A/N: Hey there, long time! Sorry to keep you all waiting, it's kinda hard for me to focus on one fanfic at a time, so I tend to work on them all for some reason; it's just how I am. Plus, I just finished with my exams so now I'm free again. Now I've got a lot of making up to do, but good news is, while I was studying, I was also brainstorming for my fanfics. Anyway, I'm finally ready to get back to Dragon Tail Z, so thank you all for your patience and your reviews! Now back to the story.
Disclaimer – I own nothing
Warning: Spoilers for those who haven't seen!
Chapter 10 – Key of the Starry Heavens
Late at night, most of the members of Fairy Tail had gathered at their second guild hall and were discussing the recent events that just took place. "What?! Are you serious?! The Legion Platoon?!" Wakaba exclaimed after Gildarts told everyone what he learned about their attackers.
"So you're saying our attackers were followers of Zentopia?" Cana asked.
"Yeah, there's no doubt about it," Gildarts confirmed.
No one could hide their shock, curiosity, or confusion from this news. "But why would the largest church in Fiore do something like that?" Macao wondered.
"Not entirely sure, but the man I fought mentioned something about a Holy War," the Crash Mage responded.
Natsu slammed his hand on the table in anger. "All that matters is that they stole from Lucy!" he yelled. "I promise, we are going to get back what rightfully belongs to you!" The Celestial Mage nodded to her friend while still looking down in depression.
"It's not your fault they were able to take it," Happy assured her. "That creepy girl had you under her controlling spell."
"I'm sorry. I wish I could've done something to help you," Michelle apologized.
"You shouldn't be too hard on yourself, Michelle," Lucy said in despair. "It's all on me, because… I'm too weak." Seeing his friend like this made the Fire Dragon Slayer frown.
"A series of church attacks just before the Zentopia Founding Festival," Master Makarov pondered. "A mysterious clock hand inscribed with an ominous phrase, which is also sought by the Legion Platoon. And now, there's talk of a Holy War."
"Well I'll say this much, those guys made a big mistake when they chose to mess with a member of the Fairy Tail guild!" Natsu declared and Happy nodded in agreement."This thing is just getting started, that's for sure!"
"Was anyone able to follow them and figure out where they were going?" a shirtless Gray questioned.
"According to Warren, every single search team lost sight of them," Erza answered. "But I agree with Natsu, it's not over by a long shot."
Natsu punched his palm in excitement. "Alright! Let's hunt 'em down and teach them a lesson they're never gonna forget!" he suggested. "Who's with me?!" Seeing her guild's refusal to back down, Lucy stood up and smiled, now filled with a new resolve.
"First, we need to try and make sense of what we're facing," Erza said. "The Legion Platoon attacked us to steal the clock hand, and during the battle they mentioned something about a Holy War. Why would they need that item? Does it play a role in this impending war? And what does that strange inscription mean?"
While the guild was discussing some things, Carla, Wendy, and Pantherlily were searching for Zentopia's warriors. Carla suddenly had a vision of the Archbishop running through darkness, until he looked back and saw Lucy's clock hand being unwrapped; he stared at it in horror while muttering the inscription, "Time ticks forward, on toward inevitable chaos!" Darkness began to spread and an enormous, sinister-looking eye opened. Carla gasped as her premonition ended.
"Is something wrong?" Wendy asked.
"No, it's nothing," the white cat replied and the three continued their search.
Elsewhere, the son of Goku was still searching for the Legion while he started thinking about the clues he acquired from Coco. "What does a bunch of elite warriors want with Lucy's gift? And if they're not the ones setting fire to church buildings, then who is? Are these two things even connected, or is it just a coincidence? It doesn't make any sense!" Gohan then spotted something moving through the air. "Is that an octopus?!" Indeed it was, but what really caught his eye were the people riding on top of the sea creature. One out of the four he didn't recognize, but the other three he knew very well: Coco, Mary Hughes, and Sugarboy.
"The Legion Platoon! And they've got Lucy's gift!" he stated when he saw Mary Hughes with the clock piece. "Gotta tell the others!" Gohan attempted to send his thought to Warren via telepathy, but he couldn't get anything. "I must be out of range," he realized as he watched the Octopus get farther away. "Guess I'll just have to handle this alone." The Demi Saiyan raised his hands above his head and focused his Ki into them. "Masenko, ha!" He fired his signature beam at the Octopus, striking it and sending it plummeting toward the earth. Gohan flew over to where the Legion Platoon landed. The sea creature rested in a large crater on its side while the Legion Platoon was on Sugarboy's doggies.
"Whoa, that was close," Coco said. "What happened?"
"Something, like, totes knocked us out of the sky," Mary Hughes replied.
"Who would dare attack us?" the leader of the Legion questioned angrily.
"Mmm hmm, you think some of those spicy wizards managed to find us?" Sugarboy asked.
Coco suddenly pointed toward the sky and shouted, "Up there, look!" The Z Fighter landed in front of the Legion Platoon with a stern look on his face. Coco, Mary Hughes, and Sugarboy stared at the boy they remembered from before while their leader just looked at the child with a neutral expression. "It's Sky boy!" Sugarboy exclaimed.
"What's the deal, Coco? I thought you gave this kid the slip!" Hughes said.
"I did!" Coco responded before addressing the Saiyan. "Although I'm flattered that you came running back to me, how did you find us?!"
"Kinda hard to miss a giant octopus jumping around," Gohan answered.
"Are you the one who struck Kanaloa out of the sky?" Lord Byro asked Gohan, to which he nodded. "Such insolence."
"Sorry, but you guys took something that belongs to a friend of mine, and I'm here to get it back!" Gohan declared as he took a fighting stance.
"Are you saying you intend to fight us alone?" Byro asked the Saiyan in disbelief. "How arrogant of you, boy. Do you really believe you can take on the Legion Platoon single-handedly?" Byro's face became sterner as Gohan's expression remained calm. "A grave mistake that you will pay for. Coco, Hughes, Sugarboy, take care of this brat!"
"Yes sir!" Coco exclaimed.
"You got it, boss," Sugarboy assured.
"Let's teach this kid a lesson!" Mary Hughes proclaimed.
In that instant, Gohan vanished from sight. Suddenly, Coco, Mary Hughes, and Sugarboy felt sharp pains in the back of their heads before they passed out and collapsed on the ground. Lord Byro looked at his comrades in shock as Gohan reappeared in front of him."Did this boy just take out Coco, Hughes, and Sugarboy?" Byro thought. "He was so fast that I didn't even see him move."
"I've already had to deal with these three and their tricks," Gohan said. "I held back at the time, but now playtime is over."
"You have made another mistake, child," Byro accused the Saiyan. "You incapacitated my comrades but you left me, the strongest of the Legion Platoon, standing."
"Don't misunderstand my actions," Gohan corrected him. "I didn't take you out for two reasons. First, I needed someone to tell me why this Archbishop wants Lucy's clock piece and to carry these guys back where they came from. Second, you're the one holding the clock piece, so I wanted to fight you to get it back."
"You are as foolish as you are arrogant," Byro stated. "You think you can fight the leader of the Legion Platoon?"
"You're one of the energies that I sensed awhile ago," Gohan deduced. "You must've been fighting someone really strong. So who were you fighting?"
"One of your guildmates: the Ace of Fairy Tail, Gildarts Clive," Byro replied.
"The other energy I sensed was Gildarts? If this guy can compete with Fairy Tail's strongest mage, he's gotta at least be stronger than Laxus,"Gohan thought before smirking. "I might be able to have a little fun before I beat this guy."
Lord Byro raised an eyebrow when he saw the Z Fighter was smiling. "What would you have to smirk about, boy?" he questioned.
"Let's just say I'm kinda excited to fight someone who might be stronger than the last mage I fought," Gohan answered.
"Don't mock me, child. I've been trained to fight against 50 warriors with no weapons all at once," Byro revealed. "If you wish to challenge me, then be my guest. But be warned, only 4 people in Fiore are capable of matching me in battle."
"Better add one more person 'cause I'm about to become the 5th," Gohan declared; he then thought for a moment about what he was doing. "Weird, I'm not normally this cocky and I don't usually egg people on. Is spending time with the Fairy Tail guild really starting to change me?" Gohan was abruptly interrupted from his thoughts when Byro swung his staff at him, though the Saiyan easily blocked it with his forearm. Byro attempted to kick Gohan in the chest but he caught the man's knee with his left palm. "Not bad, but you'll have to do better!" he exclaimed.
"Believe me, boy, I will!" Byro assured him. Gohan was then struck with an elbow bash to the face. He backflipped and rushed at the Legion leader, but Byro blocked Gohan's kick with his staff before kicking him away. Gohan was then smacked in the head by Byro's staff, punched in the gut by Byro's fist, and then slammed on the ground and stomped on by Byro's foot. It looked like Gohan was unconscious since Byro couldn't see his face and he wasn't moving. "I warned you, boy, those who stand in my way will be crushed like insects," Byro muttered as he turned to leave with the clock piece when he heard the sound of someone getting up. He turned to see Gohan standing on his feet smiling, with no sign of injury from Byro's attacks. "What? But how?" Byro questioned.
Gohan chuckled before saying, "Yep, you're definitely stronger than you look." He then removed his weighted cape. "But then again, so am I!" Gohan suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of his had no time to react as he was struck in the jaw by an uppercut from the half-breed. Byro staggered before swinging his staff at the boy; Gohan blocked it and skull bashed the older warrior. He then kicked Byro in the head, knocking him flat on his back. Byro stared at the boy with wide eyes. He could hardly believe there was a man in this world capable of putting him down, but a child? That seemed improbable to him. "What's wrong? Have you given up already?" Gohan inquired.
Byro got over his shock and stood on his feet. "No. As a member of the Legion Platoon, I cannot accept defeat, especially to a child." He then placed Lucy's clock piece in the ground vertically. "I must admit, you're much stronger than I expected. However, I must complete my task."
"So you put the clock hand down. Does that mean you plan on taking me seriously, 'cause I was getting kind of insulted at the fact that you thought you could fight me with one arm," Gohan remarked.
"Apologies. Now I will show what I can really do," Byro responded. He then held up his hand and gestured for Gohan to come at him. The Demi Saiyan smiled and charged at the Zentopian soldier; he threw a fist at him and Byro countered with his own fist.
Meanwhile, at some large church hall in the midst of a few trees, Lahar of the 4th Custody Enforcement Unit, along with a few Rune Knights from the Magic Council, was keeping watch from on top of a cliff. Lahar and his men stood attentively when they were approached by another Rune Knight. "All clear so far. Nothing unusual to report from the other two parishes, sir," he reported.
"Very good," Lahar said.
"But what if the next attack is somewhere other than the three locations?" another Knight questioned.
"There is a slim chance," Lahar admitted. "But still, after investigating the prior incidents and some expert divinations, we were able to narrow it down to the three most likely targets. I have faith in our intel, though I do wonder how things are with Tyson."
"Is there anyone inside?" a Knight asked.
"At this late hour? The priest assured us that it's empty," another Knight replied.
Inside the church, the priest, wearing a white-colored cloak, was kneeling at the altar which bore the Zentopia symbol, praying. The priest suddenly heard a noise from behind and quickly turned around; what he saw made him widen his eyes in fear. Staring back at him was a giant mechanical teddy bear with a slot machine screen on its chest and a lever attached to its gut. The creature smiled evilly at the priest and laughed. "Hot payoff time!" it cried with its modified voice. "Stop right there!" the priest ordered as he pulled out a silver celestial key and pointed it at the trespasser. "If you think I'll go down quietly, you're dead wrong!" The intruder laughed again. "Oh please, go down as loudly as you want to!" It pushed its lever down.
Outside the building, a loud scream from the priest was heard, which alerted Lahar and the Rune Knights. "Did you hear that?" a Knight questioned.
"Someone screamed!" another Knight shouted.
"Quickly, get inside!" Lahar ordered. The Knights rushed to enter the church hall, but before they could, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Several Knights were electrocuted and the building was reduced to a pile of splinters and rubble. "No," Lahar whispered while shielding himself from the flying debris.
"Well, well, what do we have here?!" the attacker asked when he appeared from the destroyed building. "It's the Custody Enforcement Unit! Does the Magic Council know you boys are out past your bedtime?!"
"Are you the one behind these attacks?!" Lahar questioned the creature.
"Wouldn't you like to know!" it replied.
"Tell me who you are this instant!" Lahar demanded.
"Well, since you're asking so nicely, I'll tell you! The name's Jackpot, and I just live to play games! Don't you?!" Jackpot stated before pushing his lever down again. The slot machine screen on his chest spun and landed on three large metal tubs. "Now, what'll it be?! Wash tubs it is, then!" Metal wash tubs started raining down from the sky, bonking all of the Rune Knights on the head. "Would you look at that?! What a payoff! Let's move on to what I like to call Sorcery Rush mode!" Jackpot pushed down his lever again. The screen stopped at three pictures of lightning bolts. "Whoa! It's a lucky lightning bolt bonus!" Another lightning bolt came down from the sky, but this time it struck Jackpot.
"This is absurd," Lahar muttered while watching in surprise. "Complete and utter madness."
"We've got another spin coming up!" Jackpot announced, pushing his lever again; the screen revealed three suns with evil smirks. "Yes! A Devil Flush!" he cried with glee. The whole place was immediately set on fire. "This is one hot payoff!" Jackpot said before he started glowing and vanished, taking the flames with him.
The Rune Knights started ranting horror from what they just saw. "So that thing's the one behind the attacks," one of the Knights stated. "Yes, that part's been confirmed," Lahar replied. "It's all just some sort of silly game to him, which is even more frightening. I wonder how things are at Tyson's end…"
Meanwhile at another church hall, the sounds of someone fighting were going on. Inside, a woman wearing the same cloak as the priest from the church hall Jackpot destroyed was watching in fear as two warriors were fighting. One of the fighters was a tall, muscular man with greenish-blue eyes and long white hair that was held together in a ponytail style. He also wore a tight, light blue shirt adorning the Magic Council logo on his left side, as well as tiny gray suspenders worn underneath the shirt, a military coat with the Council logo on both arms that was being worn like a cape, white trousers, dark grey boots with black tips, white gloves, and a white and gold trucker hat with the Magic Council logo on its front. The second combatant was a large red humanoid machine with navy blue gems across its body. The parts that were his lower chest, arms, and stomach were pink, while his head, upper chest, wrists, and legs were dark red.
The man and the machine were locked in combat; the machine fired energy blasts while the man avoided them and attacked with punches and kicks. The machine grabbed the man's fist before punching him the face, kicking him in the gut, and tossing him aside. The man from the council quickly got up and cracked his neck; despite the number of bruises he had, he didn't seem bothered by them. "I can't believe I'm being tossed around by some red scrap machine," he said as he dusted himself. He then jabbed a finger at the fighting machine and declared, "Listen, you junkyard trash! When I'm through with you, there'll be too many pieces left to count! But first, you're gonna tell me why you've been attacking church halls and what you want from this lady!"
The machine didn't reply, it simply raised its hand and fired a green blast at the man; the man from the council crossed his arms to block the attack. After he did, he lowered his arms and smirked at the machine, but his expression quickly changed into a look of surprise when he saw the machine aiming at the woman. She pulled out a silver key in an attempt to defend herself. "Open, Gate of the…" she started to say before the blast was fired at her. The councilman quickly phased beside the lady and grabbed her before jumping toward the window, resulting in the church building exploding from the blast and the pair being flung through the air by the shockwave. The two landed on the ground with the man being on the bottom; they looked back the church hall and saw the whole place was on fire, rapidly burning to the ground. The woman looked at her home in despair as tears started to form in her eyes. The councilman stood up and faced the burning building with a glare as the fighting machine stepped out of it.
"I don't know what a machine like you could get out of destroying a building, but you just made a big mistake!" the man proclaimed as he took off his coat and tossed it aside. "Now that we're fighting outside, I don't have to hold back!" The man fired red energy blasts at the machine. The blasts collided with the attacker but when the smoke cleared, there wasn't a scratch on him. The red mechanism crossed his arms and the blue gems on its wrist began to glow green. When they stopped glowing, it charged at the councilman and started punching him rapidly. The man managed to grab the machine's fist and kicked the machine away. The attacker once again crossed his arms and they began to glow; when he was done charging, he fired a large green beam at the councilman, blasting him into the fiery church building. It didn't take long for the man to emerge from the flames with his shirt trashed. He placed his hands together and channeled his energy into them, while the Celestial mage watched in awe as these two warriors battled each other with powers she had never seen before.
The man used his energy to form a giant, spiraling, crimson-pink energy ball with a reddish-pink sphere in the center, and then he tossed it at his opponent. The attack crashed into the machine and consumed it in a massive explosion. When it ended, the man smirked, thinking that he won, but then sensed something above him and looked up just as the machine came down and bashed him into the ground. The machine then glanced over at the Celestial mage before it pulled out a red crystal blade. The oppressor flew toward the woman, who made an attempt to run but soon found herself pinned to a tree. The machine pointed the dagger at the mage who was struggling to get free while staring at the weapon about to impale her.
Before the blade could reach her stomach, a hand grabbed the machine's wrist; the councilman was struggling to keep the machine's weapon from piercing the Celestial mage. The machine managed to get the tip of the blade to jab the woman; in that instant, a bright red light began to radiate around the three. When the light died down, the celestial mage was covered with black markings. The machine pulled the knife back and the female mage collapsed on the ground, unconscious. The fighting mechanism knocked the councilman aside and muttered, "It is done, the link has been severed. My mission is complete." On that note, the machine disappeared.
The councilman quickly went over to the mage and began to check on her. "This isn't good. Her heartbeat is low and her pulse is weakening," the man thought. He placed his hands on her chest and started pushing. The black marks started fading away and her eyes slowly opened."Are you alright, ma'am?" the man asked her. She looked over to the burnt rubble that was once a building. "The curse didn't affect me, but I wish it did so that I wouldn't have to suffer this pain," she muttered. "My home is destroyed, the link is severed, and I've lost my magical power. I'm no longer a Celestial mage." Tears began to form in the former mage's eyes.
"At least you're still alive," the councilman said. He then brought out a communication Lacrima and started talking to it. "Howdy, there Tyson Hammer. Head Chief of the 3rd Custody Enforcement Unit reporting! How are things on your end, Lahar?"
Back in the woods, the leader of the Legion Platoon was tossed into a tree by the Demi Saiyan. Byro stood up with many bruises on his body and cracked armor while Gohan barely had a scratch on him. Byro was taking deep breaths as Gohan slowly walked toward him. "What sort of child is this?!" he wondered. "I must be fighting at my best, and this boy looks as though I'm no challenge to him! How can he have so much strength? What kind of power is he hiding?!" Gohan stopped a few feet away from the Legion leader and Byro braced himself in case the boy decided to attack again.
"Listen, I know we're supposed to be enemies, but I don't really want to hurt you," Gohan spoke. "I just want what you guys stole from Lucy."
"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to take this clock hand, boy," Byro responded. "As a proud member of the Legion Platoon, I must fulfill my duty to the Archbishop."
"Are you saying that you'd risk your life for this Archbishop and for Zentopia?" the Saiyan inquired.
"Yes," Byro answered.
Gohan sighed as he realized that his opponent wasn't going to back down. "Then you leave me no choice; I'll have to end this now." He then raised his hand and aimed it at Lord Byro; his palm began to glow as he focused his Ki into it. His face showed seriousness as he prepared to fire an energy blast at the Legion leader.
"Go ahead and hit with your best shot, boy," Byro goaded. "I can neutralize any type of magic, so your attack won't harm me at all."
"That's what you think, but there's something you should know about me…" Gohan said when he finished charging his attack. "I don't use magic!" He launched the Ki blast at his opponent. Byro waved his staff in an effort to nullify Gohan's attack; however, the blast hit the ground in front of Byro, creating a small explosion that sent him flying backward into a tree. Byro landed on his face and Gohan lowered his hand.
"W-What?! H-How can there be any kind of magic that I can't neutralize?!" he managed to ask.
"Like I said, I don't use magic," Gohan repeated. "That should keep you down for now." He then walked over to Lucy's clock piece and plucked it out of the ground. "Sorry it had to come to this, but I have to give this back to my friend. A little warning, tell your friends not to mess with Fairy Tail again!" He turned his back to Byro and started to walk away when he felt a strange sensation and his body stopped moving on its own. "What?"
"Like, where do you think you're going, puppet?" asked a feminine voice.
Gohan managed to turn his head to see Coco, Mary Hughes, and Sugarboy had woken up from the nap he gave them and had joined their leader. Sugarboy was helping Lord Byro up along with Coco, while Hughes had her wand pointed at the Demi Saiyan. "Gotta say, that was a nice stunt you pulled, Sky boy. I was seeing stars before I knew what hit me, spicy!" Sugarboy commented.
"Geez handsome, you hit kinda hard for a kid," Coco groaned.
"We don't appreciate someone humiliating the Legion Platoon like that," Hughes said. "But you can make it up to us by giving us that clock piece. Now be a good boy and come here." She waved her hand and gestured the Saiyan to approach her. Gohan's entire body was shaking as he struggled to fight against Hughes' controlling spell. "That's it, just come over here," she said as the Saiyan moved closer to her. The son of Goku abruptly stopped moving; his body was still twitching but he wasn't moving any closer to Mary Hughes. "Huh? What the heck?!" Hughes exclaimed in surprise. "Come on, little puppet, get over here and give me that thing!" she ordered as she poured more magic power into her hand. Gohan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist while still not moving, and his body started emitting a white aura as he glared at Hughes.
"I won't let you control me again," Gohan muttered. "I'm not your puppet."
"What did you say?" Hughes questioned.
"I SAID I'M NOT YOUR PUPPET!" Gohan shouted as his aura exploded and blew the Legion Platoon back.
"Whoa! How did you do that?!" Hughes cried in shock.
"Just one of the many things I can do," Gohan replied. "I don't have the time to stick around so I'm just gonna leave." The Demi Saiyan turned and started walking off but had to stop when Coco appeared in his path. "Is there a problem?" he asked her.
Coco nodded. "As a member of Zentopia and of the Legion Platoon, I can't let you get away with that clock hand!" she declared. The Athlete threw multiple kicks at the Z Fighter, but he effortlessly blocked her attacks before knocking her over to her comrades.
"Why do you guys keep trying to stop me?!" Gohan asked. "Why can't you just back down?!"
"It is the will of the Archbishop, in order to invoke the Holy War," Byro answered. "It doesn't matter what comes our way, even if we have to attack your guild again, we will!"
"Then I'll just have to make sure you can't!" Gohan yelled. He then cupped his hands together and channeled his Ki into them. A blue orb appeared in between his palms. The Legion shielded their eyes from the light shining from Gohan's energy. "Ka… me… ha… me… Ha!" The half Saiyan fired a blue beam at the Legion Platoon, who stood paralyzed with fear at the kind of power this child was able to unleash; however, just before the blast could hit them, someone jumped in front of it while holding something big and shiny. The energy attack crashed into the shiny object and swirled into a ball before flying straight back at the one who fired it. Out of surprise, Gohan instinctively jumped into the air to avoid getting hit by his own attack. After he went airborne and his attack crashed somewhere else, Gohan was suddenly tackled and restrained by what felt like a full grown muscular man with furry arms. The Saiyan hybrid spotted a green beam coming right at him; he powered up and broke free from his bindings before swatting at the magical attack. The moment the attack came in contact with him, his body started glowing green.
After a second, Gohan checked himself when the light around him faded; he looked the same, but he could feel that something was wrong with him. He descended to the ground and noticed something off: the trees in the forest around him were much bigger than they should have been. He then saw the two members of the Legion Platoon that attacked him were towering over him like giants. "What the heck?! How'd I get so tiny?!" Gohan shouted in a squeaky voice before he realized what had happened. "That green blast must've shrunken me!"
"The boy fell for the trap, just like I calculated," one of the giants said. "Now Dan, if you wouldn't mind."
"Sure thing, Sammy!" the other giant exclaimed as he raised his foot over the Saiyan. "Sorry kid, I'll make this as quick and painless as possible!" The giant lowered his foot onto the boy, but Gohan quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the foot completely. When the giant saw that he missed his target, he attempted to stomp on him again. Gohan, using his superior speed, managed to evade all of the giant's attempts to squash him, and pretty soon, the other giant joined in and Gohan was dodging two giant feet."Guess my speed didn't shrink with my size," he thought. The other members of the Legion Platoon watched dumbfounded as their comrades ridiculously tried to squash what could be seen as a speedy grasshopper.
"Come on, guys!" Hughes cried. "Would you just crush that pest so we can, like, totes go already?!"
"Whoa Nellie, Sky boy's still as quick as ever, spicy!" Sugarboy exclaimed.
"I'm not sure if I want them to squash him," Coco murmured.
"Enough of this nonsense! We're not here to play around with an insect!" Byro yelled. "Coco, grab the clock hand! Once it's secure, we'll retreat immediately!"
"Yes sir!" the Legion Platoon complied. Coco quickly ran toward Lucy's memento and picked it up while Sugarboy and Mary Hughes carried Lord Byro over to the giant octopus. The two trying to stomp on tiny Gohan went over to Kanaloa. Coco started running to join them on the enormous sea creature, but before she could jump onto it, something grabbed the clock hand and pulled on it, making her stop moving. She looked back and saw the mini Saiyan pulling on the clock hand. "What the?!" she screamed. "Looks like I kept my strength, too!" said Gohan. He then lifted the object, along with Coco and began shaking it. "Sorry Coco, but I'm taking this back!" He shook the piece so hard that the Athlete Mage was forced to let go and fell to the ground. Gohan then powered up and flew off with the clock hand. "We can still go after him! He's most likely heading toward his guild!" Coco said.
"No. We will retreat for now," Byro decided. "It doesn't matter if they have that piece; there are still other pieces that we need to retrieve. We'll come for that one later."
"Yes sir!" the Legion obeyed. The six fighters of Zentopia climbed onboard the octopus and the sea creature jumped away, heading back to where they came from.
"Well this sucks!" Gohan shouted angrily as he carried Lucy's clock piece on his back. "How am I supposed to be a great warrior if I'm the size of an ant?!" He then sighed to calm down. "Well, at least I got this back for Lucy. Maybe someone in the guild knows how to change me back to normal size." He then began to ponder about the motives of the Legion Platoon. "What do these want with this thing anyway? Why is it so important to this Archbishop guy? And what's this Holy War?"
"Gohan? Gohan, are you there?" Warren's voice suddenly appeared in the mini Saiyan's head.
"Oh, Warren! Yeah, I'm here," Gohan replied.
"Thank goodness. Where have you been? Everyone's been worried about you, kid," Warren said.
"Sorry, I just had a run-in with the Legion Platoon," Gohan explained.
"Wait, you managed to find the Legion Platoon?" Warren questioned. "And you actually tried to take them on alone?!"
"Yeah," Gohan answered sheepishly.
"What? Are you hurt?! Why didn't you call us?!" Wendy's voice shouted in the Saiyan's mind.
"Heh! Sorry Wendy, I was a little miffed at what they did to us from before so I kinda wasn't thinking, plus I was out of Warren's range," Gohan said.
"You shouldn't try to do everything on your own, child," Makarov advised the boy. "As a member of the Fairy Tail guild, we're supposed to stick together and look toward our family for support."
"Yeah man, we would have loved to teach those jerks a lesson," Natsu put in.
"I agree with flame breath, you should have called us for backup," Gray added.
"Ok guys, I'll try not to do it again," Gohan promised.
"Gohan, were you able to extract any information from the Legion?" Erza inquired.
"No sorry, they didn't tell me much," Gohan answered. "But the good news is that I managed to get Lucy's clock piece back."
"Really! Thanks a lot, Gohan!" Lucy exclaimed happily.
"You'd better get back here so we can fill you in on what we learned," Warren told him.
"I'll be there soon," Gohan said.
"Wait a minute, you said the good news was that you got Lucy's gift back. Are you saying there's some bad news as well?" Erza asked.
"Uh, you'll see it when I get back," Gohan told them. He flew faster toward the guild hall. When he got there he landed on the ground and used the clock hand to knock on the door. Romeo opened the door and said, "Hey Gohan, glad you're back bro-" but was surprised to see no one was there while the clock hand was standing in front of him. "Uh, Gohan, where are you?" "Down here!" the son of Goku answered him; the fire mage looked down and his eyes went wide when he saw the mini Saiyan lifting up the clock hand. "Hey, Romeo! Is Gohan back yet?" Lucy inquired. Romeo came inside with his right hand behind his back and his left hand holding the clock piece, while wearing a shocked look.
"Romeo, what's wrong?" Natsu questioned.
"Where's Gohan?" Wendy wanted to know.
Romeo just held up his right hand, revealing the pint-sized half Saiyan standing on his palm. "Hey guys," Gohan said. Everyone's eyes popped out of their heads.
After getting over Gohan's size and relaying the details of what the Legion Platoon might be planning to the mini Saiyan, Team Natsu had decided to go to Lucy's mansion for more clues. The next morning, the team, Michelle, and the mini Saiyan were gazing upon the house. "Whoa!" Natsu exclaimed in awe despite seeing this place before. "This place looks kinda familiar."
"It's where Lucy grew up," Erza reminded him. "We came here seven years ago."
"Wow! This place is even bigger than the Capsule Corp," Gohan thought.
"Does the family still own it?" Gray asked.
"Well it looks like someone's been taking really good care of it," Happy stated.
"I suppose they would want to keep it clean and well maintained until a buyer can be found," Carla mused.
"Apparently that hasn't been easy, people have checked it out but no one's made an offer to buy it," Lucy said.
"Because nobody can afford it," Gray said.
"Such good memories! Your house always reminded me of a beautiful palace out of a storybook. I had so much fun here!" Michelle revealed in delight.
"Wait, you've been here before?" Lucy asked her sister.
Immediately, Michelle fell on her knees and started crying. "We used to play together here all the time!"
"Uh, that's right! Of course we did!" Lucy agreed in order to calm her sister down.
"Remember all the pretty clothes you made for me?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah sure, I remember," Lucy lied.
"You make clothes?" Wendy asked.
"I didn't think you were the handy type," said Carla.
"I bet you must've been adorable," Erza added.
"She used to make the cutest outfits out of colored paper and flowers," Michelle revealed.
"Wha…?" Lucy gasped in embarrassment.
"Oh wow!" Gray muttered while shaking his head. Natsu then came over to him.
"How would you be able to make clothes out of paper and flowers?" he questioned.
"Well, uh…" The Fire mage and the Ice mage starting imagining the blonde sisters wearing clothes like that, which turned out to be Lucy wearing a paper bikini and a paper hat while Michelle wore a bikini of flowers.
A tick mark appeared on Lucy's head. "Don't be creepy!" she shouted as she sent the two flying with a kick.
After the boys landed and everyone got inside, Erza gave Natsu and Gray a stern look and asked, "Do you think you can finally get serious? Is that too much to ask?!"
"No, ma'am!" Natsu, Gray, and Happy replied.
"Ok, where do you think we should get started?" Wendy inquired.
"What type of clues should we be looking for?" Carla asked.
"Our first order of business is to split into teams," Erza said. "Each team will take a different area and scour every room from top to bottom. We're looking for old clocks, or anything related to clocks at all. If anything reminds you of the inscription on the clock hand, take note of it. Any literature written in ancient potamelian, anything that seems out of the ordinary. Clues may present themselves in different forms, so keep an open mind." The teams were Erza and Gray, Natsu and Happy, Lucy and Michelle, and last was Carla, Gohan, and Wendy. After the teams went searching for some time, Lucy and Michelle found a book with the title "To My Daughter." Lucy then summoned Grandpa Crux, who instructed them to see if the title was a sort of anagram. All the teams, aside from Natsu and Happy, were trying to figure out what else the title could spell.
"How are we supposed to know what the heck to look for?!" Natsu moaned as he and Happy entered the library.
"Let's look for some food," Happy suggested.
The two then noticed everyone staring at many letters. "Are you guys just playing a game?" Natsu inquired.
"No, we're not," Wendy answered.
"Please be quiet," Erza told them.
"We're trying to concentrate," Gray added.
"Is it some kind of puzzle?" Happy asked.
"We're figuring out anagrams," Michelle explained.
"Yeah of course, I know what those are," Natsu said, although it wasn't true.
"It's basically like a word puzzle," Lucy explicated.
"Sounds more fun than what I was doing, can I try?" Natsu asked. Then, out of nowhere, he sneezed, causing the letters to fly around.
"You just ruined our train of thought!" Carla yelled.
"We were all working so hard on this!" Wendy cried.
"Whoops, my bad," Natsu chuckled nervously. Something then slashed at him, missing him by a hair; Erza stood over him with a sword pointed at him, making Natsu and Happy's eyes pop out.
"I was on the verge of a huge breakthrough!" she said while glaring at the Dragon Slayer.
"Wow, Erza looks pretty serious," Wendy commented.
"Yeah, no kidding. Remind me to never break her concentration," Gray said.
"Hey guys, look at this," Gohan called, getting everyone's attention. They gathered around and saw that some of the letters had managed to form the word myth.
"The letters before you spell the word 'myth,'" Grandpa Crux noted as he hovered above the group. "That could be important."
"I think he might be onto something," Gray agreed.
"What can we spell with the other letters?" Erza wondered. The group rearranged the remaining letters until they used all of them, and the message before them was now, 'Duo great myth'.
"Duo great myth, as in two great myths?" Gohan asked. "But what does that mean?"
"Oh, I know!" Lucy exclaimed. "Check it out, there's a pair of books known as the two great myths. Both were written by Will Neville. One of them is called Life of the Clockwork and it also happens to be where that strange inscription came from."
"You have that book in your apartment, right?" Michelle asked Lucy.
"Yup, talk about a coincidence," she replied. "And the second book should be right here." She then held up a children's storybook for her friends to see. "Ta-da! Key of the Starry Heavens!"
"Isn't that just a picture book?" Natsu questioned.
"It's not just a picture book," Lucy corrected him. "It's an amazing work of art!"
"Well whatever it is, I bet the word 'key' is important," Gray suggested.
"It seems like the perfect place to begin looking for a clue," Erza agreed.
"You guys think it could be another anagram?" Lucy asked before quickly dismissing the idea. "No, probably not, but maybe if we look at it differently…"
Carla gazed at the cover of Lucy's book; the picture suddenly changed when the color changed into gray, and the little girl on the front cover turned to face the Exceed. Her face showed dread and sadness as she spoke just one word: "DON'T!" Carla gasped, which gained the attention of her Dragon Slayer. "Carla?" Wendy came over to her. Once again the white feline said nothing about the vision she saw.
"I don't know if it'll have anything to do with the clock hand or not," Lucy said. "But maybe my dad left some kind of message for me in this book." She then saw Happy holding up another children's book. "Uh, is there something you would like to share with us, Happy?"
"This is one of my favorite stories," Happy said. "Some say the Tortoise and the Hare is an amazing work of art, too."
"Would you be so kind as to hand over the book?" a voice asked out of nowhere. Everyone looked around but didn't see the person speaking to them.
"I'm not giving this to some random stranger!" Happy shouted defiantly.
"I don't find your joke to be very amusing," the voice spoke again. The door hand started glowing green before growing, causing the door to fly open.
"What just happened?!" Natsu questioned.
"The door just blew up!" Gray stated.
"What a rudimentary understanding," the voice said as someone small entered the mansion. "What happened was the handle grew twice its size, which in turn broke down the door." When the person came inside, everyone could see the intruder was a small gray cat wearing glasses and Zentopia clothing while carrying a journal.
"Whoa, that's crazy!" Happy said.
"I don't believe it!" Carla stated.
"He's an Exceed!" Happy cried. "But he doesn't look like anyone I remember seeing in Extalia."
"He wasn't there," Carla explained. "He must've hatched from one of the eggs that were sent to Earthland all those years ago, just like us."
"Tell us who you are!" Natsu ordered the Exceed.
"The brains of the Legion Platoon, the name's Samuel," the cat introduced himself while fixing his glasses.
"So you clowns came snooping around after all!" Gray said as he took his stance.
"I consider this an amazing feat, really quite spectacularly played," Samuel noted as he brought his wings out and flew up. "I was certain you'd do exactly as I predicted by coming here and finding a clue, so of course you found one. I amaze myself sometimes." After finishing his snobby comment, he opened his book and started reading as though he wasn't afraid that the others would attack him.
"Can I turn him into a cat-sicle?" Gray asked.
"Only if I can barbeque him as soon as you're done!" Natsu replied.
"You ready?!" Wendy asked Erza.
"I am," she answered while changing into her Lightning Empress armor.
"Let's go! Ice Make Lance!" Gray shouted as he fired an ice attack.
"You'll get nothing from us!" Erza declared as she shot numerous bolts of lightning.
"Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy cried as she fired her breath attack.
"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu yelled as he did the same.
All the attacks flew staright at Samuel but the flying cat still showed no sign of worry. Suddenly, a man with a smirk on his face came between Samuel and the four attacks while holding up a large shield; the attacks collided with the shield and stopped for a second before bouncing off the shield into different directions. "What the?!" Lucy cried as the attacks began to tear through the walls of her childhood home. "Don't wreck everything! I just decided that my number one goal would be to buy this house again someday!" Her friends looked at her strangely while she yelled at them.
"They were redirected, just like my Kamehameha wave last night," Gohan thought.
"What just happened?!" Gray questioned. "Some guy came out of nowhere and deflected our attacks!"
"Some guy? I'm the spear head of the Legion Platoon!" the man introduced himself. When the smoke cleared, they saw the second intruder was a dark-skinned man with brown hair, dressed as a knight, with a lance to match his shield. "My name is Dan Straight, so check me out!"
"Another personality disorder?!" Happy asked.
"You guys saw what I did with my shield, right?" Dan asked the fairies. "It's called Ricochet, get it? This baby takes any attack you throw at it and sends it right back at you!"
"That's a powerful shield," Erza stated.
"We gotta be careful with what we hit it with!" Wendy said.
"We don't wanna turn Lucy's childhood home into a burned up pile of rubble!" Gray added.
"Why do all you guys gotta be such pains in the butt?!" Natsu yelled.
"Come at me! It'll be the same as before!" Dan goaded them.
"NOT IF I MELT THAT THING FIRST!" Natsu screamed as he jumped at the Legion knight and unleashed a blaze of glory at it, but as Dan said, his attack didn't penetrate the shield. The fire then came back at Natsu and flew in every direction, nearly hitting everyone from Fairy Tail.
"CAN WE PLEASE TAKE THIS OUTSIDE?!" Lucy cried while clutching her book.
Samuel stood in the center of the flaming shower and pointed at Lucy. "That girl! She's the one with the book we need!" The knight turned his attention to the Celestial mage.
"This is getting serious! I'm gonna try and lead them outside!" Lucy said.
"But it could be even more dangerous out there!" Michelle warned her.
The Celestial mage faced the knight and held up the book. "Is this what you're after?! Then come get it, I double dare you!" she taunted Dan.
The Spear head just stared at her while blushing. He blinked twice as his vision of Lucy was surrounded by a pink background as she ran toward the exit; he then tossed his spear and it landed right in front of the blonde mage, intercepting her path. She screamed as the knight appeared right behind her. "Such beauty! Kapow!" Dan screamed as he placed his hand on his heart. Then he was kneeling on the ground, banging his fists in delight. "Such incredible beauty! It's as if love's arrow shot me straight through the heart but it just keeps beating stronger and stronger!" All the fairies turned white in disbelief from Dan's outburst. "It's almost too much for me to handle, but I can't get enough!" He then grasped Lucy's hand and shook it while asking, "And what do they call this loveliness?"
"Uh, Lucy," the blonde mage replied uncertainly.
"Lucy! I just can't take it! Lucy! Stunning perfection has a name!" Dan continued to express his joy. "Can I call you Lu-Lu? Looey? Lopey?"
"I don't know," Lucy said.
"I feared for this," Samuel muttered.
"That voice, those eyes, those lips, that hair, that chest, that waist, those legs!" Dan cheered as he inspected Lucy's figure. "A perfect Fibonacci sequence, in human form! Love on two legs! Beauty personified! L-O-V-E, spells love!"
"I just got super confused," Lucy confessed.
"True love!" Dan said as he formed a heart shape with his fingers; he then sensed someone trying to get the jump on him.
"Lucy!" Erza cried as she threw her spear at the knight, but he easily dodged the weapon and grabbed his own.
"Stay back! No one comes between me and my love!" Dan stated as he prepared for battle with Titania.
Erza requipped to her Flight armor. "You two make a break for it! They must not get their hands on that book!" she ordered Lucy and Michelle.
"Right," Lucy agreed.
"As for the rest of you, cover the girls while they escape!" she instructed Natsu, Gray, Wendy and Gohan, who were still dazed from Dan's performance.
"Uh, I just blanked out," Wendy admitted.
"We got overwhelmed by that craziness," Gray said.
"Kinda forgot that he was our enemy," Gohan added.
"Well, your ego seems to be extremely healthy," Samuel remarked.
"You shouldn't underestimate us!" Dan warned.
"Let me beat up this jerk!" Natsu offered to Erza, but she refused.
"Your job here is to keep Lucy safe, so get moving!" she told the others.
"Let's go!" Lucy called as she and her sister ran toward the exit.
"I wasn't finished talking to you!" Dan cried as he raced after the blondes. Natsu and Gray quickly advanced and attacked the knight, but his shield deflected their attacks once again, sending them through the walls of the mansion. The blondes screamed as the Exceeds carried them through the destruction. Happy looked worriedly back at Samuel, who glanced at him.
"Now then, taking into consideration the layout of a state such as this one." Samuel began to calculate before he addressed his comrade. "Dan, I trust that you'll neutralize Titania?"
"Yeah, I got it!" the knight assured the cat as he left.
"En garde!" Erza cried as she charged at Dan. Her sword clashed with his shield before its magic repelled her. "It can ward off physical attacks?!" Dan then jabbed at her with his spear, and she blocked the attack with her swords, when her blades suddenly glowed green and shrank greatly in size. Before Erza had time to process what happened, Dan jabbed at her again. She dodged and he struck the ground. Just like before, his target changed in size, only this time the ground grew to the size of a boulder that pinned the scarlet-haired mage to the bookshelf. Dan then tapped one of her swords, making it increase in size. "What kind of magic is this?!" Erza asked before she was almost impaled by her own giant weapon. She shrieked as the blade missed her and Dan appeared on top of the sword.
"Wow, that was kinda cute," Dan complimented her. "You are quite attractive in your own way, but it's a tea cup compared to the ocean of loveliness my Lu-Lu possesses."
"What's wrong with you?!" Erza questioned.
"Stay right there for now, until we meet again, Titania," Dan said as he used his magic spear on the books in the shelf right above the S-class mage. The books grew gigantic and came down on the armored mage.
"Hey, wait a minute!" she cried as the books rained down on her.
Elsewhere, the Exceeds, Gohan, Gray, Natsu, Lucy, Michelle, and Wendy were still fleeing the mansion when they heard a rumbling noise. "What was that?!" Gray wondered.
"I hope Erza's okay!" Wendy said.
"Me too," Natsu agreed.
"Come on, we need to hurry!" Michelle said to Lucy, who nodded.
"Guys, look!" Gohan alerted everyone. Standing in their path was the flying cat of the Legion Platoon.
"When did you get there?!" Lucy asked him.
"Just in time, I'd say," the gray cat replied. "Your moves are quite easy to calculate, I simply needed to factor how someone in your panicked state would move through this floor plan."
"Time for me to shut you up!" Natsu roared as he charged at the Exceed with his fists engulfed in flames; he swung rapidly at Samuel, but the cat effortlessly dodged all of his blows. Dan suddenly appeared and struck the Fire Dragon Slayer in the gut, and Natsu's body glowed green as he flew backward out the window. Gohan noticed the teen's body glowing and flew after him.
"That's it!" Gray cried.
"How dare you hurt our friend!" Wendy yelled. Both mages prepared to attack Dan when the ceiling collapsed onto them. They separated as Erza and the pile of enormous books crashed onto the floor, which freaked Lucy out.
Samuel nodded and said, "Precisely as arranged."
Outside, Natsu lay on the ground in pain when the half Saiyan came by his side. "Natsu, are you alright?!" he inquired as he helped the fire mage up.
"Yeah, I think so," Natsu replied. He then noticed that Gohan wasn't tiny anymore. "Hey, how'd you get back to normal size?"
"Um, actually…"Gohan was about to explain before they heard Happy coming.
"Where are you, Natsu?! Are you okay?!" the tomcat called frantically.
"I'm right here!" Natsu answered. His eyes then popped out when he saw a giant blue cat headed toward him and Gohan. The son of Goku quickly moved away but the son of Igneel wasn't fast enough and was immediately crushed by Happy's foot. The blue Exceed stopped running when he stepped on something small and heard tiny screaming; he looked at his foot and saw the mini Dragon Slayer crushed under it before jumping back in shock.
"Happy! Did you see where Natsu went?!"Lucy asked the Exceed when she and Michelle appeared outside.
"Yeah, I kinda just accidently stepped on him," Happy stated as he held up the pinkette.
"He's so tiny!" Lucy screamed.
"Just like Gohan," Michelle noted.
"By now, even you should've realized that escape is impossible," Samuel said as he appeared outside.
"What the heck have you done to Natsu?!" Lucy demanded.
"Those gorgeous lips are asking the wrong person," Dan answered. "My weapon is called Habaraki, a spear that can change your size! Your friend got a taste of its power last night!"
"So, you two are the ones who ambushed me!" Gohan realized.
"That's right, kid!" Dan confirmed.
"Now, kindly hand over the book so we can be done with this unpleasantness," Samuel said.
"Screw you, pal!" Natsu yelled in response.
"If you want the book, you'll have to beat me first!" the mini Saiyan declared as he powered up, although due to his size it looked like a tiny flare. He charged at the Legion knight with his fist ready, but Dan only laughed at the boy's bravery.
"Go ahead and take your best shot, pipsqueak, I won't even need my shield for this!" Dan laughed. The knight smirked as the mini Saiyan got closer. Gohan struck Dan in the cheek and, to everyone's surprise, the knight was sent flying into the wall of the mansion.
"I may be small, but I'm still as strong as ever!" Gohan proclaimed.
"How dare you humiliate me in front of Lu-Lu!" Dan cried as got back up. "Let's see how strong you are when you're squashed flat!" The knight tried to stomp on the tiny halfbreed, but just like the night before, Gohan was able outmaneuver his every attempt.
"I expected this might happen considering what that boy was capable of doing last night," Samuel mumbled. "Dan! Just simply use your spear to shrink the boy again!"
"You're gonna have to catch me first!" Gohan shouted as he disappeared and reappeared behind the knight. He kicked the back of his knees, causing Dan to fall on his rear. Gohan then grabbed Dan's wrist and lifted him up before slamming him into the mansion wall again. (A/N: Similar to what teen Goku did to Piccolo Jr.)
"Take that, you jerk!" Natsu yelled.
"Alright, Gohan!" Lucy cheered.
The Saiyan then grabbed Dan's spear and tossed it at the Fire Dragon Slayer; it struck Natsu in the chest and he returned to his original size. "Hey, what did you do that for?! Oh, I'm big again, thanks!" Salamander said.
"You can thank me by returning the favor," Gohan told him as he handed the spear to Natsu. The fire mage took it and poked the Saiyan with it, restoring his size. "Thanks."
"Now to get some answers!" Natsu declared as he pointed the spear at the unfazed Exceed from the Legion Platoon. "Tell what the Legion is planning, cat!"
"How about you hand over the book instead," Samuel responded.
"You mean this one?" Lucy asked as she held up a book. "Why don't you go and get it!" She tossed the book into the sky and the blue Exceed quickly grabbed it and flew off.
"How simple-minded," Samuel scoffed as he lifted up Michelle's dress; she screamed in embarrassment as the Exceed pulled out the Key of the Starry Heavens book, revealing that the one Lucy threw was actually the Tortoise and the Hare. "This is the book we want."
"The trick didn't work!" Happy exclaimed.
"How'd he know?!" Lucy questioned.
"Give it back, furball!" Natsu ordered as he tried to attack the brains of the Legion with his fire fists. He was smacked aside by Dan's shield as the knight had recovered from his defeat and retrieved his shield.
"I've considered every possible outcome," Samuel stated as he was reading the book quickly using magic specs. "And I have made plans for each one of them, which means I will forever be a countless number of steps ahead of you."
"Doesn't matter, 'cause I'm not letting you leave with that book!" Gohan shouted as he prepared to fire a Ki blast at the cat. Samuel then closed the book and tossed it to the Saiyan, which confused him.
"You can have it back now, I've already memorized every single page," he said. Just then, Erza in her Black Wing armor, Gray, and Wendy came outside and fired their attacks at the knight, but Dan easily blocked their attacks with his shield and redirected them. As the attacks were launched back, Samuel and Dan flew away.
"Bye Lu-Lu, next time we get together, let's have it be just you and me!" Dan called to Lucy.
"Tell me something, have you been putting on some weight, again?" Samuel asked his comrade.
"As least they left the book," Wendy said.
"After making complete fools out of us," Carla stated.
"I can't stand guys like that!" Gray said.
"They won't get away with this!" Erza declared.
"We can still go after them, so let's get 'em!" Natsu cried as Happy picked him up, but before they could go after the Legion, Gohan quickly got in their way. "What are you doing, man?!"
"Let it go, Natsu, we still have the book," Gohan reasoned. "Right now, we need to get back to the guild and figure out our next move."
Although he was still angry, the Salamander calmed down and grumbled, "Fine."
Lucy glanced back at her childhood home with only one thought in mind. "Dad…what exactly are you trying to tell me?"
A/N: Finally done with this chapter! Now I know it might not be my best work but I'm trying my best here; this is the only way it works for me and I do things my way. I promise the story will get better as I continue to write it. I'm still working on other stories and since I just finished my exams, I've got a lot to make up for and a lot of rethinking and brainstorming to do. Please be patient with me. Oh, one more thing, the reason for Gohan getting shrunken by Dan is so that we wouldn't directly fight Samuel and Dan right away when they cam to Lucy's mansion, cause if he did, he would've easily demolished them, and I really like Natsu which is why I didn't keep him small. As for Gohan still capable of taking on Dan while tiny, it's no different to when Goku fought the giant version of Piccolo Jr. or Golden Great Ape Baby Vegeta. Since he was equal/stronger than them he could easily battle them even with their size advantage unlike when he fought the giant version of Lord Slug or Great Ape Vegeta where he was weaker than them so he couldn't fight them well; Although Gohan was the one who's size change the principal is still the same since Ki isn't the same as magic. So Gohan was still stronger than Dan despite his tiny size and was still able to fight him easily. That's all for now, later! Send your reviews! Until next time TTFN AntiHero out!