A/N: This chapter has been one of my favorites to write so far, partially because we get another major change to the original canon, and some of the character development between Cana and Gorun that several of you have been waiting on. Also, a unison raid that I've been excited for since the beginning of this story. Anyways, read, review, enjoy!

OP Song: His World by Zebrahead (fast version)

Magic Battle Nexus Arc: Chapter 6

Primal Fury

"I hope we aren't going to wake them up," Yukino said as she followed Gorun to the Honey Bone Inn. "It is rather late."

"Nah, I know for a fact that they were just at a bar not fifteen minutes ago," Gorun said easily. "They might be winding down, but they're hardly asleep."

"If you say so," the girl replied softly. He glanced over his shoulder at her, noticing her slumped shoulders and the way that she kept looking down at the street while they walked. He considered asking about what was bothering her, then decided against it again. If there was a problem, he was certain that her guildmates could help her sort it out. She probably wouldn't want to hear the opinion of a wizard from a rival guild.

Not to mention that it seemed like every time he tried to help one of his comrades, he just bungled things up in one way or another. No, he should just mind his own business and let things sort themselves.

"Here we are," he said as they arrived at the inn. "They're up on the second floor- er, wait a sec. Dammit!"

"What is it?' she asked him dully.

"Wendy and Carla were supposed to be watching Kinana!" he muttered, frustrated. "But she's the only one I sense up there! Where are the others?!" He looked around, eyes narrowing as he concentrated on trying to lock down their power signatures. "I know I dropped Natsu off around here somewhere…"

"Yeah, onto a boat, ya jerk!" a familiar voice growled as five figures came walking up a street behind them.

"Sorry about leaving Kinana alone," Wendy said sheepishly. "But Carla and I had to go rescue him when I heard him screaming a few blocks away."

Gorun's annoyed gaze switched to Happy, who froze in place as the Saiyan asked, "So why didn't you help your partner?"

"You made him disappear, I didn't know where to!" the little blue exceed said nervously. "Lucy was helping me look for him when we ran into Wendy and Carla!"

"What?!" Lucy shouted, indignant. "That's not what happened! You were busy stuffing your face back at the bar, and I had to drag you along to help me look for him!"

"I knew it!" Natsu cried. The three friends started arguing loudly while Carla and Wendy just looked on with despondence.

"Erm…?" Yukino peered around Gorun's shoulder cautiously. "Should I come back in the morning?"

"Oh my gosh!" Happy shouted, pointing at the timid Celestial Wizard. "Gorun has another girlfriend! What a scandal! Kinana's gonna be so mad!"

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted in unison as they turned to look at Gorun and Yukino, the latter of which was blushing crazily. The Saiyan warrior, however, was thoroughly unamused. Blam! In the blink of an eye, Happy was flying higher than his wings could have taken him.

Gorun lowered his foot slowly from the position it had taken after sending Happy to meet the stars while he said in a deceptively calm voice, "Anyone else?"

"Nah, we're good," Natsu said nervously as he eyed his friend.

"Excellent," he said through a fake smile. "Now everyone, this is Yukino. She said she has some business with Lucy."

"Huh?" the blond wizard blinked, surprised. "Why me?"

"Please, do you mind if we discuss this inside?" Yukino requested timidly.

"Uh, sure," Lucy answered, looking hesitantly at Gorun, her eyes asking a silent question.

He nodded once in the affirmative, saying, "She wants to talk about something for Celestial Wizards only, or something like that. She isn't here to make trouble."

"Gorun is vouching for her, that's good enough for me," Wendy said as they began walking up the stairs that led to the entrance.

While Lucy and Yukino talked over the coffee table in the room, Gorun encouraged the others to give them privacy. Having noticed that Kinana was still fast asleep, and not wanting to disturb her rest, the Saiyan boy decided to wait with Wendy, Carla, and Natsu out on the balcony.

"So Gorun," Wendy asked after he had shut the door behind them, "Will you be entering the opening competition tomorrow?"

"Dunno yet, maybe," he answered easily. "I could do with a little action since I didn't compete yesterday." He glanced up at the night sky, noting that the moon was nearly full. If he remembered correctly, it would be completely filled by the evening of seventh of the month, four days from then.

"Whaddya think they'll be throwing at us this time?" Natsu wondered out loud with a devilish grin.

Gorun pondered the question for a small moment before he answered that. "So far the events have been designed to test different skill sets," he mused. "The first day needed a wizard with good reflexes and patience. The second day was a pretty simple contest of speed- unless you're a dragon slayer, I guess."

"Hey!" Natsu barked, apparently still mad about the fact that the race track had triggered his one weakness.

"Just saying," Gorun shrugged apologetically. "In any case, they won't want the crowds to get bored with repeats, right? So I figure this next contest will test something else entirely."

"Perhaps a test of strength?" Carla suggested.

"Yeah, maybe they could have some kind of lifting contest," Natsu grinned. Turning to Wendy, he added, "You should try that!"

"Me?!" she yelped.

"Yeah!" he nodded enthusiastically. "You can make stuff way lighter with your wind magic, and yourself stronger, too!"

"Th-That doesn't mean I'm the strongest person on the team!" the little girl said, panicking. "Erza's still way stronger than I am, even with the new spells I've learned!"

"Relax, Wendy, I'm sure Erza won't let you down if it comes down to that," Gorun chuckled lightly. "Besides, we don't know for certain if this is going to happen. All of this is conjecture on our part." He was about to say more, but just then a familiar blue cat landed on the balcony rail, looking exhausted and shook up.

Gorun gave Happy a once-over as his wings faded away and asked, "Did we learn our lesson?"

"Aye, sir…" the little exceed mumbled, lying flat on his back, staring vacantly at the stars. "First Erza, now this guy… No one appreciates my humor."

"You made fun of Erza's love life?" Gorun asked with a disbelieving shake of his head. "I'm surprised you're still in one piece."

"Aye…" Happy said again.

"While I can't say that Happy's comments were exactly appropriate, I thought you above striking your friends," Carla said as she frowned at the long-haired Saiyan. "You certainly could have hit him without sending him into the atmosphere."

"I was mad, Kinana means a lot to me," Gorun muttered defensively as the others looked at him reproachfully. "I don't like someone making light of that fact by insinuating that I would so easily go behind her back like that, especially after how she stood up to Bacchus for us."

Carla folded her arms and sighed, "Fair enough. Just try to remember that not all of us are as resilient as Natsu and Erza."

"I will," the boy promised. Looking over at Happy begrudgingly, he added, "Sorry I kicked you so hard."

"Sorry I made fun of you and that other girl," Happy replied weakly. "Are we friends again?"

Gorun's eyebrows raised, then he vanished from their presence. Before anyone could wonder where he had got to, he reappeared, holding a still-wriggling fish, caught fresh from the ocean. "Fairy' best friends," he grinned impishly.

Everyone but Happy groaned at the horrible pun, who seemed to have forgotten his long flight and the kick that had caused it in favor of the meal Gorun had brought him.

Soon after, Lucy opened the door and told them that Yukino had left. "So what'd she want?" Natsu asked as he walked in the room. He was careful to keep his voice low as to not wake Kinana.

"She… wanted to give me her keys," Lucy answered them in the same low voice, a strange look in her eye. "She had the last two golden zodiac keys."

"Wait, so you have the complete set now?" Gorun asked, eyes wide with surprise. "When was the last time all of the zodiacs were contracted to one wizard?"

"They never have been, as far as I know," the blond girl replied with a wistful smile. "And they still aren't. I didn't take them."

"Wha-?! Why not?" Wendy asked. Despite her surprise, she managed to keep her voice down low enough to avoid waking the sleeping purple-haired girl.

"This is most surprising," Carla mused. "You passed up quite the opportunity."

"A golden opportunity, some might say," Gorun grinned crookedly, though he was still clearly surprised by her decision.

Lucy ignored him and explained, "The bonds between a celestial spirit and their wizard, when treated properly, are irreplaceable. I couldn't take that away from her, even if she was offering of her own will to give them up. Maybe it was a missed opportunity, but I wouldn't have felt right taking it."

"Did she say why she wanted to give them to you?" Gorun inquired.

"She said that she wanted them to be with a wizard who could use them properly, and make them happy," she replied. "But honestly, her spirits seemed perfectly content with her during the match. I saw no reason to disrupt their lives like that."

"Huh," Gorun and Natsu muttered at the same time. They exchanged a look before Gorun asked, "You feel the same way, yeah?"

"Uh-huh," the pinkette nodded vigorously. "We gotta go after her. Can you track her down?"

"Easy," Gorun nodded, putting two fingers to his forehead and holding out his hand. "Grab on. I'm finding her right now."

"What're you two doing?" Wendy asked them as Natsu grabbed onto his hand, and Happy held onto his back, intent on going with his partner.

"Don't worry, we won't be long," Gorun smiled. "Just need to make an apology." Then they were gone.

Yukino was barely two blocks away when she heard footsteps behind her. Strange, she had been sure that no one had followed her from the inn, and her conversation with Lucy seemed to have been finalized. Perhaps it was just someone looking for a place to spend the night like her?

A somewhat familiar voice cancelled those thoughts and caused her to stop in place. "Wait up! Miss Yukino!" She turned around with some surprise to see Gorun, the fire dragon slayer, and a blue flying cat that reminded her of Sting and Rogue's companions.

"Sorry to run after you, but I didn't think you'd leave so suddenly," Gorun said as he and his friends came to a halt in front of her as she turned all the way around to face them.

"Yeah, we were worried we weren't gonna have a chance to catch up to ya," Natsu said with a grin. "I actually can't believe she stopped- guess she's not so bad after all!"

"Hey hold on!" Happy objected, frowning at his best friend before Yukino could understand exactly what was happening. "You can't just assume somebody's a bad person just cos they're in another guild!"

"Duh, why d'ya think me an' Gorun came out here to apologize to her for, ya dummy?" Natsu retorted.

"Apologize…?" Yukino asked out loud, confused. She looked to Gorun, who shrugged with a sheepish grin.

"So far so smooth," Happy said sarcastically. Turning to Yukino, he added, "Sorry about Natsu, ma'am. He can actually be mature when he really wants to."

"First I've heard of it," Gorun remarked.

"Aw, thanks guys," Natsu grumbled. "I can really feel the love."

"Wait… You all followed me out here…? To apologize?" Yukino asked slowly, not sure if she hadn't hit her head too hard when Kagura defeated her.

"Well, yeah," Natsu said with a sheepish expression. "I mean, it seemed like the least we could do when you seemed so down in the dumps."

"His words, not mine," Gorun interjected. "But yeah, you seemed like you could use a pick-me-up, and to be honest, we could've been a little nicer to you when you came to see us."

"Nicer?" the girl repeated, the word a little more than a whisper.

"Well, I don't think that squabbling in front of you was very polite on my part, so I'm here to apologize for that," Gorun admitted. "Also, I should've tried to make you feel more welcome instead of just passing you over to Lucy- bad hosting. So… sorry about that, Miss Yukino." He inclined his head toward her in a sign of respect and repentance.

"And I'm sorry I thought you were a bad egg just cos you were in Sabertooth," Natsu added, copying his friend's bow, though a little more dramatically. "Oh, and for following you- I guess that might've come off as a little creepy."

"N-No," Yukino said as her head lowered, her hair veiling her eyes. "You're very kind." The tremble in her voice that Gorun had noticed before was back, and it was getting stronger.

Uh-oh, he thought as he straightened up.

Natsu, of course, didn't notice. "Whew, glad that's settled," he said, shoulders slumped in relief. "Maybe we can- huh?!"

The surprised sound was drawn out of him as Yukino sank to her knees, sobbing while she covered her face with her hands. "I can't… take it anymore…" she wailed softly.

"Whoa! What'd I do?!" Natsu yelped. Usually when a girl cried around him it was somehow his fault, as Lucy was so fond of pointing out. He'd thought that he was getting better at not doing that!

Happy was quick to come to her rescue. "Whatever he did, ma'am, I'll fix it!" he assured the girl as he hovered next to her.

"No!" she sobbed, the word torn out of her. "You- You're all so kind to me! No one's ever been this kind to me, and I… I…"

Gorun went to move forward, then hesitated. His first instinct was to comfort this poor girl, and try to alleviate the source of her suffering. However, as he had just pointed out to the others earlier in the evening, he was very committed to his relationship with Kinana. He wondered if any actions taken on his part to help her through whatever had caused her to break down in front of them would come back to bite him later on.

He quickly decided that he could deal with the consequences later- right now, there was a person who clearly needed some form of support, and while he thought well of them both as wizards, Gorun was not as confident in Natsu and Happy's ability to bring comfort to someone in such stark distress when they had no idea what had caused it.

He knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, hesitantly, gently, afraid that anything too quick would be perceived as hostile in her stressed mindset. "Miss Yukino, what happened to you?" he asked simply, his voice steady and strong, hoping to convey a sense of security.

She told them everything. How she had idolized her now former guild. How hard she had worked to make it into the illustrious group. How she had felt on joining them. The elation she experienced when asked to be part of the team representing them in the games. Her horror on realizing her mistake when Kagura defeated her. The shame that stained her as she was forced to strip naked in front of the entire guild. The shattering of her spirit when she was forced to remove her own guild mark. How she no longer knew what she could even do with her life, if it was worth living on.

All of this, she poured out to them. As she went on, the horror on Happy's face grew and grew until he was close to tears on behalf of the poor girl. Likewise, Gorun and Natsu's faces continued to bear an increased level of emotion, but theirs' were not faces of the shocked. No, they bore the expressions of outrage and seething fury.

"Natsu…" Gorun breathed in a low growl as he stood up slowly, his hands trembling with emotion. "We have work to do."

"Damn right we do," the pink-haired slayer seethed, his teeth grinding viciously. "Happy? Ready for a midnight adventure?"

"Aye, sir!" the little cat nodded, his chin firming up.

"First things first," Gorun said as he looked down at Yukino, who was looking up at them blearily, through tear-filled eyes. "You're not finding a hotel tonight. You're staying with our friends, where it's safe."

"N-No, I can't-"

"You can and you will," Gorun said, a little more firmly than he meant to be. Seeing her flinch, he made a huge effort to control his temper for just a moment longer and held out his hand to her. "Please, Yukino. We're not leaving you out here alone. No one should be alone after what you've endured."

"I'll always be alone…" she sniffed miserably, wallowing in her self-loathing.

"If you believe in your spirits half as much as Lucy does, you know that's never been true," Gorun told her, his voice still firm, though not unkind. "And if that's still not good enough, from now on, feel free to call on any of us as a friend."

"Friend?" she repeated, like the word was foreign to her.

"Aye sir!" Happy said fiercely. "And we never leave our friends when they're feeling down, right Natsu?"

"Aye sir!" the fire mage nodded sharply. Turning to Gorun, he said, "Feel free to catch up- Happy and I are going now."

"I won't be far behind, promise," Gorun said with a strange smile. As the pair took off, her turned back to Yukino and said, "Please, Yukino. I can't in good conscience leave you alone like this. Stay with our friends for at least one night."

Stunned, and not entirely sure that he and his friends weren't somehow mocking her silently, yet feeling an odd glimmer of hope that things could get better after tonight, Yukino reached out and grasped the strong hand that had been offered to her.

Explosions rocked the building that was currently housing the mighty Sabertooth guild. Said disturbances were seemingly exclusive to the upper levels, where some of the guild members were resting while others had been socializing.

One of the members that had been trying to rest was Sting, who'd had it rough on the chariot race earlier that day. The violent shockwaves shaking his room had him wide awake quickly, and he tried to figure out what could be causing them. "The hell's happening?" he muttered as he started to get out of bed.

"Maybe's it's a party?" his best friend Lector, a brown talking cat that could sprout wings and fly, mumbled sleepily. Obviously his reflexes were not on the same level as his dragon slayer companion's.

Another set of explosions quickly heralded the arrival of a fully dressed Rogue and Frosch, the former of which looked thoroughly displeased. "There's an intruder," he said briefly.

"Everything's going boom-boom!" Frosch added helpfully.

"The hell?!" Sting yelped, surprised, though he quickly moved to don his favorite vest. "Who'd be stupid enough to attack us?! They gotta have some kinda death wish!" As they ran out of his room toward the center of the explosions, he threw on the blue garment, Lector and Frosch not far behind.

"No idea, but if they think they're getting out of here alive, they're in for a real shock," Rogue growled angrily, his red eyes gleaming.

They reached the main hall where the members of Sabertooth gathered for meetings and leisure time while staying at the hotel just in time for the big doors that led to another hallway were blown off their hinges, red-and-orange flames licking the ornate wood.

"Where is your master?!" a voice bellowed from the smoke and dust. Two men moved to attack the speaker, who was starting to become visible through the debris. Fast as lightning, the figure lashed out, kicking them both straight up through the roof and screaming, "TELL ME!"

The dust finally cleared enough to make the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth flinch and halt in place. It was Natsu Dragneel, fists aflame, and face twisted in fury as he stared down the majority of the Sabertooth guild- those he hadn't already thrashed.

He wasn't alone, either. Walking up behind him was a man whose sudden spike in popularity was in no small part due to the fact that he had gone toe-to-toe with Iron Rock Jura without there being a clear winner, and there were not many who would say he would have outright lost had the fight dragged on.

Gorun of Fairy Tail had assumed his golden-haired takeover form, heat and power radiating even from the distance he stood at. The rubble around him was actually moving away from where he stood, his aura was so intense. Emerald eyes blazed with anger, but it was a controlled anger, though just barely. Clearly, he was ready to let loose, and woe unto anyone foolish enough to stand in his way.

"Your master," he called out shortly, his tone biting. "Bring him out before I vaporize everything in this building to find him- seeing as I'm in a rotten mood, I may not bother separating people from property." He casually slapped a stealth wizard who tried to sneak up behind him with the back of his right hand, and the result was another large hole in the wall.

Sting and Rogue were about to move when there was a heavy footstep directly behind them. Then the gravelly voice of Sabertooth's master said, "If you two have something to me, say it."

"You the leader of this sorry bunch?" Natsu demanded, a hard-yet-wild look in his eyes. "I heard you have some pretty hard rules around here. One loss and you're out, eh?"

"What's it to you maggots?" Jiema snarled.

"We wondered if you played by the same rules as your underlings," Gorun said shortly, his eyes flashing dangerously. "Seems only fair, doesn't it, Natsu?"

"Yeah," the boy snarled, his flames growing brighter. "If he made his guild's rules, he should have no problem following 'em! So let's go- you lose to us, and you gotta quit the guild, too!"

"They're from Fairy Tail…" Gorun heard a blond man muse to his bulky, green-haired companion. He recognized both of them as competitors in the games.

"Yeah, but why?" Sting muttered, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that someone not only had the guts to storm their guild's temporary residence, but to also directly challenge their master?

"These guys are gonna get murdered," the Saiyan youth heard a brown-haired exceed mutter.

"Yeah, I don't wanna watch this…" said his green companion. The fear was plain in both their voices, if not their faces.

"Scared, are we?" Gorun challenged, and he wasn't just talking to the guild's master.

"You two actually think to fight me?" Jiema snorted. "Despite one of you taking on a wizard saint, that's a very foolish move." Gorun took note of his body language and power level as the man spoke. His power was respectable, he had to admit. He also knew that raw strength alone did not win a fight, or determine the caliber of a fighter, which is why he always took note of an enemy's body language. Right now, Jiema's attitude was relaxed, bordering on disdainful. So he was either confident or stupid, and despite his opinions on how Fiore's government worked, he knew that stupid guild masters were not tolerated by the Magic Council.

"We came here to teach you not to turn your back on people you're supposed to care about," Natsu bellowed. "So listen up!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jeima replied, apparently unmoved by Natsu's declaration. "But it sounds to me as though you think everyone should operate by your own personal moral code."

"Hello Kettle, name's Pot, have we met?" Gorun snarled. "Just because you're a guild master doesn't mean you get to run how others live their lives. Don't try to argue ethics when you forced a girl to shame herself in front of those she thought she could trust. You know full well what we're speaking of, dung sack."

"Hey, Doebengall," Jiema said in a bored tone. "Deal with these intruders."

"Yes sir," said a man with messy brown hair dressed in a ninja's black garb. He seemed to appear out of nowhere, and he quickly teleported behind the pair, energy spiking. His right hand was enveloped in a rainbow of colors that became a sharp blade of energy that shot out like a whip at Natsu.

Gorun caught the weapon, and with a flick of his wrist, sent the man up to meet the ceiling. Doebengall seemed to have quick reflexes, because he teleported before he could impact the roof, vanishing and reappearing several times in rapid succession in an attempt to disorient his foes.

"I may not be competing this year," he said in a soft voice. "But I am just as skilled as those who were chosen to represent us in battle. I suggest you leave if you know what's good for you."

"Stop hiding behind your flunkies and fight us!" Natsu shouted, charging forward, seemingly intent on ignoring the man sent to combat him.

"I am the master of this guild, boy," Jiema replied as his subordinate moved to intercept. "I have better things to do than indulge you childish games. If you wish to fight me, you have to earn that privilege."

"And I will not let you near him!" Doebengall vowed.

"My business ain't with you, so outta my way!" Natsu screamed, ducking a set of needle-like energy darts that his attacker had cast before delivering a flaming uppercut that completely smoked his adversary, sending him as a smoldering heap to lie at his master's feet.

"Wanna try again for a jewel?" Gorun sneered, stepping up to be by Natsu's side once again.

"Master, I'll handle them," Sting volunteered, about to step forward, but he was stopped by Jiema's massive hand and forearm.

"You'll stay put," Jiema growled. These two fairies were annoying, he thought. However, he could admit that their resolve was… intriguing. Perhaps he could learn something from these strange wizards that had defeated so many of his foot soldiers and one of his elites without so much as a single scratch being put on them.

"Hraaaah!" Natsu screamed out his fury and launched a full-scaled magical assault on Jiema, at first without much success. Every single one of his blows seemed to be met by some kind of force field that made the air shimmer like the ripples a stone causes when thrown into a still pond. Jiema simply kept one fist in front of his body, content to let Natsu wear himself out.

"You have spirit, boy," he mused aloud, as if talking about nothing more interesting than the passing weather. "Unlike those in my guild… It's interesting." He let Natsu get in another couple of punches before moving to make a counterstrike. "However, spirit is not enough!" He moved to crush the little pink-haired wizard so that he could get back to his night of leisure.

That changed when one of his blows got inside of Jiema's defenses and caused the man to double over as Natsu's flaming fist slammed into his gut. Then it was a slugfest as Natsu rained blow after blow on Jiema, all of them connecting with his body with such intensity that lesser men would have been killed fifty times over.

"Ready, Gorun?!" Natsu snarled.

"Waiting on you!" the golden-haired wizard shouted, having been almost forgotten by the Sabertooth guild master.

"Hmm?" He muttered as he looked over at the other intruder, before his eyes widened slightly.

"Magic Fusion!" they cried in unison. Gorun's hands were cupped by his ribcage, blue light pooling between them. Natsu had quickly adopted a similar stance, with flames dancing between his hands. "Fire Dragon… Kamehameha!" In perfect sync, their hands shot forward, and a blue magic circle tinged with orange sprang to life, aimed at Jiema. A beam of energy that blazed with the heat of the sun while trailing orange flames shot out on a path to scorch the master of Sabertooth.

An explosion that dwarfed the previous ones that night rocked the city block. It took several moments for the dust to settle, but when it did, they were all surprised at the outcome. A young woman, face heavily decorated by makeup and clothed in a blue dress, had appeared seemingly out of thin air to interpose herself between the fused spell and the guild master. The air around her fingertips shimmered like water with a rainbow tint as she stared at the two Fairy Tail boys with a bemused expression.

"Minerva," Jiema growled. "How dare you interfere? I was about to crush these two insects."

The woman smiled and inclined her head in her master's direction before saying, "Forgive me for my interference, Father. I simply sought to save you a headache." The big man grumbled under his breath, but made no move to counter her appearance and influence in the conversation.

"More than his head will be aching when we're finished with him," Gorun snarled, green eyes narrowing.

"I doubt that," Minerva smirked before waving her arms gently in front of her. "I suggest you play nice if you want to take your kitty home in one piece." The air shimmered between her hands before Happy materialized, bound with ropes and crying loudly.

Gorun's sensitive ears prickled at the sounds the little feline was making- those were not the sounds of someone merely in distress. The loud sobs were drawn from the voice of someone who had been subjected to raw, stark terror. "What'd you do to him?!" Natsu demanded, taking a half-step forward.

Minerva clutched the small exceed closer to her with a dark smile and said, "Ah-ah… We're not here to discuss my behavior right now. The way I see it, we have three intruders, and multiple of our members wounded as a result of their actions here tonight. Seeing as you're the aggressors, I hardly think anyone will object if we were to seek retribution. However, it would still be awkward for us if my father were to kill you two- might sour the mood of the games, don't you think?"

Gorun and Natsu said nothing in response, seething and furious that this woman had so effectively applied leverage against them. Seeing this, Minerva smirked again, savoring her victory.

"I'm willing to extend you an olive branch," she stated. "You seem to have vented your frustrations, however imagined they might be, thoroughly on our members. We will overlook this and return your precious kitty cat to you if you agree to walk away now without any further trouble. Then we can resume the Grand Magic Games like nothing ever happened."

Natsu gnashed his teeth, but quickly settled his temper before saying, "Fine. Have it your way." Minerva nodded and released Happy so that he could run into Natsu's arms, sobbing and blubbering.

"Natsu!" he cried. "I'm sorry! They caught me by surprise!"

"No, it's okay li'l buddy," the pinkette said in a soft voice as he hugged his friend close. "I should apologize to you, since we got separated cos of me."

"It's okay," Happy mewled, exhausted.

"C'mon," Natsu said, turning around. "Let's get out of here."

"You go," Gorun said, surprising the pair. "I'll catch up in a minute." Natsu looked a question at him, not moving from where he stood.

"Your time here is over," Minerva said coldly. "Your friend has agreed that you are to leave peacefully."

"He agreed that he and Happy would leave without further trouble," Gorun replied waspishly, his aura flaring slightly. "I won't stop them from doing that, but I haven't made any agreements to leave."

One of Minerva's perfect eyebrows rose slightly. "Oh?" she demurred. "And what will you do? Take on our entire guild alone? Even you aren't that powerful."

"Maybe, maybe not," the golden-haired warrior sneered. "Regardless, I'll leave… but only after one question is answered."

"You'll leave when m'lady says to-!" Another Sabertooth wizard went flying through the roof, courtesy of a backhanded fist connecting to his jaw.

"Are you the one replacing Yukino in the games?" Gorun demanded, his eyes never breaking contact with Minerva.

"If you are referring to the child that recently fell out of our guild's good graces, then yes I am," she nodded once.

The saiyan hybrid nodded slowly to himself several times as he forced his golden aura to fade before muttering, "Minerva of Sabertooth… Your father has humiliated one friend of mine. You yourself have caused distress to another companion I value, and by proxy, yet one more comrade that shares a brand with me. There will be consequences for this- and my people don't hand out easy punishments."

"Your people?" Minerva laughed. "You mean that ragtag group you call a guild? What can they do against the might of Fiore's number one guild?"

Gorun smiled warmly at her, but his gray eyes were like ice. "Yet another log to be added to your funeral pyre," he replied as he walked over to put a hand on Natsu's shoulder. Speaking up, he added, "All of you will soon learn the consequences of turning your back on someone you're supposed to care for." With that, they vanished with his instant transmission.

The trio reappeared at the Honey Bone Inn where they found Yukino talking quietly to Lucy and Erza. The others were all awake, including Kinana, who gave Gorun a tired smile as he started to walk towards her. However, before he took two steps, Gray approached them with a heavy scowl on his face before asking, "Just what were you two thinking?"

"That some renovations were in order at the Sabertooth guild's hotel," Gorun smirked.

"No, I mean how could you go without me?!" he growled. "I wanted to fight some of those jerks too, you know!"

"You snooze, you lose," Natsu laughed, enjoying the fact that he'd gotten in on a good fight without his icy rival.

"Enough, all of you!" Erza said sternly as she rose and strode over to them with quick, angry strides. "What happened over at Sabertooth's hotel? We heard explosions." Gorun summarized their encounter with the guild master, and the terms on which they had parted. Erza ground her teeth in response and growled, "Natsu, Gorun, what you did was foolish and dangerous! Have you forgotten that we're representing everyone in the guild with our actions this week?! If you really did cause a ruckus with Sabertooth, what's to stop them from taking revenge in kind?"

"Yes, now that you've angered them, we can expect every member of Sabertooth to have it out for Fairy Tail," Carla added.

Gorun's eyebrows met in a sharp 'V' above his eyes. "So what, we were supposed to do nothing after what they did to Yukino?" he demanded. He had briefly appraised Erza on the girl's situation before vanishing to join Natsu in his battle against the tigers. "Last I remembered, Fairy Tail doesn't let its friends suffer without retribution. Besides, Sabertooth can hardly admit that it got thrashed by a supposedly weaker guild if they want to maintain their image."

Before Erza could utter a sharp retort, Kinana spoke up. "We know your intentions were good, Gorun," she said with a sad expression. "But the reality is that even if this Minerva person said that they'll act like nothing happened, their guild is still very likely to try and take revenge in the games."

"Ah, let 'em," Natsu snorted, cracking his knuckles. "We took on some of their top guys and they were total pushovers."

"You haven't gone up against Minerva in a real battle," Yukino said softly, causing everyone's eyes to swing to her. "She's unlike any of the others on the guild's team in terms of magic power and battle prowess."

"She and her father seemed very sure of themselves," Gorun admitted after a slight pause. "Their power levels are nothing to laugh at, either." Erza glanced sharply at him as he spoke, though he didn't notice. For Gorun to admit someone's strength, they clearly had to be in a league above the normal run of wizards.

"Great, as if Raven Tail wasn't enough to deal with," Lucy groaned unhappily.

"What's done is done," Erza said heavily. "From now on, if you have a problem with either of those guilds, take care of it in the games, unless we have express permission from Master Makarov. Am I understood?"

"Yeah," the others mumbled.

"Good, now let's all get some rest," the redhead ordered. "Yukino, you can take Natsu's bed for the night." Since the six beds were already filled by the six active and reserve members of Fairy Tail Team A, one of them was going to have to give up a bed to accommodate their guest. Since she couldn't punish Gorun, she figured taking away Natsu's bed would do for now.

"N-No, I can-"

"Why do I have to sleep on the floor?!" Natsu demanded, cutting off the silver-haired girl.

Wham! "Because I said so," Erza said simply as she walked away from the Salamander, who was lying unconscious on the floor after her fist had collided with his head. As she walked to show Yukino to the bathroom, where she could freshen up, Gorun took the moment to make his way over to his girlfriend's bedside.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," he said, relief evident in his voice.

"I'm glad to see you safe, especially after you do silly things," she smiled up at him as he grasped her hand tenderly. "Seriously though, we need to play it safe until the games are over at least."

"Neither of us were hurt," he protested weakly.

"Happy got kidnapped," she reminded him, causing him to wince.

"Okay, fair point," he sighed. "Next time, don't bring Happy with me on crazy revenge missions."

"Aye, sir," Happy agreed from where he was sitting on top of Natsu's unconscious body. Apparently he wasn't going to protest against sleeping on the floor when it was Erza who had ordered them to give up their bed for the night.

Kinana squeezed his hand firmly and looked at him with somber eyes. "I can't tell you to be careful, since a wizard's line of work can be very dangerous," she said. "But please don't put yourself in unnecessary harm's way. Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same without you."

He wanted to argue that what he had done was necessary, but he made sure to pause and measure his words carefully before he did, as to avoid a major conflict with her. "I just don't have it in me to let someone that's been so wronged continue to suffer without making sure their transgressors are punished in some way," he finally said. "And it's in my nature to act swiftly. To not have gone over to Sabertooth's residence tonight would have gone against what I believe to be right."

"I know," she said with another squeeze of his hand. "But now we need to face the consequences of your actions, good or bad."

"You mean the guild?" he queried at her use of the word 'we'.

"Well, yes, but more immediately, you and me," she told him. "I'm with you, Gorun, and that means that your actions have an impact on my life, too. I'm glad that we've gotten close as we have, I really am. I just want you to remember that when you act in such a big way, I'm going to be standing beside you through it." The Saiyan felt a new surge of warmth for his girlfriend, and before he could think on it much, he leaned forward and kissed her right on the mouth.

For a moment, he had thought that she was angry with him, and maybe a part of her was. However, she had spoken to him in a way that conveyed that while she didn't wholly approve of his actions, she had reaffirmed that she would stand beside him in times like these. She's right, I need to be more mindful of how our relationship affects us both, he thought as he broke contact with her, standing up straight with a huge grin on his face. He was about to tell her so, and add in a 'thank you' for good measure, when he felt a pillow smack him in the side of the head.

"Get your own room if you wanna make out!" Gray told them.

Both Gorun and Kinana flushed deep red when they realized that everyone but Erza, Yukino, and Natsu had just seen them kiss. Wanting to wipe the smug expression off of Gray's face at that moment, Gorun snatched up one of the pillows on Kinana's bed and flung it full force at the ice wizard's face.

The other boy ducked and the pillow went sailing to hit Lucy, causing Gorun to wince in alarm. "Sorry!" he called as she glared at him.

"Haha!" Gray laughed. "Too bad you can't aim that as well as you aim a Kamehameha!" Thwack! "Ow, Lucy!" he protested as he turned around to see the blonde Celestial Wizard holding the pillow she had thumped him with. "What gives?"

"You ducked, so it hit me instead of your ugly mug," she said as if that explained everything.

"Pillow fight!" Happy exclaimed.

The next day at the Grand Magic Games was to be presided over by of course, professional commentator Chapati and former Council Member Yajima. This time, their guest speaker was what some might have considered an unusual choice- Magic Council Enforcement Officer Lahar. Gorun's eyes narrowed as he gazed up at the relatively young, bespectacled man. "He's the one that arrested Jellal in the Nirvana incident, yeah?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Mirajane nodded. Looking over her shoulder, she added, "I guess that explains why he's not even here today."

So we were right not to let him take an active role in the games, Gorun thought. If this Lahar person has been watching the games, odds are that he would have recognized Jellal, disguise or no. Still…

"Hey, where's that Sabertooth girl that you helped out yesterday?" Mirajane asked him.

"No idea," Gorun said with another frown. "She was with Lucy for breakfast, but I haven't seen her since. I'm kind of worried about her, if I'm being honest."

"Maybe she decided she wanted to go home after what happened yesterday," Juvia offered.

"Maybe," Gorun agreed half-heartedly. "I just wish there was something more we could have done for her."

"You mean besides blowing up her old guild's hotel?" Gajeel grinned.

"I stand by what I did," Gorun sniffed.

"Look, not that that this isn't fascinating, but I think we're out a reserve member," Laxus muttered, bringing their attention back to the fact that Jellal was not present. "In that case, we'll have to play it safe for the rest of the games."

"Screw that noise," Gajeel said dismissively. "If I'm competing, I'm not holding back."

"Maybe we could have one of the Thunder Legion fill in the reserve member spot," Juvia suggested. "After all, all three of them partook in the S-class trials seven years ago."

"That's not a bad idea, I'll ask Gramps about it," Laxus agreed after thinking about it briefly.

"There's no need, your reserve member is already here," said a familiar voice. The others looked back up to the entrance to their box and were surprised to see Cana, dressed in a white jacket that covered her arms, but left her black bra and midriff exposed. She also wore tight black leggings that showed off her fit legs. Gorun was tempted to smack himself in the face, but before he did, he noticed that while her clothing style hadn't changed, she seemed completely sober, and there was no flask of any kind on her person.

Forcing himself to meet her gaze, he raised his eyebrows in a question. She saw it, rolled her eyes and said in a flat tone, "Yeah, I haven't drank since our contest. You won. Congrats."

"Okay, look," he said, forcing himself to take a deep breath to calm himself. "Can we start over now? I realize that I probably crossed a line with my terms of the bet, so for that, I'm sorry. All I want is what's best for my friends in the guild, and I thought that was the best way to get through to you. I am sorry that I projected my moral code onto you, though."

Her purple eyes stayed cold for several seconds, the tension in the box growing thicker by the second. Then her gaze warmed up and she even gave him a small grin. "Well, you did give me an out- several times," she said as she walked closer to him. "I can't say you weren't a gentleman about it. And I did lose, fair and square, so I'll hold to the terms you set- even if I don't like it."

"Does this mean that we can be on friendlier terms now?" he asked hopefully, eager to bury the hatchet between them.

"Hmm… I'm still mad that you're making me quit, and what you said about my clothes," she said, her lips going flat again, and he felt his spirits sink a little. However, she did go on to say, "I understand that you were just trying to look out for me, though. You're the first person to actually have some spine to his argument, too, so I'll cut you some slack and offer you another deal."

"A deal?' he inquired, curious, though he hoped she wasn't going to challenge him for her right to booze out again.

"If Fairy Tail Team B takes home the grand prize… If you show that your convictions aren't just words and empty promises, I'll call it even between us," she said as she stretched out her hand for him to shake.

He did so eagerly. "I'll win this, just you wait and see," he grinned, relieved to finally be making some headway in his relationship with the stubborn card mage.

"You better, or I'll find ways to make your life hell," she said with a strangely aggressive smirk that left him feeling a little disconcerted.

"Okay…" he said uncertainly. "Got it…?" He looked to the others for clarification, but all they did was shrug and look unaffected. Actually, Juvia seemed to be enjoying the fact that he was uncomfortable, but she didn't say anything.

"Goodie," Cana smirked. "Now, what's happening?"

"We're just waiting for them to announce the name of the game before we decide who we're going to send in," Laxus answered.

"I've called dibs in any event if Jura is going to compete," Gorun added. "We have unfinished business."

"Still mad that it was a tie?" Cana said as she pulled out some of her tarot cards and began to study them.

"It wouldn't have been if I'd had ten more seconds!" Gorun said indignantly.

As it turned out, that day was Gorun's lucky day. The event was dubbed 'Pandemonium' by the judges, and almost immediately, he saw Jura taking to the field. "I call dibs!" he shouted as he leaped out onto the field, a little surprised when he heard the crowd cheering to his arrival as he walked out to the center of the field, where the other competitors were gathering. Deciding that it would be rude to ignore them, he waved a little bit to the crowds and smiled, glad to see that Fairy Tail was finally being seen in a positive light.

Among the competitors, he could see Erza, the green-haired man from Sabertooth, the blue-skinned figure that had attacked Wendy to represent Raven Tail, and a girl wearing a cape- and precious little else- coming from Mermaid Heel.

What is with the female population of this world?! Gorun thought as he smacked himself in the face. Haven't they ever head of a modern invention called pants?!

He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see Jura standing behind him with a broad smile on his face. "I'm glad to see that you're competing today," he said as they shook hands. "I look forward to settling the score once and for all."

"So do I," Gorun smiled back. "Though I hope your master doesn't spin you too much when you lose." He had seen what happened to the wizards that disappointed Lamia Scale's guild master.

"Hmm," Jura grinned again. "Let's wait until events have unfolded in their entirety before we draw any conclusions, shall we?"

"Fair enough," Gorun agreed, though he couldn't help but feeling confident. He was ready to once again show the world what he and the guild that he loved were capable of.

The last of the competitors gathered and fell silent as the pumpkin mascot began to explain the event 'Pandemonium' and its rules.

Gorun had seen many battles and many feats of unimaginable skill in his time, but Erza's battle against the monsters of the Pandemonium castle was one of the most moving displays of resolve that he had ever seen. Against odds that would have crushed most men, the Titania of Fairy Tail rose, stronger than ever. She pushed past the bruises, cuts, cracked bones, and doubts of those that watched to annihilate every monster that came to challenge her.

When she finished the last beast and was crowned the undeniable vanquisher of the castle, her entire team embraced her as the crowd went wild, for the first time truly exclaiming their adulation for the guild that they had once thought dead and better off forgotten. Thanks to Erza, Fairy Tail was beginning to see what could be the dawn of their glory days returning.

Once her teammates had finished congratulating and praising her, Gorun moved forward to say, "That was amazing, Erza. Remind me of this the next time I think sparring against you is a good idea."

She smiled tiredly at him, but her eyes were bright as she said, "I look forward to seeing what you'll come up with to surpass my performance here."

"That's a tall order, but I'll do my best," he laughed. Then her teammates led her away, eager to get her to see Porlyusica.

"Your friend is an admirable wizard," Jura commented as they waited for the judges to decide what to do next. After all, the event designed for eight people had just been completed by a single competitor, so they needed to come up with something for the others to do, too.

"Okay, everyone!" called the pumpkin-man, as if on cue. "I've just finished talking to the judges, and we've decided that the remaining competitors need to be ranked. So using the same order that you drew your sticks, we've set up a new game." He gestured to a large floating device with a spherical lachryma set in the middle as he added, "This game might seem a little on the boring side compared to Pandemonium, but it oughta suffice."

"What is that thing?" Olga, the green-haired man from Sabertooth asked gruffly.

"It's the Magic Power Finder, or MPF for short," the mascot explained. "It measures how much magic energy is being used and converts it into numerical form."

"So it's purely a contest of magical strength, then?" Gorun asked eagerly. When the mascot confirmed that it was indeed, a huge smile split Gorun's face from ear to ear. This competition could literally not be any more perfect for him. "Awesome."

"Now then, let's get started!" the pumpkin-man said, gesturing for the girl from Mermaid Heel- Millianna was her name, if memory served Gorun- to step forward.

She scored 365, which was a completely different number to what Gorun measured out in his head, but it didn't matter too much. As they soon heard from the judges, her score was actually a respectable one- high enough to place in her in the ranks of the soldiers that policed the kingdom with magic.

Surprisingly, everyone up to the man from Raven Tail continued to score lower and lower on the MPF. When it came to Obra from the former dark guild, he only clocked in at four points, and Gorun sensed absolutely no surge of magic from him whatsoever. What game are they playing at? He wondered as he watched the ever-silent raven skulk away. I expected them to cheat so that they could win the match, not lose it… What's his angle?

He filed the thoughts away for later when Olga stepped up to take his shot, curious to see just how strong this tiger was. He didn't have to wait long. Taking a stance not unlike the Kamehameha, Olga bellowed, "One-twenty millimeter Black Lightning Cannon!" Again, that dark lightning that reminded the Saiyan youth of Goku Black shot forth to strike the MPF dead-on. The number that came up when he was done was astounding to the audience.

"And Olga scores a whopping 3,825 points!" Chapati exclaimed.

"No way, he's ten times stronger than me?!" Millianna cried in shock.

"Damn," Gorun muttered. He had to admit, it was a higher number than he had been expecting. Still, it wasn't enough to make him worry.

Especially now that Jura was about to compete. Doing his best to ignore the obnoxious wizard while Olga began to sing into the microphone that he had taken from the mascot, Gorun paid very close attention to Jura's power levels, which he was quick to notice were rapidly rising.

"Do you mind if I give it my all?" he asked the referee.

"That's the game isn't it?" the pumpkin-man replied.

Oh boy, Gorun thought, sweating lightly. This is gonna get dicey.

He wasn't wrong. The moment Jura closed his eyes and began to concentrate, the entire arena began to rumble violently. A yellow aura surrounded him as he bent his brow downward in concentration, and Gorun recognized the attack that the man had been about to use on him during their battle. Let's see what he's got!

"Rumbling Fuji!" Jura bellowed. An earthquake of massive proportions erupted beneath their feet- only to be controlled at the last second by the wizard saint so that all the geo-kinetic energy shot skyward to strike the MPF device precisely. The score displayed was enough to make even Gorun's eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh my goodness, Jura scores more than twice as high as Olga with 8,544 points!" Chapati exclaimed. "I think we've set the bar for this competition!"

"Now don't forget, our last competitor has gone against Jura in the games already, and there was no clear winner due to a time constraint," Yajima argued. "Maybe this Gorun fellow will surprise us."

At least one of the judges thinks I can, Gorun thought dryly. Then, casting his gaze to Team B's box, he saw nods of encouragement and waving hands. Flashing them a thumbs-up and a confident grin, he stepped up to his place, only then looking at Team A's box. He saw them all giving him similar signs of encouragement, and something that made his eyes widen with surprise. Kinana was there, of course, blowing him a kiss, but that wasn't what surprised him- though it was definitely nice to see. Next to her, waving shyly with a small smile on her face, was Yukino, cheering him on alongside the members of Fairy Tail against her former guild.

Erza's words from the previous night came back to him then. From now on, if you have a problem with either of those guilds, take care of it in the games, she had said. Glancing at the green-haired man who was looking stunned at how outclassed he had been by Jura, he grinned as he thought of how good it would feel to take the loudmouthed wizard down another peg.

"Ready for me?" he asked the mascot.

"All set, pumpkin!" the little man said happily. "Do your best, okay?" The words were clearly meant to be conciliatory- after all, very few people in the crowd actually expected him to be able to measure up to Jura's raw power.

Just before he began to cast his magic, he said, "Quick question."

"Yeah?"

"The rules of this event say that I can hit it with any one spell, right? There's no restrictions on spells that I use on myself?" he asked swiftly.

"That's right!" the mascot nodded enthusiastically.

"Then here goes," Gorun grinned fiercely. "HaaaaaAAH!" Golden light surrounded him and infused his hair, transforming him into the Super Saiyan of Fairy Tail.

"Which attack do you think he's gonna use?" Natsu grinned. "I'm betting on the Kamehameha."

"Are you kidding? That Hellzone Grenade thing that he used on Jura the other day made the whole stadium shake, he's gotta be using that one," Gray argued.

"You're both wrong," Kinana told them from where she was standing. "He's got something else in mind that he hasn't used yet- though we did almost see it in action against Jura at the end of their battle."

"Wait, you mean the one with all the crazy lighting that went everywhere?" Lucy yelped. "Didn't you say he could blow up half of Crocus with that?"

"He could," she nodded. "But he won't. He's a lot more in control of himself this time around, see? I think he's telling them to position it so that he can blast it without causing any damage to the stadium or the city." Indeed, even as she spoke, the MPF was being moved by an unseen wizard to float higher in the air so that Gorun could use his spell properly.

"What's the name of the technique?" Erza asked curiously.

Gorun's arms were spread wide, and the heat from his aura was becoming unbearable to those that were close to him. If that weren't enough, lightning began to leap forth from his hands as he slammed his wrists together, just as he had the other day in the final moments of his match against Jura. It flew in multiple directions, causing several of the other competitors to take cover, but he was careful that it didn't hit the MPF. He didn't want to strike it prematurely and have them call it as his used spell.

For Yukino, he thought, willing more energy into his hands. For Kinana. Lightning scorched the earth next to Olga. For Fairy Tail. Another stray blast nearly zapped Obra, who hardly flinched. For the downfall of Sabertooth and Raven Tail! A white light appeared between his hands, and he knew it was time to act. This is the primal fury of a Saiyan!

"Final… FLASH!" He screamed so hard, it was a wonder that his voice didn't break. A large yellow magic circle appeared and spewed forth a monstrously-sized beam of pure etherion, swallowing up the MPF and shooting off into the sky. It was a tremendous, terrifying display of power, and it lasted for a good fifteen seconds before he released his focus and the beam shrank down until it finally disappeared altogether.

When it was all over, the crowd was dumbstruck. In a day full of events that just seemed to grow ever more impossible, this was the final stretch for them. The MPF was gone without a trace, only Gorun's score remaining where the device had once been, and even then, they couldn't be sure that it was accurate- after all, it was clear that the mechanics were not supposed to read higher than 9,999. It was a record that would stand for many years to come.

"And it's over nine thousand!" Gorun burst out laughing, dropping out of his ascended form. The crowd went wild again, praising his efforts and recognizing Fairy Tail wizards for what they were- powerful, determined, and ready to throw their entire selves into the competition so that they might win and restore their good name.

"It seems that Fairy Tail is really on a roll now!" he could hear Chapati exclaiming into his mic. "Can anyone stop them?!"

Struck by a sudden burst of inspiration, Gorun shot up into the air and hovered right below his displayed score so that as he raised his hand in his guild's sign, his finger pointed directly to the evidence of his victory. "There is no stopping us!" he cried exuberantly. "We're number one even now, and we're gonna prove it!" Lowering his hand, he slowly floated downward, fixing his gaze on Sabertooth's box seats to lock eyes with Minerva.

He saw her lips tighten and her brow bend downward as her eyes conveyed the message, Enjoy this while you can.

Oh, we will, his smirk replied.

Gorun: Okay, Fire Dragon Kamehameha? What's the difference between it and regular one?

Mataras: Mostly that it would be more potent against a dragon, which could be important during the Dragon King Festival arc. Also, it torches stuff more than disintegrates them.

Gorun: Sweet. Also, I'm glad that I seem to be making some headway with Cana- that whole thing was really starting to bother me. You know I don't like having conflict with my guildmates!

Mataras: Yeah, but what good is character development if I don't push you both out of your comfort zones?

Gorun: Fair enough. Now, when do I get to pound Minerva into a pulp?

Mataras: Not long, relatively speaking. It'll be another month before the next chapter is released, so there's that.

Gorun: Cool. Next time- Ethereal Issues

Next time on Saiyan Tail...

They watched in tense anticipation as the battle began, with Alexei taking an overwhelming lead against the gifted Lightning Dragon Slayer. As Laxus tried desperately to fight back, Fairy Tail Team A shouted encouragement to the young man. However, despite the intense battle taking place in the arena, none of the six power levels that had taken to the field had engaged in battle so far. Furthering Gorun's suspicions was the fact that he was picking up on absolutely no ki from the four members of Raven Tail that were watching the match with maniacal grins. If they had zero magic power in them, they wouldn't be smiling like that, the youth thought grimly, remembering the state Wendy and Carla had been in when he and Kinana had found them in the gardens. They're probably illusions, too.

Gorun wished that he could engage telepathy magic on his own, but it was a skill he had never spent any length of time on, preferring to hone his combat abilities. He berated himself for it now, wishing that he could call out to his comrades to let them know what was happening. As it was, he was going to have to act on his own, and hope that he could unmask Raven Tail's plans before anything happened to Laxus. He knew that the young man was immensely powerful, but even the mightiest of fighters could be brought down by simple bad luck, as he had seen before. He'd rather not take chances.

So thinking, he continued to pour his energy and concentration into his fingertips, biding his time until the moment was right to unleash Master Piccolo's technique. It was taking longer to charge than he could like, but if he went Super Saiyan to power it more quickly, he would definitely attract more attention than it would be worth. He needed to stay unnoticed, unhindered, until…

He felt one of the power levels on the field spike, and it didn't belong to Laxus. Not hesitating for a second, he took his fingers off his forehead, aimed them at the source of the energy, and fired, shouting, "Makankosappo!"