Since I'm busy this weekend, I'm posting my Halloween story now. It's not a scary story mind, just using the occasion!

"Welcome to the Fairy Tail murder mystery night!" Makarov shouted happily. He stood on a balcony overlooking the main foyer of an old mansion that they'd rented for the night. It was a good place for Halloween, Levy thought. It wasn't decked out with any cobwebs or the like, but it was old-fashioned and dark. Wood panelling and exquisite detail was everywhere, and the lights were all on low power for added atmosphere.

Then again, the Halloween party itself wasn't until tomorrow night, when they'd all be dressed up as monsters and drinking. This was much more fun in Levy's opinion. The problem with Fairy Tail was that parties were usually no more exciting than a regular day!

"You all know the rules, so please, enjoy yourself for the first period." Makarov hopped down, and all the guild members began to mingle. All of the boys were dressed in old fashioned suits and all of the girls had Victorian style dresses on. Levy's was sky blue, and due to her slim physique was suffering the least of all the girls under her corset.

The rules were pretty simple. For this first part, they were all allowed to walk around the mansion freely. There were drinks and cocktail food set up at various points to get a bit of flow going. People were encouraged to explore. Levy went looking for a library. There had to be one in a place this size, right?

In secret, one person had been designated the 'murderer' and given a magical wand that when touched to a person made a bloody stain. If the murderer tagged you, then you had to play dead for the rest of the night. Not too fun, in Levy's opinion.

After the murder happened, the detective would arrive to deduce the murderer. In Makarov's style, there was a punishment for the detective for getting the wrong suspect. However, if he nominated the correct one, that person would suffer instead. Not a very fair result to be the detective then. However a suspect wrongly accused would also suffer a minor punishment, so you had to be careful not to be implicated.

Previously, Makarov had also pulled a name out of a hat to be the detective. What everyone didn't know is that he'd magically rigged the name he wanted, for maximum hilarity. Levy giggled. She couldn't wait for the entrance of Detective Inspector Redfox.


Outside the mansion, Gajeel waited with Lily in the cool night air. He was dressed like Sherlock Holmes, and he was loving it. Like his Edolas counterpart, his cool and groovy charms were well suited to this style. Lily rolled his eyes, the world's cutest Watson.

"I can't wait to get inside," Gajeel said. "It's boring out here."

"Mira will call us soon enough. You've got food, haven't you?" Lily said.

"Psh. Finger food. I want a big meal."

"You know that there'll be food after the game. Calm down. Aren't you worried more about the punishment? It's about a forty to one shot of getting the right suspect." Earlier, Makarov had waved some smelly stuff under Gajeel's nose, killing his sense of smell. So he couldn't just sniff his way to the murderer.

"That's if I'm guessing. But I'll deduct it with my wits!" Gajeel stated confidently.

"Deduce. The word you were looking for was deduce." Lily rolled his eyes again.


Levy had found her way to the library by some kind of well developed spider-sense. Books just called to her. She browsed through the selection, but it wasn't very interesting. A bunch of old novels, most famous and well known to her. Dickens, Chaucer, Shakespeare. '

She looked up at the high shelves with frustration. If she hadn't been wearing such an elaborate dress, she'd probably have tried climbing the shelves to get at the books there. Because that had never gone against her in the past. Nope, never been buried under an avalanche of books.

That anyone needed to know about.

"Levy-chan!" Lucy called as she entered. "How'd I know that I'd find you here?"

"I wasn't going to climb the shelves!" Levy said quickly.

"O…kay?"

"I hope this murderer strikes soon," Levy said. "This place creeps me out. I just want to get to the dinner."

"And missing your boyfriend? After all, when better to have him around, than in a scary place?"

Together, they went over the books they could find, chatting.

A shadowy figure watched them from the doorway.


Gajeel heard a scream pierce the night. He stood, clenching a pipe between his teeth. "Come, dear Lilyson! There is foul play afoot!"

"God, you had Levy read Sherlock Holmes to you, didn't you?" Lily said, grimacing.

They busted through the front door. "Never fear, Detective Inspector Redfox is here!"

"Quick!" Makarov said, still in character. "There has been a murder…in the library!"

Library? Has to be the Shrimp, Gajeel thought. But they got there to find Lucy lying on the ground, acting dead. He could see blood on her dress. Slowly, all of the guild members gathered in the room. Levy was looking very nervous as several guild members eyed her suspiciously. Apparently, lots of people had seen her in the area.

"Well Inspector, it's up to you to find the perpetrator of this crime," Makarov said nonchalantly.

"Gihi! Redfox is on the case! First, I'll start by examining the harlot's corpse!"

"Hey!" Lucy protested at the insult.

"Shh. Dead people don't talk," Gajeel said grinning, as he turned her over. "Lord, yer a lot heavier than Shrimp!"

"Hey!" Lucy protested louder.

"Lilyson, note that the woman appears to have suffered a stab wound below the ribs on the left hand side. Hmm, upward trajectory, from the front." Lily scribbled in a notepad as Gajeel dictated.

"Oi Gajeel, I saw who did it!" Natsu shouted.

Gajeel glanced up.

"That's Detective Inspector to you maggot!" He roared, grabbing Natsu by the muffler and slapping him repeatedly. "Now tell me everything you saw!"

"Guh…I was outside the library. I heard Levy and Lucy talking and bam! The next minute, Lucy's on the floor and Levy's gone!" Natsu said.

"So ya didn't actually see the stab?" Gajeel was right in Natsu's face, radiating menace.

"Umm…no…," Natsu said, sweating buckets.

"Then. Ya. Are. Useless. To. Me!" Gajeel said, headbutting him with every word.

"Your questioning skills need work," Lily noted wryly.

"Oi Shrimp! Did ya do it?" He shouted across the room.

"N…no!" She shouted back, teary eyed. "It wasn't me! I saw a shadowy figure outside the library. Maybe it was Natsu!"

"Ah? Then I'm about ready to deliver my verdict," Gajeel said.

Lily smacked him hard in the shin. "Look a bit harder before making judgements!"

"Grrr…fine, damn cat."


Gajeel took people one by one into a side room for questioning.

"Elfman! What were ya doing at the time of the crime?"

"Being a Man!"

"Gray! Where are yer clothes?"

"Oh crap! That was a rental, too!"

"Juvia! Ya hate Lucy, right?"

"Juvia does not like love-rival, but Juvia has been with Gray-sama all night."

"Mira! Where's my drink?"

"Here you go, Inspector!"

Lily watched him. He seemed to alternate between pointless questions and murder related questions. But as he listened, he began to see a spark of genius from Gajeel. People let their guards down before the stupid questions, loosening tongues. He was building a good picture of people's movements. And Lily noticed Wendy and Romeo pop up in the questions more and more. What had Gajeel noticed? Towards the end, he suspected that he was just gossiping, as the pair had apparently spent the night mostly together. What a waste of time, Lily sighed.

At last, Levy was his final suspect. Gajeel adjusted a lamp to shine in her eyes.

"First question: why are ya so short?"

"Ga-ji-ru…," Levy scowled. Then she began to plead. "Please help me, I'm not the killer, I promise! I had only left the library for a minute and I heard Lu-chan scream. By the time I got back in, all I saw was someone fleeing the room. But it's so dark that I couldn't see them!"

"How can I trust ya?" He asked suspiciously, making Levy flush angrily before calming herself.

"Lu-chan's my best friend! Why would I choose her?"

"Hmm…why indeed?" Gajeel puffed on his pipe. It wasn't lit, making him look stupid. In fact, he was having the biggest brainwave of his life.

"Gajeel, please help me!" Levy asked desperately.

"No problems. I think I've got this case all wrapped up!"


They were all back in the library, awaiting the verdict with baited breath. Lucy was up and about, bored of lying down. Gajeel paced back and forth, making pretend puffs on his pipe, enjoying the atmosphere.

"Hmm…quite a difficult case, I must say. But I found evidence that pointed to an inevitable conclusion. And then the suspect gave themselves away during questioning. And that suspect, the murderer is…"

Gajeel pointed a damning finger into the crowd.

"Levy McGarden!"

"What!?" She shrieked amongst the general hubbub of the crowd. "Why are you picking on me?"

"Gihi. Gihihihihi! Let me display the first piece of evidence: the stab wound!" He pointed at Lucy. "It comes in under her ribs, aiming up. Bunny-girl is one of the shortest guild members. In order to make that injury, the murderer would have to be considerably shorter!"

There was an excited tone to the background noise now.

"That only leaves three possible candidates: Ya, Wendy or Romeo!" He smiled. "And rather than ask about the murder, I asked most people what those two were up to, and guess what? They were together the whole time!"

The pair blushed as gossip instantly flared up.

"But Lu-chan is my best friend. I have no reason to murder her!" Levy shouted.

"Objection!" Gajeel grinned, caught up in his own theatrics. He tapped the side of his nose knowingly. "In order to make my deduction, I had to think outside the box. Think back to the rules of the game. If I guess right, that person is punished. If I'm wrong, I'm punished. Which means…"

The crowd sounded confused.

"The only safe person is the murder victim! They are the only person present who cannot possibly suffer punishment!"

"Ooooooooooh!" Went the crowd.

"So I put it to ya that ya murdered Lucy, with yer shortness making the wound, and yer compassion making the choice!"

Levy flushed.

"In fact, ya headed right to the library, knowing that it would draw Lucy like a moth to the flame! This murder was pre-errr…"

"Premeditated," Lily filled in.

"Right!" Gajeel grinned. "What about it, Shrimp? Ready to come clean?"

Levy looked shocked. "Nu…nu…nu…nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo!" She fell to her knees, crying. Not another punishment game! How many was that now?

"Gihi! Don't feel bad to be outfoxed by the Redfox!" Hey, good job on the one-liner, brain!

"Congratulations, Gajeel-kun. Now with the game over, let's feast!" Makarov called.


Gajeel was going through the food at a terrific rate. Levy looked on with familiar amazement. They sat around a huge banquet table piled high with food. The ruckus was immense as people drank and shouted and fought.

"Ya know what yer punishment is yet?" He asked with his mouth full.

"No, but if it involves a skimpy outfit, I'm blaming you!"

"Gihi! Not bad, though, right?"

"Hm. You acted like a hero from one of my favourite book series. I'm not sure that I can be angry." She flushed, looking away. "Keep the costume."

Gajeel laughed loudly and dirtily. Makarov approached them from behind.

"Ah, Levy-kun! I hope you are ready for this. Your punishment for losing the game is not too bad. For the Halloween party, you will be the waitress. If someone asks, you have to do."

"Oh, thank god! It could have been…"

"Gihi. Gihihihi. GIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHI!"

Levy didn't turn around, and kept looking at Makarov. "This is going to be hell, isn't it?"


The following day at the Halloween party...

The curtains on the stage rose, revealing Gajeel in a white suit, with his guitar in hand. He'd quickly changed out of his Big Bad Wolf costume. He began playing his new song, 'Best Friend'. The crowd booed him, but he paid no mind as the thrown food hit him and his dancer.

Before him, red with embarrassment was Levy in her Little Red Riding Hood costume, dancing to a tune that didn't exist.

Enjoy yourself now Gajeel, because you aren't getting sex until new years!


Phoenix Wright meets Liar Game…