A new chapter ready to go! Let's start!
The Dark Fairy
Chapter 10
Joshua looked down at the five cards in his hands then he peered over them at the three other people he was playing with. His eyes then wandered over to the center of the table where a healthy pile of jewel's awaited claiming. Joshua looked down at his hand of cards again. His expression was completely emotionless, a perfect poker face. He looked back up and stared across the table at Wakaba. He seemed to have a blank expression as well, but he was chewing lightly on his cigarette.
He's bluffing.
Joshua looked over to Macao. He was a little easier to read than Wakaba. The purple haired wizard was rubbing his chin and moving from card to card with his right index finger.
He's unsure.
Then he turned his gaze to the most complex one of them all. The woman who just a few moments ago proudly boasted of never being beaten at a game of cards. The brunette named Cana had a perfect poker face on as well but for just a moment, Joshua saw her lips widen into a small smirk. It was very subtle, the two other wizards wouldn't have caught it. But Joshua did, he was good at paying attention to the details. Especially if it was details pertaining to something he enjoyed.
She's got something. Hmm… Joshua raised an eyebrow at his cards then grabbed a handful of Jewels and tossed them into the pile.
"Raise you two hundred."
"Eh!" exclaimed Wakaba. He looked at his own small stack of money before a look of defeat crossed his face, "I fold." he tossed the cards on the table and took a long puff of his cigarette before tossing the spent tobacco and lighting a new one.
"Already Wakaba?" chuckled Macao, "Must've been one shitty hand."
"You've got no idea." grumbled Wakaba.
"I call." stated Cana calmly.
There were mutterings all around them. Joshua finally noticed, everyone in the guild was watching this card game. In the background Joshua could hear the sand wizard, Max Alors, taking bets on who was going to win. Near the bar, Mira had a chalkboard with the odds put up on it. Joshua peaked over and grimaced at his own odds. Was Cana really that good? And since when did this little game of poker become such an event? Joshua sighed and shook his head.
"I call as well." said Macao.
"Alright everyone." said Warren, a brown haired, plain looking wizard who was acting as the dealer for the game, "Show em!"
Everyone waited with baited breath. Macao laid his cards down first. A pair of 10s and a pair of threes. Everyone ooh and aah around him and he leaned back confidently. Before Cana put her cards down she smirked over at Joshua.
"Hey kid, I want to make another bet."
"Hm… what kind of bet?"
"The kind that involves total embarrassment of course."
Joshua glanced at his hand. Then looked up at Cana.
"Ok, name it." The entire guild gasped.
"He's actually taking a bet from Cana!?" "That's insane!" "He's a real man!"
Cana closed her eyes and smiled devilishly, "If you lose you must kiss a girl."
Joshua's face turned ghost white, his eyes widened and pupils shrank. "Eh?"
"On… the… mouth." Cana said with a wicked smile.
"Alright, but for you," Joshua replied after getting out of his shocked stupor, "You need to… hmm…" he then grinned evilly at Cana, "Do a centerfold for Sorcerer Weekly… naked."
Every single guy in the entire room fell over with nosebleeds while every girl stared shocked at Joshua's reply. Wakaba and Macao were shaking slightly at the sudden intensity this friendly game took.
"Cana doing a centerfold…" trembled Wakaba.
"Dreams do come true." gasped Macao as they both stared stunned at Joshua and Cana.
Cana stared down Joshua before bursting into laughter.
"You've got balls kid! I like it!" she laughed, "Very well, but I don't think I'll be doing that centerfold." She laid her cards down.
"A STRAIGHT IN DIAMONDS!" announced Warren. Murmurs broke out amongst the crowd and money began to change hands.
"Hey, I haven't played mine yet!" Joshua yelled angrily.
The money returned to their original owners. Joshua sighed and looked down at his cards. Cana smiled confidently. She knew that look, she won.
"Looks like I'm… NOT kissing a girl!" cheered Joshua as he slammed his hand down and Max peered at it with stunned silence.
"R-royal… flush." stammered Warren. "J-Joshua wins."
"WHA!" "Cana lost!" "Holy crap." "I'm subscribing to Sorcerer weekly!"
Money exchanged hands and Joshua gathered the money at the center of the table grinning widely as he did so. He then looked over at a shocked Cana and gave her a peace sign.
"Enjoy the photo shoot." He teased.
"I'll get you back for this kid!" roared Cana before she stormed off. "Mira! I need alcohol asap!"
"Right away Cana!" Mira replied cheerfully.
"Alright everyone, game's over back to whatever you all were doing." said Macao.
The crowd around the table soon dispersed and Joshua began to pocket the stack of money he just won. As he did so he got the feeling that someone was glaring at him. And the glare was most likely terrifying. Joshua looked behind him to see Erza standing over him with one of her infamous death glares.
"What was your bet with Cana?" she asked slowly and quietly.
"Ummm… uh… Macao, Wakaba, help me!" he cried desperately.
"Sorry kid!"
"You're on your own."
"Both of you stop right there!" shouted Erza. Macao and Wakaba stopped trying to tiptoe away. "Turn around," Erza's foot was tapping against the guild hall floors, "And get back here." The pair carefully tip toed back to their seats.
"Now Joshua, I'll ask again-"
"Oh you already know it!" *WHACK* Erza's metal hand hit him upside the head knocking the boy out instantly.
"I won't stand for disrespect."
"We're so dead." muttered Wakaba fearfully. Macao could only gulp nervously.
"And you two." Erza glared at Wakaba and Macao, "Filling his head with such vulgar things, it's disgraceful!"
"Now Erza, he's going to figure that stuff out sooner or later!" Wakaba stammered as he waved his hands defensively in front of him.
"I'd prefer later!" Erza sent the smoke mage flying across the room. "And Macao-"
"Just get it over with already." groaned Macao as he braced for the pain.
"I expected more from someone Joshua looks up to." she then just walked away with Joshua slung over her shoulder. Macao stared at them in stunned silence.
"He looks up to me?"
….
Lucy groaned and held her head in her hands as she stared down at a napkin with a bunch of large numbers penciled onto it. She then laid her head back against the booth's backrest and sighed. As she did this Erza sat down and set Joshua down next to her. He shook his head and came back to consciousness as a bag of potato chips was wafted in front of his face.
"How am I gonna pay for rent!?" she complained.
"Whoa those are a lot of zeros." said Natsu who leaned across her and stared closely at the napkin.
"PERSONAL SPACE!" she yelled as she shoved him away. "And yeah it's a lot of zeros! The vacation really dipped into my income. I've got no way of paying for rent right now!"
"Oh yeah! Happy!" called Natsu.
"Aye sir!"
"Do you have the thing?"
"Which thing are you talking about, Natsu?"
"The paper thing!?" exclaimed Natsu.
"You have a lot of those Natsu." shrugged the floating blue cat.
Natsu pulled on his pink hair, "The paper thing for Lucy!"
"Which one?"
"Which one?" gaped Lucy, "What paper things are we talking about here?"
"The one with the 500,000 jewel on it." Natsu replied as he crossed his arms.
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Happy as he dug a rolled up paper out of his green bag on his back, "Here you go Lucy!"
Lucy grabbed the paper from the blue cat's tiny paw and unrolled it.
"Miss Fairy Tail beauty contest," read Lucy, "Winner gets… 500,000 jewel!"
"Yup!"
"Whoa that's a lot of money." remarked the ten year old that just finished munching on a bag of potato chips, "Can I get in on that?"
"It's Miss Fairy Tail." deadpanned Lucy.
"Oh. Why isn't there a Mr. Fairy Tail, Erza?"
The redhead sitting next to Joshua shrugged, "I don't know."
"Maybe it's because none of the guys here are attractive." remarked Happy.
"HEY! THAT INCLUDES YOU!" roared Natsu.
"But I'm a cat."
"500,000 jewel is a lot of money. I could use that to buy some more armor." Erza mumbled.
"And more food for me." smiled Joshua as he rubbed his stomach.
"Please tell me you are not joining the contest." pleaded Lucy.
"It's settled," declared Erza, "I'll be joining the Miss Fairy Tail contest."
"Woo hoo!" cheered Joshua.
"There goes my chances at winning." Lucy complained completely defeated.
Joshua grabbed the flier and looked it over, "The contest is tomorrow, before the harvest festival."
"Then we must train for it!" declared Erza.
Joshua looked up at Erza, "I don't think you can train for a beauty pageant Erza." he deadpanned before Erza violently grabbed him.
"C'mon Joshua," she sprinted out the door with Joshua tucked under her right arm, "We must prepare!"
"Save me!" he cried as she rushed away with him.
….
It was the day of the Harvest festival in Magnolia. Thousands of people were out on the streets of the town enjoying the mid-day festivities. There were merchandise and foods stands set up all over the city and the entire town was being decorated for the festival and for the ultimate event of the day, the Fantasia parade. The parade was put on by the wizards in the Fairy Tail guild. Normally they would all be working diligently on this parade, but right now something much more important was going on. Townsfolk from all over were gathering inside of the brand new guild hall, mostly men as they anticipated the annual Miss Fairy Tail contest.
Joshua sat in the crowd as well. He was munching on another bag of potato chips as he sat next to Gray.
"So why are you here again Josh?" asked the ice mage as he stared completely bored up at the empty stage.
"To support Erza." he replied with a mouthful of chips. "She'd kill me if I didn't show up."
"I can actually see that happening as a matter of fact." sweatdropped Gray.
"Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me either." said a pink haired fire dragon slayer on the other side of Joshua.
"Natsu?" exclaimed Gray before he began to sip on a soda.
"Wow Natsu, I didn't know you were into this sort of stuff." stated Joshua.
"Eh, I'm just bored today." shrugged Natsu. Joshua narrowed his eyes and grinned mischievously.
"You sure it's not to catch a certain blonde possibly wearing a bikini?" Gray spat out his soda while Natsu attempted to defend himself.
"I- uh -I-"
Joshua patted him on the back, "It's ok Natsu, you can talk to us."
"What would you know of this sort of thing!?" he shouted while Gray fell over in his seat laughing.
"I do hang out with Macao and Wakaba when I'm not training." pointed out Joshua.
The sound of a someone tapping on a microphone distracted Joshua from further tormenting Natsu. Up on the stage stood Max Alors in a spiffy blue suit.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you so much for coming to the Miss Fairy Tail contest today!"
A round of cheers from the men that made up 99% of the crowd reverberated through the guild hall. Joshua looked around and then sighed before sipping on his own soda.
"Today! We will see the most beautiful girls in our guild battle it out in a contest of beauty!" declared Max, "We have seven contestants today! First up, she is a gorgeous girl who can easily drink you under the table, Cana Alberona!"
Cana stepped out onto the stage as people cheered for her. She smiled the cast three cards onto the ground. Smoke enveloped her then went away quickly revealing her in a skimpy bathing suit. All the men in the audience cheered and hollered, Joshua shrugged.
"Next up, a wonderous woman who will shoot your heart out with her good looks! Bisca Mulan!"
The green haired sharpshooter for Fairy Tail jumped up onto the stage and requiped into a bathing suit with a rifle in hand. She cheered before throwing three coins in the air and firing a single bullet through all of them. Joshua could vaguely hear the other gun magic user, Alzack, shout "hot" as this occurred.
"Next, one of the newest members of our guild who will wash you away with love, Juvia Lockser!"
Another bathing suit. observed Joshua as he sipped on his soda.
"Does my beloved Gray see me now!" cried Juvia as she did her routine causing the ice mage to blush a little.
"Next up! Her beauty has stolen the hearts of thousands around the world, she is the current Miss Fiore! Mirajane Strauss!"
Mirajane casually stepped up onto the stage wearing her typical maroon dress. She smiled kindly out at the cheering crowd.
"Today I'm going to show you all my specialty, transformation magic."
The crowd's cheers grew even louder. Mira face went poof into a cloud of smoke then reappeared looking exactly like Happy's face.
"This is my Happy face!" she declared happily. The crowds cheers died away as they stared in stunned silence at her display. She wiped her hands over her face and her features changed to that of Gajeel's, "This is my Gajeel face."
"AHA!" laughed Joshua.
"I'll get you kid!" Joshua heard Gajeel yell from the back.
"Thank you Mira." Max sweatdropped, "Next, we have the queen of fairies herself. You know her by the moniker Titania, Erza Scarlet!"
"GO ERZA!" cheered Joshua as the scarlet haired knight strode up onto the stage.
She smiled when she saw Joshua then she began her requip sequence. Soon she stood on the stage in a crazy outfit that the crowd loved for some reason, Joshua couldn't understand why.
"Alright!" shouted Max, "Our last contestant is Lucy Hear-"
"DON'T SAY MY LAST NAME!" hissed Lucy from the back. Joshua nudged Natsu.
"Your girlfriend is about to go." he teased.
"She ain't my girlfriend!" shouted Natsu.
Lucy stepped out onstage in a blue cheerleaders outfit. At her feet was the celestial spirit known simply as Plu.
"Me and my celestial spirits are going to perform a cheer for all of-"
"Contestant number eight!" shouted a new voice Joshua did not recognize.
"Hey, I didn't even get to do my routine!" yelled Lucy angrily.
Another woman with a curvaceous figure stepped out onto the stage. She wore a short green dress that loosely went over her shoulders. Over her eyes were a pair of glasses and she had light brown hair that was cut short but not too short. She confidently stepped forward. Joshua heard both Gray and Natsu gasp at her approach.
"Evergreen?" breathed Natsu.
"She's back!" exclaimed Gray, "But that means the Thunder God Tribe is here too."
"Thunder God Tribe?" said Joshua with a raised brow.
"The true fairy queen shall win this competition. And of course, the true fairy queen is yours truly." she declared boastfully.
"Hey I still got to go!" Lucy cried angrily at the woman named Evergreen.
Evergreen glanced over at Lucy with disinterest. "I'm sorry, do I know you?" she tipped her glasses and suddenly Lucy froze and turned to stone.
"LUCY!" shotued Natsu.
"Evergreen!" shouted the Master as the crowd panicked and fled from the guild hall, "What is the meaning of this!? Turn her back this instant!"
A thunderclap filled the building causing Joshua to jump up and the hair on his head to stand on end. He still didn't like thunder. A lightning bolt arced from the building and impacted with stage. As the blinding light from the bolt went away three men replaced it and stood beside Evergreen.
"Oh c'mon gramps, we're just trying to have a little fun."
Joshua looked up to see Freed standing silently to the right of the man who was talking. To the left of the man was a guy wearing a really strange outfit with a knight's helmet covering his head. And standing in front of them both was a man with spiky blonde hair. He was wearing dark pants and a purple collared shirt with a fur coat slung over his shoulders. His right eye was covered with a lightning bolt shaped scar.
"Laxus! What is the meaning of this!?" demanded Makarov.
"I just want to see who is the strongest in the guild. And the only way to accomplish that is to get you all to fight each other."
Joshua narrowed his eyes at the blonde named Laxus. This guy was bad news and he was definitely a jerk.
"We won't fight each other Laxus!" declared Elfman, "Men don't fight friends!"
"Oh you will," chuckled Laxus, "To save your precious girls you will." The red curtain behind him dropped revealing all of the Miss Fairy contestants turned into stone statues.
"ERZA!" shouted Joshua.
"Laxus…" growled Makarov.
"You have two hours to save the girls by defeating me and the Thunder God Tribe. Fail… and they will crumble to dust."
Joshua had enough. He launched forward at Laxus but was then struck with a torrent of lightning.
"Don't be so impatient kid." snarled Laxus, "Oh, and for all of you… competitors. Make sure you stick to the rules." A flash of lighting and the four figures on stage disappeared.
"I think I'm going to really hate that guy." snarled Joshua as he rose from the floor.
"You heard what he said. We have to find them and defeat them in order to free the girls!" shouted one of the wizards.
"Let's go!"
Everyone sprinted out of the guild hall and soon it was just Joshua, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, and the Master standing in the empty space. Joshua got to his feet and shook some dust of his small body.
"I've got to go save Erza!" he shouted but the strong arm of Makarov stopped him.
"Don't go anywhere."
"WHY NOT!?" yelled Joshua.
"Because, this is just a trap set by Laxus to fracture the guild." Joshua's eyes widened with realization, "And Erza would kill me if anything happened to you."
"Really!?" cried Joshua who was thoroughly annoyed now. "She won't mind." He broke away from the Master's grip and sprinted towards the doorway. He was about to barrel through when he face planted into an invisible wall along with Natsu. "What the hell!?" Joshua exclaimed as he tried to push past. Runes appeared in the empty doorway. "Freed." Joshua snarled.
The master walked over, "No one who is over the age of eighty or a stone statue is permitted to leave this building." The master glanced over at Natsu and Joshua, "Why can't you two leave!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" roared Natsu, "But it's pissing me off!"
Joshua threw himself against the rune wall. The wall bent against him then he phased through somehow. Joshua blinked and looked back at the Master and Natsu who stared at his slack jawed.
"Heh, must've been a glitch at first." laughed Joshua.
"WHY CAN'T I GET THROUGH!?" roared Natsu as he punched the rune wall. "I WANNA FIGHT TOO!"
"Joshua."
Joshua looked down at the old man, "Yes Master."
"I can't believe I'm saying this. But you may be one of our few hopes right now. You no longer have the magic suppression cuffs sealing your powers away. This makes you one of the more powerful wizards out in the city right now. I need you to find Evergreen, or any other member of the Thunder God tribe, and take them out!" ordered Makarov.
"It'll be my pleasure!" Joshua gave the master a thumbs up before sprinting away from the guild.
Natsu looked down at Makarov, "Did you really mean that? Is Joshua really that strong? Cause if he is I want to fight him now!"
"No Natsu. Joshua has the enthusiasm to do this job. But in terms of power, I'd say he is a long shot at this point." Makarov balled his old hands into fists, "But we have to put our faith in him that he will come out on top!"
Please don't fail us Joshua.
….
Joshua sprinted through the streets of Magnolia passing innocent civilians who were completely unaware of what was occurring around them. He was desperately searching for that Evergreen lady. He knew that if he could beat her, the spell on Erza and the other girls would be lifted. The ground rumbled and Joshua could hear the sounds of wizards clashing all over the city.
"Dammit, I'm not getting anywhere doing things this way."
Joshua stopped running and sat down. He focused and let his magic spread out around him. He began to feel his way through his surroundings searching for the woman in the green dress. After several moments he located her, and she was only a few blocks away.
"Gotcha." Joshua breathed.
Joshua rose to his feet and started running forward when he bumped into Macao and Wakaba going at it. The runes around the three changed.
"Joshua?" said Macao.
"Hey kid," breathed Wakaba, "How's it going?"
"About as badly as you'd think." replied Joshua, "Are you two fight each other?"
"Unfortunately." replied Macao, "We can't leave this area until the strongest mage wins. And unfortunately, that includes you now."
Both Macao and Wakaba turned to Joshua and raised their magical pressures.
"I'm sorry kid, I really don't want to do this." apologized Macao.
"Yeah Josh, please don't take this personally. We're just trying to save the girls." said Wakaba as he covered himself in his smoke magic.
"I'm sorry too." whispered Joshua before he balled a fist up and smiled at Macao and Wakaba, "Cause I'm going to beat you all to a pulp! Bring it on!"
And cliffhanger! The battle of Fairy Tail arc has begun! How do you think this will go down now that Joshua is in the fray? And how was he able to break through the magical barrier around the guild hall? Let me know what you all think? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and as always, have a nice day!