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

12. Chapter 11

Chapter XI: The Calms Between

On Earth, outside the Son family homes…

Chi Chi had only just stepped back outside to reclaim the air-dried laundry when she was suddenly greeted by a whole group of people that had teleported right behind her.

"Hi, Mom, we're back!" Goten immediately cheered while her back was still to them.

"And we're all still alive." Videl added as her mother-in-law turned to face them, "Well, except for Gohan. He's still dead."

"But he won't be for long." Trunks said optimistically, "We've got the seventh Dragon Ball now!"

"Well that's good to hear," Chi Chi began until she noticed a new face; but more importantly, a new detail containing her oldest son, "But who- wait, Gohan, what happened to your arm!?"

"He lost it fighting one of the Keepers." Videl spoke for him, "Oh, but don't worry, Chi Chi, this guy's just one of Gohan's clones. My real husband is doing just fine, both arms and all."

"Oh… Okay… That's good, I guess…" The older Son wife struggled to quickly process the info, "But now I'm actually a little glad that Piccolo ran off with your daughter, she didn't have to see her father in this state."

"Piccolo ran off with Pan?" Videl asked curiously.

"Probably to start her training, right?" Her husband guessed.

"That's right; but, Gohan," His mother replied skeptically, "Are you sure it'll be okay to let him train her, considering how brutal he was with you?"

"Well, I do know that Piccolo wouldn't let anything really bad happen to her; so sure, I trust him. A hundred percent."

Taking a confident posture that vaguely resembled one of his father's, Gohan did his best to sell the idea as he spoke; but Chi Chi was still a bit doubtful.

"You do? So, you think he'll be nicer with her?"

"Huh? Oh, not at all. In fact, her training with him will probably way more brutal than mine ever was."

"What?!" Chi Chi almost shouted, "Then why would you let him train your daughter?!"

"Because she needs a tough teacher." Videl happily explained, "You've seen how strong she is; and gods know how much stronger she's going to get… The last thing we need is a Saiyan like her turning out to be a spoiled brat."

"And if there's anyone on Earth that could teach Pan some discipline," Gohan finished for her, "That person would have to be Piccolo."

After listening and reading the two resolute faces of her son and his wife, Chi Chi finally decided to drop the issue.

"Oh, fine." She sighed exhaustively, "Piccolo's already taken her, so I suppose arguing over it would be pointless now…"

"Thanks, Mom." Gohan replied gratefully before making eye-contact with his little brother and giving him a subtle cue to speak up, "But uh, I believe you were saying something before you noticed my arm…"

"Oh yeah!" Goten said suddenly, and he nimbly took Wendy's hand the next second before leading her up to the front of the group, "Hey Mom, you remember way back when you asked me who Wendy is? Well, this is her!"

Letting go of her hand in order to gesture to the Sky Maiden with both of his own, Goten was practically bouncing with joy as he spoke; and the sight of his boyishly happy face was more than enough to make Wendy blush.

"She is, huh?" Chi Chi replied inquisitively, matching her tone to the skeptical look she made as she gave the Sky Dragon Slayer a once-over.

"That's right." The young demi-Saiyan affirmed with an eager nod, "She came all the way from another universe just to see me."

"And that isn't all she did," Trunks felt compelled to add, "She saved his and Natsu's live in the process, too."

"She did?" Chi Chi asked before remarking casually, "Well, you must be pretty strong to be able to fight beside those two. Goten told me you were one of these 'dragon slayers', like Natsu. Isn't that right?"

"It is, ma'am." Wendy said rather skittishly, "Natsu-nii uses fire magic, and I use air magic…"

"She says it so humbly…" Videl chimed in amusedly before stepping closer to the Sky Maiden and patted her on her shoulder as she spoke, "Trust me, Chi Chi, I just saw this young lady in action myself; and I gotta say: her power is incredible for a human's. Not only is she probably the strongest woman on Earth at the moment, but her magic also heals people and makes them stronger."

"A-and um, actually… If we're talking about my skills…" Wendy added while nervously looking down, "Back when Ten-kun taught me about ki control and the martial arts, he taught me your fighting form first, ma'am… I feel lucky to have finally met you, and to get to thank you for the skills you passed onto your son…"

"Ten-kun, eh?" Videl muttered knowingly as she leaned towards Goten's ear; and she playfully nudged his side while Wendy struggled not to blush any more intensely than she already was.

"So um, before you ask any more questions," A slightly red-faced Goten decided to take control of the conversation, "There's actually something I wanted to test."

"Mm?" Chi Chi hummed curiously while even Wendy wondered where Goten was leading the conversation as he turned to face her.

"Okay, Wendy, do you remember when I told you about the Flying Nimbus?"

"I do." She confirmed with a quick nod, "But why are you asking about that now?"

"Because I want you to try and call it to us." He requested eagerly, "C'mon, Wendy, I know you can do it."

"O-okay…" The air mage obeyed with some hesitation, "So… I just have to say those two words, right?"

"That's right." Goten nodded affirmatively, to which Wendy replied by looking at the others, taking a deep breath, and starting to speak again.

"Okay. Well, here goes nothing… FLYING NIMBUS!"

For a few moments the group waited attentively while the Sky Maiden's voice echoed through the mountains behind them, watching the sky for any sign of a magic cloud.

"Look, there it is!" He pointed to the west, where the little yellow cloud could be seen appearing over the horizon.

"Well, I'll be." Chi Chi chuckled to herself, "She actually did it."

"I'm not that surprised." Videl remarked honestly, smirking amusedly as she put a hand on her hip, "People on Earthland don't call her the Sky Maiden for nothing."

"Nn.. man," Trunks sighed nostalgically, "I remember when I could do that."

"Too many dirty thoughts about Lisanna, huh?" Natsu teased him with a slap on the back to go with it, "You old perv…"

By the time Trunks started to rub his neck and chuckle awkwardly, the Flying Nimbus had quickly landed in amidst the group.

"Awesome," Goten declared without waiting for anyone else to reply, "Come on, Wendy, we got places to see!"

"O-Okay!"

Once again taking her hand and leading her forward, she easily kept up with him despite her surprise at his forwardness; and within a couple seconds, the two were stood close together atop the Nimbus.

"Bye, guys! Don't worry, we'll be back before dinner! Let's go, Flying Nimbus!"

Thinking about saying something, Gohan opened his mouth only just to think better of it; and he could only shake his head dejectedly as the group heard Wendy calling back to them.

"Bye, everyone! And it was nice to meet you, Chi Chi-san!"

Flying well out of earshot moments later, Goten quickly sat down with Wendy following suit, grabbing him around the waist with both arms as she braced against the wind resistance; and the yellow cloud soon ascended sharply until they were hundreds of feet in the air and flying rapidly towards the southwest.

"So where are we going?" She asked curiously, hoping she didn't yell too loudly over the wind as she did.

"Wherever we want!" He answered playfully before clarifying, "Well, where we're going first is a place called Papaya Island. It's where the Budokai Tenkaichi is held! But after you get a look at that, we can go wherever you want… I promised I'd show you around Earth when you got here; and that's exactly what I'm doing!"

Staying quiet for a moment as she struggled to decide how to respond, Goten soon spoke again in an attempt to make it easier for her.

"And besides, you said we need to talk, right? I figured this would make a good chance for that."

Once again, he was met with silence; so he decided to be a bit more direct this time.

"But um, I'm pretty sure I already know what you wanna talk about. It's about you and Romeo, right? 'Cause I already know about that. I saw you two kissing at one point, a couple months ago…"

Struck with even more guilt, Wendy unconsciously tightened her hold on him as she struggled to form words.

"Goten… I… I'm…"

"What? Are you about to apologize?" He guessed with a reassuring tone, "Well, you really don't have to. I told you I knew the full story already, didn't I?"

"I think you hinted at the fact, yeah…" She agreed nervously.

"Okay, so then that's pretty much all I gotta say." He admitted honestly, "Although, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I had every opportunity to go to you, like you came here; and I even almost did try to talk to you that night I saw you with Romeo… But I was kinda scared, honestly. I didn't want to risk having powerful folks like the Keepers show up and attack me with any of our friends nearby."

"I kind of understand that." Wendy agreed after taking a second to think over his words, "Actually, a few of us just fought Zancrow last night, with Sabertooth and Crime Sorciere helping; and he is just as insanely strong as you remember -he could even control some of us somehow…. And, to top it off, Edo has made these new monsters out of his curse's power; and his God Slayers are able to order them around, too. They're creepy little shadow creatures, and they smell weird…"

"It sounds bad." Goten noted bluntly.

"It was bad." She confirmed with equal bluntness, "Zancrow was toying with us the whole time, and he still almost beat us. I could tell that if he took us seriously, he probably would've killed everyone there. But as scary as that thought was, I didn't get scared when I realized it; it… it just made me really angry."

"Because you weren't strong enough to protect your friends?" The demi-Saiyan guessed rather easily, "I know that feeling…

"Did I ever tell you about when me and Trunks learned the fusion dance?" He asked thoughtfully, to which she nodded slightly.

"I think you did… You learned it to save Earth from some sort of monster, right? It was a Majin or something, right?"

"That's right. Majin Buu." He confirmed with a quick nod of his own, "Although, he was calling himself Super Buu at that point… But anyway, the guy wasn't very nice… While we were training, he got tired of waiting for me and Trunks to get ready; and he killed everybody on Earth before we could do anything. I even watched him turn my mom into an egg and step on her…"

"That's horrible…"

"Yeah…" He agreed again before adding, "But you know, a lot of good stuff happened in all that mess, too. My dad got to come back to life because of the fight, we made friends with the good Majin Buu; and we all got very strong from the fight, especially Gohan… Also, I'm pretty sure he and Videl started dating not long after everything happened, too…

"But anyway, what I'm tryin' to say is: if fighting Zancrow was as bad as you say, I'm sure there were things just as good that happened, too."

"You're probably right," She conceded readily, "Edo killed a lot of people, Zancrow almost killed us -and he did completely level Akane Beach in the process; but now we've got two other guilds helping us with Edo, and there's that god Iga helping too… But um, I also wouldn't have been able to come here, now that I think about it… Lisanna wouldn't have come to Earthland if that fight didn't happen, then I wouldn't have been able to steal her lacrima and come here; and then…"

"And then me and Natsu might've died fighting Cosmos." He concluded for her before turning his head to see her in his peripheral, "See? In a weird way, Zancrow trying to kill you guys on Earthland is what saved people here on Earth. So it turned out to be a good thing, didn't it?"

"It really did." She agreed with a smile before admitting a thought, "But you know, I think I'm just a bit too worried about what the next fight will be like. When I think about all the injuries I'll have to heal, or if I imagine what happens when someone gets hurt and I can't fix it…"

Goten moved his right hand to cover hers comfortingly just before deciding to interrupt.

"Hey, none of that's gonna happen anytime soon, okay? It might've happened last night, or it might've just come close to happening; but either way, it's not gonna happen with me around."

"Does that mean-"

"That I'm going back to Earthland? Yeah, it does. With the Keeper of Space out the way, we can go wherever we want. I might have to go off to help fight the leader of the Keepers, but Gohan and me were still worried about you guys too; so we decided that me and Trunks should go back to Fairy Tail for a bit."

"But if something bad happens here," She began, "There's a chance you wouldn't know until it's too late…"

"True," He conceded with an optimistic tone, "But I doubt that'll happen. Between my dad, Gohan, and Vegeta, they've got enough strength to take on just about anyone."

"So then, you really are coming back?" Wendy concluded while once again tightening her hold on him, "Even after what I- We…

"We gave up on you…" She confessed between sniffles as tears finally began to stream down and across her face, and she started to lean into Goten's back in order to keep her face out of sight, "Gray said you all were dead, and we just believed it… We mourned you, but nobody tried to confirm anything for themselves! I know it was all Edo's fault, and you can tell me to blame you too, if you want; but I… I still feel so guilty…

"And do you know how confusing it is?" She added bitterly, "To want to be angry with someone for lying about something so serious; but you can't, because you know they were just doing what they thought was right?"

"Actually, I didn't even have that kinda restraint…" He admitted with a sad sigh, recalling his brief skirmish with Iga as he did; and the Nimbus soon slowed to a halt as he made her release him before spinning around to face her and placing a hand on hers, "But… I also know something that's a lot less confusing: when it comes to you, and everyone else in Fairy Tail… it doesn't matter what you guys do or don't do; you're always gonna be my friends. And I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

"Heh, you really haven't changed, have you?" The Sky Maiden remarked as she rubbed the tears away with her free hand.

"Hehe, I try not to." The demi-Saiyan chuckled in agreeance as he released her, "But I'm afraid couldn't av- oompf!"

Before Goten could say anymore, Wendy had pulled him into a hug so quickly she knocked the wind out of him.

"I… I'm so glad…" She almost started sobbing again as she shut her eyes and held him tightly, "I… I missed you… so much, Goten…"

Finally deciding to return the hug, Goten smirked weakly as he snuggled against her.

"I missed you too, Wendy…"

Not realizing after a few seconds that they were both unconsciously busy taking in each other's scents, Goten was the first to recognize what was happening as they began to end the hug. Coming slightly apart to look each other in the eyes, their faces were only inches from each other; and Wendy had aimlessly started to reach for the side of his face when he suddenly, and surprisingly gently, recoiled from her touch.

"Sorry, I dunno what I was doing…" He quickly apologized while scratching his head and turning back around, "Hey look, I think that's Papaya Island right there! C'mon, Nimbus, let's get over there!"

Following along with the current driver's orders, the magic cloud quickly shot forward once again; but Wendy barely noticed the fact as she moved to put her hands around Goten again, quietly biting her lip in vague frustration just before doing so.

"So um, how's Carla?" He asked in an awkward attempt to move on.

"Hehe… She's doing great, actually." She answered after giggling at his sudden bashfulness, "Over the time you've been gone, she learned how to take on a human form, and she fights with me now instead of just carrying me around."

"Really? That sounds awesome!" The Saiyan remarked honestly, "I'd like to see you guys in action again, to see how you've all improved. You, her, and Romeo are probably one of the top teams in Fairy Tail by now, aren't you?"

"I dunno about all that…" The dragon slayer replied meekly, "And I doubt we're a very popular one inside the guild at the moment…"

"Why?" Goten asked curiously, "What happened?"

"Because Carla stole that lacrima from Lisanna at Romeo's request."

"Romeo sent you here?" The demi-Saiyan deduced with some surprise.

"That's right," she nodded affirmatively, "The whole idea came from him, actually. As soon as we both found out you were alive, he and Carla quickly worked together to bring me the lacrima. And you know how Carla hates every guy that gets close to me…"

"Yeah, she's a real mom like that." He replied jokingly, and they both shared a small laugh before he continued speaking, "But honestly, to hear that Romeo wanted you to come here is kinda surprising. I remember how hard he fought to keep me from dating you back then…"

"I was a bit surprised myself." The sky mage admitted, "But I guess we've all grown up a bit, haven't we?"

"Well," Goten replied thoughtlessly, "Judging by this cushy gap between your front and my back, I'd say that's pretty accurate."

"Ah!"

Suddenly feeling the bottom of Wendy's fist land atop his head, the demi-Saiyan jumped in his seat before slumping sideways and starting to fall off the Nimbus, which came to a screeching halt as soon as the whole incident began.

"O-oh crap!" She swore in a panic as she just barely managed to catch him by the wrist and pull him back up, "I'm so sorry, Goten; I shouldn't have hit you like that!"

"N-no, it's fine. Haha…" He chuckled honestly as he rubbed the pain away, "I kinda deserved it…

"Oh, look." He changed the subject less awkwardly this time as he glanced down off the front of the Nimbus, "That's the place right there."

Turning to sit side-by-side with him and following with her eyes to where Goten pointed, Wendy was in awe at the sight of the sprawling city below. In almost any direction she looked, there were cars flying and driving, people milling about or hurrying to wherever their business took them, and bizarre structures like hovering, tubular roadways and skyscrapers. And even more impressive to her, was the fact that none of these things relied on any magic. The only sights that looked vaguely familiar were the crowds bustling about; and then there was the temple at the western edge of the city, where a massive square arena sat amidst three rows of stadium seats and one of the largest buildings in the temple complex. And even from up in the sky, she could easily read some of the larger banners that were strung up around the place lettered with either 'Bu' or 'Budo' in kanji; and she also noticed some of the larger stone dragon carvings in the walls around the arena, finding them as slightly impressive sights as well.

"That arena right there," Goten said informatively, "That's where martial artists from all over the world come to fight, every year; but that's the only time the arena gets used. Right now, its just a really fancy temple some monks live in; but in a few months, phew… It's gonna be a lot more crowded…"

"Going by what you've told me before, I bet it will." Wendy agreed before asking him, "And how often have you fought here?"

"Me? Oh, let's see… I think I'm at five times now." He answered slowly as he started to count on his fingers, "Trunks and I snuck into the one before the fight with Majin Buu, and there was the one that Dad met his student Uub at; but I had fought in three more before that one. Although… I honestly fought in those three because I wanted an excuse to take a break from high school."

"High school?" Wendy repeated with some shock, "You went to high school?"

"Uh huh." He confirmed amusedly, "When I got back from Earthland, I wanted to keep training, but Mom really wanted me to get smarter, too; so yeah… I had to do both. Gohan helped me study a lot, and I even was able to test out of a few classes with his and Trunks' help; but I was definitely not the top of my class, that's for sure…"

Wendy giggled at him before properly responding, "I see, well… what was the best and worst part, going to an actual school?"

"Hm… Well… the best part certainly wasn't lunch." He remarked with honest disgust as Wendy fought back another giggle, "The food there was not great; and there never was enough anyway… I guess, maybe PE was the best part? I liked being able to get out and stretch my legs..."

"That makes sense." Wendy commented amusedly, "And the worst part? What was that?"

"Oh, that one's easy." Goten said flatly, "Hands down, the worst part of high school for me was the girls."

"The girls?" The Sky Maiden repeated curiously, "Why? What was wrong with them?"

"They wouldn't leave me alone, that's what." The Saiyan explained with clear lingering annoyance, "Most of them were always calling me 'cutie', 'babe', or 'hottie', a few of them broke into my locker to leave me love-letters; and I got asked out on dates like three or four times a week…. It was a complete mess!"

"It sounds like it was." Wendy agreed humorously before thoughtlessly asking, "And um, did you ever accept any of those offers?"

"Nope, not a one." He answered promptly, "There were some nice and polite people I felt kinda bad about turning down, but yeah. I turned down every single one of them."

"Really? Why?"

"Oh, well… that's… because…" The Saiyan surprisingly started to stutter slightly as he rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I guess it's because none of them ever reminded me of you."

Initially, Goten's answer left her a bit dumbstruck; but then she suddenly started to giggle.

"What?" He questioned her sheepishly while turning to face her, "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you." She apologized quickly, "I just realized how silly that question was, that's all."

"Oh, okay…" Goten replied with amused and vague relief before there was a brief silence that fell between the two of them as they both continued to stare into each other's eyes, with both of them trying to figure out what the other was thinking as the whole silent exchange occurred. A few seconds passed before they both realized what they were doing and bashfully turned away from each other again; and it wasn't until a couple more seconds later did they both awkwardly decide to speak again.

"Hey, Wendy-?"

"Um, Goten-?"

"Heh, sorry…" Wendy giggled as he chuckled with her, "You go first."

"Y-yeah?" He replied tentatively, "Okay… well, what I was gonna ask was: what did you mean exactly when you said Romeo sent you here? I mean, do you know what he wants? Because if you guys are still dating, I just think it's a bit weird he didn't come with you…"

At first feeling a bit embarrassed by the question, Wendy found herself smirking in self-amusement once again.

"You know… That's what I wanted to bring up."

"Yeah?" Goten said curiously, though he did not yet have the courage to look at her.

"Really." She affirmed, "Speaking for Romeo, I'm not entirely sure what's going through his head… I know he wants to be with me -he's said as much, but he's also said he feels guilty now that we know you never died. When he gave me Lisanna's lacrima, he made it sound like he wanted us to choose what happens next."

"Really?" the demi-Saiyan asked ponderously, "Us?"

"Well, me, specifically… but…" The dragon slayer began to clarify, "But I can't make this kind of choice! Both of you have been so good to me, and I'm a better person when you're both around. You're both strong, kind, and handsome young men; and you both have your own brands of charm and charisma that work so well on me… To ask me to decide between either of you, at this point, I just… I can't…"

Sensing that she was struggling to find more words to explain how she felt, Goten instinctively scooted slightly forward before deftly taking her left hand into his.

"Hey, I understand, really." He assured her, eventually releasing her hand later as he spoke, "Not long after we found out Edo had come up with that lie, big sis Videl came to talk to me. She knew I was a bit upset still, so she mostly wanted to check on me; but she also did her best to walk me through how you might feel. I mean, it wasn't just me that was worried about you here, you know.

"Natsu would get mad if the whole mess was even hinted at, Trunks was always trying to come up with quicker ways to train so we could return to Earthland and fix the situation as soon as possible; and I think Gohan's still trying to figure out how to make everything right with the guild. He and Iga probably feel the worst about all of this…

"But um, with that being said… I gotta know," He continued with some hesitation, "If you're saying that you can't decide between dating either me or Romeo, does that mean you're not gonna date either of us then?"

"What? No, I don't think so…" She replied, sounding very unsure as she did, "But then again… maybe I should?"

Goten didn't realize it, but he was currently tensing up with nerves at the very thought of being rejected; and he began to internally panic until Wendy kept speaking.

"No, that'd be stupid… I doubt I'm ever gonna feel like this about some other guy any time soon; and I'd be comparing whoever they were to you two, anyway… Honestly, what's probably the worst part of all this is also the best part about you two. You two are both too kind and honest to make choosing any easier for me! I know this isn't the best thing to ask for, but just once; I kinda wish that one of you would be a just little bit selfish for once and just-"

Before she could finish speaking, Wendy found herself slightly gasping in surprise as Goten suddenly brought his lips to hers; and his right hand moved to hold her just below her left ear while his left hand aimlessly strayed to the top of her right knee. Though she was initially surprised, Wendy soon found herself melting into him and returning the kiss as she brought both of her hands up to his chin; and they continued the kiss until they were both moaning into each other's mouths.

Slightly breaking apart for air, Goten muttered a brief apology.

"Sorry, but I couldn't hold that back any longer… If Romeo's not going to fight for you, then, well… that's his loss. But me, I'm always going to fight for you, no matter the fight. I love you, Wendy. I love you so, so much…"

Not a moment later, Wendy responded with a forceful kiss of her own. And this time, Goten got a bit more aggressive himself and began pushing with enough force to make them fall back with him atop her; and he soon ran his free hand up her left side while their tongues danced, not stopping either action until both of his hands were gently holding her by the neck. At that point, the two slightly broke apart again while their hands remained in place; and they both chuckled giddily as they recovered their breath.

Now gently holding him by the collar and shoulder while he planted his hands at her side, Wendy was the first to break the silence this time.

"Well, this simplifies things a bit…" She remarked half-jokingly, causing them to share another laugh just before Goten slowly rolled left in order to lay beside her; and the two continued to catch their breath for a few moments until the demi-Saiyan spoke up next.

"So, um… does this mean we're back together?"

Seeing him turn his head back to her as he finished his question, Wendy giggled faintly at the nervous look on his face before she took one of his hands into hers and locked eyes with him again.

"Yes, Goten, it does…" She confirmed with a watery-eyed smile before she quickly placed another peck on his lips and added with some finality, "And from now on, I promise: I'm never giving up on you again."

Smiling ear to ear like a happy idiot, the Saiyan gently squeezed her hand back before sighing with pleasant relief; and the pair quietly stared up at the sky for a few seconds before Goten finally sat up and spoke again.

"Alright! So now that that's cleared up," He asked eagerly as she soon sat up next to him, "Where do we wanna go next? It's still lunch time, isn't it?"

"Barely." She observed after a quick glance towards the sun, "But I am kind of hungry, too… Hm… I wonder…"

As Wendy's voice trailed off, Goten curiously looked at her to see that she was pulling at a piece of the Nimbus with her free hand; and he incidentally let go of her other hand in surprise as the magic cloud slightly bucked in apparent pain while she started to inspect the chunk of cloud she had just ripped off it.

"Hm… it smells nice…" She observed before sucking down the piece of cloud like a spaghetti noodle, "And it's kinda sweet, like cotton candy… Honestly, I bet I could just eat this and be fine; there's even magic energy in this!"

Not even a second later, Wendy squeaked in surprise as she found herself starting to fall through the cloud; but Goten acted quickly and wrapped an arm around her waist as soon as she started to fall, pulling her to him in one smooth motion.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" He noted with some surprise before patting the Nimbus cloud rather roughly and speaking to it, "Hey, I know she might've scared you, but you can't just throw people off like that, Nimbus!"

"No, I'm sorry, I got carried away." Wendy apologized to both him and the cloud, "I promise, Nimbus, I'm not gonna eat you."

Finally feeling the cloud solidify under her, Wendy signaled to Goten it was safe to release her; and he did so while trying to return to the current topic at hand.

"Okay, now that we all know the cloud is our friend, and not our food… We should probably try to find some real food, don't ya think?"

"That's probably a good idea…" She agreed with bashful amusement before remembering something important, "But um, do we have any money? 'Cause I definitely don't…"

"Don't worry, I got us covered." He informed her while reaching into the front of his gi and retrieving a very small capsule case, which only had two of the four spaces inside occupied, "I won these off a bet with Trunks when we were training to fight Cosmos… One of these has more than enough money to cover lunch."

"Oh, that's lucky." The air mage remarked while her boyfriend nodded in agreement.

"It is, but now I just gotta think… Where's a good place for a lunch-time date? Oh, I know! We should go see a movie! They don't have movie theaters on Earthland, after all!

Quietly recalling exactly what a 'movie' was, Wendy let Goten take the lead as he tried to recall where the nearest cinema was located.

"Now let's see, I think there's at least one in this city; but I dunno if it's one of those dine-in types… Hm… maybe we should go to the one by Trunks' place… I know that one's good…

"Alright, it's decided!" He finally concluded decisively, "C'mon Nimbus, we're going to West City!"

About three hours later, on Earthland…

Lisanna Strauss and Lucy Heartfilia were currently elbow deep in a pile of paper and books as they pored over a seemingly endless pile of unhelpful information; and by this point, the two were beginning to understand what Levy understood by saying their info hunt would be something of a longshot. And Happy, meanwhile, was slowly getting sick of flying things around for them. The inside of the flower capitol's library was rather large, and he had done so many laps of the whole place by now that he was actually starting to tire.

"Man, how does Levy do stuff like this all the time?" The takeover wizard remarked as she took a brief break to rest her eyes, "All the words on this page are just starting to blend together for me…"

"Yeah, it takes a certain mindset…" Lucy agreed, though she showed no signs of reading fatigue, "But even I gotta admit, this search here's not going to be very fun one any time soon…"

"Please don't tell me that." Lisanna groaned pleadingly, "You're gonna make me regret being nice enough to do all this…"

"Well, I certainly feel that way already." Happy chipped in as he rather roughly dropped another stack of books in between his two guildmates.

"And you still don't have a right to complain." The celestial mage quipped pointedly without even looking at him, "Now, go and grab any books that you find in this little section I jotted down here."

Handing a torn piece of paper with some of her scribblings on it, Lucy promptly waved him off before diving back into the work; but after a few seconds, there was a new and familiar noise that started to emanate from the wall behind Lisanna. Spinning around immediately to confirm her suspicions, the takeover mage was not surprised to see a bright white portal opening before her; but she was completely surprised when the person stepping through it was none other than a finally powered-down Trunks Briefs.

"Trunks?!" Both she and Lucy said with different kinds of shock; but unlike Lucy, Lisanna did not wait for him to properly greet them. Just before he could eek out a hello, he was instantly met with a very fierce hug from his girlfriend; and he quickly had to seal the rift behind him before they both went tumbling through by accident.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" she readily admitted as she nearly squeezed the life out him, "I was getting so worried, I could barely focus on what I was doing here!"

"Yeah?" The demi-Saiyan replied apologetically as he recovered his breath, "Sorry I took so long…"

"It's okay," His girlfriend reassured him as she finally loosed her hold on him, "I'm sure there was a lot going on. How is everyone?"

"We're all just fine," He happily informed her, "Actually, we're more than fine. No one was hurt too badly, two more Keepers got taken down; and we even got another Saiyan to join us in the fight!"

"Another Saiyan?" Lisanna repeated incredulously, "Who? Is it that guy from Universe Six, that student of your dad's?"

"No, it's not Cabba." He clarified, "It's actually Broly. Aside from my uncle, he's the last of Universe Seven's pure-blooded Saiyans."

"Broly, huh?" The takeover mage said the name slowly as she wracked her brains for a certain memory, "Broly… is that the guy Goku and Vegeta fought a few years back? Didn't your grandfather want him dead or something, when he was just a little kid?"

"Kinda." Trunks confirmed with an awkward scratch of his head, "But that all got worked out during the fight. Well, most of it was, anyway…

"But right now, though," He concluded less awkwardly, "The big guy and his friends are enjoying a meal at Mom's expense. Broly actually took Cosmos out all by himself, so she figured that he more than earned it."

"I'd say that, too." Lisanna remarked honestly before asking curiously, "And what about you and Goten? How did you guys do?"

"Well," once again Trunks found himself scratching his head awkwardly, "We didn't do as good as Broly and Gohan did, let's just say that…"

Sensing she was coming close to injuring his Saiyan pride, the takeover mage quickly changed the subject.

"Well, you coming out of the fight alive is more than good enough for me. Now come look over this stuff with us. You're better at this type of work than I am, anyway."

"Man, you two have got yourselves a neat little mess here," He noted honestly as he glanced across the long table between him and Lucy, seeing all the papers, books, and reference materials that crowded the entire table's surface, "Hey, Lucy. It's been way too long."

"Y-yeah, same…" The celestial mage stuttered, having struggled to process most of the things the couple just said, "Lisanna wasn't kidding, you really do look our age…"

"Heh, yeah…" The Saiyan agreed with some shyness, "I guess that means Lisanna explained what happened to me, huh?"

"She did." Lucy affirmed with a small nod, "What Edo did to you, it sounded terrible. I doubt I could've stayed sane like you did."

"Eh, to be fair," Lisanna chipped in helpfully, "Saiyans aren't the most sane people in the first place."

Trunks chuckled in reluctant agreeance as his girlfriend moved to stand next to him; and while she appreciated the amused expression on his face, Trunks went back to skimming over the pile of information before him.

"Yeah, you're not wrong." He added, glancing between the two women as he changed the subject, "But uh, what are we looking for here?"

"Anything helpful, really." Lucy answered first, "None of the books in Fairy Tail have any details about gods like Edo and Iga, so Levy sent us here hoping that there might be something."

"Nothing specifically though?" He asked for clarification.

"That's right." Lisanna replied next, "I've been looking for anything that reminds me about Master Iga and Edo. Their skills, what they are, places they've gone to, anything. Levy told me that if there was something that made me even think of those two, she wanted me to either borrow it or record it for her sake."

"Sounds simple enough," Trunks concluded thoughtfully, "But this kinda searching is gonna take hours at best…"

"We know." The women said simultaneously before Lisanna continued, "We've been here at least two hours already; and I'm starting to think we're gonna be here way longer than that…"

"Just the ancient religions section is a mile long…" Lucy whined quietly, "Gods, what I wouldn't give for Hibiki's Archive right about now…"

Quietly agreeing with Lucy, Lisanna began to speak until she suddenly had a thought.

"Yeah, no kidding. If only there was- wait, actually…

"Trunks!" She interrupted herself suddenly before spinning on her toes to face her boyfriend again, "Do you know who Hibiki Lates is? Or what he looks like?"

"Um… kinda?" He answered unsurely, "He's one of those host-looking guys in Blue Pegasus, right?"

"That's right," she confirmed, "Dirty-blonde hair, dark eyes, really long eyelashes… You've seen him before, haven't you?"

"I think so, using Master's magic…" Trunks shrugged as he struggled to recall the man's image, "I know he was in Magnolia during the fight with Alvarez; but I don't think we've ever met in person…"

"And you're probably lucky for it," Lucy sighed amusedly, "Unless they're in his guild, he doesn't really get along well with other guys…'

"Yeah, there is that too…" Lisanna added with a sour tone, gesturing towards Lucy as she spoke, "He's probably going to flirt with both of us if we bring him here…

"But, whatever." She concluded with a more resolute tone, "His magic would come in handy here, so we're just gonna have to deal with it. Think you can find him, Trunks?"

"Probably," Trunks answered before turning back to the wall he came in from as he added, "But we won't know until we try."

Hovering his right hand only inches from the wall, the Saiyan turned an eight foot portion of the its surface into a bright white, blank portal; but that image soon changed as it matched his mental image of Hibiki Lates.

"Let's see…" Trunks thought aloud as he recalled the Blue Pegasus wizard, "He's always wearing that pink shirt, and he's got a vest with wings on it…"

"He's a bit taller than that." Lisanna pointed out helpfully, "And thinner too."

"Got it." Her boyfriend replied obediently before the whole image went blank again, "That's enough to find him."

Deftly swiping his index finger as if he were scrolling a mouse wheel, Trunks caused the image of the rift to change, with the action looking similar to someone switching channels on a TV with only white-noise to be found.

"Now, Blue Pegasus is north of here…" The Saiyan continued to think aloud as he worked, "So if I just looked for him in that direction, I should be able to- ah, there he is!"'

Seeing the image changing suddenly to a very real image of the Archive mage walking out the front doors of his guild hall.

"And lucky us," Lisanna observed with some delight, "We're gonna catch him on the way out."

"Agreed," Trunks replied matter-of-factly, "I'm sure we'd have caused a scene if we just showed up in the middle of their guild…

"Okay, now to just make a portal nearby…" He concluded as he moved his hand once again, changing the image once more as he finished speaking, "That space by the door looked big enough. And… here we are!"

Lucy, who had already stood up and come around to get a better look at what Trunks was doing, now spoke up with the intent to take the lead; but she still felt the need to comment on the Saiyan's abilities as well.

"This magic of yours is the same as your Master Igneel's, right? I heard about what it could do earlier this morning, but to see it up close and in person… It's rather incredible… And you can find anyone anywhere, as long as you have a mental image of them?"

"That's right. And anywhere really means anywhere with this power." The demi-Saiyan explained with a pleased smirk on his face, "But it's not as simple as it looks.

"In order to find someone, I have to use their image to search for the similar patterns of light that's absorbed or reflected off things around someone; and I have to draw it all back to myself so I can see them as well. But to find those, I have to use my magic sense to feel out where exactly those rays of light are; and then I can use Igneel's magic to pull it all to me. After that, I can follow those threads of light until I get the most recent images possible, creating a real-time, live image in the process.

"Once that is done, I project that image onto a surface, and then I tap further into my Master's divine energy to cast a spell that lets me create an opening inside the light creating that image; and then I cast a second, slightly easier spell that lets me send light from here to there at whatever speed I want."

"And then you ride the light?" Lucy finished for him, to which he nodded before she continued, "That sounds interesting; but it also sounds like it requires a lot of focus…"

"Which is apparently something that neither of you have at the moment…" Lisanna pointed out amusedly. She loved when Trunks broke into his habit of talking like a teacher, but she never liked to admit that aloud either, "While you nerds are talking shop, the guy we need to talk to is walking away…"

"Oh, right!" Lucy recalled awkwardly while Trunks simply chuckled bashfully, "I should probably go and get him."

Moving towards the portal as she spoke, the celestial mage was standing outside the Blue Pegasus guild hall by the time she finished speaking; and within the next second, she was calling out to the Archive wizard.

"Hey, Hibiki, wait up!"

"Is that Lucy Heartfilia I hear? And she's calling my name?" Instantly recognizing her by voice alone, Hibiki quickly spun around to face her; and he ran a hand through his hair while slightly bowing to her with his free hand out, "Why, for such a beautiful angel to suddenly appear before me in such a mysterious fashion, I must certainly be blessed by the gods! And here I had worried you'd forgotten about me, after all this time apart!"

"Hi, Hibiki." Lucy greeted him politely, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Too long, in my opinion." He returned flirtatiously, "But alas, what is time compared to the bonds of love and friendship we share? How may I serve you, my lady?"

"O-okay," the celestial wizard replied, a little put-off at first but eventually recovering, "You're not busy, are you?"

"Not at the moment." He answered before remarking knowingly, "But I have a feeling you're about to offer me a way to fill that void. I have just one question: is this a matter between Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus, or this one friend asking for a favor from another?"

"Hm… both, probably." She explained, "Lisanna and I are trying to do some research, maybe to find some leads on the dark wizard Edo and the people connected to him; but the amount of information we need to put together and read through is kinda ridiculous. And it doesn't help that we're already grasping at straws as it is…"

"Well, I can certainly see why would think of me." He responded pleasantly, "But, to be more specific, what exactly is it you'd like me to do?"

Meanwhile… as Lucy started to get Hibiki up to speed, Trunks and Lisanna were in the middle of a kissing session that she initiated rather aggressively; and the couple only broke apart when they realized the portal's image had begun to flicker, signaling that Trunks was losing control of his thoughts.

"Hah… sorry," Lisanna blushed as she backed up and apologized, "I just realized how embarrassing that could've been, if anyone saw that… People'd be reading about it in the next issue of Sorcerer Weekly."

"Yeah, probably…" Her boyfriend agreed bashfully, "But uh, can I ask what brought that on? N-not that I didn't enjoy it, or anything…"

"I know what you meant, Trunks." She interrupted him helpfully before deciding to play coy, "But no… somethings need to be learned on their own, you know. Life's no fun if the answers are always given to you."

"There you go, teasing me again…" He remarked with some amusement, "You know, if you actually answered these kinds of questions, I could be a much better boyfriend…"

"Clever point, but sorry; I'm still saying nothing."

Frowning in a slightly-less amused expression, the demi-Saiyan casually turned into Super Saiyan Blue before using its aura to pull his girlfriend back into his arms.

"Yeah? And how about now?" He asked mischievously, letting her look deep into his radiant blue eyes before briefly kissing her and asking again, "Surely this merits at least a clue…"

"Hmm… it might…" She sighed blissfully, having completely forgotten her own worries about such a public display of affection, "Let's just say that I like seeing the man you're growing into…"

"Again, you mean." He added jokingly, but she shook her head to correct him.

"No, not at all. Your first life that Edo forced on you, that's not going to be the same as the life you'll actually live out; and you're not gonna turn out to be the same person that Edo's magic turned you into. I can guarantee it."

"Oh yeah?" He questioned her with playful curiosity, "Why's that?"

Poking an index finger at the center of his chest, Lisanna answered her boyfriend succinctly,

"Because I'll be with you, silly."

Though he was being a bit playful and cocky due to his Super Saiyan transformation, Trunks had more than enough sense to appreciate the meaning behind her words; and his faux-smug façade instantly dropped as he tried to respond.

"Li-Lisanna, I…"

"Shh… Let's quit while we're ahead, yeah?" She teasingly put a finger against his lips as she shushed him, "We should talk once we're done with this business here, though. I'd love to return to this conversation later; but there's some other stuff we need to talk about, too."

"Oh… okay…" Her boyfriend conceded, wondering if he should ask how important this 'stuff' is; but his thoughts were interrupted by her stepping away from him again as she turned to face the portal, abruptly changing the subject as she did.

"Man, what is taking Lucy so long? Can we get a portal closer to them, so we can hear what they're saying?"

Eyeing his girlfriend with a puzzled curiosity, Trunks could not help but feel like something was off.

"Hey, Lisanna, is there something bothering you?" He asked with a cautious tone, "I didn't do something wrong, did I?"

"No, Trunks; you really didn't." She said without looking at him, though she really wanted to, "It's actually some really good news I wanna share, but there's a lot of important stuff related to that too; and I'd rather we hash all that out when we're not busy trying to save our worlds…"

Before Trunks could finish deciding to entertain her and put the conversation on hold, a very heavily-burdened blue Exceed slowly drifted back into the scene.

"Urgh… Jeez, Lucy…" He groaned with so many books in hand that he could not notice his friend's absence, "I know I mighta deserved punishment for what I did; but you didn't have to make me carry this many books!"

Dumping everything off all at once as he finished, it took a now-grounded Happy another couple seconds of recovering his stamina before he realized he was talking to no one.

"Huh? Where'd Lucy go, Lisanna?" He asked curiously, not initially recognizing Trunks either, "And who's this guy? How did he get- Oh, waitaminute! Is that you, Trunks?"

"Yep." The Saiyan answered with well-hidden shyness, "It sure is."

"And I bet I know what you're gonna say," The takeover wizard remarked amusedly, "He's all grown-up, right?"

"Yeah, that's a bit of an understatement…" The floating feline noted sarcastically before questioning Trunks, "But uh, how did you get here?"

Stepping slightly further apart, the couple gestured towards the large rectangular portal that was to their backs; and Happy looked at the image of Lucy and Hibiki talking in the distance with a sense of wonder.

"Whoa…" He observed easily, "You can use the same magic as that Iga guy?"

"That's right," Trunks answered with a nod, "I can't do everything he can yet, but I'll get there eventually."

"Sounds neat," Happy replied, "And this magic even lets you travel to other universes, like the one where Earth is?"

"It sounds like you've already seen it firsthand." The Saiyan observed aloud before wondering, "But when did you see this magic before? When Lisanna showed up?"

"Right around then, yeah…" The feline sighed with some anxiety, "You can say that."

Trunks gave the blue tomcat a quizzical look, but it was Lisanna that stepped in to explain.

"Well, you see… our friends here on Earthland kinda got into a fight with Zancrow last night, and it wasn't really going that great; so Master Iga and I got involved to make sure everyone got out of it alive."

"And when did this happen?" Her boyfriend asked curiously.

"It was pretty close to midnight on Earth, I think," She answered ponderously, "I couldn't really be sure though, I never actually looked at a clock or anything. You see, it started like this…"

Meanwhile, about ten minutes later, on Earth…

Wendy and Goten were walking through a small shopping district only a few blocks from the Capsule Corporation as the Sky Maiden took in the various sights and compared it all to the city-life she knew in Fiore. Her Saiyan companion, however, was only thinking about the young woman beside him, and how comforting it was to be walking together with her hand in his. Ever since they walked out the theater about half an hour ago, the Saiyan only had one truly conscious thought up till this point: Is this what normal feels like?

"Ooh, Ten-kun, let's go look at that shop over there!" Wendy suddenly pointed towards a small, square appliance and tech shop; and she unknowingly snapped her boyfriend out of his reverie with the sudden motion, "That's where people buy those gadgets you told me about! They're called electronics, right?"

"Y-yeah, that's them." Goten replied as smoothly as possible as she started to lead him toward the front of the store.

"It's amazing to think that humans figured out how to control electricity without magic…" She remarked honestly as her eyes scanned the display window beside the shops' two automated glass doors, "Like that thing, what does that do?"

"That's an older video game system, actually." He answered as his eyes followed to where her free hand pointed, "You plug it into a TV, and it'll let you play games on it; but I think this old brick here was one of the first to let you play movies on them, too. Games and movies can be written onto discs that the machine reads and puts on the TV."

"A video game, huh?" She replied curiously, "Are they fun to play? I know some arcade games are…"

"Eh, sometimes. It depends on the game, really." He answered with an honest shrug, "But I can only play them at Trunks' place, anyway. Mom thinks things like that are a waste of money and time; and honestly, I kinda agree. Like, why play a fighting game when I could just spar with my friends, you know? And my life's already as bizarre and dangerous as some of those video game characters' anyway…"

"Yeah, most people's normal isn't really our normal, is it?" Wendy agreed humorously, with Goten smirking in agreement; but before he could say anything else, the two were surprised to see Son Goku suddenly appear between them and the store's window.

"Heya, Goten!" His father greeted him instantly, "How's it hangin'?"

"I-I'm okay, thanks… What are you-" The demi-Saiyan replied tentatively, about to ask him a question until he interrupted again.

"Mm? Who are you?" Goku cocked his head sideways, scratching his head as he wondered if he should know her, "And why are you holding my son's hand like that?"

Before the dragon slayer could answer, the pure-blooded Saiyan spared her the trouble.

"Oh, wait… You must be Goten's girlfriend, then! You're name's Wendy, right? It's nice to finally meet you."

Blushing bright red almost as soon as Goku broached the topic, the Sky Maiden was sheepishly looking at her feet while squeezing her boyfriend's hand to signal him for assistance.

"Y-yes, that's me: Wendy Marvell..." She muttered before Goten got her signal and reacted.

"And we're kinda in the middle of a date, Dad…" He informed the older Saiyan.

"That's cool," He replied, clearly not understanding his son's implied request, "But I won't bother you for long, anyway. I just noticed you were nearby, so I wanted to check in on you."

"You mean you wanted to ask me about my fight with Cosmos, right?"

"Hehehe…" Goku chuckled guiltily while rubbing the back of his head, "You know me too well, son."

"Sorry Dad, but there really isn't much that you wanna hear. Nothing I did could hurt the guy until after I fused with Trunks; and the only skill I didn't try on him was the Kaioken, that was too risky to try at the time."

"Really? Man…" The elder Saiyan remarked honestly, "Now I can't wait for my chance to fight him!"

Giggling suddenly to herself, both Saiyans gave her the exact same curious look before she swiftly apologized.

"Sorry, it's just… you two are so alike, it's almost scary."

Chuckling together in agreement, both Saiyans scratched the back of their heads again while the younger one spoke for them.

"Yeah, we get that a lot." Goten admitted amusedly, with the adorable look on his face causing Wendy to smile and blush a bit, "Especially when I get on Mom or Bulma's nerves; they've both called me Goku a few times already. Apparently, I look like Dad did way back when he won the Tenkaichi Budokai against Piccolo; so seeing me makes them feel old or something…"

"That's not surprising," The Sky Maiden agreed with clear amusement, all the while holding her free hand to her mouth as she tried to hold back another fit of giggling, "Right now, I feel like I'm talking to Goten and Future Goten…"

This time, Goku placed his hands at his hips -a pose his son could not mirror at the moment; and he chuckled once more as he replied.

"Haha, yeah… The resemblance is uncanny; but there is one huge difference between me and Goten: He's a lot smarter than I am, and more considerate… I don't really know what that last word means, but Chi Chi always says that about him; and she's usually a great judge of character…"

"Thanks, but that's actually two differences, Dad…" Goten sighed dejectedly, "Being smarter and more considerate aren't the same thing."

"Really?" His father asked with genuine curiosity, "Then why does Chi Chi always talk about them together?"

By this point, Wendy lost in her struggle to not giggle as she saw Goten's slightly embarrassed expression growing as he responded to his father.

"Because you need more work on both of them, Dad… Mom's comparing me to you when she does that."

"This is just like when you asked Carla 'what's an etiquette?'…" Wendy laughed under her breath.

"Hey, I know what that means now…" A now-blushing Goten felt the need to defend himself.

"And I still don't." Goku chimed in, attempting to be helpful, "See, he is smarter!"

"Dad, you're not helping…" the demi-Saiyan muttered bashfully.

"I'm not?" The pure Saiyan inquired honestly, "But your mother told me this is how I should act when I met your girlfriend. I didn't really understand everything she said; but she told me to talk you up and-"

"Y-Yeah, thanks Dad; but we don't really need to know what Mom told you…" Goten finally cut in nervously, having a good idea of where the conversation was headed; and he desperately attempted to change the subject, "B-But, uh… is there anything else you need from us?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah!" Goku remembered suddenly, "I did come here to check on you, but Bulma also wanted me to invite you over. I was just there with Broly and that Iga guy; and she's treating them to a meal since they fought the Keepers. She wouldn't let me have any, though… so I figured I'd stop by and say 'Hi' before I went back home; and she told me to invite you as soon as I noticed you were nearby."

"She did?" Goten replied curiously, "And did you say 'Broly'? As in the Legendary Super Saiyan, Broly? He's here?"

"He sure is." His father confirmed matter-of-factly, "It's kind of a long story, but he ended up fighting Cosmos for us; and then Iga brought him and his friends to Bulma's to thank them after he won."

"Broly beat Cosmos all by himself?" Goten asked with some surprise, "Jeez… Now I really wanna meet this guy."

"Then we should go see him." Wendy suggested helpfully, "He's still there, isn't he?"

"Uh huh, that's right." Goku answered promptly before adding, "Although, I'm surprised you didn't notice his ki already, Goten. Even powered down, the guy gives off a ton of energy…"

"Yeah, I can feel that now…" His son admitted sheepishly, "But I dunno, I guess I was distracted…"

"Having too much fun on your date, huh?" Goku deduced easily, making his son blush in response, "That's alright, though. Chi Chi'll be happy to know you two were enjoying yourselves; she's-"

"Yeah, can we not go over this subject right now?" Goten quickly interrupted, "Okay, Dad?"

Wendy did not quite understand why her boyfriend's face went from pink to red in the span of one sentence; but given his apparent urgency to end the conversation, she quietly went along with him.

"Y-yeah, sure thing…" Goku said with some confusion as to why Goten seemed so worked up, "And uh, do you need me to take you to Bulma's?"

"Thanks, but I think we can handle getting there just fine, Dad." The demi-Saiyan pointed out with the politest blunt tone Wendy had ever heard, "Besides, I can't show Wendy around the city if we're taking shortcuts like that."

"Eh, good point." Goku conceded before looking to the Sky Maiden and saying, "Well, in that case, it was very nice to meet you, Wendy; and I'm glad to see you're enjoying yourself here on Earth."

"Thank you, Goku-san," She replied while slipping into her formal tone, "It was very nice to meet you as well."

"And thanks for dropping by to give us an update," Goten added honestly, "Even if it was a bit sudden and embarrassing…"

Not entirely sure what his son would be embarrassed about, Goku decided to ignore the point as he made his goodbyes; and within barely seconds after doing so, the Saiyan had put two fingers to his forehead and vanished.

As soon as his father disappeared, Goten let out a very audible sigh of relief.

"Man, that was a close one… C'mon, let's head to Trunks' place."

"Mm? A close one?" His girlfriend asked curiously as she started to walk with him, "Close to what?"

"It's nothing, really." He lied innocently, "It's just something silly that my mom says, that's all."

"Silly? Her?" She questioned skeptically, since the feeling of his hand tensing as it held hers had told her otherwise, "No offense, Ten-kun, but I don't think your mother's a 'silly' type of woman."

"You're right, she's not," He conceded before clarifying, "But there are somethings she takes a bit too seriously…"

"I'm not sure I follow…" Wendy replied honestly, so Goten stopped to turn and face her properly, taking the brief pause to choose his words carefully.

"Well, let's see… You know how Carla's always got this nagging motherly side to her? She's just trying to help and protect you, which is good and all; but sometimes she sounds like a broken record, right?"

"Kinda…" His girlfriend agreed hesitantly.

"Well, that's kinda what it's like with my mom. The only difference is that Carla's worried about you in general, while my mom tends to worry about me in random and oddly specific ways. You know, your meeting her went a lot better than it did with Videl. The first time they met, Mom called her a 'hussy' and they ended up arguing for a bit…"

"Really?" She remarked with some surprise as they started walking again, "I guess that everyone telling her all that nice stuff about me kind of helped…"

"And you calling down the Nimbus sealed the deal." Goten added slyly, "Mom knows that only people with pure hearts can do that."

"So you didn't get me to ride the Nimbus just to get us some privacy… You also wanted to get your mom to trust me, didn't you? Your father was right about you being smart."

"Yeah, I dunno about 'smart'…" Goten disagreed humbly, "Clever, maybe; but I just think I have a way with people. It's nothing special…"

"I disagree." Wendy commented with a slight squeeze of his hand, "I pretty much fell in love with you the first night we met; and the way you treat people, so honestly and sincerely… You really are a considerate person, like your father said… That night, on the roof of Kardia Cathedral, it didn't take me long to know that I had met someone that was going to change my life forever… And you did exactly that, in so many good ways…"

"Wendy…" Goten uttered her name in quiet shock as he stopped walking again, "I… I don't know what to say…"

"Then just say you love me, silly." She teased him honestly while taking his other hand as well, "Otherwise, I'm gonna have to kiss you in front of all these people that are walking by…"

"Oh yeah?" Goten quipped boldly as he suddenly pulled her against him, "Well… What if that's exactly what I want anyway?"

"Then, I guess I just have to prove I wasn't bluffing…"

Meanwhile, on Earthland…

"So this is Domus Flau…" Ajeel Raml remarked amusedly as he emerged from a large black rift of Cel Rhea's creation, "The great seat of the Grand Magic Games, huh?"

Stepping out and moving towards the center of the coliseum's sandy stage, he continued his comments with an arrogant tone.

"How pitiful. I can't believe they thought this place would be big enough for a battle. I could fill this whole place with sand in a matter of seconds!"

"I'm sure you could, mister Sand King," The Earth God Slayer quipped as she emerged from her portal next, "But let's not go wrecking the place just yet. Edo might get mad at me; but he will absolutely kill you. You hear me, Zancrow?"

"Yeah, I heard you." The third person to emerge replied bitterly, "But don't think you're the one giving me orders here, ya brown-nosin' bitch."

"Heh… Well," Dimaria Yesta observed sarcastically as she followed the fire mage, "Don't you two sound like just the bestest of friends?"

"They sort of remind me of us, bickering like that." Brandish added thoughtfully as she appeared right behind the time mage, "Don't you think, Mari-chan?"

"Can it, runts." Zancrow interrupted without bothering to glance their way, but he did look to Ajeel as he continued to speak, "And you, over-eager sand boy; don't fuck this up. Otherwise, I'll kill you well before our Master has the chance."

"Whatever you say, boss." The sand mage obeyed sarcastically.

Slightly satisfied with the response, Zancrow quickly turned to the next and last group to emerge from the portal.

"Alright you little freaks, it's time to do your thing."

Hopping out the dark rift ten at a time, fifty Enenrae quickly spread out as they obeyed their preordained commands.

"Creepy little things, aren't they?" Dimaria remarked inanely as she watched twenty of them scale the walls of the sand pit and climb into the stands.

"Consider yourself lucky, little girl." Cel informed her teasingly, "There's a few kinds of people in this world that can see them; but the only reason you can do so is because our Master wills it."

"Hmph," the time mage grunted dismissively, "Well, we're luckier than God Serena was, at least."

"Serena was an imbecile, Mari, he wasn't unlucky." Brandish said pointedly as she watched the other thirty shadow creatures stream through the exits from the stage, "Had he heeded our Lord Emperor's advice, he might still be alive."

"You gotta admit though, his replacement's much better." Ajeel chimed in, "As long as you don't get too close to that beast, anyway… It's too bad not everyone's onboard with the idea."

"Can you blame them, though?" Dimaria remarked honestly, "Most of us thought we were invading Ishgar just to kill the guy; and now we've got make nice and call him 'sir'? I'm just happy he's not officially one of the Twelve. The guy just gives me the chills."

"And he smells like death a thousand times over." The mass-manipulator whined in addition.

"I said can it, you damn runts!" Zancrow reminded them harshly, "No one cares about what you or I think about the plan. You just go along with your damn emperor's orders, and we can all get along just fine. Sounds good?"

"Shit, you don't have to tell me twice!" Ajeel agreed with a laugh, "I just can't wait to have that lacrima implant your pal Edo was offerin'! Oh, the feel of that power was so incredible…

"Hey, you two!" He added as Cel started to lead him and Dimaria towards the exit stage-front, "Don't go pissing these new guys off, alright? We just might have a nice thing goin' on here; so I won't have any of you asshats ruinin' it, you get me?"

Not feeling he was worth the reply, both Dimaria and Brandish rolled their eyes dismissively as they focused on their assigned tasks. With the time mage begrudgingly walking behind him and Cel while Brandish stood quietly as she waited for Zancrow to signal her.

"So just to be clear," Ajeel questioned the Earth God Slayer as he jogged slightly to catch up to her, "The only thing you want me and Mari to do is keep people away from you while you work, right?"

"It is." Cel confirmed neutrally, "Why? Were you hoping we'd give you more orders than that?"

"No, not really." The Sand King explained, "If all I gotta do to get that ridiculous power-up is this one little gig… well, that's not so bad.

"But uh, if you don't mind me askin'," He asked with tentative curiosity, "Why do you guys even need us here in the first place? You've got that power inside you already, and there's fifty of those little beauties followin' you around to boot!"

"My colleague does make a great point." Dimaria added casually.

Though she wanted to simply tell them to shut up and stay on task, Cel soon thought better of it; and she decided to answer them honestly instead.

"Eh, I suppose a little transparency wouldn't hurt… You remember the god my Master mentioned, Iga? Well, let's just say that our last encounter with him wasn't all that much of a win for us… We accomplished most of our objectives during it, but it came at the cost of getting some new sort of spell casted on us. For some reason, the three of us cannot see anyone we consider an enemy, even if they were standing right in front of us."

"So that's why you need us as back up," Ajeel concluded, "You need us to do the fighting in case these En-En things aren't good enough to be bodyguards."

"But to think someone could cast such a powerful hex," Dimaria muttered mainly to herself, "To blind someone to a specific thing… It's so much more effective than just a cloaking spell…"

"That's the annoying part," Cel informed her with a bitter tone, "Iga knows he's blinded us, so he and his friends are going to be moving about freely while they can. Right now, they have the initiative."

"So we're here to take that back, right?" The sand mage questioned excitedly, "We're going to send him some sort of message, maybe force him to play your game again, right?"

"Huh," The Titan remarked inanely, "I guess you aren't as dumb as you sound after all…"

Just as those three finally moved out of sight, Zancrow looked around to see that ten Enenrae had finished taking their positions all around the stadium lower stadium seats while the other ten were still climbing through the second level while on their way to the third. Seeing that he still had time to kill, he glanced towards the Command T wizard and asked her a question, though he was not entirely sure why he did so himself.

"So, what's you're take on all this? So far, I've only heard you complain about the Dragon King's stench; but I notice that you didn't comment on Master's magic earlier, and neither did that old man really…"

"Oh?" Brandish retorted coolly, "But I thought 'no one' cared for my opinion."

"Tch, never mind then." Zancrow growled with a click of his teeth, and he crossed his arms annoyedly as he returned to tracking the Enenrae's movements; but after seeing his irritated response, Brandish could not resist the urge to tease him.

"Aw, giving up so easily? You're no fun…"

"Quiet, woman," The Flame God Slayer replied harshly, "If you wanted fun, you should've joined a circus! I'm here to do what I have to; and nothing else."

"Yeah? But doesn't that sound so boring though?" She questioned him skeptically, "That divine connection of yours binds your will to your master's, correct? At any moment, he could be in your head; hell, he could be listening to us right now, right?"

"It's possible," He answered impatiently, "So what're you asking?"

"My question is," She bluntly cut to the chase, "What's that like, not having any real privacy? Or to be someone's puppet?"

"I am no one's puppet, little girl." Zancrow growled aggressively, "My serving Master Edo is merely a means to an end, and even he is well aware of that fact."

"So why serve him, if that's how you really feel?" She wondered aloud, "Whatever you're trying to accomplish, does it really have to involve that man?"

"It does." The fire mage confirmed before asking sarcastically, "Unless you happen to know some other god that's willing to give away his immortality, that is…"

"So that's what you're after?" She asked next, "You want to live forever?"

"Mm, kind of…" He explained thoughtfully, "But I'm not afraid of dying myself. I've already done that once; and it wasn't as awful as everyone assumes."

"Yes, Lord Zeref did mention he killed you in passing…" Brandish recalled with a similar tone, "But then, if you're not worried about dying again, you're worried about someone else dying…"

Realizing suddenly that he probably said too much, Zancrow quietly turned away and kept his eye on the Enenrae while ignoring the feeling of Branidsh's eyes boring into the back of his skull.

"Hm… I wonder…" She continued as she tried to read the blonde's body language, "Who could be so important to a killer like you? For you to put up with all this just to make them immortal?"

"Yeah, well," He argued while still looking away, "This might shock you, but not everyone blindly obeys their leaders like you Spriggan goons."

"And this might surprise you then," she countered pointedly, "But not everyone on the Twelve is there to serve. Frankly, I couldn't care less about the emperor's plans, or about his true motives for that matter… He can reset all of time and I still won't care. As long as I get to do whatever I want, I don't care whose orders I follow."

"And if Zeref did turn back time?" He finally looked at her as he curiously asked, "You'd be okay with nonexistence?"

"Eh," She shrugged dismissively, "We're all living on borrowed time anyway. At least I'll be able to enjoy my time before it's all undone.

"But, I will admit," She added with a more serious tone, looking off into the distance as she spoke, "There is one thing I want to do before I'm gone, something I'm honor-bound to accomplish."

"Oh?" He replied with more curiosity, "And what would that be?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Brandish turned away from him, speaking as she did.

"It's… none of your business."

"Heh, like I care anyway." Zancrow scoffed as he noticed the Enenrae had finished spreading out evenly across all three levels of the stands, "Now, stay here and wait for my signal."

Not bothering to listen to her response, the fire mage took one quick leap that brought him from the center-stage to the top of the staff owned by one of the four monolithic stone warriors looking down upon the stage; and while Zancrow took another, much slower leap onto the statue's head, Brandish was still blinking in surprise at the man's sudden movements.

"Such speed…"

From his stone perch, Zancrow could now see the area before the arena's main entrance, where he expected his other allies to emerge from at any minute; but since they were clearly not in position yet, the fire mage decided to double check the Enenrae's positioning. Just as he turned to look; however, the faint sounds of a few people screaming and shouting in panic could be heard intensifying.

Turning back to witness the commotion being made out front, Zancrow watched as one terrified reporter and six of the arena's custodians were running for their lives; but their screaming and yelling was quickly followed by the sound of a few desperate knight-captains trying to rally the remnants of their security forces to action, though most of their shouting was drowned out by the pained screams of their less fortunate comrades. In the next second, dark brown sand came tumbling out the front gate like a tsunami, creating a faint rumbling that even Zancrow could feel from his bird's eye view; and the fire mage could only smirk grimly as he noticed a number of knights were being violently swept away with the grainy tide.

"Poor bastards." He muttered to himself before watching as all the sand suddenly withdrew; and within a couple more seconds, the sand had vanished completely. Quickly taking the sand's place, twenty-five Enenrae were next to come streaming out the front; and that group was soon followed by Cel, Dimaria, and Ajeel.

"I'd say thanks for the meal," The Earth God Slayer joked to Ajeel as they emerged from the gate, "But this sand of yours tastes rather awful!"

"Well yeah, it's sand." The Sand King quipped mockingly, "What'd you think it would taste like? Cotton candy?"

"Oh, if only…" The Titan sighed before taunting him, "Then maybe you'd be worth keeping around.

"Ah, speaking of," she added with random curiosity, "Do either of you have any bits of jewelry to spare? You know, like, a gold band or some loose gemstones? I just realized left my snacks with Eddie…"

"…No… we don't." Dimaria answered for both of them with a vaguely confused tone.

"Of course you wouldn't…" She whined before noticing that pairs of the Enenrae before her had finally taken guarding positions at the front gate and along the stone road leading out of it; and she quickly decided to return to work at the sight, "Oh well, guess I'll just have to deal with it…

"Sand boy, with me." She said with a suddenly serious expression again, to the point that even the loudmouthed Ajeel silently obeyed out of pure confusion, "And you, miss time goddess-"

"I know what I'm to do." Dimaria interrupted her with a hint of defiance, "Just make sure you don't screw up your end of this, alright?"

"Hmmh," Cel chuckled audibly before muttering under her breath as she and Ajeel began to walk past the last of their 'guards', "Cocky little bitch…"

Having heard all the god slayer's words, Ajeel smirked amusedly as he walked just behind her; and they only stopped after they had walked past the last shadow creature, which stood alone in the middle of the road. Taking a brief moment to enjoy the view of Crocus' skyline, Cel promptly turned back around and began to survey every detail of the arena and the mountain terrain it rested on; and after a few more seconds, she began to focus her magic.

"Yeah, this one's gonna take a minute…" She thought aloud before tapping into Edo's powers the next instant, "But maybe this'll help…"

Not really sure if he should back up or keep walking for the sake of his own safety, Ajeel numbly stood in place as he felt the intense amount of magic energy growing inside the Titan; and as she began to access Edo's essence as well, the familiar black flame-like aura began to emerge from her. The longer she focused, the more intense both sensations became; and eventually Cel's skin looked completely pitch-black, with her body even appearing to be intangible in randomly changing places. And when she finally stopped charging both of the powers currently active inside her, she briefly glanced at Ajeel, who saw that even her hazel humanoid eyes had now morphed into dark-blue, serpentine eyes.

"Whoa…" He half-gasped in awe at the sight, "This power is incredible… I can tell it's a thousand times greater than what I felt earlier!"

"She's a monster…" Dimaria muttered to herself, though no one but the Enenrae heard her.

"And that look, with those eyes…" The Sand King continued as he boldly moved closer to the transformed God Slayer, "Oh, you're absolutely terrifying and oozing with power; but gods, you look so hot, too… Can I worship and serve you, my goddess; instead of that pale creepy boyfriend of yours?"

"Hah, no… I'd rather you didn't." Cel chuckled lightly after briefly examining her own body curiously, "At least, not until I actually become a goddess. Master's divine essence can be overwhelming for the untrained or those weak of heart, so there's a pro/con exchange every time you tap into it. The upside, the only thing I care about: is that on top of gaining access to Eddie's dark magics, the more you access his power, the more your powers are multiplied; and your powers are enhanced and forced to evolve way beyond their normal limitations.

"For instance," She said demonstratively as she walked just past him, stopping the next second to crouch down and place her right hand onto the paved stone, "I was never taught Earth Maker Magic; and yet, with this power, I can make the land do whatever I see fit -and I can make as much of it as I want!

"Now, witness the potential of my Master's power; and watch as I take the next step in my ascent to divinity! Spring forth, Earth, and grow beyond the meager limits Nature has given you! Rise, Earth God's Domain!"

As she finished chanting, the ground beneath everyone's feet began to quake intensely, with Ajeel and Dimaria struggling to maintain their balance as the stone road began to fracture in many places; and the two watched as the very mountain beneath the stone road began to widen in all directions, with the mountains and trees from the west growing farther and farther away to the west while houses and city structures were stretched away further to the north, east, and south.

Meanwhile, Zancrow had been carefully watching his fellow god slayer from his perch far above; and as soon as the ground began to tremble, the fire mage leapt back down to stand beside Brandish, whom he quickly addressed.

"Okay, you, let's see what you can do."

Nodding quietly as she focused her magic onto her assigned target, Zancrow saw the nod and finally gave her the signal.

And now, as the mountain it stood on grew wider, the whole arena soon began to expand at the same rate as the mountain; but while Cel's magic was creating more land and molding the terrain into a much-larger, flat mountaintop, Brandish's magic did nothing to alter the arena's shape as it grew. And after a minute of varying degrees of effort, both the colosseum and its mountain base, which once took up a total square area of about three hundred thousand feet, was now covering an area triple that size. The chains attached between the four statues and the ground snapped as they stretched to their limits; and the massive stone carvings on the mountainside facing the city fell and crumbled as soon as the chains supporting them came apart, with the mountain's horizontal growth soon sweeping away any evidence of the carvings' existence. Aside from that, the only other damage to the arena's structure was the road before it, as it was barely left standing with dozens of break lines running all along its upper and lower surfaces; but as she was already aware of this through the use of her magic sense, Cel topped off the land's expansion with a new remodeling of the arena.

"Excellent," she declared with her hand still touching the crumbling stone beneath her, "Now, to make you beautiful…"

According to the Titan's will, the bridge beneath her began to repair itself while its color soon began to change, going from a bright white-grey to a dull steel-grey that no longer matched the stone ground it had been carved from. And then, as her attention turned to the arena itself, the stadium's stone also began to mend and change colors, with this new color making most of its currently de-aging surface look similar to a smooth, shiny obsidian; and conversely, the stadium's seats changed into an even brighter, purer white that made the jet-black stone appear even darker. The finishing touch was the sand on the stage, which had now changed entirely into an unearthly, bright royal blue.

Not wanting to be covered in any more of the shifting sand than necessary, Brandish and Zancrow nimbly hopped atop the obsidian stage wall until the ground had finally settled; and within the next minute, the two leapt back down in order to properly reexamine their surroundings once again.

"Well damn, that's not half bad." The fire wizard remarked with vague interest.

"I don't like it," Brandish admitted honestly, "It's not cute at all."

"Yeah, well, cute's got nothing to do with war, honey." He added pointedly, "But you know, there's still a few things bothering me…"

Before she could ask him what part of the stadium irked him, Brandish ended up leaping aside a couple feet in surprise as Zancrow hands suddenly ignited with black flame. Within an instant the fire mage swept his right arm back and released his ki as if he were throwing two kunai, one at each of the west-facing statues, and then he quickly spun to his left while doing the same with the fiery energy in his left hand as well, this time aiming at the two east-facing statues; and the four small projectiles instantly popped into massive fireballs, which were large and hot enough to completely vaporize whatever stood in their path. To Brandish, the four staff-wielding figures were deleted within two blinks of an eye; and the only sign they were ever there was this slight, steaming trench at each their bases. In her eyes, the sight vaguely reminded her of the pattern someone makes when they take out that first scoop from a new tub of ice cream.

"There we go," The Flame God Slayer said with clear satisfaction, "That's a lot better, don't ya think?"

"Y-yeah…" The Mass mage began to stutter as she recovered from her surprise, but she quickly regained her composure as she continued to speak, "But my opinion remains unchanged. This place is an eyesore"

Zancrow chuckled, planning to respond to her again when a black rift suddenly appeared against the stage wall behind them; and the two saw as a now powered-down Earth God Slayer popped out of it, speaking immediately as she did.

"Okay, Zancrow, it seems like my job here is done. The place is remodeled, every civilian or knight has either been killed or run off, we've got five Enenrae patrolling the inside with Ajeel, and the others have secured their spots at the gate with the time chick watching them."

"Ajeel, huh?" He noted antagonistically, "So he's not 'sand-boy' anymore? That was pretty quick."

"Zip it, Zancrow." Cel quickly quipped before facing the Spriggan Shield beside him and moving on, "And you, your job's done too. You see these exits on the stage? Well, I took the liberty of modifying the hallway they're all connected to by mixing thirteen new rooms in between the original prep and recovery rooms; that way your little gang of twelve has something a bit comfier to rest on beside chairs, benches, and hospital beds. And to avoid worrying about bickering over status or other petty crap like that, the rooms are all the same dimensions; and they're all empty, just waiting for you to fill and furnish them with whatever crap you want."

"How considerate of you." Brandish replied with vague sarcasm before waving them a lazy goodbye as she walked toward the nearest exit, "But whatever, it sounds like there's some furniture I need to move now; so I'm going to take care of that now. Come on out, Marin, I finally have need of your services."

Noticing the green-haired woman was seemingly talking to a small pill bottle as she walked away, Zancrow soon ignored Brandish as Cel spoke to him once again.

"Oh, and just for you: I turned the king's seating area into a full suite, so you've also got a new place to stay, beside Master's Shadow, that is."

"For me?" The fire mage asked skeptically, "Not for Zeref?"

"Uh uh." She explained quickly, "Zeref, Invel, August, and Irene are likely not going to leave their main military camp unattended; but I made rooms for them anyway, just in case they'd need them.

"No, that fancy new room goes to the guy that's running this place." She concluded teasingly, "And that man would happen to be you, commander Zancrow…"

"Hmph," He grunted ungratefully, "So if I'm in charge here, and I order you to fuck off, would that be something you'd have to obey?"

"Heh," Cel chuckled back before turning to face the portal she had kept open this whole time, "Well, I suppose we can leave that point for a later debate. That kid's sand magic didn't taste all that great, and there was a bit of some people's blood mixed in, too… So needless to say, there's this awful taste of iron in my mouth that requires removal; and I'm not doing anything else until I've done exactly that. Did you think about what you're gonna do with the free time you got now? Now that you've got grunts doing the work for you, you've got more time to train; or maybe to see that cute, pink-"

"I know what you're suggesting, Cel," He interrupted her abruptly, "And frankly, it's none of your damn business. Now why don't you just shut up and go back to kissing our Master's ass already?"

"Hehe, yeah, it was nice working with you too, Zancrow." She laughed lightly as she finally started to enter the portal, "Now, just try not to wreck this place while we're gone too, alright? Catch you later!"

Before Zancrow could utter another insult back at her, the portal she made had vanished, initially leaving him with only his annoyed thoughts to accompany him; but after a brief moment of quiet, some of her words actually sank in, helping him to properly realize the current situation.

"Heh, 'Commander', eh?" He chuckled musingly, "The title's stupid, but something like that does have its perks…"

Hopping back into the stands with a few lazy leaps, Zancrow closed in on the royal seating area within a second before he was creating a new portal on the wall inside the newly-made suite.

"Dimaria," He called into it as soon as the rift opened up, "Do you think you and Ajeel'd be enough to discourage any guild wizards from trying to take this place back?"

"Eh, probably… These shadow things are strong enough to be a factor as well," the time mage's voice came through with an unsure tone, "But if I were you, I'd put one or two more of the Twelve up here as well. At least until we deal with their first retaliation, anyway… The kingdom isn't going to be happy with us right at their doorstep like this."

"An obvious point, but it is worth restating…" Zancrow replied ponderously, "Okay, I'll have Wahl and Neinhart join you and sand boy on first watch; and then I'll come up with an even rotation for the rest of the folks that'll be staying here. As long as you will be staying here, I am the person you report to. And if I summon you for any purpose; I will not tolerate unexcused absences like your doting emperor would. Understand?"

"I do." She affirmed swiftly.

"Good," He wrapped up their conversation with a sound nod, "And with that out the way, that should be everything for now. Don't worry about signaling me if trouble comes around, I can sense every move the Enenrae make; so they'll tell me if I'm needed or not."

"As you wish." Dimaria replied curtly before asking with some curiosity, "But, um, before you go: how should we address you? As things stand, you are the commander of this de-facto HQ; but I get the feeling that you're not really one for fancy titles…"

"You're right, I'm not." He confirmed with a vague smirk, "Just calling me by name works fine; but if calling me 'Commander' would make this exchange of power easier for you servile types to get over, then by all means, call me 'Commander' or whatever. As long as you understand your place in this little system we're establishing here, I don't really care what you call me. Now, if there's no other questions for me, it's time to bring in the others."

About fifteen minutes ago, on Earth…

Wendy and Goten had walked into the Capsule Corporation while still holding hands, only to immediately be greeted by the young woman behind the long white front desk.

"Oh, Goten, it's good to see you."

"Hey, Valese." He replied politely, "My dad said Aunt Bulma was looking for me; and we happened to be nearby when he did, so… here we are."

"Yeah, Ms. Briefs did just mention she'd be hosting some weird guests again."

"So its business as usual around here, huh?" The demi-Saiyan joked before turning with the Sky Maiden to properly face the attendant, "Well… before you ask, the girl holding my hand right now is Wendy, my girlfriend. Wendy, this is Valese, she was one of my classmates in high school."

"Oh really?" Wendy greeted her with a curious tone, "Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Valese."

"No please, I'm the one that feels lucky." The brunette remarked amusedly, "I didn't think there'd be anybody good enough to meet this guy's standards."

"His standards?" The bluenette repeated inquisitively, "What do you mean?"

"You know, how picky he is." Valese tried to explain it playfully, "This guy here was asked out by people from left, right, and center when we were in high school. Even I tried to go out with him, didn't I, Goten?"

"Yeah, you sure did." He affirmed while smirking and awkwardly rubbing the back of his head

"And yet this guy politely turned down every single romantic offer he was given." She concluded before leaning slightly towards Wendy and asking, "So, c'mon, tell me what happened. What did you do to get this guy's attention?"

"Um, actually…" The demi-Saiyan chimed in helpfully, though he was starting to blush as spoke, "It was kinda the other way around."

"Oh?" Valese replied with some fascination, "So he asked you out? How interesting…"

Seeming like she was about to ask another personal question, the C.C. employee never had the chance. Coming from the right side of the hallway just past the desk, the loud sound of a small explosion suddenly interrupted them, causing both Wendy and Goten to finally release each other as they jumped in surprise; and the demi-Saiyan was reflexively beginning to move to investigate the commotion when a slightly singed Bulma Briefs suddenly came out coughing from the first lab on the right, greeting him just before he could get around the corner of the front desk.

"Oh, hey, Goten," She said as casually as possible after uncovering her mouth and starting to wave away the lingering smoke, "Glad you could make it."

"Y-yeah, glad to be here…" He stuttered as he had just stopped himself from stumbling into her, "But are you alright? What just happened?"

"Oh, that? Nothing major." The scientist assured him as she finally stopped waving at the now dispersed smoke, "I just had a little hiccup with this thing Trunks asked me to work on."

"That didn't sound little…" Goten sighed skeptically, but Bulma waved off his concern anyway.

"Trust me: considering some of the stuff I'm working with, that was very little. But that's enough worrying about me, let's talk introductions. Is this the young lady I've heard so much about lately? Wendy, right?

"It's a pleasure to meet you," She continued after stepping towards Wendy, who met her halfway after seeing her extend a hand, "The name's Bulma, if you didn't already know."

"I did, and it's an honor to meet you." The air mage replied after stepping up and shaking the scientist's hand, "Honestly, saying it's an honor is quite an understatement, though. I had heard a lot about you too, Bulma-san."

"Yeah?" She remarked playfully just after they ended the handshake, "Only good things, I hope."

"Of course," Wendy assured her plainly, "Everyone I've met seems to hold you in high regard, and not just for your tech. Ten-kun's told me a few stories about his family's past, and you were involved in almost all of them."

"Ten-kun, huh?" Bulma picked out the name while looking directly at the demi-Saiyan as she did; but after seeing him squirm awkwardly and look away to hide his pink face, she decided to spare him, "Well, I guess it's good you know so much already; that way, no one's going to spend too long getting you up to speed.

"But before we start talking shop," She paused the conversation for one, "Are you two just really good friends, or not? Because I know the idea was up in the air at one point, but then-"

"We're dating." The Slayer and Saiyan resolutely said together, with Goten stepping forward slightly so he could take Wendy's hand once again, just to emphasize their point.

"Good to know." Bulma replied with a sly smirk before returning to the main conversation, "Now, to business."

Gesturing for them to follow, the scientist started to lead them back towards the atrium doors as she spoke again.

"Iga's been here for a while talking about everything that's happened so far, so I know that you two have had kind of a roller-coaster of a day, am I right?"

"Yeah, no kidding." Goten chuckled in agreement, "But I think everything's turned out pretty great so far."

"Exactly, and that should be celebrated in my opinion," Bulma explained as they finally walked into the massive recreational area, "But I will admit, the food here's a bit of a bribe, too. I've got a favor to ask of you two; but we can talk about that later. Right now, I'm sure there's a few things you two might want to say to that guy over there."

At first, their entry into the giant domed room took Wendy's breath away. Just as she had been told, all kinds of animals big and small milled about in the back and foreground, and the large spread of a wide variety of foods splayed out across several long white tables was absolutely mouth-watering; and the fact that there was also ample enough room for a large sparring stage was simply astounding to her. For a moment, her eyes shined with child-like wonder at her surroundings; but then Bulma gestured to the end of the middle table, where a certain shirtless, red-haired immortal was currently sitting. After that, Wendy's mood changed into hesitation almost instantly; and she barely even noticed the rather large Saiyan to the god's left, or especially the little green woman that sat next to the Saiyan.

Feeling Wendy's hand tensing in his, Goten glanced to her in an attempt to read the expression on her face; but she did not give him long to look as she suddenly took the lead.

"Yes, I suppose there are." The Sky Maiden agreed with Bulma's speculation as she lead Goten towards the trio; and before the demi-Saiyan could ask her what she was thinking, they were both greeted by the immortal, who also addressed the two sitting beside him towards the end of his greeting.

"Goten, Wendy, you made it! I'm glad you could join us. Hey, you guys heard me talking about these two earlier, right?"

"Is that… Kakarot?" the seven and a half-foot tall Saiyan immediately wondered, "How did he get so young?"

"No, Broly, that's Goten, Goku's son." The much smaller woman reminded him with a patient tone, "We just went over this. Right before Lemo went back home, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." The large man answered apologetically, "Sorry, I was watching the animals earlier; wasn't listening…"

"You can go and play with them if you want, Broly." Bulma offered helpfully, "They're all very well-trained, and we make a point to keep the big ones fed constantly, just so they never feel the urge to try munching on one of the guests instead."

"Hm…" The Saiyan hummed as he considered the offer, "No, I will play later. It would be rude not to introduce myself first."

Facing the demi-Saiyan first, he spoke again.

"Hello Goten, son of Kakarot, I am Broly; and this is my friend Cheelai. We're friends with your father."

"Oh, I know." Goten replied with poorly masked excitement; and there was a brief silent exchange between he and Wendy before she released him, just so he could quickly move to stand before the man as he chattered eagerly, "Honestly, sir, I've wanted to meet you one-on-one ever since I'd heard about you; I mean, you're the Legendary Super Saiyan! You're one of the only people my dad can't beat on his own, and you just took down Cosmos on your own, didn't you? That's so awesome! Hey, I know this is kinda sudden, but can we please fight? 'Cause I really wanna fight you right now!"

"Well, you're definitely Goku's kid…" Cheelai remarked with vague amusement while Broly seemed to be slowly processing the demi-Saiyan's rambling request, "You're a bit more polite than your old man; but you're still just as bonkers, aren't you?"

"Kinda." Goten chuckled while scratching the back of his head, "But I'm not asking for a serious fight here, I just wanna quick sparring session. That's all."

"No kid, I don't think you understand," The green woman tried dissuading him one more time, "Even that could get you really hurt. If either of you start to get carried away…"

"We won't, I promise." The demi-Saiyan readily assured her before turning back to Broly and pleading with him, "But I mean, you kinda want to fight me too, don't you?"

"Hm…" The large man hummed as he mulled it over, glancing between Goten, Cheelai, and the food in front of him as he did, "I'm not sure…"

Keenly noticing where the Saiyan's eyes traveled as he replied, Goten instinctively did the one of the few things that would actually get his attention. Causing Cheelai to jump with surprise, the demi-Saiyan instantly popped into his Super Saiyan Blue form; and while the divine transformation had certainly gained Broly's attention, Wendy had found herself genuinely mesmerized by its appearance. She had seen Trunks using the form in combat earlier; but in her opinion, that sight could never hold a candle to the one before her now. It was all Wendy could do not to stare in awe as the conversation continued around her.

"So, how 'bout now, mister Broly?" The radiant, blue-eyed, blue-haired teen questioned with a vaguely teasing tone, "You really wanna pass up this chance? I mean, it's not like there are many people around that are this strong, you know…"

"You know, you don't have to be worried about hurting the kid," Iga offered helpfully, "He's pretty damn tough, and we've got more than a few ways to patch him up after anyway."

"Yeah, what he said!" Goten popped back into the conversation, "And think about my Saiyan pride here, too: I'm only gonna feel insulted if you think I'm not worth your time… And you don't wanna insult one of your friends' kids, do you?"

"No, that would be bad." Broly replied ponderously, "But are you really sure you want to fight me? I've gotten better; but I still have trouble holding back my power, especially when I get angry…"

"I don't care about the risks, sir." The demi-Saiyan told him resolutely, "All I care about is becoming strong enough to protect the people I care about. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Yes, I can." Broly answered honestly, having glanced back to Cheelai just before doing so, "It's why I'm always training, trying to master control over my power…"

"Then spar with me, at least once." Goten concluded pleadingly, "Show me what the power of a real Saiyan is like."

Finally having more than enough motivation to humor the request, Broly once again looked around considerately before starting to stand up as he replied with his answer.

"Well, if this is what you wish for, then so be it… I will fight you, son of Kakarot."

"Really? You will?" Goten excitedly requested a confirmation; and he cheered with even more excitement as soon as Broly nodded, "Awesome! Thank you, sir; I promise you're not gonna regret it!"

"Alright, you two," Bulma finally spoke up as she stepped into the conversation, "I'm glad you finally made up your minds and all; but can you at least wait until you're on the fighting stage before you start powering up?"

"Oh, right," Goten quickly apologized while undoing his Super Saiyan transformation, "Sorry…"

Hearing Wendy giggle at him, her boyfriend smirked as he turned to her with a brief question.

"And um, you wouldn't mind fixing me up, if I did get hurt, would you?"

"Of course I wouldn't," she answered him teasingly, "You do remember who you're talking to, don't you?"

"I do, but I just thought it'd be rude not to ask." He explained casually before facing the massive Saiyan again, "Now… let's do this, Broly; I can't really wait much longer anyway."

Grunting in agreement, the pure-blooded Saiyan was the first to start the walk towards the stage, with Goten and Iga following just behind him; and the three women watched as the trio stepped away.

"Hmph, Saiyans…" Cheelai huffed amusedly, "They really are all crazy, aren't they?"

"Yeah, that's a safe assumption." Bulma added with a similar tone.

"I'd imagine you'd know better than anyone, having three of 'em running around this place." the green woman remarked sympathetically before she turned to the younger bluenette, "And what about you, Miss …Wendy, right?"

"That's right," the Sky Maiden offered her full name as prompted, "Wendy Marvell."

"Okay, Wendy…" Cheelai asked with a playful tone, "What do you think?"

"About Saiyans?" Wendy replied thoughtfully, with her eyes eventually straying towards Goten as she spoke, "Well, I haven't been around them for very long; the only one I really know well is Ten-kun. And maybe I can say this just because my life back home is full of all kinds of crazy; but I don't know if I really can call him crazy. Sometimes, I feel like he just sees things more clearly than we do. He's honest to a fault; and everything is so simple for him, it actually makes me kinda jealous…"

Reading the blue-haired teen's expression as she answered, Cheelai and Bulma both smirked knowingly as they listened; and as Wendy finished speaking, Bulma couldn't help but sigh wistfully.

"Oh, to be young and in love…"

Blushing almost immediately in response, Wendy began to quietly play with a stray lock of her hair while Cheelai spoke up in her defense.

"Eh, she isn't wrong though, is she? Meeting that big loveable idiot over there was one of the biggest strokes of luck I've ever had. Honestly, I'd have never thought I'd find someone so nice and naïve hanging out with a nasty guy like Frieza."

Briefly tuning out the conversation, Wendy glanced over to the sparring stage to watch Goten stretching for a couple seconds before turning back to face Bulma, whom she spoke to next as soon as Cheelai had stopped.

"Oh, Bulma-san, you said you need a favor from Goten, didn't you?"

"That's right." The scientist said with a nod, "But you've got a part in the plan too, you know."

"Really?" The younger bluenette wondered aloud, "But I've only been on this planet for a few hours, and I don't think anyone expected me to show up…"

"True," Bulma conceded before grinning slightly as she added, "But people don't call me a genius for nothing, after all."

Seeing that Wendy looked puzzled and amazed with her statement, Bulma quickly spoke again to clear up her confusion.

"I'm just kidding, by the way. I'm not some kinda psychic or anything like that; but when Trunks mentioned that he and Goten might be heading back to your world sometime soon, an idea quickly popped into my head."

"And that idea was…?" Cheelai asked, feeling slightly curious herself.

"Well, to put it in layman's terms:" Bulma replied with well-contained excitement, "I wanna build a teleporter."

"A teleporter?" Cheelai repeated, "You mean, like one of those things you read about in sci-fi novels?"

"You mean 'sci-future' novels, in my book." The scientist boldly claimed, "Heck, I've already built a time machine, so making a teleportation device should be quite the cinch."

"And yet," the green woman remarked observingly, "I feel like there's a 'but' coming along…"

"And you would be right," Bulma agreed before looking back to Wendy and beginning to explain, "You see: as easy as it would be to make one here, there's still the matter of placing one at our intended destination."

"Whaddaya mean?" Cheelai asked curiously, "Can't you just make one that reads coordinates and zap yourself wherever?"

"Sorry, but that part really is science fiction." Bulma clarified, "A teleporter would briefly turn every part of an object into pure energy, which would then be directed at a target like you said; but what do you think happens if there's nothing to contain that energy, once it reaches the destination? It'd be like pouring water out of a cup and onto the ground, instead of back into another cup."

"So a receiving end is necessary, then." Cheelai concluded before asking her next question, "And just where are you planning to build it?"

"My world, probably." Wendy guessed easily, "You want to bridge the gap between Universe Seven and Eight, don't you, Bulma-san?"

"That's exactly it." The older bluenette confirmed with a nod, "Right now, only a handful of people can go back and forth from there; and about half of them are bad guys, apparently… So, I was hoping that maybe you and Goten would help me tilt the odds back into our favor.

"Now, before you ask," Bulma quickly continued upon seeing Wendy form a vaguely confused expression, "I don't plan on having you or Goten put the thing together -that'll be my son's job; but building something like this is gonna require a whole lot of supplies and coordination.

"First," She then began to rattle of a list of tasks, "We're gonna need Fairy Tail's permission to build the thing, and then we need to figure out where to put it. I assume your guild'll be more than happy to help, but I'd really appreciate it if you two went over there and asked nicely for me anyway. From what Lisanna's told me about the place, your guild hall's probably gonna need to build a whole new room just for this teleporter; and that's gonna take a good bit of manpower to get done."

"So basically," Wendy concluded, "You need our help with getting people to volunteer, right?"

"Yup," Bulma nodded once again, "But that's not all. You see, as happy as I would be to brag about creating yet another amazing piece of machinery; this kinda tech really shouldn't be waved around like that. And besides, if any bad guys find out about it, we'd literally be giving them one more clear path right back to my house; so this whole scheme needs to be very well protected, at all times."

"So…" Cheelai thought aloud next, "You need Wendy to make sure these volunteers are dependable and trustworthy, huh? That's a big ask…"

"It's not too big, though." The Sky Maiden added thoughtfully, "I've already got a few people in mind for guard duty, and I'm sure Levy would be more than eager to help Trunks with building the thing…"

"Levy, huh?" Bulma repeated the name curiously, "I think I heard Lisanna mention that name before… who is she, exactly?"

"Well, to put it simply," Wendy answered, "She's probably the closest thing to a scientist that our guild has. Anytime we need some kinda gadget or magical device, we usually run the idea by her first. I'm sure there are others in Fiore that could be just as helpful; but if we've gotta keep this plan to ourselves, Levy's the woman for the job, without a doubt."

"Hm," Bulma hummed ponderously, "Well, if that's what you think, then do me a favor and take this with you, once you head back."

Pulling a small cell-phone like device out of one of the pockets of her lab coat, she continued giving instructions as Wendy took the device out her hand.

"This here's one of a pair of communication devices I built just for this scenario. As long as both devices are active, their signals can reach each other from across any distance. Give this to Levy once you get back, and tell her she can use it to call me whenever the need arises. I know that Trunks could just as easily get a hold of me with Iga's magic; but still, I'd feel better knowing that we weren't constantly relying on him."

"I know that feeling all too well," Wendy readily agreed, "But um, does this thing work like a normal phone lacrima, or…?"

"Yeah, it's a pretty basic design," the scientist assured her, "And there's only two functions, so it shouldn't be very hard for your resident brainiac to figure out. You 'open' the phone's screen by clicking that button on the side, chose between voice call or face-time, and then just wait until I pick up. Pretty simple, yeah?"

"Seems so," Wendy agreed again before asking, "And um, would that be everything you need from me now?"

"Almost." Bulma answered plainly, "But there's just one more thing I need you to keep an eye on for me, and honestly, this next task is much more important to me than anything else we've just talked about."

"Really?" the air mage said curiously, "And what would that be, exactly?"

Gesturing for Wendy to step closer, Bulma waited a few seconds before quickly whispering her request to the younger woman; and Cheelai's curiosity peaked when she noticed the surprised look on Wendy's face.

"Wait, you mean Li-" the Sky Maiden began with a wide-eyed expression until Bulma quickly shushed her by covering her mouth.

"Shh! That's supposed to be a secret, alright? I know it's surprising, but I don't want you telling anyone about that until the cat's out the bag, you got it? This really is something I can only trust you with."

"I understand." Wendy assured her as soon as she could speak again, "And don't worry, I'll do everything I can to help out. I promise."

"Thanks, Wendy," Bulma replied with a sigh of grateful relief, "I feel a lot better, just hearing you say that."

Planning on asking the two to let her in on the secret as well, Cheelai never had the chance as the sound of Goten and Broly beginning their sparring match took all three women's attention away from the current conversation; and by the time they were going to return to it a few minutes later, another group of people had entered the room.

"Hey, Mom, we're back!" Lisanna announced playfully as she led Trunks, Lucy, and Happy through a portal beside the atrium's entrance.

"Whoa…" Happy sighed in awe as his eyes wandered around, "You weren't kidding when you said your mom's rich, huh?"

"Well, technically, it's his grandfather that's rich." Bulma clarified as she got out her seat to greet the four new arrivals, "I'm just the woman that runs the place, really; but that's all minor details anyway. You two must be Happy and Lucy, friends of Natsu's, right?"

"That's us." The floating feline confirmed amiably.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Briefs," Lucy added politely, "And sorry, for just kinda dropping in like this."

"Oh, don't be silly," Bulma readily waved off the apology "Any friend of Trunks' is welcome to drop by whenever they need to. And please, just call me Bulma. Every time I hear 'Mrs. Briefs', I think someone's talking to my mother…"

"Hehe," Lucy giggled lightly before agreeing to her request, "Bulma it is, then."

"Wonderful." The scientist smirked with some satisfaction, "Now, come on and grab a seat if you'd like. There's more than enough food for everyone, too, if you're hungry; so don't be afraid to take as much as you like.

"Shoot, you don't have to tell me that twice!" Happy exclaimed gleefully before he darted towards the nearest piece of fish he could find, "Thanks, Trunks' mom!"

Shaking her head amusedly, Lisanna was about to start talking to Bulma when she noticed a certain friend of hers, who was currently shrinking in her seat and staring off into the distance awkwardly as she did.

"Oh, you and Goten are here, too, huh?" She remarked nonchalantly towards the Sky Maiden, who flinched slightly as soon as she realized Lisanna was addressing her, "Did you two get everything worked out?"

Nodding sheepishly, Wendy was still struggling to meet Lisanna's gaze.

"Really?" Lisanna continued her questioning, pretending not to notice her friend's awkward expression as she did, "Well, I'm happy to hear that. You, Goten, and Romeo didn't deserve any of the drama we put you through. I was a little mad when Carla took my lacrima from me, but at least everything worked out alright."

"Thanks, Lisanna," Wendy replied with just the faintest hint of nervousness in her tone, "And um, I'm sorry for what Carla and Romeo did, I seriously didn't ask them to do that."

"I know." The takeover mage assured her friend casually, "But like I said, everything kinda worked out, didn't it? Romeo and Carla got their punishment from Master Makarov, and Trunks told me that you actually saved the day over here; so, all's well that ends well, am I right?"

"I guess…" The sky mage agreed hesitantly, "But I still feel like you should be a little more angry with me."

"Eh, maybe I should." Lisanna conceded humorously, "But honestly, I'm in too good of a mood to go that route right now. Just do me one favor: the next time you pull another stunt like that, just makes sure you have someone go along with you. If you had used that lacrima wrong, who knows where you could have ended up; or what kinda trouble you'd have gotten into. Deal?"

"Deal." Wendy agreed, this time sounding a lot more confident than before.

"So, are we done kissing and making up?" Bulma cut in jokingly, "Good, because there's still one introduction you need to finish. Everyone, say 'hi' to Cheelai."

"Oh, right!" Lisanna quickly realized, turning towards the green woman beside Bulma and bowing slightly as she gave her a proper greeting, "It's nice to meet you, ma'am, I'm Lisanna."

"And I'm Lucy," the celestial mage added quickly, "And um, that manner-less cat over there is Happy."

"And I'm pretty sure it's obvious who the last one here is," Bulma remarked with some finality, "Trunks, what the heck took you so long? I told you to go and get your girlfriend back, but I didn't say go ahead and run off with her for a couple hours; we're in the middle of a huge project, you know."

"I know, Mom, I'm sorry," the demi-Saiyan apologized, "But when I got there, Lisanna and Lucy needed my help with some research they were doing over there; and that ended up taking a bit longer than I expected."

"Research, huh?" the scientist asked curiously, "Was it on anything interesting?"

"Well, 'interesting' wouldn't be accurate in my book," Lisanna answered jokingly before adding a more serious response, "But important, it certainly was."

"We were trying to dig up info on Edo and Iga." Lucy explained helpfully, "But honestly, we didn't know where to even begin, so the whole thing turned out to be quite the hassle. We even got someone who's very skilled at collecting and sharing info to help us, and he's still busy working, probably even as we speak."

"Speaking of," Lisanna wondered aloud, "What did you offer Hibiki to get him to help us, Lucy? It sounded like you two had worked out some kinda deal, or something…"

"Huh?" The blonde replied airily, "Oh, it wasn't anything weird, if that's what you're wondering. I just promised him he'd get first dibs on reading my novel, if I ever finish it…"

Half listening as his girlfriend kept up the conversation with her friend, Trunks had finally noticed the three people in the background; and as soon as he noticed a brief pause in the conversation, he took his chance to speak up.

"Hey, Mom," He asked while still watching the two warriors sparring, "That big guy training with Goten right now, is that… Broly? The Legendary Super Saiyan?"

"It sure is." Cheelai affirmed with a smug grin, "Although, he doesn't really like it when people talk about him like that."

"Sorry, it's just…" He quickly apologized, "He really is as impressive as I'd hoped. I mean, that aura he's putting off is intense…"

Turning to face his girlfriend with a questioning glance, Trunks began to open his mouth when Lisanna quickly giggled and spoke first.

"Hehe… Go on, Trunks," She easily read his mind, "Just remember we need to have our talk later, alright? So don't go and get yourself too beat up."

Quickly thanking her for her understanding, Trunks was one step away from Lisanna when suddenly his father appeared directly before him, forcing him into a skidding halt that ended just inches from colliding with the Saiyan Prince.

"Oh! Hi, Dad." The demi-Saiyan greeted him, sounding slightly startled at first, "What's up? Need something?"

"Hmph." Vegeta huffed indignantly. They both knew Vegeta only used instant transmission when he really needed to; and he was not amused that his son was playing the fool yet again.

"Come with me." He demanded bluntly, "Now."

"O-okay," Trunks hesitated, briefly glancing past his father desperately, "B-but can it wait like five minutes or something? I was just about to-"

A warning glare from his father quickly brought the rest of his statement to a close.

"O-or maybe not…" Trunks stuttered once more, and his head sagged slightly in disappointment before Vegeta began to lead him away.

"Good luck!" Lisanna waved her boyfriend goodbye, "And don't forget about our talk, alright?"

"I won't; I promise." He replied plainly before Vegeta stopped and huffed impatiently once again, "S-sorry! I'm coming!"

Waiting until the two were out the door, Lucy turned to Lisanna with the first thought that came to her.

"So that was Trunks' dad, huh? He's got quite the serious look about him."

"Honestly," Wendy added, "He's kinda intimidating…"

"Hehe," Lisanna giggled in agreement, "Explains why Trunks' manners are so good, doesn't it?"

"Hah! Trust me, that's not the reason for that." Bulma replied matter-of-factly, "Vegeta might be good at scaring some discipline into you, but he's still a Saiyan, through and through. Just stick around for dinnertime and you'll see what I mean."

"Well, whatever they're up to," Lucy remarked plainly, "I hope it doesn't take too long. Trunks was supposed to take me and Happy to see Natsu."

"Oh, don't worry about that," the group was surprised to hear Iga calling back to them, "I've got you covered. Just say when, and I'll open up a portal to wherever you want."

"He can hear us over that?" Lucy observed while referring to the sound of Broly and Goten darting around and trading blows, "Consider me impressed."

"Hopefully not too impressed," Lisanna remarked amusedly before changing the subject, "Anyway, if you guys are going to see Natsu, you should bring him some food while you're at it."

"I'm already on it!" The group heard Happy chime in from the background.

"I'll help you bring Natsu-nii some food as well," Wendy offered politely, "Ten-kun and I promised we'd be back before dinner time anyway."

"Man, Natsu's gonna be thrilled to see you two," the takeover mage thought aloud, "I'm so tempted to come with, just to see his reaction. Just the thought of it's even getting me a little choked-up and teary-eyed."

"Is it really that big a deal?" The celestial mage asked curiously, though she was clearly feeling a bit bashful about the subject as well.

"Are you kidding me?" Lisanna quipped rhetorically, "Of course it is, Lucy! Anytime we talk about Fairy Tail, he's always bringing you two up first, hundred percent of the time."

"Surely you're exaggerating…" the blonde mumbled, this time with a tint of red emerging on her cheeks as she glanced away from the table; but Lisanna simply shook her head and smirked knowingly before Bulma chimed in to help.

"And how do you think I knew who you were?" She pointed out honestly, "I don't see Natsu very often; but from the few conversations I've had with him, I'm pretty sure he's brought you up during all of them. Seriously, I thought you were his girlfriend until Lisanna told me otherwise."

"G-girlfriend?" Lucy was now beet red as she stuttered a response, "M-me? Don't be ridiculous…"

"Heh," Cheelai chuckled observantly, "Classic self-denial…"

Planning to carry the debate further, Lucy was soon interrupted, however; as Goten and Broly ramped up the intensity of their sparring match, planning to bring it to an end soon. The sound of Goten quickly powering up caught everyone's attention; and by the time the whole group had turned to see what was happening, the demi-Saiyan had completely changed into his Blue Super Saiyan form.

"Whoa…" Happy said for the second time today, "What kinda power is that?!"

"Wait a minute…" Lucy quickly recalled aloud, "I'm pretty sure I heard a rumor about that blue hair… Someone that looked just like that helped us against Alvarez, I think."

"There was," Lisanna said affirmatively, "But back then, only Gohan could use that power. You remember that red-haired ability Gohan showed off, yeah? Well, that blue-haired look is actually the next level of that form."

"Hm," Cheelai chuckled once again, "If you think that's impressive, just wait till you see what Broly can do. A Super Saiyan God's got nothing on my partner-in-crime. Just watch.

"Hey, Broly!" She called out, "Go ahead and wrap this fight up for me, will ya? I'm sure Lemo's getting lonely by now, sitting around in that big house by himself."

Nodding obediently, Broly quickly returned his focus to Goten as he began a transformation of his own.

"Goten, Son of Kakarot, it was an honor getting to fight you." He complimented his sparring partner honestly, "You're very strong, for someone so young; but you still have far to go. I'll prove it, right now."

Even the people unable to sense ki could feel the intense pressure from the energy swirling in the air around them, and it was obvious to all where this sensation was coming from. Green light began to emanate from the massive Saiyan's body; and almost the entire group watched in awe as the seven foot Saiyan rapidly grew two more feet in height and several more inches of muscle as well. Finally, Broly's hair turned spiky and green as well, signaling the end of his transformation; but only Goten and Iga were able to fully appreciate it, as the aura Broly released made even Iga sweat nervously. It was currently taking all of Goten's willpower just to keep his knees from shaking; but nevertheless the demi-Saiyan stood firm. This was exactly what he had asked for after all; so he knew there was no way he was gonna back down now, especially with Wendy watching.

"Alright, Broly, hit me with your best shot." He boldly challenged the Legendary Saiyan, "I promise I won't hold it against you if I get hurt."

Seeing Goten take a readied, defensive stance, any hesitation Broly had about attacking him went right out the window. He even smirked slightly as he readied to charge at the young man, having just realized how similar Goten really was to Goku. Whatever the outcome of this next exchange would be, this young warrior had, without a doubt, earned his respect.

The group of spectators watched with bated breath as the two had one more brief exchange of words; but by the time any of them blinked, the sparring match was over. Sounding simply like a loud rush of wind, the whole exchange happened so quickly that even Iga was trying to process what happened. One instant the two were on-stage facing each other, but in the next instant, Goten was in a human-shaped crater in the wall dozens of yards behind him; and only Broly was left standing on-stage, exactly where Goten once was.

"Wha-" Lucy gasped in shock, "What just happened?!"

"Holy crap!" Happy swore in amazement, "Did he just kill him?!"

"I certainly hope not…" Lisanna said hesitantly.

Not waiting for anyone else's remarks, Wendy was quick to hop out her seat and start jogging over to treat her boyfriend's injuries.

"Hang on, Ten-kun, I'm coming!" She called out as she picked up the pace, forcing Iga to sidestep as she barreled right past him.

"Damn, big guy…" the redheaded immortal muttered as he watched Wendy run past, "Just how hard did you hit him? I hope you were holding back when you did that."

"I was," the Saiyan confirmed as he quickly returned to his regular form, "But only by a little. He is Kakarot's son, after all…"

"Fair enough." Iga conceded before he turned around to see if Wendy needed any assistance.

"Ten-kun, can you hear me?" The Sky Maiden questioned him as she slowly helped him get out of the wall, "I need to know where he hit you."

Still half-dazed from the impact, Goten slowly pointed to the top of his left pectoral before Wendy nimbly took him into her arms and set him down comfortably in the grass. Shifting his orange uwagi slightly, Wendy was not surprised to see his chest was already bruised in multiple shades of black, brown, and blue; but the sight still made her feel a bit nervous.

"Okay, hold still and try not to talk, Goten," She instructed him with a soothing tone, "I'll have you feeling better in just a minute…"

Hovering a hand just over the center of the large contusion, Wendy silently worked her magic while Iga stood just behind her, carefully watching the whole interaction as it took place.

"How is he?" Broly asked with a hint of concern.

"He's fine." Iga quickly assured him, "A little banged up, sure; but it looks like Wendy's got it covered."

Grunting contently, Broly then stepped away as he moved to meet back up with Cheelai.

"You're pretty lucky, you know." The immortal remarked next, directing his words at the slowly-recovering demi-Saiyan, "There aren't many women that can tolerate crazy guys like us, especially when they watch us do dumb crap like this.

"Actually…" Iga then muttered to himself, "I should probably check in with my wife right about now…"

"Mhm…" Goten hummed faintly as soon as Iga had left him alone with Wendy, "What… is… that smell? Strawberries?"

"Shh, Ten-kun," She lightly scolded him, "I told you not to talk."

"No, it's okay," He shook his head slightly in defiance, "My chest is feeling better already…"

"Maybe," Wendy conceded, "But you're still slightly concussed, and your collar bone's bruised pretty bad, too."

"I'm concussed?" He repeated the word curiously, "So… is that why you smell so nice?"

Trying not to feel embarrassed and lose focus as she finished healing him, Wendy shook her head slightly before answering him.

"No, that's just because I'm wearing the perfume Erza always buys for me. I'm surprised you didn't notice it earlier."

"Actually, I think I did…" Goten admitted retrospectively, "I didn't know it was perfume, though…"

"What? You think I naturally smell like strawberries?" She replied with some amusement, "I wish that were true. Now, sit still so I can finish fixing you up, alright?"

Meanwhile, at the other end of the atrium, Cheelai was currently apologizing to Bulma for the damage her friend had just caused; and the others nearby half-listened to the exchange as they watched and waited for Wendy to finish healing Goten. But while they were all pre-occupied with what just occurred, Iga had quietly walked past them all until he had opened a portal near the room's entrance, calling into it the next second with a hushed tone.

"Hey, Ves, you still in here?"

"Well yeah," He heard her reply sarcastically as she popped up from her resting position on the couch, "Where the heck else would I be?"

"I dunno," He deadpanned casually, "The bathroom, maybe?"

"As vulgar as ever…" She sighed flatly before quacking switching gears, and she took a much more serious tone the next time she spoke, "But speaking of where-the-hells, where the hell where you?!"

"Me?" He replied, sounding only a bit more alert than before, "Why? What's happened?"

"What do you think happened?" She questioned him rhetorically, "Your old pal Edo did, that's what."

"Really?" He said with some surprise, "Even though you casted that spell on him?"

"I'd say it was because we put that spell on him." She guessed, "That and your little raid on his Shadow must've hurt his pride way more than we thought it would."

"Why?" He asked her again, "What did he do this time?"

"More like what didn't he do…" She remarked with renewed sarcasm, "In almost a twelve-hour span, he's robbed one of the wealthiest businesses in Fiore, recruited Zeref and all his followers, invaded a small part of Fiore's capitol city, and then he apparently made amends with his Earthland counterpart at some point between all of that; so now they're all working together, whether they like it or not…"

"Okay…" Iga responded slowly as he quickly process everything she said, "Yeah, I guess that is a lot of bad news… Huh. I never imagined Edo woulda swallowed his pride that much… His Earthland version, I could see him forcing into submission if he had to… But with Zeref, I doubt that same treatment would've worked…

"And what about Sting and Rogue?" He asked next, "Judging by the lack of noise in the background, I assume that would mean at least one of them is off dealing with this."

"They're both handling it, sure." She promptly explained, "One's busy keeping the locals calm while the other's helping the Magic Knights with setting a perimeter and making sure no bad guys try to cross it. I told them not to get into any big fights now, though; since all our MVPs are a bit busy fighting and training on Earth."

"That was a good call," He complimented her gratefully before quickly changing the subject, "And I'm sorry I didn't check in sooner, but before you say anymore, why don't you step out here and explain it all after you grab something to eat? I'm sure you've emptied our fridge by now; and we really should get the others up to speed while we're at it."

"Well, now that you mention it," She admitted honestly, "I am a bit hungry… But don't let that lead you to thinking your off the hook. You hear me, Igneel?"

"Loud and clear, ma'am…" He sighed in sad agreement; but he quickly perked up as she hopped over the couch and followed through the portal, which he quickly closed behind them as they both began walking towards the others.

About fifteen minutes later, the group in the atrium was still going over their newly amended plan, with only a couple of them no longer listening as they packed up food into capsule-cases before they would leave; but before anyone could finish either the conversation or their packing, an obviously excited Trunks suddenly rushed into the room.

"Lisanna!" He called out with some urgency, whipping his head back and forth until his eyes finally locked onto her; and he darted to her so swiftly that she actually jumped a little before he spoke again, "Oh, good, you're still here…"

"Well, yeah…" She replied with a confused stare, "I mean, I said I'd be waiting for you, didn't I?"

"You did," He conceded before quickly starting to interrogate her with a concerned tone, "But you never know… something bad could happen; and you might end up running off again… Nothing's happened, right? Everything's okay?"

By this point, the exceedingly small gap between Trunks' face and her own was making Lisanna blush; and the fact that everyone else in the room was staring at them certainly did her no favors.

"Y-y-yeah, everything's fine, Trunks." She answered honestly, "Things are getting kinda tense back on Earthland, but nothing serious has happened here…"

"Really? That's good." He said with some relief before promptly asking another question, "And um, how are you feeling?"

"Me?" She almost stuttered again, "I'm feeling just fine, Trunks; but where is all this coming from? You don't get worked up like this very often, and especially when there's an audience…"

"Hm?" He questioned her cluelessly before a brief glance around reminded him of his surroundings, which led to his face now turning to a shade of pink before he quickly apologized, "Oh, right! Sorry! Quick, come with me!"

Grabbing her hand deftly, Trunks began to lead his girlfriend away at as quick a pace as she could manage; and before she could finish asking him where they were headed, they were both outside the room, with the sound of their commotion quickly muffled by the closing of the atrium door.

"Well," Lucy sighed as if she had been holding her breath the whole time, "That was certainly something…"

"Something indeed…" Iga mused with a knowing smirk; and he quickly shared a silent exchange with Bulma, which only Vesta noticed, just before he quickly decided to change the conversation, "Well anyway, it's like I was saying: because Edo's escalating things a bit quicker than expected, we're gonna need to cut our break time a bit short as well. Sorry if that's a hindrance or anything; but Fairy Tail really needs some firepower right about now -and sending back just the Earthlanders simply isn't gonna cut it this time…"

"Don't worry, Igneel," Goten reassured him, "I dunno about Trunks and Lisanna, but Wendy and me will be ready to head back to Earthland before dinnertime tomorrow. We'd to go sooner, but there's still some stuff we gotta do over here, first…"

"Say no more, my friend," the redheaded god replied amiably, "I understand you completely. But um, with regards to Team Natsu…"

"You mean me and Happy?" Lucy clarified questioningly.

"That's right," He quickly affirmed, "When it comes to you bringing Natsu back into battle, just remember; as great as it would be for him to go back home and be with all your friends again, he will be in serious danger once you bring him back, and maybe even more so than the rest of us… But aside from all that, if anyone's worked hard enough to earn a break, you three certainly rank pretty high on that list."

"Heh, you've gotta be exaggerating…" Lucy tried to laugh off Iga's praise jokingly, "'Cause aside from carrying people, luggage, and occasionally cleaning his house, Happy's barely done anything."

"H-Hey! I've done a lotta training too, you know!" The feline gasped defensively from the background, "I kinda had to if was I gonna be carrying you around!"

The two began to practically growl at each other, even though they were dozens of feet away by this point; but the others simply decided to ignore their mostly silent bickering and return to the end of their current conversation.

"Oh, and Broly," Iga said with a polite tone, "I realize we've been rather presumptive, saying you'd help us and all… Bringing you here was my way of apologizing for tricking you into a fight with Cosmos; but I don't think we've properly asked for your aid yet, have we?"

"Consider your apology accepted," Cheelai spoke up just as Broly opened his mouth to answer the immortal, having decided to take the lead only a second ahead of her Saiyan companion, "But as for getting Broly involved in this fight of yours, I dunno if I'm okay with that."

Giving her a curious look, Broly easily summed up the general mood of the group in that one expression; but Cheelai continued anyway, though she did cross her arms defensively as she did.

"From everything I've heard, these Keepers are some serious business; and not even someone as strong as Broly could really do anything against their crazy magic, am I right? The only reason any of you are still alive is because the Keepers have, for the most part, been playing by the rules, yeah? Well, I'm sorry if this sounds selfish; but Broly, Lemo, and I have been doing pretty well all on our own. I doubt the Keepers will come after us for what happened earlier, and we don't really have any problems with them ourselves; so if you think I'm just gonna let you put what we have in danger, I-"

"Stop, Cheelai," The large Saiyan interrupted her with a calm assertiveness, "I'm grateful that you're trying to protect us, but I am going to help them. It would feel… wrong… if I didn't. And I think Lemo would say the same."

"Hmph, I suppose you're right…" the green woman was reluctant to concede, "But still, I don't like it."

"Hehe…" Bulma chuckled devilishly, "Cheelai, were you lying to me earlier, when you said you two aren't a thing? 'Cause you both sounded a lot like Goku and Chi Chi just now, if I'm being honest."

"Chi Chi?" Broly struggled to recall the name, though it did sound familiar, "Who is that?"

Steaming with embarrassment and just a little bit of resentment, Cheelai looked off into the distance before she begrudgingly answered his question.

"That's… She's Kakarot's wife…. He's mentioned her a couple of times, remember?"

"Hm… I think so," the naïve Saiyan replied honestly, "But, I don't really know what a 'wife' is… Is that another word for someone's 'mate'?"

"Ha!" Vesta laughed, "Judging by the look on the poor woman's face, I'd say you two should really have this conversation later, big guy."

"Hm? But-" Broly grunted curiously, about to ask why until Iga butted into the conversation with a lively playful tone identical to Vesta's.

"Trust me, Broly, that's actually was I gonna tell you, verbatim! And it's coming from my wife; so you know it's gotta be good."

From under the table, Iga subtly took Vesta's hand as he spoke, feeling proud and nostalgic all at once; but he kept a straight face for the sake of the others, despite his desire to continue flirting with her. Vesta, on the other hand, was a bit conflicted. She was doing her best to stay mad at him, but she also appreciated his praise and physical contact; so she ended up silently allowing both as she played along with his little act. Her doing so gave someone else a chance to speak up, and that someone ended up being Goten, as he decided he had been sitting around long enough.

"Well, I dunno about you all, but I think it's time Wendy and I headed out. There's only so much time left before dinnertime now, and we wanted to get in a bit of training before that. But um, I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something important…"

"You mean the main reason we came here in the first place? Hehe…" Wendy giggled at him teasingly, "Don't worry, Ten-kun, Bulma-san already told me about the favor she needs from us. I'll tell you about it later, okay?"

Nodding and humming agreeably, Goten was soon joined by his girlfriend in standing up and stepping away from the table; and he was also first to turn to Lucy, who they both knew was heading for the same destination already.

"And how 'bout you and Happy?" He inquired while giving her the signature Son grin, "Are you two ready to go and see Natsu?"

"I've packed up all the food you could imagine," Happy declared in response, "So I'd say that I'm good to go!"

"Y-yeah," Lucy stuttered, surprising herself since she had no clue why she was suddenly feeling a tad nervous, "I think I'm ready, too."

"Excellent! I think we can consider this little meeting adjourned then." Iga replied with an eagerness to match Happy's; and he nimbly waved his free hand in a showy fashion as his portal beside the atrium's entrance reopened, "But as much as I'd like to witness this joyous reunion myself, I'm afraid Vesta and I will be remaining here for just a bit longer. There's something else we needed to discuss with Bulma."

"Oh?" The scientist replied curiously.

"There is?" Vesta also responded with similar curiosity, until there was a brief silent exchange between her and her husband, after which her tone had quickly changed, "Oh! That's right… you mean that thing, don't you?"

"Sure is." He smirked at her appreciatively as he carried on with saying goodbye to the departing four, "But you guys give Natsu my best, alright? And Chi Chi and Goku, too, while we're at it."

"Sure thing!" Goten promised while Wendy, Happy, and Lucy all nodded in agreement; and he was soon leading the others away after saying his own goodbyes, "It was nice to meet you, Miss Cheelai; and it was an honor getting to spar with you, Mr. Broly. I'm very happy knowing that my dad will have someone as strong as you fighting beside him. Oh, and thanks for the food, Aunt Bulma; it was delicious as always!"

"Aw, look at him being all polite to impress his friends…" Bulma teased him before properly saying goodbye, "Anyway, you all should get a move on; and have fun while you're at it. The half-naked guy over there had some good advice about enjoying the calm before the storm; so I suggest you all do exactly that. And that includes our other alien friends here, too."

Nodding obediently after briefly pausing to hear her words, the group eventually turned back towards their exit; and though Cheelai had resumed the conversation with Bulma and the redheaded couple, the four never heard much of it as they all crossed through Iga's portal the next moment, with Happy leading the way by charging forward while calling out for Natsu..

About five minutes ago…

The Fire Dragon Slayer was currently wiping his brow as he crossed the threshold of his temporary home, sighing contently as he did.

"Whew! That was a good little workout!" He said before quickly taking off his weighted vest and plopping it beside the door with a very heavy thud, "Trunks' mom really is amazing, making clothes so darn heavy, and without any magic! I'm gonna need to take a nap now, if I wanna be alive for dinner with everyone…"

Taking off his baggy white pants of the same design next, the Salamander quickly added one more suggestion to himself as soon as he smelled the air around him.

"Ngh, I should probably take a bath before anything, though…"

Walking to the back of the house and digging through a small dresser in the corner, the shirtless Natsu held off on fully undressing for the moment as he grabbed a clean set of his usual, unweighted outfit; and he did a quick careful glance inside the drawer with Igneel's scarf before he grabbed a towel wrapped up beside it. Stepping back outside with the towel over his left shoulder and his clothes in his right, the fire mage took a moment to appreciate the view.

Resting atop a small hill between the Son homes, a bamboo forest, and the mountainside, the oldest of the three houses had quite the ideal situation, as far as Natsu was concerned. From the end of the front lawn, it was literally a hop, skip, and a jump from Gohan and Goten's homes; but at the back of it, there was a rather serene view of the wilds with flanking bamboo thickets that offered a small sense of privacy as well. And privacy was certainly needed, considering the house's only bathing facility was a massive wooden drum outside the rear right corner of the small two-story structure, though that never really mattered to Natsu. There was one awkward moment when Lisanna had dropped by using Iga's magic a couple months ago; but that was more poor timing on her part than anything.

Smirking slightly as he briefly recalled the awkward encounter, the Salamander then emptied his mind and took in a deep, appreciative breath of the crisp mountain air. In the distance behind the house, he could hear the faint sound of a waterfall just over the sound of trees and leaves rustling in the wind; and it took him another few seconds of enjoying his surroundings before he would finally decide to move, heading straight for his bath now without further procrastination.

Taking off his pale blue boxers as soon as he was stood beside the large bath, Natsu preemptively warmed his body with a bit of his fire magic before setting his underwear aside and hopping into the water, briefly creating a small puff of steam for a few seconds until the water finally settled at his temperature; but Natsu was not quite yet satisfied with the results. He heated the water up more and more until it was practically boiling, and only then did he finally shut off his magic.

"Hahh… That's much better…" He sighed pleasingly as he stretched both arms back over the rim of the makeshift tub, during which he realized how exhausted he actually was, "It was a good call, filling this thing up before training. I think I'd die if I tried to carry this thing from the river right now…"

Another few seconds passed in silence before he submerged himself completely, first running his hands through his hair a few times before deciding to test how long he could hold his breath this time around. But just as he went under, a very excited and teary-eyed blue feline had burst forth from a white portal that appeared on the rear wall of the house, calling out for the dragon slayer as he did.

"Don't worry Natsu, Happy is on the way! Natsuuu! Hey, wait a minute… where is Natsu?"

Realizing that there was no one in sight, the floating cat scratched his head just as Lucy, Wendy, and Goten followed him through; and the portal instantly closed behind them just before Wendy replied to Happy.

"He probably went inside, right?" She suggested helpfully, "His scent is pretty strong here, so we must have just missed him…"

"So this is where Natsu's been staying?" Lucy thought aloud, too busy taking in the sights to really listen to what the others were saying.

"It sure is. It's older than me; but it's still pretty cool, ain't it?" Goten affirmed informatively before beckoning them to follow, "C'mon guys, the front door's this way."

Wendy walked beside Goten while Happy did his best to patiently follow them from behind; but Lucy on the other hand, lagged behind as she continued to look around. Not only was the sight genuinely pleasing and worth the pause, but there was also another reason Lucy started to drag her feet. She didn't want to admit it, but she realized she was starting to get nervous. It had been so long since she'd seen Natsu that she couldn't help but wonder how different he would be by now. People said he had gotten a bit smarter, and she knew he'd certainly be stronger as well; but her mind had wandered to other details as well. Would he sound the same as before? Would he look the same? And then there was the two warnings Lisanna and Iga had both given her… What didn't she know about Natsu, and would it really affect the way she feels about him? And speaking of feelings, did he really care for her the way a number people had suggested?

Feeling her face heat up with surprising intensity, the celestial mage was about to scold herself when Happy's voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Hey, Lucy, quit spacing out! Natsu's waiting for us!"

"R-right… I'm right behind you…" She obeyed halfheartedly, not sure if the three even heard her as they rounded the corner and began to knock on one of the front doors.

"Weird, he's not answering." Goten observed curiously, "Did he head to my house?"

"No, his scent's not coming from that way," Wendy pointed out with similar curiosity, "The trail's only between here and where we just where…"

"Maybe he's just inside taking a nap." Happy suggested.

"The door's unlocked…" Goten noted suggestively.

"Should we go in, then? Or should we just wait until see him at dinner?" Wendy wondered.

While Happy was busy telling Wendy he had already waited too long as it was, Lucy had not even passed the front corner of the house yet, having been too busy thinking and taking in the sights to really focus on anything else around her. Because of this, she was unable to notice the sound of water stirring a few yards behind her.

"Happy, wait!" Wendy pleaded in vain as Happy barged into house, flinging both doors open as he did, "You can't just barge in like that!"

"Natsu, I'm here! It's me, Ha- ppy…"

The feline's voice trailed off as he found no one inside.

"What the?" He demanded confusedly, "Where the heck is Natsu?"

Hearing the commotion happening just out of view, Lucy moved to see what was going on for herself when she finally realized the sounds coming from behind her.

"Hah, that was a new record, I think!" Natsu quietly cheered to himself after quickly resurfacing and taking a deep inhale, "Kinda wish I had Happy here to actually time it though… But oh well, no point being all depressing now; we're supposed to be celebrating tonight."

Silently deciding that it was time to hop out, he nimbly leapt over before moving to grab his towel, still thinking aloud as he picked it up and began drying his hair first.

"I wonder if Gohan's got some time to kill… Videl's helping Chi Chi cook, and Pan's off with that Piccolo guy; so he should be free, unless he's training with his dad or something…"

Taking the towel off his head, he was about to try and grab his clean set of clothes when he finally noticed who was standing before him, staring at him like a deer in headlights. For a brief instant, his eyes widened in shock; and he genuinely questioned the reality of the moment until he heard her stuttering in surprise.

"…Lucy…?"

"N-N-Natsu… You're…

"Completely NAKED!"

Suddenly realizing the situation he was in, the dragon slayer's first impulse was, oddly enough, not to try and make himself decent. Instead, he simply scratched his head awkwardly, wearing a goofy smirk on his face as he spoke.

"Huh, so this is what that feels like… Now I kinda get why you kicked me every time I walked in on you. But only kinda."

"What are you talking about?!" A beet-red and practically steaming celestial wizard dismissed his words immediately while waving her arms at him dramatically, "Shut up and cover yourself, before Wendy sees you!"

By the time Wendy, Happy, or Goten could go back around the corner to see what the shouting was all about, they found Natsu in the middle of wrapping a towel around himself while Lucy was beating him over the top of his head and shoulders as she berated him.

"You stupid idiot pervy creep! I came all this way to see you, and this is the welcome I get?!"

"Ack! Ow! Lucy, wait! I didn't-"

"Um, what are they arguing about?" Wendy leaned towards Goten as she quietly wondered aloud, but her boyfriend only shrugged in response.

"No," He said with amused hesitation, "But, I'm not sure we wanna know, either…"

"Natsu!" Happy shouted as he finally caught up with everyone else; and he apparently ignored everything just said as he cheered and charged right into the fire mage's upper chest.

"Oof!" Natsu grunted in surprise as his friend made impact, but he was soon smiling from ear to ear as his feline friend hugged him by the neck.

"Natsuuuu!" Happy sobbed joyfully, "I missed yoouu!"

"I missed you too, little buddy…" The Salamander agreed readily, using left hand to pat the back of Happy's head as he did.

Considering whether or not to continue her irate assault, Lucy ended up completely abandoning those thoughts as soon as she saw Natsu and Happy together once again. Emotions that her anger and embarrassment had distracted her from had suddenly all hit her at once; and before she knew it, she was crying too.

"And you too, Lucy," Her eyes widened as she finally heard him greet her properly, "You've no idea how happy I am to see you."

"Natsu…" the blonde wizard struggled to decide what to say, "I… um…"

Before she could say anything more, he offered her his free hand invitingly; and though she hesitated to accept it at first, she eventually grabbed his hand, which he used to nimbly pull her into a hug as well.

"I know I broke my promise about leaving you guys alone," He said with an unusually quiet and apologetic tone, "But I didn't really plan on it happening either… Can you forgive me?"

"Of course we can, dummy," a once-again surprised Lucy sniffled a playful response; and she slowly recovered from her surprise by resting her head on his shoulder and finally returning the embrace, "What matters is that we're here, together; and we're never letting anyone take you from us again."

Watching the trio from a few yards back, Goten and Wendy soon shared a quiet exchange of smiles between themselves before he quickly took her hand and pulled her close; but her touch alone was not enough for him this time. Turning slightly and quickly leaning in, the demi-Saiyan placed a quick kiss on the Sky Maiden's lips before just as quickly turning back to watch the three as if nothing had ever happened; but Wendy could not let him be the only one to make some kind of move. Blushing and smiling at similar intensities, she regained a hold on his left hand before wrapping her arm firmly around his; and then she gently leant her head against his shoulder for a few seconds before settling for just the hand-holding instead.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Magnolia Town…

"I must admit," Jellal Fernandes thought aloud, "It feels a bit strange, getting to walk around in the open like this."

"I'm sure it does," Erza Scarlet agreed considerately as she walked beside him, "Even I'll admit, it's a bit strange not seeing you in that cloak of yours, either."

"We've still got our usual armor on, though." He pointed out casually, "So, certainly it's not too out of the ordinary?"

"Hm, for us, maybe." the Fairy Queen chuckled musingly, "Although I'm pretty sure we're the bizarre ones here."

"That's fair enough." The Wizard Saint conceded with a smirk, "Still, I'm not sure I'd ever get used to a normal life, like the ones these people have…"

"And I doubt we'll ever have one." She added with an honest shrug, "But we could still learn to enjoy the little breaks we get between all the crazy stuff, can't we?"

"I suppose…" He replied thoughtfully; but before he could say more, Erza suddenly stopped moving as a bolt of inspiration struck.

"Oh! I know what will help! Jellal, give me your armor."

"My armor?" He repeated confusedly, "Here?"

"Uh hm, that's what I said." She affirmed with a nod before making a 'gimme-gimme' motion with her hands.

"But…" He questioned while trying to ignore the cute expressions she was making, "Why?"

"So I can hold onto it for you. Why else?"

"I mean, why am I getting undressed in the first place?"

Blushing slightly in response to that question, Erza quickly made sure to clarify her intentions.

"D-don't phrase it like that! I just want you take off the armored bits so maybe you could relax more! After all, you can't really get used to normal if you never try to be normal, am I right?"

"That makes sense, I guess…" Jellal said while giving her a blank stare, planning to say more until she interrupted him again.

"Here, let me help you." She offered before deftly placing a hand on the metal plating that covered his abdomen; and the whole vest it was attached to instantly radiated a blinding white light before quickly vanishing the next instant.

"Ah! Erza-" He gasped lightly as he felt his coat suddenly fall into contact with his black undershirt; but once again she gave him no time to respond as she carried on.

"See? You're starting to look a bit normal already!"

"That's great, but-"

"Don't worry, I'll remove my armor as well. It wouldn't really be fair otherwise…"

Activating her Re-quip abilities once more, Erza's grey skirt and breastplate was soon replaced by a slightly shorter blue skirt and a white buttoned down blouse adorned with a blue bowtie around a buttoned-up collar.

"See?" She said as she displayed herself with well-hidden timidity, "Normal, right?"

"Hm… Normal?" He quietly hummed in thought before responding with the first thought that popped into his head, "More like beautiful, maybe…"

Once again, Erza's face was almost as red as her hair; and she quickly looked away in a nervous panic, wondering if maybe she should just put her armor back on and call it a day. But then again, she really wanted to follow through on her idea as well. The conflict in her head must have become a bit obvious though, as Jellal had soon stepped toward her while nervously trying to calm her.

"N-not that that doesn't mean you don't look normal or anything! I'm sorry, I was being too forward."

"N-no, it's fine, Jellal, really." She assured him as she did her best to rein in her nerves, "You just surprised me, that's all. You don't usually say such romantic stuff."

"True, but isn't that the type of stuff normal people say when they're on a date?"

"D-date?" She sputtered while blinking a few times as if the word itself had just smacked her in the face, "A-are you saying we're on a date, like… right now…?"

"I dunno, Erza," He replied with a curious tone, "Do you want this to be one?"

Steaming up once again, the swordswoman felt her heart thumping against her ribcage as she struggled to control both her mind and body as she replied.

"Do I? W-w-well… I mean… if you're okay with that, then… y-yes?"

"Well, then, consider this a date." Jellal concluded while giving her a smile she rarely ever saw, "So tell me: is there anywhere in particular that you'd like to spend this date?"

As he finished speaking, he slowly extended his right hand to her; and he held it there patiently as he waited for her to respond. After a long second, Erza did accept his silent offer; and she soon began to recover a casual demeanor as she spoke again.

"Yes… there is, actually…" She revealed as she took his hand and allowed him to draw her in close, "It's a coffee shop I frequent that's not too far from here. I like to go there in my free time sometimes, or when there's something I need to think over, too; but… I figure it's also a nice place to have a chat -and a good cup of coffee…"

"Well, if you recommend it, then… I'm sure it must be good." He told her honestly, "Lead on, Erza."

Meanwhile, inside the Fairy Tail Guild Hall…

"Hey, Mira, has anybody seen Erza lately? Or Jellal, maybe?" Gray Fullbuster questioned his guildmate as he and Juvia stood before the bar, "There's this weird rumor we just heard, going around in Magnolia; and we thought they should probably hear it, too."

"If it's about the drama stirring up in Crocus, don't bother." Cana called out from her usual seat across the way, "Sting and Yukino from Sabertooth stormed in here a while ago, made a big fuss about what was happening, and then took off with some volunteers."

"Orga and Laxus went with them," The bartender added informatively, "Along with Sawyer, Macbeth, and the rest of the Thunder God Tribe."

"Okay, so it sounds like they've got it covered for now," the ice mage replied thoughtfully, "But shouldn't we at least tell Erza what's happening? For all we know, this attack on Crocus could be the start of something much worse."

"Maybe, but good luck finding them." the card mage answered bluntly, "Her and Jellal left here just before Sting showed up, and no one's heard a thing from them since."

"And what about trying to call them?" Juvia chimed in curiously, "Jellal usually carries a phone lacrima with him, doesn't he?"

"Erza too." Her partner agreed curiously, "Has anyone tried calling them?"

"Sure did." Mirajane hummed affirmatively, "Erik tried to reach Jellal, but then Freed found both of their phones hidden under Jellal's cloak upstairs."

"Both of them?" Gray repeated with more curiosity, "And they didn't tell anyone where they were going?"

"Not a soul." Cana confirmed before downing her drink.

"That's rather strange, isn't it?" Juvia pointed out ponderously, "Considering recent events, I mean…"

"For Erza, perhaps." The takeover mage replied informatively, "But Erik wasn't so worried, however. He said Jellal did this kinda thing quite often."

"Okay…" The ice wizard said slowly, "So then, where's Erik? Did he leave to go and find them?"

"Hm, I don't think so." Mira answered cryptically, "But from what he was muttering to himself, it sounded like he had something else on his mind, as well. Come to think of it, even Kinana's just asked for the night off. I wonder if that's got anything to do with him…"

"So, pretty much everyone's just run off to do whatever they please." Gray concluded dejectedly.

"Can't really blame 'em though." Cana played devil's advocate as she strode towards the bar with her empty mug in hand, "Everyone that fought Zancrow last night had it pretty rough, from what I've heard."

"Well yeah," He hesitated to agree, "But still…"

"C'mon Gray, learn to take a hint and chill, why dontcha?" the card mage said teasingly as she reached the bar and leant against it, "Hell, even our ever-reliable, does-no-wrong Wendy has apparently run-off own her own, too. Mira, refill."

Passing her mug back to the bartender, Cana quickly glanced between both Gray and Juvia before just as quickly speaking again.

"I mean, you two haven't hooked up yet, have you? Maybe you should take the night off too, and get to work on that while you can."

Both the ice and water mage gasped in surprise at the question, and they were both red-faced by the time they had heard her suggestion. Although, their reactions came from reasons totally opposite.

"Th-that's ridiculous!" Gray sputtered irritably, slapping a hand on the bar as he scolded Cana, "You can't just say things like that aloud!"

"Ah… a romantic evening with Gray-sama…" Juvia sighed pleasantly, completely ignoring Gray as she closed her eyes and squirmed gleefully from imagining the experience, "What a wondrous idea… I wonder where we'll go…"

"And you!" Her partner spun around to scold her as well, "Don't you start talking like it's a done deal! I played nice earlier today, but now I'm startin' to regret it!"

"Ooh… so that's what this is…" Mirajane deduced in her seemingly-innocent, cutesy tone as she poured Cana another drink and handed it back, "Gray's already had his fun, and now he's ready to get to work."

If Juvia had been ignoring them while Gray complained to her, she had at least been listening to Mirajane's remark for sure, as she ended up glowing as bright red as Gray did the moment Mira began to tease them.

"In that case," The Demon continued addressing them casually, "There are a few jobs I could recommend at the moment. You two could probably do a few of these local ones before dinnertime, if your up for it. As you know, monsters will be monsters; and they don't really take breaks either, do they?"

Quietly simmering under the expectant gaze of all three of the women, Gray grit his teeth before responding to the takeover mage as politely as he could.

"…Thanks, Mirajane. While I don't really appreciate being compared to a monster, I would appreciate you telling us about these jobs."

Meanwhile, inside the Domus Flau…

"Hah, of course they aren't lookin' for a fight!" Zancrow chortled as Dimaria finished giving him the current report, "To challenge the Spriggan Twelve and a small army of my master's creations, they'd be completely insane to even consider it! Until those Saiyans of Universe Seven get here, we'll have free reign to do almost whatever we please!"

"You mean whatever you please." Brandish pointed out bluntly, "Now, can we take our leave, or is there still something you need from us, commander?"

"Hn." He chuckled dismissively at her defiant tone, "Almost. Have the current guard swapped out, and then tell the rest of the Shields that they can enjoy tonight as they see fit -within reason, of course. If anyone gets carried away and starts a fight with the locals, they'll have to settle it on their own. Now, if you would be so kind as to get out of my sight; I would greatly appreciate it."

Waving them off without bothering to look or listen to their goodbyes, Zancrow waited until the door closed behind them before he sighed in relief, took his cloak off, and dropped it beside his bed. After that, he plopped onto the foot of the bed before turning towards the bathroom door and calling towards it.

"Alright, Meldy, room's clear."

"Is it really?" She questioned rhetorically as she peeked out from behind the jet-black door, "Thank gods, I thought I was gonna go blind waiting in the dark like that."

"You could've turned the light on before they came in, you know."

"Hindsight's twenty-twenty, Zancrow." She defended herself as she removed her own cloak and set it down carefully atop his, "I realized I could've done that the moment they came in, but it was too late by then."

"Hm," He chuckled as she moved to sit beside him, "I suppose you were a bit distracted before they showed up."

"I guess that's true." She agreed teasingly as she plopped onto the bed as well, "But only a little."

"A little, eh? Harsh." He joked back before inching closer to her, "Well then, it sounds like I'm just gonna have to do better the second time around…"

Not giving her a chance to taunt him more, he leaned in and quickly covered her lips with his; and by the time she had returned the kiss, his hands were already guiding her down further onto the bed while both of hers began to wander over his exposed chest, abs, and then eventually around his back. Once she was laying down with him leant over her, his hands began to explore every part of her exposed skin; and he smirked devilishly when a single touch to her inner thigh made her gasp in excitement. That cute noise gave him the encouragement he needed, and in the next second, he kissed her again as he deftly moved his hands back up to undress her, starting with the yellow ribbon that was tied around the waist of her crimson dress. But just before he could begin, her hands nimbly intercepted them; and it took him a second to realize she had stopped him, just as it had taken her a second to focus and actually speak to him.

"Mnn, Zan-kun…" She half-moaned just before coming a bit more to her senses, "No, Zancrow… wait. Are you really sure it's okay, me staying here, like this?"

"Whaddaya mean?" He asked with a surprisingly innocent tone, "I'm the one that's in charge of this place, and I can do whatever I please."

"I know, but…" She couldn't help but wonder, "What if one of Zeref's people tries to spy on you? If someone here sees us together, wouldn't that hurt your standing with them?"

"Mm, I dunno," He considered the possibility as he backed off of her and sat up, "Unless they see what's on the back of that I cloak of yours, I doubt they'd recognize you. The well informed members of the Twelve have, conveniently, elected not to reside here. The only one that I think warrants any concern is that nosy Brandish. I feel like she knows a lot more than she lets on; and she talks too much."

"She was one of the women you were speaking with, just now?" She deduced while slightly sitting up as well, "So that's why you told me to hide… But then, what'll you say if she catches us?"

"It's pretty simple, really." He shrugged honestly, "I'll tell her to mind her own business, or I'll just kill her and bury the whole conversation."

"Hm, I see…" She replied quietly, leaving him to wonder if his answer disappointed her somehow.

"What? Does that bother you?" He asked curiously, "If it helps, I doubt that that last scenario will actually occur. But if she happened to be dumb enough to threaten you, then… not even I know how that'd play out."

"Zancrow, I…" She began to say something aloud before quickly pulling it back, "No, I don't really wanna talk about all this now…"

"But it sounds like you need to." He pointed out caringly as he turned to face her again, "You're a good person, Meldy. And being with someone like me, it… it must take its toll…"

"You're wrong. It's not me that I'm worried about." She informed him while sitting up properly in order to reach for his hand, "I'm worried about what all this will do to you. I know that you've never really had an easy life; and being kind is a mercy you can't afford when you're dealing with people like Edo, Cel, or the Spriggan Twelve.

"Even if you and I weren't together, I'd still try to be your friend." She made sure their eyes met when she admitted this, "Precht took the loyal, proud, and honest boy that you were, and he warped that into something that suited his own purpose. Even more so than me, you've always had to live a certain way… And then, that life got you killed… I feel kinda guilty, because I had a chance to escape that life, a chance to change; and yet, you, and most of our old guildmates, you never did… Even now, you're stuck entertaining the whims of another power-hungry madman, who needed your magic so bad he brought you back from the dead."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm so, so glad he did that." She added seriously while firmly squeezing his hand to emphasize the point, "But I can't help but wonder how he did it, or if it really was just for your magic…"

Knowing that the possible answers to those questions was something that even he was slightly afraid of, Zancrow could think of nothing reassuring to say; and he ended up saying nothing as a sad and thoughtful look was the best he could muster.

"We've both killed so many people…" She said next with a hint of fatalism, "Jellal and Ultear helped me find a way to confront that guilt, and to try to right my wrongs; but is it really okay for me to enjoy doing it? Shouldn't I be suffering for my penance? Instead of that, though; I'm actually the happiest I've ever been. The more I'm with you, the happier I am, and the more guilty I feel…"

"Meldy…"

Hearing his voice crack slightly in concern, she knew that this topic was starting to sadden him; but she just could not keep herself from venting these thoughts either.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure I've ruined the mood by now, but… I just can't help but worry, you know? Are we really going to get away with this? Will the universe really let us stay together, like we want? Because if such a thing as karma exists, I doubt it'd ever let murderers like us live in peace…"

Once again, a heavy silence filled the room as the dark mage knew he couldn't argue with anything she said.

"You're right. If I stop to think about it, all that eats at me too." He agreed honestly before trying to make a joke and lighten the mood, "That's one perk to being dumb, I guess. But you know what? I say to hell with karma, or any other cosmic force that wants to judge us! Everything I've done has been for the sake of my happiness, and for yours even more!"

Standing up and pulling her onto her feet to join him, he grabbed her around the waist before she could bump into him; and he spoke directly into her left ear as he pulled her close.

"Even if every other day of our life is a storm of blood and death; as long as we survive them, we can at least enjoy these little calms between them, can't we?"

Looking into his eyes and seeing beyond the wild look his god-slaying magic had given his eyes so long ago, the sensory mage could easily see how much her needed her, and how terribly he wanted her to agree.

"Yes, Zancrow…" She muttered her response as she brought both hands up around his neck, "I suppose there's no harm in that, at least…"

Kissing him the next instant, the pinkette turned with him until his back was to the bed; and she continued to make out with him for a few seconds before breaking off and shoving him down onto the bed, an action that slightly took Zancrow by surprise.

"But you know what, Zan-kun?" She whispered seductively into his ear as she climbed atop him, "If I'm gonna go along with this, and try to enjoy it… it would be wrong if I didn't give it my all, amiright?"