Natsu's P.O.V.

He needed to find Lucy. She ran off with Michelle about five minutes ago and he had planned to go after her and make sure she was safe. Of course he knew she could take care of herself but he needed to make sure. He couldn't get away though, Sugarboy was hot on his trails.

"Will you leave me alone! I'm not even trying to fight!" Natsu crammed his neck around to look at the blonde man. He just smirked and sang into his microphone obnoxiously.

"No can do, pinkie! I know you're after Lucy Heartfilia and I'm going to find out who she is." Natsu growled. He wouldn't let this weirdo even lay a hand on Lucy's head. He kept running until he knocked into something. Stumbling back, he groaned and looked up. His right cheek felt slimy and he winced at the fowl smell.

He pursed his lips when he finally noticed the giant octopus. It slammed down a tentacles, trying to smash him to the ground. He swiftly dodged and grunted in slight pain as he hit the ground. pebbles digging it's way into his forearms. He opened his eyes to look up at the octopus, hair falling in front of his eyes.

He saw a man standing on top of the octopus. He looked to be in his fifties, with a permanent scowl and a small white beard like horns on each side of his jaw. Natsu smelt Sugarboy finally catch up to him. The mix of Sugarboy's, this man, and the octopus made him lose Lucy's scent which made him clench his fist in frustration. He lost her.

"Dammit! Who are you!" The man looked down on Natsu and raised one eye at him. The man was about to say something to him when all three mages felt powerful magic power rapidly get closer. Natsu suddenly grinned when he recognized it. A silhouette of another man came into view as he slammed down in front of Natsu.

"Hey kid. Long time no see." Gildarts turned with a smile and waved at Natsu. Natsu felt his lips twitch into a grin.

"Hey old man!" Gildarts laughed for a split moment and he turned serious when he faced the man on the octopus.

"Natsu. I know you were looking for Lucy. Go find her and I'll take care of this guy." He said as he completely forgot about Sugarboy's presence. Normally, Natsu would argue that he wanted to fight the strongest enemy first but he had no time for such things. He'd rather see Lucy's face anyway. Natsu looked for an opening to escape from Sugarboy after nodding off to Gildarts. He observed as Gildarts jumped up on the octopus and gave the man a glare. "What is your goal in all this?"

"It's none of yours or Fairy Tail's business. Your measly guild won't be able to handle such a task." The man said. Natsu could hear as Gildarts scoffed, making him grimace. That old guy was in for a real treat. Making Gildarts mad is the last thing you want to do.

"What do you mean by that? What problem can't Fairy Tail handle?" The man frowned upon realizing that he gave away too much information. Gildarts cracked his knuckles, "Can you at least tell me your name?"

"My name is Byro. But it won't matter to you in the end, because you won't be alive to remember it." That was Gildarts cue to charge, using his crash magic to slice and dice Byro. Byro only used his staff to cancel the magic and have it reflect back at him. Natsu blinked at the odd man's name and then realized that was the same name of the guy who locked Wendy and himself up. He growled.

"Cool!" Natsu blinked when hr noticed that reporter man from Sorcerer Weekly. That must be why Gildarts was here in town in the first place, to get away from that persistent creep. Natsu took this time to leave when Gildarts yelled at him to move. He felt Sugarboy follow him and he even saw a bit if that green slime creep up on him.

"Grr. Fire Dragon: Iron Fist!" He turned and swung his fist down at the blonde haired man, but he only dodged with an annoying cackle.

"Ooo, you're getting me all hot and bothered dragon boy!" Natsu shivered in disgust at his choice of words. This was probably the first time he didn't want to be a fire mage at the moment. Natsu chose to just ignore his comment and he kicked up his right leg and swung in a circle and managed to strike Sugarboy in the chest.

He noticed Happy wasn't here at the moment. He was with him, but he suddenly disappeared, worrying the dragon slayer. He hoped his blue feline was okay. Sugarboy sang out loudly, making Natsu groan and cover his ears.

That guy's voice was so obnoxiously loud and it was starting to seriously irritate Natsu. Not only can he not find Lucy, happy disappeared and now he has to deal with this bag of weird ass dirt. Natsu sucked in. "Fire Dragon: Roar!" Sugarboy grunted and covered his face with his arms. He used some of that slime and it soaked in the magic.

That's when an idea hit Natsu like a punch in the face. Or maybe that was Sugarboy's doing. He struck Natsu across his cheek, making him stumble back and rub his cheek. He started to pant, tired from the magic that slime was draining from him.

"Happy!" He yelled aloud. He heard the flap of Happy's wings start to get a lot closer. Natsu felt himself grin widely as he was suddenly whisked off into the air by happy. "Where were you?" Natsu asked Happy worryingly. Happy gave him a guilty smile.

"I tried to find Lucy for you, but I was told by Pantherlilly that he and Wendy and Carla were trying to find her instead so I came to find you. That's when I heard you yell out my name." Natsu smiled sincerely at Happy and hearing his motives.

"You're such a good buddy! Thanks! Anyway, i have a plan to defeat this guy." Happy listened in closely so Natsu whispered it in his ear. The slime had gotten around three times bigger as it started to grow higher. It created a hand that was going to reach for Natsu at any given time.

"Are you sure?" Happy blinked a few times, trying to stop the tears gathering in his eyes. Natsu could see this, but he was already tired and angry and he snapped at him.

"Now!"

"Aye sir!" Happy flew right above the middle of the slime and dropped Natsu in the middle of it. Natsu could feel the slime engulf his entire being, making his limbs immobile. He started to release a massive amount of magic power into the slime. The power so intense, he screamed out in irritation and slight pain.

"Oh woah now, that's enough power!" Sugarboy sang in worry. The slime turned red and started to bubble from the intense power. It suddenly exploded and Natsu flew out of the slime and right into Sugarboy. The slime rained down from the sky.

Natsu grabbed Sugarboy's wrist and started to twist it and was surprised to see that the other man started to blush. Natsu raised a brow at the odd man and waited to him to explain himself.

"You better let go, dragon boy before something bad happens."

Natsu smirked. "Oh yeah? And what's that?" Sugarboy's face went red and Natsu could see the inner turmoil he was in. Natsu then realized his word choice and the way the other man was acting, he put two and two together and shuddered. He was dense, but he could see what this position and choice of words was sounding like.

He was about to pull away when some of the slime that was falling encased both of their hands in the slime. Natsu yelled out and tried to pull away but had no luck.

"I said you should let go." Said the blonde man. Natsu felt his face heat in embarrassment.

"I'm trying you weirdo! Fix this!"

"I can't when your hot hot magic is absorbed in my slime!" He sang out. Natsu groaned and made to punch him in the face. Sugarboy dodged and punched Natsu across the nose. Natsu bit his tounge to keep his yell while he punched Sugarboy.

This happened back and fourth for some time, but Natsu was losing. As he was already exhausted from using all that magic power. He hated to admit this, but he needed some major help. It was like the gods were looking blessing him today because just as he was going to black out, he smelled a man.

This was the first time that he was actually happy to smell a mix of ice, water, and cologne. "Gray!" He yelled out. Gray had heard his cry for assistance and ran a short distance there. Natsu could tell gray wanted to laugh but at the moment, he didn't care. He just wanted away from this weirdo.

"Hey flame brain. Looks like you could use some help." Natsu sighed and nodded. Sugarboy noticed their exchange and puffed up his cheeks.

"So you've been with ice boy this whole time and you flirted with me?" Natsu gagged and yanked on his trapped arm, pulling Sugarboy to him. Natsu felt like crying as he pleaded Gray for help. Gray had shuddered but went to help his rival/friend anyway.

"Ice Make: Geyser!" Ice shot up from the ground and struck Sugarboy while also freezing the slime. Natsu broke free and pulled his hand to his chest.

Sugarboy was temporarily knocked out, relieving both younger men. They gave each other a glace and Natsu placed a hand on his shoulder in pity.

"So glad I didn't fight him in Edolas. I feel your pain."

"Oh you have no idea." Natsu laughed boyishly, but then tumbled to the ground. Gray cursed and helped pick him back up. "Jeez Natsu. Lay off the food, you're heavy!" Natsu groaned painfully and managed to wrap his arm around Gray's shoulder.

"How...how is everyone else?" He asked him. Gray grunted and they started to move back towards the guild.

"Wendy went off to find Michelle and Lucy so Kinana and Mira are helping patch everyone up. I ran off to find you, but i noticed Gildarts in the middle of battle. He and that other guy are tied right now and Erza was there to talk him out of going all out. They're probably on their way back to the guild as we speak."

"So Erza is okay then? Last time i saw her, she was pretty torn up." He saw a light blush appear on Gray's cheeks and he nodded.

"Yeah she's fine. I made sure to have Wendy heal her wounds before they both ran off. Erza is probably the only one to talk Gildarts out of this one."

"How about Lucy and Michelle? Are they back yet?" Gray shook his head, making Natsu frown tiredly. He should of known better, Lucy was always getting herself in trouble. They climbed a steep hill and made it back up to the guild hall. Gildarts and Erza were already there.

"Sorry Natsu. No sign of Lucy yet." Cana stated weakly, going through her cards. Gray dropped Natsu ungracefully and groaned as he slid down the guild walls, next to the tired Erza and Juvia. Natsu grunted as he acknowledged her statement.

Natsu suddenly smelled a mix of vanilla and stawberry and felt himself grin. He felt adrenaline surge through his veins and he slammed open the guild doors and tackled Lucy.

He was in pain, but no amount could keep him from her.