"What's wrong with him?"
As the train jolted into motion, Goku stared at Natsu, who was sprawled across the seat looking as though half his soul had already departed his body. The boy's face was a picture of pure curiosity.
Happy raised a paw to explain. "Natsu gets motion sickness on any kind of transportation, aye!"
"Pathetic. The fight hasn't even started and he's already down for the count," Gray remarked, managing to keep his clothes on for once as he offered a timely sneer.
Erza, seated next to Natsu, didn't bother with sympathy. She reached out, hoisted the pink-haired mage up by his collar, and delivered a swift, heavy punch to his temple. Natsu's eyes rolled back, and he slumped into a deep unconsciousness, his head coming to rest on Erza's lap.
"There. Now he won't feel the motion sickness," Erza said calmly.
Lucy watched the scene, her body trembling slightly. She finally understood why Mirajane had warned her that these three weren't exactly "normal."
"Whoa! So that's how you cure motion sickness! I've learned something new today!" Goku chirped, looking genuinely impressed by Erza's "medical" intervention.
'None of these people are normal,' Lucy screamed internally.
Gray turned his attention back to the mission. "Erza, what exactly is the deal with this job? You haven't given us the full breakdown yet."
Erza's expression turned grave as she began to explain. While returning from her S-Class mission, she had stopped at a tavern in the city of Onibus. There, she had overheard a group of mages from the Eisenwald guild discussing a discovery. They had found a terrifying magical artifact called "Lullaby" and were planning to use it for something catastrophic.
Eisenwald had once been a member of the official Guild League, but six years ago, they were expelled for consistently accepting illegal assassination requests. They had since fallen into the darkness, becoming a notorious Dark Guild. Their ace was a man named Erigor, an S-Class mage known as "Death God Erigor" because his assassinations never failed.
Erza feared that Eisenwald was planning a massacre. Her plan was simple: strike first, strike hard, and dismantle the entire Dark Guild before they could act. However, even Erza wasn't reckless enough to think she could solo an entire guild of veteran killers, which was why she had recruited the two strongest mages near her level.
"Wait, challenge an entire guild? Is it too late for me to back out?" Lucy asked, her hair practically standing on end. Dark Guilds weren't to be trifled with; the weak ones had already been eradicated by the Magic Council. They were heading into a nest of vipers with only four mages and a cat. To her, it sounded like a suicide mission—especially with a "Death God" waiting for them.
"Fighting a whole guild? That sounds amazing!" Unlike Lucy, Goku was vibrating with excitement. This was exactly the kind of "mission" he loved—a chance to test his limits against a sea of opponents.
...
Onibus Station
Three hours later, the train pulled into Onibus. The group disembarked, intending to scour the city for the mages Erza had seen.
"Do you really think they're still in town?" Gray asked, looking skeptical.
Erza shook her head. "I don't know. Our best bet is to return to that tavern and look for leads."
"That's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Lucy sighed, rubbing her forehead.
Goku rubbed his stomach. "Maybe we should get lunch first? It's noon, after all."
As they argued, Happy, perched atop Erza's mountain of luggage, suddenly raised a paw. "Wait... where's Natsu?"
The group froze. A collective gasp echoed through the station. "Oh no! We forgot him on the train!"
In the rush of the crowd, they had completely forgotten that Natsu was still unconscious on the seat. The train whistled and began to pull away, gathering speed.
"Pull the station brakes! We'll hijack a Magic Four-Wheeler and chase it down!" Erza commanded instantly, her sense of responsibility flaring. She would never abandon a comrade.
"That will bring the city guard down on us!" Lucy cried out, but her protest was cut short.
"I can still sense Natsu's ki," Goku said. "Wait here, I'll bring him back."
Before anyone could blink, Goku vanished from the spot.
"Teleportation Magic?" Erza's eyes widened. She knew of mages who could use spatial movement, and the Council even used massive arrays for transport, but seeing a child use it so casually was shocking.
They thought he had "Repair Magic," "Giant Magic," and now "Spatial Magic." At his age, possessing three distinct types of magic was a sign of a terrifyingly high aptitude. Usually, only Holder-type mages could mimic such variety using different tools.
...
On the Train
Goku reappeared in the train car near Natsu's seat, but his expression immediately soured. Natsu was on the floor, and a man with a ponytail was stepping on his chest.
"What are you doing?" Goku asked, his voice low and dangerous. Natsu was his friend, and seeing a friend bullied made his blood boil.
The man, Kageyama of Eisenwald, looked at Goku with a sneer. "Hmph, another one? You mages from the legal guilds are just loud-mouthed flies. You actually thought you could ambush Eisenwald? I'll give you a lesson you won't forget."
Kageyama's shadow suddenly writhed. A dark magic circle appeared beneath his feet, and eight snakes made of pure shadow lunged at Goku, their fangs bared.
"Shadow Magic: Eight Shadow Snakes!"
Kageyama had been sitting just two rows behind the Fairy Tail group earlier. He had been intimidated by their numbers and Erza's aura, but when they left one member behind, he decided to test their strength. Seeing Natsu so helpless had filled him with a false sense of superiority. Now that a child had appeared, he didn't even consider him a threat.
"What kind of magic is this?" Goku asked, sounding genuinely confused. "It's so weak."
As the shadow snakes lunged, Goku didn't even move from his spot. He simply extended a finger and flicked—eight times in a micro-second.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
Each shadow snake's head was struck with pin-point accuracy, causing the constructs to explode into harmless smoke. To Goku, the speed and power of the attack were so pathetic he didn't even feel the need to brace himself. Even if they had bitten him, he doubted they could have pierced his skin.