"King, I'm afraid we have a situation on our hands…" Said Joker as he approached King, causing the leader of Dealer to raise a brow. During this time, Diamond, Spade, and Strong walked into the room since King called them only minutes beforehand.
"Pray tell, what seems to be the matter? Is it something that we can't handle?" King asked while shuffling his deck. "We've enough magic energy for our plan to begin, so what is the hold up."
"That's the thing," Joker started. "It appears Jack's temper has gotten the best of him."
"Hm…?" King raised a brow, giving an unamused look towards Joker. "What exactly is that supposed to mean, Joker? This is no time for jokes; this is the time to begin the plan that will cause Earthland to fall into my hand."
"Very well…I'll explain this quickly…" Joker nodded. "First, it appears as though Jack has taken some – about half – of the magic we have collected."
"He did what?" King narrowed his eyes, his expression turning into that of disgust.
"Oh, he's in deep water now…" Strong whispered to the others.
"Jack has also taken some of the monster we have in the underground facility, and the magic jamming device we kept just in case…" Joker finished his statement. "It appears as though he's going to take the fight to Fairy Tail for the imprisonment of his sister…"
"Bah!" King scoffed. "That hot headed brat is going to ruin my plan…" King paused, a light bulb going off in his head. "Hold on a moment…this could actually play out in our favor, if Jack manages to bring out more magic than he stole. However, there is one thing I want you to do, Joker."
"Anything, King," Joker responded.
"If Jack goes even the slightest bit too far…exterminate him." King ordered.
"W-Whoa!" Spade interrupted. "King, you know I'm all for following your exact orders to a T, but don't you think that's a little extreme?"
"Y-Yeah!" Diamond spoke up.
"Oh, so you three are worried about the little temperamental child, are we?" King chuckled in a mocking way. "That's adorable! You don't want to see him hurt, do you?"
"T-That's not exactly what we…" Diamond started, starting to slink down.
"We just think the little runt isn't in the right state of mind, that's all!" Strong exclaimed. "A good whack and he'll be back to normal!"
"Oh, I see…so you want to do something to help him?" King asked. "Very well…THEN GET OUT THERE AND MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T GO OVERBOARD!"
"A-AYE SIR!" The three grunts shouted, heading out almost immediately.
"Tch…the affectionate nature of the human heart as even reached those three…I'm starting to lose my use for them if this continues…" King grumbled, returning to shuffle his deck. "Joker, we both know how unreliable they've been lately. Go out after them and do exactly as I asked when they fail."
"As you say," Joker nodded and teleported out of the room.
Just outside the room, an eavesdropping Heartless and Daigo let out heavy sighs. "Eradicate Jack…? I don't know how Tia would feel about that…"
"You should've told him what she said, mistress…" Daigo pointed out, waving a finger in a disapproving manner.
"I didn't know how he would react to that…so I thought it would be best to not tell him…" Heartless replied. She took a step forward, wincing horribly after. "I'll…go find him…and…"
"Oh no, we cannot have you moving about in your state!" Daigo said, using an arm to help his superior. "You need to rest, still, mistress…"
.
.
It was the day before the planned festival, and all the members of Fairy Tail were out and about preparing for the event. Wendy and Cynthia were at the large three in the middle of the town with boxes of supplies in their hands. Cynthia sighed while looking at the tree, a smile appearing on her face. "Hey…Remember when we first met? You took me around the town and we stopped right here…? And then later I gave you your birthday present…a little later…"
"Yeah, I remember…" Wendy replied, a slight smile appearing on her face from the memories, choosing to ignore the rest of the events of that day a year ago. After some remising, the two females turned and began to walk back to the guild.
They were on their way back until Mason from Shaman's Haven just kind of appeared beside them. "Hi."
"Gah!?" Cynthia jumped back, holding the box in her arms away in a protective manner.
"Wah…!" Wendy blinked a few times. "W-Who are you and where did you come from…!?"
"Hm…" Mason began to observe Cynthia, leading the ravenette to think he was "checking her out".
"C-Can I help you…?" Cynthia asked, narrowing her eyes to the young boy.
"So, you're supposed to be Fiore's End, right? The girl who could burn down this entire country?" Mason asked, tilting his head as he continued looking over Cynthia. "You don't look like a weapon of mass destruction…"
"I…" Cynthia started.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't call her that…" Wendy said while giving Mason a direct stare.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Mason said, his eyes now changing into a subtle blue color as he returned the direct glance. "You'll forgive me, right?"
Oddly, Wendy felt compelled to forgive the youth, giving a few nods. "Sure…"
"E-Eh…?" Cynthia blinked a few times, looking between both Mason and Wendy. "What did you do?"
"Oh, nothing really!" Mason replied with a grin, his eyes changing into a pink color while looking Cynthia in the eyes. Suddenly, Cynthia became weak in the knees as hearts appeared in her eyes. It was infatuation if one ever saw one. Mason was clearly enjoying himself too much.
"Hey!" Wendy shouted, thwacking Mason upon the head, causing him to cut the spell short and Cynthia to return to normal. "We're busy, so play your tricks somewhere else!"
"Ow…!" Mason rubbed the back of his head, giving a sheepish grin. "Sorry, sorry! (Not really)"
"What happened…?" Cynthia blinked a few times before shaking her head, choosing to ignore what just happened. "We're busy so if you don't mind…" Cynthia and Wendy then began to walk off.
"Heh…that was kinda fun…" Mason grinned, deciding to keep a close eye on the two girls to mess with them not to far into the future.
.
.
Mirajane, Lisanna, and Kinana walked down the bustling streets of the town, boxes of supplies in their hands. "I'm excited for this…" Kinana admitted. "I heard that this could actually be a lot of fun when everyone gets involved."
"That's right!" Mirajane gave a nod, a sweet smile following. "The last time we did this, I remember all sorts of activity, such as bingo!"
"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Lisanna chirped happily, beginning to hum as the three began to return to the guild.
"I can't wait to start setting up!" Mirajane grinned. "It's been awhile since we last did a guild activity like this, and with everything going on, seeing some smiling faces will surely uplift the mood." She nodded.
"Mhm…it'll be nice," Kinana gave a nod of her own, looking up to the sky with a smile. That was until she noticed a black dot in the sky. Was it a crow? Something about its presence bothered her. There was an evil aura around it. "Huh…? Do you guys see that…?"
"Nani?" Mirajane looked up, a brow raised. "There's something odd about that crow…is it coming closer…?"
"Huh…?" Lisanna blinked, noticing the black dot in the sky slowly getting bigger. "What is that…?"
Within seconds, Jack swooped down onto the crowded town street, flying low whilst unleashing a flurry of Wicked Flames upon the streets, the purple flares exploding. The sudden attack caused the bystanders to scream in fear and run off. "Burn, burn, burn!" Jack screamed as he continued to throw the fire balls. He didn't notice the group of females but that did not exempt them from his wrath. He threw a fireball blindly, and its target ended up being Lisanna.
"Lisanna, watch out!" Mirajane exclaimed, acting on complete instinct as she shoved her younger sibling away, taking the full force of the Wizard Flare. Mirajane let out a scream of pain before tumbling across the street.
"Mira-nee!" Lisanna yelped out in fear, dropping the supplies as she ran over with Kinana. "A-Are you okay!?"
"F-Fine…" Mirajane replied, her midsection was completely burned and the magic draining properties of the Wicked Flames began to take effect. She stood up slowly, pointing to Kardia Cathedral which wasn't too far way. "W-we have to take cover, go!" She couldn't fight in her current condition, and she knew it. The last the she wanted was Jack to spot her, so she had to hide, or at least hide her sister and fellow barmaid.
"R-Right!" Lisanna and Kinana nodded, running towards the church, Mirajane bringing up the rear.
"Hmmm…?" Jack only caught Mirajane running, yet that was pretty much her fear realized right there, noticing she was heading to the church. "This is going to play out quite nicely for me after all…heheh…" He grinned before flying off above the city, just throwing purple fireballs willy nilly, letting out a somewhat maniacal laugh whilst doing so. "HAHAHA!"
.
.
"Oh no no no..." Strong was shaking his head. This was the worst case scenario. "What's he doing...!?
"Oh, great…" Spade said while taking cover form Jack's onslaught of fireballs. "Looks like we've arrived just a little too late…!"
"Dammit Jack!" Diamond cursed. "We have to tell him to cool down! Otherwise Joker will kill him…We can't let that happen to Tia…"
"Right!" Strong nodded. "But we can't just yet. I think Jack mumbled something about this little plan he had in mind and I think it would be smart not to do anything until we hear it!"
"…When did you get smart?" Spade said, looking at Strong in a comically skeptic fashion.
"I have my moments…" Strong replied while giving a proud grin. He then looked around with a confused look on his face. "…Where are we again?"
"…Moments?" Diamond sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "More like seconds…"
.
.
"Gah!" Luke crossed his arms, taking cover with Selene and another new member of White Eclipse, El Rayo (who had a luchador get up). "What's this all about!?"
"Does this sort of thing happen all the time in this town?" El Rayo asked while watching the destruction the flames caused to the streets.
"I'm tempted to say yes…" Selene replied.
"Can we not have a normal week…?" Luke asked with a heavy sigh.
.
.
"Oi, oi!" Natsu growled, staring at what was happening to the down from the guild. "What the HELL is going on out there!?"
"Those are purple flames…" Levy whispered.
"Wendy and Cynthia are out there!" Carla gasped, immediately trying to make her way out the front door, but she was stopped by a sudden wall of Wicked Flames, causing her to fly back. "W-What's this?!"
"Wicked Flames!" Happy exclaimed.
"JACK!" Natsu finally put it all together, slamming his fist together angrily.
Just then, a lacrima screen appeared high in the sky, displaying Jack who wore a malicious grin. "Did that grab your attention, Magnolia? Good! Because listen up, I'm only going to explain what's happening one time! Fairy Tail, you're going to pay dearly for causing the imprisonment of Tia! And for that, I want you all to try and find me!"
"That's it?" Gildarts stood up, an unpleased expression on his face. "This child clearly doesn't know what he's doing."
"Looks like the old man is finally going to get involved." Laxus said with a slight grin. "This outta be interestin'…"
"Watch out, kids." Gildarts warned, and everyone stood a good distance away from the door. Gildarts held his hand out, unleashing a white net of Disassembly Magic towards the Wicked Flame wall, breaking it apart into pieces. "There." Just before anyone could move and praise Gildarts for his work, another set of Wicked Flames shot up, this one more powerful than the last.
"I'm not finished yet!" Jack shouted, almost as if he was aware of what Gildarts had done. "No one can start until my say so! If you do ANYTHING I don't like…" The screen then shifted over to the safe haven a few people ran into; Kardia Cathedral. "I'll burn that church to the ground, and I'm well aware that there are people in there."
"Bastard…" Natsu grumbled, clenching his hand into a tight fist.
"Now then," Jack snapped his fingers, letting the Wicked Flames vanish. "Have fun trying to make your way to me."
"I'm gonna get you, you bastard!" Natsu ran out of the guild headfirst, charging out blindly into the town.
"Natsu, wait!" Lucy and Happy shouted, running out after Natsu. But after Natsu rounded a corner, a wall of Wicked Flames shot out, letting out an aura that repelled magic from disrupting it. "N-Nani!?"
"Oh, and I almost forgot…I hope you didn't think getting to me would be so easy. These Wicked Flames won't be falling at all to any magical properties. Once a person sets through their path is set…and who knows what they may find? Runes…monsters…me? Kehehe…" Jack grinned before the lacrima screen shut off, only for it to return a second later. "OH! And one last thing…" After this, a ring of Wicked Flames appeared around the town in the sky, much like the Thunder Palace from the Fighting Festival. "If your selected figher(s) fail to defeat me in time, I'll burn this entire city to the ground!" Now, Jack was done, his image shutting off on the screen. The time limit set? 1 hour.
"There's a time limit now!?" Lucy flailed her arms in a comical manner. "How are we supposed to get through THIS in 1 hour!?"
"This is a pain…" Gajeel said while rubbing the back of his head.
"Sounds like we gotta split up…" Erza said while stepping forward, still covered in bandages, but she had a sword at the ready. "We'll cover more ground that way"
"E-Erza!" Levy objected to Erza involving herself. "You can't go out there!"
"He's putting everyone in this town and in the guild in danger." Erza replied. "Injured or not, I have to make sure everyone is okay. Wendy and Cynthia are out there, right? Who knows what situation they're in right now…!" Erza clearly wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Brats…be careful…" Makarov warned.
.
.
On the roof of a tall building, Future Rogue stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head. "Yare, yare…what a mess this has become…" The future slayer then looked up to the sky with a smirk. "But…this'll be a great time to get some information on Dealer…Jack Corvus, you are now my prey…and I won't allow anyone to stand in the way of that."
.
.
Cynthia: "Gaah! I can't believe this! What is Jack talking about!? Why is this happening!?"
Wendy: "I-I don't know, but all these monsters roaming around are kinda scaring me…!"
Natsu: "Oi, oi, calm down you two, it'll be fine! Just watch as I take down Ja—GAAAH what is that thing!?"
Next time: The Race to Jack!