A/N: This was my group's final project for Fairy Fest 2018 - a crossover between Rise of the Guardians and Fairy Tail. The challenge was to present Fairy Tail performing a play of Rise of the Guardians and demonstrate a scene from the play, then write a review done during rehearsal and/or opening night (next chapter). Credit for the cover image goes to ThunderLordess on DeviantArt.
"Ah, a, ee, oh, oo! Ah, a, ee, oh, oo!" Erza held a hand to her chest as she warmed up her vocal cords. She could not fail this time! She'd been mortified by her team's last attempt at a stage performance, and she would not allow such an atrocity to happen again! Her warm up was interrupted by none other than Gray, who stood carrying a large piece of set equipment while dressed all in black. He wanted nothing to do with the play on an acting level, but he was willing to lend his muscle when and where needed. He and Gajeel were the group's main stage hands, while Happy helped out where he could. "Eh, why are you doing that? You're not even in the play, Erza." He tried to remind her gently, not an ounce of sarcasm in his voice, but when Erza's eyes snapped open and cast him in their furious light, he flinched nonetheless.
"Of course, I know that!" she snapped, heat rising to her cheeks. "I am the backup for Pitch, am I not? I must be prepared!"
Gray swallowed nervously and glanced at the "real" Pitch – Mirajane. Lisanna was helping her apply her makeup perfectly, even though it was just a rehearsal. Nothing was going to keep Mira from her role, but Gray wasn't stupid enough to point that out. "Sure," he grumbled with a shrug before returning to work.
All around her, members of Fairy Tail were readying for their rehearsal. It was their first dress rehearsal, and so members were shimmying into their costumes and attempting different looks for their characters before opening night – which was only three days away. Her comrades had poured over Rabian's script, flinching and groaning in many places, but a job was a job, and Fairy Tail had said they would deliver; and so, despite the changes to the well-known children's story (some of which were notoriously cringe-worthy), the show would go on! She simply had to crush the feelings of jealousy that flared to life over the love-triangle between Jack Frost, Santa, and the Easter Bunny (AKA Jellal parading as Mystogan, Elfman, and Levy). Tonight was an important night for all of them – Jason with Sorcerer's Weekly was there to review their progress and write a (hopefully) raving review about their spectacular performance. Lucy was helping him, even if it presented a potential conflict of interest, but they needed a full house for opening night and a positive review (especially to something with Rabian's name attached), was exactly what they needed. With a sigh, she brushed her hair back from her face and set her acting desires back to help her friends.
"All right! Places everyone!" Rabian shouted, cupping his hands to his mouth as though he needed the help to get his voice to carry. The actors, gathered behind stage, cringed at the sound of his voice and looked at each other with worry etched in their faces and obvious in their eyes. They were about to rehearse one of their favorite scenes, which unfortunately did not include the miraculous Mira as Pitch or Max as Sandman since he was already supposedly destroyed. It was after Pitch had stolen all of the teeth, and therefore the children's memories from the Tooth Fairy, as well as her helpers; and the guardians decided to help her out by collecting teeth in their stead. They were back at Tooth Castle, arguing over who had collected the most teeth. The teeth were artfully made from Gray's ice and Gajeel's steel.
Jellal (Jack Frost), Elfman (Santa), Levy (Easter Bunny), and Asuka (Tooth Fairy) glanced uneasily at each other before moving to take their places on stage. The script called for the Easter Bunny to stand between Jack Frost and Santa at nearly all times, making Levy shift nervously between the two men. Piles of so-called teeth stood behind them while each "guardian" held a tooth or two in hand. The Tooth Fairy, still weak from children not believing in her, sat on one hip on the ground with her legs kicked out to one side. She looked up at them in disbelief over their argument.
Although Jack Frost's character was not usually boisterous (and neither was Jellal or Mystogan), Rabian had altered the frost guardian's personality. He stood proud, his chest puffed up, with a large number of teeth at his back. Jellal's usual attire was traded in for long blue pants and a slightly lighter blue shirt – both of which ended a little short on his limbs. He was barefoot, holding one of Mystogan's staffs as Jack Frost's – it would enable him to use some of Jack Frost's magic (or at least appear that way), but had retained Mystoan's typical mask – still unable to reveal his true identity. Santa, who was still just as joyful but dangerous in Rabian's version of the fairytale, stood with his eyes sparkling with mischief, but still eying Jack Frost wearily. His red and white costume barely fit over Elfman's bulging biceps and wide back, and the white beard Evergreen attempted to help attach to his face hung limply along his chin. The Easter Bunny was just as hard-assed as he (now she) was in the original story. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, obviously more teeth behind her than anyone else. Thanks to Rabian's twist, she wore green high-heels and a short dress covered in pastel decorations like an Easter Egg. A small white puff was placed strategically on her rear, making it look like a tail, and bunny ears were carefully attached to a headband on her head. Although she looked adorable, Levy was extremely uncomfortable in the very short dress that left nothing to the imagination. The Tooth Fairy took the most effort – her green feathered costume taking Lisanna and Bisca hours upon hours to make, even with the help of Lisanna's magic. Asuka's face was painted and shimmering like a rainbow and her "wings" could move on their own with the help of Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer magic (who managed to help even when acting her role as the child Jamie).
"And, action!" Rabian shouted, making everyone on stage flinch.
"Well, I'd say that was a sound success! Manly!" Elfman's voice boomed as he smiled like Santa would.
"But Tooth," Levy began, indicating the still weak fairy at their feet, "She hasn't gotten any better."
Jellal's eyes narrowed as he tossed his staff to his other hand before crouching down before the afflicted fairy. "Give it some time."
"Jack, we didn't find your teeth," Tooth argued, her chin quivering as though she were about to cry. Asuka was a natural, and her already wide eyes shone with tears on cue.
Jellal stood up, his eyes growing dark. "I'm more worried about keeping you from disappearing, Tooth. We can find my teeth and my memories later."
"And what about the kid? Jamie?" Levy countered, taking a step closer to the guardian who remained invisible to all but them before she indicated Wendy, who stood gawking at the mounds of teeth and "solid" stone walls of Tooth's castle. "She still can't even see you."
Jellal's face darkened, obvious even though little of it could be seen due to the mask – a look Erza was all-too-familiar with. She had to admit, Jellal was better at acting than she ever would have suspected. "Thanks for the reminder," he grumbled.
"Enough about that!" Elfman interjected, shoving Jellal behind him. The blue haired wizard had to pretend the blow shoved him to the side as he scowled. "Let's see who collected the most teeth!"
Just then, the front doors swung open with a loud bang, drawing the attention of not just those members of Fairy Tail on stage, but all those behind the stage and watching from the stands as well. "What is the meaning of this? How dare you interrupt our rehearsal?!" Erza shouted just as Mira came forward to put a restraining hand on her chest.
"What do you mean, 'we're interrupting?!' What are you doing here?!" Sting snapped right back, Lector flying smugly above his shoulder. The members of Sabertooth were dressed considerably different than usual - in fact they looked strikingly similar to the members of Fairy Tail; with Sting's hair spiked and his clothes a dazzling gold, Rogue wearing all black with his bangs pulled free to nearly hide half of his face (admittedly not much different from his normal), Rufus had bunny ears atop his typical hat, Yukino wore an icy blue dress with frosted snowflakes dotted on her arms and legs, Minerva sported wings like a bird and her face was painted much like Asuka's - her dress a deep green like a hummingbird and plunging low, Orga wore a Santa costume that fit just about as well as Elfman's with a beard that actually managed to stay in place, and Lector wore pajamas.
"And why are you wearing those costumes," Rufus began, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open as he turned accusing eyes toward Rabian. The feather in his hat and his bunny ears wiggled with the sudden movement. The defunct play-write looked pale and like he'd very much like to disappear. "You double-booked?!"
Now all eyes were on Rabian, the atmosphere of the room tense with the anger of both Fairy Tail and now also Sabertooth. "You double-booked us, didn't you?!" Mira repeated Rufus' question, surprising all with the harshness to her normally soft and sweet voice. She was demonstrating exactly why she was chosen to play Pitch. "How could you do that?!"
Rabian paled now that the eyes of the She-Devil were on him, her aura dark and menacing from behind her. Sting and Rogue stepped forward as well, their eyes just as full of anger. It wasn't until Gray and Gajeel came forward from behind stage, Gray's shirt mysteriously gone, did he finally have the decency to gasp in mock astonishment. "Whatever could you mean? I wouldn't do such a thing!" He held up his hands in front of him as though to protect himself.
"Right," Gajeel quipped, cracking his knuckles. "'Cause double-booking means our pay gets cut in half."
"And that wouldn't be right," Orga – the largest member of Sabertooth added.
Stumbling back from the guilds, Rabian did his best to defend himself. "I-I-I had the ad up for so long before anyone responded. Then the two of you answered and I just couldn't say no! What if one of you backed out?" His eyes narrowed as he searched out the members of Fairy Tail he'd worked with before. "What if one of you destroyed my establishment?!"
"What are you hinting at?" Mira asked, her voice much less menacing.
Gray swallowed, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck rise at the person running up behind him.
"Ah! Sting! Rogue! Finally! Fight me!"
"Damn it, Natsu! Now is not the time!" Erza shouted, bringing an armored hand down on Natsu's head to still his rapidly moving person. He immediately fell, sliding across the stage. Jellal stopped his momentum by placing a solid foot on his back, successfully keeping him from sliding into the twin dragon slayers he'd challenged. "Clearly we were here first, I think it best if you move on."
Sting's azure eyes narrowed dangerously. "Here first, huh? We've been here every day for the past two weeks."
Elfman scoffed. "So have we."
"This is our rehearsal spot! So, get out!" Lector finally shouted, leaping to the air from Sting's shoulder. Sting tried to grab the Exceed but was too slow.
"Make us!" Happy appeared from behind the stage, munching on a fish.
"This stage isn't big enough for the both of us," Rufus threatened, tugging his hat down as he eyed Gray.
Gray, feeling Rufus' eyes on him, clenched his hands into fists. Yukino, who had become quieter after her initial excommunication from her guild, stepped forward then. "It is only fair that we be allowed to rehearse here too," she tried to reason with them.
"What's the point if we're going to be performing?" Max retorted, folding his arms across his chest.
"Besides, we got here first," Jellal calmly interjected. "It was you who interrupted us."
Rogue's lip pulled back in a sneer. "You want to say that again?!"
Levy, who had remained silent, knew exactly where this was going and stepped back with a cringe. Yukino, who wanted to avoid conflict just as much as she did, saw the movement and mimicked it. She stepped back just in time for Natsu to launch to his feet, sending a flaming fist at Sting's face.
"Sting!" Lector cried out, moving to dive-bomb Natsu. In retaliation, Happy took his fish and swung it at Sting and Rogue. Sting and Rogue wasted no time in opening up their unison raid, only to be intercepted by Mira, who'd already changed into her demon form. That was all it took for all hell to break loose on the set.
In an attempt to protect his sister, Elfman charged Sabertooth's twin dragon slayers and was thrown to the side, falling completely through the hastily erected stage and throwing broken pieces of wood throughout. Lector took this opportunity to scavenge a broken piece of two-by-four and went for the easiest target he could find – Wendy. Jellal, who wisely sensed the descent into chaos, gathered Asuka up in his arms and leapt from the stage, leaving his fully capable comrades to handle the rest. Orga tried to stop him and was quickly rendered unconscious, falling heavily into the orchestra pit. Minerva chose to watch the two groups descend into pandemonium with a wicked smile on her face, her arms folded across her chest as she stepped down off the stage. Gray jumped into the fray, aiming for Rufus. All the while, Gajeel glared at the groups of ruffians. He'd worked hard to help with the stage, and they were ruining it!
Natsu, who had dived to the ground in order to avoid having to hurt Lector, jumped to his feet and quickly became enveloped in his flames. "Now I've got a fire in my belly!" he cried, running forward even though he was not involved in the play in the slightest.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Rabian shouted, his jaw dropping as the two guilds burst into an all-out brawl before his very eyes. "Stop it!"
They ignored his pleas, bursts of magic and fists erupting from the stage as more and more mages became involved in the battle. Jason, who was sitting in the stands with Lucy, sat wide-eyed in awe of the havoc before him. "So cool!" he cried, stars in his eyes as he jumped to his feet in excitment.
"What?!" Lucy shouted, scarcely hearing him above the clamor coming from the stage. "Not cool!" she corrected. Not only was the stage slowly being destroyed, but so were the walls. It didn't take long for the entire structure to shudder on its supports. "It's gonna collapse!" she cried, catching the attention of only the dragon slayers.
Gajeel turned at the sound of Lucy's voice, rage brewing within his chest as what he had worked so hard to create was being destroyed. Wendy had managed to blow Lector away from her, but in doing so had scattered the teeth throughout the stage – there was no way they'd find all of them now. Grumbling, he tch'd and made his way to Levy, who he hastily threw over his shoulder and exited the teetering theatre.
Jellal witnessed Gajeel's departure and quickly followed suit, calling Erza after him. For once the requip mage had kept herself out of trouble, instead following Jellal's example no matter how much she wanted to rain pain down on their rival guild. Once a few of them started leaving, the rest quickly followed. It was Natsu, Gray, Mira, Sting, and Rogue who remained despite the dragon slayers hearing Lucy's warning. Their magic and melee attacks were creating the most damage.
"My theatre!" Rabian cried as walls began to crumble around the rampaging wizards. "You're ruining it! Again!"
"Natsu!" Lucy shrieked, finally earning his attention. His eyes snapped in her direction and finally realized the roof was caving in around them.
"Shit! Time to go, Popsicle!" he shouted, bolting forward and grabbing Sting and Rogue by the necks as he went.
Gray scowled after his departing comrade, completely unaware that he was now totally naked. With a tch, he bolted after his comrade, sliding out of the crumbling theatre just as it collapsed behind him.
"My theatre! It's ruined!" Rabian cried, tears welling in his eyes as he turned to the two guilds before him. Their fighting had finally stopped, the destruction of the theatre snapping them from their rage as they all stood, slack-jawed, in awe of the destruction surrounding them. "There will be no play! You will pay for these damages!"
Oh no, Lucy whimpered in her mind. This would not bode well for any of them…
I hope you enjoyed this mayhem! Not my best work, but I thought I'd share it anyway. As always, I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. They all belong to Hiro Mashima. Check out the next chapter for Jason's review!