A long time ago. There were two species in Edolas: the dragons and the elves. Not even they remembered why they fought each other; only their hatred and bloodshed passed down to the last of their kind. Yet, even as their war shaped mountains, scarred canyons, and drowned volcanoes, there was a victor.

As the last elf plunged his weapon into the heart of the King of Fire Dragons, he won the eternal war between Elves and Dragons.

A shame it was a pyrrhic one.

The last push of the dragons killed all the elves but him. Not only that, they succeeded in destroying the World Tree, the source of life in Edolas and the sacred home of the elves.

The winner of the elf-dragon wars was silent as he walked toward the scarred earth that was once his home. He fell to his knees- instead of rough earth breaking his fall, layers of ash cushioned his weight. He wished with all his might that he'd rather feel the pain of scrapped knees than the unfathomable loneliness he lived in.

The elf stared at the sea of ash that was once his home. He spotted a glint of green among the ash. His eyes widened when he uncovered what he spotted: a seed. It was like a candle in the darkness, but the elf held the small item close to his heart.

"We will return." He started to tear up while his mind plotted deeply. "I promise. You'll all come back..."

In present-day Edolas, atop the newly growing World Tree, the elf caressed his scar, given to him by the odd warrior in red. Yet he raised his hand, making the tree glow with green energy. As he did this, all of Edolas' capital started to shine in green light as vines and flora grew and covered even the advanced technology of Edolas.

There was a moment where the elf felt equal parts relieved and... dare he feel... hopeful? Years of plotting and planning; he could almost feel his family again, almost hold his child and love to feel the warmth of their skin and hear their laughter and songs flow through his ears instead of painful silence and the bitterness of his thoughts...

He desperately wanted to hold on to something that would hold him back, not empty air and the burning and empty feeling of ash.

But he sobered up. The elf sensed multiple beings speeding toward him. He didn't turn behind him as thunder crashed, revealing the bulky, tall man who reeked of Lightning Dragons. Soon, the other Dragon Magic wielders and three Exceed stayed in the air, eyeing him from above.

The elf turned, not as a lone survivor, but as a soldier about to protect what he loved. "I don't know how you lesser beings came to use the magic of the dragons. But it's too late now. I will use the remaining Ethernano to regrow the World Tree, and the Elven Race will return as the rightful rulers of Edolas."

"We won't let you destroy this world for that!" Natsu cried out before Happy carried him straight toward the magical being. He ignited his fists and punched forward.

However, the elf ducked faster than Happy and Natsu expected. The fire dragon slayer lost the ability to breathe before his brain told him he got punched in the stomach. And that message came after he and Happy crashed into a tree branch away.

Laxus grunted as he saw Natsu get thrown back in one blow. Compared to mere seconds ago, the elf moved differently than before. He must be now more used to his body after all, which meant those first blows, even if they didn't do anything, were just lucky hits. Carla and Wendy hurried to Natsu while Pantherlily and Gajeel separated before rushing for the elf from both sides. Despite being enemies around ten minutes ago, both were in sync with their attacks. Gajeel rushed in, extending fists of metal that the elf dodged. However, the attack was layered: narrowing the pointy-eared being's chance of escaping as Pantherlily swooped in with the intent to cleave the murderer of his friends.

The attack followed through!

... If it was anyone else aside from this specific opponent. The last elf stepped forward before unleashing an uppercut right into Pantherlily's jaw, sending the muscular Exceed upward without his wings. Gajeel turned his arm into a sword and swiped at the elf. Yet with uncanny speed, the elf—got kicked in the face by Laxus before flipping mid-air and landing on one of the giant trunks. At that moment, a giant fireball boosted by a focused hurricane sailed past the electric and metal dragon slayer before nailing the elf in a condensed tornado of flames.

"Nice one, Wendy!" Natsu screamed as he, Happy, Carla, and Wendy flew over Laxus and Gajeel with Pantherlily slowly descending.

Yet, Laxus smelled it first: burning flesh. He tensed into a fighting stance as he saw a burned foot stepping out of the spinning flames. A charred corpse walked out until flesh regrew back into the elf, undoing burns that would have been fatal to any other living being.

"Fate has an odd sense of humor. The dragons are all dead, yet here stand four humans wielding their magic to stop me before I can bring back the elven race." He lifted his hands outward as the tree bent and twisted to reach his open palms. He wielded them as they started to take the form of a lance and a shield, both made of wood but with pulsating green energy inside them.

Instinctively, the dragon slayers felt a chill down to their bones. It felt like their bodies were screaming to run away by only looking at the wooden weapons. Only Natsu knew this was just like when Jellal used the Elven Sword.

"Guys, don't let it touch you! Even a scratch will hurt a lot!"

"Like wood is stronger than metal!" Gajeel unleashed an Iron Dragon Punch that bulleted towards the elf. The elf twirled the lance once before striking the incoming metal—shattering Gajeel's attack on impact. Unfortunately for the Iron Dragon slayer, the elf closed the distance before the first piece of metal could hit the ground and stabbed with his spear again.

His attack hit the tail end of lightning. Laxus slid some distance away from the being as he held on to Gajeel's collar, sweat pouring down his face. Even being close to the spear made his body feel ill.

"Hey! I was gonna," Gajeel started to cough mid-sentence. But he wasn't the only one; Natsu followed suit, followed by Wendy.

Laxus felt his lungs start to ache as well. He then noticed the tree pulsate green energy akin to the spear and shield the elf wielded.

The 4th guild master realized what was happening: the entire battlefield was poison to their Dragon Slaying magic. The longer this fight went on, the weaker they'd get.

"When dragons fought against elves, they would take over three days straight to kill us through our gift of regeneration." The elf said as he strode forward. Pantherlily swooped in and began to fight off the murderer of his best friend. Even though The Exceed's blows were nothing to scoff at, the blonde, green-eyed humanoid avoided every swipe of Pantherlily's blade.

Ticked off, the Exceed flew up as his blade grew ten times its size. He brought it down on the elf, who only lifted an open palm with his spear hand.

The moment the blade touched his hand, even at the force it was going, it vanished and turned into energy. Everyone looked on in disbelief as the magic of the sword condensed into another green orb in the elf's hand.

"All magic originated from the Elves. You cannot harm us with something that which we were born with." In other words, only dragon magic could harm an elf, proving Redray's suspicions.

A gift of regeneration alongside the ability to absorb any magic that wasn't dragon-slaying magic? The elf was a monster to be reckoned with.

"Goddammit." Laxus cursed under his breath before everyone rushed against the elf. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we need the brat!"

As soon as the three entered the portal, they saw the remains of Dorma Anim.

"Good, it looks like they only broke the head. The core should still be in one piece." Mystogan said as he started climbing the machine.

With several uses of his staff, the core opened up by itself. However, as the torso opened up with a loud hiss, more than a dozen things moved in tandem with the sound. This meant even Knightwalker and Mystogan did not hear the movement.

As the prodigal prince hooked into the machine, he didn't hear something snaking behind Erza Knightwalker and pulling her away from Hisui.

The Princess didn't have a chance to scream before the vines pulled her away from her brother.

It was when Mystogan turned around—or attempted to—that darkness overtook him, along with the hope of Edolas.

Darkness...

In that void, something clawed at my mind. It was... a familiar voice?

It was a scream. I knew that scream. It haunted my nightmares, my childhood. That nightmare told me in a number that made thousands feel like a sad joke: you repaid his kindness with fatal indifference.

My body moved before my consciousness, spurred on by a primal feeling: the idea of protecting a friend I failed.

My eyes and mouth opened at the same time, "Rico!?" I powered through vines and slashed them down without even looking. Senses drove me as I saw tree roots the size of buildings moving as fast as a viper down on a man I didn't recognize but knew by heart.

NO! Not in this world either!

The Omni Tool turned into a blade in my hand before a whirlwind of slashes broke through the incoming roots. I heard gasping for air behind me, and I slowly turned—seeing a face I hadn't seen in so long but recognized so intimately.

"You," Feelings swirled in me as I felt the urge to run up and apologize and hug the stranger with the familiar face. "Get to higher ground. Go find Eisenwald Police officers."

I watched him nod before he got up and ran in the opposite direction. To my surprise, he turned back.

"T-Thanks! I mean it!"

It was three words, but I felt...it was like an old wound finally healed. But my senses stirred, and I sobered up. We were in final boss mode as I felt more roots rushing in my direction.

I inhale, then exhale. Remember what Erza, our Ezra, taught me: remain calm and don't get complacent. I break through the incoming roots and fly to the sky. My eyes widen as the futuristic town looks more akin to an apocalypse, with roots and greenery covering the massive buildings.

But the most eye-catching image is the giant tree now sporting green veins that look to be funneling all the energy of the city and perhaps the world at the top of the ancient thing. I can hear faint sounds of fighting and elements at the very top, along with a familiar voice before fires spew out and are paradoxically smothered by thick woods. I want to fly up there, but a spark of light down below catches my attention.

I see a mop of blue before it gets swallowed by roots. My mind recognizes it belongs to Mystogan before I speed at him faster than I'm prepared for.

The roots fall as I free Mystogan. He looks over to me before his eyes widen, and he looks back. "Hisui and Knightwalker were with me!"

I follow his gaze to a thick bundle of tree roots before I cut them down. Knightwalker and Hisui were freed, coughing violently and gasping for air.

"Y-You freed us without hurting us!" Hisui said as she looked over at me.

That only confused me until I heard Mystogan speak up. "The roots are stealing people and draining them of their life forces along with every ounce of magic an item has. We tried to free Redray, but the roots connected to his nerves, and hurting them hurt him. It seems your armor can bypass that curse."

My eyes widened behind my visor. "Do I need to help the others?"

"No. Please," Mystogan raised his hand at me. "We need you to protect us as Redray's last weapon charges..."

As soon as he said this, the ground rumbled. Large roots and vines geysered out before surrounding us. I glanced at Knightwalker. However, we noticed her blade disappeared. No doubt it was absorbed into the roots for its magic.

Damn you, Anime, and the rule that all our strong enemies become weak once they join our side! But I didn't even have time to voice this out as the roots started to rush in for us. I did what I could: cut the trees down and dive in to protect the three. Yet, as I did, I felt an odd pull toward the giant robot's core. I don't know why it was like I heard its heart beating.

"Come on, you stupid device!" I heard Mystogan shout while firing sword beams at the things on the opposite side of me. "Charge the weapon faster!"

Ah, so technical issues still exist in anime worlds. How convenient. ... I don't know why I'm being sarcastic in my own thoughts. No one can hear them!

*A guttural sound of multiple cracking woods coalesced into an ear-splitting screech.*

And what the anime is that?! While I was fighting, some of the tree roots coiled together to make a giant serpent root the size of a skyscraper. Even in the air, I saw it face me specifically. Don't tell me this thing is evolving!

I fired two sword beams at the wooden monster. However, as soon as it got cut, it healed faster than my beam could slice through it! At that moment, I heard the sound of crashing above us. More of those giant snake-like roots erupted out of the tree, and some of the airports terraformed into the tree branches, turning into more of these giant root snakes. My enhanced senses picked up movement as I flew out of the way of the first root monster trying to eat me whole.

"Behind you!" Hisui's voice made me fly higher. But not before something tagged my legs as I did, making me lose balance mid-flight and crash back to the ground.

I tried to get back up before I felt a shadow looming and growing over me. I kicked off with super speed before the second root snake attempted to crush me under its weight. I slid from the jump, turning on my heel and firing another sword beam at the—WHY IS IT BIGGER?!

My sword beam cut the surface instead of cutting it in half. And even then, it healed quickly. Ugh! Fine, we're doing this the hard way!

I glance over at Mystogan, who's only looking at the core with a frantic expression. Yep. That means the weapon isn't charged yet. Go me. Insults are my knee-jerk thoughts, but luckily, my body is already moving. My cape turns to wings as I ascend with a sonic boom. The Omni Tool comes out as I turn it into a spear. Then the world around me narrows into blurrs and g-force.

It doesn't take much for me to realize that I hit the second giant trunk with enough force to make it explode—and create a crater from the impact. Pulling the Omni Tool out, I sighed as my senses heard the sound of wood creaking. I broke one of them, yes.

Now, how am I going to deal with the sudden appearance of the other ten of them?

"This isn't good," My ears pick up Knightwalker who's speaking towards me but not talking to me. "He's looking tired."

Oh. Now that she says it, I am heaving for air, aren't I? How long have I been fighting today? It feels like years.

"Watch out!"

Dang it, I zoned out! I looked back to see a giant root about to slam me—until a laser cut through it and caused it to explode.

When I followed where the attack came from, I smiled. The cavalry arrived, even if there were only two of them.

Ignis and the last guardian, Pla, fired lasers and fireballs, doing more damage and hampering the tree roots more than any physical trauma I could inflict. The two gave me an opening to speed back to Mystogan.

"Please tell me it's finished." As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw his face frown.

"I don't understand!" Mystogan slammed a nearby console. "Why is it starting to flux!? It's as if the energy is going somewhere else besides the weapon!"

I moved closer to get a look.

When I did, the entire core reflected red when I went near it.

Mystogan and I stared at this before I stepped back, and the core turned to a normal clear color. I stepped closer and away, checking a theory.

"Why is the core reacting to me?"

"I was about to ask you that question."

Out of curiosity, I powered the armor down. When I did, I spotted The Morpher glowing. As I moved it closer to the core of Anim Dorma, the strange glowing became more opaque.

-Compatibility: 100 percent.-

I blinked as I heard an odd voice and turned around. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Mystogan asked as Hisui and Knightwalker moved closer to us.

I looked at The Morpher before I heard a large explosion come from the top of the tree. Time was not on our side.

Not to mention I always did complain about not getting miracle power-ups.

"Alright," I breathed deeply. "I really hope this works, or I'm going to die looking stupider than usual."

I pressed my hand into the core of Anim DormaAAAAAAAA!?

Mystogan, Knightwalker, and Princess Hisui watched with varying levels of horror as Kain pressed a hand on the core...before being absorbed into it as if it was made of water.

Before anyone could react, the entire core turned red, and the trio could feel the machine rumbling before the torso of Anim Dorma reactivated and trapped the three of them as it closed in on itself. The tree roots 'watched' as Dorma Anim's body stood back up to full height. Yet, red lines crossed and appeared over the exoskeleton. One of the roots slithered towards the headless Dorma Anim. Yet, it got cut in half by the mecha's tail.

Unlike before, red energy seeped into the outline of the cut. If the roots acted as snakes, the one cut in half acted like a worm in dry land: writhing and trashing before the magic animating it flatlined.

Up above, the Last Elf paused from charging at a downed Natsu and Happy.

"... What was that?" He turned his gaze downward, seemingly looking at the floor, but the angle pointed to Dorma Anim's "corpse".

More roots geysered out of the ground. They moved with urgency—and dare anyone else notice: fear—and piled on the machine. Roots twisted and crossed, burying the war machine in old arcane energy and attempting to smother the oddity entirely.

Pla and Ignis could only watch as they fought the roots attacking them from their sides.

A crimson arm with clawed fingers crushed through the knots of the great tree with an echoing crack. Wings bladed outward with enough speed to cut the air along with wood that failed to bury it. Through gaps, Ignis and Pla witnessed two flashes of ruby lights coming online...

An explosion of pure force drove away the empowered roots, revealing Dorma Anim...? Yet, it was different. Instead of the silvery gray, it now held a shining red coating. Bladed wings unfurled, revealing metal in the form of dragon wings. A tail of metal slinked but gleamed in the darkness, revealing a snake-like tail with blades at every inch where there wasn't a gap. And what should have been headless, now held a humanoid helmet with three horns in the shape of a trident pointing upward at the forehead of the mech.

The new mech's eyes lit up, revealing the same red glowing eyes before they turned into a brown color.

Meanwhile, deep inside the core of Dorma Anim, Kain felt himself waking up with a smile. He looked like he was inside some floating void, but he looked over to his Morpher, where he heard a message without a voice.

Link completed: weapon adapted to Morpher memory.

Kain didn't understand what happened. But subconsciously, he knew what was about to happen.

"Okay," Kain's voice echoed as if projected by the machine. He moved up the claw/fingers of the new Dorma Anim as if it were his own body. "I'm just as confused as all of you, but I got a Mecha and a load of childhood fantasies I can't wait to unleash."

The Fairy Tail symbol appeared on the torso of the new Dorma Anim as brown eyes flashed to life. In that flash, the robot appeared farther away from the air, as if sliding to a stop with his claws gleaming.

In one instant, all of the animated roots exploded into cut pieces red energy negating their ability to reform.

"Godammint that was SOOOO COOOL!" The new Dorma Anim shouted with Kain's voice as it did a little jig. "Anime world, I take back every bullshit you threw at me for giving me a god-damn gundam!"

An explosion from above made the Fantasy Gundam look up, seeing elements wither and depower as green energy started to glow brighter.

"Crap. Right." Kain was about to unfurl his wings when he felt another message his morpher was telling him. "Okay, better get them out of there."

Latches open up on Dorma Anim's shoulders, shooting up three people: Knightwalker, Mystogan, and Hisui. Only the first two land on their feet while the princess falls flatly on the enhanced red metal.

"W-What happened!?" Erza Knightwalker cried out before looking up to see herself and the royals on top of... "Dorma Anim!?"

"No... it's different!" Mystogan looked at where he stood. "Wait, Kain!?"

"Yeah. It seems like the Morpher reacted to Dorma Anim. Looks like Fairy Tail finally got a mecha bot of their own!" The mecha head tilted a little. "Huh? Mystogan, I'm getting a message saying... charge completed?"

The prodigal prince's eyes widened as he realized he was holding something in his hands. It wasn't a cube but a Katana in a royal blue sheath. Curious, Mystogan held the hilt in an attempt to unsheathe it. However, he suddenly had a feeling that stopped him from pulling through. The magic of the blade resonated with the prince, and it asked only one thing:

"Unsheath me only when you need me and not a millisecond before."

Mystogan let go and heard no other 'voice' from the blade. He closed his eyes before he looked at Kain. "Can you bring us up there?"

The mecha unfurled his wingspan. The three on his shoulder felt the coating of Anim Dorma cover and latch over their shoes. "Hold on tight, everyone!" Even though no one could see him, they could all hear the smile on Kain's lips before he flew up towards the top of the tree.

Branches laced with metal platforms careened and bent forward to intercept the new Anim Dorma. The many guns stationed lit up with green energy before unleashing a volley of blasts toward the red mecha. Inside the core, Kain felt himself move. The tail end is detached from Dorma Anim: FT-Mode. As it fell, Kain drove the machine to loop forward and spin, dodging incoming fire and then twisting to catch the tail from the end. It held two hilts that split the tail into two hardening blades that glowed into red light.

In less than a blink, an entire row of firing canons suddenly got cut in half horizontally before exploding. Dorma Anim slid on the metal of the closest branch before his wings spread out and propelled him upward, drilling through an upper branch coated in metal and magical wood. The two swords glowed before Dorma Anim unleashed two sword beams. They grew and expanded to the size needed to cut two giant branches off, making the tree lose more defense in attempting to stop the new machine. And these were branches big enough to have their own starports!

One by one, branches and weapons failed while Dorma Anim ascended towards the top of the tree.

It was a good thing too. Despite being outnumbered, the elf fought in a way that he always had the upper hand. With his ability to heal from every elemental attack, the skill of a trained soldier, and how the surrounding energy weakened and slowed down the Dragon Slayers, the elf had put all the Dragon Slayers on the backfoot.

Everyone in the fight heard something coming their way. "What's that sound?" Natsu turned towards the direction of the sound as Happy tried to pick his friend back up from a hard hit.

"Is that Dorma Anim?" Gajeel grunted as he got back up from being kicked into a wall. "Wait. It smells familiar."

The elf clicked his tongue as he continued to strike at Laxus. The 4th Guildmaster barely evaded each blow, but even as he felt his stamina and magical power drop, he couldn't help but smile.

"About time, brat."

One second was all it took for a giant red robot to appear, eyes glowing and a fast raised and pointed right down at the elf.

"Got ya!" Laxus cried out as he used the distraction to launch a web of electricity at the armored elf. Yes, the anti-dragon weapons and armor dispelled and broke through the net. However, one second was more than enough time for Laxus to get out of the way...

...As Kain hammered over a thousand tons of anit-magical metal down on the elf. Everyone felt the shockwave and heard the booming cracking noise as the attack made contact.

"Did you get him!?" Princess Hisui cried out after her mind processed that they stopped moving.

"What?" Kain sounded surprised, making Mystogan look at him in confusion.

"Kain!?" Natsu gaped before stars came to his eyes. He looked pointed at the Dorma Anim. "Is that you!? You became a giant robot!"

"Don't ask me how," Kain's voice echoed as he lifted his hand and put it down for people to climb. "But get on! We need to get out of here!"

"Why?" Patherlily held his arm and stepped forward. "Surely you took down that beast."

"I thought I did!" Everyone else saw the new head of Dorma Anim turn to where he punched. They wondered what Kain meant by that, but as eyes turned to where a large shaped-fist crater was, it was hard not to notice it.

Or rather, no one noticed a crushed body in the middle of the crater because there was nothing there.

"What!?" Happy looked on with shock as sweat started to fall down his head. "But we all saw him get punched!"

"Yeah, but did we forget the tree bends to his will!?" Kain motioned to his open hand again. "I felt it when I made contact: the tree absorbed him like water before I could follow through! All I did was-" Kain got interrupted when the entire tree started to shake. "Hurry up and climb on! Or fly by yourselves!"

Laxus, Gajeel, and Pantherlily scaled the hand as Happy and Carla flew Natsu and Wendy out with Droma Anim: Fairy Tail Mode.

Everyone freed could only watch in horror as more roots started to grow: even from where Kain cut off large sections. Yet it grew violently, instead of one branch, three of them exploded outward, moving more like tentacles than pieces of wood. Roots the size of an entire city block rose, lifting the tree to a greater height that made the fliers pale.

If things weren't any worse, the clouds started to obscure the sky, and thunder boomed. But it was green and connected solely to the roots and the great tree.

"Something's wrong..." Everyone turned to Wendy. "I... I feel like the planet is dying... it's growing weaker with each second..."

Mystogan clicked his tongue. "The tree is absorbing all of the magic of Edolas. If it's not stopped here, Earthland is next."

"Can we even do anything to it!? Even Dorma Anim and Kain's armor couldn't stop him!" Hisui looked on with horror.

Mystogan looked at the sword he wielded and gripped it tighter, knowing he still couldn't unsheath it even as the world started to breathe its last. "We have one last shot. Redray created a weapon that could kill the elf! We just need to get close to him! We need to find where he's hiding!"

Hide?

A voice came from all directions.

I am on the cusp of a miracle. And you think I'm hiding?

Natsu clenched his fist and shouted. "THEN COME AND FACE US! WE'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

It is YOU who must FACE me. I. AM. RIGHT. BEFORE. YOU.

The sound of wood cracking in cacophony with metal bending and energy pulsating made everyone turn towards the trunk of the Great Tree. Veins pulsated and cracked before what looked like a face made of energy cracks five times the size of Dorma Anim stared down on the last defenders of Edolas.

"Brat," Laxus whispered and couldn't help but gulp at how insignificant they looked to a tree anyone could see from the other side of the planet. "Tell me you have a plan."

However, instead of a snarky comeback, Kain remained silent. Even in a powerful new mecha, seeing what felt like the planet itself fighting against him felt daunting.

"I uh... I think I ran out of ideas..." Kain felt himself saying.

Roots rose to the sky, green thunder cackled between the branches and leaves, and an Avatar of determination shouted down to his opponents.

BEGONE LESSER BEINGS! THE ELVES RETURN THIS DAY!

{Author Notes}

And we're back! Pretty quick compared to last time, huh?

We're reaching the end of the Edolas arc. Took a while, but we finally got to a part I wanted to do: turn Anim Dorma into a Gundam/Megazord. Kain's finally got a fighting giant robot mecha! He's definitely going to need it.

Funny ain't it? In Cannon, Anim Dorma was the key to ending Edolas. Now? It's the only hope both Edolas and Earthland have against the magic of an entire planet.

Ain't irony funny?

So yeah. That's really all I have to say for now. But this should prove that the story isn't going to die just yet. If anything, the fact it can still come back at all is a pretty big deal.

Anyway, peace out guys. Thanks for reading this far.