Emeraude's heels clicked along the halls of Crocus Castle. As sovereign ruler of Fiore she was kept busy, but this was good for her personal tastes. Due to her Queenly Majesty, the moment she took a seat on the throne the country was hers to rule. One would think she would have to answer for the Face situation that occurred some time ago, but she pushed all blame onto the former King, Toma, and made him answer for the ineptitude of the country for failing to prepare for such a situation. Since then, Queen Emeraude was hailed as Fiore's greatest ruler…and the crazy part is that she was actually doing her best to benefit the country! Leaning forward, she examined a lacrima screen. "Hm…so I see the shipment has been approved. Wonderful. Things are proceeding smoothly."

"Emmeraude." Hisui appeared around the corner, holding a file in her hand. "I've collected information one what you were looking for. I hope it's sufficient…I tried my best to obtain it."

Emeraude took the file, quickly flipping through the pages to skim the information. "I'll give this a thorough read later. But from what I saw it appears that you've done a wonderful job my dear." The queen patted Hisui on the shoulder with a proud mother-like smile.

"T-Thank you…!" Hisui grinned. Emeraude's influence on the throne strongly affected Hisui due to the fact she was the heir to the throne. "O-Oh, shouldn't we begin preparing the stadium for the Grand Magic Games?"

"Hmmm? We have those here too…?" Emeraude mumbled that statement. "Yes…that's right. I almost forgot about the grand festivities. It's right around the corner…I'm eager to see what strength the guilds in this country have to offer for us. Perhaps we'll see Protos Heis as well…I'm sure my wonderful little machination will arrive if she's found a home."

"If you want, I could issue a search…?" Hisui suggested. "I can round up a few people."

"No need, my dear. I appreciate the gesture. But Protos Heis is a highly combative experiment. Anything she deems a threat she will engage without a moment's hesitation. I can't let those poor, ill prepared soldiers face off against something like that. Plus…as we've discussed before, I need her to act on her own for a little bit. I believe we will be reunited soon enough. My daughter is quite strong, after all."

Hisui felt a twinge of jealously. From what, she wasn't sure. But she was going to comply with Emeraude wishes. "Very well. Also, the Council has a message for you whenever you are free. Siegrain wishes to have a discussion with you."

"Noted. Thank you my sweet." Emeraude offered a sweet smile before walking off. "Running this backyard country is far easier than I believed it to be. All that's left to do now is sweep all the troublesome matters under the rug permanently…it'll only take a little more time…"

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The Council HQ was fully rebuilt after the Tartarus fiasco. Several Councilmen stood before Siegrain's desk. The Chairman turned, staring all of them down. "Thank you all for coming here today."

"Of course sir!" This voiced belonged to Fullbright Justice. The one man in the Council who actually wanted to do his job and tolerated no injustice. "In the name of Justice, I promise to do everything to ensure the safety of Fiore! In Justice we trust!"

"…Pipe down." Odin sighed heavily while pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm getting too old for all of this work, damn it."

"What is you would have us do, Siegrain-sama?" Layanna questioned. "Catch criminals? Tighten security?"

"Both answers." Siegrain explained. "We took a severe blow when Tartarus struck…there is no doubt that the people want to blame the Council for our lack of protection at the time. We are going to do everything in our power to ensure that the people respect us once again. No matter what it takes."

"Heh…" Correll's lips curved up into a slight smirk. "Just say the word, Senpai. A little lawful enforcement could do this country wonders. These evil fiends need to be reminded of the terror of the law."

"I'm glad you all agree with me." Siegrain nodded. "So here's how we're going to act, and I will need each of you to act accordingly…"

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Black Phoenix took the heaviest blow after the Tartarus incident. They lost both Anri and Trinity, both well respected members within the guild. "First Ola goes missing, and then we lose Trinity and Anri..." Tristan had a tense expression on his face. The guild was getting smaller and smaller, and not by their own volition. As the ace, he turned to the rest of the guild. "If anyone wishes to leave, I will not fault you for doing so."

"Are you kidding?" Lucina shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere. Anri, Ola, and Trinity wouldn't want us to do that."

"I agree." Hikaru also spoke up. The other members of the guild had murmurs of agreement. "Especially Trinity. He did everything he could to help end that menace. No matter how hard things are, Black Phoenix isn't going to end so easily. I will get stronger."

"Me too!" Lucina added. "We still have you and Leon and so many others. We can't give up after one set back. What is it we always say?"

"...From the ashes, the Phoenix will always rise again." Tristan said with a very faint smile. Honestly, he was worried about the state of the guild. But when he looked over the others, he felt those worries fade away.

"No matter how many times we fall, we rise." Hikaru spoke with a gentle smile. "We're only just getting started."

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Wendy, Carla and Cynthia snuck into the warehouse from their respective side. Luckily for them the boxes were much bigger than they were, so they had no problem staying out of side by using them as cover. "I wonder what's going on in here…" Wendy mumbled while peering around the box. She saw several men hustling to move around the cargo. Whatever was inside was heavy since it required multiple people for one box.

"Strange…" Carla tried to get closer, but it was a little too risky.

"We're to wait for the signal, right…?" Cynthia asked. Usually at this point Natsu would be raring to go, but their presence was concealed and they had the advantage because of it.

It was around that time that Erza and Gray stormed the front! They were acting as the distraction and the main attack force, catching the attention of the mysterious group. "Intruders!?"

"Hey, get them outta here!"

Gray took the initiative, slamming his fist into his palm before placing his hands on the floor. "Ice Make: Floor!" A slippery ice coating spread along the first floor of the warehouse, causing multiple people to slip and fall on their behinds. "Erza!"

Wasting no time, Erza took to the air as a golden light wrapped around her body. When the light dispersed she was donning her Heaven's Wheel Armor, complete with several swords floating around her person. "Dance my blades!" Flying forward, the circle of swords sliced through the several people that had fallen, blowing them away into the boxes of cargo with ease.

"I'm fired up! Let's go!" An explosion of fire occurred from the opposite side of the building. Natsu jumped forward with flames blazing around his body, landing in the middle of a small group with a grin on his face. "Flame Dragon's King's…." His arm lifted up, a focused blaze around the entirety of his hand. "Demolition Fist!" Slamming his hand into the ground, a powerful wave of fire exploded from contact. The force of the flames was more than enough to set ablaze several boxes of cargo while blowing people away.

"NATSU!" Lucy shouted from above. "We're not supposed to be destroying things! We have to keep it all intact! You idiot…" As she berated the Salamander from a higher floor, she soon found herself surrounded by a few of these well-dressed mysterious people. "I guess we're doing this." A bright glow surrounded her body as she entered her Stardress: Aries. "Ha! Wool Bomb!" Arms held forward, a cloud of pink wool expelled from her hands. She was taking them out in the least violent way; with comfortable fluff that could smother them.

"We were supposed to not destroy stuff?" Clearly Natsu didn't get the memo. "Oh well?"

"You've got some people sneaking up on you both." Rose's voice echoed in Cynthia's head. It was a weird feeling but acting on that instinct, Cynthia turned while nudging Wendy's shoulder. Lo and behold, the other person in her head was absolutely correct! Several suited men tried to sneak up on the small duo, but they were prepared now. "Omega Fire Dragon's Roar!" Parting her lips, a funnel of vermillion flame shot forth to consume those who tried to attack them!

Wendy followed suit, leaping into the air with her arms spread apart. "Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Spirals of air formed around her hands. Once she threw those forward they expelled into several cyclones of wind that consumed and blew away the opposition, sending them into walls while toppling several boxes over. The cargo within the box seemed to be…some sort of medicinal herb? "Huh…What's that…?"

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Still outside, Zelos watched the building as the multiple explosions shook the warehouse. Fire, ice, wind, wool, there was just a bunch of carnage in every which direction. "Sounds like they've got it all under control in there." Standing up, the male began to walk towards the building at a slow pace. "Guess it couldn't hurt to see what they're capable of in there." Pushing the doors open, Zelos only saw Team Natsu slaughtering this mysterious group. "Whoa! You guys are pretty good!"

"Didn't we tell you to wait outside!?" Erza exclaimed while evading a swing imbued with lightning magic, only to retaliate with a fierce kick to the attacker's chest.

"Oh yeah. A few dudes tried to get all touchy feely. Told them I wasn't feeling it and into women and had to put them down for a little dirt nap." Zelos waved his hand so nonchalantly as he spoke; like he didn't even care or notice that he was interrupting a big brawl. "It's boring out there. Plus I wanted to see my hunnies in action!"

"You're a nuisance." Gray sighed.

"I'm too pretty to be a nuisance. Also…" Zelos pointed to the dude crawling on the ground towards one of the many herbs scattered on the floor. "What's that guy doing?"

"There's something bad about that plant…!" Wendy shouted from the higher floor. "Don't let any of them ingest it…!"

Too little too late. "We have no choice!" The man began to ingest the herb. At first, their injuries began to heal as though nothing even happened! But then….it started to get worse. They began to scream and roll around on the ground in pain; their form began to grow larger and more disgusting. "AGGGGGGGGGGH!"

"W-What's happening…?" Lucy asked while taking a step back. She didn't notice all of the other people ingesting the plant as well, undergoing a very similar transformation themselves.

"W-Whoa…! Talk about walking up on the wrong side of the bed…!" Zelos commented while staring at all the monsters starting to form. "If there were any mirrors in this place…I'm sure they all would've broken by now."

"This isn't the time for jokes!" Erza shouted as a sweat drop formed on her forehead. She could feel the incredible rise in magic power coming from these men turned monsters. "T-They're mutating…from a simple plant…?" It wasn't long before the building was infested with these monsters! And all of them had only one goal in mind: destroying the intruders.

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Next Time: The New Member.