"Haaaa!" Tia cried out, slamming her scepter into Ace's chest. Ace slid back as a result, but he stayed silent despite the heavy hit. "Yaaa!" She swung her scepter again, landing a direct hit just as before, causing Ace to slide back again. Tia panted heavily after her assault.

"…" Ace merely looked at Tia, not saying a word.

"N-Ngh…" An injured Luke glanced up at the current scene. "He hasn't thrown a punch yet…what the hell is he doing…"

"Don't move…" Aira said while healing Luke.

"Tch!" Tia let out a frustrated huff at Ace's lack of action. "Ace, what the hell are you doing?! Why aren't you fighting back?! Are you taking it easy on me!?"

"I'm not taking it easy on you, Queen Tia…" Ace said in a serious tone.

"Then why aren't you fighting me back?" Tia asked in annoyance.

"I'm just scanning your current abilities…" Ace said before his visor flashed yellow. "And done…"

"You're taking me lightly, aren't you…" Tia glared at Ace while gripping her scepter once again.

"What makes you say that?" Ace asked.

"You haven't thrown a punch yet. What else am I supposed to think…?" Tia replied.

"Think whatever you like…" Ace replied, the wings on his back spreading out. "But I don't think you'll be able to take this attack. Wing Blade!" In a flash, Ace zoomed past Tia, appearing behind her.

"…!" Tia gasped, clutching her chest while using her scepter for support. "W-What was that…!? In just one attack he…"

"I didn't even see him move…" Selene said in a sort of amazement.

"You've grown much stronger, Tia…" Ace said while keeping his back turned to the Queen. "But, at your current skill level, you will not be able to hit me, and you have no chance of evading any of my attacks. You have no chance of winning this, or any battle with me. I suggest you turn yourself in now."

Ace's words only brought more anger from the already aggressive Tia. She tightened her grip around her scepter. "You're making light of my abilities…how dare you?! Stop toying with me, you could've finished me off with that last attack…"

"Well, I'll be sure not to hold back this time…" Ace replied. "But don't think that you will be able to beat me even if I am holding back."

"Can't beat you…? I'll show you!" Tia spun around, swinging her scepter while doing so. Ace was quick, so he managed to dodge this and flew into the air. "I'll kill you!" Tia shouted, stabbing her scepter into the ground. "Water Dragons!" From the tip of the scepter, multiple elongated water dragons shot out towards Ace, aiming to shoot him down.

Ace moved from side to side during his descend, though one water dragon clipped his wing, causing him to spiral out of control. Another water dragon then slammed into him, causing him to fly back, hitting the ground on his back. "Oof..!"

"He shouldn't have taken those hits earlier…" Aira said while cringing somewhat at Ace's landing.

"Your calculations were wrong!" Tia exclaimed.

"Ungh…" Ace grunted, bringing himself to a knee. "Your power spiked suddenly…it threw me off…it won't happen again."

"He's down to a knee…" Rylo said while shaking off his injuries.

"Oi…!" Natsu shouted, finally making way outside with the others.

"You guys…!" Aira's expression let up once spotting the Fairy Tail wizards.

"What the hell happened to you guys!?" Luke asked. "You all look like you've been hit by a train!"

"Long story…" Mirajane said, finding it a bit tiresome to hold Wendy with all the energy she spent inside the tower.

"Look!" Lisanna pointed towards Ace and Tia.

"So she really is here…" Natsu ignited his body in flames. "I still got some magic left."

"Tia…!" Lucy (who was carrying Cynthia) called out to the Queen, who couldn't help but turn her head.

"Lucy…" Tia mumbled before turning her attention back to Ace.

Lisanna looked over to the injured mages. "How long as this been going on for…!?"

"Quite a while now…" Selene replied. "Ace hadn't thrown a punch until a few minutes ago…"

"Why are you guys even down…?" Gray asked.

"She got the jump on us…" Taya replied while brushing off her shoulders, standing up just fine despite her injuries.

"After that, she yelled at Ace and they started fighting…" Leon continued.

"Ace, you have to back down!" Lisanna exclaimed. "You can't keep this up much longer! You know your body will…!"

Tia turned to the sound of Lisanna's voice, her eyes widening at the sight of the takeover mage. "You're alive…"

"Tia..." Lisanna turned to Tia.

"No…" Ace said while standing up straight. "Before I end this, I have to get her to listen to what I have to s-sa…say…" Ace fell to a knee once again, taking heavy breaths. "Uhmph…! D-Damn…!" Ace's armor flashed, almost as though it was going…away.

"…?!" Tia's eyes went wide for just a split second. "Ace…?"

"His requip is fading…?" Erza tilted her head in confusion.

"N-No! Ace!" Lisanna ran over towards Ace. "You should've stopped when I said to!"

"His body has a serious condition…" Aira mumbled.

"That's right…" Lisanna nodded at Aira's words. "Ace's body is very sick…"

"Lisanna, what did I say about exaggerating about it…?" Ace groaned as he attempted to stand back up.

"Everytime he requips or gets into a serious battle, it puts a strain on his body, tearing it apart…" Lisanna continued. "He's reached his limit…he shouldn't be fighting right now. He fought all of you only a few hours ago, but that was barely any time for him to rest! A fight like this...!"

Tia let out a small gasp at Lisanna's explanation. "…! Ace, how long have you been-!?"

"That's enough, Lisanna…" Ace said while finally standing up, facing Tia. "Everything I've been working for has been for this exact moment…Tia…you have to leave Dealer."

Tia blinked; she was absolutely taken aback by Ace's sudden plea. "W-what…?"

"When I cleaned my slate and left Dealer…I…I wanted to take you and Jack with me!" Ace explained. "I tried my best! But in the end…I wasn't…I wasn't strong enough…I was weak…I couldn't protect you two from Dealer…I failed you then, but right now…I'm stronger. After all this time, I have the strength to help you!"

Tia took a step back, completely shocked at what Ace was saying, shaking her head in denial as a response. "What are you saying…? You left me…us! And now you want us to turn our backs on Dealer!? That's just not possible, Ace."

"Why!?" Ace immediately asked. "Because of King?! Sure, he was like a father to us…but…but that was only so he could use us for his own personal gain! Surely you realize that! I know I left you and Jack, but it was so I could become stronger and save you! Please Tia, come with me. With us."

"I…" Tia started, but she had no way to respond to Ace's claim. She shook her head again, clenching her fist from some type of emotion. Of what, she wasn't sure. "Jack and I have job we need to complete…A wish we need to come true…It won't happen if we leave Dealer, so leaving them is just impossible."

"…" Ace let out a sigh. "Then…I guess I have no choice…I'll have to use my new powers to stop you."

"Ace no, if you keep going surely you'll…!" Lisanna started.

"I'll be fine." Ace said while nodding towards Lisanna.

"Tia…" Lucy began, causing Tia to once again look over at her. "Why are you a part of Dealer…it's clear you have doubts yourself! Let us help you!"

"Why I am a member of Dealer yields no concern to you, Lucy," Tia responded before looking back towards Ace rather hatefully. "And you…! First, you leave Dealer, and then you have the nerve to show up months later, asking me to come with you!? I'll destroy you and your little group, along with everything else!"

"We'll finish this here, then…" Ace said while drawing his blade.

"It's about to get ugly…" Lisanna said while taking steps back, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

"Thunderbolt Blade!" Ace exclaimed while lunging forward, his lightning blade letting off a large discharge of electricity. Once he got close to Tia, he swung down, but the Queen jumped back, avoiding the large eruption of electricity.

Tia swiped her scepter across the air, creating multiple blue magic seals before her. The seals appeared in a triangle fashion, all three of them moving in a clockwise direction. "Aqua Laser!" The three magic seals all released spiraling beams of water towards Ace at an incredible speed.

Ace swayed to the side, just avoiding the powerful Aqua Laser. He then jumped up, raising his Thunderbolt Blade high in the air once again. "Take this!" Ace brought his blade down, but Tia countered by bringing her scepter up, water surrounding her body. This water was an outlet for the electricity around Ace's blade, which funneled into the ground after, leaving Ace somewhat surprised. "Lightning Nullification…" Ace and Tia jumped back, both skidding across the ground before charging at each other once again.

"I'm not the same person you last saw! Water Pledge!" Tia said while lifting her scepter into the air, causing multiple pillars of water to rise around Ace. These pillars moved to converge on him, and before he could try to escape, they exploded on him. Ace held his ground, but it was clear with the way the ground trembled, that he took a very hard hit.

"He's slowing down…" Luke said in a serious tone.

"What do you mean…?" Lucy asked. "I don't see anything…"

"Just before you all showed up, Ace moved so fast none of us could keep up…and he could've taken her out then and there…" Aira added onto what Luke was saying. "Now, his condition is starting to get to him. The situation is turning. We tried to take her on, but she made short work of us..."

"I told him he shouldn't be fighting! He never listens…!" Lisanna let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oi, Ace!" Natsu called out to Ace. "Let us take care of this!"

"Sorry Natsu!" Ace shouted while evading an incoming strike from Tia. "This is my battle, and I can't have anyone interfering with it! Besides, you guys don't exactly look like you're in any better shape than I am!"

"He's a stubborn mule…" Lucy said with a comical stale expression.

"But he's not wrong." Erza couldn't deny it. After all of their fights in the tower, they couldn't say they were in fighting shape.

"Tempest Blade!" Ace swung his sword down, sending a vicious tornado in Tia's direction. The tornado literally cut through the ground it traveled as it raced towards the Queen.

"Hmph!" Tia planted her scepter in the ground, creating a barrier of water in front of her. This barrier was quick acting, but it managed to shrug off the Tempest Blade as though it were nothing.

"Heat Upper!" Ace exclaimed once again, igniting his fist in flames as he rushed towards Queen Tia, aiming a fiery uppercut towards her chin. Tia swayed out of the way, and smacked Ace's hand down with her scepter, unleashing a beam of water while doing so. The beam of water collided with Ace's flaming fist, resulting in a cloud of steam.

"Agh…I can't see anything…" Tia said while keeping wary of her surroundings. It was then that her senses picked up an incoming Stealth Laser, so she formed her quick water barrier to defend herself. "That trick won't work on me…" Tia said to Ace as the steam cleared, but Ace wasn't where Tia thought she was. He was behind her, blade pointed to the back of her head.

"Are you sure about that?" Ace asked as the tip of his blade began to gather electricity.

"He's got her!" Lucy shouted with joy, celebrating quite early.

Tia mumbled something under her breath. Whatever it was, it wasn't surrender. A large blue magic seal appeared underneath her and Ace. "I told you not to take me lightly, Ace."

Ace just back just as a massive column of water surrounded Tia. It would've been a heavy hit if he didn't move in time. His armor flickered on and off once again. He was reaching his limits, and quickly. "I can't finish here…"

"I don't know how many times I can say this until you finally do it but stop fighting!" Lisanna pleaded.

"Eyah!" Tia cried out as a mini cyclone of water appeared around her feet. She spun around, throwing three roundhouse kicks into the air, which produced three massive tidal waves with each kick. "Dyna Wave!"

"Vulcan!" Ace shouted while pointing his blaster forward, unleashing a rapid fire of magical bullets towards the Dyna Wave, only managing to slow the first of the three waves down. Even still, the waves all hit Ace, "washing" him up. He shook his head, standing on his feet once again, panting heavily.

"This is why you don't toy with your opponents…" Luke scowled. "He could've taken her out with that one move!"

"I guess I can't keep this up as long as I wanted to…" Ace said while trying to catch his breath. He was struggling to keep himself going at this point.

Tia remained silent, but she pointed her scepter forward. "Ace. This is the end. It's time to finish this."

"I couldn't agree more…" Ace said with a serious expression. Ace jumped into the air, raising his arm up, extending his index finger upwards. This prompted a black sphere to appear on the tip of Ace's finger.

"W-What is that!?" Gray shouted in surprise.

"This...!" Tia grit her teeth, trying to hold her ground against the massive gravitational pull. But she was rapidly losing this fight as well. "Damn you, Ace...! I won't...!"

"HA!" Ace threw his arm forward, engulfing Tia in the small sphere that resembled a black hole. The sphere grew exponentially after taking in Tia. Ace drew his blade once again, holding it at his side. "Black End…" With his incredible speed, he dashed forward, slicing the black hole. "Galaxy!" There was a bright light emanating from the black hole before it exploded; Tia let out a scream of pain during the explosion of the sphere. When it all faded, Tia was seen in her regular clothing which was now tattered, her armor broken and scattered in pieces around her, unconscious.

.

.

After an unspecified amount of time, the group remained standing at the tower, not exactly fully healed, but healed enough to walk. Ace looked off into the distance. Tia had been taken by the Magic Council not too long ago. "Ace..." Lucy walked over to Ace, who seemed to be spaced out.

"Hm…?" Ace looked over his shoulder at Lucy. "What's up? You guys ready to go?"

"Yeah…but, maybe you should start taking it easy now…" Lucy suggested.

"Don't worry about me, I feel great." Ace replied.

"Really now…?" Aira tilted his head, doubt obvious in her tone.

"So…what's going to happen to Tia…?" Lucy asked.

"That's a good question…" Ace said.

(Flashback)

Ace called the Magic Council, the ones who arrived were Lahar, Correll, and Layanna. Ace explained the Dealer situation to them as they arrested Tia, now beginning to walk into the car. "Wait..!"

"What…?" Correll turned at Ace, raising a brow. "What do you want now? Forgot to say something?"

"I wanted to have a few last words with Tia," Ace said.

"…Make it quick." Correll said while pushing Tia forward, gazing at her rear with a slight smirk.

Tia had an indifferent expression on her face as she walked to Ace, standing before him and the group. "Even if I'm gone…He'll make our wish…our order come true…Nothing can stop Jack from reaching our dream."

"Tia…" Ace started. "What is this order you keep talking about…tell me, please…this dream of yours..."

There were a few moments of silence in the air before Tia decided to speak again. "What would you do if I told you? Would you help it come to fruition?" Ace had no reply, but Tia knew what the answer was based on that. "Well then…"

"It's time to go," Lahar said.

"We'll be taking you into intense questioning, "Queen Tia"," Layanna stated.

"I see. Goodbye, then…" Tia turned around, and walked off with Lahar, Correll, and Layanna.

(End flashback)

"That's something the Magic Council gets to decide now," Ace finally replied. "It's not our decision anymore."

"B-But Ace…I can tell she didn't mean to do anyone harm!" Lucy started.

"Lucy, don't worry about it too much…" Mirajane said while cradling the still unconscious Wendy.

"At any rate…" Rylo said while placing his top hat on. "It's been a long day…I'm going back home…"

"Yeah, I agree…" Selene said while stretching. "I'm beat…"

"You all go back home. Thank you for all your help today." Ace nodded to Rylo, Leon, Aira, Luke, Taya, and Selene, who left shortly after. "As for you Fairy Tail mages…I'll take you back to back and heal you all up there, then we can finally get you back to your guild…"

"Feels like forever since we've been back home…" Gray said while rubbing the back of his head. "Even though it's only been an overnight thing..."

"It'll feel great once these injuries heal up…" Gajeel said while rotating his arm.

"I hope those two will be okay…" Lucy mumbled, referring to Cynthia and Wendy.

While Fairy Tail and Ace walked off, Knightwalker peered around the corner, scowling somewhat. With all of the commotion that happened, it was very easy to forget that she was there. "I don't believe this…" She then brought up a communications lacrima, now speaking with Aiden.

"Ah, Knightwalker…you look like you've seen better days…" Aiden said while glancing at the knight's injuries.

"We lost." Knightwalker said with her scowl getting heavier. "Hyde did too. His script was a complete and utter failure."

"Oh, I see…" Aiden gave a nod. "Where is he now?"

"Last I saw he fell from the top of the tower," Knightwalker replied.

Aiden's expression shifted a bit. Mild uncertainty crossed his face, before he waved it off. The loss of Hyde was an unfortunate one, but he couldn't allow that to slow down his plans. "Hm…I see…I suppose we'll just have to continue without him for the time being…return to base." Aiden commanded.

"Don't order me around..." Knightwalker said, cutting off the transmission right after. She then walked off, returning to Aiden's hidden base.

.

.

From the top of the tower, where the confrontation against Hyde was, Joker and Heartless watched the events that played out concerning Tia. "It appears Tia has lost…" Joker said with a disapproving tone. "And captured…by Ace, of all people."

"An unfortunate turn of events indeed. I did not think that Ace would be making his move so soon." Heartless said with a nod, her arms crossed over her chest. "I don't think Jack will respond to this very well."

"We just have to keep him under control and everything will be fine." Joker replied. "I'm sure King will enjoy hearing about Ace's activity. Better now than before he becomes a thorn in our sides."

"There is one upside to all of this," Heartless stated while digging in her dress pocket, pulling out a glass cylinder large enough to fit in her hand. Despite the size of it, it was actually quite light. "The excess magic within a mile of this tower is incredible. Hyde's little scheme may play out well for us in the long run." Heartless held the container up, slowly filling it with all the excess magic within a mile radius. While she did this, she turned to Joker. "Do you think Tia will say anything about our plans?"

"I don't think so," Joker replied with a rather confident tone.

"You have faith that she won't?" Heartless asked with a brow raised.

"Not in the slightest," Joker said with a scoff.

"I see…" Heartless merely gave a nod before shutting off the magic absorption. "There. That's everything in this area."

"As expected." Joker stared at Ace for a bit, before turning to Heartless. "Why did you give Lucy her keys back, even if temporarily?"

"It was an experiment." Heartless replied. When Lucy passed out in the elevator, she took them back, holding them right now. "I believe it turned out well enough."

"I see." Joker gave a simple nod. "If we are done here, we shall go back and report the current situation to Mr. King." Joker said with a nod, and with that, he and Heartless teleported away.