"Makarov?" Takeshi mumbled to himself. No way! Makarov as in the Master of Fairy Tail before my Mom! What is he doing here? No, more importantly where has he been all of these years? "Fairy Tail's enemies, huh?" Kaage cracked his neck and sighed, "How cute. I can tell you possess some magic power, at least more than this baby." He motioned to Takeshi, "But do you think you can take on your elder, kid."

"Kid?" Makarov raised his eyebrows, "I don't know how old you are, but I assure you that I'm no kid. I've been alive for a great number of years."

"It doesn't matter if you're fifty or ninety. I'm two hundred eighty-six years old, so to me you're a kid."

"Very well." Makarov nodded. "However, I cannot excuse you from practically demolishing Magnolia and Fairy Tail. You will pay for what you have done."

Kaage let out a loud roar of a laugh. "And what will you do, munchkin?"

Makarov gritted his teeth at the nickname munchkin. "I'll give you until the count of three to retreat and go back to the world you came from."

"Excuse me?" Kaage cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, "What am I? A toddler?"

"One." Makarov moved his left hand in font of his chest with his palm facing up while he moved his right hand to hover over the left with his palm facing down.

"Do you really think that counting is going to make me retreat?"

"Two."

Takeshi watched Makarov as a golden, bright light began to glow in between Makarov's hands. Wow, what an amazing light! And it's . . . warm. He smiled to himself and, knowing that an attack was coming, he crawled to the side so he wouldn't be caught up in the madness.

Hmm? Light? Kaage narrowed his eyes at the glowing light. Is he trying to cancel out my shadows with the light? There's no way it'll work! He's just wasting magic power!

"Three." Makarov's eyes were engulfed with the golden light. "Your time is up!" He clapped his hands together, the light beaming in different directions. "I invoke . . . Fairy Law!" The sound of a midnight strike on a grandfather clock went off as a golden magic circle, with the Fairy Tail emblem in the center, appeared. The bright light was released and it surrounded Magnolia, covering the town like a blanket.

Fighting members of Fairy Tail sensed the familiar light and watched with smiles as the skeletons were consumed by the light. Knowing who casted the attack, the Fairy Tail mages followed the source of the light. Not having seen their Master in over a decade, the mages were in tears once they felt the presence of Fairy Law.

Takeshi looked down at the streets and saw that, one by one, the skeletons were being devoured by the warm light. Amazing! He stared in awe. It's finally over! He turned back to Kaage and Makarov and saw that the body of Tarou was emanating a black aura. Is the light going to destroy Tarou too? Takeshi began to fear the worst as he watched his friend clutch himself in pain.

Suddenly, the pitch black eyes that Tarou once had were gone. Tarou wobbled on his feet before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed. Then the light of Fairy Law disappeared and Takeshi ran to his friend's rescue. "Tarou! Tarou! Wake up, buddy!" He held Tarou in his arms as he shook him gently. A large hand wrapped around the two boys and pulled them towards the former Master of Fairy Tail, setting them down on the ceiling of the building. "Don't let your guard down." Makarov spoke, "This fight isn't over yet." Takeshi looked up at Makarov with a confused look. "What do you-"

"I knew it wouldn't work."

Takeshi whipped his head in the direction of the familiar voice. There stood Kaage in his own body. He was a muscular tiger that stood tall just like a human. He wore a camouflage military outfit that was completely equipped with various weapons. He also had an eye patch covering his left eye. "Impossible!" Takeshi shouted. He turned his head to Makarov, "Why didn't it work!?!"

"I have no idea, boy." Makarov answered, closing his eyes and sighing.

"You just wasted your magic power with that spell!" Kaage laughed. "The only thing you managed to accomplish was separating me from that kid's body and giving me back my own."

"No way . ." Takeshi gasped with wide eyes. "It was suppose to be over." He mumbled.

"Ha! War is never over!" Kaage laughed once again, "Welcome to the real world, kid!" Once Kaage stopped laughing, he cracked his knuckles and smirked. "Now that I have my own body, I'm at full power." The tiger looked at Takeshi. "You've been annoying me for some time, kid. I've been waiting to kill you!"

"I won't let you harm him!" Makarov spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were here." Kaage shrugged. He flicked the air in Makarov's direction and, though he didn't actually touch the old man, Makarov was sent crashing into the next three buildings. Kaage counted each time Makarov hit another building. "And that's how you count to three." He grinned.

"You bastard!" Takeshi snarled, placing Tarou gently down and standing to his feet.

"What a vocabulary! Tell me, do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Shut up, you fiend!"

"Fiend? I think you can do better than that."

"I said shut up!"

"Oh, I see. You're ready to rumble, aren't you?" Kaage cracked his neck and sighed, "Okay, okay. . ." He glared down at Takeshi, "Shadow Death Grip."

"Gahh-" Takeshi was suddenly surrounded and chocked by shadows. The shadows surrounded and clung around his abdomen, keeping his arms to his side, while more shadows gripped his neck. On instinct, Takeshi wanted to reach his hands up to his neck to try and pry the shadows off of him, but his arms were locked tightly against his body. The shadows had a tight grip on Takeshi's neck. It was truly a death grip because within seconds he felt lightheaded.

"Hahahahaha!" Kaage laughed clutching his side. "All that talk and you can't get out of a simple pinch!" He then became serious. "Just kidding. Those shadows aren't so easy to shake off." Kaage reached down to his pants and took out a pistol. "The shadows are there to keep you still while I finish you off. When your little buddy Tarou wakes up, I want him to see how pathetically weak you are. I want him to see that his best friend wasn't killed by magic, but a mere mortal weapon." Kaage held up the pistol and aimed it at the center of Takeshi's forehead.

No, I can't be defeated like this! I'm stronger than this! Takeshi felt tears run down his cheeks. I trained for so long . . . so why? Why am I still this weak? In the end, I didn't even save Tarou.

"I guess after this shot, you'll be sent where I used to be. Tell everyone there I said 'yo'." Kaage pulled the trigger and Takeshi slammed his eyes shut causing more tears to stain his cheeks.

The cursed bullet made contact with a poor soul's flesh and bones. It pierced straight through the body, flying out and continuing its path towards the glass of another building. The body only felt pain for a split second before darkness devoured it.

She did a mother's duty. She protected her child. However, she used up her last life in the process.