Ice Dragon Slayer/Chapter 36: Mest

Cana, Lucy, Varan and Mothra Lea continued their little staring contest with two members of the Thunder Legion, Freed and Bickslow, and their kaiju partners Kumonga and Kamoebas.
Kumonga was cackling like a mad man. "Gahahahaha! This is gonna be so much fun! I can't wait to throw down!"
Varan glared at the spider. "Took the words right out'a my mouth. Lets do this Lea." The young larva chirped in response.
Kamoebas gave the two an calm stare. "We won't go easy on you just because we're allies. Prepare to give us your all."
Varan grinned. "You crazy? This feels like back home. Only difference is Godzilla isn't here to completely crush us when we try to challenge him." He then crouched down on all fours, getting himself into a pouncing position, before turning to Cana. "We'll take care of these two. You worry about those guys."
"Got it." Cana replied. "Be careful." Varan nodded in response as he and Lea turned to stare down their fellow kaiju. Cana and Lucy turned to Freed and Bickslow, who still stood where they were, waiting for them to make a move.
Freed, however, noticed that the two girls were still in their swimsuits and his began to turn a faint shade of pink. "Before we begin..." he started. "Would you ladies mind covering up a little?"
"C'mon man, it's better this way." Bickslow said as he turned to his partner. "What's the problem?"
Freed tried to avert his gaze. "It's distract. Now please cover up."
Cana seemed to figure out what he was embarrassed about and pulled out a card with a smirk. "Oh? A little shy are we?!" She threw the card towards Freed as it began to glow. The card exploded in a puff of smoke and when it cleared, Freed found himself surrounded by...
Women dressed in bikinis?!
"That should make things super easy!" Cana said as she watched the girls begin to wrap their arms around the green haired man.
Freed's face turned so red it looked like he was about to catch fire. "What sort of vulgar sorcery is this?! Summoning bikini babes?!"
"Do you have any idea how many men would kill for that power?" Bickslow asked, causing Freed to gasp in shock and embarrassment.
The kaiju just stared at the scene in front of them for a good couple of seconds until Kumonga broke the awkward silence. "Okay... Someone please explain what the heck we're watching right now."
"All I've managed to gather so far is that Freed is being assaulted by humans in skimpy attires." Kamoebas replied flatly.
Varan just watched as the girls continued to wrap their arms around Freed before slowly bringing his hand up to cover Mothra Lea's blue eyes. "Don't look Lea." he said quietly. "Something tells me that this is something we should not have seen."
Lea simply chirped in response.
Lucy's eyes slightly widened in surprise. "Whoa! That worked?!"
Cana grinned. "Heck yeah! I wish I'd known about this weakness the last time we fought!"
"Dream on! It ain't gonna work on me!" Bickslow taunted.
Kumonga appeared next to him. "Ditto to that!"
Cana turned to the Celestial Mage. "Your up Lu!"
Lucy nodded as she pulled out one of her golden Zodiac Keys. "Open: Gate of the Ram - Aries!" The Ram Spirit appeared in a puff of smoke.
Freed's eyes widened in shock and his face grew more red. "What?! Do you just have women tucked away somewhere?!"
Aries looked around timidly before turning to Lucy. "Umm...what would you like me to do?"
Lucy pointed towards Bickslow and Kumonga. "I need you to help us kick their butts!"
Kumonga's eyes flashed red as he jumped into the air. "You really think some ram chick can beat me?! Don't make me laugh!" The giant spider unleashed a blast of red webbing from his mouth and shouted, "Poison Threads!" 
Aries put her hands out in front of her. "Wool Wall!" she shouted. Then, a wall of pink wool appeared and managed to block the webbing. However, to almost everyone's surprise, the webbing actually managed to melt through some of the wool, causing it to disappear. The Ram Spirit was almost speechless. "He...melted through my wool?!"
"That ain't all it can do!" Kumonga shouted as her appeared above them. He then fired a thin stream of yellow webbing towards them. The group prepared to dodge, but was shocked when the webbing exploded into a giant net in the shape of a spiders web and caught them all before they could move. The girls and the kaiju tried to free themselves, but the net was just too strong.
"What the heck is this?!" Cana exclaimed. "I can't move!"
Kumonga continued to laugh. "Hahahaha! That was my Death Net! Those webs are some of the toughest I can make, so good luck trying to get out!"
Crap! I almost forgot about that move! Varan thought in frustration as he too tried to get out. "Anyone got any ideas?!"
Lucy's eyes widened. "I do!" She then pulled out her golden key. "Aries! Gate Close!" With that, Aries disappeared in a golden light before Lucy pulled out another golden key. "Open: Gate of the Giant Crab - Cancer!" 
Cancer appeared out of the key and turned to the group. "Need a hand, baby?"
"Just cut this net so we can get out of here." Lucy ordered.
"You got it, baby!" Cancer gave a few snips of the net with his scissors before the net was suddenly torn to shreds.
Lucy sighed with relief. "Thanks Cancer."
"No problem. Call me if you need another cut, baby." he replied as he vanished back to the Celestial World.
Kumonga was not happy. "No way! They actually cut through my Death Net! I call foul!"
"No prob. I'll take care of these bimbos." Bickslow said as he stepped forward. "Go get em babies!" Bickslow's babies charged at the group, forcing them to dodge and duck to avoid getting hit.
After a while, Cana was beginning to get annoyed and tossed several of her magic cards at the dolls, but missed. Then, a small torrent of silk appeared out of knowwhere and hit the dolls, wrapping them up in a ball of silk. The group turned to find that the source of the silk was actually Mothra Lea.
Varan gave a thumbs up. "Good thinking Lea!"
Bickslow was barely able to speak. "What the-"
He was interrupted when Lucy appeared in front of him and kicked him square in the face, knocking him out cold.
The blonde Celestial Mage pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! I knew that would do it! These bimbos really kicked your butt pal!"
Kumonga, who was know hanging from the caves ceiling, was shocked. "What the heck?! He calls that taking care of them?! They mopped the floor with him!"
Kamoebas, who was standing near Freed, was just as surprised. "They beat him that easily?!"
Freed on the other hand, was thinking about other things. He was still caught in the grasp of the small group of bikini babes and he looked like he was about to lose it. "Please stop! I'm seriously about to reach my limit!" Then, as luck would have it, the girls disappeared and transformed back into cards.
"Your kidding me!" Cana said in frustration. "The spell already wore off?!"
Freed sighed with relief, his face still a little red from his torture. "How utterly degrading! But now that I'm free you won't trap me again!" He then reached down and gripped the handle of his rapier with an anger glare. "Lets go!"
Varan paled. "Uhh... I think you made him mad."
Freed pulled his sword from its sheath with a shout, "Dark Ecriture: Wings!" Two clusters of runes, which resembled large purple wings, shot out of Freed's back as he took off into the air.
Cana threw more of her cards at Freed, but the green haired man just sliced through them with his sword before taking a swipe at the Card Mage. Cana jumped back and avoided the attack before pulling out another card. "Here goes nothing!" she said as she tossed the card onto the ground. "The Prayers Fountain!" she shouted. The card began to glow and a massive torrent of water shot out of the card.
"It's no use!" Freed shouted as he tried to cut through the water.
Kamoebas sighed as he began to walk towards the battle. "I guess it's time I joined in too."
Suddenly, a powerful tremor shook the entire cave, forcing everyone to stop.
Lucy and Cana began to lose their footing and struggled to stay up. Varan and Lea stood completely still, visibly stunned when they felt a colossal amount of magic energy.
Kamoebas stopped dead in his tracks and stared up at the ceiling while shaking in slight fear. This aura...I've never...felt this much power before...
Kamoebas started to panic a little when he began to struggle to keep his grip on the ceiling due to the tremor. What the hell?! It feels like the entire island is going berserk! How the heck is this even possible?!
Freed was frozen in place. It didn't take him long to figure out who was responsible for the huge amount of magic. "This power...There's no doubt about must be Gildarts' doing..."
Once the shaking finally stopped, Lucy recovered and noticed their opponents were still frozen in place. She immediately pulled out another golden key and dipped in into the water that was still being shot out of Cana's card and shouted, "Open: Gate of the Water Bearer - Aquarius!"
As soon as Aquarius appeared out of the water, Freed snapped out of his daze and suddenly flipped out. "Another bikini babe?!"
Kamoebas flashed the green haired man a look as if he was crazy. "What the hell is it with bikini babes that freaks you out?!"
"All of you idiots can drown!" Aquarius bellowed as she fired a huge torrent of water from her urn and blasted Freed and Kamoebas, causing them to slam into the cave wall. Unfortunately, Lucy, Cana and Lea were also caught in the wave and crashed to the ground.
Lucy shot to her feet with a glare. "Do you have sponge for brains?! Their the enemies!" she shouted as she pointed towards Freed and Kamoebas, who were having trouble standing.
Aquarius just smirked darkly. "Every time I see you your wearing less and less. Hehe, little Lucy thinks she can seduce a man? Good luck with that scrawny bod."
Cana wasn't going to have any of it and got right in the Celestial Spirits face. "You looking to get battered and deep fried?! Can you not tell the difference between friends and enemies?!"
"Every woman alive is my enemy you idiot!" Aquarius fired back.
Lea squeaked in fear and cowered behind Lucy, who just watched the group nervously. "Yeah. I hear you Lea. I'm staying out of that."
Kumonga, who had been spared since he was still hanging from the ceiling, just eyed the bickering group in confusion. "Uhh... Did they totally just forget about me? Oh well. Viscious Threads!" The spider jumped down and shot another stream of webbing from his mouth towards the opposing group. However, to his total shock, Varan appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the webs before they reached their target.
Kumonga started sweating bullets at this point. "Oh no..."
"Oh yes." Varan replied with an evil grin. Suddenly, to everyones shock, the tan colored kaiju began to spin Kumonga around by his webs.
"Please- stop it!- Let me- go!- Getting- dizzy!" Kumonga screamed as he continued to get spun. Finally, when Varan decided the spider had had enough, he gave one last spin before tossing him away.
Straight towards Kamoebas.
The blue turtle kaiju had just gotten to his feet when he heard a loud scream and looked up just in time to see Kumonga flying towards him. "Oh cra-!"
He didn't get to finish his swear when Kumonga crashed into him and sent them both flying towards Freed, who had also just gotten to his feet. He didn't even get a chance to react before he too was slammed into by the two kaiju and crashed into the cave wall yet again. They all crumpled into a heap on the cave floor, completely unconscious.
Varan eyed the unconscious group for a moment before turning to the his teammates, who where just staring at him. "Your welcome." he said with a smug grin.
Aquarius leaned over to whisper into Cana's ear with a sly grin. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"
"No! He's not my boyfriend, you weirdo!" Cana screamed. The two got into another heated argument while Lucy and Lea watched from the sidelines. Varan just eyed his teammates with a mixture of confusion and awkwardness.
'Did I miss something here?'
----Anguirus and Zilla watched from a safe distance as Elfman and Evergreen continued their tense stare down against Mirajane. Although they wanted to help them, they were far too exhausted to even stand up and were forced to simply watch from were they laid.
After a few moments of intense silence, Evergreen removed her glasses and activated her Eye Magic, causing her eyes to glow lime green. "You can't fight us if you can't move!"
Mira smirked as demonic wings sprouted from her back as she took to the air. "Nice try, but that spell is completely useless if I don't look into your eyes!"
Evergreen sprouted her fairy wings and took to the air after the She-Devil. "Good thing that's not the only spell I've got up my sleeve!" She then swiped her arm across her chest and fired several needles of light with a shout, "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
Mirajane smirked darkly as she created an orb of purple energy in her demon-like claws and threw it towards Evergreen. Some of the light needles easily bounced off the orb before it struck Evergreen in the chest, causing her to scream in pain before she tumbled onto the sand.
"No! Evergreen!" Elfman cried in worry. He turned back to his big sister as she gently landed on the ground in front of him and flashed him an blank look. Elfman tried his best to put on a brave face. "C'mon Mira. Do I have to fight you?"
Mira responded with nothing but silence. Elfman grunted in frustration before giving out a loud roar. "Beast Soul!" The Take Over Mage's body disappeared in a bright flash before reappearing in his Full-Body Take Over form. "I really didn't want it to come to this, but you leave me no choice!" Elfman roared as he charged towards Mira and swung his massive fist towards her.
However, Mira simply blocked the punch with her hand. She then performed a back flip and smacked Elfman in the face with her tail, knocking him into a rock. Mirajane raised her arm out as another orb of dark energy appeared in her hand. "It's over now."
"No, wait!" Evergreen appeared in front of Elfman with her arms spread out in a protective stance. Mira took notice of her actions and smirked again. "You think your going to stop me? I'll blow you both away."
Evergreen, however, just gave the She-Devil a confident smirk. "Before you do, there's something you should probably know."
----Carla and Panther Lily could see Tenrou Island not too far away.
Lily glanced at his fellow Exceed. "Do you think Master Makarov will be angry with us for following them here?"
"I doubt he'll be angry. We're just taking a look around."
"I assume we're here because your worried about Wendy." It wasn't a question, it was more like a matter-of-fact statement.
Carla gripped her map tightly in her paws before she started throwing a tantrum. "She knew I was firmly against the idea, but she went and did it anyway!"
Lily simply shrugged with a small sigh.
Once Carla managed to regain her composure, she closed her eyes. "A weeks past, but I remember it like it was yesterday..."
----Loke charged forward and cloaked his fist in gold light before swinging it towards Mest, who managed to block the attack with his arm. Loke tried to hit him again, but he managed to jump to avoid getting hit.
The Lion Spirit smirked. "I don't give a crap about Mest, but I feel kinda bad about kicking your butt Wendy."
"I ain't going easy on you kid!" Gray yelled as he smashed his fist into his palm. "Ice-Make: Hammer!" A massive ice hammer shot from Gray's hands and flew towards the duo. Wendy managed to jump away just in time, but Mest seemed to disappear in a flash.
Gray looked over his shoulder and noticed Mest was right behind him. "Sneak attack, huh?!" Gray said in slight surprise. Mest kicked at the Ice Mage, but Gray blocked it with his arm and followed it up with a punch to Mest's gut, knocking him away.
Wendy spread her arms as she started chanting. "Grant me the power of the heavens! Sky Dragon's Roar!" she cried as she shot a large twister from her mouth.
Loke shot his arms forward as he too started chanting. "Oh Regulus! Lend me your strength!" A blast of gold energy fired from his arms and struck the large twister. The two attacks clashed together, neither of their owners willing to back down just yet. Loke smirked. "I had no clue you were this powerful."
Up above, King Caesar roared as he jumped off of a rock pillar and took a swipe at his opponent, but Rodan hovered away just as the sharp claws were inches from his beak. Rodan charged forward and kicked Caesar in the stomach, sending him tumbling through the air. The guardian beast growled in slight pain, but manged to flip midair before landing on another rock pillar.
Rodan gave a single, powerful flap of his wings and shouted, "Sonic Wingbeat!" A wave of sonic energy erupted from the tips of his wings and shot towards Caesar, who jumped away just in time as the attack completely destroyed the pillar he had just been on.
King Caesar landed feet first on a rock and held his arms out as a pinkish energy appeared between his paws. A bright pink blast of energy shot from Caesar's outstretched paws as he roared, "Prism Pulse!" Rodan barreled away just before the beam could singe his wing. The Master of the Skies landed on another rock just across from his rival.
Caesar smiled in approval, slightly gasping for breath. "Well...it looks like you weren't just running your mouth after all. You really have gotten tougher."
Rodan gave a chuckle as he too started breathing a little heavier. "Yeah right... Like I was the only one running my mouth. This is the only way to finally find out which of us can be just as strong as Chief."
"You have a long way to go if you want to have any hope of standing up to Godzilla." King Caesar replied in a more serious tone. "Don't forget, I have had thousands of years of fighting experience before Godzilla ever came to exist."
Rodan's expression also seemed to grow more serious as well. "That was a long time ago Caesar. A lot has changed during your little thousand year sleep." He gave a flap of his wings and charged the guardian beast again, followed by a loud cackling roar. "You aren't the king anymore!"
King Caesar pounced from his pillar with his claws outstretched as he let loose his own roar. "We shall see about that!"
Back with the mages, Gray noticed Loke was still engaged in his little clash with Wendy and decided to lend a hand. "I got your back!" he said as he swung his arms downwards. "Ice-Make: Floor!" The ground around him became covered in a thick sheet of ice. The little Dragon Slayer gave out a small yelp when she lost her footing and fell flat on her face.
Out of nowhere, Mest kicked Gray's feet out from under him before jumping back again. A loud yell was heard and Mest turned just in time to see Loke coming at him with light. Just as Loke was about to hit his target, however, he disappeared again. Mest appeared behind him and was ready to knock the Celestial Spirit's lights out, but was stopped when Loke used his still glowing fist to blind the opposing mage.
Mest was forced to shield his eyes, allowing Gray to create an ice bazooka and fire at Mest, knocking him out cold. Wendy jolted to her feet as Gray and Loke turned their attention to her.
Rodan had just managed to kick King Caesar away from him when he noticed Wendy being ganged up on by the other two mages. 'Oh no! I better help her out before it's too-!'
"Your open!"
Rodan spun around, but wasn't quick enough to react when Caesar delivered a powerful kick square in the face. Rodan lost all aerial mobility and crashed head first into the ground, knocking him out instantly.
"Rodan!" Wendy screamed. After realizing her friend/mentor was down for the count, she turned to face her remaining two opponents. She noticed Caesar was sitting crisscross on the rock he had been standing on earlier and was simply watching them, allowing his teammates to finish the battle themselves.
"That just leaves you Wendy!" Gray said. "Told ya I wasn't going easy on you!"
Then, the two mages each pulled out a glass jar out of nowhere that were filled with small red fruits. Wendy instantly paled. "Oh no..."
"Secret Technique: Dried Plum Attack!" they both exclaimed in unison as they each started to devour the fruits in their jars. Then, as soon as they each finished their jars, their began to pucker up from the sourness of the fruit, but they began to stalk towards Wendy. The young Dragon Slayer found herself backed up against the wall and was trembling in fear. She realized that she was at the mercy of her ultimate weakness:
Her incredible fear of sour plums.
King Caesar continued to watch from his rock and raised an eyebrow when he took notice of his teammates actions.
'...What the Daiei kind of fighting technique is that?'
----After a short while, Carla had finished her little story with Lily and sighed. "So...in the end she ignored me, claiming she needed to help Mest in order to repay her debt to Mystogan. And she tried to make me feel better by saying she would have Rodan go along with them."
Lily's eyes slightly widened in realization. "And that's reason the two of you didn't speak to each other for an entire week?"
Carla sighed again. "She's more stubborn than she looks Lily."
"Same goes for you." the black Exceed retorted playfully.
Carla's gaze went back to the island. "In all honesty, I couldn't care less about her teaming up with that creep Mest. I've already talked to Rodan about him and he agreed he would keep an eye on him for me. However, it's the trial itself that has me on edge. I have a really bad feeling about it."
"Do you think it's your clairvoyance?" Lily asked.
"...I'm not sure." Carla replied. "It's all so disjointed that it's hard for me to say."
Lily thought about it for a moment. "Personally, I think we need to keep an eye on this Mest fellow." Carla glanced at him with slight confusion as he started to rub his chin. "He said he was Mystogan's pupil, but that doesn't sit well with me."
----Mest's eyes shot open when he felt the immense pain in the back of his head. He managed to sit up straight and noticed Wendy was sitting in front of him.
The Dragon Slayer looked on in worry. "You okay?"
Mest just grunted and rubbed his still throbbing head. "They've got every right to be cocky. They could be the best fighters in the entire guild."
"Those three don't mess around." Wendy replied.
"I'll show them!" Mest exclaimed as he shot to his feet. "I'm determined to follow in my masters footsteps! I won't let them beat me!" He took several steps forward, pumping his fist in the air. "Come out and face me right now, you cowards!"
Nothing.
Mest looked around in confusion. "They here?"
"No...uhh... I hate to break it to you, but we lost to them." Wendy said as she bowed her head in sadness.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Mest shrieked in comical shock.
Wendy sniffled. "I really wish I was, but no. They beat us and moved on while you were passed out."
Mest looked back at her, still slightly hopeful she was just joking. "But what about Rodan?"
The male wizard flinched when Wendy suddenly broke down into tear. "H-he...was beaten too..." She gestured over to where Mest saw Rodan leaning back against a rock, completely out cold.
Mest was silent for a moment, then dipped his head in disappointment. 'Awwww! I could I fail this year too?!"
Wendy tried her best to wipe away the tears, but with no success. "It's my fault! You never should have teamed up with me! I tried my best, but it wasn't good enough." She covered her eyes with her hands as she continued to cry.
Mest looked on as the girl continued to cry. "Don't cry. It's not your fault. Try not to be so hard on yourself, okay?" He smiled when the young Dragon Slayer managed a nod. He then looked up at the cave ceiling. "Listen, Wendy. Let me ask you something. Makarov said this island is considered Fairy Tail's sacred ground. So do you know why?"
The girl finally managed to stop crying and looked up at her teammate. "Well yeah, I think so. Because this is where the guilds first master is buried."
"Yeah..." Mest replied. "Although that can't be the only reason. Tenrou Island is protected by a powerful force field that hides it from outsiders. Apparently it's impossible to find, no matter what kind of magic you use."
Wendy stared at Mest with surprise as he continued. "Mavis was special, but I don't they'd go to such lengths to hide her grave. Supposedly, there's a major secret regarding the Fairy Tail guild that's hidden somewhere on this island."
"Do you know what the secret is?" Wendy asked curiously.
"Nope. I have no idea." he replied as he lifted up Rodan and carried him over his shoulder before smiling down at the blue haired girl. "So what do you say? Do you wanna go and do some exploring?"
Wendy smiled brightly.
----King Caesar growled in slight pain as he rubbed his shoulder a little. "Damn, Rodan really did a number on me, that's for sure."
Loke smirked at the guardian beast as their group walked down the cave. "Well, you gotta admit, the two of us made beating Mest like that look pretty easy."
Gray glanced at the two over his shoulder. "No kidding. I don't remember him being so weak. He was at a disadvantage because of Wendy, but I feel like he used to be stronger than that."
Caesar raised an eyebrow. "How strong would you say he was?"
Gray tried to think back if he had fought Mest before, but came up with nothing. "Weird... I can't even remember if I fought him before and I'm the type who never forgets a fight. Mest managed to get pretty far in last years S-Class Trial, didn't he?"
"He did...as far as I know." Loke replied.
"I thought so... Hey, do you remember who his partner was last time?" Gray asked.
Loke tried to think back, but like Gray, he was stumped. "That's weird... I keep drawing a blank."
Gray narrowed his eyes. "I can only picture a few things about Mest and their all hazy."
Loke adjusted his glasses as he went into deep thought. "It's like I try to think back, but then I hit some kind of block. I can't seem to remember anything before it."
King Caesar over heard his partners exchange of words and turned to look over his shoulder at where they had come from. 'A fellow member that they can't seem to remember anything about. And here I thought everyone in this guild knew each other. What's really going on here?'
Caesar's train of thought was cut short when the group reached the end of the tunnel and stepped into the sunlight, only to be met by a familiar voice. "Gray! Loke! I knew you guys wouldn't have any trouble making past the first round."
The group looked up and realized the source of the voice was Lucy, who was standing with Cana, Varan and Lea. "Nice work. Congratulations." Cana complimented to the group.
Varan chuckled. "Hehe, I shouldn't be too surprised that you made it too, Caesar."
King Caesar smiled at his ally. "I'm actually quite surprised that you made it Varan. You as well, Lea." The larva replied with a small chirp.
Nearby, Levy smiled up at Gajeel. "I told you. We were lucky to get the Serenity Route."
"Lucky?! But I didn't get to beat up a single person!" Black Steel roared in anger.
Baragon rolled his eyes. "You've been complaining about that for the last half hour now. Why don't you just put a sock in it already?!"
"Why don't you put a sock in it dog breath!" Gajeel retorted.
The red kaiju growled as he got right in his face. "Oh?! You wanna throw down again you metalhead?! Because I'm all for throwing down!"
"I'll take you on anytime, puppy eyes!" the Dragon Slayer snapped back as the two started to lock heads.
Gorosaurus sighed in annoyance. "Those two just don't know when to put a lid on it, don't they?"
Gray looked on with surprise. "Wow. We were the only one's who managed to make it passed the first round?"
"Not even close."
The group turned and were even more surprised when they saw Godzilla walking up to them.
Varan grinned. "Of course you would make it boss. I'm guessing it was a walk in the park for you?"
Godzilla simply shrugged. "It had it's ups and downs, but overall it wasn't too difficult."
Loke glanced around when he realized someone was missing. "Where's Natsu?"
Happy appeared on Godzilla's head and pointed to where the Dragon Slayer was sitting in a rock. "He's right over there."
Gray noticed something off about how Natsu was behaving. "He seems kinda down. What happened to him?"
"It's a long story." Happy said with a shrug.
King Caesar glanced over to the King of the Monsters. "Do you know?"
Godzilla nodded. "I'll tell you about it later."
"Alright! I believe all of our winners are here now?"
Everyone turned and noticed Master Makarov walking towards them. He looked over the different teams for a second or two before speaking again. "Well,in that case, these are the results thus far: Cana, Lucy, Varan and Lea defeated Freed, Bickslow, Kamoebas and Kumonga in combat. Nicely done."
Gray was shocked to say the least. "They beat Freed?! How?!"
Caesar looked slightly surprised. "So Kumonga and Kamoebas were beaten? What do ya know..."
Makarov continued. "Natsu, Happy and Godzilla surmounted the obstacle known as Gildarts. Good job."
Gray was even more shocked. "No way?! Those three?!"
The lion/dog hybrid just patted the Ice wizards shoulder. "Don't forget, they had Godzilla with them."
The Master went on. "Levy, Gajeel, Gorosaurus and Baragon chose the Serenity Route. Well, aren't you lucky."
Levy smiled and gave a peace sign and Gorosaurus nodded in approval while Gajeel roared in fury. "Well I think it's sucky!"
"Put a cork in it already!" Baragon snapped, on the verge of losing his temper.
"Gray, Loke and Caesar defeated Mest, Wendy and Rodan in combat. Way to go boys." Makarov went on.
Gray looked around when he noticed someone else was missing. "Juvia didn't make it through the first round?"
Makarov paled. "Unfortunately, luck wasn't on Juvia's teams side today..." His eyes widened in terror. "Their route led to 'She who knows no mercy'!"
----Erza smirked as she stood over her fallen opponents. "Want another go at me?"
"No...We surrender..." Juvia and Lisanna groaned in unison. Manda was still out cold and Leo was hiding behind a boulder, shaking in terror.
----"...That sucks." Gray deadpanned.
Lucy realized there was another group missing too. "Elfman's team isn't here. What do think happened to them?"
Cana rubbed her chin. "Well, by process of elimination...the only other route..."
They both sweat dropped in unison. "Mirajane..."
"Don't count us out yet!"
Every turned to the source of the new voice and saw Elfman, who was being supported by Evergreen, stumble out from the forest with Anguirus and Zilla by their side. Elfman gave a slightly painful grin. "Didn't think we could beat my big sis, did ya?!"
"Guess who's moving on to round two." Evergreen said with a smirk.
Makarov's eyes widened. "My word!"
"How the heck did you beat Mira?!" Happy asked.
Elfman flinched. "A real man doesn't...brag about his wins..."
"Let's just say we took full advantage of catching her off guard." Evergreen said quickly.
Zilla giggled and nudged Anguirus in the side with her arm. "Right...Catching her off guard~"
Anguirus chuckled. "I still can't believe she fell for it."
After a few more moments of silence, Natsu suddenly shot to his feet before pointing at his competition. "Gray! Levy! Cana! Elfman! Only one of us is gonna make it to S-Class, and that's me!"
Gray smirked. "Yeah right! There's no I'm losing to you!"
Cana simply responded with a smirk while Levy gave a determined look. "Not gonna happen."
"Challenge accepted! Cause I'm a real man!" Elfman roared triumphantly.
Makarov cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Back to the trial. As it stands, there are five teams left. Congratulations on passing the first round. Now that everyone's here, lets move on to the second round. To pass the next round, you must search the island for the grave of Fairy Tail's founder: Mavis Vermilion. You have six hours to find it or you fail."
He paused for a moment. "Also, to make this round more challenging, you will no longer require your Earth Defender partners."
Everyone was shocked. "WHAAAAAAT?!"
Godzilla shrugged. "Well, if those are the rules then we must follow them."
Varan gave his team a small smile. "Well, it was fun while it lasted."
"No joke. Thanks for helping us out back their." Cana said.
"Now, if all the Defenders will please make their way back to our base camp to await further instruction, that would be nice." Makarov continued.
The kaiju bid fair well to their human partners, but Baragon wasn't about to leave empty handed. He turned to a certain Dragon Slayer and grinned deviously. "Have fun finding the grave you metal brained pinhead."
Gajeel just sniggered. "When this is all over, I'm gonna enjoy making you eat those words bone for brains."
Baragon would have pounced on him instantly had Godzilla not grabbed him by his tail and literally dragged the red kaiju away before a brawl could break out, the other Defenders in tow. Godzilla looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Natsu, you had better hope you win this trial."
Natsu grinned back. "You got it!" He then turned to Happy. "You ready?! Lets go!"
"Aye, sir!" the Exceed replied.
The other teams took off in multiple directions while Makarov walked off to await the winning team at Mavis's grave.
----Panther Lily and Carla had landed on Tenrou Island and were walking along it's white sandy beach in silence.
Lily finally broke the silence. "The prince- I mean Mystogan- felt it was best to avoid contact with people whenever he visited this world."
Carla thought about Lily's statement. "I've been told he would put everyone to sleep when he dropped by the guild. I assume he was trying to prevent them from seeing his face."
The black Exceed nodded. "And that's why I find it hard to believe he'd have a pupil here."
"What are you trying to say?" Carla asked.
Lily narrowed his eyes. "While it's nothing more than baseless speculation, I have a theory."
----Wendy looked out over the horizon from the large cliff she stood on. "It's so pretty up here!"
"Be careful." Mest called from behind as he rested Rodan gently against a rock before walking towards the young Dragon Slayer.
She was so captivated by the sights, she failed to notice the dark smile on Mest's face.
----Lily stopped before turning to look at Carla. "I know it might sound crazy, but...I'm not sure Mest is a member of Fairy Tail."
----Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail's makeshift base camp, Erza, who was in the middle of cooking a stew, looked completely stunned. "No way! Elfman and Evergreen said their getting married?!"
Mirajane smiled sheepishly as she sat at a table with Juvia, Lisanna, Manda and Mothra Leo. The Shobijin were sitting atop Leo's head. "Yep. It totally caught me off guard and that gave them an opening to attack."
Erza pointed at her with her cooking spoon with a disapproving look. "Why didn't you tell me?! They've obviously been dating for a while if their getting married, but you never mentioned it!"
Mira hummed as she thought about it, then smiled. "They probably just wanted to say something shocking to throw me off. I guess I've still got a lot to learn."
"What if it wasn't a strategy?" Erza asked as she kept her serious look.
"Remember who we're talking about here." Mira laughed. "Knowing my brother, I doubt that it's true. I've never imagined the two of them getting married and having babies." She then frowned and tapped her chin as she thought about just how ugly their baby would look and covered her face with her hands as she started crying.
Erza patted her shoulder with a reassuring smile. "There's no need to cry. It's kind of cute depending on how you look at it."
Lisanna beamed. "You know, now that I think about it, they'd make an awesome couple."
The Shobijin giggled in unison. "Young love can be such a wonderful thing, can't it?"
"Their gonna have...babies." Juvia muttered to herself as her face grew so red steam was erupting from her head.
Manda eyed the blue haired woman. "Are you feeling alright dear? You look flustered."
"I'm fine!" Juvia said rather loudly and quickly. Manda just giggled, she didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know who the Water mage was thinking about.
Lisanna then frowned when she realized they were missing someone, or rather someones. "Hey, what happened to Freed and Bickslow?"
"They apparently decided to go home and Gildarts offered to take them."
The group turned to the source of the new voice and noticed two familiar kaiju walking towards them.
Manda smiled. "Kumonga! Kamoebas! What brings you here?"
Kamoebas frowned a little. "What do you think? Varan and Lea defeated us."
Leo looked up at the mention of his twin sisters name and Mira's eyes slightly widened as she spoke. "Lea beat you?"
The blue turtle nodded. "She sure caught us by surprise with how she helped defeat Bickslow, that's for sure."
Erza looked at him with slight shock. "She defeated Bickslow?!"
The Shobijin smiled warmly. "It would appear Lea has grown quit strong after all."
Leo looked down and gave a quiet, sad squeak. Lisanna heard him and patted his head fondly. "Don't worry. You'll get there too. I know it."
That seemed to lift the male larva's spirits a little. The moment of peace was then interrupted by Kumonga. "I still can't believe I got my assets handed to me by frickin' Varan of all people! He's gonna hold this over my head till the day I die!"
Kamoebas chuckled a little. "Knowing him, there's no doubt about it. Besides, you were the one who decided to let your guard down when you allowed Varan to ambush you."
That seemed to only tick off the spider as his eyes once again started to turn red. "What the heck is that supposed to mean?! You wanna go you big tortoise?!"
Before Kamoebas could even retort, Manda shot them a warning look. "Don't even think about it you two! Don't go trying to kill each other after you've already spent your energy." Her frown then shifted to a sly smile. "Do you want me to have to tell Anguirus you two were fighting again?"
Almost instantly, Kumonga backed off as he quite literally looked like he was sweating bullets. "Oh, good Tanaka no! Not Anguirus! The boss I can live with, but Anguirus?!"
Erza cocked an eye. "What about Anguirus?"
The Shobijin giggled again. "Let's just say that he has a tendency to lose his composure ever now and again."
Mira stared at the tiny women. "Like how?"
Kamoebas shuddered a little. "You really don't want to know..."
At that point, Juvia suddenly rose to her feet. "I think I should go look for Mest and Wendy. It's been a while now and I'm starting to get a little concerned."
"Yeah, what's taking them so long?" Drake asked. 
"Should we find out?" Sarah questioned as she used her Dinosaur Soul Take-Over magic and became a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Erza undid her apron as she turned to the Strauss sister, the Shobijin and Mothra Leo." You all stay here and guard the tent. We're going to accompany Juvia on her search."
The Water wizard was not at all pleased with that. 'I wanted to ditch them and go cheer on my beloved Gray.'
It was then that Manda sat up as well. "I too will go with you." She then turned to Kamoebas and Kumonga. "Will you two go look for the others and make sure they get back here safely?"
Kumonga nodded. "No problem."
Kamoebas turned to walk back into the forest. "Let's get going then."
----Elfman and Evergreen screamed as they sped down the forest path as fast as their legs could carry them. Nipping at their heels was a massive pig monster that had run into them and had been in pursuit of them for almost five minutes now.
"This wouldn't be happening if Zilla and Anguirus were still here!" Evergreen screamed.
Elfman pumped his arms and legs as fast as he could. "A real man should never run from his enemies!"
"If you don't stop this 'real man' nonsense, I'll finish you myself!" Evergreen snapped as she kept on running. She then glanced over her shoulder when the pig monster raised it's sharp hoof and swung it towards her. Elfman, however, managed to tackle her out of the way and sent them both tumbling down a small cliff and out of the sight of the monster.
Evergreen blinked her eyes and realized Elfman was still had his arms wrapped around her and proceeded to push him off. "What do you think you're doing?! Don't you dare start thinking I'm interested in you just because of what I said to Mira! I was only trying to throw her off her game, not express any real desire to hook up with you bone head!"
The big man just blinked in slight confusion. "Where's this coming from..." He then grinned. "Gotta hand it to you though, that was pretty smooth. Hard to believe a nice girl like you came up with such a naughty trick."
She flashed him a slightly surprised and disgusted look. "You make it sound so dirty!"
"...People?"
The two turned and noticed a young man walk out from some nearby bushes.
He looked to be almost about Natsu's age and was dressed in a black rob with gold trims and had a long, white toga draped around his torso and wrapped around his left shoulder. He also had a silver medallion wrapped around his neck, along with jet black hair and dark eyes.
The man stared at the two Fairy Tail mages as he stepped out into the clearing. "I'm confused... Why have you come to such a desolate place? I was under the impression that this island was uninhabited."
"Well you were wrong, pal!" Elfman snapped.
"Your trespassing!" Evergreen said as she glared at the man. "Only members of our guild are allowed here!"
"I'm...trespassing?" he asked. He then dipped his head. "Forgive me...I didn't know this island was controlled by a guild.
Elfman started growing impatient and took a step forward. "It is ours!"
"No! Stay back!"
The two flinched and stepped back at the mans outburst as he shot his hand forward, warning them not to come closer. He spoke again. "If you value your lives, don't come any closer."
"That kind of sounds like a challenge!" Elfman growled.
"No, it's not. I don't want to fight you." the man said as he slowly lowered his outstretched hand. "I'll leave the island peacefully. Please...just don't come near me..."
Evergreen looked a little uneasy. "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know, but he shouldn't be here." Elfman grunted, not taking his eye's off the stranger for a second.
Suddenly, the man felt an immense pain rush into head and raised both hands to clutch the sides of his head. "No...here it comes..." he said as the throbbing pain continued. "The predatory death... I can't stop it!"
Then, for almost no reason at all, the leaves that were floating around the man seemed to just evaporate into dust as a cloudy, jet black sphere of energy surrounded the stranger. He grunted in pain as the grass around him changed from light gold into a deep brown color and a wave of black energy flew towards the two wizards who were almost frozen in place.
"GET DOWN!"
A hand grabbed each of them by the back of their heads and shoved them to the ground just before the wave could engulf them. The grass around the them had turned brown and the leaves once again began to fade away like dust once the cloud made contact with them.
Once they realized they were still alive, the two glanced up at their rescuer. Elfman sighed in relief. "Natsu...thank you."
"Yes, but could you warn us next before you scare us?" Evergreen asked.
Natsu just stared at the man from where he was lying on top of his fellow guild members. The man stared back at Natsu with a look of utter shock on his face. The Salamander glared at the man. "Who are you?! You better answer me or else!"
The stranger said nothing at first, then suddenly...he started crying.
"It's really you...Natsu..."