~*****~

When we get back, the others are already trying to come up with a plan of attack. "Don't worry, we'll get them back for this," I hear Gray comment as he stares at Lucy's disheartened figure.

Lucy whimpers. "I know. I'm not worried about that. It's just... all my fault..." She murmurs.

"Being targeted by dangerous people is just one of the downsides of being rich." Elfman comments.

I snort. "Yeah, I can very much confirm that." I mention irritably. I rub at my head and sigh.

Elfman beams. "At least you're protected by a real man like me." Elfman states.

"WOULD YOU GIVE IT A REST?!" I snap.

"I gotta say, I was shocked when I heard the news." Happy mentions. "Why'd you hide the truth from us, Lucy?"

"I wasn't trying to hide anything. I mean, there's no way to bring up the fact that I'm a runaway in a casual conversation." Lucy explains. "I've been gone for a year and my father hasn't cared. Now all of a sudden, he wants to force me to come home? He's done all those horrible things just to get me to go back. I hate his guts!" I gaze down at her. I couldn't stand seeing her like this. "Still, if I hadn't run away in the first place, none of this would have ever happened..."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous. Your dad's the one to blame." Elfman snaps.

"Idiot!" Gray hisses.

"I- I mean, it's Phantom's fault!" Elfman tries correcting himself.

"No, I'm the one who brought trouble to the guild, and it's all because of my own selfish choices." Lucy explains sullenly. "I'm so very sorry. I'm just gonna go back home, and hopefully all this will be over with."

I snort. "No way," I say firmly. "You're gonna stay where you want to be. Playing the part of a pretty princess isn't you." I smile and I kneel down to gaze at her downturned face. "Why the hell would you go back to a place you don't wanna be? You're Lucy of Fairy Tail. So no more running. You belong here with us." Tears well in her eyes. "And don't start crying, that makes me feel all sorts of awful!"

"I'm sorry--" She stammers through her sobs.

"Yeah, now you're starting to sound like me--" Ballad comments as she perches on Lucy's head. Lucy lets out a horrified giggle before going back to crying.

~*****~

The building begins to shake violently, causing me to leap to my feet. Ballad leaps down from Lucy's lap, and once again attempts to fly up, but her little wings refuse to support her. "Ballad, I want you to stay with Mirajane. It's safer there." I snap to her before we run upstairs and out the guild hall.

"What is that thing?!" Natsu shouts.

"It's a guild hall with ginormous legs!" Happy cries.

"Is it Phantom?" Loke asks in a breathless tone.

"How do we fight that thing?!" Wakaba asks.

"I never anticipated this!" Erza shudders. "I can't believe they'd go to such extremes to attack us!"

The hairs on my neck stand on edge as a large cannon pushes from their guild hall and powers up. "Run!" I shout.

"Erza!" Mira shouts.

"Don't be stupid!" Macao shouts as Erza requips into one of her most powerful armors.

"What are you doing?!" Loke exclaims.

"Protecting the guild hall!" Erza snaps.

"That's her adamantine armor!" Happy shouts.

"Is she gonna try to block the cannon's shot?" Bisca asks wildly.

"But there's no way her armor's gonna hold up against a blast that strong!" Alzack exclaims.

"You're just risking our life. This is ridiculous!" Wakaba exclaims.

"Just stay back!" Erza shouts.

"Erza!" Natsu shouts as Gray holds him back.

"We're not gonna be able to stop her!" Gray shouts. "We just gotta have faith in her!"

The cannon fires and Erza puts up an impressive shield, holding the blast back admirably. I leap forward once I see the shattering on her shield. Her body crashes into mine, stopping her fall.

"I don't believe this," Macao murmurs. "She actually managed to stop it!"

"Once again, Erza's the manliest one in the guild." Elfman comments.

"Yeah, but look--" Cana says.

"You okay?" I say softly as I hold onto her.

"Makarov has fallen. And now Erza can no longer stand." Jose chants. "Any chance of victory has slipped through your fingers. Surrender Lucy Heartfilia immediately. You have no choice."

"That's not gonna happen!" Alzack shouts.

"Like any guild would hand over one of their own to a monster like you!" Bisca agrees.

"You hear that!? Lucy's staying put!" Macao shouts.

Everyone shouts in agreement. "I won't ask again!" The guild hall snaps.

"We would never betray her like that!" Erza shouts as she manages to push her body upwards. "You'd have to kill us first!" Everyone screams.

"YOU CAN STOP ASKING NOW, CAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA GIVE YOU ANY OTHER ANSWER! WE'RE TAKIN' EVERYONE OF YOU JERKS DOWN!" Natsu bellows.

"IF DEATH IS WHAT YOU WANT, I'LL GIVE YOU A SECOND HELPING OF JUPITER!" Jose bellows. "YOU'VE GOT FIFTEEN MINUTES TO PONDER THE FOLLY OF YOUR ACTIONS!"

"No way--" Elfman gasps.

"What'll we do?" Cana asks.

"They're gonna fire at us again?" Loke gasps.

"Erza..." I stammer as she tries to get up again. I grimace as she doesn't move. "She's out." I say to Mira. She whimpers as she takes Erza from my arms and tries to make her comfortable.

"You're in quite a quandary!" Jose taunts. "Aren't you, Fairy Tail? There are only two ways this situation can play out! Either my troops will tear you apart, or you'll be blown away by Jupiter!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Macao bellows. "If he fires at us, he'll kill his own men!"

"Surely he's bluffing--" Wakaba tries. "Who'd do something like that?"

"No, he's gonna do it," Cana hums. "Those Phantom Soldiers are created by Jose's shade magic. They're not human, so it won't matter to him if they're destroyed."

"What the heck are phantom soldiers?!" Bisca asks.

"You saying they're ghosts?!" Alzack shouts.

"We've got to do something to take out that Jupiter cannon!" Cana exclaims.

I glance at Natsu and beam. "Let's smash that thing to pieces! Should be a piece of cake, givin' we got fifteen minutes!"

"Hell yeah!" Natsu agreed. "C'mon, Happy!" Natsu shouts.

I feel something grasp onto my overcoat and suddenly I'm soaring through the air with Natsu and Happy. "Great job, buddy!" I shout up at Ballad, who looks determined and focused as her wings spread above her.

~*****~

"God, is nothing gonna scratch this thing?!" I bellow as I continuously freeze the cannon over and over again.

"Can't we just destroy it from the inside?" Ballad asks, sitting on her butt as she sucks in hurried breaths.

Natsu and I stop wailing on the metal, stare at one another before leaping over the edge, and into the cannon's opening.

There's a small room at the end of the cannon, filled with strange orbs. "Whoa, what is all of this?" Natsu wonders aloud.

There's a loud clanging noise, followed by a woman's voice. "Eleven minutes until Jupiter fires."

"They must be using that Lacrima to collect magic energy." Happy comments.

"Yeah, but why do they need one as big as that?" Natsu asks.

I grunt and stare at Natsu. "Magic Cannons don't fire regular ammunition, Natsu," I mention. "It fires concentrated magical energy."

Natsu waves his hand dismissively. "I didn't get most of that, but all we gotta do is destroy that thing, don't we?"

"I can't allow that," A voice pipes up.

"Is he a guard?!" Ballad squeaks.

"Doesn't matter, anyone who gets in our way is goin' down!" Natsu shouts before leaping off the edge.

"I don't think so." The guard retorts. I tilt my head as I stare down at him.

"Like I care what you think!" Natsu bellows at the strange man. "Now get out of my way!" He goes to slug him, but his fist automatically slams into his own face.

I flinch in my spot before I leap down. "Natsu! Why'd you hit yourself!" Happy cries once I hit the ground.

"I didn't! My fist just went crazy!" Natsu exclaims.

"It seems to me you're getting in your own way," The man responds.

"Ten minutes until Jupiter fires." The voice overhead chants.

"Is everyone in Phantom such freaks?" I question irritably. "Move it, buddy! We got a cannon to demolish!"

"All you gotta do is shatter the giant Lacrima and it won't be able to fire anymore," Happy explains.

"You can certainly try, but I won't let you." The man hums.

"Seven minutes until Jupiter fires." The voice overhead chants.

"I'm runnin' out of time!" Natsu exclaims. "Shut up and let us do our thing!"

Natsu tries going to the Lacrima and his fist all of a sudden rushes towards me. I leap to the side, patting at my burning overcoat. "Watch it, Natsu!" I shout at him.

"What the hell, man!" Natsu exclaims as he pats at the fire on my overcoat. "I didn't wanna do that! What the hell is going on!?"

"Who cares?! We don't have much more time!" Happy exclaims. "Just forget about this guy! It's the cannon! We gotta break it right now!"

Natsu's eyes narrow into slits. "I'll show you--" He growls as he rushes back towards him.

"Hey, did you hear what I said?!" Happy cried.

Natsu is once again turned around by some strange magic by the strange man. "Six minutes until Jupiter fires." The voice above chants.

"His magic is strange," I mention cautiously. 'There's no way to attack if he can control someone else's attacks...'

"I'm Totomaru, and I have complete control over the element of fire." Totomaru explains.

My brow lifts quickly and a grin spreads over my face. "Wait, I bet you're one of those what-cha-ma-call-it five guys, aren't you?" Natsu snaps.

"Jeez, they're called the Element Four, Natsu!" Happy cries. "How could you not even get the number part right!?"

"Yes, and any form of fire is my plaything to do with as I please," Totomaru taunts.

Natsu rolls his eyes. "It just means I don't get to fight," Natsu complains.

"Yes, because all fire is mine to control--" He lets out a strangled grunt as I slam my fist into the side of his face.

"Keep your guard up, you fire freak!" I chant. "Natsu, I want you to focus on breaking the Lacrima while I take care of this punk, got it!?"

The room lights up around us and I glance up at the orb. "Hurry, Natsu! The orb is almost ready to fire again!" Happy cries.

"We know!" We shout.

"It's too late. Blue Fire!" Totomaru shouts.

His fire merely bounces off of me in a flush of steam. "C'mon, bring me something else! Those were so chilly, I could almost eat 'em!" I shout with a laugh.

"So, it's you, the Ice Queen, Fairy Tail's Ice Dragon Slayer. That makes him the other one, huh?" Totomaru huffs. "This isn't going to work out well for any of us, is it?" My brow raises. "Because we're all impervious to Fire Attacks."

"I don't use fire, you freak!" I shout at him.

"Then give me your best shot, I'll melt your ice before it can even hit me." Totomaru taunts.

Oh, that pissed me off. "We'll see about that. JUST DESTROY THE FREAKIN' LACRIMA, YOU IDIOT!" I shout at Natsu as he tries a nonmagical approach. My fist slams against Totomaru. "TRY AND MELT THIS, YOU PUNK!" I shout. "ICE DRAGON BLIZZARD!"

Totomaru manages to leap out of the way just in time but fails to notice that I'd been distracting him so Natsu could destroy the Lacrima with a powerful attack. I snort and smirk up at Totomaru.

"Thought you could melt my ice!" I taunt. "You should know my Ice is impervious to fire! I've trained every day for the past decade honing my control! There's no way a punk like you could melt my magic!"

Totomaru rubs at the frost covering the side of the face. He stumbles a little as the building shakes around us. "What the hell is that?" Natsu asks irritably gazing around wildly.

"The whole place is tilting!" Happy cries. I feel another tug on my overcoat, lifting me into the air.

"He's awakening it right now?!" Totomaru exclaims. "But there's no horizontal stabilization in here!"

"Stabila-what?!" Natsu bellows. They both hit the ground from the massive tilt in the ship.

"YOU FAIRY TAIL LOSERS ARE THROUGH! PHANTOM'S GIANT WILL SLAUGHTER YOU!" Totomaru exclaims once he rights himself.

"Natsu!" Happy cries. "Get up!"

"I can't." Natsu grumbles as he suffers on the ground.

"Whatever you do, don't put me down," I stammer to Ballad.

"Y-Yes m-m-ma'am--" She grunts through her concentration.

"What's your problem? You get motion sickness?" Totomaru asks with a laugh. "Guess you can't eat fire right now, can you? Well, then, time for me to finish you off! PREPARE TO DIE DRAGON SLAYER!"

"YOU FORGOT ABOUT ME, YOU JERK!" I shout as I kick him in the face, turning his head into a block of ice.

"And us!" Gray and Elfman's voice rang out as I hit the ground, my stomach immediately seizing.

"You're not a man. You're a backwards shooting snowflake!" Elfman chants as he punches Totomaru through the hole in the roof.

"Thanks, guys..." I murmur as I hold my stomach.

"You two are so cool!" Happy chants. "You showed that Phantom Jerk who's boss!"

"What's your deal, guys? That was just sad." Gray teases.

"If you were a real man, you'd make the giant motion sick of you." Elfman comments.

"That makes no sense, Elfman," I drone lazily.

"So, is this all that's left of the Jupiter Cannon?" Gray asks.

"Aye!" Happy and Ballad chirp.

"Then you did good." Gray huffs.

"He must've stopped moving, cause I'm feeling better now," Natsu comments after a moment of sucking in even breaths.

"I'm gonna fly outside so I can see what's going on!" Happy suggests.

"I'll go, too!" Ballad says as she flies after him, her wings still spreading strong.

It's only a few moments before Happy and Ballad are flying back in, white faced and panicked. Happy briefly explains what's happened. "What'll we do?! We got to stop 'em!" Natsu shouts.

"I guess we should split up and start looking for this things power source, right?" Gray suggests.

"Man, are we ever gonna catch a break?" Elfman asks irritably.

"Come on, let's do this, guys!" Natsu barks.

"Yeah!" We all nod.

~*****~

"Miss, do you think all this fighting will be over if the Joo--see is defeated?" Ballad questioned as we ran through the hallways.

I laugh. "Jose, it's pronounced Jose." I laugh. "He's a wizard saint, which means he's as strong as Makarov."

"Does that mean we're toast?!" Ballad squeaks.

I rub her head affectionately. "No way to know, but I'm gonna try my best to take him out, got it?"

Ballad gazes at me for a moment before nodding. "Right!" I laugh again before I feel the hairs on my neck stand up. I leap over the beams of steal cracking through the ground just under my feet.

"Been waitin' for you to show your scaly face!" I shout at Gajeel.

"Oh yeah? Waitin' for me to knock you on your ass?!" Gajeel shouts back from the debris. It clears and it's like we've both been itchin' for a fight.

"Attention you pathetic Fairy Tail worms!" Jose's voice crackles overhead. "Listen carefully because I'll only say this once!" Lucy's bellow echoes through the building. My gaze snaps back onto Gajeel, my internals freezing over as he smirks haughtily at me. "We have captured your precious Lucy Heartfilia. Which means our first order of business is now out of the way. And that leaves us with just one more thing. My favorite part. Wiping all of you miserable brats right off the face of the Earth!"

"You're dead." I hiss in a low tone.

"Oh yeah?" Gajeel scoffs. "Then bring it on, little ice dragon!" He sneers loudly. "You're friend kicked up quite a fight when I found her!"

My throat constricted violently before I was able to manage a word. "Ballad." I say firmly. The pink cat floated up from my coat, gazing down at me cautiously. "Go find Lucy. And get her to safety." I say softly.

"Not a chance, little dragon!" Gajeel shouts, trying to hit Ballad out of the sky. I snatch the beam with one hand, my nails scraping against it with a deafening shriek. It stops short just before hitting the small cat.

"You try to hurt her again, I'll freeze you from the inside out." I say in a deathly calm tone. "You're already due for penance for what you did to Lucy."

I hear Ballad squeak something before I attack Gajeel with everything I got.