Fairy Tail S

by ZenkaiPower

For two years after that fateful battle over Magnolia, the heroes of Earth resumed their daily lives as they await Gohan's return; while on Earthland, Fairy Tail and its allies struggled to survive against the greatest foes they will ever face. And with Gohan's training nearing it's end, forces both good and evil are preparing for the ultimate fate that awaits them. A Sequel to FTZ

7. Chapter 6

Chapter VI: Reminder

In a forest outside Hargeon…

Iga was panting as he stared at his hunter cautiously, holding the same defensive stance since the start of their fight; and Claris was slowly getting annoyed by his tactics.

"You know," She stated with an annoyed tone, despite her casual stance, "It's not much of a fight if you don't actually attack."

The male of the two redheads smirked with satisfaction to see his strategy was working, and he let Claris see his merriment for a moment before replying to her.

"I'm sorry, but it wasn't me that said I had to survive a fight with you." He countered while maintaining his guard, "Surviving doesn't have to mean winning the fight, you know."

The Keeper of Light smirked for an instant when he used her own words against her, but her humor quickly departed since she now understood his current strategy. Frustrated, with her face clearly showing it, she tapped her right foot on the ground impatiently while trying to think of a way to motivate her target into fighting back.

Iga was about to make a snarky comment to keep getting under Claris' skin; but he quickly lost his train of thought when he saw the Keeper's eye color change from the eerily-familiar bright green into a solid white, giving Iga a mental image of a shark just before it strikes. Thinking his imagination might be closer to reality than he thought, he saw a grin form on Claris' face that could only be described as predatory; and he began to wonder what she was scheming.

"It looks like our commotion has drawn the attention of the locals." She informed him, "We've only got a few minutes before we might be interrupted by some guild wizards."

"And I get the feeling that you're not going to be very happy with that." Iga concluded tentatively, knowing that the guild to respond first would likely be Lamia Scale. He also knew that none of the wizards from there would stand a chance against Claris, and that they would be needed in the fight against Zeref; but he did not expect the next words that came out of the Keeper's mouth.

"I don't know about that," She responded to him with a very sinister tone, "I'm thinking the risk of collateral might be just what you need to get serious."

"But I thought I was your-" He began to question until she interrupted with a question of her own.

"Have you ever stopped to wonder if you use your magic to the fullest?" She asked curiously before elaborating, "I mean, have you ever considered every form of light? You use your magic to spy on people, to conceal yourself, for combat, and for transportation; but have you ever used it to cook?"

Iga gave her a severely confused look before replying, "I've used my fire magic to cook before, if that's what you mean."

Claris sighed impatiently before explaining what she meant.

"Our light magic allows us to bend some laws of physics, as you know. We can move through space much quicker than light itself, occasionally we can use it to see through time, and we can even compress light into solid objects; but those are just the fancy tricks. You see, the only type of light you've ever used was the visible kind; but we can use many other forms of light than that.

"But you might not know about any of that, would you?" She remarked midst her speech, "There's a few things you could learn from those scientists on Earth. Ever heard of a thing called radiation?"

Iga remained silent to allow the Keeper to finish making her point.

"You know how sunlight can burn skin within hours, right?" She questioned rhetorically before delivering a frightening image, "Well, imagine what the light of a thousand suns could do."

Claris held her hands before herself as if she were creating something between them; and although Iga saw nothing appear as she widened the gap between her hands to a couple of feet, he started to feel a faint, tingling warmth on his skin. He imagined his immunity to heat and higher pain tolerance was severely dampening the pain he should be feeling, but he had a good idea of how painful this burning sensation would be to a normal human being.

"Imagine if I simply directed this towards our uninvited guests." She threatened with a smirk still on her face, "Fun fact, everything physical can be melted at high enough temperatures, or with enough radiation; but there are some things that burn and crumble apart before that can happen."

Claris aimed her palms at a nearby tree, and Iga watched as the bottom half of the tree began to glow bright orange. In a matter of seconds, the tree was totally on fire until Claris dropped her hands and momentarily flared her ki to create a gust of wind powerful enough to extinguish the flames. Iga noticed the tingling sensation on his skin was fading away before finally responding to her threats.

"Claris, look," He pleaded calmly one last time, "I know I can't kill you unless I totally obliterate you; and I think we both know that I probably don't have the strength to do that at the moment. If you want a fun and challenging duel, you're not going to get that from me; and it's even less likely when I consider who you possibly are. I have no plans to ever see Vesta injured or mutilated ever again."

"Even if I plan on killing anyone I please until you try to stop me?" Claris wondered ominously, "These people are important to your plans against Edo, aren't they? You'd throw away their lives, all for the sake of your long-dead lover?"

"I'd throw everything away for her!" He promised her defiantly, planning on saying more until a thought occurred to him; and his sudden silence gave the Keeper a moment to ponder her next move.

"I see." She said thoughtfully, and Iga noticed her tone and expression seemed softer for barely a moment before she regained her humorous and sinister stance, "Well, if you're going to call my bluff; I guess I better double down."

Her eyes changed back into solid white as she slowly rose into the air while gathering an amount of magic energy that nearly overwhelmed Iga's magical senses; but just as she began to launch herself toward the nearby guild wizards, she was surprised to be blocked by Iga.

Having focused all his power into his speed, he took advantage of Claris' confused inaction by grabbing her jaw firmly with his right hand; and she began to grin eagerly as Iga made a final split-second decision on either of his two desperate plans.

Claris' smirk faded, however, when she felt Iga pull her closer and place his lips onto hers. Stunned by the act, she tried to shove him away; but Iga noticed she was putting none of her strength into the effort, feeling more like she was simply holding her hands against his torso. He grinned when he saw her blink in confusion as her eyes returned to normal; and he was about to explain his actions when Claris took her turn to surprise him, quickly replacing her lips onto his before deepening the kiss and holding onto him tightly with both arms.

Claris seemed to be enjoying herself, and Iga felt her end the kiss and loosen her hold on him with a grin; but before he could say what he was thinking, he felt intense pain as she drove her right knee into his abdomen.

"That was pretty good…" She admitted with her ever-present grin while using her energy to keep him floating before her; and with Iga to stunned by her attack to interrupt her, she grabbed him by the throat once again before reminding him, "But I'm not here for that kinda fun!"

In the next instant, Claris hurtled her opponent through a portal just large enough for him before slowly following Iga through.

Standing on the edge of a large crater near the forests outside Hargeon, Lyon Vastia and Sherria Blendy were only just beginning their investigation on the cause of the crater; and after having heard a couple loud booms emanating from the forest, they were about to start their jog around the crater when the pair suddenly saw a half-dressed man with long and unkempt red hair fall from the sky and crashed into the center of the crater.

"What the-" Sherria stuttered at the surprising image before her, "How'd he get there?"

"He must have teleported there." Lyon made the obvious guess as he and his partner watched the red-haired stranger slowly stand up.

"I think it's very possible that this man has something to do with this devastation before us." The Ice Make mage observed with a warning, "Be ready for anything, Sherria."

Sherria smirked in response as she moved to stand on the very edge of the crater and began to focus her magic energy.

"Oh, Lyon, don't you know?" The sky mage feigned a disappointed tone as the stranger finished regaining his balance and turned towards her, "That's what love's all about!"

Lyon was busy stifling his amusement, about to remind his partner to focus when the stranger called out to them.

"Hey there, guys!" He shouted amiably, but his voice betrayed the fact that was clearly fatigued; and Sherria was the first to notice the wide assortment of injuries across his body.

"Now listen," Iga began awkwardly before trying to warn them cautiously as he approached, "Normally at this point, I'd have introduced myself and eagerly requested help from two of Lamia Scale's best. But today has been nowhere close to normal."

"You're telling me." Sherria agreed humorously, casually placing her hands on her hips as she continued to examine the man's body.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to explain what's going on," Iga continued his attempt to warn the pair of wizards, "The important fact is that you two need to get out of here as quickly as possible; you're in danger if you're anywhere near me right now."

"Is that so?" Lyon remarked skeptically before scanning his surroundings once again.

"Who were you fighting?" Sherria quickly asked with a hint of concern, "Cause it doesn't look like you were winning, from what I see."

"Well, that's because I'm not." Iga admitted while awkwardly scratching the back of his head before taking a more serious stance, "Look guys, you can trust me; I'm a friend of the Fairy Tail guild. Believe me when I say that you need to leave, and you gotta leave now."

Unsure what to think of the stranger, Sherria glanced towards her partner in order to follow his lead; and she easily recognized the skeptical look on the ice wizard's face before turning back to the redhead.

"Yeah, we're going to need a little bit more info than that." She said with he best attempt to sound polite; in her opinion: he acted weirdly, but he didn't appear to be lying. Another reason Sherria decided to follow her partner's lead was that she also found the stranger to be very easy on the eyes; and she was worried that her judgement was clouded by the fact, knowing that one of her weaknesses was cute guys.

"Perhaps you should start by telling us who gave you those injuries." Lyon suggested, "Or who you are and how you're connected to Fairy Tail."

Iga sighed desperately before trying to be polite one last time, "We seriously do not have time for this. Lyon, Sherria; please."

The weird stranger was clearly begging them to go, and Sherria was starting to think her and her partner should listen to the man; but she was suddenly intrigued by the man when she decided to try sensing the redhead's magic energy.

"Hang on a sec…" She said quickly before inhaling so deeply through her nose that Iga felt the wind's direction momentarily shift around him.

"You're a god, aren't you?" She questioned the stranger nervously, "I've never met one before, but somehow I can tell…"

"Well, folks, I'm afraid that's about all the time we have!" Iga exclaimed with dismissive humor before creating two portals underneath the Lamia Scale wizards, "This has been fun and all, but I don't have time for the Q&A."

Sherria could feel the sudden shift in the air the instant the portal below her began to open, and she nimbly leapt aside before she could lose her footing. Her partner, however, was slightly slower to react; and Lyon found himself instinctively clutching at the edge of the rift as he began to fall through. His reflexes did not fail him, but the ground he was reaching for did fail him; and the ice mage felt the dirt and grass in his hands crumble and come apart as he fell.

"Lyon!" Sherria shouted in concern while diving towards her partner, but the portal Lyon entered sealed itself as soon as he was through. Now angry and fearing for her friend, Sherria spun towards the redhead while beginning to charge up an intense amount of magic energy; and she yelled at him as soon as she was facing him.

"What did you do with him?!" She demanded impatiently, "Bring him back, right now!"

"Not happening." Iga replied flatly; he was too annoyed about underestimating the God Slayer's agility to feign humor, "Sorry, but I promise I did nothing to hurt him."

"I'll believe it when I see it!" Sherria quipped before warning the stranger, "Bring him back before I make you bring him back!"

"Threats get you nowhere, kiddo." Iga remarked dismissively while mentally preparing for whatever response he was about to get from her, knowing that he was more than likely about to anger her further; but he had finally reached the limit of his patience with her.

"Now, run along home while you can, little girl." He added with a snarky grin and tone, "Let the adults take care of the grown-up problems, okay?"

"Why you-" Sherria stammered indignantly, and she finished gathering her magic energy as she added, "You're about to pay for that.

"Sky God's Bellow!"

Iga swore under his breath before jumping to his right and easily dodging the linear attack; but Sherria's rapid assault was not finished. Leaping to her right to gain some distance from her opponent, the sky mage twisted her body mid-air to face Iga once again before cocking her right arm back and creating a vortex of black wind with her hand at the epicenter.

"Sky God's Boreas!"

The dark beam of air flying towards Iga was a bit wider and faster than the previous spell's, but Iga did not expect the attack to turn and follow him when he tried to leap out of its way.

Sitting nonchalantly on the far side of the crater's edge, Claris looked on in amusement as she enjoyed show, having decided to use the moment to evaluate her target once more. His refusal to fight her was making it difficult to estimate his true strength; and from her memory of him, he seemed much stronger than his current state. Having a God Slayer nearby was too convenient of an opportunity to refuse, in her opinion; and after all, if her target was not capable of fending off merely one God Slayer, what chance would he have against a God Destroyer?

Iga, however, was busy trying to think of a way to defuse the situation as he managed to use his energy to shield himself from Sherria's attack; and he continued to think of what to say as the smoke from the resulting explosion cleared, until suddenly one idea occurred to him. It was a rather extreme concept, but Iga was getting desperate and knew he could not afford to be wasting his time and energy slugging it out with a God Slayer.

"Hey, Sherria? Before you start trying to attack me again, I need to know something." He asked her with a politely curious tone that caught her off guard, "As a Sky God Slayer, are you able to fly?"

"What?" She replied, confused, "Kinda, but-"

"That's good enough for me!" Iga proclaimed cheerily before giving the sky mage a farewell warning, "Now, remember to hold your breath for the first part of this…"

Before Sherria could question what he meant by his forewarning, but the answer was immediately obvious when she felt the air underneath her begin to shift again. This time, however, the God Slayer could do nothing as the portal seemed to draw her in with an unexpectedly-powerful force; and the portal quickly sealed itself as soon as Sherria was all the way through.

"Phew…" Iga sighed with relief, "At least that's one problem outta the way.

"Now then," He then wondered aloud as he looked around only to see Claris appear before him, "Where were we?"

Back on Earth…

Natsu Dragneel scratched his head as he found himself walking down a long hallway on one of the top floors of Capsule Corp, having exited one of Bulma's labs with the intention to raid the leftover food from the party he unwillingly crashed; but it did not take long after leaving for him to realize he forgot the start of the directions Bulma gave him.

Fortunately for the Salamander, as soon as he found himself in the center of the hallway, which was a three-way intersection; he heard the unmistakable ring of an elevator bell, which he quickly followed. He was not sure whether he wanted to ride the elevator or not, but he assumed that whoever was inside it would know where the stairs were; and as he stood before the elevator's opening door, he was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by his two friends Lisanna Strauss and Trunks Briefs.

"Oh, hey Natsu!" Lisanna said with a hint of surprise as she and her boyfriend stepped out the elevator, "We were just on the way to see you."

"I'm lucky you were, 'cause I'm kinda lost." Natsu admitted to her sheepishly before looking at Trunks and adding, "Your mom gave me directions, but I forgot most of them."

Lisanna shook her head amusedly while Trunks chuckled before replying to him.

"I'm guessing you're looking for the stairs?" the demi-Saiyan deduced, and he heard Natsu confirm his guess before moving to lead the way, "Well then, follow me."

The three made it down to the first floor within a few minutes, which went by quick as the couple made sure Natsu was up to speed with everything that was happening; and it was not much longer until the trio was out the door and on the sidewalk. That was when Trunks realized they had one small dilemma: Natsu's motion sickness prevented the use of vehicles.

"What is it?" Lisanna asked her boyfriend when she noticed the pensive look on his face, but Trunks quickly developed a solution before answering her.

"It's nothing." Trunks explained honestly, "I was wondering how we'd get to Gohan's without a ride, but I can carry both of you if you use your magic."

"Oh, right." Lisanna remembered Natsu's weakness before quickly using her magic to transform into a tiny mouse once again, "Better?"

"Much." Trunks agreed as he lowered a hand and allowed Lisanna to scamper up his arm before she quickly leapt into on of the pockets on the front of his jacket.

Turning to face Natsu next, the demi-Saiyan asked him if he was ready to take off; and the Salamander nodded before Trunks moved beside Natsu and allowed him to wrap an arm over his shoulders while he wrapped an arm around the wizard's torso.

"Hang on tight." Trunks told both his passengers before rocketing into the sky the next second; and it wasn't long until the three were in the skies above Mt. Paozu.

"So this is where Gohan and Goten live?" Natsu remarked after Trunks slowed down and began to land on the sidewalk that connected the Son family homes, "I like it."

"People usually do." Trunks agreed before releasing the dragon slayer when they were a foot from the ground, and the pair landed on their feet smoothly before Lisanna scampered out of Trunks' jacket before leaping onto the ground and reverting into her human form.

"No offense," Natsu remarked humorously after landing, "But I think I prefer flying with Happy."

"None taken." Trunks replied with a brief smirk before noticing Lisanna and Natsu were examining the three buildings before them.

"Gohan's is this one," Trunks pointed to the white dome-shaped house to their right, then he turned towards the middle of the three buildings, "And this one is Goten's."

"And what about that one?" Natsu questioned as he turned to look at the third house, which was not connected to the other two by any of the sidewalk, "Who's house is that?"

"That one belonged to Goku's grandfather." Trunks answered, starting to lead the three through the gate before Gohan's home, "Goku lived there until he married Chi Chi; and after that, they had to build a house big enough for a family."

"And Videl had the idea to build a new home out here after dating Gohan for a while," Lisanna finished the story, recalling what Bulma had told her about the family and what she had learned from others at the party, "They moved here together just before they got married."

"And we don't plan on leaving anytime soon." The trio heard Gohan say as he opened the door before Trunks could reach it and knock, and he greeted his three guests without hesitation, "What's up, guys? Want to come in?"

"Lisanna and I would love to, but," Trunks began to explain before Natsu interrupted.

"But these two are trying to go find somewhere to make out in private." The fire mage teased them, grinning when he saw Lisanna blush before turning back to Gohan and adding, "I didn't feel like being a third wheel-"

"And since we didn't think keeping Natsu around million-dollar technology was a smart idea," Lisanna interjected while wrapping an arm around one of her boyfriend's, taking her turn to grin when she saw her friend's moderately annoyed expression before he resumed speaking.

"So… I asked Trunks if he could drop me off here before they went somewhere else." Natsu finished explaining, "That Capsule place might be cool and full of smart people, but all the scents and noises from inside; and from the city, it's a little overwhelming."

"I know what you mean." Trunks agreed before facing Gohan and asking him, "You don't mind letting Natsu stay with you, do you?"

"Not at all." The dead demi-Saiyan assured him before asking out of curiosity, "Any idea where you two are headed?"

"Not really." Lisanna said honestly, "We're probably just going to walk around West City, see the sights."

"We might go see a movie, though." Trunks added thoughtfully, trying and failing to remember exactly where he obtained this next piece of information, "I know movie theaters aren't a thing back on Earthland."

"Well, whatever you do, have fun and stay safe." Gohan wished them well before opening the door further so Natsu could enter, "And if you want some good food later tonight, you're more than welcome to join our little party tonight."

"And Natsu, try not to be you while you're here." Lisanna teased her friend one more time after her and Trunks bid Gohan farewell, "Since we're the only two people from Earthland here, it'd make everyone else from there look bad if you ate all their food or put a hole in their house."

Natsu was going to retort as Lisanna and Trunks walked away, but Gohan chuckled and patted him on the back before guiding him inside.

"Don't worry, Natsu." Gohan told the wizard amusedly as he closed the door behind them, "Having things broken and running out of food is par for the course when you live around here."

The dragon slayer smirked in response while looking around the massive, two floor room he just walked into. He could hear a small commotion coming from somewhere behind the staircase at the back of the room; and he guessed it was being caused by the house's other two residents before turning around to speak to Gohan.

"Nice place." He complimented before remarking, "This is much nicer compared to all those hallways at Trunks' place."

"Thanks." Gohan accepted graciously before offering Natsu whichever seat he wanted; and the fire mage sat on one of the couches by the coffee table that was on the left when he walked in.

"I'm guessing Bulma said you're in top shape." Gohan deduced as he sat in the couch opposite the one Natsu chose, explaining how he knew before being told, "I figured whatever Edo was doing to control you was some kind of curse or spell; so as long as he's not around, you should be just fine."

"I just wish I could punch his teeth in." Natsu replied angrily, leaving Gohan unsure if the fire mage even heard his reassurances.

"I would agree with you," the demi-Saiyan informed his guest matter-of-factly, "But I think he likes to feel pain.

"When I fought him, it was hard to tell if I was hurting him or not because of the way he acted." He added thoughtfully as he recalled his battle with the dark wizard.

"And fighting him is how you got that ring over your head." Natsu remembered what Bulma and the others had told him at Capsule Corp. before admitting his guilt, "You know, I feel kinda bad I didn't do anything to help you back then; but I don't really remember where I was when it happened, I think I was taking a nap at Lucy's or something… when I try to remember what happened after me and Gajeel helped Erza beat that guy with the crazy sand magic, my mind just goes blank."

Gohan scratched his head awkwardly before replying, "Yeah, but that's actually because Iga had your memory wiped right after the fight. You actually helped me and Trunks out a lot."

"And why did my memory have to get changed?" Natsu questioned, slightly annoyed at the fact; but his annoyance was tempered when he briefly remembered the way Edo spoke about the redheaded immortal.

"Because you heard Iga's full name at a bad time." Gohan explained honestly, "Iga told me you got distracted by it right at the end of the fight, and he wanted you to stay focused on protecting Fairy Tail."

"Okay," The Salamander accepted most of the reasoning for the memory wipe, except for one issue he had with the thought process, "But why would I freak out about hearing that guy's name?"

Thinking of how he should answer, Gohan fidgeted awkwardly in his seat before replying, "I'm sorry, Natsu; but I'm not sure if it's my place to tell you it or not. I'm sure he has other reasons for hiding it, but I can tell he prefers to be called by his nickname; hearing his real name seems to bother him sometimes, but I don't know why."

"Why should I care about what bothers him?" Natsu asked in quiet frustration, "He went and played around with my head!"

Gohan sat patiently while trying to think of a good way to change the subject until Natsu started pleading for information.

"Gohan, seriously. I just found out that I'm actually a universe away from my home and my guild, which could be attacked by, apparently, my brother -the mass murdering dark wizard who turned me into a demon just so I could kill him. And on top of that, now there are these 'Keeper' guys that are apparently way stronger than I am; and they want to kill me just for being here. I think I can handle hearing what some jackass' name is."

Gohan could not agree more with the dragon slayer, and he felt empathy for the young wizard; but it took another, much longer awkward silence before Gohan finally gave in, alleviating his guilt by thinking about how he never actually promised Iga that he would keep his name secret.

"Okay, fine. I'll tell you," He said before adding one concession, "But try not to act differently toward Iga when you see him next; because if he finds out I told you, he might get mad at me. And we really need his help right now."

"Alright, Gohan, I get it." Natsu replied, still somewhat annoyed but sounding calmer when he spoke, "You're worried I'll freak out like I did last time; but I won't, I promise."

Gohan hesitated for another brief instant, hoping Videl or Pan might interrupt the conversation; but no fortunate event ever occurred, so the demi-Saiyan finally spoke up after seeing that Natsu seemed genuine about his promise.

"Iga's real name," He finally revealed, still nervous about the reaction he was about to receive,
"Is Igneel."

There was a brief instant where Natsu was either processing the information or trying to decide if he believed Gohan, sitting totally still in his seat and staring blankly at the demi-Saiyan for half a second before finally reacting.

"Really?!" He almost shouted and jumped out of his seat in surprise, but he remembered his promise to avoid overreacting; and he managed to catch himself by grabbing onto the arms of the couch, though he could not keep his voice down as well as he could his body. And although Gohan knew his reaction could have been much worse, Natsu did yell loud enough for Videl to hear him.

"Everything okay over there, Gohan?" The two heard her call out from the kitchen.

"Yeah, Videl, everything's fine." He called back reassuringly, "I'm just talking about our current situation with our guest."

"It's Natsu, right?" She guessed from her ki sense, "I'll come out and say hi in a second, bec-"

The men in the living room heard Videl stop as a brief but louder commotion broke out until Pan came flying from the back of the house and straight at Natsu as soon as she saw him.

"Natsu-nii!" She cheered excitedly before attempting to hug him while flying full-speed, and before Gohan could react, the two toppled over the side of the couch.

"Hey… Pan…" Natsu replied weakly as the air returned to his lungs, and Gohan shook his head apologetically.

"Sorry," He asked for the dragon slayer's forgiveness as Natsu slowly got up while Pan climbed off him, "I should have said that that could happen."

"It's fine," The fire mage easily forgave him while returning to his seat, "I forgot how strong she is."

"I'm getting stronger, too!" Pan informed him proudly, levitating before the two until she landed next to Natsu, "And one day, I'm gonna be as strong as my grandpa!"

"That's Goku, right?" The Salamander recalled aloud, getting a nod from the father-daughter duo before asking Pan, "How strong is he?"

"He's really strong!" She answered cheerily, "Grandpa G can beat anyone!"

Gohan noticed the slightly dissatisfied look on Natsu's face when they heard her answer, and he made a guess at what it meant aloud.

"If you're trying to figure out if you could fight him or not," the demi-Saiyan said, which made Natsu smirk since his guess was dead-on, "All I'll say is be careful; he's never fought a magic user, so either one of you could get hurt… but, my dad has some abilities that make it hard to say how strong he is."

"What does that mean?" Natsu asked curiously, and Gohan had to take a moment to decide how to explain.

"It means that he can do things I never imagined possible." He clarified, "Even if I said how strong he is, he always gets stronger from a fight, even during them sometimes; and it doesn't matter who it's with."

"Really?" Natsu questioned with interest, "And what kind of 'abilities' are you talking about?"

"Grandpa G told me about one!" Pan suddenly chimed in, "He said that when he turns his hair grey, he's able to avoid any attack someone uses on him!"

"That does sound cool." Natsu told the cheerful young Saiyan before looking to Gohan with a mind to ask more about Goku, but the trio's conversation was interrupted by Videl's entrance.

"Alright, that's two cakes in the oven." She announced proudly while removing the pink apron she was wearing and letting it rest temporarily on the railing of the stairs; and she moved to sit next to her husband while still speaking, "But I think with you around, Natsu, we might need a couple more."

Natsu smirked in response before he greeted her, and she greeted him back before turning to her husband.

"So what were you guys talking about earlier, before Pan interrupted?" She inquired, "I could have sworn I heard one of you shouting."

"That was me," Natsu fessed up, "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Videl accepted his needless apology politely before Gohan explained what happened.

"It was more my fault than his anyway," he added thoughtfully, "I told him what Iga's name is."

"Ah…" Videl remarked with sudden understanding, "That makes sense, considering that his name is the same…"

Her sentence faltered as she realized she was probably about to touch on a sore topic for Natsu, so she quickly decided to change the subject.

"And anyway," She said to Natsu with a brighter tone in her voice, "Has my husband tried to help you figure out where you're staying yet? Or did Bulma and Trunks already take care of that?"

"They offered me a room at their house," Natsu informed her, "But I've never really liked living in the city, so I was hoping you guys could help me out."

"I'm sure we can." Videl assured him before thinking aloud, "Hm, since we gave Pan her own room, we don't have a spare one anymore; but there is a spare bed next door, isn't there?"

Gohan nodded, "It used to be mine until I moved out."

"And what about that empty house?" Natsu asked curiously, "It was your great grandpa's, right? Do you think your dad would let me stay there?"

"Huh." Gohan said thoughtfully, realizing he had almost forgotten that the tiny blue home even existed, "I don't know. I doubt my dad would say no; but I think the last time someone was in there was when Piccolo spent a few nights there, and that was years ago. There might be some cleaning required before its livable…"

"I'm not afraid to do a little house work." The fire mage reminded him.

"Then there shouldn't be a problem." Videl concluded the topic before standing up to go check on the food she was baking, "Just remember to ask Goku or Chi Chi about it later tonight. Now, if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."

"Me too!" Pan chirped as well before following her mother out the room; and as soon as the two were gone, Natsu decided it was time to find some way to kill time before dinner.

"So how come you're not helping get ready for this party? I thought it was Goten's birthday." He asked Gohan first, hoping to get a certain answer before discussing his idea.

"It is," Gohan explained, "But I was in Otherworld for nearly two and a half years and I only just got back today, so Mom wanted to celebrate my return too."

"Otherworld?" Natsu repeated, totally unfamiliar with the place.

"It's the afterlife." Gohan explained, "Each universe has one, and its where most of the gods live. If you live a good life, you might be allowed to keep your body when you die, like I did; and there are some places in Otherworld that are a martial artist's dream come true -its always full of people ready for a challenge, and you've got all the time you need to get as strong as you want."

"Sounds nice." Natsu remarked, and Gohan nodded.

"It is," He confirmed before adding honestly, "But getting there isn't the most enjoyable of experiences…"

"I bet." Natsu agreed before wondering, "But you must be way stronger than when we fought last time, right?"

"I should be." Gohan replied modestly while scratching the back of his head.

"So…" Natsu suggested while trying to stifle the excitement in his voice, "Maybe you could show me…?"

"Maybe some other time," Gohan declined, much to the wizard's disappointment, "Sorry, but I just got done training and sparring for nearly three years. I'd like to relax for just a little while if I can."

Gohan was going to let Natsu whine about his decision, which was exactly what the fire mage intended to do; but Gohan had an idea that could kill two birds with one stone.

"But," He quickly added just as Natsu began to open his mouth, "Goten might be up for a sparring match right now."

"Yeah?" the dragon slayer asked curiously, "But aren't you guys leaving him alone 'cause he's upset about something that creep showed him?"

"We are, because he asked us not to follow him." Gohan acknowledged before explaining, "But I'm going to steal one of Iga's tactics here and point out that Goten never told you to leave him alone. Judging by how his energy feels right now, he's still training trying a few miles from here."

Natsu was considering the offer, about to ask if Gohan could take him when suddenly a man that looked eerily similar to Goten, in nearly every way, appeared a few feet from Gohan's left; and Natsu immediately recognized him as Son Goku, the legendary warrior that he had been hearing about ever since he arrived.

"Whoa," the fire mage said with some surprise at Goku's sudden appearance; but he was more impressed with the Saiyan's stature, and Natsu did not need ki sense to know that the man standing before him was very powerful, "You can do that teleporting trick too?"

"He taught me it," Gohan informed Natsu before turning to Goku, "Hey, Dad. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing, really." The elder Saiyan said casually before explaining, "I just had to get out the house for a second. Chi Chi's real worried about Goten, and I think she wants me to go talk to him; but Goten said to stay away, and…"

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about that anymore." Natsu interrupted him amiably before quickly volunteering, "I'm gonna go and have a chat with him."

Gohan was intrigued by Natsu's sudden eagerness to meet up with Goten, and it made more sense to him as soon as Natsu added one more question towards Goku.

"Can you take me there?" the Salamander requested, and Goku thought it over for a second before replying.

"Sure," He agreed before scratching the back of his head awkwardly and adding, "But uh… who are you, again?"

On Earthland, on the outskirts of Hargeon…

Iga was breathing heavily as he stared at Claris, who was hovering at least thirty feet above him.; and even though he had just taken another beating from her, Iga somehow managed to find his dire situation amusing.

"Heh." He chuckled weakly at an amusing thought he had, and the Keeper of Light was clearly not as amused as he was.

"What the hell are you laughing about?!" She demanded in annoyance while angrily clenching her right hand into a fist, "There's nothing to laugh about here, I'm about to kill you, remember?! Or did I just hit you on the head too hard?"

"Anytime I get hit on the head is 'too hard'." Iga remarked humorously before informing her, "But, no, that's not why I'm laughing. I'm laughing at you, silly."

Iga could see a vein throbbing in her forehead before she ruthlessly fired a overcharged blast of red ki directly towards him, but the powerful attack was easy for him to dodge with one leap to the either side; and when Claris rushed him for a follow-up attack like she had before, Iga was prepared this time.

Claris was momentarily surprised when Iga caught her right fist with his right hand, but she hesitated intentionally with the hope that he was finally going to fight back; and when he did not, she instantly attempted to punch his face with her free hand. Iga managed to catch her punch once again with his left hand; and Claris, despite her better judgement, felt hopeful once again as she felt him tighten his grip on her fists and pull her closer to him.

"That was pretty rude, you know." Iga taunted her, preparing to be kick or headbutted as soon as he brought her closer, "I was busy trying to answer your question!"

"Then get to the point!" She replied in immense frustration before trying to knee Iga in his side, just as he expected; and he quickly put a knee in between her and his stomach, successfully blocking her attack.

"Alright, jeez!" He teased her before explaining his amusement, "If you gotta know, I'm laughing at you because I can tell that you don't want to be doing this."

Claris replied to his statement first by trying to rend her hands free of his grip, but Iga's hold on her was firm; so she quickly tried a second time, aiming to headbutt him when he pulled her back.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She shouted angrily as she attempted her attack, but Iga was prepared once again, and he easily kept his head at a safe distance.

"Yeah?" Iga retorted, tightening his grip on her in an attempt to keep her to stay still and listen, "Then why are we doing this whole song and dance right now? Because if getting me to fight was just for your entertainment, you'd have decided you were wasting your time a long time ago; and you would have just killed me.

"But you haven't." He pointed out the obvious while giving her his signature smirk, "And I think it's 'cause you want me to make this easy for you; you'll feel better about killing me if it's while I'm trying to hurt you.

"And I know why…" He teased her next, "But you're gonna have to ask me nicely if you want me to point it out for you."

"Then you've clearly misread the situation," Claris quipped defiantly, "Because when I want something, I don't ask for it."

She suddenly flared her energy, creating enough force to knock the weakened Iga off balance and she used the opportunity to quickly spin their bodies until her hands slipped from his grip as he went tumbling aside; but he redirected his momentum upward off the edge of the crater her newest energy attack created.

"And for the record," She added before aiming a palm at him and firing another ki blast as she yelled, "I don't care about what you know!"

Iga managed to right himself midair just before she launched the next attack, and he shielded himself with both arms and some of his own ki. He found he was not strong enough to redirect the blast like he hoped, so instead he held his guard until it detonated and hoped for the best. Unfortunately for Iga, he did not expect Claris to appear directly behind him, in front of her own attack; and he was unable to stop her when she used her right hand to forcefully slam his face into her energy attack before letting it explode.

Letting her prey fall to the earth through the clearing smoke, Claris slowly landed on the edge of a small crater while she watched Iga hit the bottom of one of the larger craters in front of her. Walking towards the rim of the crater Iga was in, Claris noticed with some disappointment that her target appeared to be unconscious.

"Well, you were right about one thing." She confessed, walking down into the crater as she did, "This is hard for me. I hate killing, always have. And y-"

Iga began to stir as she drew near, and she quickly went quiet as soon as she saw him move; but Iga did not attempt to stand up, instead he merely turned onto his side until he was looking at her. And upon seeing his face, Claris could tell he was in some sort of stupor.

"Ves…?" He asked her in shock, "H-… how are you… here?"

Claris stood over him, watching and listening to him as he struggled to sit up.

"I don't understand… Edo killed you… I saw it…"

Iga tried to stand next, planting one hand on the ground before planting his feet; but his hand slipped, causing him to fall face first into the dirt.

"I'm sorry…" He whimpered, not bothering to push himself back up yet, "I failed you."

Claris sighed impatiently, trying not to feel sorry for him as she reached down to lift him by the throat once more; but she for some reason, she stopped when she saw him wipe tears from his eyes before trying to stand up.

"Acnologia was right that day." He admitted as he slowly attempted to get his feet under him, "If I had just died when my parents did… everyone's lives would be better. I created the man called Edo, and I'm to blame for every single crime he's committed.

"It's all my fault," He finished as he finally managed to stand, but he was clearly struggling to maintain his balance, "I'm a failure, and I never deserved anyone as good as you…"

Iga tried to slowly reach for Claris' face with his left hand, but she caught him by the wrist with her right hand; and she held him away from her while considering what to do. Iga suddenly shook his head; however, and with one look into his eyes, Claris could see he had finally come to his senses.

"Ngh… My head really hurts." He remarked humorously before realizing he was being held by the Keeper, "Well, this is awkward."

Claris released him with a shove, and he staggered backwards while only just managing to remain standing.

"You done?" She questioned him with clear annoyance.

"I guess." Iga replied with his usual smirk on his face, "I'm just waiting for you to finally answer my question. I did answer yours, after all."

"I did answer your question." She reminded him impatiently, "But you're not going to survive unless you defeat me."

"Then kill me." He said, almost to her surprise, "If I'm right, and you need me to make doing it easier for you; then focus on the fact that I want you to do it."

Claris stared into his eyes for a few seconds, somehow unsure of what to do; and Iga tried to suggest a method for dispatching himself.

"I might be immortal, but my body's not indestructible; as you know. But I don't think I'd be able to recover from total obliteration.

"C'mon, Vesta…" He demanded, and she blinked at the use of the wrong name, "Send me out with a bang."

"That's right." He added when he noticed her hesitation to speak or act, "I know that you're her. I don't know how it happened, but I've seen enough bizarre things in my life; and you somehow becoming one of the Keepers is not something I could honestly consider shocking.

"You always had this air of strength about you, but it wasn't of a physical type like it is now." He continued, stepping closer towards her as he did, "It's like you've just actualized that strength I always saw in you; and it took me a while because you're ki is ridiculously powerful now, but I'd recognize that energy signature anywhere."

Claris stared him down with a confused look on her face, and she did nothing as he stopped barely a foot from her; so he decided to keep driving his point home.

"If the task of being a Keeper requires either killing me or falling in battle, I'd rather I be the one that falls. And I probably shouldn't tell you this, since you're a Keeper and all, but I could never hide anything from you… If I die, I'm pretty sure all of my power will go to Trunks; and I believe that he'll be able to use it way better than I ever could. I know he could beat you, and he might even be able to finish the battle I never could…

"My immortality was never something I wanted, it's a curse to me." He concluded honestly, "So please… free me. End this cycle of nonsense that I've been trapped in."

The two were gravely silent for a moment, and Iga reached for the Keeper's face once more; but this time she did not stop him, causing him to look at her with some surprise before she surprised him further with her response.

"Kiss me." She demanded, seemingly from out of nowhere; and before he could actually comply like he wanted to, she moved forward until she was pressing her lips against his. He quickly deepened the kiss, and he used his free hand to grab her waist and pull her closer; causing her to moan at the feel of his touch.

Just as he was about to halt the kiss to catch some air, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his side; and he opened his eyes in shock to see her left hand was wrist-deep inside his right side, just below his pectoral. He could feel her hand inside his right lung, having neatly divided it in half stopping just before reaching his heart. She slowly withdrew he hand, and Iga saw that the Keeper was crying as she did so; he grinned happily in response.

"I'm sorry, Igneel." The Keeper genuinely apologized, "But there is no other option here. You might recover from a wound like this, but you're about to pass out from lack of air. I'll end you then, when you're hopefully dreaming something nice and pleasant. That's about the only kind of mercy I'm allowed to give."

"Don't be sorry…" He attempted to reassure her, but as soon as her hand was fully removed from his torso, he found it much harder to speak; and he gracelessly fell backwards into a bloody heap on the ground.

"Thank… you…" Were the only words he managed to spit out, with a fair amount of blood as well, before closing his eyes and beginning to fall asleep, grinning his typical grin as his conscious mind went dark once again.

Back on Earth…

Goten and Natsu were exchanging light attacks at each other as they darted around the landscape of the mountain range; and Son Goku could not have been happier about watching his son spar with the pink-haired wizard, mainly because he could see Goten had a smile on his face.

Relieved that bringing Natsu along helped him cheer his son up, the elder Saiyan decided to watch the two since he had never seen Natsu fight before; and when Goten convinced the fire mage to finally use some of his magic, Goku thought the spectacle he witnessed was pretty cool.

Remembering that the only chance he would have to talk about martial arts with his son was right now, Goku casually began to fly closer to the two, though he regretted interrupting an entertaining fight.

"Hey guys, hang on for a second!" He called out as he moved to them, and the two halted their movement with one fist barely inches away from each other's faces while turning to look at him.

"Awww," Natsu whined even though he complied, "Do we gotta?"

"I'm afraid so." Goku said apologetically before giving him some consolation, "But what I'm about to do might make up for that, I promise."

"What's up, Dad?" Goten asked curiously, and Goku smiled eagerly before answering.

"It's been a while since I've trained you, hasn't it?" He recalled aloud, "We were both on lower levels back then, weren't we?"

"Yeah." Goten agreed with his father, "And if you told me back then about all the things we could do now, I don't know if I would have believed you."

"No kidding," Goku remarked in agreement before getting to the point, "Anyway, since it's your birthday and all; I wanted to try giving you a chance to fight me while I use my best technique."

Natsu was intrigued by the suddenly excited look on the demi-Saiyan's face; and Goten asked his father one more question to make sure he was hearing him right.

"Are you saying that you're gonna go Ultra and fight me?" He inquired, feeling hopeful and nervous at the same time, and he almost leapt for joy when he saw his father nod.

"I might take a bit of effort to transform, cause it's still kinda hard to; but I can do it." He stated eagerly before deciding to add a stipulation to their duel, "But let's make this a little more interesting: If you manage to last long enough for me to break a sweat, I'll teach you how to use the Kaio-ken."

"Really?!" Goten exclaimed excitedly, immediately leaping yards away from his father and taking a stance as he began to charge his energy; and he pleaded to get started after Goku nodded once more, "Well come on, let's do this!"

"Alright!" Goku cheered as he began powering up as well, and he briefly gave Natsu an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry I can't offer you the training too, but you'd need to know how to use ki to even be able to understand everything I'd tell you."

"That's okay, pops." Natsu casually forgave him before asking, "But uh, would you mind if I tried to help Goten fight you?"

Goku considered the offer for a second before replying, "I guess you can, if you want. But you'll probably get hurt pretty bad if you do; it's a bit harder for me to hold back when I'm in the form you're about to see."

"I'm not afraid of a little bit of pain, gramps." The fire mage remarked as he moved to stand beside Goten, totally deaf to the danger Goku was trying to prepare him for, "Besides, I've seen you guys' god powers before. I might not be able to beat you alone, but I know Goten and I can together."

"Natsu," Goten finally chimed in, getting the dragon slayer to look at him before he shook his head and said, "The power my dad's about to use is something that's way stronger than the gods.

"Honestly, I doubt we'll even be able to touch him." He admitted while making his best attempt looking confident, "And I'm kinda scared, actually; but I'm excited at the same time…"

"That's my boy!" Goku remarked proudly, knowing exactly what emotions his son was processing; and he eagerly watched Goten transform into Super Saiyan Blue effortlessly.

"Wow, Goten." He complimented, "You've learned to handle that form way faster than I did. Even if you can't beat me here, I'm really proud of how far you've come."

Goten happily returned the smile his father gave him before Goku glanced between his two opponents and said, "Alright guys; it's gonna get hard for me to hold back from here on out, so get ready for this…"

Focusing his energy and charging it up to a certain point, Goku's sudden spike in energy created a round hole in the ground that was at least five feet deep, forcing his opponents to plant their feet and brace against a strong gust at the same time; and Goten and his partner watched as Goku closed his eyes and began to quiet his mind while now levitating above the ground. The air around them soon began to heat up immensely; and after a few seconds, Natsu's jaw dropped in confused awe at the sensation he was feeling.

"Goten," He told his partner with a clearly surprised tone, "This heat… I can feel it! How is that possible?!"

"With my dad," Goten answered, sounding more intimidated than surprised, "Anything's possible."

The Saiyan before suddenly began to glow as a blinding white light enveloped him; and the wind blew wildly once again for a few seconds before the light began to fall apart, looking like a snake's skin as it was shedding until the signature silver hair and eyes of the Ultra Instinct form was revealed and the light had been replaced by the visible distortion the intense heat of his body caused in the air around him. In fact, the heat was so intense around him that it had a very visible air current rising as if he were aflame; and the top half of his dogi literally evaporated, with stray chunks of his orange uwagi and his blue undershirt floating away with the current before soon smoldering into nothingness.

Goku gave his son the coldest and most piercing glare Goten had ever seen his father capable of making; and the demi-Saiyan felt another blended wave of regret and excitement, though he oddly felt relieved when he saw his dad look to Natsu and noticed the dragon slayer seemed to have a similar reaction to Goku's gaze.

"If either of you want to back out of this," The silver Saiyan offered them a final opportunity to opt out, but Goten and Natsu were too off-put by the lack of emotion in his voice to form an immediate response, "Now is your last chance."

Natsu had no idea what their first move should be, and he could see that Goten was desperately trying to form some sort of strategy; but he did not seem to be successful in doing so. The pair exchanged some more nervous expressions before the Salamander had an idea; and he decided to go with it, even if it was a desperate move to start with. He was remembering what Pan said about his ability to dodge any attack; and he wanted to put those words to the test, win or lose.

"If you're not attacking, then I guess you're surrendering." Goku surprisingly taunted them as they tried to form their plans; but Goten guessed the change in attitude came from the transformation, just like the way going super would affect his personality, "It's a shame; but I'm sure I could head by Bulma's and give Vegeta the same chance I'm giving you. I doubt he would chicken out in a situation like this."

Perhaps because he was still ignorant of Goku's nearly limitless strength; or perhaps because he was simply annoyed with being teased, Natsu was the first to muster up the courage to speak.

"Listen here, old timer." He argued back while shaking a fist at the Saiyan, "Don't get cocky just because you're all powered up!"

Turning to his partner and reassuring him confidently, Natsu also began to try subtly explaining his strategy to Goten in the middle of his speech.

"We're members of Fairy Tail, aren't we? We'll do whatever it takes to win! I know a lot of people back there think that all I'm good at is being loud and obnoxious, and I'm always late to the party…"

Goten immediately knew the last sentence he heard was mostly untrue; and he wondered why Natsu said it before realizing the reason after remembering that Goku would not know much, if anything, about the guild.

"But you like that about me, don't you?" Natsu asked rhetorically, and Goten grinned knowingly before they finally took their natural fighting stances.

Goku smirked faintly in response before his emotions quickly faded into focus; and he stood patiently with his arms at his sides, looking almost as if he were merely standing in place with no intention of fighting at all.

"I'll start this off so you can see his speed for yourself," Goten volunteered to his partner; and Natsu nodded before Goten finally launched himself towards his father and trying to land a series of punches and kicks as soon as he was within reach.

Goku effortlessly dodged all his strikes; and Natsu watched what appeared to be the afterimages of Goku's movements as Goten's attacks went through them like parting a fog or mist. He could not believe Goku was this fast; but he was suddenly sure he could move a lot faster.

Without bothering to counter his son's assault, Goku nimbly performed a front-flip with a half-twist; and he landed behind Goten on one leg while directing his circular momentum with into his other leg, kicking the air in the direction of Natsu instead of attacking Goten.

Natsu would have thought the Saiyan just used the air to attack him; and he may very well have, but the force that struck his torso before he could even blink was more solid than any type of magical air the wizard had ever encountered. He felt more like he was just shot with the heaviest of cannonballs; and he was entirely stunned and out of breath, falling to one knee the next instant in shock.

Goten blinked nervously as soon as he spun around to see what happened, and Goku casually faced his son at the same time.

"Natsu!" Goten called out, and he immediately charged his ki to the maximum before trying to attack his father once again; but once again, Goku was easily dodging his son's punches and kicks. Instead of flipping over him this time, Goku literally poked fun at his son before countering; and he poked four different spots across his son's torso, away from vital organs, before he then punched every spot in the order he had touched them.

Goten felt all eight times his father made contact with his body; but the unrealistic speed and intense pain from the punches, which each created loud sonic booms long after they landed, all of it made the counterattack incredibly hard to process.

Natsu looked up just in time to see Goten immediately revert to his normal black hair and stagger backwards in shock; and he knew he had to get the silver Saiyan's attention immediately. Despite being in intense pain, he still had all of his magic power; and he focused it for one desperate attack, deciding for nearly the first time in his life that to win here meant simply landing at least one single blow.

"Hey Goten!" He shouted to his teammate, who was somehow still standing as he recovered his breath, "I found out why I did a little better fighting against your brother than Gajeel did, and it's because I'm part demon!"

Goten glanced towards the dragon slayer as his pink haired partner continued to speak, while Goku stood perfectly still and waited for some kind of attack to come his way.

"I was pissed off when that Edo creep told me," Natsu clenched a fist angrily, "But now, it just means we might be able to catch your dad off guard!"

Goku chuckled, but did nothing as he allowed Natsu to keep encouraging Goten.

"Because after I tap into this curse power that my brother's got hidden inside me, not even I know what's gonna happen!"

Goten was momentarily concerned about the possible hazards that Natsu could be exposing himself to by toying with a power he never used before; but the uncertainty of the Salamander's plan was the whole crux of the plan, so the demi-Saiyan went along with it.

Mustering as much strength as possible, Goten caused his father to smirk for an instant by returning to his Super Saiyan Blue form; but what he did planned to do next, an action inspired by his partner's willingness to go for broke, genuinely surprised the silver Saiyan.

"You know, what, Natsu?" He declared with a mix of desperation, excitement, and fear with what he was about to do, "I'm not gonna know what happens after I try my new trick too!"

Goku's mainly emotionless glare seemed to show interest at his son's words, and Goten decided to explain to his father exactly what he intended to do.

"No offense, Dad, but I've seen you use the Kaio-ken before; and I don't think you need you to teach me it, because I already know how to do it!"

"I don't recommend that," Goku attempted to warn his son, even though his form's empty-mindedness dampened his concern, "You do unfixable damage to your body, or worse if you do it wrong."

"I don't care about that!" Goten protested defiantly, taking the same classic stance his father would whenever he focused his ki as he did, "All I care about is getting strong enough to beat every one of the Keepers, and getting back to Fairy Tail before I lose Wendy for good!"

Both Natsu and Goku blinked in surprise at Goten's raw emotion; and they both silently watched as Goten yelled with intense effort as he began to push his body to its limits.

"Kaio… KEN!"

Goku was quickly, and pleasantly, surprised when his son's blue aura was suddenly blended with the signature bright red of King Kai's technique; but he was nonetheless able to evade the next wave of attacks Goten began to throw at him. The demi-Saiyan rapidly tossed one punch and kick after another until his father did another flip to gain some distance, this time leaping backwards as he did. But instead of counterattacking like the pair of young men assumed he would, Goku spoke once again to his son.

"I'm sorry, Goten." He apologized, and the demi-Saiyan almost lost his focus upon hearing Goku's words, "I didn't realize until now why you didn't want to talk to any of us earlier; but it's because we keep underestimating you, isn't it?"

Goten gave him a look that confirmed his suspicion, and he added more to his apology after seeing it.

"It's strange; but, even though you look almost exactly like me, I can't help but see the mischievous little guy that used to run around causing trouble with his best friend. And we all have to worry about losing control to these insane powers we've achieved, and about the way this kind of power could change you over time; but you, you've never had that had problem. You've always done what you thought was right; and that's something that even I've failed to do a few times. From now on, this fight is nothing more than a test of your true skills. And remember what I tell you here, Goten: you can be the best of us, but it's not your strength that'll make it true -how you follow your heart, like no one else does… That's what will."

Goten felt a slight bit of guilt when he considered his recent treatment of Iga, but his father's words still had their intended effect; and the red aura around him faded as he smiled at his dad before Natsu finally chimed in.

"Hey, guys, I'm sorry to break up the father-son moment," He delivered an apology of his own, having come up with a new plan that was, potentially, crazier than the plan he had proposed earlier, "But I'm kinda wondering if this intense heat you're giving off could be considered a type of flame or not…

"I kinda wish Wendy were here with us too, Goten." Natsu informed his ally as he prepared for his risky attempt to win, "Cause she would know if I was about to poison myself or not; and I don't have time to try to figure it out for myself… So here goes nothing!"

Goten quickly figured out Natsu's plan, and he tried to convince him not to go through with it; but the Salamander began to inhale deeply. Goku was slightly impressed at seeing the air current around himself sharply began to flow towards the pink-haired young man, who seemed to be sucking up the very heat that distorted the air.

The pair of Saiyans watched curiously as Natsu finished consuming as much heat energy as he could; and Goten took a half-step towards his partner in concern when Natsu seemed to be frozen by some mysterious cause, until he saw all the visible muscles on the fire mage's body begin to spasm simultaneously.

Natsu fell to one knee in agony at the intense sense of pain he was feeling throughout his body; and he attempted to stand up despite his lack of control before stumbling forward once again, this time landing on his hands and knees as he struggled to stay conscious and avoid screaming in pain.

After a few seconds, and just as soon as Goten began to seriously doubt they should be continuing the fight, Natsu's body suddenly flashed with a bright white light that was similar to the one from Goku's going Ultra; but instead of dispersing to reveal a kind of transformation, the white light remained as it swirled wildly around the dragon slayer's body like flames in a cyclone.

"I… I- Agh- Ahhhh!" Natsu began to shout primally as he fought through the pain in order to regain control of his body, "I will never give up!"

The next instant, Goten had to shield his eyes from another sudden intensification of Natsu's radiance; and when he was able to finally see his teammate, he could only see Natsu. The white flame the wizard had revolving around him had seemed to have vanished, and the only clothes remaining on the top half of his body was the white scarf tied loosely around his neck; but upon closer inspection, Goten noticed that Natsu's skin had changed into white scales, looking similar to Sting Eucliffe's Dragon Force.

Goten was sure this type of Dragon Force would be much stronger, though; and he watched with immense surprise as Natsu slowly stood up to reveal the lack of color in his eyes, which changed to a solid white that matched the scales on his body. The slayer next made an aggressive stance before yelling once again as he charged his new magic power, with white flames suddenly erupting from him again; and Goten only just managed to keep watching as the brightness of the flames were nearly blinding him.

Goku simply remained patient; however, and he never once removed his gaze from Natsu as the wizard struggled to harness his flames. Deep down, the Saiyan was a little hopeful that this new and mysterious power being displayed would present any kind of a challenge to him; but most of him doubted the likelihood of that. Nonetheless, he waited patiently for Natsu; and he was pleasantly surprised that he did not have to wait very long, seeing Natsu stand and charge his power only after a minute or so. Goku only wished he knew how to sense the magic power inside the young man, because he imagined some dramatic type of transformation just took place and he wondered what kind of effect the change had on his opponent; but he quickly tucked away his curiosity, knowing that he was more than likely about to find out and that he needed to resume his focus on controlling his own current transformation.

Goten was still trying to form figure out what he should do now, slightly feeling like he was just one-upped. That feeling was not his main concern, however, since he also could not tell exactly how strong this new type of magic could be; and after a few seconds of awkward silence, Natsu simply launched himself at Goku -taking nearly both Saiyans by surprise.

The Ultra Saiyan easily side-stepped each wild swipe Natsu made at him, despite an incredible improvement in Natsu's speed. It looked like the wizard was now trying to slash Goku with claws rather than punch him; and Goten watched as white flames streaked from Natsu's hands and arms like the exhaust of a jet engine leaving streaks in the sky, now finally realizing the dramatic change in his partner's abilities.

Goku dodged a couple more of Natsu's slashing attacks before finally deciding to move away from him; and the Saiyan went to leap away as he had twice before against Goten, but Natsu was expecting this. As soon as Goku moved to plant his feet and leap backwards, Goten saw white flames burst from Natsu's back and legs; and the Salamander fired forward like a rocket just before Goku could plant his feet, this time surprising even Goku with his insane speed as he tried to grab or slash him.

Goku twisted his body away at the last possible instant, knowing that Natsu would have been able to grab his shirt if it would have been there -which could have led to a possibly-successful attack on the wizard's part; and Goku decided to counterattack, feeling that he might actually find some kind competition with Natsu.

Goten watched in awe as his father spun around Natsu before putting his momentum in a kick that was aimed for the center of the wizard's back; but both Saiyans were once again surprised to see flames burst from Natsu's feet before he back-flipped over Goku's leg. And before Goku could add a follow-up attack, Natsu suddenly shot out white fire in all directions. Goku easily got his arms and legs in front of the flames before using his energy to shield himself; but Goten realized the window of opportunity his partner's attack was creating, and he jumped towards his father with a shout just as Goku tried fending off Natsu's flames.

"Kaio-ken times five!"

Firing forward like a red and blue bullet, Goten tried to hit his father's back with his strongest punch possible; but Goku was once again able to defend successfully, this time catching Goten's fist with his right hand while maintaining the energy barrier between himself and Natsu with his left hand. Before his flames dissipated, Natsu launched himself forward once again despite the fact that he was mid-air; and Goku quickly flipped forward, with his hair barely brushing the ground as he did, aiming at foot at Natsu's chest just after his head went under the wizard's fist while still holding onto his son's fist. Not having the strength to halt their spinning, Goten reluctantly moved with his dad before Natsu was sent flying aside by Goku's kick; and the demi-Saiyan tried punching his father with his free hand while using his trapped arm to pull his opponent closer. Goku released Goten as soon as he realized what was happening, botching the demi-Saiyan's delivery of the attack; and Goten punched too early as he hit the air just to the right of his father's torso. The next instant, Goku grabbed the front of his son's uwagi before moving to throw him towards where Natsu should have been; but the Ultra Saiyan soon realized that the wizard had landed smoothly after being kicked aside when Natsu roared angrily and caused Goku to redirect where he tossed Goten before having to shield himself from a massive linear blast of white flame that shot out of Natsu's mouth.

The flames overlapped Goku's energy barrier, but Goten did not wait to see where his father was before regaining control of his flight and launching into the fire, knowing that Goku would not expect him to hurt himself just to land an attack. His effort was still in vain, however, as Goku felt Goten's attack coming as soon as they were near one another; and the elder Saiyan once again easily evaded another series of punches and kicks while the sheer force of the air moving around them dispersed Natsu's flames. Natsu instinctively joined in on the flurry as soon as he could see the pair; but it seemed to make no difference to Goku, as he continued to dodge both young men's attacks with apparent ease. And after a few seconds of evading, Goku finally attacked once again by trying to land punches on Goten and Natsu; but he only managed to strike the former of the pair as the latter somehow dodged him.

Goten lost his red and blue aura again as he recoiled in intense pain from the three punches his father hit him with; but Natsu continued the heated exchange with Goku as neither seemed able to hit the other. The two struggled for a few seconds before Goten was one again trying to recover, but the pain and lack of energy in his body was way beyond his usually tolerance point; and he only managed to summon his Super Saiyan Blue power for a second before it flickered away.

"Dammit…" He swore as Natsu and Goku danced around each other with fluid grace, barely ever touching the ground when he was watching them; and Goten once again tried to transform, this time successfully. As he relieved as he was, he knew he had to focus on controlling what was left of his ki during whatever move he would attempt next; so he gave the pair in front of him another couple seconds before rushing back into the fray, punching with one hand and kicking while charging his ki and chanting aloud.

"Ka…"

Goku immediately recognized his signature attack, but he was slightly hindered by having to avoid Natsu already; so he only managed to land a kick on his son's side instead of reaching the hand that Goten was preparing the ki wave in. Goten was knocked back in great pain, but he refused to go down after one kick; and he managed to keep control of his energy as he dug a one inch trench with his heels while sliding away from the two.

"Me…"

Natsu recognized the familiar call-out as well, and he immediately knew he had to protect Goten until he was ready to fire the finishing blast; so he did his best to intensify his speed before leaping away from the silver Saiyan with a spin to left, slashing the air as did to create a spiral of flame in all directions.

"Ha…"

Goku wanted to go after Goten as soon as Natsu leapt away, but the radiant white flames flying for him seemed like they could do some damage to him; and he prioritized shielding himself from the fire once again while still trying to interfere with Goten's focus, using his left hand to hold back Natsu's attack while punching the air in the direction of Goten with a right-handed palm strike. Goten quickly braced himself and barely remained standing when the air current his father created hit him like a bullet train going full tilt.

"Me…" He managed to sputter out, but Goku could tell he was faltering.

Before the elder Saiyan could go after his son, however, Natsu had landed and halted his spinning; and the wizard launched through his clearing flames once more, restarting his attempt to land a physical attack on Goku. The Saiyan was still just as fast as ever, though; and the pair were returning to their graceful dance when Goku suddenly realized the solution to his minor dilemma.

He could tell Goten was waiting for an opportunity to attack, so Natsu did his best to keep his opponent in one place; but neither he nor Goku appeared to have an advantage over each other speed-wise, causing the Salamander to realize that he had to use his magic to contain the Saiyan. Taking a half-step back before clapping both of his hands together in front of himself with white flames erupting from his arms as he did, two long and massive walls of fire quickly grew from the wizard's arms and closed in on Goku's flanks, forcing the Saiyan to use two hands to create a ki barrier on both sides.

Goten finally saw his chance, and he fired his ki wave immediately into the tunnel of fire that held his target in the center.

HA!"

But Goten wasn't satisfied with simply firing a Kamehameha, so he added one more burst to his attack at the last second while screaming as a familiar red aura erupted from him and flowed into the ki wave.

"TIMES TEN!"

And not to be undone by Goten's addition burst of strength, Natsu leapt towards Goku at full speed with white flames burning around his right-handed punch. The next instant, both of the young men were more than pleasantly surprised when their attacks connected. Natsu's punch hit Goku square in the sternum while Goten's ki blast struck Goku's whole back; and both attacks detonated upon impact to create a blue and white explosion that shook the earth and shattered the ground below them, creating a crater below them that was at least twenty yards deep.

Little did they know, Goku's solution to ending the fight included ignoring his pride and intentionally being hit by their attacks, as he knew he would likely withstand Goten's attack with ease; but he was curious about exactly how strong Natsu could be right now, having already seen his great increase in speed and agility.

Both Goten and Natsu were grinning proudly as the smoke cleared; but Natsu's pride quickly faded when the smoke cleared, although Goten was too exhausted to look. The demi-Saiyan collapsed forward and fell into the outer rim of the crater with one ankle still resting on the edge; but Natsu, despite panting from clear exhaustion, was still floating before Goku, who was shockingly revealed to be totally unaffected by both attacks. The dragon slayer could not believe his attack had been shrugged off so easily; and he instantly realized how futile any future efforts to fight would be, especially now that his only source of support was unconscious.

"So that was your problem…" Goku realized what had happened out loud, and Natsu's attention snapped to the Saiyan as he spoke.

"Your new power seems to have some similarities with mine, but I wasn't sure how similar it was until now.

"You have no problem dodging attacks; but you're finding it hard to put your full power into your attacks, aren't you?"

Natsu silently made eye contact with the Saiyan before nodding, and with his mute reply confirming Goku's suspicions, the Saiyan continued to make his point.

"You haven't learned how to attack without thinking about it. Confronted by my power, you believed you had no choice but to think and plan out your way to win. If you had simply focused on remembering that your power, no matter what type it is, is all a part of you; and that it will do what you want when you want it to… maybe then you might have had enough strength to do some damage. Goten would have been smart enough to improvise and follow your lead; but instead you let him take charge despite the fact that you had a better sense of perception than he did. You could have been calling the shots if you had just followed your instincts, and like I told my son… Your heart is what'll help you get to this level of power; all you've got to do is follow that, and you'll barely even notice how strong you get along the way."

Natsu listened to the Saiyan's advice intently; and he stood perfectly still, hovering before Goku while he processed a wide range of emotions that ran through his mind. The silver Saiyan took advantage of Natsu's lack of focus; and before the dragon slayer could even see the attack coming, Goku drove his right fist into Natsu's forehead with half of his full power.

The shockwave of the punch blew the air away from them just as the force of the punch sent Natsu flying away backwards until he crashed into a giant boulder nearly two hundred yards away; and the rocks and debris created by the crash piled onto the wizard before settling along with the dirt and dust in the air, with the only disturbance in it being Gou as he flew over to examine his opponent.

Clearing the debris with ease, Goku was relieved to see his opponent was alive but unconscious; and he promptly reached into the wreckage before pulling Natsu out the debris by his scarf, making a mental note to ask how the scarf was not incinerated later as he did.

"That's a relief." The Saiyan remarked honestly as he picked Natsu up with both arms and flew back to Goten's unconscious body with the wizard, "I was starting to hit my time-limit with this form…"

He dumped the wizard next to Goten as he landed, inspecting their physical conditions before chuckling as he thought aloud.

"It's actually a shame," He confessed with great amusement, "Since I'm probably going to recover from this before you recover from what I did to you, you're probably going to kick yourselves when you finally do learn it; but…

"This fight could very easily have been a draw."

A familiar feeling of pain and muscle spasming overtook Goku as purple sparks raced across his skin; and Goku immediately returned to his normal form before falling over as the violet energy randomly blanketed their surroundings, vaporizing smaller rocks and a few insects in the process. The wild purple energy finally receded, and Goku lay on the ground panting as steam rose from every inch of skin from his rapid cooling down.

That was when Gohan appeared standing over the trio, having decided to investigate as soon as he knew he would not be interrupting their fight; and he immediately shook his head and sighed at the sight.

"I had a feeling you guys were going to go over-board," He remarked with sad amusement, "But I didn't think you would go this far over."

"Heh." He surprisingly heard his father say, and he noticed that Goku was twitching as he tried to stand up while speaking; so Gohan hurriedly helped his father up.

"Thanks." Goku said weakly before actually replying to Gohan's remark.

"It's my fault that fight went as far as it did." He admitted thoughtfully, "I underestimated both of them. I can't really speak for his friend, but Goten's grown into an extremely powerful young man; and I only just realized it now."

"I agree." Gohan said with a nod before adding, "And Natsu is a tough nut to crack even without all the magic power he has, so I don't blame you for anything crazy that happens with him around."

Goku felt some relief upon hearing that, having felt a little guilty about the last punch he hit Natsu with; and he smiled weakly before making a request to his eldest son.

"Hey, Gohan, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, Dad." Gohan replied without hesitation, "What is it?"

"I'm gonna take a nap now…" He revealed with a weak grin before finally asking, "But can you tell them that I didn't pass out after the fight, if they ever ask?"

"Sure, Dad." Gohan agreed, silently guessing at a few possible good reasons Goku would have for making the white lie as he spoke, "I just hope you guys recover before our little party tonight."

"We will... And thanks, son." Goku gratefully put a hand on his son's shoulder, though he put more of his weight on Gohan than he meant to; and he said only one more thing before falling asleep in his son's arms:

"I'm really glad you're back with us…"

Back on Earthland…

As soon as she could tell that Iga was unconscious, the Keeper of Light raised one hand above her head and created a massive sphere of energy. She knew she had to be quick if she wished to avoid any witnesses, thinking of the Lamia Scale wizards and a few others that could potentially get in her way.

Her eyes changed to their solid white appearance once more as she charged more energy into the blast; but when it was ready to be fired, she aimed it way off to the side while using her magic for another purpose.

The resulting explosion sent Iga's body flying into the air; and without wasting a single second, she leapt after him, grabbing him with one arm around his waist before quickly creating a portal that they both flew through before it rapidly shut and vanished behind them.

Two months later on Earthland, on a road near the edge of a village to the south of Crocus…

Wendy Marvell sighed as she relaxed under her best friend's touch, feeling much better from the shoulder massage Romeo Conbolt was giving her. The two were sitting across from the door of the carriage, having sat sideways and cross-legged on the seat so Romeo could be behind her.

"Mm… you're getting really good at this." She complimented him as she ignored their wagon's rocking, focusing only on the sensations of her friend's touch.

"Sure am." Romeo replied confidently before adding honestly, "But I think the main reason this works is because you're getting stronger."

"I'd like to think that." Wendy remarked honestly before Romeo gently squeezed the right side of her neck.

"You don't have to think it." He told her reassuringly as she shifted in her seat, moving slightly closer to him as he continued to speak, "You just gotta know it –like I do."

Wendy put her right hand atop his as it held the side of her neck, and she smiled happily before she replied to him.

"I'm just glad I'm almost free of those darn lacrima." She said half-jokingly before adding, "Sherria told me what the next payment was going to be, and I…"

Romeo's brow furrowed as Wendy trailed off.

"And you what?" Romeo asked curiously, "What was the payment?"

"Don't worry about it." Wendy waved her left hand a few times dismissively as Romeo stopped rubbing her shoulders, "Just… just worry about this."

"I may not see your face, Wendy," Romeo stated as he held off on touching Wendy for the moment, "But I can tell your face is probably pretty red right now."

"The payment wasn't a big deal." The Sky Maiden lied before pleading, "Romeo, I'm starting to feel sick again. Please…"

"Okay." Romeo nodded, putting his hands gently on his friend once again and touching her for a moment before pausing with a thought and a smirk on his face, "But you won't get the five star treatment until you tell me what's going on."

"Come on, Romeo." She begged as he teasingly moved an index finger across her right shoulder blade, just along the top of her red tube top that the fire mage had to avoid appreciating too much, "Can we please talk about something else?"

"Alright, alright." He gave in humorously, "Jeez, forgive me for wanting to know what kind of trouble my partner's getting into…"

Wendy turned her head to the left to let Romeo see her serious expression, and he felt the muscles in her shoulders tense to highlight her impatience.

"Point taken." He said quickly, squeezing her shoulders lightly to calm her, "So what would you like to talk about?"

"Hm. Well, you haven't told me how you convinced Charle into staying at Fairy Tail for this job." She reminded him.

"I told you how." Romeo replied jokingly, "We both agreed I was amazing, right?"

"Of course we did." Wendy agreed with a hint of sarcasm before adding seriously, "But you must have offered Charle something important."

"Maybe Charle just trusts me." Romeo suggested, "And it's not like I messed anything up recently, either."

"True." Wendy conceded before continuing to show her curiosity, "But I know you still had to do some convincing, this is Charle we're talking about."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it." Romeo replied, grinning as Wendy realized what he was doing, "It wasn't a big deal, after all."

"I'm not going to tell you about Sherria's request." She insisted to her partner, also trying to avoid showing her enjoyment of Romeo's massaging as they debated.

"And I'm not going to tell you what I said to Charle." He insisted before changing tactic, "And don't think I'm trying to force a negotiation here, 'cause I don't really care about girl talk. A simple guy like me is happy enough with just getting to be here."

A hint of red and a small surge of heat ran over Wendy; and with her right hand she began to nervously play with the edge of her black shorts' right leg, which was just above her knee.

"You shouldn't talk like that, Romeo." She said bashfully, looking at her pants as she spoke.

"What? Honestly?" He questioned intently, "I'm sorry, but I don't function properly when I can't speak my mind."

Wendy was quiet as she tried to think of a rebuttal that would not sound hurtful, but Romeo was not finished speaking.

"I know I was kind of a jerk trying to talk about it last time, but…" Romeo continued until she cut him off.

"Not now…" She begged him, but he was getting slightly irritated about the subject he was trying to discuss with her.

"Then when, Wendy?" He asked, showing his irritation by releasing his friend, "When are we ever going to talk about it?"

"Not before a job." She answered with surety, "I need to stay focused."

"But that's why I want to talk about it." Romeo explained, "I can't focus when I'm worried about you."

"There's nothing to worry about." Wendy insisted.

"Even if I believed that," He remarked thoughtfully, "I'm smart enough to not feel fully reassured by just hearing that. All I want is to hear what you're actually thinking, Wendy."

Wendy's expression softened at his words, and he fought off the strong urge to try to hold her more intimately.

"It's not that simple, Romeo." Wendy stated openly, "I mean, I made promises to him..."

"And he's gone, Wendy." Romeo quipped, "I think you've done way more than enough to prove your promises to him were genuine; but I don't think it's right that you've been pushing aside what you want just because you feel afraid or guilty.

"Are those promises why you had a panic attack last week?" He asked pointedly, trying to avoid feeling embarrassed as he added, "You know, the one that happened just before we ki-"

"That wasn't a panic attack." She tried to hide the truth again, though she was finding it hard to do so, "I was just nervous…"

"You know I won't stop pestering you until I get the truth, Wendy." He stated boldly, "I think I deserve that."

"I don't know what the truth is, Romeo." She tried to explain. Romeo noticed the genuinely honest tone in her voice, and he suddenly felt guilty for being pushy.

"I'm sorry." He quickly apologized, adding nervously, "I'll shut up if you want me to."

Wendy shook her head lightly before she replied to him.

"No," She told him reassuringly, pleasantly surprising Romeo as she also placed her right hand on his, "I'm not going to tell someone to shut up when they're trying to help, and I know this whole thing is unfair to you. I mean, I don't even think you should be apologizing for what happened last week. I know how you feel about me, and you were right the other night when you said that I had made the first move. This whole scenario is my fault, and I should have made sure I was ready before trying anything like that again."

Romeo felt her squeeze his hand slightly, struggling to keep massaging her as he dealt with a series of emotions while she continued to speak.

"I'm not going to tell you to be quiet because… because I want to hear your thoughts too. I need to hear them." She sighed before adding, secretly glad he could not see her embarrassed expression, "What you say matters to me a lot; and I'm not going to complain about someone caring for me, especially when they're right. I did want to kiss you then -like I did two months ago- and I… um… I still do; but…"

Romeo's body suddenly began heating up at her words, getting both intensely nervous and excited at the same time as she got past her own nerves and continued her confession, "But when, you know..."

"When I think about last week, or just about being with you in general…" She finished with a sad tone as she looked at the seat cushion in front of her, trying to hide the fact that she was holding back tears, "I begin to remember him; and just recently, I've been thinking way too much about him to be considered healthy. We were still kids back then, but I really was in love with him; and all this stuff is reminding me of things I tried to just bury and forget… it's the stuff that also makes me not want to risk that kind of pain again, because I'm tired of feeling it. Grandeeney, Mystogan, Cait Sith, Goten… "

"And a few times, I've had this dream where he never died; and the setting changes, but it always ends the same… I could talk to him all I wanted; but as soon as I would try to touch him, Edo would appear from nowhere and… and…"

Wendy stopped talking when Romeo suddenly stopped massaging her and removed his hands, realizing he had stopped because he was trying to choose his words carefully.

"You don't have to say anymore; I understand completely." He told her caringly, "You don't have to apologize for anything."

"No, I do." She insisted with a hint of force, "You do deserve the truth, like you said; and the truth is that none of this is your fault.

"And the truth is also that I'd be lying if I said there was nothing between us." She finished nervously, "I do have feelings for you too, and I think I really do want to be with you; but I'm just not ready. I know that's probably not entirely what you want to hear, but-"

"Wendy, look at me." Romeo interrupted her, speaking again only after she slowly turned in her seat to face him, "Wendy… this is exactly what I needed to hear."

He almost did not get past his second sentence, having noticed that Wendy was crying as she spoke; and the pain from the image was almost crippling as he realized exactly how difficult the current situation was for her. Instantly feeling the urge to comfort her, Romeo tentatively reached his right hand out and gently squeezed the top of her left shoulder before he continued to speak.

"I never expected this was going to be a very cheerful conversation, and I definitely didn't think you were going to admit your feelings for me… I just wanted to understand, you know, to see if there was any way I could help you. I don't want you to say something just to make me happy, Wendy; I want you to say what you're really thinking…"

Wendy focused on listening to him as she rubbed the water out of her eyes before meeting his gaze as he finished his statement.

"All I'm trying to say is that I want you to be happy, because that's what will make me happy;" He momentarily tightened his grip slightly as his voice changed to an even more serious tone than it had from the beginning of his explanation, "And I promise that I won't bring any of this relationship stuff up unless you ask me to; we can treat this like everything else we do together: I'll just follow your lead."

Wendy giggled lightly at the last part of his oath before touching the top of his right hand with her left, squeezing it gently as she read the honest and caring expression on his face. She was trying to decide on a good response to what he had said; and Romeo was becoming slightly nervous as she was slow to respond. He was about to ask her if she was alright when she suddenly hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him to her.

"Thank you, Romeo." She said quietly, her breath slightly tickling his right ear as she spoke, "Thank you for understanding."

Romeo had been slightly surprised by the sudden embrace; but after he listened to her words, he slowly returned the hug as a joyful smile stretched across his lips. They said nothing else as they held each other for a few more seconds until Wendy slowly pulled back and unwrapped her arms from around his neck.

"And one other thing, since we're making promises now." Wendy concluded the conversation with a faint smile that Romeo was overjoyed to see, "When I finally deal with everything that's been making me feel so confused lately, I promise that you'll be the first to know."

At the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…

Gray Fullbuster sat at the bar by himself awkwardly while he was waiting for his companion, feeling a little exposed since he usually sat in the background when he was alone; but Mirajane, who was busy polishing a section of the bar that needed work, suddenly broke his silent train of thought.

"Waiting for Juvia, Gray?" She asked curiously, and the ice mage looked to her before answering.

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, no reason." She replied cryptically, which was a habit of hers that he really did not like; but he ignored his irritation as she changed the subject, "You haven't spoken to Master yet, have you?"

"Nope." Gray informed her before wondering, "How did you know that he summoned me and Juvia? He sent me a personal message that told me to come here."

"I wrote it for him, silly." She revealed teasingly; and she finished her work before looking up to him and adding, "And I know exactly what he wants to talk to you about."

Gray was unsure why, but he felt slightly intimidated by what she said; and he quickly realized why when he closely examined the knowing look she was giving him.

"Wait… You kno-" He said with realization, thinking of his main reason to be concerned, but she shook her head and interrupted him.

"Don't worry, Gray," She quickly reassured him, "I knew way before anyone else did, and I didn't say anything; so I actually can't be mad at you."

"Anyone else?" Gray repeated with the faintest hint of nervousness in his tone, "Who else knows about-"

"Only me, Master, first Master, Lucy, Jellal, Sting, and Orga." She promptly listed before he could finish speaking once again, "They found out not long after you helped catch Orga. Master Makarov made them all swear to keep it secret because we need the guild to focus on one threat at a time, but we're also hoping the others will find some way back to us."

Before Gray could ask Mirajane any more about the subject, the pair suddenly heard the entrance to the guild open and Juvia calling out simultaneously.

"I'm here Gray, my love!" The water mage announced as she waltzed into the guild hall, and she clapped her hands together once with joyous realization of one fact that should have been obvious, "Oh… so you did wait for me! I'm so happy!"

Gray shook his head in amused embarrassment before Juvia jogged through the entryway staircase and the dining area until she was hugging Gray from behind with her arms wrapped around his neck, slightly surprised Gray was letting her get so close in public yet feeling no impulse to point it out. Unfortunately for her, Mirajane did feel the need to; however.

"My, my," She remarked teasingly, "You two seem pretty comfortable around each other…"

"Calm down." Gray told her dismissively, though he made no indication that he wished for Juvia to release him, "The only thing that happened between us is that we came to an understanding "

"Oh?" the takeover mage said with intrigue, and Juvia decided to elaborate.

"What Gray-darling means is that we've finally acknowledged our similar feelings for each other; but we also agreed that we should worry about defeating Zeref and Edo before we worry about trying to have a life together."

That time, Gray actually did seem uncomfortable with how much information his unofficial girlfriend was revealing; but he still allowed Juvia to cling to him despite the fact that she was currently embarrassing him.

"I see." Mira remarked thoughtfully before a mischievous look crossed her face and thinking aloud, "I bet this 'understanding' helps make sleeping arrangements pretty simple, doesn't it? Cheaper for hotels when you're out on jobs together, too…"

"And this is where this conversation ends." Gray told the bartender seriously before standing up, with Juvia releasing him as he did only to wrap an arm around one of his; and he asked Mirajane one more question before being able to go where he needed to.

"Is the old man downstairs with First Master, or is he out somewhere in Magnolia right now?"

"Neither." The trio heard the Fairy Tail guild master answer from their left; and they saw Makarov was just reaching the bottom of the stairs by the nearest restroom, which led to the S-class floor.

"Good afternoon, Master." Juvia greeted the older man cheerily, but her bright attitude slightly dimmed when she noticed that Gray was clearly not as excited to see their guild master.

"Darling?" She asked with some worry, especially after seeing a similarly somber expression on Makarov's face as the two men looked at each other, "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, Juvia." Makarov assured her as he stopped at the top of the couple of stairs before the dining area, but the unpleasant expression on Gray's face still caused her to doubt the statement before, "But perhaps we should move this conversation to a different room, yes?"

Gray nodded in agreement, and Makarov turned to Mirajane before giving her some instructions.

"If anyone needs me in the next few minutes, send them to the data room; and if its not too inconvenient, have someone bring some food in after us. I've been so busy playing host to our guest that I forgot to get some lunch for myself."

Mirajane nodded and smiled, "Sure thing, Master. Do you have any preference on what you want for lunch?"

"Not particularly. Dealer's choice is good enough for today." He replied before offering Gray and Juvia some lunch as well.

"No thanks, Gramps." The ice mage answered first while Juvia decided to go along with her boyfriend's choice, "We'll grab something to eat after we talk."

"As you wish." Makarov remarked before leading the two behind the bar and to their right, past the doors to the kitchen and resting room before finally entering the data storage room.

As soon as the door was closed behind all three of them, Juvia started the conversation.

"May I ask what this is about, Master?" She wondered while still a little nervous.

"You may," Makarov responded casually as he moved to take a seat at the rectangular table in the center of the room, "But I'm sure you might prefer it if Gray explained why we're here."

"It's because I've been lying to the guild, right?" The ice mage cut to the chase, not bothering to sit down until he knew was in the room to do more than just defend his actions, "And you want to know if I might have any information that could help against Edo, don't you?"

Makarov nodded to both questions, and Juvia quickly realized why her beloved was so nervous earlier as she listened to them. After all, she remembered what Gray said to her two months ago about the severity of his deception; and Makarov quickly noticed, thanks to Juvia's expression, a fact that slightly surprised him.

"You clearly haven't told her yet," the guild master pointed out to Gray curiously, "But she does know you've been hiding something, too?"

"Master, Gray has told me he's been keeping some very serious information from us." Juvia admitted, standing by the ice mage figuratively and literally as she still held onto his arm while speaking, "But my love only did so in order to save me, Master. If there's anyone that should bear the guilt of his lies, it's me; because I got captured in the first place. If there are any punishments you have for his misdeeds, I will gladly accept them in his-"

"Quit it, Juvia." Gray interrupted her with a hint of force in his tone, "You are not going to take the heat for me; and I'm not going to apologize for saving a member of our guild."

The pair quietly waited for what their guild master was going to say, but Gray was a little worried he was too blunt towards the end of his sentence; and that nervousness slowly grew inside him until Makarov stopped staring at them and finally said something.

"First of all, I want you two to never forget to appreciate that kind of loyalty you have for each other," The elder wizard finally replied by instructing them with a serious tone, "Because that right there is the selfless kind, the one that you can never truly reward someone for. At least, not intentionally anyway."

Gray was a little more nervous at the mention of ideas like loyalty and payment, wondering if his master was speaking with more than one meaning; so he finally sat across from Makarov with Juvia releasing him and taking a seat to his left. Gray was thinking that even if this conversation were to go the worst way he imagined it could, he did not want to look weak in front of Juvia no matter what transpired; and Juvia was also preparing for the worst as well, though her vivid imagination suddenly helped turn the worst possible outcome into potentially the very best outcome for her.

If Gray-sama gets exiled from Fairy Tail, I could go with him, She thought to herself as she was now lost in her thoughts, making a few leaps of logic while ignoring some other important factors as she did, And we could actually live together again, without having to worry about all these guild wars…

"But despite what you two may think," Makarov said to suddenly bring Juvia back to reality, "We are not here to scold you for past indiscretions."

Gray gave a sigh of relief while Juvia was busy scolding herself internally for actually starting to feel hopeful.

"After all," Makarov added, "It would be ridiculous to punish you for committing the very same deception that I myself have committed, and I plan to keep the lie going for a little longer, too."

"Mirajane told me that much." Gray informed his master and partner before adding a deduction of his own, "And it seems like you're hoping our friends from Earth will resolve this dilemma with Edo before we have to deal with it."

"It's weak of me, but yes." Makarov acknowledged the cowardly facet of his plans, "In this case, I know the guild is only strong enough to handle one major threat at the time; and adding a war with Edo on top of our current cold war with Zeref would likely be the end of us, with our failure being guaranteed if we reignite both conflicts without the aid of our Earthling guildmates."

By this point, Juvia had figured out what secrets the two had been keeping; but she needed to hear someone say it aloud before she could actually believe it.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Master; but it sounds like you and Gray are talking about Gohan and his family…"

"Because we are." Gray interjected, not feeling deserving enough to look Juvia in the eye as he finally revealed his secret to her, "On the day that they went home, Edo offered me the deal to save you in return for my help with faking their deaths."

"I see…" Juvia replied absently as she was mostly thinking than talking; and Gray was busy processing the feeling of having a weight lifted off his shoulders while also worrying over what his partner was thinking about.

"I'm sorry, Juvia." Gray did feel the need to apologize to her for his actions, though, "I remember you mentioning your guilt about what happened with them a few times; and I never told you something that could've helped you forgive yourself…"

Makarov was quiet as he decided it was best to not interrupt the couple's conversation; and Juvia was also quiet for only a moment longer before she finally said something, though she first comfortingly grabbed Gray's left hand -which was resting on the edge of the table- with both of hers before doing so.

"Gray, my love, we've discussed this already; it doesn't matter what the lie was… I already forgave you for it, remember?"

"Juvia…" Gray ignored the watery sensation in his eyes as he tried his best to be grateful without losing his composure in front of Makarov, "Thank you…"

Makarov let the duo exchange happy expressions before finally getting them back on topic.

"And now that that's out of the way," He said after clearing his throat to regain their attention, "We can return to discussing my plans for your next job. As far as I can tell, our current stand off between both the Alvarez Empire and Edo's God Slayers is a powder keg that's one spark away from igniting; and while our battle with Zeref could resume at any point, I believe that our battle with Edo will only begin again once Gohan, his family, and Trunks return. All the information we have gathered about him suggests his sole motivation is to completely defeat and humiliate Gohan."

"So, keeping the fact that they're alive hidden ensures that no one tries to bring Gohan back too soon." Gray observed aloud while giving Makarov a chance to catch his breath in the process, "And delaying that also means delaying our fight with Edo…"

"Precisely." Makarov confirmed before continuing, "But no matter how it happens, and it will happen; we need to be prepared both for our friends' returning and for the beginning of both conflicts. With the help of the other guilds in Fiore, I'm confident we can overcome the challenge of Zeref and Acnologia; but Edo's powers contain something that's beyond magic. To rid the world of him once and for all, we are going to need at least Gohan's help."

"And what do you wish for us to do, Master?" Juvia questioned respectfully, though she was unsure if she would even be able to provide something helpful to any of the situations they were discussing.

"You two, my dear Juvia," Makarov answered her promptly, "Are first going to make amends with some of your guildmates and allies that are also in on our little secret, specifically there's one person you should speak with at the least; and once that's done, your actual assignment will be helping Mirajane and Lucy find out if there is some way that we can get to them."

"Is this why Orga has been living in our S-Class area for the past two months?" Gray realized another fact aloud, and Makarov nodded before explaining.

"Sting asked us to shelter him until we were sure Orga would be safe, but I also traded our kindness for information on Edo. And thanks to our Sky Maiden and Sting's efforts, we were able to free Orga before Edo's magic wiped all his memories of his time with the man."

Gray felt Juvia's grip on his hand tighten nervously, and he remembered to speak with her later about the topic before continuing to listen to their guild master.

"It turns out that Orga was a wellspring of information, one we aim to take full advantage of."

Before the three could continue conversing, they heard the door open before they turned to see Lucy and Mirajane walking in.

"Good afternoon, Master Makarov." The blonde wizard greeted as she moved to sit next to Juvia while Mirajane picked a seat to Makarov's right, "Mira said you need me for something?"

"I do indeed." The Wizard Saint confirmed before giving Gray a look and adding, "But before we get to what I need, you should hear what your friends next to you have to say."

"I'm sorry I lied about losing our friends, Lucy." The ice mage quickly apologized before adding more seriously, "And I want you to know that I never knew any of Edo's plans, and I definitely never had anything to do with Natsu getting kidnapped."

"And I'm sorry as well, Lucy." Juvia chimed in, not wishing for Gray to be alone while humbling himself, "If I hadn't been weak enough to get captured, my love would never have had to lie to you in the first place."

"Jeez, what is this place," Lucy remarked humorously, trying to dismiss how off-putting it was to see Gray acting so meek, "A confessional, or something?

"Guys, you don't have to apologize." She added a little more seriously, "Gray, you did whatever it took to get Juvia back to us, which is exactly how I feel about trying to get Natsu back; and the only people I think that might get hurt by this whole lie is Wendy, Goten, and Romeo."

Juvia actually gasped when she realized what Lucy was talking about.

"We accidentally created a teenage love triangle?" She realized, not knowing until it was too late that she was thinking aloud.

"Looks like it." Mirajane confirmed neutrally, "You may have noticed it, but Lucy and I have been trying to discourage Wendy from getting too close to Romeo too soon; but no one else knew about Goten soon enough like I did, and I couldn't just tell Wendy… I made a promise to Gohan that I'd stay silent way before I promised my discretion to Master."

"Dammit…" Gray swore at himself, realizing he never considered all the consequences of his deceit. He knew how much all three of those kids looked up to and respected him; and he finally understood exactly how selfish his actions were, realizing that in trying to have with Juvia what Goten already had with Wendy, he had personally sabotaged their relationship. And on top of that, he was learning that he might also ruin Wendy's second attempt at finding love as well, with poor Romeo caught in the middle of it all and possibly doomed for heartbreak as well.

"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Makarov finally spoke up again, deciding it was time to get back to work, and he began to deliver actual orders to the people in the room.

"Mirajane, I will be placing you in charge of the team that's responsible for finding your way to Earth. Gray will be your second in command with Lucy and Juvia also joining you; you told me Lisanna should already have found a way, but it's not available to us unless we have her help, correct?"

"That's right." The takeover mage affirmed, and Lucy was the first person on her side of the table to make a surprised and confused face.

"Hang on a minute," Lucy asked, wondering why this fact never came up before, "Lisanna's on Earth right now? How did she get there?! It's in an entirely different universe!"

"And when-" Juvia began to question until Gray answered her with his own guess.

"It was when she left to go and find a way to get Natsu back, wasn't it?"

"Yep." Mirajane explained, "But I haven't heard from her in a while, so I'm a little worried now; I'm hoping the reason I haven't heard from her is just because she's over there, and nothing worse. Poor Elfman doesn't even know a thing, but he's worrying about her too much as it is."

"Lisanna might have secured a source of transportation with outside help," Makarov steered the conversation back on point once more, "But the first Master and I would prefer if we had our own way to reach our guildmates in their separate universe. Your mission as a team will be to recruit anyone you need and gather or spend any resources as necessary until you have either discovered or constructed some way to travel such an unfathomable distance. My only stipulations are that you must be discerning in who you recruit; and anyone involved with this mission and its outcome are sworn to secrecy until I say otherwise. Are we clear on this?"

Everyone else in the room nodded to the Wizard Saint before he continued.

"Very good. Now hopefully, while you are in the process of possibly discovering new types of magical technology; we may also stumble upon something that will help our other covert team that will be out in the field. Crime Sorciere and Sabertooth have decided to turn their attention to Edo; and I have given Erza permission to recruit anyone she needs to assist our allies with their mission. That team will be less of a secret, however; so we need not worry about maintaining discretion there. I have also ordered Erza to share any information that could be helpful to your objectives, as I expect you to share with her. Now, any questions?"

The room was silent as everyone nodded.

"Excellent." Makarov said as he concluded their meeting, "Now, anyone wishing to discuss the plan further with me can stay while I wait for my lunch; otherwise, you're welcome to go out and enjoy your day however you wish. Tomorrow, you will start to get to work."

Everyone except for Mirajane and Makarov left the data room, and Juvia started the conversation between the three of them.

"Gray, my love, perhaps we should stop by our favorite restaurant in town," She suggested eagerly as she held one of his hands as soon as they were through the door, "I feel like we should celebrate that we no longer have any secrets between us! And here I believed the only way we could get any closer was physically…"

"Gross." Lucy reminded the water mage she was still standing behind them as they walked, and Gray awkwardly scratched the side of his head with his free hand in response.

"Like the idea, Juvia," Gray agreed before also saying, "But I think we should spend some time socializing with our guildmates for once, too. It's been a couple months since we've actually done that."

"Well, if you don't want to eat here," Lucy offered the two, "We could cook something up at my place. I'll get Happy and Charle to invite some others, and we can hang out and chow down just like old times."

"That could be nice." Juvia reluctantly admitted as the trio found themselves standing in front of the bar while still talking.

"Great! I'll go find Happy and go make my place ready for you guys." Lucy told them happily before saying goodbye and walking away to go look for Happy and Charle. The water and ice duo watched her walk away for a second before Gray came up with a way for them to kill time.

"C'mon, Juvia. We can take a walk through the park to kill time, if you still want that little celebration of yours anyway..." He told his companion as she followed him towards the main exit to the guild, holding hands the whole time; but Juvia pressed against his side and nearly gasped in joy at the last part of his sentence.

"Oh, my darling, you're so considerate!" She remarked happily as the doors to Fairy Tail closed behind them; and she eagerly began to lead the way towards the city of Magnolia, lightly tugging her unofficial boyfriend behind her and down their path.

Back on Earth…

Son Gohan woke up feeling warm and optimistic as he took a second to enjoy Videl's unconscious hold on him. The feeling of his wife holding him tightly from behind as she slept was a sensation he would never tire of waking up to; and despite the fact that he was dead and required no sleep yet, his sleep schedule was one of the first things he reestablished as soon as he had returned home.

Sighing contently, he took another minute before gently lifting the arm Videl had resting on top of him and slowly shuffling out of bed. He moved to his dresser and dug through until he found the first set of martial arts clothes he could; and he smirked faintly when he pulled his purple dogi out and changed into it, thinking it had been a while since he wore the outfit. He tied the outfit's red belt around his waist and slipped into his fighting shoes before taking another appreciative glance at his sleeping wife.

Hoping Videl might still be in bed by the time he got back, Gohan exited their bedroom before walking down the hall until he was entering the second floor of the large, round living room; and knowing his wife was not awake to scold him for his laziness, he easily leapt over the railing and landed smoothly near the dining table.

It still felt odd that he did not have to entertain Pan as he and Videl usually did by this point in the morning; but he was not going to complain about the missing routine either. Ever since their daughter had started spending the nights with her grandparents two months ago, merely because Goku was actually staying there once again; Videl had made sure they took full advantage of their time alone. Inspired by Trunks and Lisanna, they once again had picked up a habit of going out on dates and having training sessions together as well.

Entering the kitchen, Gohan rubbed some sleep out of his right eye before opening the fridge and pulling out a leftover sandwich from yesterday's lunch and eating it in a few bites before heading back to the living room.

I wonder if Dad or Goten are up… He thought to himself before trying to use his ki sense to find out for himself. He sensed that everyone at the other Son house was still asleep; and Gohan finally looked at the clock and understood why everyone was still asleep: the time was nearly four-thirty.

Oops. He remarked to himself, realizing he should have noticed the lack of sunlight outside way before he noticed the clock. I guess I still haven't got my internal clock totally readjusted yet…

Taking consolation with the fact that he would more than likely be done before Videl was up now, Gohan crossed the living room and walked out his front door, closing it behind him before gently taking off into the sky; and he flew to his preferred training grounds deeper into the mountain range.

As soon as he landed, he scanned his surroundings before sitting cross legged on the earth; and he closed his eyes as soon as he was settled comfortably. Taking a few deep inhales and exhales, the demi-Saiyan began to focus his mind, using his basic trick to start his mental exercises.

Imagining a long and dark hall with seven doors inside it, Gohan assigned each door to one of his senses. The first few doors were sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste; but he did not need to use any of those at the moment, so he made sure they were locked up nice and tight before moving to the last two. These were always the hardest doors to maneuver: ki sense, at the end of the hall, was almost always trying to force itself open; and the door to his sixth sense was always seemingly trying to keep itself shut.

Fortunately for Gohan, the people that projected the larger and more distracting sources of energy were still asleep; so the last door inside his mind palace was relatively still for now, making it much easier for him to focus on accessing the least tangible of all his senses. Inside his imagination, he put nearly all his strength into pulling the door open; and after a few seconds of effort, the entryway finally gave way.

Stepping through the door, Gohan entered the other side to see that he was now standing over himself; and he once again fought off the weird feeling his out-of-body experiences gave him before launching into the sky, leaving his physical form to sit on the dirt motionlessly. After a few seconds he was exiting the Earth's atmosphere, and he continued to fly straight up for as long as he could.

One by one, he watched as his planet, then his solar system, and then his galaxy all shrank as he climbed higher, higher, and higher; but he suddenly stopped at a spot where he could see the edges of his universe, feeling once again like he could climb no higher and see no further. If he focused hard enough, he was sure he could fly down and examine every single living being in the universe; but his current target was way beyond that border, a fact that his limited image of the universes was proving.

Knowing his sense of frustration would only hinder his efforts, Gohan decided to start over. He knew he could break this limit on his telepathic abilities if he continued to exercise his mind just like he did his body; so the Saiyan continued doing these mental leaps into the cosmos for what Gohan thought was at least an hour before he began to feel tired.

Opening his eyes and standing up, Gohan wiped sweat of his brow before checking his surroundings once again; and he was pleased to see that he managed to keep total control of his energy despite having even totally ignored it at one point, seeing that nothing had changed about the area near him. Sometimes when he tried too hard to use his telepathy, he would open his eyes to see things like fractures in the ground below him or signs of an irregular air current around him.

Gohan realized he must have been meditating for at least two hours, though, when he noticed the sun was jus beginning to rise over the horizon; and he decided not to waste time by flying back home. Putting two fingers to his head and focusing on his wife's lowered ki signature, grinning eagerly when he noticed she was still sleeping; and he transmitted into their bedroom the next instant.

He saw Videl had been moving around while she slept, since she was now completely on his side of the bed; and he knew by her moving around that she would probably be waking up soon. Quickly moving into their bedroom after finding a weighted set of his orange dogi and walking into the bathroom with his clean clothes.

After briefly rinsing off in the shower, he was out the bathroom and in his new outfit in record time, stepping into his blue combat shoes and walking out the bedroom while he fastened his blue belt around his waist; and once again he leapt over the railing as soon as he reached the living room, though he landed closer to the stairs this time. Turning around and promptly walking into the kitchen, he scratched his head awkwardly when he remembered that he had not actually cooked a meal in ages.

"Okay…" He tentatively said aloud, "Well, let's go with something simple, just to be safe…"

Barely a half-hour later, Videl stirred as she slowly woke up; and she unconsciously tried to grab her husband, planning to hug him and enjoy the sensation before opening her eyes. But when she felt nothing but air before her, she looked to see that she was actually on his side of the bed, which she had even nearly fallen off of. Finding his absence odd, she slowly stretched before her sense of smell finally caught up to her; and she looked at the nightstand by her side of the bed to see a warm cup of coffee steaming on a saucer.

Guessing Gohan must have ended his routine training session earlier than usual, she smiled pleasantly at the sight of the nice gesture; and she picked up the cup as soon as she had put a robe over herself, hiding the fact that she had nothing else on underneath it.

Sipping the coffee and noting that it was made exactly to her liking, she smiled once more before carrying the cup out the room; and when she reached their massive living room, she could smell breakfast being made way before she was walking down the stairs.

"Gohan, is that you down there?" She called out, guessing the attractive aroma was caused by him; and he promptly called back to her as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Sure is." He affirmed as he moved full plates and silverware onto a tray, smirking at his perfect timing before taking the tray and walking into the living room with it.

"Wow," She complimented as soon as she saw the food he was carrying in, "Not bad for a guy that hasn't cooked in a couple years."

"Thanks." He said with some relief before moving to set the tray onto the coffee table, preferring to sit on one of the wide couches just in case his wife wanted to sit with him; and he smiled happily when he saw her move to a couch before he even indicated which table he was moving to.

"I figured it was about time I did, though." He admitted as he set the tray down and as his wife sat down, "I mean, you've been spoiling me so much lately; I couldn't not return the favor."

Videl smiled to show she was grateful for the food, but she was also slightly amused at his naivety; she was not just spoiling him by cooking all those meals and spending all that time with him, she was spoiling herself as well. She moved over so he could sit next to her; and without even bothering with the food at first, she wrapped an arm around her husband's back and pulled him close before leaning her head on his shoulder and speaking again.

"You're too sweet, you know that?" She remarked with a sigh of content as she felt Gohan squeeze her lightly, quietly enjoying the faint smell of sweat he still had from his training session for a second before adding with a faux disgusted look, "And maybe a little salty, right now…"

"I'm sorry," He quickly apologized before loosening his grip on her, "I tried to rinse off, but…"

"I'm just teasing you, sweetie." She interrupted with a smirk, before she suddenly realized that the hunger she actually had was not for food at the moment; and she barely whispered the next part of her statement, "C'mon, you know I actually like it..."

"I do, b-" Gohan agreed, originally planning on steering the conversation back to the food; but the more rational sections of brain began to shut down when he felt Videl nibble on the side of his neck, causing his whole body to heat up under her touch.

"Just like I thought: salty." She commented seductively, with her breath tickling his skin and hindering his focus further, "Come here."

She used her free hand to grab his face and promptly kissed him; and Gohan was more than happy to return the kiss, but as soon as they parted for air, he was trying to ask about the food once more.

"Videl, hang on." He panted as she kept his face within inches of hers, "Don't you wanna eat while the food's hot?"

"Yeah, but that's why we've got a microwave." She flat out dismissed his point entirely, but Gohan was not upset with her choice; and he eagerly went along with her new plan as she forced him to lay down, thinking that they were probably going to have to clean the couch by the time they were done.

An hour and half later, Son Goten was had just finished waking up, bathing, and getting dressed; and he was walking into his family's living room where he was greeted by his parents, who were in their usual spots in the morning

"Hey, son." Goku said with his trademark enthusiasm, lowering his feet off the dinner table since he was sure his wife would turn around and see him rocking his chair once again.

"Good morning, Goten," Chi Chi then added, glancing to her son and giving him a smile before focusing back on her cooking, "Sleep well?"

"Sure did." He answered honestly before standing in the middle of the room and changing the subject, "Is breakfast ready?"

"Not yet, we only just woke up too." Goku told his son with a vaguely depressed tone, but he perked up and added a question before his wife could speak next.

"But, hey, we could go train while we wait, if you want?"

"Goten can if he wants," Chi Chi chimed in speaking more to her husband than her son, "But not you, mister."

"Aw, Chi Chi…" Goku whined weakly, "But why…?"

"Because this is some of the only time that I get to talk with you." She told him pointedly; and Goku knew he was not going to win this argument, though a thought occurred to him as he looked towards his son. Goten felt sympathetic for his father, and he had hesitated to leave despite hearing he had permission to, which is something Goku quickly noticed.

Subtly making signals to his son, pleading him for assistance; Goku was soon feeling grateful when Goten spoke up.

"Hey, Mom," He asked as casually as he could, "I could really use his help right now, actually."

Not sure if he had won her over yet, judging by his mother's indecisive expression, Goten added a decent point to his argument.

"Please? Training with Dad helps me learn how to survive fighting people that are stronger than me."

Chi Chi sighed before finally giving him, "Okay, fine."

"Yes!" Goku sprung from his seat in triumphant delight, "Thank you, Chi Chi! C'mon, son!"

"Just try not to get too dirty before breakfast is ready!" She ordered them as the two Saiyans quickly exited the building.

Meanwhile, at the Capsule Corp…

Trunks had finished getting dressed, having put on his green dogi and yellow boots; and he was just fastening the orange belt around his waist when his girlfriend stepped out the bathroom, dressed in another one of the maroon and pink dresses she borrowed from her sister.

They exchanged smiles before she started looking for her flats that matched the color of the rest of her outfit; but Trunks was too busy noticing how she was carrying herself, seeing that she seemed lighter on her feet, and there was this odd aura of happiness coming off her.

Lisanna noticed he was staring at her, so after a second of silence, she finally spoke.

"What's up?" She wondered innocently, and Trunks quickly answered.

"It's nothing," He told her honestly, "I was just wondering why you're in such a good mood already."

"Is that a bad thing?" She momentarily paused her search to look at him, and he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before replying.

"No way! I just wanted to know what you're thinking about."

"Oh." His girlfriend said with realization, and he thought she was going to apologize; but she teased him instead.

"Well, if that's the case then, I guess I can tell you…"

She waited a second to build up anticipation before finally saying.

"That… it's a secret."

Trunks sighed and shook his head dejectedly at her sense of humor; and he gave up with a chuckle.

"Okay, princess, if you don't wanna talk about it yet, we don't have too."

"Thanks, Trunks." She replied gratefully before making a slight cheer, "I found them!"

Putting her shoes on, she turned to her boyfriend and gestured for him to lead the way.

"C'mon, you. We don't want to miss breakfast after all."

Trunks complied, and he began to walk out the room; but just as he crossed the doorway, Lisanna briefly dropped her façade by quietly stopping and sighing away some of her nerves, relieved that she managed to dodge Trunks' questions and annoyed with herself that she even tipped him off in the first place. And before her boyfriend could notice her absence, she was quickly walking behind him once more as they traversed the halls of Capsule Corp.'s residence wing until they reached the dining room, where they were met by Bulma and Bulla as the pair were eating.

"Morning, you two." Bulma greeted them politely before ceasing to eat and adding, "Want me to make you guys something? I'm sorry we started without you, but you know how she gets."

Bulma gestured to her daughter, who seemed to be playing with her food rather than eating it at the moment.

"Don't worry about it, Bulma." Lisanna told her reassuringly before asking if she could use Bulma's kitchen to cook for herself and Trunks; and Bulma allowed it without hesitation, for a few reasons that were not so obvious to the couple speaking with her. Trunks offered to help, but Lisanna had politely refused; so instead he sat and spoke with the three women as he and his mother watched his girlfriend cook.

Only Bulma noticed it, but there was one point when Lisanna was cooking where the young woman seemed bothered by something, likely a certain smell; and she could tell the takeover mage was putting some effort into fighting off whatever sensation she was feeling. For some reason, Bulma had felt like something was up with Lisanna as soon as she and Trunks walked into the room; but now that she had been examining her closely, and after having seen that mysterious expression on the girl's face, Bulma was beginning to develop a few theories about what was actually going on.

So as soon as the couple had finally begun to eat, Bulma began to casually ask them some questions by mixing inane ones with the few that she actually wanted to ask, hoping Lisanna would fail to notice her suspicion; and it worked, as their conversation went smoothly with neither of the couple catching on as Bulma conducted their unwitting interrogation.

After a few more rounds of exchanging questions and answers, Bulma was pretty sure she now knew what was going on with her son's girlfriend; but the thought, if it were true, was something that made her nervous and excited at the same time. She also knew that if she was right, Lisanna was going to need all the help she could get; and, in her opinion, sooner was better than later.

As soon as everyone had finished eating, Bulma started to work on getting a chance to speak with Lisanna privately.

"Hey, Trunks?" She requested, "Would you mind taking your sister and going to find Mai for me? I've got some work to do in one of the labs; and I would love it if she could keep an eye on her again, she's one of the few normal people that Bulla actually likes."

The little blue haired Saiyan finally indicated she was listening, but only with an agreeing nod; as her brother spoke up before she could.

"Sure thing, Mom." He said before standing up and smiling to his sister, "C'mon Bra, let's go find Mai."

"Okay!" Bulla cheered before climbing out her seat, taking her brother's hand, and walking out the room with him in tow. Lisanna was going to follow, but she noticed all the dirty dishes left on the table; and just as Bulma predicted she would, the wizard was kind enough to offer helping clean up.

"Sure, thanks." Bulma played it cool, talking about her daughter for a moment before getting to the real conversation, "I'll tell you what, that little girl of mine is so spoiled; she only speaks when she wants something nowadays."

Lisanna chuckled in response as she helped Bulma move the dirty dishes to the sink; and Bulma let her rinse them as she stood beside her, soon starting up the conversation once more.

"So, uh, I hope you don't mind my asking; but how are things between you and Trunks?"

"Things are great." Lisanna answered confidently, "Probably better than ever, actually. Only thing I can really complain about is that he can worry a bit too much sometimes, but that's not really a bad problem to have; and he's getting better about it, too."

"You might not have been able to tell," Bulma supplemented the takeover mage's observations on Trunks, "But he gets that from his father. Vegeta's almost always worrying about us; and it's one of the reasons why he's so obsessed with getting stronger."

"I thought that was it." Lisanna said thoughtfully, "It was a bit of a mystery for a bit, because you're pretty calm when it comes to problem-solving. Like when Edo showed up at Goten's party, a lot of people there were scared or angry at him; but when I looked at you, you were just focused, trying to learn everything you could from the situation…"

"Well," Bulma remarked, feeling more than a little flattered, "I'm glad it looked that way; because I didn't feel as calm as I looked. That was a really nice party he crashed! And he was so rude…"

Lisanna smiled before adding, "And here I was thinking you were going to say 'scary'; but that's what I'm talking about, Bulma. You aren't intimidated by Edo like I am; and you've never talked about the Keepers with any hint of concern, either… I want to be that kind of brave."

"You might not believe me when I say this, but you actually don't." Bulma tried dismissing the praise, mostly because she knew her ego need no more inflating for the day, "I'm afraid you only get that kinda courage though experience; and I really hope that you and Trunks won't have to run into as many mass-murdering creeps as I have.

"But then again, you're dating a Saiyan." Bulma remarked while moving out Lisanna's way so she could put the dishes to the washer, "You wouldn't have been able to do that if you didn't have that kind of courage, all kidding aside. Saiyans are attracted to strength in all its forms; it's a product of being a 'warrior race'."

"That makes sense." Lisanna agreed as she finished loading the dishwasher, and Bulma started it for her before speaking again.

"I hope you know this, Lisanna, but you can always talk to me if you need anything." She offered sincerely, before vaguely driving at the actual purpose for her statement, "If anything's going on with you two, and if you're not really sure who you can talk to about it; just come find me, and I promise that whatever it is will stay between us."

"Thanks, Bulma; I'll remember that." The takeover mage replied gratefully before commenting, "I'm sure I'm going to need that kind of help at some point down the road…"

"Everyone does, kiddo." The bluenette informed her, moving back to sit by the table while the wizard stood before her, "Sometimes there are things that happen that you just don't plan for."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Lisanna remarked knowingly, and there was a brief instant where Bulma noticed that the wizard definitely seemed to be thinking about something specific.

"Lisanna, I'm serious," The scientist finally began to reveal her suspicions, "If there's something that's happened, you really should tell someone about it. And judging by the face you made earlier when you were cooking…"

Bulma saw Lisanna squirm awkwardly, who was finally realizing that her façade was failing her; but her reluctance to speak caused Bulma to make sure she was not feeling pressured to talk.

"Look," the bluenette said coolly, despite knowing how serious this conversation was if her assumptions were correct, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Lisanna; but I think I already know what's going on."

Lisanna gulped nervously, worried that Bulma would think less of her once the cat was out the bag, "You do?"

"I do now." The scientist answered confidently before offering a seat at the table across from herself, "And you really shouldn't feel guilty about it, you know. If anyone's to blame it's me, because I really should have seen it coming; and Vegeta should have, too. Honestly, as parents, we really should have had a more personal conversation with Trunks months ago…"

"Really?" Lisanna questioned, still wondering if they were talking about the same thing even though she was mostly sure that Bulma knew the truth.

"Really really." Bulma said with a hint of humor before adding seriously, "And you're making a mistake not telling Trunks about it. Not 'cause you could make him mad, which I doubt he'll be mad at all when he finds out; but because telling him about it would help him get stronger as a fighter, as well."

Lisanna was quietly thinking about the bluenette's words; and Bulma could see the conflict in the mage's thoughts on her face, so she decided to simply drive her point home.

"Save us some time here, Lisanna; and please just tell me. Believe me, saying it aloud seems like an easy thing to do; but it's actually an important step in processing all the emotions that come with it. I promise I'm not going to be shocked by your answer, okay?"

Lisanna was silent once again, with this pause feeling much longer than it actually was for both of them; and after nearly half a minute of awkward silence, the takeover mage finally began her confession.

Meanwhile, just outside the building…

A bright white portal opened just ten feet above the cement t-intersection between the sidewalk that bordered the street and the concrete that led towards Capsule Corp; and a seemingly-young green-eyed woman with long, wild, and bright red hair was suddenly standing before the massive scientific facility as the portal disappeared.

Walking to the entrance of the Briefs family building, she readjusted her white uwagi and her red belt before making sure her white pants and black kung-fu shoes were in good condition as well; and as soon as she was sure she looked presentable, she opened one of the clear glass doors and walked inside the Capsule Corporation.

Grinning when the young brunette woman at the front desk looked at the door in confusion, she casually walked past the front desk and straight through the atrium. She stopped for a moment to enjoy the sight of the dinosaurs before finding the way to the Gravity Room; and without bothering to knock or even use the door, she created lazily portals on both sides of the entrance before walking through them.

As soon as she did so, she ended her invisibility spell and closed the portals behind her; and she was instantly greeted by Vegeta's angry swearing.

"Tch! Goddammit, why is my training always getting interrupted?! We were just getting started!"

"You! Who the hell are you, and why the hell are in here?" He demanded instantly.

A few yards behind Vegeta, Trunks was immediately perplexed by the situation. Unlike his father, he saw how this red-haired stranger entered the room; and he recognized Iga's clothing style instantly, as well. The bright red hair struck his interest even more, too; and he was beginning to feel as if he should know who this woman was.

"Well," She teased Vegeta humorously while crossing her arms casually, "You're clearly not the clever one."

"What did you just-?!" Vegeta began to argue, but Trunks interrupted him.

"H-hang on, Father…" He said cautiously while moving to stand beside the Saiyan prince, "I think I know who this is."

"Oh, really?" She remarked, and Trunks easily recognized her goofy smirk was identical to the one Iga always wore; and her tone seemed eerily similar as well, "Well, don't let me stop you; guess away."

"You're Claris, aren't you?" Trunks replied, hoping he was not correct, "You got in here by using light magic like my Master; but there's no one else across the universes that should have magic like his, and believe me, we've looked. If Master Iga hasn't given you his powers, then you must be the Keeper of Light."

"I'll give you this, Vegeta," The redhead responded with her near-permanently amused tone, "You were smart enough to find a good wife; I mean, can you imagine how low his I.Q. would be without Bulma's genes in him?"

She made a face of disgust when she finished, and Vegeta began to struggle with the sudden and extreme urge to punch her in her jabbering jaw.

"Is there a point to any of this crap?" The Saiyan demanded irritably; and the Keeper shrugged with the intent to annoy him once more.

"It's possible."

Trunks had to quickly move between the two to prevent his father from starting a fight before they were ready; and thinking that if her behavior in combat was similar to Iga's, like her other mannerisms were, he knew that a fight with her would not be straight-forward.

Iga's main technique in his fights was the constant use of his wit and humor, often starting with it to goad his enemies into foolish or impulsive actions; and if he knew enough about his opponent, the immortal could often end fights with one perfectly planned ambush. Trunks knew that if he and his father were walking out of here, it would be either by outsmarting and then overpowering her, or by not fighting at all; and Trunks was genuinely doubting the latter option would even be an option at all.

"How about you talk to me instead of my father, okay?" Trunks requested with his best attempt to be nice, "I can tell you're a lot like my Master for some reason, but those two have never gotten along well…"

"Oh, I know." She agreed, "I'm like a less-creepy Santa, except I kill the naughty children…"

She saw Vegeta and Trunks both begin to take defensive stances upon hearing her words, but she quickly clarified her meaning.

"Sorry, sorry! Bad joke…" She apologized, and the two Saiyans gave her confused looks before she explained, "Guys, I'm not here to talk about all that universe-balancing crap."

"You're not?" Trunks replied skeptically, "Then that means that Iga fought you and won, right?"

"Sure," She remarked dismissively, waving one hand lazily as she did, "Something like that. Anyway, I'm here to give you a heads up."

"And why should we believe anything you'd have to say?" Vegeta chimed in, bitterly suspicious.

"Because I'm the person that's been keeping the rest of the Keepers away from you." She informed them honestly and standing proudly as she did.

"You have?" Trunks wondered, slowly starting to believe her, "How?"

"By keeping my former partner Cosmos from finding all of the Dragon Balls." She revealed, and a bead of nervous sweat ran down Trunks' forehead at the thought of the Keepers using the Dragon Balls.

"Unfortunately, my broad sense of humor rubbed off on him over time," She continued to explain, "And he decided that he's going to stop you from breaking his rules by using the things you used to break them."

"Well, he can't make Shenron kill us;" Trunks thought aloud, "So what would he use his two wishes for, if he got them?"

"First, he'll wish that you, your friends, and your family will never be able to travel to another universe again." She answered promptly, "And second, he plans on asking Shenron for a weapon of human design; something that he plans to kill all of you with.

"And I would say that all's well, since I'm keeping him away from most of them like I said," She added matter-of-factly, "But he managed to snag one before I hid the others from his sight; so, if you ever want to summon Shenron ever again…"

"We'll have to fight him for it." Trunks finished her sentence before asking another question, "But why do all this instead of just taking us out when it was easier? We've been spending months training just to fight him, and you guys knew that."

"Because he's arrogant and cocky." Claris explained easily, "He wants you all to get as strong as you want before you fight him, and he thinks it won't make a difference either way."

"Hmph." Vegeta huffed impatiently, not finding the fact that he was being underestimated to be very amusing.

"Look, you can do whatever you want with this info; I don't really care." She told the pair plainly, "I just came here 'cause Igneel asked me to."

"Master did?" Trunks repeated, getting a nod from her before asking his real question, "Do you know where he is?"

"Sure do." She answered with another friendly nod, "He's gathering the rest of the Dragon Balls."

"He is?" Trunks said with some surprise; and with a small, lingering sense of suspicion asked, "Why didn't he tell me about it? He hasn't been letting sense where he is either, now that I think about it…"

"Feeling jealous?" She teased him before explaining, grinning at the demi-Saiyan's irked expression as she did, "Don't worry, Igneel's just fine. He hasn't told you because he said it wanted to hunt the Dragon Balls 'the old-school way'; he also said Bulma should know what he meant by that."

Trunks was still slightly confused, but after a few more seconds of thought; he figured out his master's motives.

"He's trying to learn about what life is like on Earth, isn't he?" The demi-Saiyan inquired, and Claris nodded once more before he added, "What Edo said at Goten's party must have really got to him…"

"Yeah," The Keeper sighed in depressed agreement, "Acnologia's always been able to get under Igneel's skin, especially after he killed me…"

Both Vegeta and Trunks gave her confused expressions once more, though Trunks was beginning to recognize the Keeper.

"Edo killed you?" He wanted to make sure she was telling the truth, but she seemed to prefer avoiding the subject.

"And do you plan to repeat everything I say?" She mocked him dismissively, and she waved a hand to create a portal in preparation to leave, "Look, it's been great and all; but I was having fun helping Igneel, and I don't really wanna be in this room all day, so I'm gonna go now…"

"N-no…" Trunks stuttered in response to her first statement before interrupting her after she created the portal and moved towards it, "Hey, wait!"

The redhead crossed her arms impatiently and stopped, looking at the ceiling and sighing impatiently.

"Please," Trunks played nice to reward her patience, speaking with the politest tone he could muster, "I want to know what your real name is, and why you're dressed in my Master's clothes…

Instead of wasting her time and risking annoying her again, Trunks quickly guessed his best to his own questions.

"You- you're Vesta, aren't you?" He asked tentatively, "Master Iga's wife…?"

"Bingo." She confirmed humorously before resuming her exit, "Now if you'll excuse me, Igneel and I were in the middle of our second honeymoon…"

Vesta was hallway through her portal when she suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, wait! One more thing," She quickly said, "Casus, the Keeper of Sound, is now listening to everything you and your friends say; and he's a sneaky little guy, so don't be surprised if he pulls something tricky while you're dealing with Cosmos. They didn't expect me to switch sides on 'em like I did, so they're probably going to take you more serious now. Anyway, it was nice meeting you!"

Before she could walk away, Vegeta suddenly shouted at her angrily.

"Now just wait a damn minute! You cannot honestly think you can just waltz into my home, insult me and my son, and just get away with it?!"

Vesta looked at him sympathetically, but she had intention of entertaining him today.

"Don't worry, Vegeta, we can play some other time." She teasingly assured him with a wave goodbye before entering the portal as it closed.

In a desert many miles to the southeast…

Vesta stepped out of her portal and landed gently in the sand before looking to her husband, and at the massive red and sand-colored pile of rubble before them.

"The Dragon Ball landed somewhere in there?" She asked him instead of greeting him, moving to stand beside him on the very bottom stairs to what she guessed was the foundation of the once-standing building. Those steps were the only recognizable part of the architecture though, the only other thing she could deduce was that the red colored rubble was likely part of the roof or roofs; since the red debris was mostly atop the pile.

"Must've fallen into there with some force," She remarked thoughtfully before adding optimistically, "But digging it out won't be a problem."

"It would," Iga agreed before informing her, "But the problem is that we've got some kids that are in the way. They're in there right now, digging for it."

"Well that's actually convenient, isn't it?" She questioned him, "They'll dig it for us, and we'll just take it from them… If they don't give it to us after we ask nicely, of course."

"I guess…" Iga agreed doubtingly, "I doubt these two are going to be the cooperative type, though; and I'm gonna feel bad about stealing from some kids."

"Then let's just dig it ourselves; and we'll be outta this miserably-monochrome desert before my skin burns." Vesta quipped, and her husband smirked at her poorly-masked impatience before replying.

"Can your skin even get burned?"

"Shut up, Igneel."

The next second, Vesta raised her right hand slightly upward; and after a second of feeling out the debris field with her ki, she lifted every bit of rubble that was not attached to the ground before sending the pile rocketing skywards until it was literally out of Earth's orbit.

The two kids Iga mentioned were revealed to be a very short, blue-skinned teenager with long and pointy ears; and the other was a bi-pedal Shiba Inu in a purple ninja suit. The odd pair were still staring into the horizon in shock, standing on the remains of the foundation of their former home and wondering what they had just witnessed.

"Good morning, guys!" Iga greeted them amiably, and he immediately recognized them, "Came home to find the Dragon Ball?"

Both the young man and canine jumped at the sound of his voice, and they turned quickly to see the pair of redheads grinning at them. Clearly still terrified by Vesta's actions, the pair remained frozen in shock; so much so that Iga was unsure if they had even understood what he said to them. And just before Iga tried speaking to them again, the canine finally asked his leader what he should do.

"Hey, uh, Boss…" He hesitated to even speak, afraid of saying anything that could potentially anger the two clearly power beings before them, "I'm sorry, sir, but I- I don't think we can fight these guys…"

"You don't say…" Emperor Pilaf almost stuttered in response.

"They're a perceptive little pair." Vesta remarked humorously to her husband, "But I hope they're smart enough to stay out our way…"

"Don't worry," Iga assured her, striding past the terrified duo and looking around as he did, "Those two know by now what happens when they mess with people like Goku and his friends."

At the sound of the Saiyan's name, Pilaf seemed to flinch unconsciously while Shu tried to question the strangers.

"You're friends with Goku?" He asked nervously, "So you're one of the good guys, right?"

"He is." Vesta gestured towards her husband before adding with her usual smirk, "But, me; I'm afraid not."

Shu gulped nervously, and the female redhead's playful smirk changed to an amused grin.

"Now play nice, Ves," Iga called back as he spotted his quarry laying in a corner of the foundations, next to what appeared to be a defunct, giant pinball bumper, "We won't be here much longer…

"And besides," He added as he started walking towards the shiny orange orb, "Trunks would probably be mad at me if he found out we hurt Mai's friends; he had a bit of a crush on her when he was younger, you see…"

"So that's why you stopped me when I tried to obliterate them along with that huge pile of rocks?" She lied, finding the way the pair squirmed in mostly-silent terror to be very amusing.

"Sure is." Iga decided to entertain her as he picked up the Two-Star Dragon Ball and dusted it off.

Pilaf leaned in the direction he saw Iga walk, and he managed to glimpse the redhead picking up the magical item. Deciding he had to at least try to claim the Dragon Ball for himself, Pilaf slowly stepped closer towards Iga as he spoke to him.

"Well… since it seems that you, sir, are the kinder, more considerate one;" He pleading flatteringly, "Perhaps you could allow us to have that Dragon Ball? You see, this is my property it's landed in-"

"Yeah, but I dug it out." Vesta reminded him, but Pilaf surprisingly argued back.

"Which is what we were doing before you showed up with all your crazy powers!" He retorted in timid frustration, "Goku, Trunks, Goten, whoever you are! You all think you can just swoop in wherever you want, do whatever you want, and take whatever you want! But I am Emperor Pilaf, do you hear me?"

Iga was mildly impressed by the blue teen's tirade; and instead of refuting it, he continued to listen while knowing that his wife would soon interrupt it for him.

"And that Dragon Ball has landed in the seat of my empire! It is-"

"Boring!" Vesta mockingly interjected, just as Iga predicted she would; but he did not expect her to give them lecture she soon gave them, "Look around kid, your seat's been reduced to a step-stool."

Pilaf quietly gasped at her insult before she continued to speak.

"You should have listened to your friend Mai and stayed in West City like she has. Either that, or you should have realized by now that the Dragon Balls will always attract people like us; and if you aren't going to get stronger or smarter -which you seem very incapable of, by the way- then you should go back to being the layabout, freeloading, and clumsy mooches that occasionally manage to do one trivial task without totally screwing it up."

Shu was shocked and stayed silent as he processed her harsh words of advice; and Pilar was silently crying, feeling that his pride had been completely shattered. Even Iga was taken off-guard by her harshness, and he stopped walking about halfway through her speech.

"And now that we're all on the same page," She concluded pointedly, "I'm going to kindly ask if you would allow us to take the Dragon Ball, because we are gods; and we do take what we want, when we want, wherever we are. The only reason you haven't been hurt, maimed, or killed is because you were lucky enough to run into patient gods; and you're even luckier that my husband's a nice guy; otherwise I'd have killed you for raising your voice at my man.

"Come on, Igneel, it's time to go." She ordered him next, but with a softer tone than the one she gave Pilaf, "This sand's starting to get in my clothes."

"Explains why you went off on him like that." Iga remarked with faint amusement as he obeyed her; and the pair began to walk away from the Pilaf duo.

"I hate deserts." Vesta added, and Iga smirked in response before reaching into his right pants pocket and retrieving a silver Hoi Poi Capsule tin that Trunks had given him some time ago.

"Yeah, I know." He agreed to console her as he opened the tin and pulled out of the capsules as he quoted something she said ages ago, "'The only good place for sand is a beach', right?"

Clicking the capsule and tossing it onto the ground with one hand while closing the tin with his other hand, Iga watched the resulting purple cloud of smoke clear before turning back to see that Pilaf and Shu were quietly following them from a distance.

"Hey, for the record," He told them as they jumped in fright from his gaze, "I was going to tell you pretty much the same thing she did; but I'd have been a bit nicer about it. Anyway, I recommend you guys find your way back to the Capsule Corporation soon, because there's going to be some crazy things happening on this planet; and you're gonna want to be friends with the Briefs when it happens. See you later!"

Turing back to see their jet-black, four-seater hovercar with red leather interior, Iga smirked as he noticed he turned back just in time to see Vesta jumping into the front passenger seat. She kicked her feet up onto the dashboard and waited for him to leap into the driver seat, brushing some sand off her clothes while she did; and the driver had taken his seat before he tossed her the Dragon Ball, which Vesta placed inside the glovebox next to the One, Three, and Six Star Dragon Balls.

"You know, you could've gone a little easier on those guys." He told her, starting the engine as he did, "I mean, it's good you didn't physically hurt them; but still, one of those poor guys was crying after…"

"Eh," Vesta commented neutrally after listening to her husband, stretching out her legs again and crossing her arms behind her head before adding, "They're not actually kids; they'll get over it."

Shaking his head as the hovercar began to hum and rise a few feet into the air, Iga looked back to his wife again and asked her, "So, where to next?"

Without changing position, Vesta activated her magic; and her eyes briefly changed to solid white before she answered him.

"Northeast, and for a while." She said before joking, "Hope you brought some warm clothing with you."

"I did not, I'm afraid." Iga replied with a smirk as he changed the accelerating hovercar's heading and raised its altitude, casually holding one hand on the sleek-black steering wheel as he did.

"Well, if you wanna stay somewhere a little warmer for one more day," She ran with the joke while giving directions, "There's some good places we could stop by on the way, depending on how you wanna spend the night, anyway."

"Ooh," Iga remarked with exaggerated interest, "We've got some variety in our options tonight?"

"Looks like it." She agreed before informing him, "By midafternoon we'll be over East City; so we can find a nice hotel room there, though I know we'll stick out like sore thumbs in the city."

"I don't know about that, actually." Iga interjected thoughtfully, scratching the right side of his head as he recalled some more information from his case study of Earth, "There's a martial arts temple on the edge of the city, right? If we do end up standing out, people will probably just assume we're martial artists too."

"Fair point." She agreed as her magic briefly focused on the Orin Temple to confirm Iga's statement before she put it out her mind and told him of another option, "We could also just avoid the city entirely if you want. There's a large forest of bamboo trees to the city's west; we could camp wherever we want in there…"

"We could," Iga considered the thought quickly before a new and more enticing one came to mind, "But I'm thinking we should stop by the temple."

"What for?" Vesta questioned curiously.

"We spent all our money on this car, remember?" He explained with a snarky reminder, "Because you insisted on not using any of Trunks'?"

"And you think a group of monks will have money?" She replied, turning the humor back onto him, "You do know why most of them walk wherever they need to go? Or why they dress in nothing but robes and gi's? It's because they're broke."

"The lower ranked ones are." Iga conceded before revealing more of his Earth-related knowledge, "But the best fighters at that particular temple are a very competitive type; and they are local prize fighters, with a few even fighting in the Tenkaichi Budokai way back when. They didn't stand a chance against Goku and his friends, though; so this will be a piece of cake for us."

"So, what?" Vesta thought aloud, "We challenge them to a duel, waging all we're worth or something like that; and take their money?"

"Basically," Iga agreed before revealing his true plan, "But we only need enough money to pay for the most expensive hotel room in the city."

"Really?" His wife commented with some surprise, "You want to stay in the city? But don't you prefer camping out in the wild?"

"I do," He confirmed, "Having to deal with crowds day in, day out, was bothersome and noisy; and here, the streets smell like the vehicles' exhausts. And since I can eat fire, believe me when I say it, that exhaust fume does not smell delicious in any way."

Vesta shook her head in amusement at his tangent about car exhausts before listening to him get back on topic.

"But if we're gonna be living the high life for one night, I think I can deal with it." He revealed before awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck and adding a confession.

"Besides, I'll go along with anything if it'll make you happy; and I know you've been wanting to stay somewhere nice for a while now…"

"Aw, you're trying to spoil me." She realized aloud with grateful humor before adding a little more seriously, "Igneel, you don't have to go through that whole process of getting that money just for me…"

"I don't, but I wanna." Her husband said, and to her surprise, she detected a hint of shyness in his tone, "Plus, you were right about what you said last week; I have had a problem with being… intimate… lately."

"Well, duh." She pointed out, "The last time we've done anything was when you recovered from the hole I put in your lung. Since then, you've turned me down every time I got frisky; and I'm still waiting to know why."

"Truth be told," Iga informed her, "I wasn't telling you because I really wasn't sure, like I said. But I know why now…"

"Oh?" She asked with hopeful curiosity, "What was it?"

"It's another hang-up about your death," He explained, trying to pick his words carefully as he did, "After it happened, I ended up creating this perfect image of you; and eventually I realize now that I idealized that rather than the real you."

"That doesn't sound too good for me." Vesta remarked, wondering if she should be worried about what he was going to say or not.

"I'm not trying to make it sound that way, it's not like you're a totally different person from back then." Igneel assured her before continuing, "But your only flaw back then was your impatience; and I think your time with the Keepers did change you a little, and… maybe …not for the better…?"

"What does that mean?" She asked calmly while resisting the urge to be defensive.

"Well, it's like you've got this colder, even more impatient side of you now." He tried to explain as best he could, "I mean, look at the way you treated Pilaf and his canine companion; you and I both know you didn't have to insult them as badly as you did, but the way you casually mentioned hurting them…"

"It's not like I've been spending hundreds of years around nice guys like you, Igneel." She defended herself.

"I know, I know." He agreed, momentarily taking both hands off the wheel to raise his hands defensively, "And I can tell that you are still the good person that I've always known; I just needed time to relearn it."

"Yeah?" She remarked, accepting most of his logic while having one more question, which she asked with a hint of sarcasm, "I'm sure my performance earlier was a fantastic display of my patience and kindness…"

"No, you weren't the nicest person earlier," Iga acknowledged the truth of what she said before making his point, "But you still gave them helpful advice; went out of your way to do it, even. And when Pilaf yelled at me, that was where I saw your real restraint. Even before you died, you always raised hands at someone that would insult me. Instead of physically taking your anger out on him, you did it verbally; and if that's the worst way you're gonna deal with people, compared to how you describe your behavior when you were one of the Keepers, it's a ray of sunshine."

"So," She concluded seductively, removing her feet from the dash and leaning towards him as she did, "Are you saying I should be looking forward to something special tonight?"

"What I'm saying," He steered the conversation back on topic, "Is that I can see that you're trying to go back to being one of the good guys; and I don't want you to feel like your morality's being evaluated or anything like that, you ended up becoming a Keeper because I failed to protect you…"

"Igneel," She interrupted him while caringly placing her left hand on his right shoulder, "That was Edo's doing; and I'm the one that decided not to run."

"I know," He agreed as Vesta withdrew her hand, "But my point is: lately I've come to realize that I'm not the good guy I'd like to be, either; at my heart I'm just selfish. You saw that when you showed up outside of Hargeon. I was willing to throw everything good by the wayside just because of one selfish desire! I mean, how many people's lives have I ruined by accidentally creating Edo? And what did I do it for, to make a little bit of money on some fancy looking artifacts?!"

"Again, Igneel," She reminded him once more, "That was Edo's choice too, he wanted to raid that temple just like you did."

"But he looked up to me!" Iga stated impatiently, "I was like a big brother to him back then, and I failed him like I failed you; like I failed Trunks and Lisanna by not fighting back against you… and all the secrets I've made people keep from each other…"

"Igneel…" She tried to stop him, but he was a little too worked up to stop; and he gripped the steering wheel angrily with both hands before continuing.

"And that name you keep calling me by, it hurts me… Igneel died the day you did; and he never deserved to use the name his family gave him, anyway…"

"Igneel." She said his real name defiantly to get him to look at her before asking a seemingly random question, "Does this car have an auto-pilot, or at least a way to hover at a really high altitude?"

"I think it can do both," He answered, slightly confused by the relevance of what she was asking.

"Then set the auto-pilot for our destination," She commanded him, "But set it to fly at the highest height possible."

"Okay…" He replied thoughtfully as he scanned the buttons and tiny switches in front of him until he found what he was looking for, "Ah, here we are…"

"Are we good? You're not flying us anymore?"

"That's right."

"Excellent." She said next, "Now, look at me."

As soon as he did so, he was stunned to feel her right hand slapping hard against his face with a solid 'smack!'. Stunned, he slightly recoiled and widened his eyes before staring right at his wife.

"Never give me that pity party crap ever again, you hear me?" She ordered him, and he numbly nodded, "You are not the bad guy in all of this; and if I'm being honest, I don't even think Edo's totally a bad guy, either. If there's one thing I learned from the Keepers, it's that the idea of 'good' can be interpreted in so many different ways.

"But what's 'good' or 'bad' doesn't matter to me, Igneel." She added after lifting her right hand again, but this time gently massaging the area of his face that she had struck, "You matter to me.

"And if you can't reconcile your want to be 'the good guy' with all the mistakes you've made; then don't try to. Just focus on doing what you think is right in the moment, and don't get hung up on what you should've done."

Using her light grip on his face, she pulled him and shifted closer until she was pressing her forehead against his.

"I might have changed a bit, but you're still that great man that I fell for hundreds of years ago." She concluded with a whisper, "So just live your life, Igneel; and let me stay by your side and show you just how good you are…"

"Ves…"

Before Iga could say what he was feeling, his wife placed her lips onto his; and he instinctively returned the favor. After a few seconds, they stopped for air; and Vesta grinned devilishly before starting to undo her belt and giving him one more order as she jumped into the much roomier backseat of the car.

"And now that we've got all that cleared up, get back here and help me break in this leather seating; but don't make me say that again."

Igneel saw her starting to undress, and all the final strands of his negative thoughts died at the sight; and after delivering one comment, he began to climb over the seat and onto her.

"Oh, don't worry, you're not gonna have to tell me twice…"

Back on Earthland, in the Shadow of the World…

Edo-Acnologia stepped out of his lab feeling triumphant; and Cel Rhea, who was waiting for him in the hall, could easily see the self-satisfied grin on her lover's face.

"You've done it, haven't you?" She questioned him excitedly while clutching her hands together in a physical display of her eagerness, "Tell me they've survived the transformation!"

"They have indeed, every single one of the last batch has made it." Edo informed her, and the god slayer instantly jumped a few times in excitement as he continued his announcement, "And they are as obedient as I had hoped. Now, anyone with my dark powers will be able to give them any command; and they will obey without hesitation."

"I can't wait, I can't wait, icantwait…" Cel was chanting until she suddenly stopped with a new thought.

"Wait… you know what this could mean, don't you, hot-stuff?"

"I most certainly do, my love." Edo replied with an eager grin, "My success here means that it's possible for us to turn the whole world into our obedient minions; and I won't have to keep making lacrima to do it, either."

"Ooh! An invention that's cost-efficient and megalomaniacal? It's perfect, they're perfect!" The earth wizard exclaimed in pure bliss; but Edo did his best to temporarily lower her expectations of his creations.

"I wouldn't get so excited just yet, my dear. We might have been successful in creating them, but we have yet to see them in action. We can celebrate after we've seen what they're capable of."

Before Cel could reply to her boyfriend, planning on volunteering to test them herself, she saw as he created a portal on a wall near them; and the pair were quickly greeted by Zancrow, who was busy exercising in his quarters until they contacted him.

"Master Edo, Cel," He said their names respectfully before inquiring, "How may I help?"

"Now, Zancrow, why do you assume I need something from you every time I call?" Edo remarked teasingly, "Perhaps I just wished to see how you're doing…"

"Everyone wants something, Master." Zancrow stated honestly, "I meant no offense by what I asked."

"And none was taken, I assure you." Edo finished playing with his subordinate before giving him his orders, "Because you are quite right, I do need something from you; but it could be something I think you'd find quite enjoyable. As you know, I've been designing a way to bolster our ranks since our little band of warriors has been reduced to half-capacity; and now, they're finally ready for a field test. I'd like for you to put them through their first series of experiments, you see; that way I can observe from a distance and see if there is any flaw in their design."

"I will do as you wish, Master." Zancrow complied with only one question, "Do you have any specific target in mind for their first hunt?"

"Hm…" Edo pondered his options before ultimately deciding on not deciding, "Let's make it your call, Zancrow. Since this is the control test, we should probably avoid the Fairy Tail or Sabertooth guild halls for the time being; but everywhere else should be fair game."

"As you wish, Master." The yellow-haired wizard replied, "How soon would you like me to begin?"

"As soon as you find it convenient, my friend." Edo answered before confessing to him, "I'll admit this, though, I'm curious to see how you will handle being in command of my power."

"I swear I shall not disappoint you, Master." Zancrow vowed, and Edo grinned while shoving Cel out of the fire wizard's view when she feigned gagging motions at the pair.

"I'm sure you won't." The shadow wizard assured his student before adding one final stipulation, "Just do me one favor: wherever you take them, make sure that a few civilians get to flee in terror. It's more than likely that they won't actually see what's attacking them, but their terrified tales should be enough to get the attention of the guild wizards; and I'm wondering what kinds of fish we'll draw in with this bait."

"I've got a few good places in mind, Master." Zancrow informed him, "And they're all packed with people, I'm certain there will be a lot of witnesses to what your powers can do."

"I admire your ambition." Edo confessed before concluding his conversation, "Now, I've enhanced your curse power and the corresponding abilities with it; so this will be the closest you've got to using my full power. I hope you'll be able to handle it; because if you do not successfully harness all of the power I'm giving you…

"My Enenrae will eat you alive."