As of writing this, Escalation now has 1001 reviews. Wow. Thank you guys so much for all of the support the last few years, I'm glad you've all stuck around for so long.

So, I've noticed that this last chapter has gotten a lot more guest reviews than usual. Some were good, some were bad, and I've realized that its been quite a while since I have respond to some of them. I'm not going to post them on here, that would take too much space, but I'll just address some of the more common points I'm seeing on here.

Goku's Strength: Yes, Goku is nowhere near as strong as he is in Dragon Ball. If you want a Fairy Tail crossover that has Goku going in at full power, I'd recommend The Golden Fairy be Superale2. For my story, I've been trying to keep things more in line with Dragon Ball power levels with some techniques bleeding over from Z. By the end of this story though, Goku will be the strongest on the planet.

Other Dragon Ball characters, or Dragon Ball storylines: At the moment, I don't really have any plans for introducing anymore characters from Z, however plenty of characters from old school Dragon Ball will eventually be making appearances. As for storylines, I have no plans for adding any Dragon Ball storylines within Escalation. If I did any of those stories, I would probably choose to make a sequel story and do it there. An Escalation Z if you would. Keep in mind though, my mentioning this now is NOT a guarantee for a sequel. This is just me spit balling.

Chaotic Pacing: Yes. Yes it is. I am doing nowhere near enough prep work for this story, I have a vague outline in my head that I am somewhat following but most of the stuff I come up with is spur of the moment rule of cool kind of stuff. The pacing of this story is definitely off, and at this point I'd have no idea how to fix it. Best I can do is try and make it a bit more structured in the future.

Cameolot sucked: I know, I know. It was really bad. Seriously, trying to write a chapter while high on pain killers directly after getting my appendix taken out was a dumb idea.

Ending? Currently, including this one, I am planning on a total of five more arcs for this story. That is, there will be five more if people stay interested in the story. Time's Turn, whatever I name the Edolas arc, whatever I name the Tenrou arc, the obligatory Dragon Ball tournament arc where Goku gets to fight awesome people and beat them up to prove that he is even more awesome, and the arc where the final boss runs rampant, everything burns, and the world goes to war.

I…think that was everything? Strum and Drang, if you feel like addressing the audience, floor is open to you to write whatever here. Otherwise, chapter time.

S&D: mmm…nah. I'm just here to write Juvia being Juvia because that's my jam. I'm fairly sure I do more than that, but nothing else worth mentioning probably.

Chapter 51: Time's Turn Part 1: The Vengeful Ones

It was a beautiful morning.

The sun was shining.

The birds were chirping.

There was hardly a single cloud in the sky.

Natsu ignored all of this in favor of trying to set Gray on fire, with the cheering of Happy ringing through the trees.

"Quit with the ice walls, ya crazy stripper!" Natsu roared, brandishing a burning fist. "I just want to give you a tap!" Gray was forced to roll to the side as Natsu's attack blazed past his head, just barely managing to keep his balance.

"Your call that a taunt? It's almost as useless as a dragon that can't melt ice! Ice Make: Battleaxe!" Natsu leaned back out of the way of the first swing, and as Gray came around for a follow up, he cocked back his fist.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" There was an explosion of steam and the two leapt clear from one another. The pair began circling, probing for openings to exploit.

"Three minutes left! Come on, I wanna see an awesome finish!" Happy called out from above them.

"You heard the cat. Let's get wild." Gray smirked.

"Right back at you! Fire Dragon's Roasting Bath!" Every pore on Natsu's body suddenly opened up and started spitting fire. His entire body ignited, somehow leaving his clothes completely unaffected as the grass under his feet began to smolder. A wide, reptilian grin stretched across his face as he stepped towards Gray.

"C'mere and give me a hug, you bastard!" He requested, arms open wide. Eyes wide, Gray scrambled backwards and tried to open up some distance between the two.

"Idiot, you're going to burn this whole place down! Ice Make: Prison!" With the distance he gained, Gray took a running start to leap straight over Natsu's head, dropping an icy cage around him. Then, as he landed, he slammed his hands onto the ground. Ice Make: Floor!" The second wave of ice blasted across the grass, putting out some of the flames as it raced towards Natsu's legs. Within a foot, the wave was reduced to a slushy mess. The dragon slayer just ran straight through the bars of the prison, his heat turning them brittle before he even needed to make contact. In response, Gray fired off a pair of cannon shots. They melted off instantly, turning into yet another cloud of steam to go with the haze that was already forming from the floor the ice mage lay down. By the time Natsu burst clear, Gray had hidden from sight. Natsu glanced around, slowly turning to try and sniff out his opponent, and got another cannon shot to the back for his troubles. The teen whirled around, but Gray had vanished once more. A snowball beamed the dragon in the back of the head.

"Ah, come on! Don't be such a loser, just get out here and face me!" Natsu roared.

A dozen seconds past.

Then another.

Natsu's eyes widened and he spun himself around fast enough to give a normal person whiplash.

"Cold Excalibur!"

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Hyper-compressed ice sword met explosive fireball and both mages were sent flying, tumbling end over end until they struck the ground. Gray bounced across the ground and ended up upside down against a tree, while Natsu rolled away until he came to a stop face down.

"Time!" Happy said cheerfully. "Looks like another draw to me. That makes the score 78 Gray, 75 Natsu, and 106 ties!" The cat did a barrel roll.

"That suuuuucks." Natsu groaned.

"That's ten ties in a row." Gray muttered, panting hard as his heartrate began to slow. "I'd like something a bit more conclusive sometime soon."

"If we can't kick each other's ass anymore, that just means we're getting too tough for anyone else to do it. Just wait till those trials roll around, we'll show everyone what we're worth! All this training will pay off, and we'll never be benched for any of the crazy cool missions ever again!"

"I… really do want to catch up." Gray admitted. "Goku, Mira, Erza… they've left us behind. Even some of the others, have you noticed the boost they got from those demons?" Gray shook his head.

"Buncha cheaters…" Natsu mumbled.

"We'll do it. We'll pass them, and we'll finally become S class." Suddenly, Gray's nose wrinkled as he realized he who was being civil to. "Obviously, I'll be S class first."

"The hell you will" Natsu snapped back, but the fire wasn't quite back yet. "Can you imagine the look on Erza's face when we take her down for our graduation? Especially after she just managed to take out Goku? We'll show everybody that we can handle missions like the Oracion Seis thing! We could have taken those guys out no problem!"

"Damn straight." Gray grinned as he pulled himself up to his feet and brushed some dirt off his…knees. Crap where were his pants? "Hey Happy, what's the time?" He asked up to the flying cat as he searched for the lost article of clothing.

"9 o'clock sir!" the cat's face turned sly. "Better hurry up, Juvia wanted you to meet her for some breakfast remember?" Gray's face turned…complicated.

"Y'know, when Juvia grabbed Wendy yesterday and dragged her off to go shopping, the one thing I heard before she got out of sight was 'big blue family."

"She lllliiiiiiiiikkkkesss you~" Happy crowed.

"Yeah, I think I noticed." Gray muttered. "I don't suppose you can see my pants from up there?"

"Why bother?" Happy shot back, grinning wickedly. "Juvia won't mind."

"I will." Gray grumbled, turned lifting up a nearby boulder and finding his pants beneath it. How had? No, nevermind. "Same time tomorrow, flamebrain?" he called, struggling into them.

"Yeah, I got nothing planned. Kick your ass tomorrow, icicle head!" Natsu waited a moment, then grinned at the middle finger Gray flipped up over his back. It was really nice to have a friend/rival who understood so well his inner need to hit things.

His morning workout out of the way, Natsu collected Happy and started his own walk towards the guild hall. Now he just had to figure out his own plans for the rest of the day. Maybe a good run after breakfast to work up a sweat, and then some thrashing around in the guild until he could pick a fight with someone interesting? Most of the guild still wasn't back, but Laxus was still in town with the Thunder Tribe for the moment. They almost never stuck around that long, so he hadn't had much a chance to fight any of them. It could be a pretty fun afternoon. Or maybe Gajeel and those Phantom Mage friends of his would be up for a match…without Juvia this time. His musing carried on through his walk until he was well into town and nearly back to the guild.

"Natsu." The fire dragon slayer pulled up short in the middle of the street. Laxus stepped out from an alleyway, and the serious expression on his face nearly curbed any kind of quick reaction Natsu might have normally given.

"You okay there Laxus? You look like someone just killed your pet or something."

Nearly.

Laxus rolled his shoulders and sighed before he motioned the pink haired mage to join him in between the buildings. He took a breath, looked Natsu dead in the eye, and shoved a ball of lightning straight down the fire dragon's throat.

Happy screamed out in shock and sprouted his wings, throwing himself straight at Laxus face with his claws extended. The blonde neatly plucked the flying cat out of the air by the scruff of his neck and waited silently as Natsu managed to cough down the glowing yellow ball and began breathing somewhat normally again.

Natsu's hand caught fire.

Laxus deflected the punch with his free arm and then chucked Happy at Natsu's face, forcing the pinkette to break off his attack to catch his friend. Once the blue cat was secure, Natsu tossed him up into the air to hover above the pair and ignited his hands a second time.

"What the hell was that for you bastard?" He snarled. Laxus ignored the question, staring intently at Natsu's hands for a long moment. Then, just before Natsu lost his tempered and attacked, Laxus broke out into a wide grin and gestured down at Natsu's hands.

"Looks like its taking after all." Natsu's brow scrunched up in confusion and his eyes shifted to follow the blonde's gaze.

Yellow sparks of electricity were intermingled within his fire.

"Wha…what the hell? What did you just-"

"I'm leaving." Laxus interrupted. Natsu's jaw snapped closed, his eyes wide.

"I'm heading out on a training trip, and that would have just held me back. I need to make sure that I'm able to get stronger on my own merit. And you…follow whatever path you want Natsu. Just make sure that you're strong enough that you can live by your choice, no matter what. That was the etherion crystal that made me the lightning dragon slayer. Keep that thing or spit it up, I don't care. But I'm sure that you'll figure out how to use it eventually…probably. When I get back, we can have that fight that you've been dying for, and we can see just how strong you've become. Good luck Natsu. Get strong."

Natsu stood gaping, trying to process the new power that had literally just been shoved down his throat. The Etherion was sitting in his gut like, well, like a rock. Happy hovered behind his head, scratching his head with one paw. By the time either managed to process what had just happened, the blonde smirked at the pair and vanished in a flash of lightning.

"Did…did I just become a double dragon slayer?" Natsu wondered. That…raised far more questions than either cat or dragon knew how to answer. Happy thought for a long moment.

"Oh boy, now you can burn down the house and blow out the lights at the same time!" the cat beamed.

"Forget that, tomorrow I'm gonna electrocute that squinty bastards pants off!" Natsu threw his fist into the air and let the power surge through him, promptly electrocuting himself. He hit the ground twitching.

"Nice start." Happy nodded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was five after noon. Goku was officially late, and now Erza found herself in a bit of a dilemma. How long should she wait before going up to retrieve him? Too early, and she could be seen as clingy and stifling. Too late, Goku might forget entirely or it could make her look like she didn't care that they were 'together' now. Was 12:10 too late? 12:30? Despite all her time in Fairy Tail, social niceties still escaped her more often than not. But then again, it wasn't like Goku was all that much better.

He was late, she eventually decided. He was late, and that meant that it was fair game for her to go retrieve him. The red head stalked out of the guild hall, pausing for a brief moment to say hello to Natsu and Happy as they went past to enter the building themselves, and then made her way towards the forest.

Options…shouting wouldn't help anything. Well, beyond making her feel better. …Some shouting might be warranted. But that would accomplish nothing. Goku clearly understood how to interact with people even less than she did in a normal setting, let alone whatever this was now between them. She was going to get frustrated, and he was going to get confused. That was a given. Her best option would likely be to talk as much as would be needed to ensure that both sides understood everything that the other wanted out of this.

Erza's hand ran over the pommel of the sword on her hip. The blade that she had wielded when she was high on the power of the Titania. The blade she still scrubbed every day, despite the fact that the red stain that had been splashed across it had long since faded away. No, talking things out was clearly the best option.

After a few minutes travel, Erza exited the city and began making her away through the forest to Goku's home. Her gaze wandered with her mind, slowly gliding over the scenery and just taking in everything around her as she walked.

Then her eyes fell on to a set of tracks along the same path. The grass was flattened down, like a group of people had come through this way. Yet, there was no return tracks, despite this being the only maintained path that lead to Goku's home. So, Goku had guests of some manner visiting? It would explain his absence, but now it raised the question of who would be going to visit him.

Erza's stride lengthen as she reached the foot of the hill that Goku's house rested behind. Wondering to herself wouldn't help anything, not when the answer was practically a spear throw away.

Then she saw the fresh scorch marks that had burned away half of the trunk at the top of the hill and suddenly she was running.

The area around Goku's home was a warzone. The ground had been torn up, with deep divots crisscrossing every which way around the yard. Grass was torn up, rocks were laying in pieces, and the entire front of Grandpa Gohan's old home had collapsed.

Erza's blade was in her hand now, and her magic was coursing through her body and ready to change her armor with an instant's notice. The Blackwing armor maybe? She needed to get high, Goku probably tried to move the fight away from his house and from the city as quickly as he could to limit collateral damage. She just had to find out which way he went. With a flash of light, Erza's clothes shifted and she took to the sky. There was no damage outside of the immediate confrontation area, but Goku was fast. He likely was able to lead his attackers on a merry chase before he brought them to a location of his choosing.

There was no battle damage outside of the clearing in any direction, and the entire area seemed deserted. There was no more scorching from Ki blasts or magic beyond what was immediately visible. The only tree in the area that appeared to have taken a hit was the one that she had already seen, not so much as a leaf on any other had been disturbed. There weren't any tracks leaving the battlefield either, and Goku knew how to fly…

Erza pulled up and widened her circle around the area, scanning desperately…until she saw a flash of orange laying in the mud on the riverside. The redhead dove downwards and landed right beside the 4-star dragon ball, painted to look like it had before the wish had changed it to stone. Goku had decided to dress it up for its place on Gohan's little memorial until the orb regained its original form. She had even helped him find a place to buy the paint. Paint that was now smeared and runny.

The chances of Goku leaving the ball to sit in the mud, even in the middle of a fight, were virtually nonexistent. He…had not walked away from this battle.

The trees shook with the wind as Erza took flight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Okay. Positives. Juvia had not managed to dress up Wendy like her own Mini Me. Okay, the dragon slayer was wearing a smaller version of the hat Juvia had been wearing when Gray first met her, but it looks like Carla had drawn the line there and had been hovering around for the entire time to make sure that the water mage hadn't done anything too strange around her charge. The result was an…interesting meal. Juvia didn't try to flirt with him any more than the usual amount, and she even took brief breaks from staring at him for a few brief moments now and then to make sure that Wendy was enjoying the meal and the company.

For her part, Wendy just looked overwhelmed, and possibly a little grateful at the surge of positive attention. He wasn't too clear about the details, but apparently, she'd seen her lifelong friends vanish away into thin air after finding out that they had been magically created figments of her imagination. A little bit of distress was understandable. That someone was actively taking an interest in her, even someone as…different as Juvia, was probably good for her. She certainly looked happier than Gray remembered her being when they first arrived.

Negatives. No matter what he said, no matter how he tried to maneuver free, Juvia's foot would not stop rubbing his leg under the table for the entire meal.

'Uncomfortable' seemed to be the right word for that. It's not that Juvia wasn't attractive. Far from it, but… he wasn't really sure what to do about any of it.

Minutes after the meal was over and Gray had climbed out of his seat, Sue had charged through the doors, Boze in tow, and had dragged Juvia out of the room with a giggle of girl talk. Gray sympathized deeply with the groan Boze had let out as he was dragged right back out the door.

The small crystal of ever frozen ice on Gray seemed to twinkle on his chest, as though it was laughing. Gray cradled it in his hand gentle, a soft smile on his face. "Yeah, I bet you'd be find this whole thing hilarious Ur. Wonder what kind of advice you'd have for me though. We never really got around to this kind of thing before you left. Wish we could just talk about, I think I'd even be able to stand the teasing."

For a brief moment Gray thought he left a flash of warmth from the necklace. He stared down at it for a long moment before tucking it back into his shirt.

"Thanks for the talk." He said quietly before wandering over to join Natsu and Happy at their own table in the corner of the guild. Natsu was clutching a lightbulb and staring at it, ignoring everything else as Happy seemed to be cheering him on. Mirajane was sitting with Launch and talking amongst themselves over the bar. Lucy and Cana were playing some sort of card game, and Gajeel was…holding a pair of kittens and eyeing them with an intense focus.

Gray… didn't know what to make of that last thing, so he ignored it.

But somehow, the most chaotic duo in the guild had been sitting by themselves without getting into any antics at all. That alone could normally be cause for concern, let alone the serious expressions on their faces as whispered back and forth.

"Alright, where's the fire?" Cat and dragon both turned to stare flatly at the dumb grin on Gray's face. From across the room, Mirajane curled up a napkin that she had been using as a coaster and beamed the ice mage in the back of the head without a single pause in her talk.

Dumb puns were such a great way to get a reaction out of people.

"Seriously though, you look like somethings bugging you man. What happened? And what's with the lightbulb?" Natsu's eyes shifted around the guild to see if anyone was still looking at them, then he reached out and yanked Gray into the booth.

"Is the grabbing necessary?" Gray shot out. Natsu gave a single nod, held the lightbulb in front of his face and scowled.

After a moment, the lightbulb lit up.

Gray blinked. "Is this some kind of trick?"

"No." Natsu grinned. "I got a free level-up. Laxus just left and shoved the lightning lacrima that made him a dragon slayer down my throat on his way out the door."

"Oh…huh." Gray blinked. "That's…huh. How does that feel?"

"Mostly the same I guess, but my magic just feels a lot more. Like, everything is supercharged. You're going to need to step up your game man, with this kind of boost you're way behind now."

"Great. The hells the problem then? You two are ducking down here like there's something awful going on. Normally you'd be swinging from the rooftops from something like this."

"Yeah but, it's Laxus power ya know? Didn't even have to fight anything for it, or do anything really. I just have lightning now."

"I'm going to need to start carrying dryer sheets around." Happy mumbled under his breath. "Pets and hugs are going to make me all frizzy now."

Gray ignored Happy and focused on the pinkette instead. "Dude, practically everyone in the guild lately has had extra magic forced on them in some way shape or form. You probably got a better deal out of it than most of the others. If it's really that much of an issue for you that you didn't do anything for it, then go challenge Erza or something and see how well you can match up now with this."

"…Yeah. Yeah! I'll take on everybody man, and I'll show them the power of the Lightning Fire Dragon Slayer! I'll fight Erza, and Mirajane, and Goku, and Gildarts, and I'll impress them so much that they'll just make me S class on the spot! That way you can go take the test on your own without having to worry about how the best you could do is second place!" Natsu exclaimed, his excitement growing with each word. The teen leapt out of his chair in a burst of sparks and thrust out his finger to point dramatically at Mirajane. The dragon slayer's grin only grew as he felt everyone's eyes turn towards him.

"MIRAJANE! I'M CHALLENGING YOU TO A FI-" The door blew off it's hinges as Erza crashed into the building with a shower of splinters.

"GOKU'S GONE!" The redhead roared, eyes wide with panic. Mirajane groaned.

"Damn it Erza, you said things went well last night! What the hell did you do that scared him so bad he fled in the middle of the night?!"

"HE WAS ABDUCTED MIRA! HIS HOUSE WAS DESTROYED, THE GROUNDS WERE TORN UP, AND THIS WAS LEFT LYING IN THE MUD!" Erza shouted Mirajane down and shoved the 4 Star Ball in her face. "We need to track down the people responsible down right now. I have dealt with having friends taken away far more than enough for a lifetime, I won't lose anymore." Her voice dropped down from burning anger to artic hatred in an instant. Cold, remorseless eyes scanned the room. "Where is the Master?"

"Old man hasn't come back since he sent almost everyone off." Launch replied. "Think he decided to take it as a mini vacation."

"Then we shall simply have to go ourselves. Cana, I assume that your tarot reading will allow you to track Goku fairly easily?" The drunk shrunk slightly at the intensity of Erza's gaze and drew out her deck of cards as quickly as she could.

"Don't worry, I'll have a general location in just a couple of minutes!" She blurted out quickly. Erza nodded in satisfaction.

"Is this everyone here, or are there any other mages in town?" She asked the group.

"Nobody else but Juvia and Wendy have come in here today, but some of them might have turned up at some point." Cana hedged.

"Very well. You all have twenty minutes. Assemble the troops."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gray through the door open. "Juvia, I need you!"

Juvia didn't move, she was setting next to Wendy, a cup of tea half way to her lips and staring at him with glassy eyes.

"Oh great job, Fullbuster," Sue groaned. "You broke her."

"I—what?" Gray shook his heads, they did not have time for this! "Juvia!"

"Gray needs me." Juvia muttered the words dreamily. "Gray wants Juvia." Her face started to turn red and there was the faint whistle of steam creeping out from beneath her hat.

"Try taking off your pants." Sue suggested. "Maybe a second shock will snap her out of it." Her grin turned lecherous. "Maybe the boxers too."

Gray shot her an unimpressed look and stepped closer to the water mage. He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a light shake, adding a touch of frost to his hands for extra measure. "Juvia," he said, trying to put as much serious into his words as possible. "People are in danger."

That seemed to work. Juvia blinked and then shook her head. "Er, excuse Juvia?"

Gray gave her a brief summary and the redness drained from her face. The rain woman stood, and Gray was relieved to see the lovey-dovey expression had been replaced by the cold, collected one she'd had when he first met her.

"Juvia understands." She looked around. "Sue?"

"Yes, Juvs?"

"Juvia needs you to keep an eye on Wendy for her."

"Oh, sure. You can trust me with the munchkin."

"Good. Wendy?"

The dragon slayer blinked. "Yes?"

"Juvia needs to go out and drown a couple of nasty people, will you be good for auntie Sue?"

The girl opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to protest, but shut it and nodded. Juvia patted her on the head and turned back to gray, her face all business. "Let's go."

Gray nodded, and they were gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She never wanted to be the villain.

That was the main thought that had been bouncing around in Ultear's head for the last ten years. She didn't want to force people to work as slaves in the Tower. She didn't want to help all of these dark guilds get stronger and stronger, to the point that they had effectively enacted a quiet takeover of more than half the country's industry without anyone being any the wiser.

She didn't want to tear down the heroes of this world again and again, making their job endlessly harder and ruining their every attempt to make things better.

But in the long run, if she could achieve her goal, if she could cast her spell and send her current mind back to the past, then everything would be worth it. She could use all of the insider knowledge of the biggest criminal organizations in the world and dismantle them in under a year. She could protect all of the innocents that she had been forced to bring ruin, and make the world better for the common people.

Nothing worth doing was easily achieved.

Ultear bit down her distaste in her current companions as they dropped Son Goku unceremoniously into his cell and then moved to take position to fight off the inevitable counterattack. The woman had been careful, she hadn't let any members of Grimoire's Heart, not even Meredy, know of her current location. If Hades found out her plan, everything would become a thousand times more difficult. Now, all she had to worry about was keeping this group of revenge obsessed fools off of her back for just a few more hours until the moon rosegame up.

After the fellows left the room, she sealed the cell, carefully checking every last lock and seal was activate and running full strength. There could be no last-minute escape, and no room for error. The brunette very carefully did not look down at the bloody form of her prisoner as she finished her check and turned to begin activating all of her traps.

It would all be worth it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Erza Scarlet.

Natsu Dragneel.

Gray Fullbuster.

Cana Alberona.

Mirajane Strauss

Lucy Heartfilia.

Gajeel Redfox.

Juvia Lockser.

The collection of most of Fairy Tail's strongest mages walked two by two through the woods, following the cards as Cana continuously shuffled out predications again and again with every few steps. They marched for six straight hours, not taking a single moment to stop as they pushed towards the inevitable battle that they all knew was coming.

"We're here." Cana suddenly announced, stepping out into a clearing. The group found themselves standing across from a stone village. It looked long, one looking long abandoned;. dDozens of houses were scattered aroundsplotched down seemingly at random, with a few larger buildings that resembled temples mixed in around the area.

"So, he is somewhere here?" Erza asked.

"Well…" Cana quickly checked her cards one more time. "Not quite here. I think he might be underground."

"Then we have no need for this place as it is." The red head announced. "Let's raze it to the ground and get digging."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN: ULTEAR'S PLAN IS RUNNING FULL STEAM, AND THERE WAS NO CHANCE OF HER ABDUCTING A MEMBER OF THE STRONGEST GUILD IN THE LAND WITHOUT BEING PREPARED TO TAKE OUT THE REST. CAN THE RESCUE TEAM OVERCOME THE TRAPS AND OBSTACLES LAID OUT BEFORE THEM, OR WILL THEY SUCCUMB AND LEAVE THEIR FRIEND HELPLESS? NEXT TIME ON ESCALATION! TIME'S TURN PART 2: ANOTHER WAY TO DIE!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

POLL TIME! Ladies and gentlemen, I am setting up a new poll! You see, I have gotten to the point where I have too many characters I want to use running around, and not nearly enough space to write them with.

So, for the upcoming Edolas arc, the Dragon Slayers, Lucy, and Goku are all in by default. However, I want to pick 3 more characters to go along, and I'm going to be letting you lot decide who goes! Choices in reviews will not be counted, only those in my poll on my author page. So, you guys can head over there, and you will get 3 votes to decide amongst the pool of mages that I write down of who you want! The poll will be open for the entirety of my writing this arc, and the winners will be announced with the conclusion! Go nuts guys.