THE floor beneath Gabbriel swayed side-to-side as it moved through the water. Usually she would be a little on edge like she always is whenever she goes near large bodies of water, or any pool that was too deep.

But the pinch between her temples and the way this conversation started to go really distracted her.

   "Wait, wait, wait," Gabbriel chanted, putting her head in her hand. Her eyes squeezed themselves shut. "Let me get this right."

   "Mm," Gajeel hummed, motioning her to continue.

   "Master Jose is going to launch Jupiter at Fairy Tail's guildhall, where they all are at right now?" Gajeel nodded, making Gabbey look to the ceiling in disbelief. "That'll kill Lucy then! How is that going to work?"

   "Well, he is hoping they transport her to a sort of safehouse. If they do that, I could go track her down." Gajeel shrugged.

   "That's all on a very big 'if'," Gabbey complained lightly, her stomach churning slightly as the building trembled beneath them. She stopped suddenly, going over the sentence in her head. "Wait. . .You say 'I'. . ."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow.

   "What am I supposed to do?" This time, Gajeel shifted a bit. Gabbey raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "Gajeel. . ."

   "Er, he said something about guarding the room. . ." Gajeel finally admitted.

There was a small moment of silence, which wasn't a good sign. It was confirmed within the next second as a flash of irritation broke through their bond, Gabbey turning around to kick a pillar.

   "What?!" Gabbey sneered, not bothering to watch the large chunk of it fly down the hallway. Red eyes met each other head on. Gajeel was used to her random moments of anger. It didn't happen often, but it still was a scene. "What the hell does that mean?! I have to babysit!"

Gajeel put a hand on her shoulder, in a successful attempt to calm her down. "Calm down. It won't be for too long. Besides, if you do this, you can even join me with the fight against Salamander."

   "Really?" Gabbey murmured, her frustration slowly leaving her body. Gajeel nodded, pulling the bond with reassurance.

   "Really."

   "Even if that means that I show you up?" Gabbey teased lightly, a small smirk on her face.

   "Oh, we all know I'm the powerhouse here," Gajeel retorted lightly, giving her shoulder a small squeeze.

The sudden stillness of the building did not go unnoticed by them. The twins sniffed the air, jogging to a nearby window to see outside. Gabbey desperately tried to ignore the great sea of blue that separates Fairy tail's guild hall from Phantom Lord's.

The intercom in the guild crackled to life, and Master Jose's voice filled the air. While he droned on about something - Gajeel put up a gloved fist.

   "Get that rematch with the Ice-mage, I'm sure that'll be an easy beat. Maybe Erza, geehee," Gajeel's famous chuckle made Gabbey chuckle as well. She raised her own gloved fist and knocked it against his.

   "Oh, I will. I'm saving my power for the Fire Dragon, though." With an exchange of cheeky grins, the twins split to have their own fights.

For now, at least.

🌹🌹🌹

AN irritated snarl escaped Gabbey's mouth as she stalked down the hallway. She was on her way to the top of the building, when she found out that Jupiter's single shot was blocked by none other than Erza Scarlet.

Which, wouldn't be a bad thing if they could recharge the gun again. But Natsu just had to put his stupid face into their business. Gajeel has yet to send her a signal that the mission went well, and it seemed like everyone she wanted to fight wasn't here!

   "You've got to be shitting me!" Gabbriel said in exasperation. All she wanted to do was fight someone. She didn't have anything else to do!

Well. . .She could go to the control room and do her actual job, but she didn't want to get on Master Jose's bad side. He was a powerful wizard. . .

Gabbey had just started up a handful of stairs when the sound of a fight reached her ears. She paused, tilting her head up to smell the air. The smell of rain and cold ice made her sigh.

Juvia and Gray.

Rushing up the rest of the stairs, Gabbey threw open the door that led outside and instantly scanned the scene.

Melting ice shards and water puddles were everywhere, not a single spot on the roof was dry. Her red eyes darted to the only two figures on the roof. Gray and Juvia were laying on the ground, facing the somewhat clear skin. Juvia looked close to crying.

It only took a second for it to hit Gabbey.

The sky was blue! There were a little bit of clouds, but the sky was blue!

It wasn't raining! It always rained with Juvia around!

A sudden squeal made Gabbriel's head snap back to Juvia, just in time to see the bluenette pass out. Her eyes went even wider and her mouth dropped.

Juvia never squealed!

What the hell was going on today?!

Gabbey shook her head, trying to set her face back into a neutral look, before announcing her presence.

   "Well, that was a different ending then what we expected." She mused, confidence taking hold. Gabbey had confidence, that much was true. She just gets tired of acting. "I kind of expected Juvia to win, but the odds were evened out by you."

   "So, you were there the whole time?" Gray finally spoke up, pushing himself into a defensive standing position. Gabbey had already stalked her way over to Juvia, crouching down to brush the blue hair out of her face.

   "No. I just got here." Gabbey deadpanned, making the ice mage's eyebrow to twitch in irritation.

   "Then why the hell are you acting like you were?!"

   "I don't know what you're talking about."

   "That's it!" Gray snarled, putting a fist in his palm. Gabbey raised her hands in self-defense.

   "Woah, woah, chill out dude! What's with the violence?"

   "You're. . .not going to fight me?"

   "Well," Gabbey started, standing up. She waved a hand carelessly over Juvia, making Gray jump. Thinking she was going to attack, Gray shifted backwards to get further away. He stopped short when a small metal dome covered the Element Four member as protection. "Now we can."

In the midst of his confusion, Gabbey rushed forwards and sent a powerful kick towards Gray. He barely had enough time to block the attack, the kick sending him skidding backwards. He slid to a stop, planting both hands on the ground to steady himself and send a counter-attack.

Ice instantly covered the floor, racing towards Gabbriel in an attempt to freeze her. She quickly did a flip to avoid being frozen, landing on her feet.

   "Why did you do that?" Gray shouted, standing up to face the threat.

Gabbey put her hand out, a green magic circle appearing before her. "Metal Make: Thorn Spikes!" Tiny metal thorns shot out towards the ice mage, similar to the ice lances he usually sent. "Do what?"

   "Ice Make: Shield!" He shouted, an icy blue shield blocking the attack. "That! Protect her!"

The black-haired woman hesitated slightly. Should she even bother in giving an answer? Gray, seeing the internal struggle, lost focus slightly.

   "I. . .respect her," Gabbey finally admitted, her hand dropping slowly. "She is the only one that gained my respect in this dump."

   "Besides your brother." Gray stated, deciding not to dig into the last part of her statement. It wasn't a question though, anyone could see the devotion the twins had for each other.

   "Besides my brother." She agreed, the battlefield settling down into a quiet stillness. Realizing she might have said something out-of-character, she blurted out the first thing she could think of. "You're going to lose."

   "What makes you say that?" Gray raised an eyebrow.

   "Because Phantoms don't lose to scum like Fairies." Gabbey grinned toothily. "Metal Make: Vines!" She dropped, punching the ground beneath her. Metal vines burst through the floor and shot towards Gray.

As the ice mage tried to dodge the attack, Gabbey froze in place. Her smile dropped and she stared into nothing. A tug - the sign - on the bond they had spiked with excitement, making Gabbriel's smirk come back.

Gajeel found Lucy.

At the same time, two more fairies appeared on Gray's side, just as the ice mage was clipped by the last metal vine. The biggest of the two, a white-haired male, stood protectively in front of Gray and the smaller female. "Gray!" He growled out.

   "Three on one, huh?" Gabbey mused, red eyes darting over her opponents. "Scratch that, two on one."

   "Gabbriel - "

   "Don't," She interrupted Gray, a mocking smile on her face. "Well, as fun as this could be, I've gotten my cue to leave."

Before anything else could be said, Gabbey seemingly melted into the ground. She was gone, taking the metal shield around Juvia as well.

🌹🌹🌹

ONCE Gajeel actually made it into the building, Gabbriel found him and decided that she had been waiting long enough. But, she was just a bit too excited.

Gabbey flew out of the metal pillar that was in the hallway Gajeel was walking down, rolling on the ground to get herself to stop. "God, I got to learn how to stick that landing!" She groaned, standing up and dusting the dust off of her dirty dress. A loud 'gee-hee' was heard behind her.

   "Well, maybe you should stop doing that." Gajeel snarked.

   "Why would I do that?" Gabbey snorted, turning around to glare slightly at her brother. His steps didn't falter as he passed by, continuing his walk. Gabbey joined in step, eyes scanning the body that was thrown over his shoulder. Blonde hair swung as they walked on. "That's Lucy?"

   "This is Lucy." Gajeel confirmed.

   "She doesn't look like she puts up much of a fight." Gabbey commented, muttering under her breath, "Like I said."

   "She wasn't." Gajeel agreed with a snort. "Two idiots decided to try and stop me, but I beat them senseless. Like always."

   "Well, at least you had fun," She scoffed, ears picking up Master Jose's rage infilled voice. "I wasn't even in a good fight before you gave me the signal. Gray kept asking me questions."

   "That sounds like fun." Gajeel said sarcastically. The control room doors appeared just in front of them, and the two of them exchanged glances. "You ready?"

   "Let's get this shit done with."

As soon as the two of them pushed the doors open, Jose was yelling; "Where is Gajeel?!"

   "Well. . .T-The truth is. . .We don-"

   "He's right here, Master Jose." Gabbriel cut in, annoyed with the stuttering the mage was doing.

   "The Element Four were wiped out?" Gajeel asked, just now learning the news. A short glare was shot to his sister - to which she shrugged to - before he continued, shifting the blonde on his shoulder. "Well, if they got beaten by trash. . .That means they're trash as well."

   "I guess you should have sent us out in the first place, Master Jose.~" Gabbey cooed slightly, a small smirk on her face.

   "A present for you, Master," Gajeel carelessly dropped Lucy on the ground in front of them.

   "Lucy?! But. . .How?" Master Jose murmured in shock, not actually thinking the Dragon Slayer could actually find her.

   "Don't underestimate the nose of a Dragon Slayer." The twins warned in unison, Gabbey's nose twitching at the thought. Lucy smelt of the pages in a book and. . .what Gabbey could only think stars smelled like.

   "G-Gajeel-san. . ."

   "She's alive, right?"

   "We won't be able to get the money if she's dead, you know. . ."

Gabbey scoffed. "Rufus, we all have mouths to feed. Don't be stingy."

   "Hmm. . ." Gajeel hummed in thought. Finally, he nudged Gabbey's shoulder with his elbow. Getting the hint, the younger twin reared her leg back and sent a hard kick to Lucy's stomach. The blonde went flying, hitting the ground roughly and making wet coughs as she clutched her stomach.

   "She seems alive to me." Gabbey spoke up, silencing all protests towards the attack.

   "Tough that big guy who was with her might be dead." Gajeel added in fake sympathy.

   "As expected from the strongest man in my guild. Good work, Gajeel-san." Master Jose smiled his no-teeth smile at the compliment, gesturing with his hand for someone to hand him a microphone. "Attention, all you Fairy Tail members out there. We have succeeded in capturing Lucy. Our first objective is complete."

Gajeel grabbed the poor girl by her hair and dragged her over to the microphone, making sure that it picked up the pained yells that escaped her mouth.

   "I'm sure you all heard that," Master Jose continued. "We have but one single objective left. To slaughter the lot of you disgusting brats."

Gabbriel let out a small hum, bounding Lucy's hands together with metal chains she just made. When the blonde whimpered, a flash of something akin to regret flashed through her. Gajeel glanced over, she must have sent that through the bond on accident. Gabbey loosen the chains a bit.

   "T-Thanks. . ." Lucy whispered. "You didn't have to loosen them. . ."

   "Oh, sweetheart," Gabbriel put her emotions on the back-burner. "Having your hands bound tightly is the last thing you need to worry about. You might want to take that 'thanks' back."

Her gaze went over to Jose as he practically floated out of the room. A sick smile was on his face. "A few insects have invaded our guild. I shall let them know that they will be seeing no miracles. I will deal with them myself."

Gabbriel left Lucy to lean up against the wall, walking over to her twin with her arms crossed.

   "Now we have to wait?" Gabbey asked.

   "Now we have to wait." Gajeel confirmed. Gabbey let out a groan, her head falling to her chest.

   "This is going to take forever." She whined softly. "Why didn't he send us out to deal with the fairies?"

   "Because these idiots couldn't watch her correctly." He answered, arms crossed. Gabbey let out another groan, tapping her foot.

This went on for a few minutes, or whatever. Gabbey wasn't keeping count. The only sound outside of her foot tapping against the metal floor, was the small group of mages that were talking to each other. Gajeel seems to be in his own land, staring off into nothing.

Finally having enough, she walked a bit closer to Gajeel, a kunai appearing in her fist. "Watch this." She whispered to her twin, clutching the knife in her hand. With a twirl of her body, Gabbey threw the small knife as hard as she could towards the only Fairy in the room.

Lucy let out a scream of surprise, seeing the knife heading towards her, and tried to cover herself the best she could. The kunai hit the stone beside her head, barely missing the poor girl.

   "Ooh, nice shot!" Gajeel praised, walking forward a little. "Want to see something better?"

   "What could be better than that?" Gabbey scoffed playfully.

Gajeel's fist reared back and he threw it forward. His arm turned into a metal rod half-way there before striking Lucy in the gut. The force made her wheeze.

   "That's not fair," Gabbey huffed, crossing her arms. "I was never taught that. I can barely even do the metal scales like you can!"

   "You just need practice," Gajeel replied, casting her a glance at the corner of his eye. "When you want your arm to become a rod, you just think of it becoming metal."

   "Thanks," Gabbriel scoffed at the vague explanation. "But until you can teach  me properly, I'll stick to these things." More kunais appeared in her hand, and with a fast throw, one of the kunais' barely missed Lucy's hand. The blonde squeaked, trying to move away from the sharp knife.

This continued for quite some time, Gajeel throwing metal rod punches at Lucy and Gabbriel throwing kunais. She made sure to not hit her, the worst wound she left was a scratch on her arm.

They were just taking frustrations out on the girl.

   "Gabbriel. . .Gajeel. . .I think she's had enough. . ." One of the members in the small group finally spoke up.

   "Yeah. . .Master Jose might not like it that you're injuring her even more. . ." Another added.

   "But I'm bored!" Gabbriel whined, twirling the knife in her hand. Her red eyes narrowed and she turned towards the small group.

   "We need to have some fun around here," Gajeel agreed, his fist becoming an iron rod.

   "J. . .Just stop it!"

Everyone practically flinched.

Big mistake.

The male Iron Dragon Slayer turned around and smacked the man down to the ground, leaving an indention. "Shut the fuck up."

   "Do you want to be the target?" Gabbey snapped, spinning back to Lucy. "Gajeel, where should I aim next?"

   "Try her other arm." He replied before looking back at the group of mages. "I don't care who the hell this girl is. From where I'm standing, she's just one of those fairies - a piece of trash."

   "She should've known what was going to happen when she joined that shitty guild in the first place." Gabbriel threw the kunai for emphasis. It nicked her wrist, drawing some blood. "Oh! A hit!"

   "I. . If she died, Master would be very angry. . ." One of the members was pushed to the front, but she kept her eyes on the fallen mage.

   ". . .Very angry with you!"

The twins shared a look before responding, "Ah, who cares. We'd just blame it on you."

   "No way!"

   "Man, this sucks!" Gajeel groaned. "Even those Fairies are throwing their lives away because this chick had a bit of cash!"

   "You'd think I'd get some guys to fight over me if I had more cash?" Gabbey teased, a cheeky smile on her face. Gajeel snapped his head over to his sister, a glare on his face.

   "No guys are getting close enough for you to know!" Gajeel retorted.

The sound of their prisoner chuckling made everyone pause. They all turned their gazes to the blonde, who was actually chuckling. Who would laugh in this situation? She was chained up, surrounded by her enemies, injured, and she was still laughing.

   "Hm?"

   "You got something to say, girl?"

   "You guys are complete idiots, aren't you?" Lucy said lowly. "I feel so sorry for you. It makes me want to cry."

Gabbriel's lips twitched, almost smiling. Although the words weren't the same, Gabbey knew she did the same thing in her position. She also had to give the Fairy some credit. This was the first time someone stood up to them while knowing exactly who they were.

   "Is that right?" The twins synchronized, turning to face the blonde at the same time.

   "Huh, to be able to bluff in a situation like this, maybe you're worth something after all."

   "You fools aren't even the tiniest bit scared, are you?" Lucy grinned. The expression was swept off her face as an iron rod hit the space next to her head, while needle-like spikes occupied the other.

   "What was that?" Gajeel teased. Gabbriel grinned, but it faded as a familiar scent hit her nose. It smelt like. . .

Burnt wood.

She pulled on the bond in realization, tapping the side of her nose when Gajeel turned slightly to look at her. Getting the hint, he sniffed the air as well. Their eyes met - their eyes turning more reptilian-like - and they grinned.

Natsu was here.

   "You're the ones that'll be in trouble if I died, you know." Lucy continued, not noticing the exchange. "There is no way Fairy Tail will ever forgive you! That's the kind of guild they are!" She finally looked up, a grin on her face as well. Like she knew something they didn't. "You two would end up spending everyday cowering in fear of the most terrible guild in the world. For the rest of your life."

   "Interesting little theory you have there," Gajeel snickered, raising his fist up. He turned it into his Dragon Sword, the weapon gleaming in the light.

   "Let's test it out, shall we?" Gabbriel finished, a shuriken appearing in her hand. At the same time, they sent their chosen weapons towards the chained up blonde.

   "Gajeel, Gabbriel, what are you two doing?!"

   "It's going to hit. . .!"

Just as the weapons were close to hitting Lucy, the floor underneath her split open, flames dancing their way into the room. Gajeel retracted his arm and Gabbriel watched with interest as her shuriken was caught in the Fire Dragon Slayers' mouth.

   "I knew it." Gajeel stated, the twins grinning cockily as Natsu made himself known. "I recognized your scent."

   "This just got interesting."

   "Natsu!" Lucy cried out in relief.

There were a lot of things Gabbriel was expecting. What happened next was not.

She let out a yelp of surprise as Natsu suddenly decked her with a flaming fist, sending her flying backwards. Gajeel went to retaliate, but let out a grunt of surprise as he followed.

Gabbey hit the wall with a thud, but she didn't have time to sit there. She rolled, not wanting to be crushed by her older brother.

   "Move it!" The twins snarled at their guildmates that got in their way. Natsu rushed them, giving Gajeel a good flamed upper-cut. Gabbriel dropped down, making Natsu miss the backhand he was going to give her, before trying to send back her own punch.

Natsu caught her hand, not bothering by the metal that was coating her knuckles, and responded with another punch.

Gabbey let out a grunt on the impact to the wall, but quickly got up, seeing Gajeel fall to the ground.

   "Don't get so damn cocky!" Gajeel warned, reeling his fist back. "Iron Dragon Club!"

Natsu jumped up, the club missing its target, and flipped himself to hold onto the club. With a battle cry, Natsu brought his flaming leg down onto Gajeel. "Fire Dragon Claws!"

That attack was a hit, but Natsu didn't let go of the club, holding it under his arm and against his side. At Gajeel's and Gabbriel's smirk, he blinked in surprise.

   "Iron Dragon Blade!" Gajeel cast, his club turning into his double-sided sword. It instantly cut Natsu's arm and side. Having done this combo before, Gabbriel ran towards Natsu, grinning. Last second, she jumped into the air and spun to give the attack more force.

   "Iron Dragon Talon!" She cried, giving Natsu a solid hit on the face with her foot. Natsu fell back, giving Gabbey enough time to jump back towards her brother. They glanced at each other, grinning madly before looking back at Natsu.

The flame-brain hardly seemed phased, already up and ready.

   "I think it's time we end this, Salamander!" Gajeel declared.

   "I'm just getting started, you scrap-metal bastard!" Natsu retorted.

   "You're going to be in a world of hurt, Pyro," Gabbriel threatened, eyes gleaming. "That's a promise."

[Edited: 7/19/19]

[Edited: 1/2/2021]