WHA!?" Lucy covered her mouth in complete shock. "What the…!?"

"I told you!" Aira said while trapped with the sphere of darkness.

"Oh, quiet…!" Luke huffed, looking down at Hyde with a hateful glare. "You are NOT using us as bargaining chips!"

"He's really pulling out all the stops here, isn't he…?" Reve scoffed. "Can't believe that little goat got the upperhand on us somehow…"

"You can't keep up with everything, Gunslinger," Hyde chuckled before looking up, noticing the ceiling was beginning to open. Aiden came down, standing on a floating platform with his arms crossed behind his back. "Ah, and the man himself has finally arrived!"

"Hyde, you've done very well!" Aiden said with a large grin. "You've gathered all the pieces and removed all of the unnecessary ones, excellent work!" The dastardly duo of Aiden and Hyde now stood side by side, both grinning widely at their success. "Things have gone exactly according to plan, minus the few snags here and there."

"I'm really taking a dislike to where this is going…" Cana said while to bang her way out of the sphere, but there was no effect.

"Tch!" Gray scoffed.

"Gray-sama! Don't worry, Juvia will save you!" As Juvia exclaimed this, she pointed her arms forward and unleashed a massive torrent of water towards the sphere holding Gray. "Wings of Love!" The blast of water collided with the sphere, but all of Juvia's might was shrugged off rather easily, leaving the water mage in a state of shock. "W-Wha…! That was all of Juvia's love!"

"Did you think we were messing around when we said we were going to defeat both you and your pitiful power of friendship!?" Aiden shouted with a sinister aura emitting from his person. "The only way to shut these things down is to strike their power source, but those are on the other side of this building, and you don't have the time to take a leisurely walk there. This is where we finish things, Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and you too, Cosmic Star."

.

.

Once again, Erza and Knightwalker ran each other dry of magic. While they both still had weapons to use, they had been flung out of their hands, so they once again had to resort to blows. Erza slugged Knigthwalekr across the face with a hard right, only for Knightwalker to return the action immediately, the two striking at the same time. They both staggered back, panting heavily. "I will make you pay for you actions this time…" Erza said with an evil look in her eye. "I'll not forgive you for what you've done to the other Fairy Tail."

"I refuse to be seen as anything other than your superior…!" Knightwalker said while letting out a scream. She rushed towards Erza once again, throwing rage-filled punches. Defeating Erza was the only thing on her mind at the moment. Most of Knightwalker's punches landed, causing cries of pain to escape Erza's lips. This only lasted for a few seconds until Erza found an opening and ducked low, rising quickly with a sharp knee to Knightwalker's gut, winding the Edolas captain for a few seconds. "Ugh..!"

"I don't need to say it again…" Erza said through heavy breaths, using what little was left of her magic to conjure up a simple sword, holding it with both hands.

Knightwalker reached over for her spear, pouring out what she had left into one final attack. "I'll KILL YOU!" But, before any actual movement was made, the front door collapsed, causing the two knights to jump back. The Artificial Dragon laid on its back, defeated with a large hole in its chest. "…!"

Gaia walked forward in her human form, panting and heaving heavily, nearly falling over as she walked. "Whew…that was a little harder than I thought it was going to be…" There was a large gash on her stomach. Though deep, it wasn't as bad as it could've been.

"Gaia…" Erza glanced over at Knightwalker, only to see that she wasn't there anymore. (She must've fled once seeing the dragon fall…) Erza thought before limping over to the dragon, helping support her. "You're injured…"

"I'm fine…" Gaia said with a light chuckle. "It's nothing I can't handle…haha…ow…"

"I sure do hope the others are okay…" Erza said while glancing at the closed doors ahead.

.

.

"So, this is how we're going to do things…" Aiden said while pointing to both Cynthia and Wendy. "You two, stand in the center of the room."

"Both of them?" Mirajane asked, feeling a large amount of concern for everyone.

"He didn't stutter, chop chop!" Hyde said while clapping his hands. "Oh, and don't think about making any sudden movements, Fairy Tail. Otherwise…"

"You bastard…" Natsu growled.

Cynthia and Wendy slowly nodded to each other and walked into the dead center of the room, where they were immediately trapped in a tube rising from the ground, seeming to have a point of connection with something overhead. "Eep!" Cynthia squealed, holding onto Wendy.

"They're going to be harmed. Drastically," Aiden said with a grin. It was then that the room itself began to move upwards. This action caused the dragon slayers' (Natsu, Gajeel, Cynthia, Daryan, Waiston, and Laxus to some degree) motion sickness to activate.

"Gonna hurl…" Waiston said, but he was trying to hold it in.

"D-Dammit…" Gajeel groaned, his legs becoming jelly as he fell to the floor, just about unable to move.

"It's an elevator…" Zalen said while adjusting his glasses. "We're moving up higher into the lab…I don't see Sidney or Gildarts around…maybe they…"

"They're long gone…" Hyde commented with a grin. "Gareth did his mission well." Then the Dark Phantom floated as the room continued up, a large grin on his face. "Everything is nearly ready, the show will soon begin!" And just after that, a yellow blur burst from the wall, striking Hyde across the jaw. It was Jellal! "!?" Hyde's eyes widened as Jellal and his Meteor took him off guard. Immediately, the two were locked in combat, shockwaves of powerful magic energy radiating around the moving room. "Well, well! Look whose finally decided to join the festivities!" Hyde exclaimed towards Jellal with a grin. "It's always a pleasure to see you, Jellal! Where are your lady friends?!"

"No concern of your," Jellal replied bluntly while shouting towards Lucy and the others who could move. "Now's your chance!"

"R-Right!" Lucy nodded, looking over to Juvia, Shadowlore, and Alex, beginning a sprint towards the tube Wendy and Cynthia were trapped in. "Come on, we're rescuing them!"

"Right behind you!" Alex shouted.

"I don't think so!" Aiden yelled towards the mages, throwing his hand forward and unleashed a few spears of diamond at the rescue group. Once these spears hit the ground, the enlarged quickly, expanding to the point where it cut off any straight path to the tube.

"H-HEY!" Selene's eyes widened at the use of Aiden's diamonds. There was no mistake about it in her mind, those were hers. "M-My diamonds!"

"Everyone…!" Wendy shouted with clear concern. She and Cynthia both tried to escape the tube from the inside, but it was far too durable for anything they could do to work. All they could do was sit and wait for the others to rescue them.

"Phantom…CLAW!" Hyde shouted, unleashing a demon's claw from his midsection. This caught Jellal off guard, but he managed to avoid most of it. The claw scrapped his leg, causing him to spiral out of control and hit the ground.

"Gah…!" Jellal grunted, immediately moving to pick himself back up, but before he could move Aiden unleashed another diamond spear, this one encasing Jellal's midsection, making it near impossible for him to contort his way out.

"Can't have you interfering with the operation anymore, Jellal…" Aiden said with a slight smirk. "You've done enough already, so sit back and enjoy the show."

"We're gonna get you all out of there, okay!?" Lucy said with a determined voice. "I swear it!"

"Don't go making promises you can't keep, now…" Aiden said with a grin, pointing his finger at Lucy. "Bang." A magic seal appeared on his finger, and from it, a large blast of magic, identical to Reve's magnum shot out towards the celestial mage. This only caused Reve to grit his teeth in anger, only because Aiden was using his magic in such a disgusting way.

"Wah!" Lucy hit the deck, the blast of magic creating a large explosion.

"I'm getting real sick of this guy…" Shadowlore growled.

'This guy is NOT a man!" Elfman shouted at the top of his lungs. "Let me out, and I'll show you how a real man lays down a beating!"

"Juvia doesn't like where this is going…" Juvia muttered to herself.

"If only I had Taurus…he could probably smash through those diamonds…" Lucy mentally kicked herself. Suddenly, as a surprise to everyone, the darkened spheres holding the others captive shattered like glass. Everyone hit the ground, though the Dragon slayers were still suffering from the motion sickness of the rising elevator room.

"Wait…WHAT?!" Aiden's eyes widened at the sudden freedom of the mages.

"How in the…!?" Hyde took a step back, taken aback at what just happened.

{Elsewhere a few minutes ago}

Draco had white fire surrounding his arms as he traded places with Jellal against Kid, having met again within the lab. Draco created a white pillar of fire to rise from Kid's feet, but the agile goat managed to dodge quickly, now aiming a barrage of fast punches and kicks all over Draco's exterior. The Blaze mage quickly began to get heated and angered from the constant strikes, and unleashed an explosive aura of white fire around his person, pushing and burning Kid immensely. The goat hit the wall, but sprang up quickly. "Tch…" Draco let out a grunt of annoyance, yet continued to let the unique white fire flare around his person. "I'm beginning to grow annoyed with you. Come…let us test your boiling point against these flames that have long transcended the past…"

"A Blaze Mage…how interesting…" Kid said while wiping the back of his mouth. He prepared another strike, but the next thing he knew, multiple spheres crashed into the machines behind him, causing his eyes to widen. "What?!"

"Flash forward." Ultear said with a sly grin, allowing her orb to float around her person.

"Nice job, UI!" Meredy chimed. "I'm not sure what that did…but if he was protecting it, then that means it has to be something that'll hurt Hyde!"

{Present}

"One job!" Hyde groaned while pinching the bridge of his nose. Things were falling apart once again and he wasn't a fan of it. "Accursed goat…!"

"Better watch out!" Luke said while charging in with a Black God's Bomb at the ready, hurling it towards Hyde with gusto. "That's for the sneak attack you dirty bastard!"

"Such an attack won't affect me!" Hyde shouted angrily towards the copycat, allowing the Black God's Bomb to phase through him as nearly all attacks did, striking the wall nearby with an explosion.

"How did that miss!? He's no Sidney!" Luke groaned.

"Can't you see it, Luke?" Aira said while pointing at Hyde. "He's a Phantom. Frontal attacks aren't going to work unless his guard is down. He's the type where you have to attack from the back in order to get a sure fire hit on him!"

"Leave that to me, then…" Cygnus said while cracking his knuckles, walking forward.

"The shadows are everywhere…striking from behind is easy…" Takeru said as a dark, malicious aura began to seep from his person. He was clearly angry about being played and trapped as such.

"And what about the other guy?" Magnus said while pointing towards Aiden, who was standing on the opposite side of the room. "Judging on what he's done so far, he's got your magic from the last time you guys squared off against him."

"We'll just…take him down…" Natsu groaned, struggling to stand up, which he couldn't in his condition.

"I'll…take him out first…" Gajeel said with his own groan.

"Not everything has to be a competition you two!" Cana shouted in a comical manner. Everything seemed to be going great for the mages, until the elevator finally stopped, the tube around Cynthia and Wendy connecting with an even larger, familiar stricture up above: A cannon.

"Ah ha! We've made it." Aiden grinned, allowing the floating platform he was standing on to rise to the top of the room. The walls opened up, and there was a clear view of everything within miles. "Like the view?" He asked.

Selene took the tip to free Jellal from the diamonds she was now branding as fake, looking over at Aiden, then the cannon overhead, eyes widening at the sight of it. "Wait a second…that's…!"

"Allow me to present you with a new, old creation! The Omega Fire Cannon MK II!" Aiden exclaimed with obvious joy. "Let's begin the warm up, shall we?" It was voice command. Sparks began flying within the tube, causing Wendy and Cynthia to let out cries of pain as Omega Flames flared from their bodies unwillingly, charging up the cannon. A loud, robotic "whirr" sound signified the start of the warm up. "Since you two want to do everything together, you can do this, too!"

"Like hell!" Natsu said, finally regaining strength as the elevator stopped. He dashed towards the tube, weaving through the diamonds in the way while pulling a fist back, Gajeel right by his side. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" Gajeel said while encasing his arms in iron scales.

"I don't think so!" Yeti Blizzard said while stomping on the ground right in front of the two slayers, causing them to back off.

"What's this…?" Laxus said with a raised brow. Hollow, Terra Condor, General Augria, Apollo Flame, Yeti Blizzard, and Brachio Wave all returned, surrounding the tube in a protective manner. "I thought ya were all gone?"

"Brilliant part about machines is that if they're broken, you can just fix them again," Hyde said with a chuckle. "Now then, what do you propose the first target should be, Aiden?"

"Oh, I've got my sights set on that beautiful town of Magnolia…" As Aiden spoke, the cannon shifted aim, targeting Fairy Tail's home, and where all of the other guilds were at the moment too.

"You better not!" Warren shouted.

"You won't stop me unless you can stop the cannon in time!" Aiden exclaimed. "But, that's already too late! It's about to fire!" He was right. The cannon was just about warmed up, and a large red sphere of fire formed within the mouth of the cannon, getting ready to launch. "FIRE!" And just as he said fire, multiple blue spheres of energy struck the canon, causing it to spark and delay. "What the!?" Aiden looked over head along with everyone else, his eyes narrowing into a deep glare at what he saw. Blue Pegasus' ship, Christina, flew overhead, canons aimed right at the Omega Fire Cannon MK II.

"MEN! Excellent shot!" Ichiya said while striking a pose.

"Yar, yar!" Ace said while standing on the top of the ship's mast, looking down at what was occurring. "Excellent shot, mateys!"

"Ace, this isn't a pirate ship…!" Levy said with a comical sweat drop.

"I think we should let him have his fun…" Lisanna said with a nervous smile.

"Hey, look, down there…!" Chelia pointed to the tube that held Cynthia and Wendy.

"It looks like he's siphoning energy off of them to power that massive cannon…" Hibiki said while bringing up his Archive Magic. "A structure that big surely has an obvious power source…"

"It's obvious!" Chelia said while preparing to jump. "He's using them to power the cannon!"

"What's this, I didn't call for them!" Aiden said with a growl, now deciding to change up his aim according to the situation. "Shoot that ship down again!" The cannon shifted aimed, pointing right at Christina.

"If we don't stop that cannon right now they're gonna be toast…!" Cana gasped.

"Sky God's…" Chelia took a leap forward, gathering a whirlwind of black wind around her palm. "Boreas!" She said while throwing the sphere forward, unleashing a spiraling whirlwind of black winds that struck the tube around Cynthia and Wendy, shattering it instantly. A large explosion took place, blowing everyone away as a result. Chelia landed, immediately going over to the two girls. "Are you two alright…!?"

"Never better…" Cynthia said with a lazy smile.

"Aye…" Wendy replied.

"Well, well." Aiden said through the clearing smoke, grinning towards Chelia. "If it isn't the girl who helped me back at the Magic Council. What a pleasure to see you again."

"You…you helped him, Chelia?" Cynthia asked with widened eyes, causing Chelia to look down, clearly regretting that action as it led to this situation. Cynthia picked up on this and just shook her head. "Don't worry about it, we'll be fine!"

"Oi, Ace!" Gray shouted from below. "You comin' down or what?!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Ace grinned, requipping into his Acid Ace armor, and leapt down, landing to join the fray. "The Calvary has arrived!"

"MAN!" Elfman grinned, flexing his muscles. "Now it's time to turn the tables!"

"Hmph! Don't think this is over yet!" Aiden said while pressing a button, causing another tube to trap Cynthia and Wendy, once again drawing power from them. "I'm no idiot; I've installed a backup just in case! Now, fire, fire, fire!" The cannon seemed to fire once again, but it shut off just ask quickly. "What now…?!"

"Found it!" Happy called from around the corner, having yanked out the large cord he, Carla, and Lily had been following for awhile now.

"Whoa, what's going on here!?" Carla asked with widened eyes at the sight of everything going on.

"We're just in time for the fighting…" Lily said with a smirk. "Gieheh…"

"Damn cats…!" Aiden grunted before rising higher in his floating platform. "This…this isn't over! Hollow, lead the charge and destroy them all!" As he said this, he began to flee into a different section of the lab.

"He's getting away…" Cynthia said weakly.

"None of this was in my script!" Hyde yelled at the top of his lungs, beginning to take the opposite direction himself.

"Hyde, too…!" Wendy said.

"You need to rest!" Carla ordered, looking around at the large group battle that was about to take place.

"We'll deal with Hyde!" Natsu said while he, Lucy, Gajeel, Gray, and Juvia ran off. "You guys can deal with them!"

"What?! NO!" Takeru objected, following behind Natsu's group. "There's no way I'm letting you take the good fight again!"

"Alright…everyone out of the way…" Reve said while taking a step forward, cocky smirk plastered on his face once again. "I can take them."

"Don't be stupid…" Daryan said while patting Reve on the shoulder. "Let me handle this."

"Please…" Laxus said with a scoff, walking in front of both Reve and Daryan. "You two ladies can take a seat, and watch how a real S class gets things done."

"You can measure your egos later…" Taya said with an annoyed sigh.

"This is later…" Alex replied to Taya with her own sigh.

"Reve," Zalen and Waiston said with a nod.

"Daryan!" Alex, Shadowlore, and Magnus exclaimed.

"Laxus!" Happy, Mira, and Elfman chimed in.

"How about we just kill you all and be done with it?" Apollo Flame said with an annoyed tone.

.

.

Natsu's group caught up with Hyde, who was staring into the distance within a large open space outside. They stood behind him, while he just let out a sigh. "Why…?" He asked the group, a sort of pain noticeable in his voice. He then turned around, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Why are you always in my way!? Why?! Tell me! Why won't you follow my scripts!? This one was such a perfect script! We crush your bonds and then destroy you! We get our revenge and grow unstoppable in one fell swoop!"

"You're such an idiot!" Gray responded to Hyde's outburst.

"We don't give a shit about your stupid script!" Gajeel added on. "How many times are we gonna have to say it!?"

"…!" Hyde gasped as he had a sudden realization. "Now I completely understand…you fools…you fools haven't read my scripts! That's why you weren't acting accordingly to it! It's not the writer's fault…you selfish actors are completely to blame! You fools….you fools…"

"Ummm….?!" Lucy's eyes widened at Hyde's reaction, taking a step back out of nervousness.

"What the heck is this guy talking about…!?" Gray asked.

"I think he's lost it…" Takeru commented. "Not that he had much to lose, anyway…"

"Juvia is a little worried at the moment…" Juvia said while clinging to Gray's arm, though that wasn't quite what he wanted at the moment.

"It's all your fault! YOU'RE FIRED!" Hyde screamed.

"No, you're the one who's fired!" Natsu pounded his fist together, flames lighting around them. "I'm all fired up!"

.

.

Hyde: "You've all ruined my show! For that, you must pay, with your lives!"

Natsu: "Like that'll happen! We're finishing this here and now, Hyde!"

Aiden: "Don't get too comfortable. We won't be taking another loss to you wizards!"

Next time: The Final Act!