*Location Unknown; October 21, 2019; 3:44 PM*

Salem, Cinder, and two other members of their inner circle, Watts and Hazel, around a table.

"Where's Tyrian? He should be here." Hazel scowled.

"Hmm... If I remember correctly, Tyrian was out getting help from the Chaos Insurgency." Cinder answered.

"For him, I suppose it's fitting." Hazel noted.

"Why would we need help from yet another organization?" Watts wondered.

"Because, doctor. They know the most about a certain number of artifacts that can help us achieve our goals." Salem replied.

"Speaking of artifacts, Cinder's allies in the Nexus were barely able to get that damn Egyptian gem. Why wasn't she there?"

"I was instructed to stay back, Watts." Cinder scowled.

"So, just because you have every maiden's powers, means you can talk to me that way. At least I was able to 'convince' Neo to kill Torchwick." Watts grumbled.

"As if she needed convincing.. That fool is about as useful as a White Fang grunt." Hazel scowled.

"My former associates are not of your concern, you two. And don't think I won't simply kill you for disrespecting me." Cinder said.

"Coming from someone who couldn't kill some imbecile Adenienite kid." Watts scoffed.

"Fight him, and you'll understand he's more of a threat than any silver-eyed warrior you've ever dealt with." Cinder retorted.

"That's quite enough, you three." Salem scowled contempt fully at them.

The three grumbled as the sank into their seats.

"Now, Doctor. Have you made any progress with the children?" Salem asked.

"They're coming along. Conditioning is the harder part, but in due time, they'll work out." Watts explained.

"As they should. Hazel, I need you dealing with the Artifact. Cinder will stay with me until the time comes." Salem ordered.

"What exactly do you need me to do?" Cinder asked.

"We wait. We let Watts, Hazel, and Tyrian do their part. You two may leave." Salem said, turning towards the other two men as they left the table.

Salem waited until the two left the room.

"Yes, Salem?" Cinder asked.

"My pupil. As much as I need every piece of my puzzle. I find that I have a few pieces that, ahem, don't fit." Salem explained.

"And then?" Cinder asked.

"When the time comes, they will have outlived their usefulness. execute them." Salem ordered.

"Yes, Salem.." Cinder stood up.

Salem sat in her seat, thinking things through in her head.

"One other thing, Salem?" Cinder asked.

Salem's eyes narrowed, "Speak."

"What are your intentions with the Artifact?" Cinder asked.

Salem smiled.

"Patience, my protégé, all in due time."

*Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Magnolia Town, Fiore; October 21, 2019; 3:50 PM*

"So, what do we do now?" Alex grumbled.

The guild had welcomed everyone of his friends quickly before pulling them inside, checking the doors for anything suspicious.

"We wait. This 'Cinder' will plan an attack on Fairy Tail to find you. They'll expect all of us in the Guild Hall to take us down in one swift blow, but Fairy Tail gains a significant home-field advantage." Erza stated.

Alex heard a loud knocking on the door, and everyone quietly panicked.

"I'll check." Auburn promised as she went and opened the door.

"So, you sure about this? The guild looks like they're ready to blow any second." Alex asked.

"They'll be fine. Remember the guild war with Phantom Lord?" Yang asked.

Alex felt his latest scar; a ragged, vicious looking cut across his chest from his fight with Gajeel. The fight had left him battered and nearly broken, mostly stemming from the fact that apparently iron attracts lightning.

"Remind me again to never to piss off a Dragonslayer." Alex scowled.

Auburn opened the door, letting in the New Mane 6, and five strange men, one of them appearing much older than the rest.

"Hold on.." Alex stood up and walked towards the older man.

"Who are you? I don't remember sending you five an invitation." Alex glared.

"We've come with the ponies. We're looking for something and we were hoping that you could help." The old man replied.

Alex scowled.

"I'll let this slide.. For now. What's your name?"

"I am Dr. Monty. And you are Saigo Emphas, AKA Alex Walker. I must say that I'm impressed with your work." Dr. Monty replied.

Alex backed up.

"I never told you my name.." Alex glared.

"We'll discuss this later, there are other matters I must worry about." Monty promised, walking past him.

Alex turned to face the other four.

"And you are..?" Alex asked.

"Hmm. Angry, this one.. Probably American."

"F**k you, Takeo."

"Apologies. I am Nikolai. This is Dempsey, Takeo, and the German is Richtofen." Nikolai nodded.

"It's fine." Alex curtly replied.

'Richtofen' instantly went his separate ways towards Dr. Monty, and Alex's curiosity piqued.

He had to know who they were.

"Excuse me. I gotta wash up." Alex left, following Richtofen.

Yang stood up, looking concerned.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

"Just something I have to attend to. It won't be long." He replied.

Alex stalked the two gentlemen cautiously as they trekked slowly through the Guild Hall, conversing about some unknown subject.

As they headed towards the back end of the Guild Hall, Alex was able to get closer. Who were they? And how did they know so much about him?

"...Are you sure he can be trusted, Dr. Monty? I've seen what he is capable of, but he's... Unpredictable.." Richtofen asked.

Alex gasped silently, clenching his teeth.

"I can understand where you're coming from, Doctor Richtofen. But the fact of the matter is, he's dealt with so much similar stuff before, this should be a walk in the f**king park!" Monty noted, turning around and looking back suspiciously.

Alex snuck back around the corner, to prevent being seen.

Alex held his mouth shut and forced himself not to move. He soon heard footsteps again and snuck to follow.

The two were heading up the stairwell as Alex waited for them to move along as he silently crept behind.

The two seemed to be heading towards a deck behind the Fairy Tail Guild Hall overlooking the ocean, private enough to not be seen by the rest of the wedding party.

"Well, I trusted Doctor Maxis with correcting our actions. I led ze souls to ze House with my Summoning Key.." Alex overheard Richtofen tell him.

"Maxis was acting under my supervision, Richtofen. If Walker is able to help us find that damn conglomerate of a Summoning Key, then there's no problem whatsoever. Your comrades seem to be making friends of the other travelers, so what's the issue?" Monty asked.

The Summoning Key... Where did he hear about that before..?

Vanoss!

"Speaking of Captain Walker, you can stop sneaking around like a f**king cat." Monty called.

Alex sighed.

"Dammit." He muttered.

"Eh... Was he following us this whole time?" Richtofen asked.

"Mostly." Alex replied curtly.

"So you know of our situation?" Monty asked.

"Bits and pieces. I know about something called a 'Summoning Key' that you apparently need badly enough to come here." Alex rolled his eyes.

Monty sighed.

"Alright. If you don't mind, Edward. I'd like to recap a bit so Alex here gets the full scoop." Monty stated.

"It is alright. We need as much help as possible." Richtofen replied.

"Sit down, Alex. This might come as the biggest shock to you since you found out about Auburn not really being yours." Monty stated.

Alex decided to ignore that comment as a whole.

"Now, as you learned from a slightly earlier age, the Universe is a big, big big place. Bigger than what I even thought. One of these particular dots in the cosmic paper that is reality, is my own universe..

"Now, That universe in of itself is filled to the brim with dozens upon dozens of other sort of 'Mini-Universes', if you will. Dimensions within dimensions like some kind of Russian Nesting Doll. And it was beautiful.

"The thing about that is, well, I've run into a few problems involving an ancient evil that has been making my life as of late a bigger headache than usual. The Apothicons.

"I know what you're thinking, and yes, the Inquisitors were evil. In fact, most people in general are a little evil if you really look into them. But the Apothicons, holy shit, they're bad."

"Doctor Monty, I can't help unless you get to the point." Alex interjected.

Dr. Monty cleared his throat.

"Of course. Anyways. The Apothicons are bad, so is the guy leading the charge, as they say. The original harbinger of doom. The Shadowman.

"Normally, I would've banished him as always and called it a day, but, as luck would have it. Things got worse.

"Apparently, in addition to my own universe. There are hundreds, thousands even, just like it. Only with some changes, though. Some small, some so drastically different they're barely alike! It was perplexing, at first, but then I wondered how the other 'me's felt.

"The point is, similar things have been going on in these parallel universes. But here's the main problem. Dozens and dozens of other versions of Doctor Richtofen and his Crew have been found, mysteriously gunned down and had weapons stolen off of them!

"The more I looked into it, the more problems arose! Weapons and plans were disappearing, certain elements of certain creations all messed up like your family tree.

"But the absolute worse thing..? A crew of four went to a parallel version of one of my worlds, and captured that universe's Shadowman inside one of the Summoning Keys!! If that wasn't bad enough, they went and merged them all together!! The damn Shadowman could be in any one of the thirteen or so they mixed together!!!"

Alex was hesitant to ask his next question.

"Who or what is this... 'Shadowman'? How powerful is he?" Alex asked.

Monty shook his head.

"Well, in the grand scheme of things. You are at a...uh... Six-point-five.. maybe seven. And the Shadowman is at... Say... 138." Dr. Monty explained.

Alex fell back into his chair.

"Well, shit!" Alex flipped the table.

"Calm down! There is a way to put this mess to a standstill!" Monty yelled.

Alex calmed down and slumped back into his chair.

"I'm listening, Doctor." Alex nodded.

Monty leaned in close.

"Find me that Summoning Key, or else this," Monty gestured to the ocean to their right, "Will be the last you ever see of a peaceful world." He scowled.

Alex stared in horror... How could something like that exist..?

"I need to get to work.. Fast.." Alex stood up.

"Well, if you say so.." Monty handed him a red bottle with a small 'plus' symbol on it.

Alex held the bottle in his hand.

"The hell's this..?" Alex asked.

Richtofen stood up.

"That is Juggernog.. It increases your endurance and strength two-fold at least.." Richtofen explained.

"I had to make these perks special for you. Adenienites can't drink, remember?" Monty asked.

"Huh..?" Alex wondered.

"Oh, right. You didn't discuss that part with Ultimus, yet.." Monty rolled his eyes.

Alex glared.

"Okay, what the hell are you? Explain, now!" Alex demanded.

Monty grinned.

"My name's Dr. Monty, nice to meet you." He replied with a slight grin.

Author's Notes:

We get an actual view of Salem's group in this Arc, 'The Coven'.

Thank god for Rooster Teeth getting the juicy bits about the new antagonists out of the way early, or I would've actually had to create characters myself!

Also, we get a look into Doctor Monty and his motives, and more and more of Salem's plan is being unveiled as I write!

Happy Reading!!

-The Destoyer