Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail.

PLEASE READ THE ANs! A lot of questions I get are answered in them!

Alright so, first thing's first. I'm sorry! ;-; I had the mother of all blocks hit me so hard. It was so bad. I had a full two weeks where I would sit down for a few hours, write a sentence or two, then stare at the doc for a few hours. This chapter just did not want to write itself and for that I apologize. To make up for this, you should've noticed this chapter is much longer than previous ones. My peace offering to you is a surprise omake! :D

Secondly, HOLY CRAP! I've passed 1k/1k follows/favorites! Every time I look at that ratio it makes me smile. I think, "Damn, I must've done something right if this many people can look past my sub-par writing skills and enjoy my story that much!" Seriously, all the review have been nothing but strong encouragement and good criticism. It means the world to me that you've all been so supportive of me and my story.

As of 1/22/2014 this story is ranked 17th most favorited FTxNaruto story and is ranked 13th most followed in the same category. Is this real life?

As always, please, please, please, pleeeeaaase~ read the AN at the bottom so we can discuss all the things. Enjoy!

As Nine and the three he called grinned at each other for the moment, another member was smiling beautifully with tears welling up in her eyes. Mira clutched the key that found its home on her necklace, as her bottom lip quivered slightly.

'He really was listening to us…' She thought.

Her evidence was that fact that Nine had called them all by name. That was all anyone needed to confirm it. She began hearing murmurs from the other guild members, all expressing what everyone was thinking.

"It's him…"

"He really is our guardian after all, isn't he…"

"Nine-san…"

Before anymore could be said, Nine spoke once more. "Gray, if I remember correctly, you use ice magic, correct?" A confident nod from Gray was all the confirmation he needed. "Think you could make a bridge from here to that thing's power supply?" He asked, pointing a thumb at the exposed lacrima.

Gray simply grinned. "Child's play." He responded confidently.

Nine grinned as well and nodded. "Good. I want you, Elfman, and Nat-" He was cut off as Natsu, carried by Happy, flew past him at top speed.

"Say no more , Nine-san!" Natsu yelled as he flew past. "I'll have that lacrima destroyed in no time!"

"Aye sir!" Happy contributed. They were quite far away now.

Nine chuckled. Natsu definitely reminded him of himself when he was younger. They definitely would've gotten along just fine. Nine deadpanned with a sweat drop. Who was he kidding? They would've been in fist fights constantly over who was the better fighter. Best friends though, for sure.

["You think I'll let you attack without consequence?! Think again!"] Ah, Jose seems to have found his voice.

With his piece said, hundreds of dark creatures shrouded by a purple cloak with a red Phantom Lord emblem on the back flew out of the castle towards Fairy Tail.

Nine's eyes narrowed. "Gray. Elfman. Go back Natsu up, I'm afraid that my little fireworks display lengthened the time it will take for me to be at one hundred percent." He looked directly at the two. "I'll stay here to help defend against these shades, now go!"

Not needing to be told twice, Gray and Elfman dashed towards the coastline as Gray prepared his spell.

"Ice Make: Floor!" He smashed his hands into the water and froze a path to the enemy guild hall.

Seeing the two head off, Nine nodded to himself then turned back to the rest of the guild to see Erza struggling to get up.

"W-what do you need me to do, Nine-san?" She stuttered out. Her exhausted limbs were screaming at her to rest. 'That reminds me, I'll have to have them call me something else. Kurama would be better, yes, I'll settle that once this is all over.' Nine thought. Nine Tails shouldn't be the name of this form. Kyubi had always seemed like a derogatory term to him after he and Kurama became comrades. Fairy Tail didn't know that, and that was fine, but he would correct that when the opportunity presented itself.

Before anyone could voice their protest, Nine beat them to the punch. "I need you to rest Erza."

That stung a little bit, she should be fighting with everyone else not sitting on her butt, twiddling her thumbs! "B-but-"

"No buts." He said in a tone that left no room for argument. She reluctantly nodded.

Jose's creatures were about half-way to Fairy Tail now.

Nine turned he gaze to the rest of his family. All seemed to be ready to fight, even if some were bandaged in places. He nodded. It would definitely be enough. Suddenly a wave of exhaustion hit him and he began shrinking in size. 'Tch. That Bijudama took more out of me than I thought.' He sighed as he continued shrinking. 'Can't be helped, that's what I get for firing one off right after waking up.'

The guild members were alarmed at Nine's sudden change in size. Was he too exhausted to continue? Soon Nine finished shrink and was now about the size of a human. It was hard to tell, he was still sitting on his hind legs, after all. Nine saw the looks he was getting and decided to clarify. His voice had lost most of the demonic edge it had when he was bigger. "A side effect, to help me regain my energy." He stated as he waved it off with one hand. Though that was true, it was going to take too long to replenish what had been inactive for close to a century. He was all too aware of that, but it wasn't a problem for him. He had an ace up his sleeve that would give him the power he needed quickly.

Sage mode.

How long it would take to activate it remained to be seen, however. He was sure it was going to take longer than usual due to his current state, and he would prepare for it. Hope for the best, plan for the worst as they say. He turned to look at the newest generation of his family. He gazed upon all of their faces, seeing the expressions they all wore. Some were scared, and rightfully so, some were anxious, some were angry. But, a fire was in all of their eyes; the resolve to protect their family shined bright. He was proud of this newest generation, he really was.

"Everyone…" Nine began, gaining the attention of all present. "It's going to take me a bit to gather the energy I need to defeat our enemy. Can I count on you to be able to defend yourselves and I until I'm finished?" He questioned.

Cana decided to answer for everyone. "Of course, Nine-san." She grinned. "Who do you think kept your sleeping ass safe all these years?"

Nine grinned right back. "Hn! Cheeky brat." He turned back towards the oncoming wave of shades. "One thing before I begin…" He crossed the index and middle fingers of both hands into the shape of a very familiar hand seal. Three puffs of smoke appeared and disappeared, revealing three perfect replica's of Nine. The guild members were a little startled by the sound and sudden appearance, but otherwise kept their cool. Once again they could tell that wasn't magic, but it was a little different than the attack from before. They wanted to ask about it, but knew it wasn't the time for questions. The original Nine looked over his doppelgangers and nodded, receiving a nod from the three as well before they vanished into thin air. Satisfied with his actions, Nine positioned himself in the middle of the large group of Fairy Tail members next to a blonde girl he couldn't recognize. He saw her bloodshot eyes and dried tears, it seemed she had been crying up until he had revealed himself. He gave her a soft smile, before sitting down with his legs crossed; a very awkward looking position considering his hind legs.

Before he continued, he swiped a hand passed his right shoulder causing a small puff of smoke to appear and reveal a tri-pronged kunai. He grabbed it in a reverse grip before it fell and stabbed it into the ground in front of him. While this raised a few eyebrows, it was assumed this was related to whatever he was planning to do and didn't question the action. Satisfied with his actions, he once more brought his attention to those gathered around him.

"I'm going to begin now, everyone. Show me the power that I've been told has become infamous in the land of Fiore! Make me proud. Make the Guild Master proud. But above all, make yourselves proud!"

Hands were shoved into the air with the familiar shape of an L that followed a roar of determination from the mages. Unfortunately Nine was the only one not familiar with the meaning of the hand sign, but smirked all the same. He would learn the meaning eventually. With his motivational piece said, he brought his knuckles together to complete the meditation posture he had learned all those years ago. He began to feel the familiar Nature Chakra filling his being, but he soon realized how right he was.

This was going to take awhile.

Jose had a malicious smile plastered on his face. He had seen the massive fox suddenly shrink in size through the magic circle he was using to view the battlefield. He wouldn't admit it, but the sight of the massive fox alone had been enough to make him sweat. But the sight of the fox no bigger than a man quickly replaced his fear with confidence. Some might call it arrogance.

"This is Fairy Tail's trump card?" He mocked into his intercom. "An overgrown fox that lost its steam after only one measly attack? Pathetic. Despair Fairy Tail as your last resort has fal-"

*BOOM*

The explosion caused by the Jupiter Cannon's power source exploding shook the entire castle. "The lacrima that powered the Jupiter Cannon has been destroyed, Master!" Reported a female underling. Jose saw Fairy Tail cheer at the sight of the explosion that was, no doubt, caused by one of their own. But Jose was undeterred, in fact his smile widened.

"Hoo… So they think they've won by taking out a now useless power source?" He spoke to himself. "Can't have them getting too confident, now…" He chuckled darkly. "Activate the giant." He ordered.

Minutes earlier

The battle with Jose's Shades had begun already. Fairy Tail mages were firing off spells left and right, the air was filled with magic bullets, smoke, cards and more. Everyone was doing an excellent job defending themselves from the shades. Amongst the battle, Mira had made her way towards Lucy, whom had been fighting alongside her fellow mages to defend Nine. Mira was carrying the now unconscious Erza, the girl had finally passed out from the exhaustion brought on by blocking the earlier blast.

"Lucy!" She called out. Said girl had just repelled a shade with her whip before acknowledging the barmaid. She had called out Taurus to aid her in battle as well; he was fighting back-to-back with the girl.

"What do you need, Mira?" She called back. She cracked her whip against another shade that had gotten too close. She took another glance at Mira and saw who she was carrying and put two and two together before Mira answered.

"I need you to help me get Erza to safety so she can rest!"

Lucy blinked. While she would do so immediately, she wondered why Mira had asked her specifically. 'No time to dwell on it now!' Lucy thought.

"Sure thing, Mira!" She patted Taurus' shoulder. "You stay here and continue fighting while I help Mira, Taurus."

Taurus gave her thumbs-up before his eyes turned into hearts. "Whatever Lucy-san wants! While her body isn't as perfect as yours, it would be moo-st unforgivable if anything were to happen to Erza-san."

Lucy sweat dropped at the bull's antics. "Y-yeah…" With that, she left the bull and began clearing a path for Mira to get Erza to safety behind a portion of collapsed guild hall. She placed Erza on a mostly intact table top; while it was missing its legs, it was still better than placing Erza on rubble that could be hiding sharp bits. Mira finally allowed herself a sigh of relief once she had completed her self-appointed task. But now it was time for the second part of her plan: Getting Lucy out of Jose's grasp. She only needed to find Reedus amongst the fighting. Not a difficult task, considering the man's size and look. His body, the result of a request to the Third to use his Titan Magic on him, was extremely round and flat. Perfect for using his Pict Magic on which involved bringing his art to life. His outfit is quite plain, consisting of a long-sleeved white shirt, dark green pants and brown pointed mage shoes. He sports black eyes, brown hair in the style of an afro with a large pointed chin. Finishing his outfit is a large, pointed dark purple wizard hat wrapped with a gold band.

"Reedus!" She calls out when she does lay eyes on his position, which was in near them in the back. His magic was more suited to support after all. Said man perks up at the call and turns to the source, seeing Mira waving him over. He nods and makes his way over to their position.

Lucy looked towards the oncoming Reedus in curiosity. Why did Mira need him? As far as she was aware, he wasn't a healer so why..? "Mira…" She began as she turned back to Mira only to find a hand obscuring her vision. She was out in seconds.

"Sorry, Lucy." She apologized as she caught the girl before she fell over.

Back on the battlefield, Taurus flinched as he felt the flow of Eternano keeping him summoned suddenly cut off. With wide eyes he tried to call out for his Master but vanished before he could utter a syllable.

Mira flinched at the sight of the spirit vanishing, she could see the look of betrayal in his eyes. She sighed heavily, another she'd have to apologize to once this was all over. Reedus was now next to her, looking at the scene with a raised eyebrow.

"Reedus." She began. "I need you to get Lucy to the safe house. We need to keep her as far away from Jose as we can."

"Oui." Reedus nodded. He quickly began painting his preferred mode of transportation on his stomach. With a pop and a large cloud of smoke, his creation came to a life: an old fashioned carried drawn by an large purple boar. Mira helped Reedus set Lucy into the back of the carriage once the man had finished.

"Please be careful."

"Qui." With a snap of the reins, he was off.

Mira turned back towards the battlefield. 'I may not be as strong as I used to be, but I'll still protect my family with all that I have.' She thought fiercely. She activated her Transformation Magic and in but a moment a perfect copy of Lucy was standing in her place. She took her place beside the unconscious Erza once more and observed her family fighting against the shades.

Loki had watched the entire exchange between Lucy, Reedus, and Mira. While he agreed with that plan of action, he couldn't help the bad feeling in his gut. He turned his gaze over the battlefield and then back towards the direction Reedus had gone. 'They can handle it.' He decided and left to follow when he was sure no one would notice his departure.

Then came the explosion that appeared in the exposed portion of the castle's exterior.

"They did it!" One mage cheered.

"Take that, assholes!" Another added.

A round of cheers roared throughout the battlefield as the morale of the Fairy Tail members sky rocketed. In his spot in the middle of his family, Nine smirked. He could feel everyone's confidence giving him strength along with the Eternano he was currently gathering to activate his trump card.

The cheers didn't last, however, as castle began to transform into a massive bipedal mech. The Fairy Tail mages could only gape at the sight.

"N-no way…" Someone had been able to stutter out.

"A Magic Giant…"

The moment the giant had finished its transformation, the voice no one wanted to hear once again filled the air.

["Bow down and beg for mercy, brats. You should take a page out of that fox's book and pray to your gods in your final moments."] Jose spat.

Some heads were turned at the loud snort produced by said fox, but the remainder kept their attention on the giant. The shades had halted their offensive when the Phantom guild had transformed and were now floating ominously in the air, waiting for their master's orders once more.

Meanwhile, one of Nine's clones caught a soaring Totomaru as he flew out of the hole in the giant courtesy of a punch from Elfman. His hands were still frozen in the ice Gray had used to immobilize them.

"HRRK!" He choked out as his ascent was stopped by Nine's hold on his clothes.

"Now now, can't have you getting off the hook that easily, can we?" Nine asked.

While the man was still seeing stars, Nine got a good look at him. The man had oddly two hair colors of white and black tied up in a Japanese-style top knot, the left side was black and right white. He also had three horizontal black bar markings across the ridge of his nose that ended at both ears. His outfit, a ninja-like red gi complete with fishnets closed by a black belt with red fur lining the collar. Under that is a black body suit complete with loose black pants tucked into black boots. He also has a plain katana strapped to his waist.

Shaking the stars out of his vision, Totomaru finally sees his captor and recognizes him as the one that had taken out the cannon.

"Y-you!" He tries to point, but the makeshift ice handcuff stops that motion.

"ME!" Nine grins back at his captive cheekily.

"You almost killed me with that attack!" He shouted, remembering how he had to dodge the debris of the guild due to the explosion. He had been tasked with guarding the lacrima after all, but that was moot after the cannon had been destroyed.

"Oh? My apologies, I'll be more careful next time." He mock apologized. Suddenly, he directed all the killing intent he could muster at Totomaru and grinned, revealing razor-sharp teeth. "Now comes the best part…" The demonic edge his voice had earlier made it's return.

In that moment, Totomaru saw his death a thousand times over. He knew with the entirety of his being that the creature in front of him was going to murder him in the most gruesome way possible. He could do nothing but gape, with sweat drenching his body. When the demon in front of him opened his maw slightly, his fear multiplied 10 fold. It was all he could do just to remain conscious, he was barely breathing, too scared to move an inch lest he incite this demon's wrath.

Nine brought his maw closer to the horrified man's face, so close that even in Totomaru's state, the man idly noted that his breath smelt like ramen and was confused for a split second before he once again feared for his. 'This is the end.' Totomaru thought as the mighty maw was centimeters from his face now.

…

"BOO!" The fox bellowed loudly.

"EEEEEYYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Totomaru squeeked out before passing out in his fright.

Nine stared at the unconscious man for a moment. "…Did he just... BWAHAHAHAH!" Nine roared with laughter, using his free hand to clutch his sides. "Entertainment that good doesn't come often enough!" Wiping a few tears from his eyes he tagged the castle with the seal for the Hiraishin technique before focusing on the kunai the original had planted.

Flashing in front of the original with Totomaru still in his grasp, the clone looked around at the fighting forms of his family. After Jose had finished his speech, his shades had resumed their offensive. Immediately after, the giant began drawing a massive magic circle in the air in front of it directly at Fairy Tail. Nine knew exactly what it was. It was an old spell after all, and Mavis had been sure to inform him about it: Abyss Break. A very destructive spell, but one as large as this was sure to have an equally large weakness. They just needed to find out what that weakness was.

The clone was brought out of its musings by Cana as she had made her way to him after appearing. She recognized the man in the fox's grasp as Totomaru of the Element Four.

"Nine-san, why did you bring that man with you?" She asked through gritted teeth. He shared the blame for what was happening to them after all.

Nine looked into the girl's eyes and saw the hatred in them before sighing. That just won't do, it was fine to be angry in this situation, but if that turned into something more… Images of friends and enemies long dead flashed in his mind. That just won't do at all.

"Cana…" He said softly. The tone caught Cana off guard, it sounded like a parent consoling their child. "I understand where you're coming from. Trust me, I do." He shifted the man in his grasp and laid him on the ground. "But believe me when I say that hatred will only breed more hatred. I'm not going to condemn the child for the sins of the father and neither should you." Cana was struck speechless at his words. The clone rose from his position and placed his hand on the girl's head and ruffled her hair a bit. "Don't hate the man Cana, pity him. He will never know what it's like to be a part of a true family."

The girl blushed a bit out of embarrassment over the treatment she was getting, before her dignity returned and smacked his hand away. "I'm not a child!" She shouted indignantly and crossed her arms under her impressive bust. Even though she was putting on an angry face, Nine's words struck a chord with her and it softened her expression a bit.

Her attention returned to the clone when she heard it chuckling. It grinned cheekily at her. "Besides, you'll get all wrinkly if you continue making such an angry face."

This caused another blush to appear on Cana's face, especially with the snickers from her fellow guild mates assaulting her hearing. But she took it in stride and matched the fox's grin after a few moments. "I bet my face wasn't all you were looking at you perverted fox!"

Some of the guild members sputtered a bit but the fox's grin remained with no visible change to show that she had got him back. The clone chuckled some more, shaking its head, while the original just smiled in his position. The clone decided not to retort but instead return to its assigned mission.

"Anyway, I need to get back to that giant. There's still more Phantom members that need to be evacuated otherwise they'll get caught up in the fight that's sure to happen between Jose and the Boss." The clone stated jerking its thumb towards the original.

With its piece finished, the clone disappeared with a flash leaving the guild members to continue fight the shades. Cana stared at the spot the clone had previously inhabited before a small smile appeared on her face. All of the guild members had the expression mirrored on their own faces. The conversation between Nine's clone and Cana had been loud enough for all present to hear. Even Erza had woken up in time for her to hear Nine's words. The words were repeated over and over in her mind. 'He really is looking out for us…' She had the small smile on her face as well. She decided that she would definitely return to full strength as fast as possible to help Nine.

Next to the prone form of Erza, Mira was also deep in thought. She had heard Nine's words as well and her spirits were lifted just like everyone else, but she was worried.

Worried for her brother.

She wasn't sure he was fully ready to fight like the others were. He was still having trouble controlling his magic even though Nine-san had been a big help for him to move on from what had happened with Lisanna.

Mira shook her head. 'No, this is his way to move on, to move forward.' She placed a hand above her heart. 'In this situation I should believe in him, just like Nine-san believes in us.' She slaps both hands on her cheeks to clear her thoughts. She turns to check on Erza before deciding on her course of action only to be surprised that Erza is staring at her with a slightly amused expression. She blushes in embarrassment over being caught by her rival in moment of weakness but regains her composure soon after.

"Erza, continue resting. There's something I can do to help everyone." Even though she was disguised as Lucy at the moment, Erza could recognize Mira's determined look anywhere.

"Don't overdo it, Mira. Otherwise Nine-san will get mad." She chuckles a little before closing her eyes once more to continue resting.

Mira also giggles a bit. "Can't have that now, can we?"

Mira strides through the battlefield confidently, avoiding a confrontation with a shade by staying in-between her guild mates. 'As long I can buy some time, any at all, then I can help everyone.'

The Fairy Tail mages started to take notice of her and began objecting to her appearance.

"O-oi, Mira! It's dangerous to be here!"

"That's right you shouldn't be out here in your condition!"

She ignored them all however. She knew she couldn't use her magic right now, but she needed to help in any way that she could, damnit!

Stopping in front of Nine she spreads her arms out, as if to defend everyone from an assault.

"I'm the one you're after!" She shouts in Lucy's voice. "You can't capture me, if you take me out with the rest of my guild!"

["Ho…?"] His voice made Mira flinch slightly.

["It seems I'm being taken for a fool by an imposter."] Mira's eyes widened. How did he find out so quickly? Mira's expression must've made the question obvious as Jose continued.

["I've known since the beginning that my target isn't there anymore. Begone."]

Mira's arms dropped to her sides and her shoulders slumped. 'Even now, I'm of no use to my guild.' She thought as her disguised was dropped.

Meanwhile, inside the giant, the second and third clones were tailing both Gray and Elfman from the shadows. The small group of attacking Fairy Tail mages had split up to cover more ground to find the source of the giant's power. They believed in each other and would not accept defeat this day. As Natsu and Happy made their way deeper into the Phantom guild, Gray and Elfman were as well. The two then simultaneously ran into two more members of the Element Four on their respective paths. For one it would bring up terrible memories of the past, while the other would unknowingly create a strong bond. Even if said bond wouldn't be apparently to both sides.

Ah, young love.

Omake – Changling! (AN - Remember, this isn't canon to the story, and I really loved this episode from the anime. So Nine is awake earlier than he should be, and stuff doesn't work as it should for the sake of fun! Enjoy!)

"MASTER!"

As one the entirety of Fairy Tail cringed at the tone Erza had decided to take. Since everyone knew Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Lucy had taken an S-class quest without permission, it wasn't difficult to find the source of Erza's anger.

The brave soul known as Macao decided to break it to Erza.

"E-Erza, the Master isn't here. He's on some guild meeting or something, he's been gone since yesterday…" He stuttered out.

"HRK!" Macao choked out as an angry Erza turned her gaze towards him. His knees buckled under the pressure and he collapsed to the ground in a heap, unconscious. Though, others seemed to be taking it easier at that announcement.

"ALRIGHT!" Natsu shouted in glee.

"Whew, dodged a bullet." Gray muttered, whipping sweat from his brow.

"Thank goodness!" Happy shouted with tears flowing from his little eyes. "We can put off staring into the gates of hell for a little while longer!"

"Argh!" Lucy shouted. She hadn't been told what the punishment was for taking the S-class mission and it was causing her to despair. "What's gonna happen?! I need to know, I'm freaking out!" She cried. "It's even scarier when I don't know!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Erza shouted as she turned her death glare to four unfortunate souls.

"Oi, oi, OI!" A demonic voice shouted, causing all but Erza to have shivers shoot down their spines. Said woman turned her gaze to the source of the voice: The large orange humanoid fox sitting at the bar with an extremely annoyed look on its face. Erza's breath hitched as she realized what her shouting had interrupted.

The fox was eating ramen.

Sweating bullets, Erza gulped. Interupting Nine's ramen time was tantamount to suicide. However, she swallowed her fear and regained her composure. This situation was more important than lunch, her actions were just.

"Who the hell is causing such a racket while I'm trying to enjoy the food of the gods?!" Nine shouted once more. Again the tone caused Erza's breath to hitch, but she quickly shook off the feeling and stood up to the annoyed fox.

"That would be me!" She gestured to the four criminals behind her. "These four stole an S-class quest from the second floor, discipline is required!"

At this point the four were sweating bullets themselves. How would Nine react to that information?

Said fox's eyes were shadowed as his he pondered the words. Suddenly, he got off the stool he was on causing a round of yelps from all present except Erza. He strode over to the four on his hind legs with his back hunched slighty. Every step he took caused the four's sweat glands to increase production ten fold, while Erza was looking quite smug. Finally he stopped in front of the group and drew up to his full height in his human-sized form. He was easily two full heads taller than Elfman in this form. The ominous aura he was producing was almost enough to cause all four to faint. All they could do was gape and look at him with utter fear in their eyes.

"Did you complete the quest?" He asked bluntly.

"…" They didn't respond immediately, whether from fear or confusion was really anyone's guess.

"I SAID, DID YOU COMPLETE THE QUEST?!" He shouted causing all but Erza to squeak in fear. Erza was looking on with slight confusion though.

"HAI!" All four answered simultaneously.

"…Hold out your hands, palms facing the ground." Nine spat.

'He… He's gonna cut them off!' Lucy shouted in her mind. 'This is the punishment for taking an S-class quest?! WHY DID I LET THEM TALK ME INTO IT?!' The tears would not stop flowing.

Erza, meanwhile, was looking extremely confused at this point.

*Slap, slap, slap, slap*

Nine nodded as his punishment was complete, returned to his stool and continued eating his ramen.

The guild was utterly silent, excluding the slurping noises coming from Nine.

The four were staring at their red wrists in utter disbelief, while Erza's eyes were shadowed by her hair. Oh boy, she was pissed again.

"A SLAP TO THE WRIST?!" She roared. "THAT IS NO WHERE NEAR ENOUGH FOR THEIR CRIME!"

She froze. Nine's full gaze was directed on her now. He was releasing all of his murderous intent on the girl. Even though Erza was the strongest girl in Fairy Tail, nothing could've prepared her for that gaze. She promptly collapsed to the ground in a heap with a little Erza soul wiggling out of her mouth.

"HAH!" Natsu laughed. "Take that Erza!"He shouted while pointing.

"HRRKK!" Natsu choked out as a pair of chopsticks impaled his throat causing him to collapse as well in a similar state as Erza.

"Shut the hell up and let me eat in peace, Natsu!" Nine shouted as he continued to eat, which should've been impossible but he somehow still had chopsticks in his hand.

"Still though, it's one thing for Natsu and Gray to have to go through that, but Lucy too…? You poor thing." Wakaba said, as if two of his guild mates hadn't just been horribly incapacitated.

Lucy shivered. "Poor… Thing…?" She was despairing even more now.

Natsu and Gray walked passed her towards Wakaba, Natsu's throat injury never happened apparently.

"What do you mean 'it's one thing'?" Both drew back their fists and sent Wakaba flying, starting another of Fairy Tail's infamous free-for-alls.

Later, after the brawl we find our heroes crowding around a strange mission request.

"Please figure out what this writing means." Natsu read out loud. "If you figure it out, I'll present you with 500,000 Jewel." Natsu grinned. "Whoa, awesome! 500,000 Jewel for something so easy!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"Figure out some writing?" Gray asked. "That's a rare request."

"How much you guys want to bet it's some sort of curse?" Nine pitched in, his voice less demonic than it was before. Everyone stared at him, before promptly ignored him. After all, who would want to curse them? That would just be silly.

"Wait, this is in an ancient language, who could read that?" Gray asked.

"I thought I told you all that you were on probation until the Master gets back." Erza stated, but she also was ignored.

"Hey, look" Happy pointed out. "There's a transliteration in our language right next to it."

"Oh, I can read that!" Natsu declared.

"Wait I want to go get some fish before you read it!" No one heard Happy though as he flew away to get his snack.

"Uugo deru rasuchi borokania…" Slapping his face with both hands he shouts. "I don't get this at all!"

Suddenly the mission requests starts glowing in rainbow colors, causing all gathered to stare at it in fascination.

"Hoo..? So, some people get so scared of punishment they sprout rainbows?" Wakaba asked Macao as they sat a safe distance away from the group. Macao on the other hand wasn't so sure.

"I.. I don't think that's it…"

The glow subsided leaving everyone with confused looks. All but one.

"Called it." Erza stated with her arms crossed.

"I'm cold!" Gray started shivering and rubbing his arms, trying to warm himself up.

"Huh? Why's an ice-user cold?" Elfman asked. "And for that matter what did you call, Erza?"

Erza deadpanned, but didn't say anything.

"What the hell? I'm waaaaay too cold!" Gray's shivers increased.

"Ara?" All the guild members not affected hummed.

Suddenly, Lucy seemed to have had an epiphany as well.

"What is this?! Why is my chest area so freakin' heavy?!" She questioned angrily. She grabbed her back with one hand. "And why is my back killing me…?"

"What's the matter, Lucy?" Macao asked. "You're speaking way lower than you normally do."

"That's not-…" Gray started before he turned and saw Lucy right next to him. "EEEHHHH?!" He shouted.

Loke, who had fallen to the ground during the weird glow suddenly got back up.

"Ara? Why was I on the ground?"

Natsu suddenly looked more like a ladies man with stars blinking into existence around him.

"And wait…. Why am I standing?" He turned and saw Lucy's face before freaking out and running away from her.

"Oi, Natsu! Why did you run away when you saw my face?" She demanded, before she had another realization. "What's with my voice?" She asked as she brought a hand to her mouth.

"Everyone's acting a bit… strange." Macao stated the obvious.

Suddenly the air became hard to breathe as a presence they knew all too well washed over them.

"What in the world is all this racket about?" Nine asked, demonic edge returning. His eyes went wide and a hand went to his mouth. "Why do I sound like Nine-san when he's mad?" His eyes went wide as he stared at his hand. "AND WHY IS MY HAND FURRY?!" He shouted.

The guild member's mouths dropped.

"Oh god, not Nine too!" They all shouted.

"Yare yare." Erza sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off a headache, bringing attention back to her. "Let's ignore the wise old fox, he doesn't know a thing about aaaaanything" She mocked.

The others continued to fret over why nothing appeared to be correct with their forms, after awhile two had had enough of that noise.

"Will you all just shut up?!" Erza and Nine shouted with tick marks on their heads. Everyone quieted done upon hearing the two scariest people when angry shout. Erza gestured for Nine to continue, who nodded in thanks. "Isn't it obvious what happened?!" She asked rhetorically. "We've all had our minds switched!"

…

"EEEHHHH!" The four that hadn't figured it out yet cried out.

"What do you mean Nine?!" Loke asked.

"I'm not Nine-san, I'm Erza…" 'Erza' sighed.

"And to avoid further confusion, I'm Nine." 'Nine' raised his armored hand.

The rest figured out that Natsu and Loke had switched minds, while Gray and Lucy had switched minds.

"Magical words of ancient Umpera-ese." A voice behind them all stated. "You have activated the curse known as Changling." All heads turned to see that the voice had come from none other than Master Makarov.

"I feel the need to once again point out: Called it." 'Nine' declared.

"When read, Changling swaps the minds of people nearby." Makarov said seriously.

'Gray' grabbed 'Natsu's' shoulder. "Oi… You're Natsu right?"

"Yeah…"

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!" 'Gray' demanded.

"Don't ask me!" 'Natsu' retorted. " All I did was try and read the request a little!" Suddenly he gained a tick mark. "And would someone turn on the lights?!" He demanded. Apparently he didn't realize he was wearing Loke's glasses.

Makarov coughed into his hand, gaining back the attention. "It's not just your minds that have swapped either, it's your magic as well."

"EEEEHHHH?!" This was probably going to be a regular occurrence.

Makarov glanced at Erza and Nine. "Though in your case it's magic and… chakra, was it?"

'Nine' nodded. "Chakra, yes."

Makarov turned his gaze back over the entire group. "One more thing, if you don't undo the spell within an hour of activation, you will never be able to return normal. Or so the legend goes." He finished ominously.

Once more.

"EEEEEHHHH?!"

"Mira, how much time has it been since it was activated?!" 'Natsu' asked.

"16 minutes, you have 46 minutes to return to normal." She didn't miss a beat, she also seemed to have a lacrima in her hand that had been timing the entire event. The hell did she have one of those on hand for?

"Gramps! What's the spell to return us to normal?!" 'Natsu' demanded once more.

Makarov adopted a thinking pose. "Hmm… Considering how ancient the spell is…" He paused. "I haven't a clue!"

All they could do was just gape.

"Well, I HAD been planning on punishing you for stealing an S-Class request, but that's out of the question now." He said dryly as he walked away from the group. "Well! Give it your best shot!"

As four of the group started freaking out and taking each other's powers for a whirl, two were calmly seated at a table sipping on some tea with their eyes closed.

"Quite the predicament we find ourselves in." 'Nine' stated. Sluuurp.

"Indeed." Sluuurp.

"It seems the two of us have found ourselves stuck in bodies that can use different sources of power for techniques neither of us would be able to use even if we trained for years." Sluuurp.

"Yup." Sluuurp.

…

Sluuurp.

…

'Erza' slams her cup down and stares at 'Nine.' "How do I do your transformation technique?!" She demands quickly.

'Nine' chuckles at the girls blunt nature. "Henge?" 'Nine' asks. He adopts a thinking pose, before gaining a glint in his eyes that 'Erza' doesn't feel comfortable with.

"Oh that's easy, all you have to do is follow these steps." 'Erza's' earlier caution is gone with the wind as she leans forward in anticipation.

"Step one, make this hand sign." He holds up his armored hands and places them in the Ram seal.

'Erza' copies the seal to the best of her abilities. "Like this?" She questions. 'Nine' leans over the table and fixes her mistakes. After that he gets up from the table and motions for her to do the same and follow him to a more open area. She obliges him and stands a few feet away from him with a expression of childlike glee.

"Now then for the second and final step, all you have to do is shout 'Henge' and picture what you want to turn into in your mind." He has a wide grin on his face. Normally Erza would be suspicious, but she's too excited to transform into something else. Mira had always rubbed it in her face how bad she was at using the transformation magic. But now. Now she had Nine-san's abilities at her finger tips and everyone knew his transformation technique allowed him to turn into literally anything. Much better than the magic version.

"Tell me when you're ready." 'Nine' says through giggles.

'Erza' nods and closes her eyes, focusing hard on what she wants to turn into. A whole range of things crosses her mind as she tries to decide what she wants to turn into first. Maybe something awesome? Like a dragon. Or-or maybe a wyvern. No, that won't work that'll be too big. She doesn't want to destroy the guild after all. All the while 'Nine' is having trouble suppressing his laughter as he watches 'Erza' have her internal conflict. Finally she nods, having decided on a simple yet impressive form.

"Ready."

"Alright, go for it."

"Henge!" She shouts. But as soon as she finishes…

"PINK ELEPHANT!" 'Nine' shouts.

'Erza's' eyes shoot open. "Eh?" She bursts into a large cloud of smoke. As the cloud disappears, a large pink elephant stands in the spot the fox previously occupied.

"Eh?" She looks down to see her pink trunk. "Eh?" She inspects the rest of her body. Yup. She's a pink elephant. "EEHHH?!"

"BWAHAHAHA!" She glares at 'Nine' who was a bit busy lying on his stomach banging the ground in amusement. This causes her to gain a pretty enormous tick mark.

"THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK NINE-SAN!" She shouts.

To be continued at a later date...

AN Woo! Chapter 6 complete! I hope it came out alright, the first 4k words were written over the course of the month, then I got a burst of inspiration and finished the last bit today. I've been wanting to write this omake since I started so it had been muuuuuch easier to write than the chapter. ;-;

Discussing All the Things - Hosted by Soah1086

The Story Corner

The Pairing - An Update

Alright, so. In regards to the pairing, the reviews have buried it enough for me to say that someone got so insanely close I decided to reveal the pairing to them! His/Her words were, and I quote, "That's actually pretty epic." So I hope that this reassures you that my idea is quite sound and that it's really good! Keep the guesses coming, I'm really enjoying tortur- I mean causing so much discussion about the topic! ;)

The Non-Story Table

The Poll

The results are in. A staggering 65% said I shouldn't bother with making a Facebook or Twitter page while 30% were for FB and 5% were for Twitter. I was actually pretty surprised by the results, honestly. But, I'm glad you were all honest! however, I've decided that 30% is still a good amount of people, so as long as someone gets a use out of it, I'm fine with making a Facebook page. The URL for said page is facebook com/FTGuardianfox .

I'll be using this page to keep everyone updated on how the chapter is progressing as well as answering questions you may have! If this story has inspired you to create something, be it fanart or another story please post them there! :)

The "What the Hell Have you Been Doing that May Have Contributed to your Block?" Question

Sooo... *Looks around nervously* I maaaaaaaaaay have been gotten into more anime and such during this block. I fell in love with Kill La Kill. Straight up. That anime is amazing and never fails to make me wake up the roommates with my laughter. Another one I've gotten into is the whole Fate/Stay Night series. I was introduced through PSO2 when they did a collaboration with the creators and had items from that universe made for the game. I'm the proud owner of Excalibur, Saber's/Archer's/Rin's/Gil's/Illya's outfits, and Saber's hairstyle. Though Illya's outfit is from that magic girl spin off that happened. Anyway, Yeah I fell in love with that one as well. I've watched the entire FSN anime, the UBW movie, and Fate/Zero. My god Fate/Zero. Second episode shit got so real, my body wasn't ready for it. Fantastic anime. The FSN one though was actually pretty bad in hindsight, I had already known the story going into it so the first few episodes meshed together. I tried to get a friend into it but they couldn't get into it because the first episode literally does nothing to advance the plot. So with that in mind, if you've been interested in getting into Fate/Stay Night, either wait for the remake of the anime (It's a different route than the original though) or watch Fate/Zero first. You will not regret it, I promise. To go with that though, I've gotten my hands on the FSN Visual Novel and have been having a blast with that. You learn soooooo much more about the back story. I'm on the last day of the Fate route so far and can't wait to start the Unlimited Blade Works route. I'm not looking forward to the Heaven's Feel route though. Those of you that know it should know exactly what I mean. ;-;

So that's it for Discussing All the Things - Hosted by Soah1086

This has been Soah1086 and I wish you all a fantastic (late) New Year! :)

Post upload update - I've been called out for making the facebook page, the guest in question (Please log in so I can reply to you personally!) said I made it sound like this story needed a fb page and it made me look conceited. My whole reasoning for making a facebook page was because I found myself constantly wishing I had ways to update you all on how the progress is. I wanted to interact more with my readers and a page such as that would allow me to do so! While I am really proud that this story has come this far, it's all due to the amazing reviews I've received. So I apologize if my reasons seemed a little off! :S