Tia was making her way out of the Dealer base, but she had one stop to make. She could see Strong watering some plants. "Strong."

Strong blinked and turned around, not expecting Tia to come to him out of the blue. It was rare. "Eh? What's up, Tia?"

"I'm heading out on a mission. I'm going to scout Fairy Tail once again. Things have shifted since they were the winners of the Black Phoenix Tournament. This time, I do not intend to hold back."

"I?" Strong blinked, realizing for the first time, that Jack wasn't with her. "...You're goin' alone? You and Jack are always going on missions together."

"This one is different." Tia placed a hand on her chest and looked away. She didn't want to go into detail, but the way her expression twisted made it clear something was wrong. "I do not want to put Jack at risk. It is something I should be dealing by myself."

"Uh..." Strong didn't entirely understand. But he wasn't so stupid enough to not see the way Tia was beside herself. "So why did you come to me?"

"You are the only one I can ask for this. If something bad happens to me while I am out, I am asking you to restrain Jack." Tia said bluntly.

"What?" Strong blinked, unable to believe that sort of request. This was the first time Tia even came up to him for something, and this was what she wanted? "You think you're gonna fail or somethin'?"

"...It is a precaution." Tia said calmly. "You know how Jack can be when things go wrong. If something happens to me, who knows what he'll do. I'm asking you, because you are one of two people who can hold Jack down. The other is Joker, and I...don't trust how he'd handle the situation."

Strong remained silent for a moment. He sets the watering can down, before giving Tia a serious nod. It wasn't often the members of Dealer were ever really looking out for each other, but... "Alright. I promise. Whatever happens, I'll do my best to make sure Jack doesn't do anything reckless."

This made Tia let out a quiet sigh. It was barely audible. "...Thank you." She turns around and proceeds to walk off.

Once Tia was gone, Strong turned around to water his plants once again. "...Things around here have been different ever since Joker killed that girl...just because someone's weak doesn't make them useless...but what would I know? Despite all my strength, I can't even do much around here." A dry laugh escaped the large man, and he resumed watering his plants.

.

.

Gildarts, Sidney, Evanee, and Roy made their way down a darkened path with Roy in the lead due to his sight magic. "We're almost at the end…" Roy said to the three aces behind him.

"Are you sure?" Gildarts asked while making absolutely sure not to touch anything.

"Yup…just a few more steps and…" Roy opened the door, now stepping into a dimly lit room; it seemed like a dead end just like the previous. "Another one?"

"Just do what you did last time…" Evanee said while waving a hand forward.

"Yeah, yeah…" Roy took a step forward, but he was cut off by Sidney.

"Wait…I can sense something…" Sidney said while looking around.

"Oh, so it wasn't just my old man senses tryin' to trick me…" Gildarts said as a serious expression appeared on his face.

"I don't see anything…" Roy said with his Sight Magic still on. "But I sense it too…"

"We obviously have company…" Evanee said while looking around along with Sidney.

"One, two…Kiora's coming for you…." A feminine voice cooed in a dark manner, her voice echoing eerily throughout the room.

"Three, four…better lock your door…" Another voice said right after the first's this one having a strong British accent to it.

"Five, six…Grab a crucifix…" The first voice echoed as things seemed to get darker within the room.

"This is getting a little creepy…" Roy said while continuing to look around, unable to spot where the voices were coming from despite his magic active. "And why can't I see them…?"

"Seven, eight…time to meet your fate…" The second voice said shortly after the first.

"Nine…ten… " After that, things got quiet…too quiet.

"NEVER BREATHE AGAIN!" Lava began to seep up from the cracks in the ground underneath the four aces' feet. Immediately, they all split off and jumped away as lava erupted from the ground.

"An ambush…" Sidney mumbled. But, before he or the other three could do anything else, the room lit up, and a large, three headed hell hound was snarling right at them. Cerberus.

"And you walked right into it, loves~" Maggie said while her body changed from its liquid state into a physical state.

"Didn't know guild aces were a bunch of idiots…" Kiora smirked as she appeared beside Cerberus, patting the hell hound to keep it still for just a little longer.

"Tartaros lackies…" Sidney said while crossing his arms.

"Now that's not a very polite term now is it…?" Ur said as she, Sora, Tobias, and Rugal stepped out of portal created by Rugal.

"The Council led us into a trap…?" Evanee asked with an irritated tone.

"The Council doesn't know anything about this," Kiora replied to Evanee's question, her scythe now manifesting into her hands from her Embodiment enchantment.

"And they won't know a single thing after…" Ruika said as she seemed to appear from thin air.

"Are these the people we can play with!?" Sora asked while hopping up and down.

"That's right, Sora," Maggie said with a nod, a dark grin curling onto her lips as she began to walk around in a circle around the four aces, who kept their guard up. "We're all gonna have fun playing with them…"

"How annoying." Evanee said while cracking her neck. "You demons just don't know when to quit."

"Is that so?" Roy asked while holding a hand out, palm facing up. A bomb manifested into his hands, which he tossed up and down. "Because if we're going to play with each other…why don't we have…" Suddenly, the fuse on the bomb lit up on its own, and a maniacal grin appeared on his lips. "A blast?"

"You know, this really might be a problem..." Gildarts said with a heavy sigh, looking around at the area around him. "I'm pretty bad when it comes to fighting in enclosed spaces. So...I hope you're all ready for what's about to happen."

.

.

Adam stood in front of Skye's grave, though he didn't make a sound or a movement just yet. He just stayed there, his memories of his first true friend flashing through his mind. "Skye…"

"He's out there again…" Cygnus said while pointing out the window to Adam. "He must really miss her."

"We all do," Kairi said while letting out a heavy sigh.

"I thought we all agreed we weren't going to be all moopey about this!" Kuro said while trying to lighten up the mood. "Come on guys, let's do something fun!"

"Fun things would be fun if everyone was around..." Marlene said while looking around for everyone. "I don't see Luke, Aira, or Selene around..."

"I think they went into town..." Kuro said while slurping a bowl of noodles he prepared within seconds.

"The stars say things aren't going well in town right now..." Saeko said aloud, but surprisingly, no one heard her.

.

.

Ace and Lisanna watched the teams from Fairy Tail from a high rooftop. The teams were:

Natsu, Lucy Happy

Wendy, Cynthia, Carla

Levy, Jet, and Droy. (Shadow Gear)

Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow. (Raijinshu)

Erza

Mirajane and Elfman

Laxus

"Interesting…" Ace said while watching all the teams one at a time. "It seems they've broken up into separate teams…I think they just made this mission a little bit easier."

"It's not that surprising…" Lisanna said while keeping her eyes on her elder siblings.

"Maybe to you…" Ace said before scouting around once more, spotting something rather interesting. Leon and Aira were walking through the night streets of Magnolia. "Oh…well, well…" Ace grinned a bit before leaping off the building, a bright light appearing around his body as he entered his Acid Ace armor, landing right in front of the two.

"There he goes again…" Lisanna pinched the bridge of her nose with a heavy sigh.

"Huh…?" Aira blinked a few times as Ace landed before her and Leon. "Who are you?"

"I like his suit." Leon said with a nod.

"Name's Black Ace," Ace said, readying for battle as he entered a stance, knowing full well he was against two strong opponents.

"Nice to meet you, Black Ace! My name is Aira Aeolus!" Aira said with her usual cheery tone, not even making the connection.

"Hi!" Leon gave a wave after Aira's introduction. "I'm Leon Shi!"

"…" Ace blinked a few times. "Black. Ace." Surely they would get it.

"…Yes we heard you the first time, sir." Aira said while keeping her smile plastered on her face.

"Oh forgot it." Ace sighed while activating his Stealth Laser, a UFO materializing behind Aira and shooting off small paralyzing beams towards her back.

Leon could sense the Stealth Laser coming. "Aira, look out!" Leon tackled Aira to the side, watching as the Stealth Laser hit the ground rather harmlessly. The UFO faded after. Leon hopped up, and with his anger at Ace attacking Aira his Acid Drive activated, a green aura exploding around him.

"There we go…" Ace smirked to himself as he slid into his stance once again.

With no warning, Leon jumped forward with his fist cocked back, acid swirling around it. "Acid Dragon's Steel Fist!" Leon threw his fist towards Ace, who made no attempt to dodge. The result was a clean hit, but Leon's acid did not corrode any part of Ace's armor, much to Leon's surprise. "Huh?"

"Acid armor, my friend…" Ace said while his smirk only became wider.

Leon stayed undeterred, even though his acid didn't work. He jumped back, puffing his cheeks out. "Roar of the Acid Dragon!" Leon opened his mouth, unleashing a vortex of green acid towards Ace. It was a direct hit, and though Acd was relatively unaffected, he slid back a foot of so from the impact.

"Oh, not bad, Leon..." Ace said with a slight grin. "But, my Acid Acd armor decreases damage from acidic elements by 75%. You're not gonna have a fun time trying to win."

Aira now jumped forward, spinning around in a clockwise motion. "Hurricane Dance!" Aira's spinning brought forth a powerful hurricane that made its way towards Ace.

"Fire Dance!" Ace exclaimed, mimicking the same motion Aira did, bringing forth a power fire twister that clashed with Aira's Hurricane Dance. The two attacks fought for dominance before exploding from a stalemate.

Following this, Leon rushed forward with his mouth open, a green sphere forming in his mouth. "Acid Dragon's Wave!" Leon shot forth a massive wave of acid towards Acid, the acid strong enough to corrode parts of the building and the ground it traveled over.

Ace pulled out his sword, raising it high above his head. He gathered a large amount of wind and some electricity onto the blade. "Tempest Blade!" Ace swung his blade down, sending a tempest forward. The tempest swallowed the Acid Dragon's Wave and engulfed Leon and Aira, also cleaving through a few nearby (and luckily empty) buildings. "Whoops..."

"Tone it down, Ace...!" Lisanna flailed in a comical manner. "You almost hit me!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Ace said with a comical sweat drop appearing on his head. He then turned to Leon and Aira, who seemed to be getting up. This was a sensitive situation; he was sure he already brought attention to himself with the Tempest Blade, and he didn't feel like dealing with anyone else. The whole purpose was not to take these encounters so seriously, but he was hardly having a choice. "Hm…"

Lisanna looked over her shoulder, noticing the nearby group coming their way now. Wendy, Cynthia, and Carla. "Oh no…Ace, there's a group coming…! It's Wendy and Cynthia!"

"Faster than I would like too…" Ace grunted before getting an idea; he snapped his fingers, creating a magic seal under Lisanna, Leon, and Aira. "I'll wrap all this up later, you take care of them okay? See you later!"

"Wait, what are you-?!" Before Lisanna could finish, she was teleported off with an injured Leon and Aira, presumably to the same location.

"Whew…" Ace let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived as Wendy, Cynthia, and Carla circled around the corner.

"There he is!" Cynthia shouted as red flames immediately covered her body; she lunged forward towards Ace with a fist cocked back. "Iron Fist of the Omega Fire Dragon!"

Cynthia swung her heated fist towards Ace, but he quickly dodged to the left, now jumping back for space. Ace then pointed his pistol forward, clicking the trigger. This sent a homing shockwave that raced through the ground towards Cynthia. "Groundwave!"

Cynthia grunted as Ace avoided her attack. Now she was faced with the incoming Groundwave, and had little time to dodge. Luckily, Carla flew in and lifted Cynthia up just in time, avoiding the Groundwave completely. "Carla…!"

Wendy now sprinted forward, swiping her hand forward towards Ace, a harsh trail of wind following. "Sky Dragon's Claw!"

Ace bent his body back just as Wendy swiped her hand forward. It was a narrow miss, but Ace could feel the wind brush past his armor. Now, flames engulfed Ace's fist, which he swung forward towards Wendy's midsection, landing a direct and powerful hit. "Heat Upper!" The impact was strong enough to send Wendy soaring into the air, complete disoriented as a result.

"Wendy…!" Carla watched with widened eyes as her dear friend flew higher than she was.

"Carla, get Wendy!" Cynthia exclaimed while jumping from Carla's arms, clicking her legs together. This brought forth a flaming drill that spun around Cynthia's lower body. "Omega Fire Dragon's Drill!" Cynthia aimed herself right at Ace, but the mysterious assailant dodged by jumping back, allowing Cynthia to destroy a large portion of the ground. Cynthia quickly flipped after the impact, her feet now the only thing on fire as she performed a double axe kick. "Twin Talons!"

"She's persistent…" Ace thought to himself as he brought his arms up, blocking Cynthia's Twin Talons. This caused Cynthia to backflip away, and as she did so, Ace drew his blade, electricity flaring around it. "Thunderbolt…" Before Ace could even swing it once, a Sky Dragon's Roar slammed into his blade, sending it flying away from him. "Oh…"

"Yah!" Cynthia threw another Iron Fist towards Ace, this time landing a direct hit. Ace flew back a bit from the punch, but he flipped and caught himself, skidding across the ground for a split second. "Got him…!"

"Good work you two! Now keep it up!" Carla said with a nod as she now dropped Wendy, who landed next to Cynthia.

Ace's visor scanned the two girls before him now, a slight nod of interest coming from him. "Interesting…This is the first time I've seen something like this…"

"Let's go, Wendy!" Cynthia said as she took off to the left.

"Right…!" Wendy quickly took off to the right, the two dragon slayers now attempting to surround Ace.

"Not so fast, you two." Ace said while he began to spin around, picking up a whirlwind around his proximity, lifting the two girls and even Carla into it.

"G-Gah!" Wendy flailed as the vortex began to pick up. She would've aimed a roar at Ace, but she was unable to aim a shot at him.

"Typhoon Dance!" A ripoff of Aira's attack. The typhoon swirled around before slamming the three into a building. "Keh…not a bad move, Aelous…I hope she doesn't mind if I use that…heh…"

"Rah…!" Cynthia and Wendy jumped out the building, their opposite arms pulled back.

"Here we go." Ace dove to his still electrically charged blade, now holding it up. "Thunderbolt Blade!" He only really had enough time to slam the blade down on the two incoming dragons, a large electric explosion making itself known. When the explosion subsided, Cynthia and Wendy were heavily damaged, sparks appearing around their body every so often.

"Wendy! Cynthia!" Carla immediately flew over to the two, quite worried. "Are you two alright!? Should I go get the others?!"

"Too late for that, Exceed Princess…" Ace said as he now gathered a small vortex of wind around his blade. "Tempest Blade!" Ace swung his blade down, sending another roaring vortex that engulfed the trio whole; this time Ace cut down the power so it wouldn't be as noticeable, but it was still powerful. When the attack was over, Cynthia was the one standing in front of the injured Wendy and Carla, panting heavily. "I won't…let you…hurt them…anymore…"

"Oi, oi…" Ace tilted his head at Cynthia's durability before shrugging. "Stealth Laser." After Ace said this, a small UFO appeared behind Cynthia, shooting paralyzing beams at her back. They landed, and Cynthia just fell forward, unconscious. "Those two…I'll have to get more info about that later…" Ace then snapped his fingers, creating a magic seal that teleported the female trio away. "But…now I should move onto the next group…" Ace hopped onto the building again, scouting around. "Hm...I wonder how she's doing..." Ace then hopped from building to building, scouting for his next target. It wasn't long before he found a good one; Erza Scarlet.