To Rescue A Father...

Chapter 3 - To Rescue A Father...

"Hey Natsu!" Ichigo shouted, loud enough for the pink-haired mage to hear his voice.

"What?" Natsu asked, turning back with a confused expression as he was just about to exit the guildhall.

"Wait up for me." Ichigo said with a small smirk.

Many of the Fairy Tail guild's members were surprised by the newcomer's words, but Natsu grinned widely at the statement given that he knew at least one person in the guildhall would care enough to tag along.

'I kinda figured it'd be him.' Natsu thought, his grin still present in full force.

The orange-haired teen grabbed the wooden skull badge that kept itself attacked to his side and ejected himself from his human body, catching it just in time to avoid a collision with the ground.

"Hey Mirajane, would you mind watching this for me? I can't really take it with me, so…" Ichigo began, only to be cut off.

"It won't be a problem!" Mirajane assured, eliciting a nod from the substitute.

Without another word or even giving a curious glance around the guildhall to see what everyone's reactions were, Ichigo began to walk towards Natsu, catching up with him very quickly before the duo and colorful flying cat were off.

"Wait for me you guys!" Lucy shouted, unable to resist the urge to help the child as well.

{Road to Mount Hakobe: Aboard a Wagon, Some Time Later…}

Most present within the wooden form of transportation sat calmly and quietly as the horse continued to pull the cart closer and closer to their destination. However, one person in particular seemed to be having a very difficult time.

'I hate my life…' Natsu thought as he tried his best just to keep the food in his stomach from manifesting outwardly as vomit.

Ichigo and Lucy sweatdropped upon seeing the pink-haired mage's only worsening condition, but then again there really wasn't anything they could do if he had such horrible motion sickness. Well, they could just stay there and feel pity, however that wasn't particularly helpful.

"You really do have a bad case of motion sickness…" Lucy observed in a sympathetic manner.

"Aye!" Happy stated in agreement.

"Are we there ye…" Natsu began, only to be cut off as his stomach pain forced his mouth shut in an instant lest he risk getting suck all over the floor of the cart.

"There anything we can do to help?" Ichigo offered with a small frown, not particularly caring to see the dragon slayer in such a state.

"Natsu has always had horrible motion sickness and there really isn't anything anyone can do to help him out. He's used to it by now." Happy assured.

"Maybe, but it still sucks…" Natsu groaned.

Ichigo turned to look outside the small windows the cart had to offer, an expression of deep thought present on his face. He recalled what Mirajane had told them back at the bar, and about how he believed Natsu saw a lot of himself in the son of the man they were currently trying to find.

Truth be told, that was actually half the reason he himself wanted to go. Ichigo had felt the pain of losing his mother, and granted the circumstances were far from normal, but nevertheless he still felt the desire to make sure nothing like that happened to anyone else if he could help it.

Somehow he felt Natsu was the same way, and that was all the more reason to help him out. Even if he didn't join Fairy Tail in the end, he'd still go out of his way to help others, that's just who he was and nothing would ever change that.

The cart abruptly stopped several moments later, breaking the orange-haired teen out of his thoughts and alerting him that either something had happened or they were at their destination.

"I'm sorry, but this is as far as I can take you." The driver called, alerting everyone that the latter of the two possibilities was the actual situation.

"All right, we've stopped moving!" Natsu exclaimed, getting up from the lengthy wooden seat and instantly jumping up in a revitalized manner.

'He recovered that quickly?' Ichigo wondered confusedly.

"Guess he's pretty happy about not having to be in this thing anymore." Lucy mused, smiling warmly at the dragon slayers childish reaction.

"Anyway, why did we stop here? I didn't feel us going up any inclines, so are we at the base of the mountain or what?" Ichigo questioned, looking to the overjoyed pink-haired mage for an answer.

The dragon slayer stopped his antics a moment later, looking at the substitute and smirking slightly. He released a slight chuckle of amusement, after which he chose to answer the given question.

"Nah, this guy couldn't get us that close to the mountain, not with how it usually is at least." Natsu replied.

His answer greatly confused both Lucy and Ichigo, who just looked at one another with an expression giving off said feeling. The substitute expected her to know, but very clearly she did not.

"Wait… why is that exactly?" Ichigo asked.

{Pathway to Mount Hakobe: With Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and Ichigo}

"It's freezing!" Lucy shouted, her hands shaking as they held tightly onto her shoulders.

The group began to make its way up towards the summit quite some time ago, having made it to the base rather quickly. However, the weather was exceedingly brutal. Snow fell nonstop, chilling winds that cut to the bone howled without end, and the clouds made it seem as if the mountains peak was an eternity away.

Lucy, incidentally, was the only one who seemed to have any problems with the current climate, though that was understandable given what she chose to wear. Natsu, Ichigo, and Happy, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly fine.

"This place is a frozen wasteland!" Lucy exclaimed, her teeth clicking together after she spoke.

"Why did you even come then?" Natsu asked in a bored tone as the group continued to march forward.

"I came to help you, of course." Lucy replied through gritted teeth, however this was more of an effort to keep them from chattering as opposed to being rage-induced.

"Then deal with the cold. I did warn you when we were leaving the cart…" Natsu stated matter-of-factly.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad! It's summer, so there shouldn't be a blizzard like this anywhere!" Lucy exclaimed.

"We are on a mountain, and we're also pretty high up. It's only natural it'd be freezing… the snow is weird though since I didn't see any signs of rain down at the base." Ichigo thought aloud.

"Plus it's your fault for wearing light clothing." Natsu stated.

"I kind of agree with Natsu on that one. Wearing a skirt like that on a mountain was a bad call." Ichigo added.

"How on earth are you two going through this as if it's nothing?!" Lucy exclaimed, seeming as if she had just picked up that this was the case.

"I'm the Fire Dragon Slayer. I don't get cold." Natsu replied as if the answer was obvious.

"I have beautiful fur that keeps me warm!" Happy chirped.

"Oh yeah, well what about you, Ichigo? How on earth are you able to walk off this cold so easily?" Lucy asked, shivering all the while.

The blonde-haired celestial mage knew full well that Ichigo didn't, as he would say, have magic, which meant that there shouldn't be any way he was immune to this, and yet he seemed to walk even more easily than Natsu. Clearly there had to be some sort of trick to it, and she desperately wanted to know it.

"The fact that I have spiritual energy surrounding my body helps me in that it makes weather a nonissue. It's pretty useful now that I think about it, but to be honest this is the first time I've really thought about it." Ichigo replied, bringing a hand up to his chin as if to say he was truly thinking on it.

"That's just not fair!" Lucy exclaimed.

"You sure talk a lot." Natsu commented.

"Quiet you, now give me that blanket!" Lucy exclaimed, making to grab the large blanket that was currently strapped to the back of the resident dragon slayer.

"She just keeps talkin', doesn't she?" Natsu wondered aloud.

"Aye." Happy said, nodding his head in agreement.

"You say that a lot…" Ichigo trailed off, giving a sideways glance at the blue-furred cat.

"It's Happy, that's just how he is." Natsu explained, chuckling slightly as he finished.

"Aye sir!" Happy exclaimed.

"How much longer until we find the guy we're looking for?" Lucy asked, shivering as she spoke.

This, in truth, was the first time the blonde had been on a 'man-hunt' without the purposes of scoping out someone to date. If this was how they usually went, perhaps she was better off sticking to warm weather and non-deadly environments.

"Isn't there anything you can do at all against the weather? I mean, you can use magic, right?" Ichigo inquired, prompting the blonde to perk up.

"That's right! I've got an idea…" Lucy trailed off, instantly reaching for one of her characteristic Spirit Keys.

The substitute looked back in order to gain some kind of understanding as to how her magic worked. All things considered the prospect of calling on another being from a different world to help you out was pretty interesting, and he hadn't seen anything like it before. He saw her take out a key, and shortly thereafter all she needed to do was speak but a few words.

"Open Gate of the Clock Constellation, Horologium!" Lucy exclaimed.

A magic seal appeared before her a second later, shortly after which a tall brown grandfather clock appeared. He, however, was no ordinary clock. He had an actual face complete with eyes, mouth, nose, and a thin moustache, as well as long black arms. His actual clock was one of roman numerals, and the casing protecting where the pendulum should be was made of glass.

"So this is how a Celestial Mage summons spirits?" Ichigo mused.

"Whoa, a clock." Natsu said, smiling out of amazement.

"That is so cool!" Happy stated.

However, it appeared that they had each overlooked the biggest difference of all. Lucy, who had been previously standing outside before summoning the clock spirit, was now actually within the clock itself. She had a blanket over her shoulders, and she appeared to be trapped within the glass.

'What the hell?' Ichigo wondered, his thoughts matching those of his companions.

The blonde-haired mage began to speak from within the clock, as evident by the movement of her mouth. Yet no sound came forth, drastically confusing those who were outside of the large grandfather clock.

"We can't hear you." Natsu stated in a slightly annoyed fashion.

"She says I'm staying in here and I'm not coming out." Horologium replied.

"So the clock talks for her?" Ichigo asked with a deadpanned expression.

"Such a lazy girl…" Happy trailed off, crossing his arms and shaking his head in a disappointed fashion.

"Shut it you stupid cat, she says quite angrily. Besides, how am I supposed to be able to talk to you when I am inside a clock, she counters pointedly." Horologium said.

"Really, that's where this stops making sense?" Ichigo asked with a neutral expression.

"Where did you say you were from again, she asks sarcastically." Horologium replied.

"Fair point… but seriously though, how does this work?" Ichigo asked in a curious tone.

"I can summon this particular spirit and request that I be transported within him. He is quite sturdy and this allows me to be immune to the effects of weather, she explains evenly." Horologium replied.

"But how do you expect to help out from inside that thing?" Natsu asked in a confused voice.

"I don't care, I'm not coming out, she states quite firmly." Horologium replied.

"Then why did you even bother coming in the first place?" Natsu questioned, now being more confused than prior.

It really didn't make any sense, but to be honest maybe the celestial mage was really, really picky about weather. Even so, she'd eventually have to get over that if it was a weakness.

"What kind of job would force Macao to come to a crazy place like this, she inquires." Horologium stated.

"Ya should've asked that before you came with us." Natsu countered.

"I didn't, and I still don't really care." Ichigo stated.

"Yeah, but you're not the one complaining so much." Natsu replied.

"I heard that, she exclaims, clearly annoyed." Horologium commented.

The dragon slayer just rolled his eyes at the words of the clock spirit, after which he turned his vision back from Ichigo to the woman within said clock, prepared to give an explanation.

"Anyway, he went to slay a Vulcan. It's basically a big monster." Natsu exclaimed, very much so to the point.

Lucy seemed to pale at this, clearly not being prepared to fight off something like that, or at the very least not wanting to. She looked to see what Ichigo's reaction was, and when he didn't seem phased in the slightest her worry was replaced with confusion. It was one thing for Natsu to know this and still go, but for Ichigo to not care as well either implied they were either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. It was very difficult to tell in this case.

'Then maybe they don't need my help for this one… I mean, they seem like they've got it under control.' Lucy thought in an attempt to justify doing what it was that she very much so wanted to do.

Ichigo and Natsu began to walk off, expecting the clock to either follow them or stay in place until its occupant was in a condition to deal with the cold. Abruptly, however, the clock spoke up in order to communicate something once again.

"I want to go back to the guild, she proclaims." Horologium stated.

"Go ahead and be my guest, I say back." Natsu grumbled.

"Aye." Happy sneered as they continued to walk off.

The clock spirit began to walk off in the opposite direction, evidently following the instructions of its master yet again. In truth Lucy felt rather guilty, but at the moment she viewed herself as just too young and beautiful to die a horrible death in such a frozen wasteland.

{Magnolia: Inside the Fairy Tail Guildhall}

"Hmm…" Makarov hummed in thought atop the wooden bar, a mug of alcohol in his hand but still filled to the brim indicating he had yet to take his fill.

"Something troubling you master?" Mira questioned, knowing full well that whatever the elderly mage had on his mind was likely of the upmost importance.

Makarov didn't really make any indication of acknowledging the call of the esteemed barmaid, which in turn only caused more worry for Mirajane.

"Master?" Mira repeated, though this time her words seemingly broke through.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking on something that's been bothering me is all." Makarov replied.

He then took the first sip out of his rather large mug, taking the booze in hardily before quickly finishing and releasing a refreshed sigh. At this, Mirajane smiled given that if it was absolutely of deadly importance the mater wouldn't have reverted to his usual self so quickly. However, that also gave the former demon of Fairy Tail a bit of insight as to what the problem was.

"Is this about Macao, Master Makarov?" Mira asked with a raised brow.

"Actually yes… the thing is he should've been back by now and I worry that something's happened. It might end up being a good thing that Natsu decided to go after all." Makarov explained.

"What did he go to Mount Hakobe for anyway?" Cana asked from across the room.

"He was sent to slay a Vulcan, which is why his lack of returning has me worried." Makarov stated, causing several who heard him to panic slightly.

"Master, Vulcan's can…" Someone began.

"I know that you moron! That's why I think it's a good thing Natsu did what he did. Hell, he might even end up needing those that went with him if the beasts ended up traveling in a pack." Makarov said.

"He'll be fine, master. After all, he did go with Mr. I'm from another world, didn't he? Maybe he'll take him up to that Soul Society place and we won't have to deal with Natsu anymore." Cana stated rather sarcastically.

The well-known drinker went back to her favorite pastime while her words settled in. Many in the guild adopted expressions of worry, mainly those who were rather skeptical of the orange-haired teen's story. Seeing this, Makarov opted to put a stop to such foolishness in what he hoped to be once and for all.

"Cana, granted I can see why you'd think his story isn't believable, but regardless I could tell he wasn't lying. At the very least he isn't a liar, and because of that I will give him the benefit of the doubt." Makarov said matter-of-factly.

"There's also the fact that he decided to go with Natsu to rescue Macao without even knowing who he is or even being a member of our guild. People like that don't come around too often, Cana, so in my opinion we should at least believe him until we have a reason to suspect otherwise." Mirajane said, directing a small frown towards the brown-haired alcohol enthusiast.

"Geez… no need to be so hostile you two. I was just saying that it's pretty damn hard to believe, that's all." Cana commented lazily before returning her attention to her mug once again.

"Noted, now put a sock in it. I've had enough of all of you prattling about this 'he's insane' nonsense to fill my head for a lifetime. From now on keep your comments to a minimum, let's say zero. Am I understood?" Makarov asked.

"Yes master." The guild member's replied simultaneously.

"Good, since my point wasn't getting across the first time I said something I was worried you brats would never learn." Makarov thought aloud before he tried to take a sip from his mug once again.

Upon bringing it to his lips the master quickly realized that it was completely gone, after which he released a deep sigh and gestured the cup over to Mirajane. With a small giggle due to the master's childish attitude, the barmaid took the cup and went off to refill it.

'I just hope those three kids are okay. I don't know what I'd do if I let anything happen to them because I decided not to worry Romeo.' Makarov thought.

In truth he hadn't even intended to make it seem that he didn't care, but Macao was a strong Fairy Tail wizard and even against a Vulcan he should have been fine. That said, when he hadn't returned and Romeo kept pressing he thought it was the best decision to act as if everything was alright. No sense making a child panic if he didn't need to, at least that's how he saw it.

'It's a good thing Natsu is the most stubborn person I've ever met in my life, otherwise Macao may have been in actual trouble.' Makarov thought.

A moment later the white-haired barmaid returned with the master's mug, giving it to him once more and instantly causing his thoughts to vanish in favor of taking part in the one pastime he shared with Cana.

{Mount Hakobe: With Ichigo, Natsu, and Happy}

"Natsu!" Ichigo shouted, realizing that the pink-haired dragon slayer had lagged behind a few paces.

"Yeah, what's up?" Natsu asked as he continued to trudge forward, his feline companion resting on his shoulder.

"This weather is getting pretty nasty, you sure it was okay to let Lucy go back on her own?" Ichigo asked.

The wind and snow had begun to pick up more and more as they had continued to head towards the summit of the rather large mountain. Granted that the weather was likely a good bit less severe the closer to the base you were, but even so it was never okay to take chances with an apparent monster roaming around.

The substitute thought that his latest friend would understand his slight sense of concern, but the best that he received was a confused expression and a raised brow. Not only that, but it also seemed that Happy was confused as well, almost as if they were both completely lost.

"Who?" Natsu asked confusedly, causing the orange-haired teen to deadpan.

"You're kidding me, right? Lucy, you know… blonde hair, can summon celestial spirits, she complained a lot about the weather and she decided to turn back. These ring any bells?" Ichigo pressed, his expression still deadpanned.

"Oh, you mean Luigi?" Happy asked in an upbeat manner, sounding as if he knew full well who was being referred to him.

"Her name is Lucy…" Ichigo trailed off.

"Yeah, I remember, but why exactly are you bringing that up now? She's probably fine. After all, Vulcans don't typically steer towards the base of mountains, that's why we kept going up to where Macao will probably be." Natsu replied.

"All right then… so do you have any idea how to find Macao?" Ichigo questioned.

"Well, I can't smell Macao because of the blizzard, so my senses are useless here. But I think I've got a better idea." Natsu stated.

Ichigo raised a curios brow at this, but an instant later the pink-haired mage brought both of his hands up to his mouth and started to use them as a cone for the purposes of amplifying his voice. He couldn't believe the dragon slayer was about to do this, but nevertheless it still wasn't definitive that he was going to do something so obviously pointless and stupid.

"Hey Macao, where are you?!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs, almost prompting the substitute to slap a hand over his face.

"Natsu… I don't think that'll work." Ichigo said evenly, getting a surprised look from the pink-haired teen.

"Really? Because I thought that it was…" Natsu said, only to be cut off.

Abruptly a large white-furred, ape-like creature jumped from a nearby peak down towards the group of two humans and the additional feline. Its goal was quite obviously to smash both Natsu and Ichigo in one blow, but both of the talented fighters almost instantly leaped away and avoided the subsequent fist attack that smashed their previous positions.

"This thing's a Vulcan?" Ichigo asked, eyeing the bestial creature with a slight glare and his signature battle-ready scowl.

"Gehehehe…" The creature chuckled in a taunting manner.

"Yup, this big guy's a Vulcan alright." Natsu replied.

"Alright then…" Ichigo trailed off, grabbing the hilt of his zanpakuto in preparation for a fight.

His dragon slayer companion did much the same, getting into his own respective battle ready stance. However, the Vulcan didn't make any indication of recognizing that a fight was about to break out. Rather, it began to sniff the air around it, as if it smelled something. A moment later it released an extremely disturbing chuckle before it simply ran off, leaving both of its potential opponents confused.

'Something isn't right…' Ichigo thought.

"He just left?" Natsu wondered aloud, sounding unbelievably lost.

The words of the pink-haired Fairy Tail mage caused a realization to dawn on Ichigo. Something like that didn't just go and leave a fight because it was intimidated, especially given that it was the one who instigated the fight. No, it was clearly heading towards something else.

"Natsu, we have to hurry!" Ichigo exclaimed, after which he began to run off after the Vulcan.

"Wha… hey, wait up! Why are you in such a hurry all of a sudden?!" Natsu exclaimed as he and Happy followed suit.

"Think about it… it isn't running away from a fight, and it acted like it smelled something or someone else. Who else is on this mountain right now, Natsu?" Ichigo questioned.

Natsu's expression instantly became one of realization, and with that the two ran as fast as they were able, through the snow, the winds, and the treacherous terrain to save their blonde-haired comrade.

{Further Down the Mountain: With Lucy}

"Miss Lucy, we are making good progress but I warn you that as per my contract agreement I will likely not be able to take you all the way down." Horologium stated.

"That's fine Horologium, if you can just get me close enough I will be fine." Lucy replied, sounding as if something was bothering her slightly.

The celestial spirit easily picked up on this, but his current master didn't really seem as if she wanted to discuss it and, therefore, he decided to leave it alone for the time being.

'Gah… I can't believe those two left me behind so easily, I'm sure if they'd asked me to come I would've been able to.' Lucy thought. That was, however, easier said than proven.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" A bestial roar sounded off from further up the mountain path.

"What was that?!" Lucy exclaimed in an urgent manner, unable to see her behind her given that the clock didn't allow it.

Horologium turned a moment later, answering his master's unasked request to see what was happening, but shortly after doing so he sorely regretted his decision.

A large white-furred creature that could only be described as a monster charged relentlessly and effortlessly down the path to the mountain's summit, effectively causing Lucy to become whiter than a ghost.

The beast very quickly grabbed onto the clock with a sickening grin plastered on his apish face. The blonde celestial mage began to panic, however she was infinitely thankful that she was still, at least, safe within her spirit.

"Me like human woman…" The Vulcan trailed off, only adding to the girl's panic.

In the following instant the large creature picked up the wooden clock spirit over its head and began to run off, laughing and giggling like an idiotic baboon all the while. Out of options, the freshly names Fairy Tail member decided that she had but one option.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP, SHE EXCLAIMS QUITE URGENTLY!" Horologium shouted, doing his best to mimic the blonde's voice volume.

{Higher Up the Mountain: With Ichigo and Natsu}

"Huh?" Natsu mumbled, having heard the call for help a mile away.

The dragon slayer looked over to Ichigo, seeing that he too had heard the cry for help, though it was clearly still the voice of Lucy's contracted spirit.

"Dammit, we didn't get to her in time!" Ichigo exclaimed, clearly upset that this was the case.

"At least she's still inside the clock." Natsu stated.

"Aye! Now we just have to find the Vulcan's lair and rescue Lacy!" Happy chirped.

"You really think that's where it took her?" Natsu asked with a quirked brow.

"It does make sense… only problem is we don't know where to start looking." Ichigo stated, eliciting a nod of understanding from the pink-haired teen.

"Right… I think we should split up. You go up the mountain and look and I'll go off to where Lucy was. Since it went to all the trouble of running back just for her it has to live nearby, right?" Natsu mused.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

Both of the comrades nodded to one another before running off in opposite directions, each having one goal in mind, to rescue both Macao and now Lucy from the clutches of a literal monster.

{Mount Hakobe: Vulcan's Lair}

The large ape-like being entered its cave with a sickening grin still etched on his face and slight bouts of laughter still exiting its mouth every so often.

It subsequently placed the large clock spirit down in the center of its cave, after which the white-furred creature began to dance around in an idiotic fashion, only adding to the blonde's dismay.

"How did I get myself into this, and what's with this stupid monkey, she asks tearfully." Horologium said as he himself brought his hands over his eyes in a manner that illustrated he was crying.

The comment that the spirit had uttered caused the Vulcan to stop its meaningless dancing and look deeply into the glass casing, directly at the blonde celestial mage that was held within.

'Thank god I'm still in here.' Lucy thought, chills echoing throughout her body just at the look the weird creature was giving her.

As if in an ironic twist of events, the clock vanished into this air, leaving its contractor sitting on the floor of the cave, directly in front of the Vulcan without any word of warning.

"Get back here Horologium! You can't leave me like this!" Lucy wailed.

"Sorry, but my time is up." The spirits' ethereal voice stated.

"Give me an extension!" Lucy whined as the beast neared.

"Gehehehehehe…" The Vulcan chuckled perversely, steam coming out of its nose as it closed in.

Lucy paled at the sight of the terrifying creature being so close to here, and due to the fact that her spirit was no longer present she didn't have a means to separate herself from the Vulcan. However, in a stroke of luck, another entered the cave with a clear attempt to save her.

"Hey you big ape!" Natsu shouted from the entrance, gaining the Vulcan's attention.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed happily.

"Aye!" Happy chirped, flying directly behind his best friend in the air at the cave's entrance.

"Hey Ichigo, I found her!" Natsu shouted from the entrance, causing Lucy to sweatdrop given that doing so was definitely not an effective means of communication. Still, it had worked on the Vulcan so he didn't see why it wouldn't work on Ichigo.

"Huh?" The Vulcan grunted confusedly, staring as the pink-haired mage began to run directly at him.

"Where's Macao, tell me?!" Natsu demanded, bringing back his fist.

The ape dodged the attack almost effortlessly, simply leaping backwards and leaving the side of his captive in favor of avoiding any potential damage. When this was done Lucy made to move behind the dragon slayer, inwardly sighing out of relief due to the fact that she was able to gain a bit of room to breathe.

"Tell me where my friend is ya big ape? Spill it." Nastu stated in an aggravated fashion.

"Huh?" The Vulcan uttered.

"You can understand me right? So tell me where my friend is, where are you keeping him?" Natsu repeated.

"Don't you think you're expecting a bit much?" Lucy thought aloud, sweatdropping at the conversation that the pink-haired mage was trying to have with the beast.

The Vulcan began to dance around, almost as if it understood and was trying to communicate something. It began to point off outside the cave, which made Natsu smile due to the fact that he thought his point had gotten through.

"See, he's trying to tell me something. Macao, where are you?!" Natsu shouted as he headed towards the entrance, given that this was where the ape was pointing.

With one strong push the creature sent Natsu flying out of the cave and down the mountain, illustrating that despite his stupid and rather idiotic demeanor the ape was capable of tricking someone, or at least someone like Natsu which may not have been saying much.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Natsu shouted as he fell.

"He can't survive out there! Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed out of worry as she headed towards the entrance.

"Me no like man, me like lady, me like lady." The Vulcan chanted triumphantly, once again dancing around like an idiot around its cave and pounding its chest.

"All right ya pervy ape, you're going down." Lucy said in a serious tone.

She reached towards her series of keys and grabbed one the next moment, preparing to summon a spirit she knew for a fact would be able to put up a fight.

"Open Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus." Lucy exclaimed.

A large magic seal appeared in the air, shortly after which yet another of her celestial spirits appeared. This one was, as its named suggested, a large, muscular bull wielding a large battle-axe and sporting a set of human-like hands, though they were proportional to his massive stature.

"Moooooooooo!" Taurus roared as he entered from the celestial portal.

"Cow?" The Vulcan muttered in a confused manner.

"I'm warning you, Taurus is the most powerful celestial spirit that I have a contract with." Lucy said in a serious tone.

"Oh wow Mrs. Lucy, I almost forgot what a nice figure you have. Why don't you come here and give me a smooch?" Taurus asked in a vulgar manner.

"Oh yeah, and he's a big perv too." Lucy thought aloud before releasing a sigh of sheer annoyance.

"No touch my woman." The Vulcan said warningly.

"Your woman? Them's fightin' words." Taurus stated matter-of-factly.

He very quickly pulled out his large battle axe and hammered the ground with it, using such force that the ground itself tore a path as if it were an attack headed straight towards the Vulcan with shocking accuracy.

The large ape-like creature was forced to dodge, after which it made to charge the bull spirit with everything it had.

"Oh wow, he's fast." Lucy exclaimed in a surprised manner, somewhat worried for her spirit.

Before the creature's attack could even reach Taurus, another decided to intervene, though not for the better. Right in front of Lucy's very eyes, Natsu reappeared and sent a kick directly into her own spirits' side, causing him to fly across the cave and subsequently knocking him out.

'Did he just…' Lucy thought with an expression of disbelief.

She looked on as the dragon slayer dusted off his hands, an expression of confusion etched on his face as he himself stared at the Vulcan. You could tell he didn't know how there were now two enemies, but once again it took clarification to realize the genuine stupidity of his action.

"Wait, since when was there two of them?" Natsu wondered aloud, his facial expression suggesting he was actually confused as to why this was the case.

"You blockhead! You just knocked out my own spirit!" Lucy shouted.

"Wait, what?" Natsu asked.

"Seriously Natsu?" A voiced called out from the entrance of the cave.

Everyone, including the Vulcan, turned to see the face of the orange-haired teen clad in black sporting a large cleaver-like sword strapped onto his back by white cloth.

"How the hell did you wind up doing that, you were even here before me when she summoned it!" Ichigo shouted in an annoyed manner.

"How was I supposed to know, I got pushed out of the cave by the Vulcan!" Natsu countered.

"You let him trick you so easily!" Lucy exclaimed in an annoyed fashion.

"It wasn't my fault!" Natsu said defensively, causing Ichigo to facepalm as he walked up to the dragon slayer and the celestial mage.

"Oh Mrs. Lucy, what lovely breasts you have…" Taurus muttered dreamily, causing said woman's face to light up in s brilliant shade of red.

"What the hell did he just say?!" Ichigo exclaimed, a light blush on his own face.

"You heard him right…" Lucy stated in a defeated tone.

"Oh Mrs. Lucy…" Taurus muttered.

"Pervert." Ichigo sneered before shifting his attention back to the large ape-like beast that had kidnapped his companion in the first place.

"The Vulcan was worse…" Lucy commented.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked.

The substitute then took several steps forwards, making to challenge the creature personally. Despite this it didn't seem to notice as it was preoccupied with another task.

"Gehehehehehe…" The Vulcan chuckled to itself as it walked towards the body of the fallen celestial spirit.

It very quickly grabbed the large battle axe, lifting it in a manner that suggested it knew exactly how to use it. Very clearly this was not good for those who opposed the large beast, but even so Ichigo and Natsu didn't look phased in the slightest.

"Me no want men, me want pretty lady." The Vulcan stated, glaring at Ichigo since he was the closest in proximity to him.

"Why the hell is everything in this world so damn weird?!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"Me want pretty lady…" The Vulcan said perversely, steam once again coming out of his nose. His words, however, caused the glare of the black-clad teen to intensify and his scowl to return in full force.

"You're going to have to get through me first." Ichigo stated seriously.

"GAAAAAAAAAAA!" The Vulcan roared, charging the substitute with the axe of the bull spirit held high above his head.

The attack neared second by second, but the orange-haired teen didn't move an inch. In fact he didn't even draw his sword, which gave both Lucy and Natsu the thought that perhaps the creature was charging too quickly for him to counter with his sword. This, incidentally, was viewed as a very, very bad turn of events.

"Ichigo, get out of the way, one hit from that axe and you're done for!" Lucy shouted, knowing full well that the axe the Vulcan happened to be using was outrageously deadly.

"Gya!" The Vulcan grunted, slamming the large axe towards the orange-haired teen.

Ichigo sidestepped the axe before it even had a chance of slicing a single one of his hairs, after which he brought up his left fist and prepared to hit the creature in the gut in an effort to end this pitiful conflict as quickly as he was able.

Much to the amazement of everyone present, the fist connected, and it did well beyond what they had expected. The eyes of the large ape-like best nearly rolled to the back of his head, and small traces of saliva exited his mouth as his body zoomed back into the furthest wall of the cave, slamming into it with a loud resounding boom.

'That was easier than I thought it'd be.' Ichigo thought, smirking contentedly at the fact that he had won so easily.

"Wow!" Lucy exclaimed, staring at the defeated form of the beast with wide eyes.

"I'll say… nice punch, you've been holdin' out on me." Natsu stated with a content smile etched on his face.

"Thanks, I guess. But we've still gotta find Macao, right?" Ichigo mused.

"Yeah, but still, what should we do with this guy?" Lucy asked, gesturing a finger to the defeated Vulcan.

Everyone turned to look at the beast with an expression of deep thought etched on their faces, after which the question seemed to answer itself. The form of the Vulcan became engulfed in a blinding yellow light, after which in a brief flash the body transformed, revealing a normal blue-haired man with a white overcoat.

"Macao?!" Natsu exclaimed, drastically confusing the others in his group.

"You mean to tell me that this whole time that perverted monkey was Macao?!" Lucy asked in a confused voice.

"The Vulcan probably used a possession spell on him." Happy mused.

"A what?" Ichigo asked, looking back at the blue Exceed with a curious expression.

"Vulcan's survive by taking over the bodies of other people. They're evil body snatchers!" Happy explained.

"Wait… then that means…" Ichigo trailed off, grimacing as he realized that the being he had punched was inadvertently the very same person they came to save.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's fine." Natsu assured, noticing the fact that his latest friend seemed to regret ending the fight the way he did.

That didn't necessarily comfort the substitute very much, however, what happened next very much did. Macao's eyes slowly began to open, and despite his injuries he seemed livelier than one would have expected.

"Macao, are you alright?!" Natsu asked urgently, jostling the man's shoulder in order to prevent him from dozing off.

"I'm such a wimp…" Macao muttered, confusing those present.

"I fought off nineteen of those things with no issues… but the twentieth one, that's the one that got me. I'm so useless, how can I go back and face Romeo now?" Macao wondered aloud.

'He went up against twenty of them by himself?!' Lucy thought.

"No way man, you took out nineteen of those monsters… now cheer up, we've gotta get you back home. Romeo's waiting for ya." Natsu stated with a large toothy grin.

"Heh… just wait a second for me to rest up…" Macao replied with a small smirk. He, however, drifted off into sleep a moment later, his expression peaceful but his breathing easy, which served as an indicator that he was fine.

"So he'll be okay?" Ichigo asked, looking down at the defeated form of what he now knew to be a Fairy Tail wizard.

"He'll live… now come on. Help me take him down the mountain so we can get him back to see Romeo." Natsu said.

Ichigo nodded firmly, after which they hoisted up Macao's body and began to walk out of the cave as if the weight and the weather didn't matter to them. Lucy could do nothing but stare in awe, a shocked expression plastered on her face, at the dedication the two showed just to get the mage back home.

'So is this… is this what it's like to be a Fairy Tail wizard? They're just so… amazing.' Lucy thought to herself before she ran after them.

{Magnolia: Outside the Fairy Tail Guild, Some Time Later…}

Romeo sat outside the guild hall, his thoughts plagued by the myriad of insults he had heard about wizards, more specifically those of Fairy Tail. He had never paid any mind to such things, mostly because of the fact that he thought, and knew, they were wrong.

There were no better men or women in all of Fiore than the Fairy Tail wizards, and as for strength no one could hold a torch to them. His father was strong, and nothing anyone could ever say to him would change that.

That in mind, he was extremely worried. His father should have been back forever ago, and now even the master had started to get worried. The elderly mage hid it well for his sake, it seemed, but he could still tell that the sense of worriedness was present.

Despite how down his mood was at the moment, nothing compared to the turnaround that happened an instant later. Just as the sun was at its final hour in the day, he saw a group of four individuals and a very distinctive cat heading towards the guildhall.

He recognized each and every one of them, but nothing made him smile more than to see that his own father was in the group, being hoisted up by Natsu and the orange-haired man that he had seen enter the guild with the blonde-haired girl, who was also among those in the approaching group.

"DAD!" Romeo exclaimed, running towards the group and tackling his father with tears in his eyes.

Lucy was somewhat surprised by this, but Natsu and Ichigo couldn't help but smile at the display. The look of pure joy on the kid's face was enough to make everything more than worth the trip and effort it took to find his father. In fact, both of them would have done it a hundred times over, just to get the one end result.

"You came back, I'm so sorry dad!" Romeo said through his tears.

"No, I'm sorry for making you worry." Macao replied honestly, holding his son tightly.

"I can handle it, because I'm a wizard's son!" Romeo stated.

"The next time any of those bullies pick on you, here's what I want you to say. 'Can your old man take on nineteen monsters, cuz' mine can'." Macao stated with a warm smile.

Romeo himself, despite the tears that welled up in his eyes, smiled widely at his father's words. Truly it warmed the heart to see the two reunited, and with that done the group began to walk away, leaving the father and son to their reunion.

"You guy's, thanks for your help! Thank you for protecting my father!" Romeo shouted, causing Ichigo's eyes to widen slightly at the boy's choice of words as he and the others continued to walk away.

"No problem kiddo." Natsu replied cheerfully.

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed.

"It felt good to help him out, and seeing them reunited was worth dealing with that mountain." Lucy thought aloud.

"Of course it was. Fairy Tail is all about family, and family looks out for one another. Now that your apart of it, it's only natural that you feel that way." Natsu said with a toothy grin, prompting the blonde to nod in agreement.

'Looking out for one another… protecting people no matter what. I think I can see what Fairy Tail is all about…' Ichigo thought with a small smile.

In his mind perhaps joining the guild wasn't such a bad thing anymore. Doing so would allow him to at least be of some use, and if he saved even a single life that made it more than worthwhile. Plus, given that his only alternative was aimlessly wandering and waiting for his friends to locate him, this seemed very plausible.

"You know what… I think that's something I'd like to be a part of. I might just fit in here fine for the time being." Ichigo abruptly stated, much to the surprise of his companions.

'Wait… does that mean that…" Lucy thought before someone decided to outwardly finish for her.

"You're going to join Fairy Tail, for real?!" Natsu asked in an excited voice, eliciting a small chuckle from the orange-haired man.

"Yeah, I think I am." Ichigo replied.

"All right!" Natsu exclaimed happily, jumping up into the air with his fist raised high.

"Yay!" Happy cheered, flying around in circles in a manner that suggested he truly was joyful.

"So what're you going to go do now?" Lucy asked as the group neared the guildhall, being the only one outside of the substitute to not be dancing around happily.

"I think it's time I go sign up." Ichigo replied.