"Master Gray!"
Gray turned; behind him stood a girl with aquamarine hair. "Juvia? What are you doing here?"
"Not just Juvia—everyone from the guild is in town to cheer for you." She blushed. "If it's okay… maybe the two of us could get dinner?"
"I'm starving, actually," Gray admitted.
A smooth voice cut in. "There's a great restaurant on this street."
"Leon!" Gray and Juvia both jumped.
Leon draped an arm around Juvia's shoulder. "An aquarium‑style place—perfect for a date."
"W‑wait!" Juvia flustered.
Gray growled, "Hands off our guildmate!"
Leon stopped and looked back. "So you're in the Games, Gray."
"Yeah, so?"
"Then place a wager. If Lamia Scale wins, Juvia joins our guild."
Juvia squeaked. "Ah—!"
Gray clenched a fist. "What if we win?"
"Then she stays with you, of course."
"She's already with us!" Gray snapped.
"A pact between men, Gray—unless you're afraid of losing?"
"Tch—say that again!"
Elsewhere in Crocus, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy explored the flower‑lined streets.
"Blooming everywhere—this city really is a capital of flowers," Lucy said.
A shout rang out: "There's a fight!"
Natsu's eyes lit up. "A fight during the festival? Where?" He sprinted toward the commotion. Happy flapped after him; Lucy hurried behind.
In the plaza a ring of onlookers surrounded two men—everyone else lay groaning on the cobblestones. Two Exceed, like Happy, hovered at their sides.
"Still want to keep going?"
"There's no contest," the other replied.
Whispers rippled through the crowd.
"It's Saber Tooth's twin dragons!"
"Sting and Rogue!"
"A sword‑biting tiger?" Natsu muttered, pushing through the ring. He'd heard Saber Tooth were now Fiore's strongest guild.
Sting's eyes widened. "You're—Natsu Dragneel!"
Happy gawked at the two Exceed. "Cats?!"
Lector, Sting's partner, sneered. "What's with that dumb‑looking cat?"
"What a sample," Frosch (Rogue's partner) agreed.
Lucy rubbed her temple. "Do I even bother to comment…?"
Sting strode up to Natsu. "So the rumors are true—you're in the Games. The Dragon Slayer who couldn't beat Acnologia, right? What kind of Dragon Slayer is that?"
"What?" Natsu bristled.
"I used to look up to you," Sting said. "By the way, Rogue here admired Gajeel."
"Just a little curiosity," Rogue said. "We're Dragon Slayers too."
Natsu's jaw dropped. "Both of you?!"
"Please call us the true Dragon Slayers," Sting smirked. "We'd have taken Acnologia down."
"You say that 'cause you've never seen him," Lucy snapped.
"Exactly!" Happy agreed.
"Brain‑damaged cat," Lector scoffed.
Rogue added, "It's not about seeing the dragon—it's about the difference in Dragon‑Slayer caliber."
Lector explained smugly, "Natsu‑kun learned from a real dragon—he's first generation. Laxus and Cobra use lacrima implants—second generation. But Sting‑kun and Rogue‑kun are third generation hybrids: taught by dragons and infused with lacrima. The strongest Dragon Slayers!"
"Third generation… Did your dragons disappear on 7‑7‑X777 too?" Natsu asked.
"In a sense," Sting said, expression darkening.
Rogue continued calmly, "We killed the dragons who taught us. That's how you become a real Dragon Slayer."
Lucy gasped. "Killed… a dragon?!"
"Humans can't—"
Natsu's face hardened. To him Igneel was a father. The idea was unforgivable.
Sting turned away. "If tomorrow's main event is a duel, we'll show you real Dragon‑Slayer power. Bye‑bye."
Lector tossed over his shoulder, "That outdated Dragon Slayer's cat looks half‑dead already."
"Frosch feels the same," the other Exceed chirped.
Fairy Tail's hotel
Natsu and Happy stormed in, still fuming. "We've gotta show those jerks what's what!"
"What happened?" the others asked as they gathered for the night‑before strategy meeting.
(And so the tension between first‑generation Dragon Slayers and the self‑proclaimed "true" third generation set the stage for tomorrow's opening of the Grand Magic Games.)