Fairy Tail Episode 204 (an additional filler episode after GMG that shifts the count of the rest) - Triple Request!
Note: According to the wikia, 100 jewels = $1.
Lucy stands beside Nab in front of the Job Board, searching for a request that will both pay her monthly rent of 80,000 jewels and keep her friends' interest. Natsu and Happy sit at the bar, scarfing down their breakfasts and chatting with Mirajane while they wait. Lucy's eye catches on a boldly scripted flyer and she grabs it, running to her teammates.
"Guys! Look at this one! It's worth one million jewels!" Lucy announces, holding it up.
Natsu jumps up and pumps his fist. "Alright, I'm all fired up now! Do we get to fight anyone?"
"I don't know. It says that 'details will be disclosed upon arrival', and then there's an address located near the Blue Pegasus guild. The job was submitted by a 'Mr. Vandalay Kotobuki'. Hang on, why does that name sound familiar?" Lucy squints her eyes, trying to remember.
"Who cares? Let's go! C'mon, Happy!"
"Ay, sir!"
"You do realise we have to take a carriage, right?"
Natsu immediately turns around and tries to run away, but Lucy catches his scarf and he ends up running in place. She drags him along the floor despite his protests. "Relax, it's only a twenty minute ride."
"I am never getting in one of those things again", Natsu moans, falling out of the horse-drawn nightmare. The trio walks across the street and arrives at a quietly successful café proclaiming itself Hibiki's Perfection Lattes. Natsu pushes through the doors and leads them to the counter. "Hello? We're wizards from the Fairy Tail guild, here to answer a job request?"
The barista turns around, revealing himself as Hibiki Lates, a member of the Blue Pegasus Trimens and user of Archive magic. "Hey, Natsu! Happy! Lucy, darling, you look ravishing as always!"
"Hibiki? What are you doing here?" Natsu scratches his head.
Hibiki beams with pride. "I own this place."
"Didn't you read the sign, Natsu?" Lucy shakes her head as she pushes past him and turns to Hibiki. "So if you're the owner, did you put in the job request? It says it's from-"
"Master Ichiya. He's our manager, so he wrote the job requests."
"Oh. Of course. Are you sure you can afford to pay such a large reward?" Lucy gestures to the mostly empty tables and booths.
"Yeah, it doesn't look like much, huh? Unlike your stunning self." He winks. "But trust me, you're just here at the wrong time. Business is booming, we make bank. Actually, this café is where Blue Pegasus gets the funds to operate our magic bomber, Christina."
"If it's so popular, how come we've never heard of it?" Natsu asks, crossing his arms behind his head.
"First, because our audience is mostly couples. And second, funny you should ask, because that's what you're here for."
"What's that supposed to mean?", Happy asks, flying over to perch on the counter.
"We'd like to pay you to advertise for us. We want to reach an even larger audience. Our target group is actually Magnolia, which is why we only sent requests to the Fairy Tail guild. Well, that and the fact that you're our friends."
"Sounds like an interesting goal. Do you have any data I can see?" Lucy leans across the counter and begins analyzing the information Hibiki pulls up in Archive.
Happy floats over to a bored Natsu. "They want us to get more customers, right? I have a really good idea." Catching his best friend's eye, he nods to Lucy.
Natsu glances at her, then back at Happy, and flashes his signature grin. "Hey, Lucy! I know what we can do!"
Lucy stands in front of the counter, wearing a "crowd pleaser" version of the barista outfit that Virgo whipped up. Hibiki and Natsu are judging whether parading her through Magnolia will bring in enough people. Natsu cackles. "This'll work for sure! Have fun, Lucy," He says, heading to a barstool.
Happy follows him, shaking his head. "I dunno, Lucy's seduction plans don't have a great track record."
"SHUT UP, CAT! They're not even my plans!" She sighs, looking to Hibiki. "Whatever. Do you think this will make your shop more successful, Hibiki?"
Hibiki falls to his knees, kissing her hand. "I've never seen anything more beautiful in my life. You glow with the radiance of a thousand candles on the surface of the sun. I'd be absolutely honored if you would do this for me."
The door opens and Ren Akatsuki, another Trimen and an Air magic user, enters the café in preparation for their busiest shift, during which all three Trimens are needed to serve the customers. Assessing the situation in a glance, he walks over to Lucy and, not looking at her, gives his input. "You're not as pretty as he said you were, but you should still do it."
"Uh huh," Lucy rolls her eyes at Ren's tsundere, knowing full well he's devoted to a fiancé (unlike certain other people). "I hate to say it, but I don't think a job solved this easily is worth a million jewels."
"A million jewels? Oh! You have our second job! We put out three different jobs, each worth different amounts," Hibiki explains, pointing out a miniscule "2" in the corner of the request. "The second job isn't about attracting people at all. See, we've been having a bit of a problem lately. I told you we focus on couples. Some of these couples are somewhat more...how do I put this delicately...passionate...than others. And they cause a lot of damage when they fight. Especially the wizards. We're hiring you to stop the destruction. Just one day with some no-nonsense, powerful guild wizards maintaining order should remind our customers to be a little more calm in the future."
"You want us to stop destruction? Are. You. CRAZY?! You should know better than to give that request to Fairy Tail! Natsu and I can't help you. Awww, how am I ever gonna pay my rent now?" Lucy drops into the stool next to Natsu and rests her head on her hand, the picture of misery, then perks up suddenly. "Wait, you said there were three jobs, right? What's the last one? And how much does it pay?"
"The last one is the most important, so it's worth the most. Ten million jewels. But it's been taken already," Ren responds from behind the counter, tying on his apron.
"Really? By who?" Natsu pipes up, looking around. "I don't see anyone from Fairy Tail."
"They're in the garden out back, picking herbs for tea. They arrived earlier, before Ren, and he has the details for that job. Let me go get them." Hibiki hurries out the door.
Happy flops onto Natsu's head and closes his eyes halfway. "So what is the job? Is it something less boring than the other two?"
Ren scowls. "It's Eve. He's missing." Eve Tearm is the last member of the Trimens, a Snow magic wizard popular for his boy-Lolita charms.
"What?!" Lucy and Natsu gape at Ren and Happy flies in circles above them, agitated. The back door opens, and Hibiki enters with Juvia, Wendy, and Carla, the Fairy Tail members that accepted the third request. At the same time, the café doors open and Gray, Erza, and Romeo arrive with the first request. Gray and Natsu are immediately at each other's throats.
"What are you doing here, flamebrain?"
"Working a job with Lucy, why are you here, pervert?"
"Erza and I are taking Romeo on a job for experience, moron!"
"Don't call me a moron, you-"
"My love! Have you come to aid me on my quest?"
"NO! You brought Wendy on yours! Mine is different!"
As chaos erupts, Hibiki quietly pulls up Archive and begins to calculate a reorganization of teams for the best outcomes, knowing either Ren or Erza will shut them up eventually. As it happens, both S-class wizards act at the same time. Erza steps forward and slams the boys' heads together as Ren takes out Juvia and Lucy, who are arguing over custody of Gray and/or the third job, depending on who you ask, with an aerial blast.
"Alright guys, now that you're calm, listen up. I have assignments for all of you, and you can split the grand total of eleven million and one hundred thousand jewels. We need a third waiter for the crowd that's going to show up, and Eve's specialty is White Fang Frosted Coffee, so Gray, you're standing in. Romeo, Wendy, and Carla, you three handle the first job. Your task is to spread the word in Magnolia. Gather as many customers as you can. There's a stack of flyers by the door if you need them. Juvia and Erza, you're level headed and strong, not to mention a lovely sight to behold! The pair of you will manage the customers in here. Keep the peace and don't let anyone get out of hand. That leaves Natsu, Lucy, and Happy to find Eve. No one has seen him since we closed Friday night, and Master Bob says he didn't accompany Masters Ichiya and Nichiya on their job. Ren will give you his last known location. Everyone good?"
Erza and Juvia nod to each other while Wendy, Romeo, and Carla exchange adorably polite greetings. Natsu cackles, pointing at an entirely disinterested Gray as Lucy fist pumps and Happy shouts, "Ay, sir!"
Team Natsu stops in a clearing in the middle of the woods and Lucy consults her map. "Ok, we're here. This is where Ren and Eve parted ways. See anything up there, Happy?"
"Nothing up here, Lucy!"
Natsu sniffs loudly. "I can smell him. He's close, which means he's in trouble or he'd have come back. Let's go!" Natsu leads the charge along a little used path toward a large, rocky hill. At the bottom of the hill, they come across a small river. Happy's tummy growls loudly and he sighs. "I bet there's fish in there...yummy fish...is it lunchtime yet?"
"I'll catch you a fish, little buddy!"
"You guys! Eve could be in danger, we should hurry! We can't stop and take a break every time someone's tummy growls."
"Relax, Luce. I can smell someone with him. I don't know who it is, but I remember they're our friend. Our friends don't let people get hurt. And if we're going to have to fight, we need to be fuelled up, right?"
"Alright, fine. We'll stop and fish, but be quick about it."
Natsu tilts his head and grins at Lucy as Happy exclaims, "Ay, sir!"
Carla, Wendy, and Romeo are sitting behind a stand in Magnolia's bustling center plaza. The stand's large poster reads Hibiki's Perfection Lattes, as do the caps they're all wearing. There's a towering stack of flyers on the counter in front of them, along with several menus boasting coffees such as the Little Brother Espresso. The group hasn't received any attention from passerby despite waiting patiently for the past hour.
"This sucks," Romeo complains, "Our friends trusted us with this job and we're letting everyone down. I bet Natsu and the rest of the team are working hard to represent our guild."
"Well, child. If you're worried that everyone else is working harder than you are, the solution is simple, isn't it? All we've really done is set up this stand, I'm sure there's more we could do."
"You're right, Carla! What do you think, Wendy?"
"Yeah! I guess if we want people to have these flyers, we can give them out instead of waiting for them to be taken."
"Great idea! What's the fastest way to pass them to everyone?"
"I suppose I could fly them up and drop them," Carla takes a few flyers in her arms, soars above the populace, and tosses them. They puff a tiny bit away from her, but the breeze doesn't distribute them any farther. She returns to the stand, disappointed. "Well. Those didn't spread very far at all."
"I know! Take me up and I'll throw the flyers, then push them away with my sky magic!"
Carla lifts Wendy and she carries a much larger stack up. When they're high above the city, Wendy releases the papers with a loud cry. "Sky Dragon: Rooooooar!"
Her blast of wind sends the papers far and wide. She and Carla return for flyers and repeat the process until every last one has been scattered throughout Magnolia. "Nice work, you guys! Do you want to take the menus too?"
"No, child, we don't have as many of those. Let's save them for people who come talk to us."
"Good point, Carla! But how will people know where we are? Our stand is pretty plain compared to most of the other ones." Wendy waves an arm at the square, which is filled with colorful booths and throngs of people, many of whom are curiously studying Hibiki's flyers. "It doesn't look like they've noticed us."
"I can help with that!" Romeo generates tall pillars of multicolored flame and swirls them around in front of the stand. "I can't keep this up for very long."
"I'll support you. I call upon thee, the stalwart might to cleave the heavens! ARMS!"
"Wow, I can feel my magic power getting stronger. Thanks, Wendy!"
Romeo's pretty columns of fire attract a crowd, and the three Fairy Tail wizards promote the Trimens' café, passing out menus to future customers.
Natsu and Happy have finished their impromptu meal and are arguing over whose responsibility it is to clean up their little campsite. Lucy is worried about Eve, so she ignores their pointless bickering and runs ahead. As she crests the hill, she can hear voices coming from the valley below, so she sneaks along a rocky outcropping until, peeking through a bush on the edge, she can see the speakers. Eve and Meredy! What are they doing together? Eve looks like he's fine, but this explains why he didn't tell anyone where he was. If he's caught hanging out with the cofounder of a known dark guild, Blue Pegasus could get in serious trouble with the Magic Council. I wonder why they're meet-
Natsu and Happy come rushing up the hill and Lucy opens her mouth to warn them about the edge, but she's too late. Natsu slams into her, pushing them over. They roll forward down the hillside until they crash at the bottom, right in between Eve and Meredy.
Meanwhile, in the café, it's clear that Hibiki wasn't lying. The place is packed with couples. Hibiki, Ren, and Gray drift through the room, waiting tables. In one corner, Sherry and Jenny sit together, discussing fashion as they keep an eye on their men. At another table, Bacchus and Cana glare at each other, shamelessly pouring large quantities of alcohol into their Holy Night Cappuccinos. Nearby, Yukino covers a laugh and Sting proffers his trademark smirk. Kinana enters and sits at a table in Gray's section. He's surprised to see her, but he walks over and asks for her order.
"Just my usual," she smiles up at him.
"Oh, do you come here often?" Gray looks at the door to see if her date has come in yet.
"Yeah, I like to sit by myself and talk through my day out loud. It smells so nice in here."
"Okaaay..?"
Ren cuts in, saving the situation. "Sorry Kinana, Gray doesn't know the usual orders. I'll take care of it, sweetheart." He turns to go, but Gray hasn't moved - he's standing there wearing a befuddled expression. Ren grabs his arm, drags him a little bit away and murmurs, "This building happens to be rather close to a high-security prison, don't worry about it," before continuing on his way.
On the other side of the room, Hibiki approaches Laxus and Freed's table. "Hundred Nights Lattes, boys?"
Laxus nods. "She did it again. Dragged the entire Thunder Legion on her date to cover the fact that it's a date."
Hibiki shakes his head sympathetically. Glancing at Freed's enraptured face, he has to fight a smirk. "Bickslow ditched again?"
"Guy bails every frickin' time. No idea what he does all by himself. Guess I might as well honor his presence anyway." Smirking across the room, he raises his voice. "Hey Elfman, you having fun with our fairy?"
Over in the corner booth, Ever's head whips up. "SHUT UP!" She shrieks, jumping out of her seat and grabbing a chair to throw. Luckily, Juvia's a very capable peacekeeper.
"Water Lock! Evergreen, you need to calm down." This is the third time I've had to immobilize her in the past ten minutes. It's obvious she's not my rival. Juvia releases the disgruntled fairy princess and scans the room, looking for her love. She spots him working on a frosted coffee, glimpses his shirtless chest, and completely loses herself to her observation of the real-life fantasy that is Gray Fullbuster.
"Ice Make: Crystals! There you go, mi- Lisanna?! What are you doing here?"
"Shh, you'll blow my cover," she whispers back.
Gray looks over and sees that her tablemate is none other than Rogue, Sabertooth's Shadow Dragonslayer. He freaks out, yelping, "What -"
Rogue breaks his concentration on Sting's table to glare at Gray. "It isn't like that. I only come here so I have Sting's back if he needs me. He doesn't know that, so I sit with Lisanna. She pretends to be my date so 'Big Brother Elf' doesn't notice her spying on him. If you're finished with her coffee, you can leave," he bites out.
Gray scurries away, mildly disturbed. The café door opens and Team Shadowgear walks in. "Oh hey Levy, what's up?"
"Hi Gray! We just finished a job, and we've heard a lot about the Silent Night Mochas, so we came to check it out. There's a great atmosphere in here!"
"Yeah, I guess. Hey, just so you know, we only have tables for two."
Jet and Droy start fighting over the seat with Levy. She shakes her head at their antics and finds an empty table by the window, pulling out a book to read. The boys' argument escalates, and Erza storms over, hands on hips. "Cut it out, both of you! If you can't keep yourselves quiet, I'll make you!"
"Yes, ma'am," they murmur in unison, cowed.
"And if either of you had been paying any attention, you would have noticed that the seat at Levy's table is already occupied."
Horrified, they turn their heads and see Gajeel sprawled across from her, arm across the back of the chair, sporting a bored expression as he gazes out the window. Jet and Droy experience jaw dropping color failure, Jet managing to croak out, "When did that happen?"
"He came in shortly after your group. Lily chose to sit on that windowsill, and Gajeel followed him to Levy's table. Now, some might consider this natural consequence of your squabbling punishment enough, but I am being paid to stop commotions and -"
"How about I buy you cake to make it up to you?" Droy interrupts desperately.
"They have cake?"
"Yeah, it's strawber-"
Erza draws a sword and points it at the pair. "You will buy me strawberry cake."
"Ow," Lucy grunts from beneath Natsu. He pulls her up with him, muttering a quick apology. He looks back and forth between Meredy and Eve, who begin to blush bright red.
"Hibiki and Ren sent us to find you, Eve. How could you let your friends worry like that? And you, you're with Erza's friend Jellal, aren't you? What are the two of you doing out here? Why are your faces red?"
Meredy stares wide-eyed at Natsu. "I - I - um, yeah, I'm Jellal's friend. We're in Crime Sorciere together. We're out here because, um, because I - I'm attacking him! Yeah! I'm red with anger. Maguilty Rays!"
Eve throws himself backward to avoid the sudden spell and Meredy sprints away. "Don't worry, Eve, we'll catch her," Natsu calls over his shoulder as he and Lucy give chase.
"Listen, Natsu, she uses lost magic, so we'll have to be careful. I'll trap her, then you come from above. Got it?"
"Yeah, I'm all fired up now!"
Lucy runs as fast as she can, overtaking Meredy. She spins, whipping out a zodiac key. "Open! Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!"
"Wicked, Sand Wall!"
Effectively cut off, Meredy turns to try running the other direction. "Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!"
"Sooorry!" Aries cries, arriving in a wool wall.
Trapped, Meredy looks up just in time to see Happy drop Natsu. "FIRE DRAGON WING ATTA-"
"STOP! Don't hurt her!" Eve shows up, out of breath. "She wasn't attacking me, she only said that to protect me from associating with a 'criminal'. The truth is -"
"They're in looove." Both wizards flush in response to Happy's comment.
"What? I read in last week's issue of Sorcerer Magazine that Hibiki and Jenny are an item, and I know Ren and Sherry are engaged, but I thought you were still single. I guess that makes sense since this is a secret relationship, but how did you two even meet?"
"Jellal heard Lahar announce my previous status as a Rune Knight during the Games, and he wanted to meet with me to see if I could write up a list of every law he's ever broken. I got him an official copy from Lahar's office under the guise of a social visit. Since then, I've met several times with Crime Sorciere to discuss legal matters."
Natsu crosses his arms over his head. "We still get the reward, right? Even though you weren't really missing and we attacked your girlfriend?"
"Yeah, you get the reward as long as you don't tell ANYONE, ok?"
"We won't, we promise, you can trust us," the trio choruses.
Happy, Natsu, and Lucy arrive at Hibiki's Perfection Lattes with Eve in tow, but find the space completely trashed. "What the hell happened in here?"
Hibiki scowls and Juvia and Erza hang their heads. "The peacekeepers got distracted. But never mind that, you found Eve!"
Eve grins, hurrying over to where his two best friends stand in the midst of the wreckage.
"Yeah, he was just on his date," Natsu casually replies, looking at the mess of broken tables, ink-smeared cards, sand, spiderweb, cat hair, ice fragments, bullet shells, and shattered mugs littering the charred floor.
Eve turns around with murder in his eyes as Ren and Hibiki let out disbelieving squawks and Lucy shrieks, "NATSU! You broke our promise!"
Falling to her knees, she sighs. "Now how will I pay my rent? We're not going to get any money out of this whole day."
"That's not true," Ren snapped. "There was one successful team. They did so well, in fact, that I think I'd like to award them the full amount for all three jobs."
Everyone turns to stare at Wendy and Romeo. The pair high fives, grinning. "We did it!"
"Those two brought in more Magnolian business than I'd ever imagined possible," Hibiki agrees, handing 11,100,000 jewels in cash to Fairy Tail's most adorable wizards.
"Alright, way to go, Romeo," Natsu fist bumps him, grinning.
Gray smiles at Wendy. "That's our Sky Maiden."
The seven friends and their Exceeds head out to a wide carriage, but Erza pauses in the doorway. "I've been meaning to ask, you said you needed to get a foot in the Magnolian market, but half the wizards I saw in here were from my guild."
Eve speaks up. "Oh, they really should have clarified. Our large following among Magnolia's wizards is the whole reason we were curious if we could gain popularity with the citizens. Ever since the Thunder Legion discovered us, most of our coin comes from Fairy Tail. "
Erza nods and follows her teammates out to the carriage. Natsu is, as usual, whining at the idea of sitting in a vehicle. Wendy attempts a Troia, but it predictably doesn't work. Everyone climbs inside. On the left side, Juvia's by the far window, with Gray next to her and Erza, Carla, and Happy finishing out the row. Romeo and Wendy sit opposite, leaving space for Natsu and Lucy, who are still arguing outside. Lucy takes pity on Natsu. "Alright, let's try something new. Open, Gate of the Clock, Horologium! Maybe the motion sickness won't affect you so much if a friend is carrying you."
Once Natsu's situated, Lucy climbs into the carriage next to Wendy. Horologium follows, holding Natsu. The door closes as the giant clock sits next to Lucy, and he begins narrating Natsu. "'This is so awesome! I don't feel sick at all! Best idea ever, Lucy!' He shouts with delight."
The carriage begins moving forward with a lurch. "'It didn't work. Why does this happen to me?' He groans in despair."
Cheerful laughter rings out as the carriage brings its precious cargo home.