Another robbery in progress and it never seems to end. Orga and Rufus from the Sabertooth gang is trying to steal a car, but Natsu found them and was doing what he can to stop them. Orga tried to strike him, but Natsu ducked under him and gave him a strong uppercut.

"Where's the big dog and his puppy? This too pitiful for them?" Natsu questioned.

"Don't speak low of Lady Minerva or her father." Rufus said. He tried to defend their honor as he tried to attack him, but Natsu stepped to the side and kicked him right in the back and he hit the wall.

"Eat trash, Salamander!" Orga said. He tossed a trash can at him, but Natsu jumped over it and drove his knee in his face and knocked Orga out.

"I'm starting to wonder if these guys will ever learn." Natsu said and started to climb up a wall and saw the sun was going down. "Man. Where does the time go?" Seeing how late it was getting, Natsu hurried on home.

Natsu's Home

"Zeref! I'm home." Natsu said as he came through the front door. "Sorry I was out for so long." He noticed all the lights were off and he didn't get it. "Zeref?! Are you even home?!" Suddenly, the lights came on with streamers and party favors.

"Surprise!" Natsu was surprised to see Zeref with Mavis, Erza, and Lucy in the house.

"Whoa! What's all this?" Natsu said.

"Are you serious? It's your birthday, Natsu." Erza said. Natsu thought about it and realized she was right.

"Oh man! It is!" Natsu said.

"You must have been keeping yourself busy lately." Mavis said.

"It's almost like he lives in another world. How could you forget your own birthday?" Lucy questioned.

"He probably forget his own head if it wasn't on his body." Natsu looked up the stairs and was real surprised to see that Gray was there as well.

"Gray! I didn't think I would actually see you here." Natsu said.

"What? I'm not allowed to celebrate the birthday of one of my friends?" Gray taunted. It was good to see Gray. He's been depressed ever since the death of his father, but seeing him here really made Natsu happy.

"Come on." Zeref said as he brought Natsu in with the group. "We still got some time before the day is over. So let's celebrate while we can." Might have been a small celebration, but it's probably better than not having one at all. Everyone was having a great time.

"Lucy, relax." Natsu said as he saw her working around the party.

"You're the one who should relax." Lucy said. "It's your birthday and we're trying to make sure you don't disappear on us again." Everyone shared a laugh at that.

"Honestly, Natsu, where do you go most of the time?" Gray questioned.

"Just….around." Natsu said. "I've got to say Gray, it's good to have you here. We've all been worried about you."

"Yeah. I know." Gray said. "So what's been going on with you? I saw that you're still taking pictures of Salamander." Natsu was afraid Gray might go there. "Natsu, tell me the truth. If you knew who he was, you would tell me. Right?"

"Gray, don't tell me that's the real reason you came here." Natsu said. "We've all been worried about you because of this obsession you have with Salamander. You're obsessing and you're letting it rule your life. That's not good."

"You don't get it." Gray said. "None of you get how I feel. This guy killed my dad. Don't you get that? I want this guy dead for what he did."

"Gray, you don't know what really happened." Natsu said.

"I saw all I needed to see that night." Gray said. Natsu wish he could just tell Gray the truth, but he was afraid that Gray would never trust him again or what he would think if he knew Scarlet Despair turned his father into a monster. What's more is that this obsession would turn to END and END wouldn't hesitate to kill Gray. Luckily, the tension between the two broke.

"Happy Birthday." Zeref said as he pulled out the cake with everyone gathering.

"Looks great." Erza said as she looked and didn't' want to wait. She reached for it, but Mavis smacked her hand.

"No, Erza. It's not even strawberry cake." Zeref said. Everyone gathered and sang to Natsu and it was a good party to say the least. It's just too bad it couldn't last very long, but everyone had to head home. "I'm sorry, Natsu. I wish we could have done more for your birthday."

"Don't be. It all went okay." Natsu said. "I just can't believe I forgot my own birthday."

"Don't be so hard on yourself." Zeref said. "You've been dealing with one problem after another. On top of that, you didn't use to be the most organized person."

"Haha." Natsu said.

"I almost forgot myself. Dr. Precht gave you a birthday treat himself." Zeref said. "Since you seem fascinated in his invention, he's inviting you to his presentation with myself, Mavis, and Miss Belserion."

"Good. That way, if Scarlet Despair tries anything, I'll be there to stop her." Natsu said. As Natsu helped Zeref clean up, he noticed a photo of himself with Erza and Gray.

"Are you worried about Gray?" Zeref said.

"He thinks I killed his dad. I don't know what to do." Natsu said. "If he ever learned that I'm Salamander, who knows what he'll do."

"We can't prove to Gray what happened. Telling him might not be a smart idea." Zeref said. "We'll just have to wait and see that the truth will come out on its own one day." Natsu hoped that day would be soon. "Why don't you help with the cleaning and take the trash out?"

"Yeah, yeah." Natsu said. Natsu grabbed the trash and carried it outside and into the trash.

"Hey, birthday boy." Natsu looked and saw Lucy outside her house and it seemed like she was waiting for him.

"Hey. What are you still doing out here?" Natsu asked.

"Well, with all the times you just disappear, it's almost like I only know half of you." Lucy said as they walked over so they were standing in front of each other. "That's saying something since we live right next door to each other, go to school together, and more."

"Does it bother you?" Natsu asked for he didn't like that Salamander was coming between them.

"Not so much." Lucy said. "I'm starting to get use to it. Though, it is a rather curious. Where do you go most of the time? Why do you keep running off on us?"

"I have my reasons." Natsu said.

"You know, ever since I moved in with my Aunt Anna, you have got to be the most interesting person I have ever met." Lucy said.

"I am?!" Natsu said as he felt like that was a compliment.

"Yeah." Lucy said. "You were the first person I met and we became good friends. You let me into your little group. Despite all that, I feel like there's something big about you that you're hiding."

"Am I?" Natsu said as he tried to act innocent. "You know, I have been meaning to ask. How come you did move in with your aunt? How come you aren't living with your parents?"

"Oh! I had to get away from that life." Lucy said. "Let's just say it's not really a life for me, at least that was before my father got sick and passed away. Mom passed away herself when I was only about four."

"Oh! Lucy, I'm real sorry. I never knew." Natsu said.

"It's okay. I miss them, but they just wanted what was best for me. I prefer a life where you never know what's going to happen rather than having it all prepared for you." Lucy said.

"Sounds like your folks had your future planned for you. You didn't want that?" Natsu said.

"Not so much. In fact, Mom encouraged me to follow my own life. I actually want to take the life as a writer. It is a hobby of mine." Lucy said.

"You write?" Natsu said, but Lucy was acting a little embarrassed about that. "Now who's the one keeping secrets?"

"Hey, at least I came out and said it." Lucy said. The two of them were really enjoying this moment they were having. "You're a real mystery, Natsu."

"You think?" Natsu said.

"Yeah. I'm going to solve this mystery somehow." Lucy said. She raised her hand and caressed the side of his face. "Happy birthday, Natsu." Lucy turned back and went inside her house with Natsu glad he finally got a moment like that with Lucy.

"I think she's interested in you." Natsu was surprised to see Zeref was standing there.

"You were listening?!" Natsu complained. "You really think she is?" That was a sudden change in emotion.

"Maybe." Zeref said. "She might think you're playing hard to get. She's probably sees you as like the nice guy, but so mysterious. You don't seem to let anyone in. I think this little mystery she sees you as is why she's starting to be interested in you." Natsu thought about it and he seemed to like the idea. Of course, Natsu has to figure out what to do about her and Salamander.

The Next Day

The big day for Dr. Precht has arrived. Zeref, Mavis, Natsu, as well as Irene showed up for it as well as other business people and reporters. Dr. Precht came out and was excited about this.

"Thank you all for coming." Precht said. "Today, I will show you that a small fraction of power the cosmos has will be ours." Precht placed on the gauntlets he showed the others. "These special gauntlets I designed will help control the energy. I would also like to thank Miss Irene Belserion from Belserion Core for their donation. I would also like to apologize for having to use a difficult to acquire substance to power my machine."

"Don't be. I'm happy to help and I don't believe one should be sorry for their actions." Irene said.

"Now, we can begin." Precht said as he took out a capsule that contains the dark matter he was going to use to power his machine. Precht placed it in the center and began with the capsule floating with the machine's activation. "You might want to clear the way." He held both of his arms back and launched the grapples with them sticking to support beams. He was able to turn his arms to face the machine.

"Here we go." Mavis whispered as she was excited. The machine went to full power with some of the dark matter emerging from the capsule and a wormhole that was similar to a black hole formed and everyone was amazed. Precht shot energy bullets from his fingers constantly to help keep the energy under control.

"Marvelous!" Precht whispered for it was a dream come true to him. Everyone was amazed at what he has done. Natsu was impressed, but he felt some sort of strange force. He looked around and saw some parts that were lose were slowly being pulled towards the machine.

"Is that suppose to happen?" Natsu asked Zeref. Zeref looked around and saw the same thing.

"I don't think so. The gravitational field seems a little too strong." Zeref said and believed that could be a real problem. It was confirmed when a burst of plasma shot out of it and a few people nearly got hit. "You better change." Natsu agreed as he ran off with some other people running scared. Another burst of plasma shot out and blew a piece of the roof off.

"Precht, this is getting dangerous!" Irene called out.

"It's only a minor hiccup. I'll get it under control." Precht said as he refused to stop. That was when Salamander smashed through the window.

"Doc, shut it down! It's getting out of control." Natsu said.

"What? Get out of here you maniac." Precht said, but even his computers were saying the same thing. Another burst of plasma shot out and it blasted Precht right in the face with some of the energy traveling through his body and haing a strong effect on it. Precht was knocked right out and now it was serious.

"Dr. Precht!" Zeref called as he went to him, but Mavis and Natsu held him back.

"No. It's too dangerous." Natsu said.

"It's about to get worse. The gravitational field is going to expand and who knows what could be pulled in." Mavis said.

"Do either of you know how to stop it? You're smart." Natsu said. Zeref looked around and saw what could help.

"The four terminals on each side. Just smash them and it should shut down." Zeref said.

"Thanks. Now go!" Natsu said and they both hurried out. Irene wasn't pleased herself, but she got out as well. Natsu was careful not to get hit by a plasma blast. He made quick work and smashed the first terminal and hurried over to the second that he smashed as well. Natsu could feel the gravity field growing stronger as he met with some resistance as he made it to the third and smashed that one too. "Almost there." Natsu made his way to the fourth, but needed to use his powers to stick to the floor. The gravity field just kept growing with Precht and Natsu being pulled by it. Natsu grabbed the fourth terminal, but he was about to be pulled in. Natsu fought against the field and smashed it. With all four smashed, the machine shut down with the dark matter being destroyed. "That did it." He looked at Precht and it wasn't good. "Poor Dr. Precht. An ambulance should be here. I better get out of here before I get blamed." Natsu left before he could get spotted, but this has turn the tide of so much

The Hospital

"What are we dealing with?" A doctor asked. After the whole presentation became a disaster, Dr. Precht was taken to the hospital and was about to be operated on.

"He seems to have lost his right eye, sir. His gauntlets have also seem to merge with his arms." The nurse said.

"Very well. We'll have to amputate his arms and get prosthetics." The doctor said as he grabbed a saw. A bunch of doctors were ready to operate. Just as the doctor was about to cut the arms off, Precht grabbed the doctor and stopped him with him opening his only eye.

"Don't touch me." Precht said and it all became disaster again for this accident has brought to life a brand new threat to the city.