A carriage traveled along a dirt path through a dreary forest that seemed less lively than typical forests and had a dark aura emanating around it. Within the carriage sat Law who was staring up at the roof, thinking about nothing in particular, whereas Cana sat across from her with an annoyed expression.

"Traffy." Cana called out, only to be ignored and she kept doing so but Law kept ignoring her until she reached her breaking point "Law!"

Law looked away from the roof and glared at Cana "What?"

"Can I please see the job request?" Cana asked with a sweet smile and Law responded by throwing the job request, which was crumpled up into a paper ball, at her head. Cana gave Law a dull look as she picked up the job request "Thanks I guess..."

Law went back to thinking about nothing in particular as Cana un-crumpled the job request and read through it. After a minute or two, Cana let out a scream as she turned pale while staring at the paper.

"What's wrong with you?" Law asked with an annoyed frown.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me!? I'll tell you what's wrong with me! This job is what's wrong with me! Why the hell are we hunting a demon!?" Cana shouted as she furiously pointed at the job request.

Law shrugged "I picked a simple job for our supposed 'team'."

"Simple!? Nothing about this job is simple! I usually walk dogs not hunt demons!" Cana shouted.

"Sucks to be you then." Law said.

"How can you be so casual about this!? We could die!" Cana shouted.

"You could die, I plan on killing that demon and getting paid." Law said.

"Oh god, I need a drink." Cana cried as she covered her face with her hands and Law rolled her eyes.

"Look just calm down already," Law said as Cana looked at her "I won't let you die, I promise."

Cana blushed and smiled at that "T-thanks..."

"Although," Law said and Cana perked up "Promises can be broken."

"Don't do that to me!" Cana shouted, crumpling up the paper and throwing at Law.

She sighed and tried to calm her nerves by taking out a deck of cards from her belt. Law noticed the cards and watched as Cana ordered them into groups on the bench she sat on.

"What are you doing?" Law asked curiously.

"Hm? Oh just preparing. If we're hunting a demon, then I guess I'll have to set my attacks beforehand." Cana explained.

"Is this your magic?" Law asked and Cana nodded.

"Yup! Magic Card. I use magical cards to do a whole bunch of things but we may be at a disadvantage since I'm not usually the fighting type and I just started out the wizard gig." Cana explained as she packed the cards up and put them back in the holster of her belt "It may not be as strong as Take-Over magic but I'll try my best."

"That's cool, I guess." Law responded and Cana sweat dropped.

The carriage suddenly came to a halt and the driver called out to them "This is as far as I can take you. Past these gates lies nothing but evil."

"Evil?" Cana asked as Law stood up and jumped off the carriage which made Cana frantically follow her.

Upon getting off, the driver turned the carriage and hurriedly rode off back to the nearby town he worked in. Law and Cana turned to see that they were in front of a dreary looking village with huts for houses and a distinct lack of villagers.

"This place looks..." Cana started.

"Dead." Law finished as she walked ahead and into the village as Cana followed.

Cana noticed a man carrying a sack of salt and ran towards him, dragging Law along with her.

"Excuse me, sir!" Cana called out and the man stopped, giving the both of them a steely gaze "U-uh, we're here on a job and we need to know who's in charge around here."

The man was short in stature with a thin body. He wore a traditional brown garb with a brown sunflower-patterned robe over it, a peculiar pink wooden festival mask on his face and a black and white cloth over his head.

"Bugger off. I ain't got no time to entertain two brats." The man said as he started walking away.

"Please sir, we're not brats! We're wizards on a job!" Cana exclaimed.

The man stopped and looked at them in shock "Wizards?"

Cana nodded as she dug into Law's pocket, much to her chagrin, and took out the crumpled up job request. She un-crumpled it and showed it to the man.

"We're the demon slayers you sought out." Cana said with a smirk as the man stared at the request then at them.

~

Tea was poured into two cups by a tired looking woman as Law and Cana sat in a hut with the masked man standing by the entrance of the hut. The masked man noticed distinct differences between the two children, one was serious and stoic and she kept her sword by her side the whole time while the other one was more akin to a child that was happy-go-lucky as she drank the tea with a smile. Where these really the wizards that would save them?

"Sorry I'm late." A gruff voice said as a man entered the hut.

He was a lean man with silver hair and a tengu mask on his face. He wore a cloud-patterned jinbei kimono with navy colored pants which were fastened at his shins by white guards and he used a shovel as a crutch.

The tengu man patted the masked man on the shoulder as he walked past him and sat down in front of Law and Cana, placing the shovel on his lap.

'Does everybody wear masks in this weird place?' Cana asked herself as she nervously smiled at the tengu man "H-hello sir, we-"

"State your business!!" the tengu man shouted sternly as Cana let out a scream and jumped behind Law who looked unfazed.

"We're here to kill the demon." Law stated.

The tengu man scoffed "You two? Mere children think they have the prowess to slay that monster? Blasphemous! Get out of my sight!"

"B-but we are! We're wizards from Fairy Tail and we're here to help." Cana explained.

"Fairy Tail must be pathetic if they have to send out children on their jobs!" the tengu man shouted.

Cana glared at the man with clenched fists "What'd you say!?"

"I, Sakonji Urokodaki, will not bring shame to my village by sending out more children to die!" The tengu man, Sakonji, shouted.

"More children?" Cana asked as Law narrowed her eyes.

"You are not the first brave hearts to go out and fight but I implore you to be the last! Leave this place now, the demon awakens in the darkness of night so you still have time to escape!" Sakonji shouted as he stood up, hands clenched on the shovel "I must go, preparations need to be made."

And with that final statement, Sakonji left the hut but the other masked man stayed.

"What are we gonna do now?" Cana asked but Law didn't respond as she frowned at the masked man "Are you here to make sure we actually leave?"

"I don't care what you do. The chief only wants what's best for people but people will be people and act like people as people do." The masked man stated.

Law rose an eyebrow in confusion as Cana had a more confused expression "Uh...what?"

"Hotaru Haganezuka, that is my name." The masked man, Hotaru, stated.

"We didn't ask but okay." Cana muttered "Are you willing to give us some answers on the situations at least?"

"Answers require questions but the questionnaire is a quiz upon a test in an examination." Hotaru stated.

"A yes or a no would suffice!" Cana shouted.

"What preparations is your chief making?" Law asked.

"Preparations for the dead." Hotaru stated and Cana widened her eyes in shock "The demon arrives every night and the next day, we bury our villager's remains. It has come to a point where we expect this so he just digs the graves in advance."

"You guys are just okay with people dying?" Cana asked in disbelief.

"Death is to die and to die is to end for you cannot end without dying a painful yet futile end for that is death." Hotaru stated.

"Do you just write this stuff down!?" Cana shouted.

"Where is the demon?" Law asked.

"Unknown, it usually appears from the forest and onto the fields, travelling the village until its hunger satiates." Hotaru replied.

"And nobody came to help?" Cana asked.

"Help is for the weak and the weak do not survive to assist for that is to help and that is why you weaklings are here to help." Hotaru stated.

"You're doing this on purpose aren't you!?" Cana shouted and by now she was seething.

"What did your chief mean by sending out more children to die?" Law asked.

"His...his children...they went out in hopes of ending the demon but they lost their lives as many have done before them." Hotaru explained.

"T-that's horrible..." Cana muttered in shock.

"What's horrible is the fact that circumstances can turn out to be terrible in a no good fashion as they are very bad in terms of situations turning horrible." Hotaru stated.

"I'll kill you old man! I swear I will!" Cana shouted as Law held her back.

Hotaru looked out the window of the hut and saw the sun beginning to set "I must go; two more graves must be dug."

"W-wait!? Are you talking about us!?" Cana shouted but Hotaru had already left "Man! I don't know which is worse, that guy or this whole job."

"We should go." Law said, standing up.

"Go where?" Cana asked.

"The fields, we're facing that demon as soon as it shows its ugly face." Law replied and Cana widened her eyes in fear.

"Are you crazy? That thing sounds way too dangerous for us. We should just head back and tell master that the job was too much for us to handle." Cana said and Law scoffed.

"You can go back if you want, I'm doing what we came here for." Law said, leaving the hut.

"W-wait, Traffy! Don't leave me alone! We're supposed to be a team!" Cana shouted as she ran after Law.

~

It was now night time and within Fujikasane Village, the air was tense. Remaining villagers hid within their homes in fear but the only people outside were Law and Cana as they waited for the demon's arrival.

"I don't like a single thing about this." Cana said in a fearful tone.

"Then go home." Law simply stated.

"Too little, too late, Traffy!" Cana shouted and Law rolled her eyes.

Things suddenly went quiet and the air around them changed from tense to malicious, Law narrowed her eyes with her hand gripping the hilt of her sword as Cana looked around fearfully, stepping closer to Law.

"It's here." Law stated as the leaves of the trees in front of them rustled.

Suddenly an explosion rocked the village, far away from the fields. Law and Cana widened their eyes as they ran towards the fire left by the explosion. Law skidded to a halt when she saw Sakonji and Hotaru trying to put out the fire as a veiny hand retracted back into the forest.

"Was that..." Law muttered after seeing the hand disappear into the woods.

"You!" Sakonji shouted "Get your friend and leave this place now!"

"Where is the annoying girl?" Hotaru asked, looking around.

Law widened her eyes as she looked around as well but Cana was nowhere in sight. They heard a scream from the fields and Law wasted no time, running towards them.

She saw Cana getting dragged into the forest by multiple hands akin to the one that had started the fire but that didn't deter her as she continued to run into the forest and after Cana.

Her eyes glowed as a blue aura surrounded her and she let out a shout "Shadow the Hedgehog!"

Law transformed into the deadly hedgehog and her speed increased. The screams were getting louder which meant Shadow was getting closer.

Cana punched the arm that held her up as the demon laughed and opened its mouth to eat her whole.

It was a monstrously large, veiny, hulking monster with olive green skin, blood red fingernails, and beady yellow eyes with cross-hatch shaped pupils and multiple arms surrounding its body.

"Sweet and tender, I'll enjoy your taste!" The demon shouted ecstatically.

"N-no! Let go! I don't want to die!" Cana shouted tearfully as she kept punching the arm that held her "Help! Somebody help!"

"Help? This is the end! There is no help for you!" The demon laughed as he brought her closer to his mouth.

"No! I do have help! I finally have a friend my own age, a teammate! Somebody I can rely on! I know she'll help me!" Cana shouted "Law please help me!"

In a swift motion, the arm holding Cana was sliced into bloody chunks and Cana was saved. The demon screamed in pain as Shadow skid to a stop with Cana in his arms.

"L-Law...?" Cana asked.

"If you ever lay a hand on my friend," Shadow stated as he glared at the demon "I'll kill you."

**

Shadow the Hedgehog:

· Sonic Adventure 2

· Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

· Sonic Pinball Party

· Sonic Battle

· Sonic Heroes

· Sega Superstars

· Sonic Gem Collection

· Shadow the Hedgehog

· Sonic Riders

· Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

· Sonic Rivals

· Sonic and the Secret Rings

· Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

· Sonic Rivals 2

· Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity

· Super Smash Bros. Brawl

· Sega Superstars Tennis

· Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

· Sonic Unleashed

· Sonic and the Black Knight

· Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

· Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

· Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

· Sonic Free Riders

· Sonic Colors

· Sonic Generations

· Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

· Sonic Jump

· Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

· Sonic Dash

· Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

· Sonic Jump Fever

· Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

· Sonic Runners

· Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

· Sonic Runners Adventure

· Sonic Forces: Speed Battle

· Sonic Forces

· SEGA Heroes

· Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

· Team Sonic Racing

· Sonic Racing

· Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

· Sonic at the Olympic Games (2020)