Bonds of Iron and Fire

Let The Hunt Begins

Guardian: Here a chapter that tou guys are waiting enjoy...

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Tension was thick throughout the guild as everyone waited for Makarov to speak. Porlyusica was in the infirmary, along with Wendy, looking after Levy. Mira was off to the side doing her best to patch up the other two victims, Jet and Droy.

Fairy Tail was no longer in its usual joyful mood, and neither was a hotheaded Dragon Slayer.

"I can't take it anymore!" Natsu screamed as he slammed a fist onto a table as he forcefully stood up and began stomping his way to the exit.

"Natsu! Where are you going?" Erza questioned as she walked after him, but Natsu just ignored her and everyone else who was trying to talk to him.

"You really are an idiot." Knightwalker's voice stopped Natsu dead in his tracks.

"What'd you just say?" Natsu growled as he turned towards her. He was pissed about what happened to Levy and the others, and insulting him wasn't helping his mode.

But Knightwalker never did give a damn about hurting someone's feelings.

"You heard me." she put Hisako down on a bar stool and began closing in on Natsu. "You're so caught up in getting your revenge that you don't even realize you don't know how to get it." Knightwalker stated causing Natsu's eyes to widen slightly.

"I-I-." Natsu stuttered and was cut off by Knightwalker.

"What were you planning on doing?" Knightwalker began circling Natsu like a lioness. "Randomly searching from place to place?"

"Uh-"

"Maybe you were planning on searching every possible place that a dark wizard would be?"

"Yeah that!" Natsu agreed. "I'll kick as much ass as I need to get my answers!"

"That seems like a grand idea." Knightwalker sarcastically agreed. "And what would you do if all that 'ass kicking' so happened to reach the ears of the people you're searching for?"

"I-"

"You would either lose them or you would allow them to drop bread crumbs that would lead you into a trap." Knightwalker grimly stated. "So, sit down, shut up, and wait until you know who did this and where they are before you go on your little rampage." Knightwalker finished with a glare. "Do I make myself clear little, dragon boy."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Natsu muttered as he strangely found the ground much more interesting to look at.

Frankly, he was feeling like an idiot.

The way she stated the obvious and lectured him like he was a kid and she was his mother or older sister. . . it was brutal.

The guild on the other hand just watched the scene in awe and fear.

In awe because someone besides Erza was keeping Natsu in place, and fear because now someone else had the power to keep them in place.

And she did it with her own personal touch.

Erza scared the hell out of you to keep you in place.

Knightwalker would simply make you look and feel like an idiot. That's how she trained her soldiers in Edolas and that style worked so why change it? Of course, she didn't think she would need to act like a babysitter, but if the way guild was acting earlier was any indication as how they always act, she would be taking that role soon.

'Finally someone else who could keep these fools in line.' Erza thought as she watched the fear on her guildmate's faces. She then steered the guild back to the matter at hand. "I think that we should be getting back on topic." Erza said as she gave Knightwalker a thankful nod for stopping Natsu.

"Freaking brats." Makarov sighed before he turned serious. "Jet. Droy. How are you two doing?"

"We'll be fine master." Jet answered. "We just want to help catch the bastards that hurt Levy."

"Well you could start by telling us what happened." Erza stated.

"There isn't really much to tell." Jet began. "We took a request to escort an archeologist through some ruins. We were told to meet him at his hotel, and when we got there. . . it was so fast. I'm not really sure what happened. . . Sorry." Jet apologized due to his lack of information.

"That's alright." Makarov sighed. Things could never be easy with Fairy Tail.

Meanwhile, Knightwalker was thinking of the information that she heard. It wasn't much but it was something to go upon.

"It's not much but at least it's a start." Knightwalker spoke up catching everyone's attention. "The guild requests, what's the process like?" Knightwalker questioned.

"Well, when a client wants to submit a request..." Mira began. "...they send the request to a Request Distribution Center or R.D.C. Where the requests go depends if the client wants the request to be sent to a specific guild or all of them. Teams and individual wizards can also be specifically requested but those cost extra and can be pointless if the person or team is already on a request, so they don't happen often."

"Hmmm." Knightwalker hummed as her mind began to go to work. "Your team wouldn't have happened to been specifically called upon for your request, would it?"

"Uhhh. Yeah actually." Droy dumbly answered.

'They didn't kill those three; instead, they decided to send a message. So that means they're going against Fairy Tail as a whole.' Knightwalker deduced. 'But why ask for those three specifically? Was it because they seemed like an easy target? Or maybe it was for another reason.'

"Has something like this happened before to those three?" Knightwalker asked. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Natsu glance at Gajeel; who was glaring at nothing specifically while his fingers dug into the wood of the table he sat at.

Knightwalker's attention diverted to Scarlet who took her off to the side and explained about the time Gajeel attacked Team Shadow Gear.

How many former enemies were in this guild?

These people were extremely forgiving and Knightwalker was a little worried about that. That could come back to bite them on the ass later.

But she couldn't dwell on that, she had bigger concerns.

'Maybe they chose those three for their own amusement, trying to reopen old wounds? If that's true then we're dealing with psychopaths. That's never good.' Knightwalker sighed before she walked over to Natsu and Scarlet.

"We need to talk." Knightwalker said to Scarlet who nodded her head in agreement. "And you should go to the kid." Knightwalker turned her attention to Natsu. "I think you scared her earlier with your little outburst." with that said both Erza's walked off to a corner of the guild.

"Damn. She's right." Natsu muttered as he spotted Hisako sitting on a bar stool with her legs curled up into her. He could see Mira trying to cheer her up but failing. "I'm an idiot."

Walking up to Hisako, he couldn't help but hate himself a little when she looked away from him.

He was an idiot.

"Sorry about that." Natsu said as he got down on one knee and put a hand on Hisako's head. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I-I wasn't s-scared." Hisako stuttered while looking down.

"Then why can't you look me in the eyes?" slowly Hisako brought her head up and met Natsu's eyes with her watery ones.

'Fucking dumbass!' Natsu inwardly yelled at himself. It was his job to keep her from crying not be the cause of it. He needed to learn to control his emotions around her better.

Natsu didn't waste anytime in hugging Hisako to his chest. She immediately clutched his shirt and buried her face into his chest. She had never seen her papa so angry before. She didn't even know he could get that angry. He was always so happy and cheerful, she completely forgot he wasn't just her papa but a fighter too.

She couldn't fault him for getting mad; especially, when his friends got hurt.

"How about we go for a walk." Natsu suggested as he pulled away. "And maybe we could get some ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Hisako's head perked up and looked at her papa with sparkling eyes. Natsu couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Come on, let's go." Natsu reached out and took her hand in his and began walking out of the guild. A part of him wanted to stay and figure out what they were going to do about Laughing Coffin, but if he stayed any longer he would end up getting pissed all over again.

Besides he wasn't much of a thinker, he wouldn't be able to do much anyways. But there was something he could do, and that was spend time with his daughter.

"If Erza asks for us, tell her we went out for a walk, will ya?" Natsu asked Mira from over his shoulder.

"And ice cream!" Hisako added causing Mira to giggle.

"Those two are adorable."

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"I think our best course of action would be to send a team to the Request Distribution Center and the hotel to hopefully get information about who the requester was." Knightwalker stated.

"Agreed." Scarlet nodded. "But there's a danger that this could be a trap and Laughing Coffin will have people waiting at one if not both places."

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides we could always use that possibility to our advantage." Knightwalker responded.

"Have someone hang back and keep an eye out?" Scarlet guessed with a raised eyebrow.

"Exactly."

"Ok, we'll go with your plan, but we should assume that we'll get nothing at both locations and send out a few teams to see if they can come upon something just to have all bases covered. Dark wizards tend to brag a lot and attacking Fairy Tail is not something they would stay quiet about." Scarlet suggested.

"Sounds good. You should tell the old man."

"Right." Erza did what she was told and explained to Makarov what she and her counterpart discussed.

"Very well." Makarov conceded. "I'm going to leave this matter to you and Knightwalker. Make sure to keep her involved, she seems to have a good grasp on how to deal with this situation."

"What? What do you mean you're going to leave this to us?" a shocked Erza questioned.

How could he leave at such a time?

"When I reported this matter to the Magic Council they immediately called a Guild Master's Meeting. Apparently, they've been keeping an eye on incidents that possibly involved Laughing Coffin and this one has forced them into action." Makarov explained.

"But, why call the Guild Master's? Unless they plan on organizing some sort of multi-guild alliance."

"Precisely." Makarov nodded. "They fear that sending Rune Knights after Laughing Coffin would be more than sending lambs to the slaughter, so they plan on organizing an information web between guilds amongst other things. In fact, I need to be leaving this moment."

"If you say so master." Erza said as she watched Makarov hurry out of the guild. 'Well, might as well inform the rest of the guild.' Erza thought as she walked up to the stage.

"Listen up!" Erza shouted. "Master has been called away by the Magic Council and has left myself and Knightwalker in charge of how to deal with this incident!" Erza stated catching everyone's attention.

Finally they were getting down to business, and everyone was taking it deadly serious.

The time for playing around was long gone.

"First, we're going to have a team investigate the Request Distribution Center where the request was submitted. The team will consist of Mira, Elfman, and Max." Erza announced.

"Huh? What about me, Erza?" Lisanna questioned.

"I'll explain after." Erza answered. "Myself, Natsu, and Knightwalker will look into the hotel Team Shadow Gear was sent to, to meet with their 'client'." curses and growls resounded throughout the guild with the word "client". It was understandable since the "client" was the one that set Team Shadow Gear up.

As far as they knew at least.

"What the hell?!" everyone turned their attention to a fuming Gajeel. "There's no way in hell I'm gonna sit here and do nothing while those bastards that hurt Levy are out there!" Erza didn't answer Gajeel right away; instead, she stared into his raging eyes.

She remembers seeing those eyes before.

The eyes of a raging dragon, ready to tear their enemy apart.

Except they were the eyes of another Dragon Slayer.

Her Dragon Slayer.

Natsu had those same eyes when he was fighting Jellal.

"I never intended you to." Erza replied with a chuckle. "We'll also be sending out multiple teams to gather information on their own. Gajeel, you'll be on a team with Bisca and Alzack." Erza stated before moving on to naming the other teams. Once she finished that task, she went on to the last bit of business.

"Furthermore, I'm declaring Fairy Tail in a state of emergency! We have been attacked by a very powerful Dark Guild that has ill intentions against us! No member is allowed to leave Magnolia without at least two other wizards accompanying them! On top of that, you must also take a Communication Lacrima with you and check in every hour! Anyone who fails to check in will have a team sent to find them and bring them back!" Erza commanded with full authority.

She was taking no chances.

She would not allow another member of her family to get hurt.

"As for you Lisanna..." Erza began. "...we're going to need someone to watch Hisako and Asuka. Can you do that?"

"I'd love too!" Lisanna smiled. "You two don't mind do you?" Lisanna turned to Bisca and Alzack.

"You'd be doing us a huge favor." Bisca sighed in relief. "We were just about to get into a huge fight about who should watch her."

"Tsk. Tsk." Erza uttered. "Marital problems already, huh?"

"What? No. We jus-"

"Well, I guess everyone can't have as good as a relationship as me and Natsu. . . . . . . Where is Natsu? And Hisako?" Erza questioned as she looked around the guild.

"He took Hisako out for a walk and ice cream." Mira answered.

"Now of all times?" it wasn't like Natsu to leave when something so serious was happening to the guild.

"It seems he scared Hisako with his little outburst earlier, so he took her to try and cheer her up." Mira explained.

"I see." Erza couldn't help but smile at what she heard.

He was maturing.

Instead of staying and being involved with what was happening, he chose to put cheering up Hisako above everything else.

"Mira. You and Knightwalker get everything set up. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Wanna trade?"

"~Noooo~"

"Why not?"

"Why do you want to trade?"

"I don't like mine."

"Then why'd you get it?"

"It looked good."

"But?"

"It's not."

"Then I don't want it."

"Come on."

"No."

"Please."

"Nuh-uh."

"Fine. . . . . I'll just take it!"

"Papa!" Hisako cried out as she ran away from Natsu.

"Give me your ice cream!"

"Never!"

"What? We'll see about that!" Natsu said as he chased after her. The two ran around for a few minutes, completely ignoring the people they bumped into and things they broke, until they both bumped into something that caused them to fall on their rears.

"What are you two doing?" they both looked up and saw Erza smiling down on them.

"Papa's trying to steal my ice cream!" Hisako screamed as she got up and hid behind Erza.

"He is, is he?" Erza chuckled as she looked at Natsu. "Is there a reason why you're trying to steal ice cream from our daughter?"

"Mine tasted bad." Natsu muttered.

"So, why didn't you buy another one?" Erza tilted her head to the side as she adopted a confused look on her face.

"..."

"Well?"

". . . . I'll be back." Natsu answered as he got up and dashed down the road.

"Papa's silly." Hisako giggled as Erza picked her up.

"That he is." Erza agreed as she joined in with her own giggles.

"Want some?" Hisako offered Erza some of her ice cream.

"Hey! How come you give her some but not me?" Natsu huffed as he walked up to the pair, two ice creams in hand.

"Because mama doesn't have any."

"She does now." Natsu responded as he handed one of the ice creams to Erza.

"What a gentlemen." Erza cooed as she gave the ice cream a lick.

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu shrugged while looking away, a slight blush covering his cheeks. "So, what happened while we were gone? Erza gave her ice cream another lick before explaining to Natsu what happened after he left.

"You're leaving?" Hisako asked as her face took a downcast look.

"Sorry, sweety, but we can't let this go unchecked." Erza apologized. "But you'll be staying with your Aunt Lisanna and Asuka will be there as well. I'm sure you three will have a great time."

"Ok." Hisako nodded while slightly cheering up. She was sad that her mama and papa were leaving, but at least she would be with friends and family while she waited for them to return.

"Hey guys!" the small family turned around and saw, Rin, one of Fairy Tail's Fire Wizards.

"Yo." Natsu greeted with his usual grin.

"Hello Rin." Erza gave a polite nod.

"Hi Aunty Rin!" Hisako chirped excitingly while scampering out of her mama's arms and into Rin's.

She liked Rin a lot.

She was fun, energetic, playful, and always willing to spend time with Hisako.

"Hey kiddo!" Rin greeted as she lifted Hisako in the air. "What'd I miss while I was gone?"

"Quite a lot actually." Erza spoke up.

"Damn." Rin muttered under her breath after hearing what events had unfolded while she was on a request.

"Yeah." Natsu nodded. "Hey can I ask you a favor?" Natsu questioned as he took Rin to the side.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you stay and help Lisanna watch Hisako and Asuka?"

"But, I want to help find those bastards and pay them back." Rin furrowed her eyebrows, Natsu should know how she would feel about the situation.

She may not have been a member of Fairy Tail as long as most of the members, but that didn't mean she didn't have as much pride in being a Fairy Tail wizard as the others.

"I know." Natsu sighed. "I'm just. . . . " Natsu trailed off as he glanced back at Hisako. Rin followed his line of sight and quickly realized what he was worried about.

"I get it." Rin said as she gave a firm nod. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone touch Hisako or Asuka." Natsu felt a sense of relief flow through him when he saw a fire of determination flare up in Rin's eyes.

"Thanks." Natsu said as he and Rin joined Erza and Hisako.

"What was that about?" Erza whispered as she leaned towards Natsu.

"Asked if she could stay here and watch Hisako and Asuka." Natsu whispered back.

"Ah, good call." Erza complimented. "We should get ready to leave soon." Erza advised earning a nod from Natsu.

"We're going to be going now, sweety." Erza smiled at her daughter as she picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. "You be good, you hear?"

"Yes, mama."

"Make sure to look after Asuka, ok?" Natsu patted Hisako on the head. "You need to always have your families' back."

"I will, papa."

"Good." Natsu smiled before turning to Rin. "Look after her, Rin."

"Right!" Rin saluted before she took Hisako into her arms.

"Bye mama! Bye papa!" Hisako waved as her parents began to walk away. They waved back over their shoulders before turning back around.

As they turned away from Hisako, their happy, smiling faces dropped and took on looks of pure determination.

"How's it feel to be on your first Fairy Tail adventure, red?" Natsu questioned as he laid his head on Erza's lap. Himself, Erza, and Knightwalker were on a train traveling to the port city known as Sapparo, an extremely large port city that played a major role in Fiore's exporting business.

The cities main export?

Fish.

Its waters held an abundant amount of sea life that never seemed to thin in populace. It also held a wide range of fish that, under normal circumstances, shouldn't be able to live in the same environment. The income from their exports enriched Sapparo, allowing them to turn the city into a major tourist hot spot. The sea life also made a great tourist attraction, aiding the city with their goal of becoming a metropolis.

"I wouldn't mind if it was under different circumstances." Knightwalker replied as she crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat.

"True." Erza nodded in agreement. "So, I was thinking I would be the one to hang back while you two investigate the room." Erza casually stated.

"Is you making us partner together on this an attempt to help move things along between us?" Knightwalker questioned. Things still were still a little awkward between the two, but when they were busy doing something together, mostly sparing, the awkwardness between them went away. So, Erza figured put them together more and eventually things would get better.

"I was trying to be subtle." Erza gave Knightwalker a glare which was shrugged off.

"Well, you did a poor job at it." Erza's counterpart mocked her.

"I did a great job!" Erza defended. "Natsu couldn't tell."

"Of course that man couldn't tell. He's an idiot."

"Hey! Leave me out of this!" Natsu sat up and pointed at Knightwalker. "And I did know what Erza was trying to do."

"Sure you did." Knightwalker replied as she rolled her eyes.

"I did!"

"Come on Natsu. We all know that's not true." Erza sighed as she shook her head.

"I did, dammit!" Natsu shouted as he stood up. "You know what, screw this!" as Natsu said those words the train came to a stop allowing him to stomp off the train.

"You should probably catch up to him before he destroys something." Scarlet advised as she stood up and stretched.

"I told you I don't want any!" Natsu's voice filled the air and was followed by a crashing noise.

"Too late." Scarlet deadpanned.

"That idiot." Knightwalker muttered as she hurried out of the train and after Natsu. "Does he not know the meaning of discreet?"

Erza waited a few more moments before requipping into a yellow sun dress along with a white sunhat. After changing into her new clothes Erza walked out of the train and followed Natsu and Knightwalker from about thirty feet behind. The plan was for her to blend in with the civilians and follow the two from behind and try to see if anyone else was following them.

It was a simple yet effective strategy that would hopefully show results.

Results she was starving for.

She may have seemed calm on the outside but on the inside she was boiling with rage.

Laughing Coffin would pay.

That was a fact.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ok! I get it! I'll be good! So let go of my ear!" Natsu screamed as Knightwalker pulled him by his ear.

"You better." Knightwalker growled as she let his throbbing ear go. "God, I feel like your mother." she was getting a headache.

"I would never have such a mean mom." Natsu mumbled to himself hoping she didn't hear him.

(Smack)

"And I would never have such an idiotic child!" apparently she did, and Natsu received a punch to the head.

"Heheheheh." Natsu started to chuckle catching Knightwalker's attention. "Hahahahahaha!" Knightwalker couldn't help but look at Natsu as if he was a crazy, crazy person. He just started laughing laughing out of nowhere so one couldn't blame her.

"What's wrong with you? Are you broken?" she would never hear the end of it if she broke Scarlet's man.

"No." Natsu answered as he wiped a tear from his eye. "It's just, I think it's getting better between us." Knightwalker couldn't help but give him a incredulous look.

They've been arguing and he thought that meant things were getting better for the two?

He was insane.

.

.

.

.

A small, very small, smile graced her lips.

Maybe the idiot was right.

"We're here." Knightwalker stated once she realized the hotel they were looking for was right in front of them. "Come on. Let's get to work." she began making her way towards the entrance but stopped when she noticed Natsu wasn't following.

She turned towards him and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she saw the far off look in his eye.

She knew that look.

It was the look someone got when they were having an internal struggle.

The question was: What was his internal struggle about?

'He's probably debating on how far should he go when we catch the people responsible for attacking those three.' Knightwalker thought as she walked closer to Natsu. "Hey." she snapped her fingers in front of his face, effectively catching his attention.

"What?" Knightwalker couldn't help but shake her head and sigh at his dumbly asked question.

"Stop daydreaming. It was your friends that got attacked, so pay attention." Knightwalker scolded before she turned around and walked into the hotel.

"Right." Natsu mumbled before he shook his head and followed after her.

Erza let out a sigh as she sat at a table in the outdoor section of a cafe. The cafe was located down the street from the hotel where the attack happened, so she had a good angle to see if anyone was watching the hotel.

So far she found nothing that was a cause for suspicion.

A man meeting his wife in front of a store.

Another man at a corner handing out fliers for, what she can hear from his yelling, a play of some sorts.

A group of women fighting about where to shop first.

And a group of kids playing some game.

Erza let out a sigh before she took a bite out of her piece of strawberry cake before letting out another sigh.

"Natsu's are better." she mumbled to herself before she brought her mind to the events that brought her to her current position.

What was Laughing Coffin's end game?

What did they plan on accomplishing by attacking Fairy Tail?

If it was a normal Dark Guild that attacked them she would just assume that they were trying to make a name for themselves or perhaps taking their anger out on them. But she knew from Ultear that Laughing Coffin wasn't so simple minded.

They had power, but most importantly, they had the brains to go with that power.

They were a serious threat.

'Hmm?' Erza raised an eyebrow when she saw Natsu and Knightwalker walk out of the hotel, a hotel they entered not even five minutes earlier. 'Judging by their faces, they weren't allowed to see the room.' she knew what that meant.

'Damn. They got here first.' Erza mentally cursed. She was hoping they could beat the Rune Knights to the room but it seemed they were too late. It made sense seeing as the Rune Knights had a branch in the city, but she still hoped that they could've gotten there first.'Now that the Rune Knights are here, those two will have to sneak into the room.'

Officially, conflict between guilds is illegal, that also includes conflicts between Legal Guilds and Dark Guilds. Legal Guilds could only go after Dark Guilds if there was a request asking for a Dark Guild to be dealt with, or if the Magic Council personally ordered it. That all meant, officially, Fairy Tail couldn't investigate the attack or go after Laughing Coffin.

Of course, officially, the Magic Council could kiss Fairy Tail's ass.

Their family was attacked, ambushed by cowards, there was no other option but war.

Of all the things Knightwalker thought she would be doing when she came to Earthland, hanging off a windowsill from a window that was located on the eleventh floor of a hotel, was not one of them.

"I fucking hate Rune Knights." Knightwalker muttered to herself. The second she and Natsu made it to the floor of the room they were looking for, they were immediately met by Rune Knights who denied them access. She had to grab Natsu by the ear and drag him back down the stairs so he wouldn't attack the knights.

It was a tempting thought though.

"Me too." Natsu agreed from beside her.

They were waiting for the Rune Knights, that were currently in the room, to leave so they could perform their own investigation to hopefully find a clue that could help them learn the identity of Team Shadow Gear's attacker.

They hung there for a few more minutes until they heard the sound of a door opening and closing.

'Finally.' they both thought in unison.

Slowly Knightwalker lifted herself up and peeked inside the window to make sure no one stayed behind. No one did, prompting her open the window with one hand and quietly climb through the window.

Standing up straight, Knightwalker took in the appearance of the room and realized that they might be there for a while. The sound of Natsu tripping over Mavis knows what caused her to snap her head in his direction and give him a glare.

"Are you trying to get us caught?" she hissed under her breath. "If you're not, then stop tripping over things like a clumsy idiot."

"Sorry. Sorry." Natsu quickly apologized.

"Just put that nose to work while I have a look around." Knightwalker ordered.

The room was a mess, blood splattered in various places, broken furniture. . . . she shouldn't have let Natsu in. It couldn't be a pretty sight; especially, when you knew your friends were attacked in such a place. But it was too late, Natsu had already seen it so there was no point in doing anything about it.

Especially when something caught her attention.

It was the claw marks that were all over the room. Floor, walls, and ceilings, the claw marks were everywhere. They matched the claw marks that were found on Team Shadow Gears persons.

'It almost looks like a wild animal was let loose in here.'Knightwalker mused as she continued to eye the claw markings. "You find anything?" before answering, Natsu took one last sniff and turned to Knightwalker.

"All I got is Levy, Jet, Droy, and those damn Rune Knights." Natsu answered. He was pissed, Knightwalker could tell that much, but she had to give him credit in keeping it in check. "I don't get it. I'm a Dragon Slayer, I should be able to track their scent." Natsu clenched his fist and gritted his teeth at his inability to get a scent.

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Knightwalker placed a hand on his shoulder. "If you couldn't find a scent then that means they most likely planned for a Dragon Slayer's nose."

"So you think that means they're setting a trap for us?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Knightwalker shrugged. "But I prefer to prepare for the worst case scenario." Knightwalker added before she went to closer inspect the claw markings. Natsu on the other hand decided to give the room a more thorough sniff down.

'What is he a dog?' Knightwalker sweat dropped as she turned around and saw Natsu on his hands and knees sniffing under the bed before moving on to another part of the room.

'Whatever.' Knightwalker shrugged before she went back to the claw marks. It took her a few minutes but she eventually found something in one of the claw marks. The only problem was, she didn't know what she found.

It was a clear, slimy substance that was coated in the inside of one of the claw markings. If Knightwalker had to guess, she would say that the slimy substance was either intentionally or unintentionally coated on the claws and happened to be scraped off during the attack.

She did wonder whether the claws marks were from some sort of bladed gauntlets or maybe some form of magic that transformed the hand into a weapon. She wouldn't be surprised, Earthland's magic was still something new to her, so in her mind it held endless possibilities.

But Scarlet wasn't new to Earthland, and she could probably identify the substance.

So, she looked around the room, found a clean napkin and pen, (she was surprised there was anything clean in the room) used the pen to scrape the slime from the cut, and then placed the slime in the napkin. She noticed how the slime didn't, not even a little, absorb into the napkin; instead, it simply just sat there.

'It's not lubricant.' Knightwalker noted. Often times, one would coat lubricant onto a weapon to make it easier for the weapon to cut through flesh and help the blood slide off. But the slime was too dense, it would hinder more then help the blade cut through flesh.

'Hopefully Scarlet knows what this is.' Knightwalker folded the napkin and placed it in her belt before turning to Natsu. "Did you find any-" she cut herself off when she heard footsteps approaching. No doubt it was the Rune Knights.

"Shit!" Knightwalker cursed under her breath.

"What do we do?" Natsu frantically asked. "Should I kick their asses?"

"No, you idiot!" she replied just as the door knob began to turn. "Out the window." with that said Knightwalker and Natsu sprinted for the window and dove out of it.

"Huh." one of the Rune Knights muttered. "I could've sworn I heard something."

"You're just hearing things." the other commented.

'Son of a bi-' Knightwalker didn't get to finish her thought as she and Natsu slammed onto a dumpster. Thankfully, the dumpster's lid was closed so they didn't land in trash.

"Hehehe. That was kinda fun." Natsu chuckled causing Knightwalker's eye to twitch.

"Shut up." Knightwalker groaned as she shoved Natsu to the floor. "Come on, I want to show Scarlet something." Knightwalker slid off the dumpster and walked out of the alley.

The only problem with meeting up with Scarlet was they couldn't be seen with her. If someone was watching them, then meeting up with Scarlet would just give her away, and they would need her to spot any followers. So, Knightwalker hoped that a brief moment of eye contact would be enough for Scarlet to understand what Knightwalker wanted.

Knightwalker needed to see if the slime she found was something Scarlet could identify. Every second counted in the investigation; especially, if the attacker, or attackers, decided to run.

Thirty minutes later they found themselves in a hotel room that they would use as a base of operations. The city of Sapparo was extremely large, which meant if they had to search for clues through the dark side of the city it could take a while.

"So, have you seen anything like this?" Knightwalker questioned as she, leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and pointed to the napkin she placed on the table.

"Not that I can recall." Scarlet shook her head. "Your theory about Body Transformation Magic isn't impossible. Master himself has a form of that magic, along with the Strauss siblings, but I've never seen such a thing being involved." Scarlet sighed. "Do you recognize this Natsu?" Scarlet turned to her lover.

"Haven't seen anything like it." Natsu replied as he leaned over the slime. "I wonder if I can get a..." Natsu trailed off as he gave the slime a whiff.

His reaction was immediate.

Reeling back, Natsu slapped a hand over his mouth, before bolting towards the bathroom.

Both Erza's winced as the sound of Natsu's vomiting reverberated throughout the hotel room. They followed up that action by scooting a little further from the slime.

"Ugh. That was brutal." Natsu mumbled as he stumbled out if the bathroom and flopped face first onto one of the beds.

"That bad?" Scarlet questioned as she sat beside him and began rubbing his back.

"You have no freaking idea."

"Seeing as how bad it smells, does this mean you can track the smell?" Knightwalker asked as she looked on with envy at the two.

Scarlet was luckier then she could imagine.

"No." Natsu answered causing Knightwalker to frown.

"Why not?"

"I don't know how to describe it." Natsu sat up and furrowed his eyebrows as he began to think of a good explanation. "The smell didn't drift. I couldn't smell anything until I got right in front of it. Almost like a bubble was keeping the smell in."

"So, we'll have to do this the hard way then." Knightwalker sighed as she stood up from her seat. She didn't show it but she was aggravated. They finally found a clue only to hit a dead end. She could only hope that they could make a connection with the slime later.

The Watering Hole.

In Knightwalker's opinion, the name of the bar was appropriate.

The only people anywhere near the bar, let alone entering or exiting, were all shady characters, or in Knightwalker's opinion, animals.

Thus, the name The Watering Hole, being a perfect fit.

It was one thing to be a criminal but that didn't mean you couldn't have some class.

But that was neither here nor there.

The reason why Natsu and Knightwalker were both there, wearing cloaks with hoods over their heads, was simple. One, the cloaks help conceal their identity which was likely to be known, specifically their uniquely colored hair, by such a crowd of people. Of course, it didn't matter that Knightwalker hadn't enough time in Earthland to build a reputation for herself since she looked just like Scarlet, who had a very feared reputation amongst the criminals of Fiore.

And bars like The Watering Hole were a breeding ground for criminals.

More specifically, Dark Wizards.

It was perfect.

Alcohol always did a good job at loosening the tongues of, well, about everyone. It didn't hurt that criminals tended to brag about the crimes they did.

Street cred they called it.

Knightwalker called it stupid but that was just her.

"Alright, let's go." Knightwalker said.

"R-Right." Natsu stuttered, Knightwalker's words drew him out of his thoughts prompting him to follow after her. 'Hopefully we can finally find something.'

Erza scanned her surroundings from on top of the building she stood upon. Unfortunately, since they were in such a shady part of town almost everyone looked suspicious. Which of course made it very difficult for her to discern between someone who might have been involved in the attack on Team Shadow Gear or just another run of the mill criminal.

The image of a bloodied Team Shadow Gear flashed through her mind forcing her to take deep breaths to calm herself down. After a few minutes she succeeded, to a certain extent. She was still boiling on the inside but she would keep it in check.

For the moment.

But that brought something interesting to the forefront of her mind.

It was Natsu.

Specifically, a calmer-then-she-expected-Natsu.

It just didn't make sense to her.

She knew Natsu better than anyone (something she took great pride in), and she hadn't seen any of the signs that showed Natsu was ready to explode like he normally would.

Sure he was pissed, but not Natsu pissed.

And that confused her.

Why was he so calm?

Natsu was raw emotion, hell, his magic was fueled by his emotions, so why did he seem so calm?

A number of reasons flooded Erza's mind as she hopped over to another building, and none of them fit. Why was she having such a hard time figuring it out?

'As Natsu's soon to be fiance, I should be ashamed of myself!' Erza mentally berated herself as she clenched her fist in frustration before she deflated with a sigh.

It was probably her own anger that was keeping her from figuring out the reason for Natsu's lack of anger. At least the anger she felt he would normally display when a member of Fairy Tail was attacked.

"Let me go!" Erza's head snapped down and to the right; where she saw a pair of men dragging a woman into a dark alley.

Erza couldn't help but give off a dark smirk.

Finally, she could let out some of her anger.

"What the fucks your proble-?!" the man never had a chance to finish his sentence as a iron club smashed into his face sending him flying across the bar.

"What's my problem?" the man crawled backwards until his back hit the wall. He was shaking in fear at the sight of his attacker. Shadows covered most of his features but they also made his glowing red eyes even more intimidating. "Don't fuck with me! You know exactly what my problem is!" he emphasized his words by grabbing the quivering man and throwing him across the bar, tables and chairs were all smashed and sent flying when the man crashed into them.

"Should we stop him?" Bisca questioned her husband.

"Nah." Alzack responded. "He knows what he's doing. Besides, he'll be easier to travel with if he lets out some anger."

"Good point." his wife nodded before she turned her attention to the group of people they were holding at gun point. The group were the occupants of the bar when the three entered, and going by the looks on their faces, they didn't want nothing more then to beat down the Fairy Tail wizards.

A few of them even tried, but none of them even got a second step forward before the were shot in the face by the gun wielding duo which deterred the others. Of course none of the shots were lethal though.

Hurt like hell.

But not lethal.

"I know who you are." Gajeel said as he stalked towards the man he threw earlier. "You're Michael but you're name's not really important is it. The fact that you're an information broker, that's important, and like all good information brokers you keep your ear to the ground. Now tell me, what do you know about the attack on Fairy Tail?"

"I-I have no ide-" Michael was cut off by Gajeel, who grabbed him by his throat and slammed him into a wall.

"Wrong answer." Gajeel stated as he transformed his arm into his Iron Dragon's Sword and stabbed it into the wall only centimeters from Michael's neck. "Now then. Let's try this again." as those words left his mouth the spikes on the edge of the blade began to rotate like a chainsaw. Fear ran through the Michael as he felt the wind from the rotating blades against his neck.

"Y-You can't do this! You're supposed to be the good guys right?!"

"Maybe." Gajeel whispered causing the man to relax slightly. "But that was before some fucker hurt my mate! Now, if you want to keep your head you better give me some answers!"

"Wait! Wait! I don't know anything about an attack on Fairy Tail!" he truly didn't.

Who in their right mind would attack Fairy Tail?

They were the strongest guild in all of Fiore, and on top of that it was well known how they would react if one of their own was hurt.

It was war.

No ifs, ands, or buts.

"He could be telling the truth Gajeel." Alzack interjected. "It hasn't even been a whole day since the attack. Maybe it never reached his ears yet."

"Information travels fast." Gajeel replied not taking his eyes off Michael. "He could've known about it beforehand too."

"I doubt anyone would be dumb enough to let an attack on Fairy Tail leak out before it happened." Bisca spoke up before she took up a thoughtful expression. "We should ask him something else."

"Like what?!" Gajeel growled. He was sick and tired of all this questioning and waiting. All he wanted to do was find the bastard who hurt Levy and rip him, or them, to pieces.

". . . . . Have you heard anything about an archeologist needing help to either find ruins or be escorted through them recently?" Bisca questioned after a few seconds of pondering.

Michael frantically searched through his memories, hoping that he had anything to help them so he could keep his head.

"Y-Yes! A couple of weeks ago a man came too me asking if I knew anything about any ruins near Sapparo!" Michael quickly answered.

"What was his name?!" Gajeel roared.

"A-All I got was a first name!"

"What is it?!"

"Rai! It was Rai! Please don't kill me!"

"Alright Gajeel, you can put him down now." Alzack stated.

"Whatever." Gajeel scoffed as he dropped Michael to the floor and walked out of the bar.

"We should call Erza and Mira and see what they learned and give them what we learned." Bisca suggested as she and her husband followed after Gajeel.

"Right." Alzack answered as he glanced up at the night sky. 'I have a bad feeling about all this.'

"Is this it?" Elfman questioned his sister as they stood in front of a bland building. "It's not very manly."

"It's a building." Mira sweat dropped at her brother's words. "What did you expect?"

"Something bigger!" Elfman looked at his sister with an incredulous look. Was she serious? Sometimes he wondered if they really were related. Mira was just so unmanly at times. "This is where our requests are born!" Mira should've left Elfman to be the one watching them from afar instead of Max.

Although, she doubted he could keep quiet enough to not attract attention to himself.

Oh, well.

"Well, all they do here is file papers. Just because requests are submitted and stored here doesn't mean anything magic related is going on." Mira explained. "Come on, let's get this over with."

"Well that sucked." Mira pouted as she and her brother walked out of the Request Distribution Center. In all honesty, Mira should've seen them not being allowed to see the records coming.

To make matters worse, the Magic Council sent a letter to the Request Distribution Center, all of them actually, to deny any and all Fairy Tail wizards access to any files. It was more to emphasize a point seeing as it was illegal for any wizard to look at the files anyways, unless the Magic Council gave them special permission of course, but that was unlikely.

"We'll have to do this the hard way then." Mira sighed while Elfman pumped his fist in the air in excitement.

"Alright! Time to kick ass!"

"No! There will be no ass kicking Elfman." Mira scolded her brother and gave him a smack on the head.

"What? Why not? It's manly!" how could his own sister take this away from him? It was too cruel.

"Even so, I already have a plan."

"Huh? You do?" Elfman questioned. "What is it?"

"You see that woman?" Mira pointed to a brown haired woman as she walked out of the Request Distribution Center. "From what I overheard she works here and better yet, she files the request papers."

"So?"

"Sooooo, she's taking a lunch break and I'm going to change into her and sneak into the file room." Mira explained.

Elfman couldn't help but be impressed with his sister. They were in there for only a few minutes and she was able to find out enough information to formulate a plan. He couldn't help but feel excited about what his part would be.

He hoped it was manly.

"If she comes back, I'm going to need you to stall her." with that said Mira transformed her appearance to look exactly like the woman who they were talking about, leaving a shocked Elfman.

"That's not manly!"

Ignoring her brother's complaints, Mira made her way inside the building and went straight for the door to the right that had an "Employee's Only" sign.

She had to be in character which meant she had act like she worked there. It would make no sense for someone who was an employee to look like she didn't know where to go. So, she walked at a brisk pace through the halls hoping to give the impression of someone who had a task to complete. At the same time she kept her eyes peeled as they darted from side to side, taking in her surroundings.

Bathrooms.

Break-rooms.

Offices.

Storage-rooms.

She passed all types of rooms and people until she finally found the filing room she was looking for. With her battle honed senses letting her know no one was in that particular hall at the moment, looking around would be totally suspicious, Mira quickly slipped into the room.

'Wow.' Mira thought as she saw all of the file cabinets that filled the room.

Every guild was given at least one cabinet to store copies of requests that were made, but more famous guilds, like Fairy Tail, were given more requests then normal; that meant they needed more cabinets to store all the requests. Which resulted in rows and stacks of filing cabinets.

'I never knew there were so many guilds out there. It's unfortunate that they get overshadowed by the more famous guilds.' Mira thought as she read the names of more then a few guilds she never heard of. 'Focus Mira.'

Getting back to business, Mira quickly located the Fairy Tail section and began searching for what she came for. It took her a few minutes, Fairy Tail had a lot of cabinets, to find the request but once she did, she frowned.

All she got was a name.

Rai Sumeragi.

That was it.

She was at least hoping to find a place of residence, or maybe a city. There could be a number of Rai Sumeragi's in Fiore, she needed more.

Then she remembered a room she walked by earlier.

"Clientele"

'They could have information on people who submitted requests there.' Mira quickly put the file away and made her way out of the room. She only got a few steps down the hall before someone called out to her.

"I thought you went to lunch Shirley?"

'So, that's her name.' Mira thought as she tried to think of how to act to match Shirley's personality. From the brief moment she had to observe Shirley, Mira could only tell that she was at least a happy person. It wasn't much, people were much deeper than that but it would have to do.

"Yeah..." 'Shirley' smiled. "...I was until I realized I forgot something." 'Shirley' rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"What else is new?" 'Shirley's' friend chuckled as Mira inwardly sighed in relief. "Well, I got work to do. Bye." Mira frowned as the woman walked away.

Even though she didn't arouse, as far as she can tell, suspicion from the woman she made an interaction that could come back and bite her on the butt.

The Magic Council warned the Request Distribution Center's about any Fairy Tail wizards coming to find any information that could help them find the bastards that attacked Team Shadow Gear. That also, most likely, meant that the Request Distribution Center would report back to the Magic Council about she and her brother showing up.

And that there was the problem.

The Magic Council wasn't stupid, they knew Fairy Tail wouldn't sit back and do nothing when one of their own was hurt. So, they would most likely send Rune Knights to check and see if she and Elfman attempted to look at the request.

That's why she didn't like the fact that she talked to Shirley's friend.

If, probably when, the Rune Knights were to question the employees of the Request Distribution Center (all of them, the Rune Knights were always thorough) they would find an inconsistency between Shirley's day and Shirley's friend's day.

Shirley's friend's day was normal, as far as Mira could tell, she did her job like always, bumped into 'Shirley' who forgot something forcing her to come back from her lunch break.

Crap.

Shirley on the other hand went to lunch like always. . . . and possibly got held up by a big, white-haired man who, most likely, wouldn't shut up about being a man and whatnot.

Double crap.

Yeah, she would have to deal with those two. She wasn't sure how but she would figure that out later. At the moment she needed to find more information about Rai Sumeragi. But she also needed to look busy enough so no one would bother her.

Walking briskly apparently wasn't enough.

Figures.

So Mira opted to upgrade.

Walking into a break-room, Mira picked up a stack of random papers, began walking briskly AND pretended to read said stack of papers.

Everyone else was doing it, so when in Rome.

Luckily, it worked. Mira wasn't bothered again as she walked the halls to find the "Clientele" room.

Good news.

She found it easily enough.

Bad news.

She wasn't the only one roaming that particular hall.

That was ok, no big deal.

She just continued walking through the hall and went into a bathroom. She walked into a stall, put the lid down and sat down. Since she had time, she could think of a way to deal with Shirley and her friend.

Violence?

Out of the question.

Bribery?

Nope.

Then what then?

'Hmmmm.' she was good with sleep magic. Maybe. . . . maybe she could put the two in a half asleep state and hypnotize them into believing their day went perfectly normal.

With no Fairy Tail influence at all.

Maybe she should do the same to the manager who turned them away.

Better safe then sorry.

Clapping her hands as she stood up, Mira nodded to herself as she made her way out into the now empty hall. She swept into the "Clientele" room and began looking for the S's cabinet. She found it and not too long after, she found what she was looking for.

Rai Sumeragi's profile.

She skimmed through it until something caught her eye.

Recently bought a home in Sapparo.

Address was there too.

'Sapparo's where the attack was.' a demon like grin covered "Shirley's" face. 'Found you.'

"Hey." Natsu whispered as he leaned towards Knightwalker from his bar stool. "If we're supposed to be listening in on people shouldn't we be, I don't know, near them?" they were seated at the bar counter while most of the "animals", Knightwalker's opinion, were seated at tables and booths in the back of the bar.

Knightwalker couldn't help but sigh, looked like she would need to do a little teaching.

"Because..." Knightwalker leaned and whispered back. "...we're looking for braggers."

"And. . . ." Natsu trailed off wishing for her to continue.

'Easy, Knightwalker. Patience is a virtue.' Knightwalker suppressed an eye twitch. "Tell me, when someone in your guild-"

"Our guild."

That would take some time getting used to.

"-our guild has a problem or just plain wants to show off to someone and have a drink, who do they go to?"

"Easy, Mira." Natsu answered.

"And what is Mira?"

"Fairy Tail Wizard, duh."

Idiot.

"What else is she?" eye twitch.

". . . .Bartender?"

"Exactly." finally progress. "And do you know why you go to talk to her more then anyone else?"

". . . . Because she's nice?"

"That's not incorrect, but that's also not the answer I'm looking for." Knightwalker explained. "You go to talk to her for two reasons. The first, alcohol, obviously. Second, she listens. A bartender's job is to not only serve drinks but to listen. Do you know why?"

"No." Natsu shook his head like a child.

"Of course you don't." Knightwalker sighed. "The two main reasons that push people to alcohol are either to celebrate something good going on in their lives, or to get over something depressing."

"Ok..." Natsu trailed off still confused.

"So if the bartender listens, the people will talk, and when they talk they relive what's going on in their lives, which in turn makes them want more alcohol, and that's just good business for the bartender." Natsu took in all she said before he tried to remember how they got to where they were, conversation-wise

". . . . We got pretty sidetracked, huh?" he remembered.

". . . . . Yes we have." Knightwalker agreed. "The point is, the people here..." Knightwalker tilted her head to the other people seated at the bar counter. "...are more likely to say something that is useful. That being said, I still want you using those ears to listen in on the rest of the bar."

"Uh, right." he was getting a headache, hopefully listening on everyone's conversations will help distract him from all the learning.

Knightwalker on the other hand went back to listening to the people around her and using the mirror in front of her, behind the bar shelves, to keep an eye on any suspicious behavior.

It didn't take long for something to raise her internal alarm.

'That's the third time that man glanced at us.' it was subtle and most people wouldn't have noticed or cared for it, but Knightwalker wasn't most people.

She noticed it.

And she was on alert.

'Shit. Don't tell me-'

"Hey fucking Fairies!" that caught everyone's attention.

'Damn it!' Knightwalker inwardly cursed. 'How did he know who we are?'

"Finally!" Natsu shouted as he threw off his cloak. He was getting sick and tired of all the cloak and dagger crap.

He wanted to cut loose.

"Guess there's no choice." Knightwalker sighed before her eye caught the cloaked figure (there was a lot of them at the bar, but that was expected) who seemed to give away their identities leaving the bar through the back door. "Scratch that! Natsu follow him! He might know something!"

"Why can't you-"

"You have the nose, not me!" Natsu growled in frustration before he ran after the cloaked figure who was already out of the bar.

"You're not going anywhere pinky." ignoring the horrible insult, Natsu dipped his shoulder and plowed through the group of people who were in his way.

"Well, that was embarrassing." Knightwalker mocked as a good number of people picked themselves up off the floor. "You just got knocked around like a bunch of rag dolls." hopefully her taunting would draw their focus on her and away from Natsu.

He didn't need these people holding him up.

Her taunt worked.

Ignoring the horrible quality of insults and threats, Knightwalker removed her cloak and revealed her identity to everyone in the bar.

Knightwalker had to admit it, she was impressed with Scarlet. The second they saw who she was (who they thought she was) they all went pale and looked like they were going to crap themselves.

"It's T-Titani-"

"Wrong." Knightwalker cut a stuttering thug off.

"W-What?" another questioned.

"I'm not Erza Scarlet." Knightwalker explained. "I'm. . . . her twin sister."

"Really?" she couldn't but smirk as she saw their expressions change. She could tell they thought that if she wasn't Scarlet they had a chance to take her.

Oh, how wrong they were.

"Come guys, she isn't Titania. We can take her." a random voice spoke up in an attempt to motivate the others. Knightwalker couldn't help but grin even more.

"You want to test that?" even without her Ten Commandments (something she didn't want to use, ever if possible) she knew she could take them on.

"Know your place bitch!" one charged forward and threw a straight punch. Knightwalker couldn't help but snort at the punch as she ducked under and delivered a quick jab to the stomach.

The man's reaction was immediate.

He fell to his knees and vomited before passing out.

Right in his vomit.

"Disgusting." Knightwalker commented as eyed the unconscious man. Shaking her head she turned her attention to the rest of the bar. "Who's next?" the taunting with the combination of alcohol caused two men to ignore their brains that were telling them to flee and charge.

Knightwalker slid back slightly and prepared to take down the two. One was coming from ten o'clock with a pool cue raised over his head ready to be swung, and the other was rushing in at three o'clock, a broken piece of glass in his hands.

As the pool cue was swung horizontally, Knightwalker slipped back and to the left as she ducked, letting the pool cue fly over her head and into the glass wielding man's. The man holding the piece of glass was sent stumbling back into a table as Knightwalker delivered a left hook to the other man's jaw, knocking him out. As the other man struggled to get up, alcohol and a smack to the head not helping, Knightwalker ran to him and delivered a knee to his face.

"That's three." Knightwalker counted. "Who's next?"

"Damn it!" Natsu gritted his teeth as he pulled his fist out of the ground. He had caught up to the cloaked figure not too long ago but he couldn't get a hit on him.

There was two reasons for that.

One, he wouldn't stop running.

Fucking coward.

Two, every time Natsu would launch an attack, a magic circle would appear at the man's feet before he jumped out of the way at an amazing speed. What made the situation even more annoying was the fact that the man could jump off the side of buildings too.

Meaning he made for one hard man to catch.

"Stop jumping you bastard!" Natsu shouted as he used a boost of fire at his feet to jump after his target. He thought about blasting him with a Fire Dragon's Roar but he showed his slight growth in maturity (he would give that credit to Hisako and Erza) by opting not to.

The reason?

The buildings that they were running by were apartment complexes. Meaning, if he were to mindlessly throw attacks he could seriously hurt or even kill innocent people.

Fuck that.

The only people he was going to hurt were the guy he was chasing and whoever hurt Levy, Jet, and Droy.

But how was he going to catch this guy?

.

.

.

.

.

After a few moments of thinking a grin formed on Natsu's face.

'That could work.' Natsu thought before he used a boost of fire to jump at the cloaked man, who jumped to away and towards a building wall, Natsu following right after.

Just as Natsu planned, his target jumped off the building before Natsu could get to him.

'Got you.' instead of following Natsu grabbed onto a windowsill with one hand and launched a stream of fire with his other. Said stream of fire was condensed and was made to grab not burn, just like the time he used it when Erigor sent him flying down a canyon.

Natsu smirked when he saw that the stream of fire was going to grab the man's leg before he could adjust himself and jump off the floor. But once again a magic circle appeared on the floor and instead of using his feet to jump off it, he, just barely, placed a single finger on the magic circle and was launched forward.

"You're not getting away that easy!" Natsu swung his hand forward causing the stream of fire to whip towards the cloaked man.

He missed again.

"Damn it!" Natsu gritted his teeth. "Alright! Try dodging this!" dropping to the ground, Natsu made a gun like shape with his free hand and began shooting fire bullets from his index finger, all the while using his other hand to control his whip like stream of fire.

Natsu missed with his first couple of shots but clipped his target just as he turned a corner. Natsu smirked as he saw the man tumble to the ground before falling out of sight around the corner.

"Got the bastard!" Natsu bolted down the street, turned the corner, and. . . . got a flying kick to the face.

He grunted in pain as he was sent flying and smacked into the side of a building. Not wanting to give Natsu any time to recover, the cloaked man jumped, with a boost from his magic circle, and tried to kick Natsu again. Fortunately for Natsu, he was able to dive out the way and land in a roll before coming out of said roll and launching another stream of condensed fire.

Missing his kick, the cloaked figure activated another magic circle and jumped off the wall to dodge Natsu's stream of fire, forcing him to once again use his free hand to shoot fire bullets while the man soared through the air.

He missed a-freaking-gain.

"Son of a bitch!" Natsu screamed as he began to give chase again to the man, who jumped on a nearby building.

Just as Natsu began to gather fire beneath him to jump, the man came crashing to the ground not too far away from him.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

"Huh?" Natsu gaped at the downed man.

"I believe you were chasing someone." Natsu craned his head up only to see Erza glaring down on the man she punched.

"Yeah. Thanks." Natsu walked over to the man and threw him into an alley. "He was a pain in the ass." Natsu commented as Erza jumped down from the building.

"I'm sure he was." Erza stoically answered.

'Damn, she's serious.' Natsu thought as he watched Erza slam the man against the wall then summon one of her swords. 'Good.'

"Who are you? No, that's not the question I should be asking. The question I should be asking is: Are you a member of Laughing Coffin?!"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." the cloaked man causally answered. Natsu couldn't help but think the man was an idiot. Only an idiot would talk like that to Erza; especially, when she was pissed.

"I am NOT in the mode to be trifled with!" Erza roared as she slammed the man's head into the wall. "Now answer my question!" the response Erza received wasn't her desired one.

"Hmmmm. So this is Titania." the man mused. "How scary. You really do live up to your reputation." instead of lashing out, Erza furrowed her eyebrows and stared intently at the man.

It was strange, the way the man was speaking was almost as if he wasn't there. It was like he was watching from an outside perspective. And now that she got a good look at him, she could see a strange glint in his eye.

"Who are you? And I mean the real you?" Erza's eyes bore into the man's eyes just daring him to lie.

"Tch. It seems you live up to your reputation a little too much." the man muttered before the glint in his eyes slowly disappeared. After the glint disappeared the man began to blink slowly before he began to freak out.

"What the hell? Where am I?! Who are you two?!" ignoring the man's frantic questioning, Natsu turned to Erza with a confused look.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Erza replied before turning her attention to the frantic man. "Are you a member of Laughing Coffin?" she doubted he was but it was better safe then sorry.

She got what she was expecting, gibberish and confusion. It took him a while to calm down (having a scarlet, haired woman pointing a sword at him didn't help) enough to give them a solid answer. Apparently, the last thing the man remembered was riding on a train before everything went blank.

"Well, that was a waste of time." Natsu grumbled as he and Erza walked out of the alley.

"On the contrary, now we learned that our enemy has the ability to control other people." Erza grimly stated.

That was a very fearsome ability that could cause them serious problems.

"So, now what?" Natsu questioned.

"Where's Knightwalker?

"She's. . . shit!" Natsu cursed before he broke out into a sprint.

"Natsu! What's going on?" Erza asked as she caught up to him.

"When I left to chase after that guy, Knightwalker was getting into a fight with. . . .well everyone in the bar." Natsu answered as he picked up his pace.

"Oh. . . . I'm sure she'll be fine."

"That's twelve." Knightwalker said as she flipped over a table flying towards her and performed a heel drop kick on the man that threw said table. "Thirteen."

'That was a pretty good warm up.' Knightwalker mentally commented before she turned her attention to the only other people standing in the bar. They stood off to the side while the others attacked, but it wasn't out of kindness. No, it was to let the non-wizards have their try.

Now it was their turn.

"Anyone up for round two?" Knightwalker smirked, angering a bald man with multiple tattoos. The bald, tattoo man pulled out a number of throwing knives that began to float in front of him. A second later, they came flying at Knightwalker, who ran and jumped behind the bar counter. The force behind the knives was so strong that they even, albeit slightly, pierced through the bar counter. "Not bad." Knightwalker whistled at seeing the knives pierce through the tough wood of the bar counter.

Drawing her attention away from the knives, Knightwalker reached up to grab a bottle of alcohol from a shelf and then grabbed a lighter from a drawer. She then made her way to the far right side of the bar counter, Knightwalker then took in a big gulp of alcohol and kept it in her mouth.

'Should've chose something with a little less kick.'Knightwalker thought. There was a reason you downed alcohol quickly.

"What happened to all that big talk girly?" the bald, tattoo man taunted as he closed in on the bar counter.

'Girly? Is this guy serious?' Knightwalker almost chuckled at the man's choice of words.

After a few more seconds Knightwalker hopped over the bar counter, stuck the lighter in front of her face, and then sprayed the alcohol from her mouth.

The combination of the alcohol and the fire, created a fireball. Luckily for the bald, tattoo man, he was able to dive out of the way. Unluckily for him, Knightwalker dashed towards him and kicked him in the stomach before he could pick himself off the ground

"Ah!" the man screamed as he flew across the room and out of a window. Knightwalker on the other hand had to roll backwards to avoid an electrified whip. As she stood up from her roll, Knightwalker grabbed a chair and threw it at her attacker. The whip lashed forward and smashed the wooden chair to pieces, which was exactly what Knightwalker was anticipating. Before the pieces could fall to the ground, Knightwalker grabbed two of the leg pieces and jammed the blunt side in the whip wielder's throat, who responded by gagging and dropping to the ground.

Another attacker, a woman, pulled out a pair of Magic Pistols, only to have the Knightwalker throw the two chair legs right into her stomach. The two pieces of wood slammed into the woman's stomach with tremendous force causing her to bend over in pain. Seeing a perfect opening, Knightwalker ran to the woman and, once she was close enough, brought her leg all the way back before kicking the woman right in the face. The woman was sent flipping backwards through the air before she came crashing down on a pool table, which broke to say the least.

Still not getting anytime to rest, Knightwalker had to roll over a table to dodge a curved sword made of water. Rolling off the table, Knightwalker landed a few feet away, giving her a chance to evaluate her last opponent.

Appearance was nothing special, but the two water blades were. Looking around, Knightwalker pulled three of the throwing knives, that were embedded in the bar counter, out and decided to use them to counter the water blades.

"You got balls to fight me with those little knives girl." the man said causing Knightwalker to scoff.

She never understood that use of the word.

Why do people say "grow some balls"?

Balls are weak and sensitive.

If you want to be tough, grow a vagina.

Those things can take a pounding.

But maybe she was just being bias because she was a woman.

Who knows.

"Anyone ever tell you it's not the weapon but the one wielding it?" Knightwalker questioned before she put one of the knives in her mouth and bit down on the handle to hold it in place; she held the other two knives in a reverse grip. After getting into her fighting stance Knightwalker released magic from her hands and had them coat the knives so they could withstand her opponents weapons.

Of course, she had never tried this before so she wasn't sure her magic would even coat the knives, she could be easily just wasting her magic. She got her answer when she swung one of the knives to test it out and ended up cutting a table clean in half.

'Well, what do you know. It worked.' Knightwalker grinned.

Earthland's magic was a lot better than Edolas' hands down.

Her last opponent's eyes opened wide when he saw what Knightwalker could do with the knives. Her little display forced the man to attack immediately. Hopefully he could take her out before she put the knives to use. So he swung his swords relentlessly in an effort to overwhelm Knightwalker, but they were all blocked.

If she were to be perfectly honest with herself, Knightwalker would describe her opponent as nothing more than disappointing. Sure, his attacks seemed dangerous but to a battle hardened warrior like herself it was nothing more than arms flailing about. He didn't even force her to take a single step, she just stood there the whole time.

'Ok, this is getting sad.' Knightwalker thought as she saw the man begin to sweat profusely and breath at a heavy rate. She on the other hand just looked bored.

Perhaps she had overestimated her opponent.

"Stop blocking and just die!"

She was leaning towards that she overestimated him.

"How you doing red!?"

And now an audience for the pathetic show called a "fight".

"What do you think?" Knightwalker gave a deadpanned response (which wasn't easy with a knife still in her mouth) as she turned her head away from her opponent, all the while still blocking his attacks.

"I think you should finish this guy so we can get down to more serious matters." Scarlet stated as she crossed her arms.

"Right." with that said Knightwalker threw the knife in her mouth with a twist of her head forcing the man to duck to avoid it. That gave Knightwalker the opening to uppercut the man sending him flying into the air before he crashed onto a table. "Weak." Knightwalker sighed.

"You really got fired up." Natsu commented as he surveyed the bar.

It was a mess and unconscious bodies were littered all over the place.

"More like warmed up." Knightwalker shrugged her shoulders. "You catch the guy?"

"Yeah, but we got nothing." Natsu grumbled.

"What the hell do you mean you got nothing? Don't tell me you two were too scared to rough the guy up for some answers?" she understood that these people were the good guys, but they couldn't expect to just ask nicely and then they would get what they wanted.

"Don't be ridiculous." Erza scoffed. "I would've broken every bone in that man's body if I felt it would get us what we wanted."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Dude was being controlled. At least that's what she thinks." Natsu answered before he adopted a far off look in his eyes. "Uh. I-I'm going to go to. . . the bathroom." the two Erza's watched with raised eyebrows as Natsu disappeared through a door on the other side of the bar.

"So he was being controlled?" Knightwalker questioned getting the two back on topic.

"That's what it looked like."

"Is that even possible?" Earthland magic really was something if it was.

"I've never heard of such a magic, but I wouldn't be surprised if a magic like that existed. It would most likely be a lost magic if it is true."

"Ok." Knightwalker began. "Let's assume that, that man was being controlled. The question then is: Who was controlling him and why?"

"I think it's a safe bet to say that Laughing Coffin is behind this."

"Agreed. But why? If these people are as smart as we've been told they should know that these..." Knightwalker motioned her head towards the unconscious bodies sprawled across the bar. "... bums wouldn't be enough to do anything really."

"They're sick bastards, that's why!" Scarlet spat, her words filled with venom. Knightwalker herself was pretty sure that Scarlet's saliva could burn straight through the table. "It was probably just for fun for them!"

'That's possible...' Knightwalker mused. '...or you could just be letting your emotions get the better of you.' as if to emphasize her point Scarlet slammed her fist down on the table breaking it to pieces.

"So, all in all, we got nothing."

"That's not true." Scarlet disagreed causing Knightwalker to raise an eyebrow.

"How so?"

Flashback

"I hope one of you has good news." Erza stated.

Herself along with Gajeel and Mira were having a three way conversation through the Communication Lacrima shortly after she got done beating the crap out of the two guys who were harassing a innocent young lady.

"I'll I got is the name of a guy who was looking for information about some ruins near Sapparo." Gajeel spoke up.

"Ruins near Sapparo?" it wasn't a guarantee but there was a good chance that the information Gajeel had could be exactly what they were looking for. "Well, what is it?" Erza impatiently questioned.

"Rai."

"How reliable is your information?" Rai could most likely be the guy.

Archeologist.

Looking for ruins near Sapparo.

It was more than possible.

"It's reliable." Mira spoke up.

"What did you learn Mira?"

"His full name is Rai Sumeragi. He recently bought a home in Sapparo, which-"

"Coincides with Gajeel's information." Erza finished. "Alright, Mira give me the address."

"Titani-"

"Gajeel before you get started, I will tell you that no, we're not going to wait for you." Erza began. "I understand you want revenge and I won't stop you from coming, but I also won't wait and possibly let this man get away just so you can get your revenge."

". . . Fine." Gajeel growled. "But I'm already on the way."

"Of course you are." Erza mumbled while Gajeel cut the connection off from his side.

"What should we do?" Mira questioned.

"I want you two to go to Era to meet Master and catch him up with everything. . . Also, inform me on what the Magic Council plans to do about the current situation." Erza added as an afterthought.

"Got it." Mira nodded before she to cut her connection off.

"One step closer." Erza whispered just seconds before she felt Natsu's magic energy. 'That boy, he's always on the move.'

Flashback End

"I see." Knightwalker mumbled before she attempted to mull over all the information, only to be snapped out of her thoughts when the sound of glass shattering resonated from the bathroom.

They were both on their feet in an instant.

"Natsu, what was that noise !?" Erza questioned.

No answer.

Could someone have been hiding in the bathroom and attacked Natsu in the hope of catching him off guard?

That thought had both of them rushing through the bar, never mind the fact that Natsu was no pushover and his nose would make it damn hard for him to be snuck up on.

You could never be to careful with the people you hold dear.

All their worries were put to rest when a sheepish looking Natsu walked out of the bathroom. After Scarlet reprimanded Natsu for making her worry, they made their way towards the address Scarlet received.

As they walked through the streets of Sapparo, Knightwalker couldn't but feel something was off. She just couldn't believe that, that little set up back at the bar was just for fun.

A foreboding feeling enveloped her that she just couldn't shake off. Not that she wanted to, ignoring such things tended to come back and bite one on their ass. So, instead of trying to ignore the feeling she opted to put the information she knew together.

Laughing Coffin.

Rai Sumeragi.

Why would an archeologist get involved with such a dangerous group of people?

He could've been coerced.

Or maybe he was being controlled when he submitted the request.

Hell, Rai Sumeragi might not even be a real person. Rai Sumeragi could've been nothing more than a false identity made up so Laughing Coffin could set up Team Shadow Gear.

Too many possibilities.

So, that left the only other link, Laughing Coffin.

What was the point of the trap, she would use that word loosely since it utterly failed, in the bar? If they were as informed as they were dangerous, Laughing Coffin should've known that the people in the bar stood no chance against herself and Natsu. She didn't buy Scarlet's reason for the attack, it just didn't sit well with her.

"This is it." Scarlet stated drawing Knightwalker from her musings.

They were no longer in the seedy part of the city, instead they were in a residential area. It wasn't anything high class but it was a above decent area. The homes around were all two stories and were all right next to each other leaving no space in between, making it dangerous for any innocent people if a fight broke out.

They would need to do things quickly and quietly.

So, that's why Knightwalker was crouched down, back pressed against the wall right next to the front door. Scarlet and Natsu were in the same position at the back door. Silently but quickly, they both turned the door knobs, effectively breaking the locks that couldn't hold out against their strength, and entered the home.

As Knightwalker silently crept through the living room her eyes narrowed. Besides Scarlet and Natsu she couldn't sense anyone else in the home. That didn't help quell the foreboding feeling that settled in her gut not too long ago. If anything, it made the feeling grow.

(Squish)

Knightwalker stopped dead in her tracks when she felt a squishy substance under her foot. Lifting her foot up, Knightwalker squatted down to inspect the substance.

'This is-' Knightwalker never got to finish her train of thought because of a certain pink haired Dragon Slayer.

"Explosive Lacrima!" Natsu's voice reverberated throughout the house. "Run!" and they all did.

'Shit!' Knightwalker inwardly cursed as she bolted towards the nearest window. 'I should've known that this was a-' she never got to finish her thought because the moment she dove towards the window the Explosive Lacrima went off.

Luckily for Knightwalker the force of the explosion hit her before the fireball, which sent her flying out of the window and into the wall of a house across the street. Unluckily for her, the same thing happened to Scarlet only a story above her, so after Scarlet hit the wall she fell. . . . right on Knightwalker.

'Ugh. My back.' Knightwalker groaned from her spot from under Scarlet. 'No wonder Scarlet always wears armor.' Knightwalker thought before she had enough if being a cushion.

"Get off me." Knightwalker growled.

"Sorry." Scarlet groaned as she rolled of Knightwalker.

"Where's Natsu?" Knightwalker questioned as she tried to calm down her rapidly beating heart.

"I think he's on the other side of the house." Scarlet responded as she sat up. "Don't worry, I'm sure he's fine. Fire doesn't hurt him, so the only thing that could've done any damage was the force of the blast, and me and Natsu have sex harder than that, so no worries." Scarlet explained.

"Right." Knightwalker sat up and gave Scarlet a dry look. "I don't ever want to know anything about your sex life."

"Sorry." Scarlet blushed once she realized what she said. Knightwalker ignored the blushing knight and began to mull over what just happened.

She couldn't help but curse herself for not realizing the trap earlier. Ever since Natsu's, her Natsu's, death, her mind hasn't been as sharp as it was before. But now that mind was getting its gears moving, trying to return to what it once was.

Her mind was telling her one thing.

They were caught in a web.

A web spun by Laughing Coffin.

And it would be a pain in the ass to unravel themselves from that web.

"Did the little Fairies break a wing?" both Erza's turned their heads to the obnoxious voice only to see a number of sadistic smiling men. And from what Knightwalker could tell by their magic energy, they weren't pushovers like the guys back at the bar.

Yup, a real pain in the ass.