"Is that..."

"Kali?!"

There was no mistaking it. The burnt orange fur, the red bandanna, and the golden eyes... it was Kali alright. 

"What the heck happened?" Gale yelled. 

"She's lost control of her takeover," I explained. "I don't think she even knows who she is in this form,"

Kali let out a huge roar, making us all cover our ears. "I've never seen Kali use this kind of takeover," Storm pointed out. 

"If we're being honest, I didn't even know she had this takeover spell," I confessed. Kali growled and began running down the mountainside. "Kali wait!" I called out. The beast refused to listen though, as she was consumed by the takeover. 

"We've gotta stop her before she causes more trouble," Levy determined.

"but how? She's three stories high and more powerful than ever!"  Gale pointed out.

Crap. What were we supposed to do in this kind of situation?

- - - - - - - - - - -

Natsu:

"Gee, getting to the village was a breeze, getting home is a different story," Happy explained. 

"Consider this training," Erza smiled. "Besides, we get to enjoy the scenery," 

The team was on their way back from the job request from Warrod. The job was to unfreeze the village full of giants, but like all jobs they go on, there were complications. 

"Speaking of scenery, what the hell is that?" Gray questioned. Everyone stared out at where Gray was pointing. In the distance was a blur of orange rampaging through the mountain range.

"Whoa, what is that?" Wendy questioned. Just then, there was a loud roar. It wasn't all that loud since they were so far away, but that would have been a different story had they been closer. 

"A monster?" Lucy exclaimed. 

"We've gotta go fight it!" Natsu cheered, he had a huge grin of excitement on his face. "Oh man I bet that thing is gonna be super powerful. Wait a minute," Natsu watched closer. "Did you guys see that?"

"See what?" Gray asked. In the distance, there were structures of ice forming around the creature. The beast roared and pounded it's front paws on the ground, sending dust and debris flying. "Is some idiot trying to fight that thing?"

"Sun dragon roar," there was a flash of sunlight on the beast. 

"What are you doing? Quit messing around and take her down!"

"I'd like to see you do this ice head!"

"Both of you, quit arguing like an old married couple and get to work,"

"WE'RE NOT MARRIED!"

There was a huge drop of sweat that slid down the back of Natsu's head. "Please don't tell me those are our idiots,"

"What'd you say?"

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Nashi:

"Everyone just keep hitting her until she's ko'ed," I advised. It wasn't really a plan but it was the best we could come up with on such short notice. We continued to attack over and over again, but our attacks only seemed to annoy the giant beast.

Kali roared, swiping her paw and knocking us all back several feet. There was a loud thud and pop as my back collided with a tree trunk. The force of the hit knocked the wind from my lungs making me double over. 

"We can't beat her like this!" Gale called out.

"We need some kind of plan," Storm added. 

I gritted my teeth and growled. We were getting our butts handed to us and Kali wasn't even going all out, she was just toying with us at this point. "Damn it," I curled my fist and slammed it on the ground. The frustration of not being able to help my friend was overwhelming. 

Storm was right, we needed a plan. Unfortunately, Reiki was the one who usually came up with the plan and he wasn't there. Without our leader, we might as well be up a creek without a paddle. 

"Now isn't the time to for- whoa!" Levy's statement was cut short by another swing of Kali's paw. We all managed to dodge this swing, barely. Wait a minute, maybe we don't need to beat her.

"Levy," I called out, "Is it possible to pull Kali out of the takeover without taking her out?"

"It should be," she answered. "It won't be easy though, you'll have to draw her out through emotions strong enough to make her remember who she is,"

"Okay. Storm freeze Kali's back feet! Gale, open a hole in the ground under Kali's front feet and close it when she falls in. Levy, make a rope strong enough to tie her mouth shut. When Kali falls in the hole, Gajeel will hit her in the head. While she's disoriented from the hit Lily will tie the rope around her mouth. Got it?"

"Got it,"

"Hey, Kali! Over here!" I yelled, waving my arms in efforts to get her attention. Kali turned her attention to me just in time for Storm to freeze Kali's back paws to the ground. The beast tugged at her paws, trying to lift them from the ground. Meanwhile, Gale had used her magic to open a medium-sized canyon in the ground below Kali's front paws. 

Kali fell into the canyon with a loud thud. With her back paws still frozen above ground, Kali was practically stuck with her back arched. The beast roared with anger, whacking her tail back and forth menacingly.  

"Iron dragon club!" Gajeel slammed his metal club against Kali's head, making the cat's eyes roll into the back of her head. "Lily now!"

Pantherlily sprang into action, tying the huge rope around the cat's muzzle. Kali growled and began to pull at her unaccessible limbs. I quickly made my way to Kali's face where she could see me easily. The beast eyed me carefully, sizing me up with her enormous golden eyes. 

"Hey Kali," I started. The beast snarled. "I know you're in there somewhere, so just listen to me. I remember the day I found you as an egg in the woods. I was so happy to bring you home, I had plans for you and I to become best friends. We'd make friendship bracelets, stay up past our bedtime, and pull pranks on Lukas. When you hatched, I knew you were different from all the other exceeds. You were headstrong, rambunctious, and not to mention rebellious. You were always trying to stand out in the guild. Maybe it was because you didn't want to be seen as just another one of the exceeds. You wanted to be seen as a full-fledged wizard of Fairy Tail, an equal amongst the others. I know you thought that becoming stronger would mean that you'd be seen as your own wizard, but that's not the case. No one is comparing you to anyone Kali. Everyone knows you're strong in your own way."

Kali growled, only this growl wasn't as vicious as the previous ones. I carefully reached my hand out, resting it on the giant beast's nose. Kali's breathing was rapid and heavy, she snarled at my gesture, but I didn't back off. Her breathing slowed and her tail stopped swinging so quickly. 

"That's it girl," I soothed. "Just calm down,"

Kali let out a low moan and closed her eyes. The huge beast began to glow and sparkle with a golden yellow light. Her massive paws faded along with her extensive tail and large teeth. With a bright flash of light, my best friend had returned back to her exceed form. 

"It's good to see you," I smiled. The exceed opened her eyes an smirked. 

"You losers miss me?"

- - - - - - - - - - -

Natsu:

"What did I tell you?" Lucy pointed out. "They've got it under control,"

Natsu and his team were standing over the edge of a nearby cliff watching the scene unfold. When they realized that it was their people who were fighting the beast, the team didn't hesitate to rush over. They were all well-prepared to lend a hand, but Lucy said that they should wait to see if they really needed their help.

"Yeah you were right," Natsu sighed. He was proud of Nashi, but he had to admit that it was tough to let her do this on her own. There was more than one instance that he wanted to step in and help her. 

"You can't always be there to step in when things go South," Erza explained. "By letting them solve problems on their own, you're letting them grow both as a wizard and a person,"

Everyone smiled, Erza was right.

"Well, let's head back to the guild," Natsu concluded. 

"Aye!"