"B-Beast Slayer Magic!?!"

"Yep!" Evergreen grinned at the Requip Mage. "Wow," Lucy commented from a few people away, "there's dragon slayers, god slayers, demon slayers, and now beast slayers."

"YOU'RE A BEAST SLAYER!" Takeshi shouted, completely dumbfounded. Tarou turned to face his beast friend. "Got that right!" He grinned. "What the-" Gray muttered. Up until now, nobody but a few people knew of Tarou's magic. Now the entire guild knew. "Guess I have to show you what I can do then." Takeshi chuckled. "Take-Over." He said. A dark purple magic circle appeared over his head as his body glowed purple as well. Once the glow was gone, signaling that the take-over was complete, Takeshi had maroon dragon scales on his arms and legs, dragon claws where his hands and feet should be, a dragon scaled tail, and dragon scaled wings. "Fire Dragon." He said with a smirk.

"Here I come, Gray." Takeshi said. Gray got into a stance and nodded. Takeshi flew towards the Ice Mage and Gray began to attack. The one who attacks first is the victor! Gray thought and smirked. "Ice Make: Lance!" Takeshi didn't bother dodging the attack as he made his way towards his opponent. "Burn." He smirked at Gray as his body became engulfed in flames. He flew straight into the attack, turning the ice into evaporated water.

"Wing Attack!" Takeshi held his arms out and flames began to come off of him, dancing around and surrounding Gray. Gray grunted in pain from the burns he was getting. "Ice Make: Prison!" Not expecting the attack, Takeshi ran into the cage bars and fell on his butt. "Wish I could trap Natsu like that." Gray admired his work. "Oh, I'm not finished yet." Takeshi grinned.

"I'll admit that was impressive," Natsu commented as he, finally, stood up. "but can a Beast defeat a Dragon?" Natsu raised his fist and flames can from it. Tarou turned his attention, which had previously been on Takeshi's fight, to Natsu. "Definitely! The beasts have surpassed the dragons!" Tarou got into a stance and readied himself for Natsu to attack.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" Tarou jumped into the air, escaping the attack, and casted a spell of his own. "Shadow Beast's Crushing Hold!" Beast-like paws with sharp claws made out of shadows appeared on the left and right side of Natsu. The paws came together, the claws piercing into the dragon slayer, and consumed him in shadows. Natsu howled in pain, but was grinning ear-to-ear.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu used this attack to burn away the shadows. He had bruises where the shadow claws had pierced him. Natsu chuckled under his breathe. "I'm all fired up!" He grinned. "Fire Dragon's . ." Natsu's cheeks puffed up. Tarou knew what that meant. He shook his head and laughed lightly. "Shadow Beast's . ."

"ROAR!"

"HOWL!"

The two attacks collided, causing an explosion which interrupted the Takeshi vs Gray fight due to the debris. The other Fairy Tail member who were watching the two fights coughed as debris and dust came their way. "Idiots." Riko mumbled, fanning dust out of her face.

"Hey, Gray!" Tarou called after the dust cleared. "Wanna see real teamwork?"

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Gray replied, confused.

"Take-Over." Takeshi began taking another form. "Shadow Dragon." Tarou grinned at his best friend's form. It was the same as the previous except instead of maroon scales, the scales were black. "Let's go." Tarou mumbled.

"Ice Make: Shotgun!"

The attack had no effect on either boy because they both turned into shadows. The two shadows moved at an incredible speed along the ground. The boys came out of the shadows at just the right moment to attack their opponents. Tarou punched Natsu in the jaw while Takeshi kicked Gray in the stomach. Natsu and Gray were pushed back and they grunted at the slight pain. "You guys sure have gotten stronger." Natsu smirked, enjoying himself. He always loved a good fight. "Yeah, but . ." Gray mumbled, "where did you learn Beast Slayer Magic?"

Gray brought up a question that was in everyone's mind. All eyes were on the Strauss child. "Well, if you really wanna know . ." Tarou sighed with a shrug of the shoulders. "It started after I went missing." He began.

It was dark and Tarou couldn't see a thing. He sat in a place surrounded by trees. Hours earlier, he had been shouting for his parents but had no luck. Now the sun had went down and it was pitch black. Tarou pulled his knees to his chest and sat there. It was quiet for a while until the little boy heard the snapping of a branch. He jumped slightly, but kept quiet. "Huh? Someone there?" A deep voice spoke. Tarou pulled his knees in tighter, still not making a sound. "I can smell you." The voice said, "I know you're there."

"Huh?" Tarou accidentally slipped out. He quickly covered his mouth with his hands. "Heh, there you are." The voice chuckled,"What's your name, kid?" Tarou removed his hands from his mouth. "T-Tarou." He mumbled. "Tarou?" The voice repeated, "You strong, Tarou?"

"Huh? Me? No. I don't know any magic."

"Well, why don't I train you?" Tarou heard shuffling around and then it became quiet after a moment. "By the way," the voice spoke, "the name's Kaage."

"Kaage?"

"Yes. My name means shadow and that is what you'll become. I'll train you and make you strong. You'll be the strongest slayer that ever walked the Earth."

"Slayer? Like Dragon Slayer?"

"Yes, but you'll be a Beast Slayer. I'm gonna teach you to use the power to slay beasts."

"Awesome!"

"Kaage is the one who taught me my magic." Tarou held out his hand and stared at it. "Well then where were you too? I tracked your scent down, but you weren't there." Natsu raised an eyebrow, wanting an answer. "That's because I was in the Spirit World." Tarou explained.

"The Celestial Spirit World?" Lucy asked, shocked. "No." Tarou shook his head, "The Spirit World as in where the dead are." Everyone stared at Tarou with their jaws dropped. "Why were you there?" Evergreen shouted, becoming angry. "I don't know. I don't know how I got there or how I got back here, but I do know that I'm strong now." Tarou made a tight fist. "I'm a real man!"