Okay, here is chapter four. It's a fight chapter. I'm not great at fight scenes, but I hope this turned out okay. I got the idea from the most recent episode of Fairy Tail (which I had been eagerly awaiting ever since I read the corresponding manga chapter). Of course, I didn't want to recreate Jackal, though it might be fun to base a character off of him. I just thought 'explosion', and then I thought 'I need something a tad maniacal'. Thus, this chapter came to be.

I wanted to pick an opponent who absolutely would not tolerate this new character's behavior, and it came down to either Gray or Erza, and you can see which one I chose in that bout of randomness.

Also, I used the word 'hell' for the first time in a story, but the use of it does tie into canon events. It kind of felt like a rush. So please bear with me and my compositional risk.

Happy: Now you're coming out of your shell!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Gray VS the Jester

Three days later, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Happy, Carla, and Gray had finished up catching some robbers (and going overboard again) and were about to leave Oshibana Town—which brought back fondly nostalgic memories for Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, and Erza—when a Rune Knight tapped Gray on his bare shoulder.

"Hm? What is it?" Gray turned around to face the guard.

"My boy, where is your decency? You're going nude publicly," the Rune Knight rhymed. Erza's eyes narrowed as she glanced back at the guard.

"I'm wearing pants, you know," Gray informed him.

"I'm afraid you'll have to come with me. I won't take long, you'll see," the guard continued his rhyming. He took Gray by the arm and dragged him along.

"What the heck's with you and rhyming?! Guys, help me out!" Gray begged as he was dragged away.

Feeling devious, Natsu asked, "And you are…?"

"C'mon, Natsu, don't be a jerk!" Gray yelled at his pink haired companion.

"We'll wait for you to get this settled out. You should be more responsible for your clothing," Erza decided. Thus, it was absolute.

As the notably suspicious Rune Knight dragged Gray around a corner, he let out a devious snicker. Gray couldn't help but ask, "What's your deal? No offense, but you're the oddest Rune Knight I've ever met."

"Heh-heh-heh! That's because I'm not! In my trap, you've been caught! Sorry, bud, but I've got to spill your blood!" the strange man laughed and threw off his uniform, appearing before Gray as a clown of some sort. He had a slim build, wore purple and orange striped pants with inflated legs, point red shoes, a puffy shirt that matched his pants, a pointy hat that matched his pants and shirt, and a white painted face that was otherwise a rainbow of teardrops and polygons. On the front of his shirt, in red, was Cursed Fang's emblem, which was some sort of fanged tri-hybrid animal. "Hey, now, I don't mean to pester. I'm just Cursed Fang's Jester!"

"…Not impressed," Gray yawned. "You're not very funny. Sorry, but it's the honest truth."

"Wha—why how rude of you! For that, I'll turn you black and blue!" the Jester hissed. He pulled some bouncy balls from his sleeves and threw them at Gray. They bounced off the ground and flew toward the Ice Make wizard when they exploded in mid-air.

Meanwhile, upon hearing the explosion, the rest of the mages of Fairy Tail jumped a bit, startled. Happy held Carla protectively. Natsu bared his sharp Dragon Slayer teeth. Lucy gasped and Wendy hid behind her.

Gray had created an ice pillar beneath his feet to avoid the blast. The Jester watched in amazement, balancing on a large bouncy ball. The ice pillar shattered from the force of the explosions and Gray used the moment to jump down towards the Jester, who pulled a large scythe out of his shirt. Gray decided to fight blade against blade and started to cast a spell in mid air. "Ice Make: Death Scythe!" A large scythe made entirely of ice appeared in his hands and the two sickles crossed with a clang!

"I didn't know ice could make that sound. My, my, your skills are profound!" the Jester laughed maniacally.

"You're insane! Did you know that?!" Gray yelled in annoyance. The Jester kicked the giant bouncy ball toward Gray, who deflected it with the ice sickle (no pun intended).

"I guess it's not wrong to say that you're strong. It looks like I'm in a pickle so I'll forget the sickle," the Jester decided, carelessly tossing the scythe aside. "Now you'll see the best spell ever made!" A playing card popped out of his sleeve and into his hand. "Without further ado, I introduce the Ace of Spades!" The card started to contort and morph until it took on the form of a large black sword.

"Pfft! You're kidding, right?" Gray scoffed.

"You rude, rude boy! I tried to warn you this was no mere toy!" the Jester growled angrily and lunged at Gray, who dodged not a moment too soon. Surprisingly agile, the Jester pivoted on one toe and went at Gray again, who was able to create Cold Excalibur just in time.

"Gray!" Natsu's voice called out as the team came running.

"He's fighting someone!" Happy pointed out.

"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious! It powers me up!" Erza said to Happy as she activated her Requip magic and now donned her Black Wing Armor.

"Was that sarcasm?" Happy asked, confused. He thought it was sarcasm based on the wording and the situation, but she said it in such a serious tone that he wasn't sure anymore.

"Butt out, you other flies! Or better yet, say goodbye!" the Jester growled and tossed some more of his bouncy bombs. Natsu grabbed Lucy and Wendy and leapt back as he consumed the explosion flames like spaghetti. Erza, utilizing her armor, flew upwards.

A bomb was heading straight for Carla at breakneck speed. She flinched when a cute voice called out to her, "Carla, look out!" She felt something push her and the bomb exploded, sending her and the something rocketing backwards.

She opened her eyes to see that it was Happy who pushed her and shielded her from the blast. She gasped, "Happy…! You protected me…!"

"Aye… I guess I did…" the blue tomcat agreed with a smile. "I guess I paid you back for that time in Edolas, huh…?" He was somewhat dazed and a little singed, but otherwise okay. "I've been working on my durability…"

She stared at him with wide, amazed brown eyes.

"That's it! You're about to regret the day you were born!" Gray said menacingly, which sent chills down the Jester's spine. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!" The Ice Make wizard sent an abundance of pointed ice spears at the Jester, who attempted to block them all with his Ace of Spades. However, there were simply too many for him to block. "Ice Make: Knuckle!" A giant frozen fist fell onto the Jester, making him scream in pain. He had a notably long tongue, though Lucy had seen longer when she and Juvia had fought Vidaldus Taka in the Tower of Heaven. "You mess with a Fairy Tail wizard; you get the pain of a lifetime, pal, because then you're messing with all of us."

"I don't want to die… Here, have a banana cream pie…" the battered Jester offered, weakly holding up a mysterious pie with a shaky hand. Gray simply glared at the dark guild wizard with anger and disgust. The pie was suddenly encased in ice. The Jester marveled, "So you're the guild that opened hell's gate… Whether you fight Tartarus or Cursed Fang, you've sealed your fate…"

"That doesn't mean we can't try to take them on," Gray told him and stepped on his head. "Now kindly shut up. You're a good fighter, I'll give you that, but your rhymes tick me off. Have fun in jail."

"I'm going to be jailed? Hmm. I guess I failed…" the Jester wheezed before passing out.

A swarm of real Rune Knights marched in to seize the Jester and get a run-down of the situation. Gray couldn't help but ask one of them, "You guys are the real deal, right?"

"What? What kind of question is that?" the Rune Knight responded quizzically.

"Just making sure," Gray replied with a shrug.

Carla was supporting Happy, asking him, "How do you feel now?"

"Better. Are you okay?" the blue cat responded. The question earned him a kiss on the cheek. He swooned and laughed goofily. "Aye…!"

"Happy and I love our brown-eyed girls," Natsu mused, causing Lucy to blush.

"Why do you think he chose to ambush Gray-san alone, Erza-san?" Wendy asked curiously.

"If I had to guess," Erza theorized, "I'd say he knew he couldn't take on all of us, so he put on a ruse to take us on one at a time and utilize a divide-and-conquer tactic. He clearly underestimated Gray, though."

"Can we go now?" Natsu whined.

"Stop whining," Erza turned to him and commanded.

"But Erza…!" Natsu continued to whine.

The redhead promptly slugged him, knocking him out. Then, she slung him over her shoulder and announced, "Okay, now we can go."