"So you're saying... this is Happy?!" Marco pointed at the blue cat stuffed into a yellow bear costume and turned to Erza for confirmation.
"That's right..." Erza covered her face as she answered, suddenly recalling that the name "Happy" had actually been Marco's suggestion in the first place.
So... was this the reason?
"Aye!"
Happy sprawled on all fours, pretending to be a real cat, even letting out a sound—though it didn't quite resemble a feline's meow.
At this point, Happy was too terrified to speak, frozen stiff, wondering if he should just pretend to be a stuffed toy.
"I-It's... M-Marco!" Beside Happy, the blond, bruised Gray widened his eyes, stammering in clear fright.
Gray quickly covered his face, then shot an urgent look at Erza and Lucy.
Why these two so calm?!
Dressed like that, did they really think they could fool Marco?!
Gray certainly didn't believe it.
This was even worse than his and Natsu's fight—at least their swollen faces made them unrecognizable!
Erza and Lucy exchanged awkward glances, too embarrassed to meet Gray's eyes.
Then it dawned on Gray—Marco had arrived with Erza.
Had they already been exposed?!
It had to be said, Gray's mind worked remarkably fast when Natsu wasn't involved.
He was, after all, a clever kid.
The black-haired Natsu was in a strange state, staring intently at the pink-haired boy lying by the riverside.
"Lost... lost to Gray..."
The bruised and battered adult Natsu kept muttering, his entire body trembling with anger as he struggled to accept reality.
Under the witness of both adult Natsu and adult Gray, the younger Natsu had lost to the younger Gray—this completely shattered adult Natsu mind.
He couldn't accept it!
He refused to aceept it!
"Grrraaah!"
Natsu roared and leaped down from the roadside, landing by the river where the younger Natsu lay.
He grabbed the boy by the collar and immediately slapped him twice.
Dissatisfied, he followed up with a rapid barrage of eighteen more slaps!
Slap! Slap! Slap!
Amid the sound of slaps, the younger Natsu groggily regained consciousness.
For some reason, this sensation felt oddly familiar to him.
Last time... didnt someone also slapped him while he was unconscious?
The dazed younger Natsu couldn't quite recall it.
"Get up and fight him again! You haven't lost yet! Me!"
"How can you just give up?! Fight Gray again! Defeat him! Me!"
Adult Natsu continued frantically slapping the younger version of himself while shouting.
His insane behavior left everyone speechless.
Marco sighed and glanced at Erza with a strange expression.
Hadn't they been told not to interfere too much with their past selves?
Natsu was practically beating his younger self to death!
What kind of warning had they even been given?!
"..."
Erza's face flushed red with anger—she was actually being doubted by the younger Marco!
But she had given the instructions!
It was all Natsu's fault for not following them properly!
He'd completely ignored her words!
"AHHH MONSTER!!!"
The younger Natsu, now fully awake from the slapping, was the first to lose it upon seeing the disheveled, snarling, blood-eyed man before him.
He immediately scrambled away.
"You idiot! Why are you calling yourself a monster?!"
Adult Natsu bared his teeth, so furious he seemed on the verge of growing dragon scales.
He glared at his younger self, exasperated by his own weakness.
"I don't understand what you're saying! Damn monster!"
After the initial shock wore off, the younger Natsu prepared to counterattack.
But before he could act, Marco stepped between them, shielding the boy from the 'monster'.
"M-Marco?!"
Seeing the much shorter Marco in front of him, Natsu's already twisted expression contorted further—this time in terror.
"Marco! Let's team up and take this monster down!"
The reactions of the younger and adult Natsu to Marco's appearance were polar opposites.
The younger Natsu immediately darted out from behind Marco, grinning smugly at the monstrous man in front of him.
"Your time's up, monster!!!" The younger Natsu declared with an air of triumph, pointing at adult Natsu as his magic power surged violently.
"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
Flames enveloped Natsu's hand as he slashed towards the "monster" in a claw-like motion.
Natsu had always been a fearless troublemaker since childhood.
Although the monster had slapped him hard several times, he was already used to it—Erza had done the same before!
"Its useless you idiot!!!"
Facing young Natsu's fierce attack, adult Natsu casually blocked it with one hand, deflecting the strike.
Young Natsu's hand swung back, nearly slashing his own neck.
"Snap!"
At the critical moment, Marco reached out and grabbed younger Natsu's hand, preventing the claw from scratching his own throat.
The bruised and furious adult Natsu froze in surprise.
Before he could react, Marco kicked him square in the face.
"Wham!"
"Thud!"
Adult Natsu was sent flying and landed hard on the ground, but he was unharmed and immediately scrambled back up.
He didnt expect Marco to kick him at all—he'd been completely unprepared.
"What the hell? Why'd you kick me?!" Adult Natsu roared at Marco as soon as he got up.
Seeing this slightly younger version of Marco, a wicked thought surged in his heart.
Having always been suppressed by Marco and never able to turn the tables, Natsu couldn't help but feel like cackling evilly.
'Bullying a younger version of Marco wouldn't be so bad! It's not like he'd ever know it was me.'
That's what adult Natsu thought.
"Bam!"
But before the cackling adult Natsu could act, Erza's iron fist came crashing down on his head.
"Thump."
Adult Natsu, with his black hair, collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"You bastard! What the hell have you been messing around with?!"
Erza, who had been holding back for a while, finally snapped.
She stomped on adult Natsu twice, looking absolutely furious and reduced the previously ferocious adult Natsu to silence.
"AHHHH ANOTHER MONSTER!"
Younger Natsu, who had been watching the monster suddenly got suppress by another monster, couldn't take it anymore.
He grabbed Marco and tried to flee together with him.
"..."
Marco couldn't help but laugh.
Facing his own furious future self, young Natsu wasn't afraid and even dared to throw punches.
But the moment he saw the future Erza, Natsu panicked, as if facing a man-eating beast and immediately tried to run away.
"Natsu, go get backup! I'll hold them off. We can't let these guys enter Magnolia!"
Marco gave little Natsu a push, looking fired up.
Young Natsu froze for a second before quickly snapping out of it.
"Marco! Hold on! I'll get everyone to help!" Natsu shouted as he desperately pumped his short legs, sprinting towards Magnolia to call for reinforcements.
Natsu wasn't stupid.
He didn't stubbornly stay behind because he didn't want to hold Marco back.
His attacks had been effortlessly blocked and nearly hurt himself—staying would only distract Marco.
It was better to hurry and bring help.
Watching little Natsu run off, Gray was utterly baffled.
He glanced at Marco, wondering if they really had to fight this younger version of Marco.
Could... could they win?
"Damn it, Gray! Damn it, Happy! Both of you, get over here! And Lucy, you too!"
Before Gray could finish debating whether to confront Marco, Erza had already taken charge.
The "Fairy Queen" had one foot planted on Natsu's back, her face dark as she ordered them all to gather.
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