Memory Manipulations VS Cognitive Recalibration

5 Days to S Class Trials…

Day 1

"REQUIP!" Erza cried out. Silver wings burst from her back and a swarm of swords went flying Kagura's way. The preteen threw out her hands and tried to use her gravity magic to spike the weapons into the ground. Despite her best efforts though, Erza's control proved superior and the weapons continued on virtually uninterrupted. Grimacing, Kagura brought up her sword to try and fend off the attack when suddenly Goku appeared in front of her and screamed. The Kiai exploded forwards, scattering the blades in his path and clearing the way to Erza, who was now sporting her Lightning Empress Armor and sparking wildly.

Kagura went to charge at the redhead and was instantly met with a backhand from Goku, who's eyes had never left the redhead across from him.

"It's a free for all Kagura." Goku chided mildly. "Don't get so focused on one opponent that you completely ignore the other." Kagura coughed an agreement as she tried to pry her back and out of the splintered remains of a tree. She pulled herself back to her feet and saw Goku still standing near her, a barrier up to fend off Erza's lightning as he stared back a her. Kagura met his eyes and nodded slowly.

"I understand." She declared. Goku smiled.

His lesson given; the warrior blitzed towards Erza at top speed. Taking his advice, the younger swordswoman immediately charged straight for his back.

Day 2

"Oof!" Erza grunted as a sudden gravity well caught her off guard and halted her charge. Kagura's lips curved upwards at the move and flipped the gravity of a boulder behind her back, sending a ton of stone hurtling straight towards the redhead. Erza's body flashed and the Giant Armor caught the projectile barehanded before shattering the stone to powder in a single strike. Kagura went to follow up but caught a glimpse of orange out of the corner of her eye. As Goku leapt at her, he suddenly found his gravity turned off. The man yelped in surprise as his momentum carried him far over his target, and then over the tree line.

The brunette got a half second of satisfaction before she was forced to parry a sword thrust with her sheathed blade. Erza pressed the attack, and though Kagura was skilled, the red head completely overpowered his strength and put Kagura on the backfoot. The two traded rapid blows at a blistering pace back and forth, but no matter how she struck Kagura couldn't find an opening.

Then Goku came swooping in from the sky on the Flying Nimbus, Ki blasts flashing, and the two were forced to dive aside to escape the bombing run. The duo leapt and dodged as dozens of explosive bolts crashed rained down on them. Erza was the first to counter, unleashing a squadron of swords upwards at the little wave of Ki. Metal met energy and the air filled with shrapnel.

Goku was forced to shield his eyes and in that moment of distraction, a gravity well slammed into him. The magic ripped nimbus out from underneath him, and sent him hurtling towards the ground far faster than nature ever could. He tried to right himself, but then a sheath slammed into the back of his head and sent him tumbling to the dirt. Kagura landed hard behind him and tried to charge in, but Goku was already back on his feet and caught the weapon with his bare hand. The two fighters smirked out one another before twisting out of the path of Erza next attack.

Day 3

They were at a farm.

Erza wasn't entirely sure why.

Kagura was looking around with a pained expression, so she at least had some idea why Goku had dragged them there, but the man in question had wandered off to speak to the property owners with a promise to quickly return. With him nowhere in sight, Erza turned towards the nervous looking girl.

"So, I don't suppose the fool has given you any clue as to what today's training shall be?" She asked the young girl. Kagura shook her head slowly, looking nervous.

"Is something the matter?" Erza asked.

"Well…It hasn't happened that often, but sometimes he says he gets 'inspired' by something and will make up a brand-new training method. The last time this happened he disappeared for an afternoon saying that he was going fishing. The next day, he took me out to a giant salt lake a few miles from the coast and told me that we were going to be doing some long-distance swimming to work on our speed and endurance. We had to do ten laps back and forth across the lake, and then we could take a quick break before doing it again."

"That… doesn't sound so bad." Erza said.

Kagura looked at her. "When I got in, A huge shark suddenly rushed me and tried to bite me. When I went to kick it, Goku blocked me and told me that we could only dodge them, not hurt them."

"Them?"

"He put twenty of them in the lake before we got there. They hadn't started attacking each other yet, but I don't think there were anymore fish left before we got in. So, the two of us swam for most of the day, back and forth across this lake dodging sharks for hours before we could go home. When we were finished, I nearly fell asleep on the beach, and he just went out and grabbed the sharks one by one and carried them back to the ocean."

"I see…and you fear that today might be something similar?"

"It might be. I overheard him complaining that there weren't any dinosaurs around for him to use, whatever those are." The young girl sighed. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it will be worth it. I haven't stopped getting stronger since he agreed to train with me."

"Yes, you are quite powerful for your age. I am sure that once you are grown, you shall be quite the incredible warrior. You could quite easily surpass us." Erza said honestly. Then a small smirked pulled at her lips. "If we let you that is."

"Hmph." The small girl pouted. "I'll beat you one day. Both of you."

"Sounds like a fun challenge!" Goku cut in as he landed between the pair. The two girls jerked in surprise at the sudden appearance. Neither of them had been watching the skies for their comrade and had completely missed Nimbus passing by overhead.

"Get as strong as you can Kagura! I'll be down for a match with you whenever you want, especially once you've grown up!" He said happily, ruffling the girl's hair.

Kagura's previous pout returned with a vengeance. Erza hid a chuckle behind her hand and tried to bring the reason for their visit back to the forefront.

"So, Goku. Have you completed your discussion with the farmers? Is your mystery training session all arranged?"

"Oh, yeah! These guys, they've been wanting to expand their farm for a while, plant some new crops and stuff. So, we're going to spend the day making a new field for them!"

"A new field?" Erza asked. "How are we going to be doing that?"

"Well, to start off…" Goku fired off a pair of small ki spheres that darted out across the property and into the woods that stood beyond it. The two orbs went off in different directions and began to burn a rough square into the ground around a few square miles of forest.

"…we need to clear away the trees. The farmers said that they'd be happy to get some extra firewood too, so we're going to go through and pull them all up by hand. No using any powers, just rip them up and then bring them back over here so that we can put them in a pile."

Erza looked over the dozens upon dozens of trees group together in the space, then down at the vaguely contemplative look on Kagura's face. Sensing a potential issue, the red head decided to try to somewhat divert her friend.

"Are you sure about that Goku? With that many trees, lunch might be delayed for a while for us. This could go a fair bit faster if we used our abilities, otherwise we might lose time."

Both Goku and Kagura looked confused.

"What are you talking about Erza? We should have this done well before lunch, and then we can move on to plowing the field for them!"

"Plowing? I didn't see you bring any equipment over." Erza stated.

"Nah, we don't need anything like that! We're just going to be doing lunge walks up and down the field, punching the ground really hard! We'll turn all the rocks to dust, and the plants to paste so whatever they plant here can eat the old stuff!"

"We're going to be punching the entire field into shape?!" Erza's tone was filled with incredulity.

"I know, it's not that much of a workout after doing all the tree pulling, so I got us some boulders!" Goku cheerfully gestured off to a trio of rocks sitting a way off behind them. "We'll tie those to our backs so that we can get a bit more of a workout in, alright?"

Erza's concern for Kagura spiked. Was this how he trained her all the time, or was this something that he had cooked up special since she was here as well? Erza turned towards the woods, fully expecting to see Kagura struggling with her assigned task…only to get nearly bowled over when the young girl came running over, a massive tree perched precariously over her shoulder. The preteen slammed the first of the trees down in the lumber pile and glared at the two older fighters.

"I will not do this myself. Come, there is work to do!" She declared before going back for the next tree. Smiling, Goku followed right after her.

Erza watched the too for a moment, studying the pair. Then a smile just as wide as Goku's grew across her face and she went to go join the pair. It seemed there wasn't anything to worry about after all.

She cracked her knuckles. Except, perhaps, that they might not be able to keep up with her.

Day 4

"A picnic?" Kagura asked, looking around for a hint of what that would actually entail. She didn't see any enormous monsters she'd need to kill and butcher, so it didn't look like she'd be securing the food herself…

"No no." Goku waved a hand. "An actual picnic. I swear."

The day before the S class trails were supposed to begin for Fairy Tail, both Goku and Erza had agreed that their training could afford an off day. Instead, the two had taken Kagura out into the woods down a small forest trail, where they had met up with Simon and a massive basket full of food.

"Ah, don't worry about it Kagura. There's nothing wrong with taking a step back and relaxing before a big event. The trial is tomorrow, and at a certain point training is more torture on your body than it is helpful. We're better off just having a quiet day and making sure that we are ready.

"I'm not even in the trial tomorrow, and you and Erza will only be acting as obstacles, not taking full part in the trial. None of the fighters who are supposed to participate can match you evenly, and even if they could this isn't a life or death event. Couldn't tomorrow be your easy day, and today we could keep training?"

Simon hid his smile behind his hand as he watched Kagura definitely not beg and pout like a kid denied a favorite toy. He was sure that she wasn't even aware of how she looked, otherwise she would likely have forced her face impassive once again and started acting like she was his age instead of her own.

"Don't worry Kagura, I'm sure that we'll find plenty for you to do after the test is done." Goku placated. "After this is all rapped up, we'll be able to ramp up your training even more than before!"

Kagura stared at Goku for a long moment, contemplating his words. Then, with a nod, she marched over towards the picnic basket, snatched up the largest sandwich that she could find, and plopped herself down directly between her teacher and her brother. Rolling his eyes, Simon briefly met the gaze of Goku and Erza both. The trio all smiled at one another over their youngest member's head. Despite what Kagura had been told, she would be a bit busier than she might have expected during the coming day.

Training wasn't brought up again for any of the hours that the group spent together. Instead their time was spent eating food, swapping stories, and laughing together as the sun lazily travelled across the sky, and the shadows grew long. The four didn't depart until the stars were out and the sounds of the nocturnal creatures filled the air.

Goku went to bed with a smile on his face. With selection day tomorrow, some interesting fights were right around the corner.

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Day 5…

Goku surprised Kagura at her and Simon's small home with a request for a brief warm up jog around the perimeter of the city.

"So, who do you think Master Makarov will pick to take the test today Kagura?" He asked her as they started away from her doorstep. The young swordswoman took a moment to consider the question before answering.

"Is the test including partners like what you described to me before?"

"It might. But Master Makarov's been changing things a bit lately, so he might decide to do something different. We won't know for sure until he announces the names in a couple of hours." Goku explained. Kagura silently mulled over his words for a few moments, then began.

"Natsu and Gray are the most obvious. Both are incredibly powerful for A rank mages. Erza said that their mindsets were what was holding them back, correct?"

"Yep! Just like me actually. Don't really get it though, I'd say they both a bit smarter than I am."

"Unless one was to talk with you about combat or training. Then they would find someone who could fit the role of the idiot savant."

Goku squinted at her. "…Thanks?"

"Elfman is physically fairly strong, however his actual combat skills less so. He could participate, but would likely fail. Juvia and Gajeel have both worked as S class mages in the past, so they could do well. Levy has them all over a barrel in terms of in terms of intelligence and Cana and Lucy have both claimed that they are going to refuse any nomination this year in favor of training for test next year." Kagura thought for a few moments. "I haven't met them, but I have heard that Laxus' teammates are also fairly powerful. They are expected to be arriving sometime later this morning, correct?"

"I think so. To be honest though, I don't really know them very well either. Laxus doesn't come by all that often, and when he does, they kind of just hang out in the back and let him talk to everyone."

"Then, beyond their group, I do not believe that there is really anyone else within the guild who could participate in the exam with a reasonable chance of success. As is, I believe that the most likely to prevail would be either Natsu or Juvia. Natsu's combat instincts are well above the vast majority of fighters within the guild, and Juvia's powers should allow her to overcome virtually anyone. If the objective to find an object or reach a destination first, Natsu is most likely to win, while Juvia should win if it turns into a combat scenario and she is able to avoid getting matched up against Gray." She never quite understood how Juvia lost to him. Yes, the elemental match-up wasn't in Juvia's favor. But it was more than that, she'd seen Juvia spar with Grey once and she'd just sort of fallen apart the moment he took his shirt off. Did Gray have some kind of magical attack she wasn't aware of?

Goku nodded along amiably at Kagura's analysis, before smirking as she concluded.

"I wouldn't count anyone out just like that, but it could go that way. But you can't think of any other candidates?"

"…No. While this guild does have an abundance of talented mages, those that I have listed are a fair bit beyond what the rest can compete with."

Goku chuckled to himself quietly, drawing a raised eye from the young girl. Rather than explaining, Goku stepped up his pace, forcing the girl to do the same in order to keep up with him. The two dashed through the streets at a blistering pace, gaining speed with each step. By the time they reached the final stretch of their run, the people on the streets were seeing little more than blurs racing past them and kicking up an incredible wind in their wake.

There would be more than a few complaints sent to the guild hall by the days end. Makarov would promptly pack them up to use as kindling for his fireplace.

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Goku and Kagura both violently flinched and clutched their heads the second they passed through the threshold into the guild hall.

"Wha…wha?...I…" Kagura's mind started to slow and her eyes glassed over as a foreign magic tried to work its way into her head. Her Ki and magic sputtered within her body wildly, ineffectively scrambling against the external threat even as her expression began to blank out and the magic started taking root.

A concentrated burst of Ki flared up besides her, quickly followed up with a closed fist crashing into the back of her head.

The girl smashed face first into the ground, drawing the attention of a few nearby guild members. Goku waved them off with a grin, and promptly dragged her by the elbow over to a table tucked away in the corner of the room, as far away as he could get from the rest of the mages.

Placing Kagura across from him, Goku took a seat directly in the corner so that he could look out into the rest of the room. His eyes darted from face to face around the room, checking each face before settling his gaze back to his student.

"Did you shake it off okay? Is it still bouncing around in there at all?" He asked, curiously poking at her forehead. Kagura scowled and batted his hand away before leaning in and whispering harshly.

"What was that? What just happened?!"

"Well…you know how when you have a lot of Ki, it makes your body more resistant to stuff that would have hurt you before?"

"Yes?"

"It's like that, except right now it's with your brain." Goku answered, carefully glancing around the guildhall. "Having enough Ki makes us resistant to all kinds of things that many types of mages aren't. But considering just how hard that spell hit us, I bet whatever it was probably got everyone in the guild hall right now."

Kagura's hand reached for her hilt of her blade. "But what was the point? Is the guild under attack?"

"I'm…not sure." Goku answered. "Nobody looks hurt. But it felt like someone was trying to cast an illusion of some sort. But… I don't know for what."

"What should we do?"

Goku was silent for a moment. "At the moment, nothing. We don't know what was done but keep an eye out for something that's out of place. Everyone else will probably completely ignore it, so that should be a good way to tell. But I don't want to just jump in, if whoever did this messed with everyone's head, they might have everyone attack us if it looks like we are trying to figure him out. Our best bet is just keep our eyes open, and to see if we can get anyone alone so that we can snap them out of it.

"How?"

"Well, one time when I went on a mission with Team Shadowgear, Jet and Droy both got caught in some weird illusion thing and kept attacking Levy and I. So, Levy showed me how to do cognitive recalibration!"

"…What?"

"Yep! She said it was great for shocking people out of sudden mind stuff. As soon as we get an idea of what's going on, and we're sure that nobody will go nuts if we try and fix things, we can just do that and free everybody." Kagura, still somewhat stumped at her mentor's sudden vocabulary, nodded dumbly.

So we need to figure out-"

"Hello Goku, Kagura!" Erza said as she walked up to the pair with a great smile. Kagura's gaze quickly shot up to the approaching red head's eyes and immediately noticed that there was a subtle glaze over them, making her face look just the slightest shade dimmer. Goku noticed as well, and was only just able to keep his own expression from falling into a scowl.

"Have you seen that Mystogan's own personal disciple Mest has returned to us at long last?" She continued cheerfully, completely unaware of her two friends' sudden tension. "After Mystogan unexpected disappeared, it's nice to have such a powerful mage return to us! He's my choice to win the S-class trials this year!"

Kagura and Goku stared at her. Wordlessly, the pair's eyes followed her pointing finger to a dark-haired man sitting at the bar on the other side of the room, quietly talking with a few of the older mages, as well as and Wendy and Carla.

Goku looked at the man, then at the obvious adoration on Erza and the rest of the mages, then back to Erza. He met Kagura's eyes. Kagura nodded. He nodded back.

Goku brought up his hand and gestured towards Erza's ear. Curious, the redhead leaned in so that Goku could whisper to her. Carefully, Goku reached out, then grabbed her by the back of her head, and slammed her head against the table so hard that the wood shattered and she continued right on to the floor.

This time, the room took one quick look at who was clashing, then quickly returned to minding their own business.

Erza pulled herself off of the ground with splinters in her hair, fire in her eyes, and magic crackling across her body. Thick metal gauntlets burst into existence around her hands, and then promptly buried themselves deep into Goku's gut, practically bending the fighter in half.

Goku coughed up a little dribble of blood onto the ground, smiled, then grabbed Erza's head and jerked it around so that she was looking straight at the dark-haired man across the hall. The second her eyes met him, her body froze, and her gaze turned glacially cold.

The woman's entire body started to tremble, but Goku's hand clamped down around her wrist before she could take a step. Heat rolling off of her like a nuclear meltdown, Erza's head slowly twisted back over toward Goku like a tank aiming its cannon. Goku met her rage with a passive face, and Kagura stepped in between the pair as well, putting her hand on Erza's free arm. Her stare tracked back and forth between the two for a tense moment before her eyes slammed shut and she began sucking in oxygen.

Deep inhale.

Deep Exhale.

And the eyes snapped open.

"Fine." The woman hissed, her body like a coiled spring. "Plan. Now."

"Cognitive Recalibration." Goku said, looking her dead in the eye. The girl scoffed loudly before looking at around the room once again.

"At least Cana and Lucy haven't come in today. Before we do that. Do either of you recognize him?"

"Never even felt his energy signature before." Goku said quietly.

"I see." Erza hissed. "You two, sit here and wait. With that, Erza was up and moving, making a beeline straight for the bar. Kagura shot Goku a quick questioning look, but the fighter silently shook his head. With Erza's expression like that, she had a plan and any attempt to go with something different would be…resisted to say the least. The best the two could do would be to jump in if they saw an opening.

Erza stalked straight up to the bar, scowling angrily as she waited for Mirajane to finish passing food over to another mage. Eventually, the white-haired woman noticed her pseudo-rivals demeanor and carefully made her way over to stand across from her friend.

"Erza? Is something-" That was as far as the take over mage got before Erza's fist came across the bar and punched her straight through the wall of alcohol behind her and into the kitchen. All sound in the guild came to a sudden stop.

Erza straightened herself up, crossing her arms over her chest as she waited impatiently.

Mirajane did not keep her waiting long.

The light in the building dimed as Satan Soul burst into the world. The demoness stalked through the hole she had just created, glowing with an unholy aura. Glowing eyes met Erza's own furious gaze. Erza flicked her eyes toward the stranger and Mira followed suit. Her gaze fell back over towards Erza as the redhead donned her Giant Armor. Erza gave just the slightest of nods, then made a far more obvious gesture with one finger.

Mirajane nodded back just as slightly, then allowed her power to flare even darker.

The bar promptly exploded.

A massive piece of counter flew through the air, catching Droy in the face and knocking him straight in Jet. Erza completely ignored the screams of her guildmates and charged in, swinging the Giant's Sword with such force that it sent another group of mages flying. All too quickly, a number of mages jumped into the battle from around the room and the entire guild hall fell into chaos.

Purple flames, massive burst of energy, painted creatures, energized wood, and a host of other powers were sent flying to the room, smashing into one another and to practically every mage around the room. Bodies were sent hurtling in every direction, the walls gained new holes every second, and the roof began to moan ominously as the guild went from quiet to full out brawl in just under 10 seconds.

As rowdy a bunch as Fairy Tail was, every last person quickly was dragged into the fight save for three. Goku and Kagura watched like hawks as their target backed himself away from the brawl, looking more distinctly uncomfortable and confused with each passing minute.

"Annnnnnnd…now." Kagura couldn't even follow his movement. One instant, Goku was standing beside her, the next he was besides Mest with both of his fists clenched together.

"BUMP!" He cried out as he smashed the mage straight over the melee. He made it halfway across the room when Mirajane appeared beneath him and slammed both palms straight into his gut with a cry of "SET!"

Gasping in pain, the man floated up into the air, practically touching the ceiling. Before inertia could take hold though, the man felt a flare of bloodlust to his left and saw a flash of red.

"SPIIIIIIIKE!" The roof of Fairy Tail exploded outward with the force that Mest was struck. The man flew so quickly through the air that none of the Fairies were even able to hear as he went screaming off into the distance and vanished into the sky with a twinkle of light and a soft PING.

The matter settled, Erza decended back into the guild hall and barked out.

"HALT!" The force of the woman's voice paralyzed all but the toughest members of the guild, and just as quickly as it had begun the guild wide brawl was dragged to a halt.

"Listen up everyone!" Erza ordered. "We have, at best, thirty minutes until the Master arrives. We are going to need EVERYTHING cleaned up and back to normal by then!" she paused for a moment. "What are you waiting for? MOVE IT!"

The mages erupted into motion.

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The Master never even noticed that something had happened in the guild beyond a few guilty faces. When he saw them, the old man just rolled his eyes and took his seat for breakfast. So long as the building stayed standing, he could pretend not to notice whatever craziness his children got up to.

Speaking of craziness…

Mirajane looked up as the door opened to see Natsu stumble in with little bruises all long his neck, walking just ahead of Lisanna with the single smuggest smile that she had ever seen in her entire life.

Natsu sat down heavily on a bench next to Gray and Juvia, while Lisanna sashayed her way over to her sister.

"…Yeah?" Mirajane asked her sister, her expression bland.

"Yeah." Lisanna said happily. Mirajane looked her over for a moment before shrugging.

"Least you aren't bowlegged." She said.

Lisanna promptly stuck out her tongue.

Makarov, right next to the pair but ignored by both, forced down his laughter as he polished off his meal. Patting his stomach contently, the man looked out proudly at the group of powerful young men and woman that surrounded him. He grinned, excitement rising. It was finally time to see the next generation in action once again, up close and in person. Since he had arrived, each and every mage associated with the guild had arrived and spread out around the building. Gildarts' was up on the S-class balcony, as were Cana and Lucy. The newly discovered father had completely ignored the Master's protests and had brought the women upstairs so that they could talk in private.

Erza and Goku were sitting at a corner table, with the later two looking like they were trying to calm down a rather agitated looking swords master. He had not seen Erza take her hand off her weapon's hilt since he walked into the building, and she kept glaring at the door whenever the other two couldn't pull her attention.

Laxus stood with his team, the group quietly sharing a drink at their own table, and looking quite pleased with themselves. His grandson wasn't looking at him, which hurt a little. But he also wasn't sending any venomous glares anyone's way, so Makarov was going to take it as a win.

Mostly everyone was relaxed, but more importantly, everyone was ready.

"Alright you brats, attention over here! Time for me to make the announcement for the trails!" Makarov's voice echoed throughout the room. Dozens of faces turned to face him, various levels of eagerness displayed throughout the entire room.

"Now, this year is going to be slightly different than the last test! To begin with, I recently found out that my 8th candidate will be refusing the chance to advance in favor of training herself into the ground and cleaning house next year. So, for this year only, we'll be hosting a field of 7 contestants! Second, unlike previous years, we are going to be altering the first round. Unlike previous years where you test taker and their partner go the whole way through, all of the partners will be placed at the exit of the first round. Each candidate will have to get through the first round on their own!" The guild erupted into quiet mutterings at that. The guild was famous for comradery and their teams, for confronting a challenge individually felt…strange to say the least. Makarov took the sudden discussions in stride and continued his announcements.

"Lastly, I want you to tell me your partner right here and now after I call your name. I want to get a full headcount before I get off this bar!" This was met with less mumblings, but still mumbles all the same. Makarov smirked. It did the brats some good for him to catch them off guard every now and then. Made him feel like he was still doing his job as the eccentric old master.

"Alright! Quiet down you lot! The first participant will be…"

In an instant, he had the entire guild hanging on his words, and the air thick with suspense.

"Gray Fullbuster!" A smattering of applause echoed around the guild as Gray stood up and directed his attention towards the S-class floor. Lucy immediately noticed his gaze and began shaking her head at him.

"Whoa, whoa! Sorry Gray, but I don't really want anything to do with that test right now!"

"He's not asking for you, princess." Light gathered behind Lucy as Loke materialized. The lion spirit adjusted his clothes as he smiled. "Gray and I had a promise going back a few years. As you know, promises are quite important to us spirits." He leapt down to Gray and gave him a fist bump.

"Good to see ya, man." Gray grinned.

"Is that allowed?" Freed spoke up. "Loke is not, strictly speaking, a mage."

"He's a member of Fairy Tail." Makarov said dismissively. "Secretly being an eldritch being from beyond the stars doesn't free you of that."

"You make it sound like a cult, old man." Loke laughed.

"One of us! One of us!" several of the Fairies started chanting.

"Exactly." Makarov grinned. "That's one pair settled. Next up…Natsu Dragneel!" Applause rang out once again, and Natsu quickly turned to his blue haired companion with a face filled with excitement, but before he could say anything a hand grabbed onto his own.

"Need a partner, Natsu?" Lisanna asked happily.

"Ah, sorry Lisanna, but I was going to be pairing off with—"

"You! He's pairing off with you!" Happy chirped up.

"What?" Natsu looked at his best friend in confusion. "Happy?"

"I'm sorry, Natsu." The cat shook his head. "As your friend, I have decided that you need to expand your horizons. I hope you understand." He finished solemnly.

Then Mira reached over and slid a plate with several grilled fish on in front of the cat.

"…Oh." Natsu said sourly. "I understand alright, you furry little sellout."

"Natsu," Lisanna said in a tone of injured innocence. "Are you saying you… don't think I'm good enough to be your partner?"

Natsu eyes went wide. "Uh…"

"That I'm not good enough for you." Lisanna's lower lip trembled.

"I-I didn't say—"

"For shame, Natsu." Happy said around a mouthful of fish. "You're such a brute."

"I-I-I—"

Lisanna leaned over and whispered in Natsu's ear. "This is the part where you say: 'of course not, Lisanna. I would love to have you as my partner."

"Of course not, Lisanna." Natsu said mechanically. "I would love to have you as my partner."

"I do." Lisanna smiled, patting the dragon slayers cheek affectionately.

"Yes, yes." Makarov cleared his throat. "Come on brats, do all of you really need to have a song and dance about choosing your partner?"

"Next, Levy McGarden!" The applause this time were immediately drowned out by the sounds of the other two Shadowgear members immediately starting to bicker over which one of them Levy should take for her partner. The word mage watched for a few moments in exasperation, and then, just when it looked like the two were going to be coming to blows, she turned to look out over shoulder.

"Hey, Gajeel? Want to see if we can top the pirate adventure?" She asked. The metal man blinked at her, then gave a feral smirk.

"You keep lining me up good fights, and I'll keep knocking them down for ya."

Levy smiled at him happily, very deliberately ignoring the aura of depression that had cropped up besides her.

"There, see?" Makarov said. "How hard was that? Next then, Freed Justine!"

The serious mage ignored the attention turned his way and instead looked between his two potential teammates. After a moment of silent contemplation, he simply announced "Bickslow." Then returned to his drink. Evergreen immediately saw red.

"What was that?" Evergreen demanded. "You didn't even hesitate! I'm every bit as strong as the doll freak!"

Freed nodded. "I assure you, Evergreen, your strength has absolutely nothing to do with why I don't want you as my partner."

"WHAT!? OH, THAT IS IT! WHO'S THE NEXT PERSON? I'M GOING TO PARNTER UP WITH THEM, THEN WE'RE GOING TO BEAT YOU TWO AND WIN THE WHOLE THING!"

Makarov chuckled at the outburst. "On that note, what do you say, Elfman? Think you can handle Evergreen as your partner?"

The burly teen stared at the fiery-eyed mage for a few moments before grinning widely. "Someone filled with such a manly fire for victory, how could I refuse?"

"Excellent answer!" Makarov cheered.

"Did he just call me manly?" Evergreen demanded.

"As I said, an excellent answer." Makrov repeated. "Now, let's hear it for our next contender, a former S-class mage herself: Juvia Lockser!"

"Huh?" Juvia looked up from the bar at the sound of her name as everyone started clapping. "What is it? Juvia wasn't listening. She was busy thinking about what she and Gray will name their children."

"Wow." Loke said, "She really just went and said that out loud, didn't she?" He smirked at his partner. "Way to go, tiger."

"Shut up." Gray groaned.

"You need a partner for the S-Class trial." Makarov explained.

"Oh," Juvia turned to Gajeel.

"I'm already the bookworm's partner." Gajeel snorted. "Pay attention, woman."

"Erm." Juvia turned to Sue, who was sitting beside her.

"Sorry babe." Sue laughed. "The S-Class trial is a bit out of Boze and my league."

"Erm…" Juvia turned to the guild at large, eyeing everyone.

Then something fell down from the upper balcony and splashed into a glass of water on the bar. There was a burst of light and a mermaid materialized in the guildhall.

"I shall be her partner." Aquarius declared, looking down her nose at the rest of them.

"What?" Lucy demanded. "You throw a fit if I ask you to do anything even on your contract days! And you VOLUNTEER for her!?"

"Is that allowed?" Loke asked. "I mean, she's never even been a member of Fairy Tail."

"Excuse me, Tomcat?" Aquarius scoffed. "If you have a problem, why don't you try to stop me." She raised the urn she was clutching, the water inside sloshing ominously.

"Well, now that I think about it." Loke said quickly. "Being contracted to Lucy makes all her spirit Fairies by proxy, doesn't it?"

"Um… Does Juvia know you?" Juvia asked, looking at the water-bearing spirit.

"In a manner of speaking." The spirit sniffed. "I am going to be your partner in this endeavor. I have already decided it."

"…Okay?" Juvia nodded, still looking confused.

"Well… Alright then." Makarov said. "Moving on to our final contestant, whose name was added "Next then, by the recommendation of two of our S- class mages despite her age, Kagura Mikazuchi!"

The guild's smallest swordswoman blanched at the announcement. Her eyes immediately darted over two her two tablemates, both of who were smiling happily at her. Whatever it is she might have been about to say to them, she suddenly choked it down and smiled right back at them with slightly watery eyes.

"I will show that you haven't misplaced your trust." She said as seriously as she could manage.

"Just do your best." Goku said. "I think you can handle it, but you better watch out. Your competition is looking fierce." He smiled, looking just a little bit envious.

"You will crush them all." Erza smirked.

Kagura turned Unlike the vast majority of the mages in the building, Kagura had not spent nearly as much time as she could have outside of her own friend group, and those so far virtually all that she had befriended had either been already entered into the test, or had opted out of participating altogether.

Kagura scanned the room for anyone to catch her attention. Who could she partner with? Who would be a good option?

After nearly a minute, Kagura spotted Wendy. The littlest dragon slayer was probably the only person in the guild that was around the same age as her and had been sitting alone ever since Mest had been thrown out of the building.

Hmming quietly to herself, the gravity mage slowly walked across the room, coming to a stop right before the bluenette. It was only when she got there and Wendy looked up at her that she realized that she didn't know what to say.

Wendy looked awkwardly around the guild, then her eyes went wide as she realized what was happening. Wordlessly, she met Kagura's gaze and pointed at herself as if to say: 'Really? Me?'.

Kagura nodded and held out her hand. Hesitantly, Wendy reached out and clasped it. Then, somewhat uncertainly, the two nodded at one another and pumped their arms a single time.

"Hm. The next generation sure is moving quickly." Makarov said. "Alright brats, if you are competing or if you're involved, head for the boat! We're pulling out! It's time for this year's S-Class Trail to get underway!"

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DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN: THE TRAILS ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN! IN JUST A SHORT BOAT RIDE, OUR CONTESTANTS WILL BE THROWN HEAD FIRST IN TESTS DESIGNED TO PUSH THEM TO NEW HEIGHTS! CAN THEY ALL PREVAIL? FIND OUT NEXT TIME IN ESCALATION! S-CLASS: OPENING ACT!