Eighteen

Justineaux

Today is Marshall's birthday. Everyone was planning on surprising him. "He's going to love this breakfast," Chase said. They knocked on the door. The door opened. Out came Marshall. "Happy… Birthday?" they all said. What caught them off guard were Marshall's eyes, obviously red from crying. "Oh, hey guys," he said sniffing. "Marshall, what's wrong? It's your birthday today! You should be happy," Skye said. "It's just something that happened in Fiore a few years ago. Leave me alone for the day, okay?" he said. He closed the door again.

Because of that, the pups were down. "What happened in Fiore?" Rubble asked. Everyone just shrugged. They all left one by one after what happened. Chase was about to leave too when he heard Marshall sob. "Justineaux, I miss you," he sobbed. "I want you back," he sobbed again. Chase immediately rushed to the others. "Guys!" he said. "I heard Marshall sobbing a name. He said 'Justineaux'," Chase said. "Let's go to Fiore. Maybe they know," Rocky said.

They instantly took the Guild Stone to the metal door. When the portal appeared, they went in.

When they got to the other side, they saw the Fairy Tail guild not very festive. "Oh, hey you guys," Erza said, seeing them there. "Erza, do you know where Master Makarov is?" Chase asked. "He's up the clinic. He's helping treat an Exceed," Erza said. The other pups went to the clinic of the guild.

They went inside. They saw Master Makarov in the corner. "What brings you here? If I remember correctly, it is Ezra's birthday. Shouldn't you be celebrating?" Master Makarov asked. "We were about to celebrate. The only thing is Ezra is mourning rather than celebrating. He mentioned a name: Justineaux," Chase said. Makarov was silent. He sighed and sat on a clinic bed. "We thought he was dead. A few years ago, Ezra and Justineaux were the best of friends. Then, Evil Rogue invaded the guild. He wanted to destroy everyone. He tried to target everyone he sees. When he saw Ezra, he shot a ball of death at him. But, Justineaux, being a brother, sacrificed his life for Ezra. Only a feather was left of him. Then, Ezra received the One Magic, the magic of all magic. We thought he would only defeat Rogue. We were wrong. He wanted to kill Rogue. He became an inverted side. He was out of control. Only if the memory of Justineaux didn't stop him, Magnolia will be in ruins; nothing but a legend. As we said, we thought he was dead, but now we know that he was in a place where he was tortured every day. Luckily, Erza felt the presence. We asked Jellal for help. He was able to get him out of the place. Here he is now," Makarov said, removing one of the curtains.

There they saw an Exceed. He was spotted like Marshall. "Wait. We can heal him," Chase said. Chase started the chant. In a moment, Justineaux squirmed and snored. "Oh, there we go. He's all better," Chase said. "Yes he is. Bring him home to Ezra. He will be so happy to find out Justineaux isn't dead," Makarov said. While Makarov said that, Justineaux instantly burst awake. "Ezra!" he screamed. He flew out and started flying to each member. "Not Ezra," he said. "Where is Ezra?!" he screamed. He got then got a call from the guild master. "Justineaux, come here," he said. Justineaux flew obediently. "W-Who are they?" he asked. "Don't worry, Justineaux," Makarov said. "They are Ezra's friends. Do not worry," he said. "A-are you sure?" Justineaux asked. "If you want further proof we are Ezra's friends, listen to this: he has been crying about you," Chase said. Justineaux had a face of full terror. "He is?" he asked. "Stress crying, stress eating, stress playing, and repeat, dude. He really wants you back in his life," Zuma said. "Okay. Let's go then! Hurry!," he said. "Woah, woah, woah," Rubble said, rubbing his chin. "What is it?" they all asked. "How about we make it a surprise to Marshall? Yeah! We can make box wherein Justineaux will lie down and sleep until Marshall's party," Rubble said. "You said you were going to bring me to Ezra!" he said angrily. "Justineaux, calm down. Marshall is another name Ezra has," Makarov said. "But a surprise is a good plan. Let's do it,"Justineaux said agreeing to the plan.

As they were getting a box, Chase called Zuma and Rocky. Chase said, "Guys, go distract Marshall so we can have enough time. While there, one of you ready the party that's bound for two this afternoon."

"Got it!" they both said.

The two went in the portal and went to Marshall's pup house. Nervous, they knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Marshall, eyes still red. "Uh, hey Marshall," Rocky said. "Come on dude. We know about Justineaux. We wanted to cheer you up," Zuma said. "Come on. Let's buy you ice cream," Zuma said. Marshall came out with a landslide of empty ice cream containers behind him. "Sure. That would be great," Marshall said sarcastically. "Okay. How about cake?" Zuma asked. Marshall burped. His breath smelled like angel's food mixed with liver sausage cake and carrot cake. "Sure. I haven't tried that before," Marshall said again with the tone. "Uh, how about the games in the Xbox console?" Rocky said. "Finished it," Marshall said. "How about physical games?" Zuma requested. "To use the Xbox, you must use physical strength. Any more suggestions?" Marshall asked. The two were silent. The Marshall they knew would play even if he is sad. This time, it wasn't the case. "Leave me alone for the day," Marshall said. He went back to his pup house and closed the door.

The two pups knew Marshall was busy enough crying, so they started putting up the party.

A while later, the other pups came out of the portal. They saw Zuma and Rocky run towards them. "What are you doing? Keep Marshall busy!" Chase ordered. "You didn't need to ask. We didn't need to stall. We can finish the party before two," Rocky said.

They went and set up the party. By one-thirty, they were finished. "Whew! Now we need to get Marshall," Chase said. They all went to Marshall's pup house. "Marshall," Skye said. "Are you in there?" she asked. Out Marshall came again. "Look, I know it has been a lot on you, but we wanted to give you a gift," Chase said. "What kind of gift?" Marshall asked. The pups pushed the box. It was the size of his pup house. "Open it," Rocky said.

Marshall hesitated but would've felt worse if he didn't. So he opened the box and out came Justineaux, flying as happy. "YOLO!" he said. Marshall couldn't believe his eyes. "Justineaux, is that you?" Marshall asked. "I can't believe that someone like you would forget someone like me," Justineaux joked. "It is you!" Marshall said. He went into his Heaven's Wheel armor and embraced Justineaux. "Oh, I've missed you!" Marshall said. Justineaux hugged back as well. "So did I!" he said.

They gently landed on a ground after a while. "Hey, don't cry," Justineaux said. Marshall sniffled a bit more. "It's just…it's good to have you back," Marshall said.

The others surrounded them. "So, do you feel like partying now?" Chase asked. "Would we?!" the two of them said in unison. They started partying and did all the fun they can have that day. At the end, they all slept soundly.