The houses surrounding the block had been graced by gentle showers of searchlights. Parents and children slept cozily in their beds, dreaming sweet dreams without considering hearing the noises of vehicles passing by, or noticing a Space Hero action figure jumping out of the bush, running down the sidewalk, and hiding behind a mailbox. The rescue party was still hot on the search for Natsu, travelling two dozen blocks away from home for their predestined location.
Once Gray made sure the coast was clear, he motioned the others to come forward. Lucy was the first one out of the bush, then Wendy, then Erza, then Gajeel, then Levy, and finally Happy, who tripped on his feet and collapsed, causing his head to detach from his plushy body and roll along the pavement. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelped, and Wendy caught wind of the small accident. "A little help here, please? My head's rolling down the road!"
"Here, let me help you," Wendy offered. She took the Exceed plush toy's head and reattached it to his body. "There you go."
"Ah, that's better," Happy grinned. "Remind me never to trip on a rough sidewalk."
Lucy and Levy laughed together as they made their way to the mailbox, their conversations drawing them back to the years when Levy was a Speak & Spell toy. The light blue-haired Amiibo reminisced, "Oh, oh, and remember? When we're watching an episode of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, I memorized Kamina's famous catchphrase on my screen, 'Who the hell do you think I am?!' It's the best quote in the anime!" The duo giggled at the (in their opinion) timeless gag. "Having a Speak & Spell computer toy for a body is great and all, but to have your whole being transferred to another body which is even better…"
Lucy said enthusiastically, "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a body that walks and feels and touches. Can you blame anyone for not getting to witness the greatest toy miracle in history? Bummer, I should've brought the guys for the show. I guess we have nothing to worry about your V-TECH Mr. Spell dilemma, right?"
Levy nodded, "Definitely. I had to discard my Speak & Spell toy body for two reasons: First of all, I want to give my support to you, Gray, and the others in case a completely different obstacle tries to slow us down. And second, I want to prove myself a true member of the family, a strong toy capable of anything. It's too late to change my mind now. This is what I want to be."
Lucy brimmed with confidence, "With your Wi-Fi connection, we'll find Natsu in seconds flat, considering your new body's an Amiibo." She changed the topic, "How close are we to Konishi's Toy Dojo?"
Levy responded, "Just nineteen blocks away."
"Good work, guys," Gray congratulated the group, looking at the map. "Two blocks down, and only nineteen more to go. No problem."
"What?!" Gajeel was shocked of the degrading news.
"Nineteen?!" Happy whined.
Erza rubbed her chin in thought, "That's strange. We should have arrived at Konishi's Toy Dojo by now."
Levy stated, "According to my calculations, the distance of the average human process speed of the time of day, compared to us toys, would take more time in our current speed effort. Ergo, our speed is less than a human's. With transport, it's possible to travel fast. But right now, with all the neighbors sleeping, walking is the best option."
Lucy affirmed, "Levy's right. We have to walk all the way to Konishi's Toy Dojo. It's the only way we can get to it. We have all day and all night."
Gajeel grumbled, "All day and all night?! I hate walkin'! Especially in the middle of the night!"
Happy complained, "Do we have to do this? My parts are killing me!" He sat down to rub one of his sore feet.
"Come on, guys!" Lucy pouted. "This is not the time to beat yourselves around the bush! Celestial Treasure Hunter Lesson—"
"#123 Whatever, never give up, blah blah blah," Gajeel interrupted with an agitated groan. His voice then rose angrily, not loud enough for anybody in the neighborhood to hear, "Hello, Earth to Lucy, this is the real world! And the real world's not the same as some cheesy treasure-huntin' adventure! How crazy do you think you are, imaging the whole world's an ancient temple? We're toys, not explorers! And we'd turn into parts before we even get there!"
"Did you forget that this toy's had her own crazy adventure?" Lucy interjected, gesturing to herself. "I spent a year in the Toy Underworld. A whole freakin' year! I was stuck in the house next door, separated from my friends. But did I give up? Did I give up when I was stuck in toy hell? Did I give up when I get torn to pieces by Cerberus? Did I give up when I get tortured by the Devil himself?"
Happy raised a paw, "So you're in a dungeon deep below the Earth?"
"It's Takeshi's house, you fleabag!" Lucy snapped at the Exceed plush toy, causing him to yelp. She glanced at the others, "I was the prisoner of an infamous toy torturer named Takeshi Sakamoto and his toy-eating dog named Zeke. But I was brave. I was strong. I endured the pain and torture with integrity and dignity. And so did Natsu and Gray." Gray agreed with a nod, and the blonde-haired toy continued, "Which brings me to my next question: did Natsu give up when Takeshi had Gray strapped to a rocket to reenact a Lamia Scale blast-off?" By the adamant look on her face, she was trying to help the other toys remember what she, Natsu, and Gray did— the same courage and determination that saw them through the hard times.
"No…" Happy and Gajeel responded with a groan.
"No," Erza shook her head. "In the face of all adversity, Natsu stood tall. And in the end, he saved Gray and Lucy from a terrible fate."
"Natsu, Lucy, and Gray are the best and bravest toys in our family," Wendy agreed. "There's nothing in this world they can't do together."
"Heck yeah," Lucy crossed her hips with a confident smirk. "Which brings me to more questions: did the three of us give up when Ken's car moved miles away? Did we give up when Zeke almost tore our heads off? Did we give up when you threw Natsu out of the back of that moving van?"
"To which a certain 'black steel guy' suggested the idea," Levy smiled slyly. "If I remember well."
"Oh, you had to bring that up, didn't you, Levy?" Gajeel rolled his eyes.
"It's okay. We all make wrong assumptions when things got worse," Levy giggled.
"So to sum it all up, the answer is no?" Happy asked Lucy.
"Heck, no!" Lucy answered proudly. "Me, Natsu, and Gray didn't give up when things get tough! We fight together, we care for one another, and we never back down as long as we have each other! We have a friend in need…" She touched her heart, her eyes burning with strong resolve and conviction, "…and we will not rest until he's safe in Ken's room! That's why we keep going! For Natsu, our toy family, and Ken! So if you're with us, what're you all standing around here for, moping like you're a bunch of losers?"
"Nothing!" Happy stood up on his feet, feeling the force of encouragement revitalizing his body. "We can't leave Natsu alone! We have to save him! If we can't do it, no one can!"
"I'm going, too!" Wendy elected. "I don't care if it takes all night, I can still find Natsu!"
"It is our duty to bring Natsu back to Ken's room before he comes back home from Dragon Camp. We will never abandon him!" Erza vowed.
"That's the spirit!" Lucy cheered. "Anyone who's still got spirit for the adventure…" She pumped a fist into the air, "…say the word!"
"I will," Gray grinned.
"I will!" Happy shouted.
"I will!" Wendy announced.
"I will!" Erza declared.
"I will!" Levy agreed.
"I won't," Gajeel grumbled.
"Oh, yes, you will!" Erza glared at the Iron Dragon Slayer action figure. "No Natsu means no life in Ken's room! Now help us save Natsu…" She added in a threatening tone, "…or you're cleaning the toy chest again!" Gajeel cowed into silence and gulped, fazed by the crimson-haired doll's bargain for refusing to contribute to the rescue party.
"Well, now that that's settled, it's time to focus on the mission. Let's move out!" Gray led the way, and the others followed, bolstered by Lucy's encouragement. Gajeel did so with reluctance, still wishing he could stop for a rest.
"And that concludes our broadcast day."
The TV screen went static, indicating that the current channel had ended its broadcasting. Gouma Konishi lay on the couch, having fallen asleep watching late night television only a few hours before. As he snored, his bowl of Cheeto snacks fell from his arm, spilling its contents onto the floor.
From the glass case, Natsu took it as a sign that he was free to move. He blinked and looked at Gouma's shirt pocket, where his severed arm was. All he had to do was to retrieve it and somehow return to Ken's house. If he did, Mrs. Hirugashi would find him and fix his arm under the pretense that Kagutsuchi ripped it off by accident. The possibility of failure was high, but it was a risk Natsu would take. He would go through great lengths, anything to escape from the toy collection based upon an anime show, himself included— a fellowship of strangers doomed to return to storage if he didn't come with them to the Diamanté Toy Museum.
Looking around, Natsu saw that the rest of the toys were sound asleep. Even the Oración Seis mints were nestled by the gentled blanket of their boxes. Narrowing his eyes at Konishi's shirt pocket, the salmon-haired toy used his only remaining arm to push his glass case open and jump down to the floor. Konishi turned over, but didn't get up; Natsu assumed he wanted to change positions while he slept. Regardless, he crept along the floor quietly… until something crunched under his feet, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut.
"Don't tell me…" Natsu opened his eyes and looked down to see the floor littered with Konishi's Cheetos. "This is gonna be harder than I thought," he muttered. The pull-string Dragon Slayer doll resumed his creeping, this time taking care not to step on any of the Cheetos. Too much crunching, and the man would wake up. "Why couldn't he just go to bed like everybody else? Maybe it's because he didn't have a bed…"
CRUNCH!
The salmon-haired toy cringed at the noise, only this time it didn't come from him. He turned and saw Kemo-Kemo behind him, who swished his stuffed underside beneath a Cheeto to crush it.
"Kemo-Kemo!" Natsu whispered. Kemo-Kemo looked from his underside and wagged his antennas like tails of a dog. "Kemo-Kemo, go! Shoo! Go, go, go!" The black-furred stuffed animal refused to budge. With an annoyed groan, Natsu walked over to him. By the excited look, you could tell that Kemo-Kemo was willing to help his best buddy. "Oh, come on, you don't wanna help me. I'm the bad guy. You're gonna go back in storage because of me, remember? Now just go." Natsu pointed a finger, and Kemo-Kemo responded by giving him a fuzzy hug. Apparently, the black-furred critter was as loyal as a house pet, too.
"Alright, alright," Natsu relented. "You can help me, but you have got to keep quiet. Now come on…" The black-furred stuffed animal nodded. He and Natsu snuck together through the stream of Cheetos, taking care not to stomp or press on any piece. They got past the ocean of orange to the back of the sofa, and Natsu motioned for Kemo-Kemo to come closer.
"Over here. Attaboy…" Natsu climbed onto the black-furred critter's back. "Okay, Kemo-Kemo, upsy-daisy…"
Kemo-Kemo stood up straight, allowing the pull-string Dragon Slayer doll to climb on top of the sofa. This was it; one wrong move, and this whole thing could fail. Natsu quietly crept along and tried to reach for the arm, missing it by only a finger's touch. He then decided to risk crawling on Konishi's body to get close. Suddenly, the big oaf began laughing in his sleep. Turning his head, Natsu froze in horror. He looked down to see Kemo-Kemo licking the cheese powder from Konishi's fingers. What was that fat animal doing?!
"Kemo-Kemo!" Natsu whispered loudly. "Cut it out! Stop it!" The critter just kept licking Konishi's fingers, and the salmon-haired toy had to increase the volume, "You're gonna get us in trouble! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!"
The message got through. Kemo-Kemo immediately stopped and stepped back, sheepish at what he had done. Natsu looked over at Konishi's chest pocket, where his severed right arm was. He leaned over slowly and carefully started to pull it out. Before he could get far, Natsu heard Konishi's stomach rumbling… then he got a blast of halitosis in the form of a belch directly in his face. The pull-string Dragon Slayer doll almost gagged.
"Bad breath… Seriously, he really needs to lay back on the snacks. Gross…" Natsu wheezed. As he realized where he was, he reached into Konishi's chest pocket. Gently, slowly, and decisively, he managed to pull the arm out. Success! He breathed a deep sigh of relief at his newly-recovered arm, and looked back at the sleeping toy collector. Now he just had to get back to his place without causing a ruckus. He slowly reached out with one foot…
…and that was when the plan fell apart. The Natsu's Roundup theme song started playing on the TV. The sudden noise caused Konishi to bolt upright, allowing the pull-string Dragon Slayer to fall off him and onto the floor.
"AAAAAAAHHHH! NO, OFFICER! I SWEAR! IT'S… Huh?"
Just as Konishi took time to retract his surroundings, he spotted Natsu sprawled on the floor with the broken arm, and then to the empty display case. How did the salmon-haired toy got out? The display case must've opened by itself. Mumbling to himself, Konishi picked up Natsu and placed him back in his case. "Get in there. There you go. Cheap case," he closed the hatch. "Now, where in blazes is that remote?"
Natsu snapped out of toy mode with a confused look. How did the TV turn on by itself? His eyes shifted to the remote… lying right next to Juvia's display case. Natsu gritted his teeth; it was bad enough she was angry that he wanted to go home, but preventing his escape?!
"I swear, why don't I put it in the same place every time I…" Konishi found the remote and picked it up. "Oh, here it is." He turned the TV off and walked away, yawning.
Natsu watched in horror as he saw the toy collector departing the room with his severed arm. Darn, he was so close, and it was no thanks to a selfish Rain Woman doll! By the time the door closed, he jumped out of his case and trotted over to face Juvia.
"What is your problem?!" Natsu demanded angrily. "Look, I'm sorry I couldn't help you guys out, and I feel for you, okay? But really, you didn't have to go and pull a stunt like that!"
"What?!" Juvia exclaimed, as if being accused of a crime she didn't commit. "You think I did that?"
Natsu scoffed, "Oh, sure, sure. The TV just happened to turn on, and the remote magically ended up in front of you!"
"What's going on…?" Romeo emerged from his display case and came over, yawning and stretching his arms. "What are you two doing in the middle of a good night's sleep?"
"Juvia turned on the TV to keep me from getting outta this dump, and she's trying to defend herself by lying about it!" Natsu explained furiously.
"Say WHAT?!" Romeo exclaimed shockingly, quickly summering out of his sleepy trance.
"Are you calling me a liar?!" Juvia demanded.
"Well, if the boot fits, gloomy girl!"
Both Romeo and Kemo-Kemo widened their eyes as Juvia glared at the pull-string Dragon Slayer. There were two things you must never say to her: calling her a liar, and calling her a 'gloomy girl.'
"Say that again," she challenged. Her tone was deadly, but apparently, Natsu didn't get the memo.
"If. The boot. Fits. Gloomy girl."
"Alright…" Juvia's glare was cold enough to give Lucy or Gray shivers. "You asked for it!"
Kemo-Kemo, sensing hostility, wisely jumped out of his case and went to hide in a Natsu's Roundup bento box. Romeo could only watch nervously, "This is gonna get ugly."
It's on! With a furious battle cry, Juvia leaped out of case, tackling Natsu to the ground. The Fire Dragon Slayer tried to counterattack, but the Rain Woman was surprisingly fast. Kemo-Kemo peeked out in fear as the battle reached its peak.
"How do you like that?!" Juvia caught Natsu's one remaining arm, pulling it behind his head. "This is what you get for calling me a liar and a gloomy girl! Take it back! Take it back, or else I'll tear off your other arm!"
"Hey, don't think just because you're a girl, I'm gonna take it easy on ya!" Natsu snapped, before yelling out in pain. "I've beaten girls before! I'll do it again right now!"
"Guys, break it up!" Romeo tried his best to separate the two and end the brawl. He even deigned to raise his voice, "Break it up! BREAK IT UP! STOP IT!"
"Everyone, stop this at once!" Brain, whose box was fixated on a shelf, shouted before falling face-first into the desk. Juvia let go of Natsu, and the two of them scrambled away before the sorcerer doll could fall onto them.
"Well, it's about time!" Romeo was glad that the riot was cut short.
Kemo-Kemo came out of the bento box to help Romeo get Brain up. He then scolded Juvia and Natsu, as if he was their father, "I don't know how that television turned on, but fighting about it isn't helping anything."
"If I had both my arms…!" Natsu growled threateningly at Juvia.
"Well, the fact is, you don't, Natsu!" Romeo interrupted sternly. "I doubt you'll get your arm back from Konishi tonight, since there's no other way out besides the vent. Face it, bro…" He paused to let it sink in, "You can't do anything with just one arm."
"It's highly suggestive that you wait until morning," Brain insisted. "The cleaner will come, fix your arm…"
"And then I'm outta here!"
As soon as he spoke that bitter reply, Natsu noticed Kemo-Kemo looking down sadly and turning away. He began to feel pity for him.
"Oh, come on, Kemo-Kemo. Don't take it that way. It's just that Ken—"
"Ken, Ken, Ken," Juvia scowled. "That's all he ever talks about." She walked off and took Kemo-Kemo with her, who gave him one last sad look at Natsu for the night.
"Natsu…" Romeo whispered sympathetically, placing a hand around his shoulder.
Natsu looked down at the ground, a wave of guilt washing over him. He wished he knew what to do. He got where Juvia was coming from, and he wished there was a way to help her and the rest of the Roundup Gang without having to abandon Ken and his friends.
From the shadows, five pairs of eyes observed the scene, accompanied by sinister chuckles.
"Everything is going according to plan. I gotta admit, stealing the remote and having Natsu think Juvia turned on the TV was a stroke of genius!"
"If Natsu hadn't left, we'd end up going back into storage. All our hopes and dreams, vanishing like angels."
"He's our one way ticket to the big city, fame and fortune, money and power! We can't let the wind take him."
"Father will be so pleased. As long as we have Natsu, nothing can go wrong. And as long as we keep our cover…"
"Why, Natsu Dragneel, it's us: the Ghosts of Days Gone By… Oh yeah!"
The chuckles kept on echoing. And the eyes belonging to the ones responsible for Natsu's current predicament disappeared.