When we made it back to Magnolia, it was to a bright and shiny new guild. It was so much bigger than the old one. Max was running a souvenir shop now, and it had a lot of Fairy Tail merchandise. There was an outdoor cafe, and a stage for music. There was a game hall now, and even a pool in the back. And now everyone was allowed to go to the second floor and take S-class quests as long as an S-class mage went with them.

Natsu was pouting about everything being so different. "So you've all finally returned," Master said, walking up to us. "This is our new member, Juvia." He pointed to Juvia standing beside him. "Ain't she a cutie?"

Juvia smiled at us. "Juvia is glad to be of service!" Juvia cheered.

Gray chuckled. "So, you really joined?" He asked, looking at her.

Erza stepped forward. "You helped us a lot at Akane," She said.

"It's all thanks to you!" Juvia said happily. "Juvia will work hard!"

I smiled and patted her on the shoulder as I walked by. "It's good to have you, Juvia. I'm hosting a kickboxing class in a couple of days. It will be a great way to get to know the other members of the guild." She smiled and nodded. I walked over to Laki, who had just prepared a mango milkshake.

"Welcome back!" She smiled when I sat down. "Did you have a nice vacation?"

I smiled. "It was eventful, that was for sure." I turned around when the Master mentioned there was another new member.

"There's another one?" Happy asked curiously. I looked on when I heard my team all gasp in shock. Sitting at one of the benches by himself was Gajeel.

Gray and Natsu looked ready to attack him. Erza was adamant about him not joining as he was the one who destroyed the guildhall. Juvia tried to defend him, and Lucy seemed terrified. I sighed at their actions and stood up. Smiling at Laki, I walked over and got between them and Gajeel.

"You all need to relax," I said. "He won't be attacking anyone anytime soon."

"Why are you defending him?!" Natsu shouted. "You of all people should know he shouldn't be a member. He attacked you!"

I walked over and grabbed his ear to pull him closer. "Need I remind you," I hissed. "I am the one person in this guild who knows exactly what he is capable of?" I let go of his ear and walked closer to Gajeel. Natsu pouted and rubbed his ear.

"Master says he is a member so that we will treat him as family," I announced loudly to the rest of the guild. Levy was cringing a little, probably remembering what he almost did to her and her team. "We forgive most wrongdoings and give second chances. I don't want to hear that you all attacked him with malicious intent. Is that understood?"

When the guildhall was mostly silent again, Master Makarov smiled. "Very well said, Alex. They say yesterday's enemies are tomorrow's friends, yes?"

I nodded and sat down at the table with Gajeel. "This has to be a joke!" Natsu demanded punching the table. "You expect me to go on jobs with this guy?"

"Don't worry," Gajeel said. "I ain't sharing my work!" He stood up. "I just want jobs, that's all." He turned to me. "And I don't need you defending me," He said. "Don't go expecting me to thank you or apologize for attacking you earlier.

I laughed and crossed my arms. "Don't worry, I beat you later, so we're even." I stood up. "And, you're welcome." I walked off before him and Natsu started arguing.

"I can't believe I ended up here in the most annoying guild of all..." I heard Gajeel say before I made it to the bar with my milkshake. I laughed and sat down.

"You seem awfully accepting of Gajeel being here," Lucy commented, sitting beside me. "Does it have something to do with the future?"

I nodded and took a drink. "Yeah, he becomes such a dear friend later, and I wanted him to feel a little more welcome." I watched Natsu and Gajeel argue some more and smiled. "I can't wait to watch him grow as a person."

"They're more like dogs than dragons, seriously," Macao said, holding his drink.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, eating a fish."That's even lower than cats!"

The lights shut off, and we looked to the stage to see Mira standing there with a guitar. Lucy had decided to join our team at a table. "Welcome back," Mira said, smiling. "I will sing a song commemorating the new guild and welcome back Natsu's team." She played her guitar and played a beautiful song. The guildhall was silent while she played.

When she finished, everyone cheered for her. "Great!" Macao shouted. "Who's next?" The lights shut off only to turn on when Gajeel sat up there in an all-white suit with a guitar. The guild was shocked to see him up there.

"I wrote this song myself," Gajeel said. "It's called 'Best Friend.' I hope you like it."

"I hope you choke!" Someone shouted, while the guild started throwing things at him. "And why are you wearing that suit?" His singing gave mixed results. Many were horrified with it, while others cheered for him. I smiled and clapped for him.

Gajeel continued to sing until Natsu said something insulting, and he threw his guitar at Natsu's face. And that started a full-on guild brawl. Happy and Lucy hid behind the bar, and I simply watched and laughed, occasionally dodging things that came flying my way.

Master Makarov cried at the destruction of our brand new guild. I grinned and leaned back to watch the carnage. It was good to be home.

I had decided I needed to get away from the guild before they somehow managed to drag me into the brawl. It was there that I saw Laxus beating up Gajeel.

I growled and ran over there. "That's enough, Laxus!" I shouted when I made it over there.

"Oh, there you are, Alex," Laxus said, looking at me. "Did you want to take a turn with him?" He looked back. "I can understand that. After all, he did quite a number on you when he attacked our guild, didn't he?"

"I already paid him back for that," I insisted. "He's a guild member now. We don't attack our guildmates like this."

Laxus growled. "I'm tired of hearing you defend him," He said. "He's no guildmate of mine!" He pulled his fist back and was about to punch Gajeel with a lightning fist.

I grabbed his arm before he could and absorbed the lightning from his fist. "I said, that's enough," I growled, glaring up at him. I was determined to make him listen.

"Hey!" Gajeel protested. "I don't need you fighting my battles!" He looked pretty beat up.

"Don't you have a job to do?" I asked, shifting my eyes to him for a moment. He grunted and stood up to leave. I nodded and turned to Levy and her team. "Jet, Droy, since you seem to have the energy to beat up new members who clearly won't fight back, we can start training every week. You need to be able to actually help Levy on jobs, and I expect to see you there. Don't even think of trying to hide because I will find you."

When they nodded in fear, I excused them and let them leave with Levy. I turned back to face Laxus. "Come train with me." I let go of his fist and walked off to our training area.

When we got there, I launched some purple lighting at him. He dodged and used his lightning travel to get behind me. "So why the training session?' He asked, throwing a punch at my midsection.

I ducked. "I needed to talk to you," I said, kicking the back of his knee caps while I was ducking.

"What about?" Laxus flipped backward and threw some lightning in my direction.

I flipped over the lightning and jumped on his back. "This Battle of Fairy Tail, you and the Raijinshuu have cooked up." I felt him stiffen. "It's going to fail."

"And what do you know?" Laxus roared, flipping me on my back, he leaned forward, so his face was near mine. "How do you even know about that?"

I narrowed my eyes but didn't fight. "You must think I'm an idiot. It wasn't hard to figure out what you were planning. You and the Raijinshuu stopped, taking me on so many jobs, and you kept putting down the rest of the guild. But your plan will fail. You won't win the guild like this." I pulled my feet up and kicked him in the stomach to get him off me. "I'm asking you now. Please don't go through with this, or I will have to end it quickly."

I stood up. "I think if you spent some time with the rest of the guild, you would see just how amazing everyone is," I smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him up. "I don't want to have to hurt you later, Laxus. So please don't make that necessary."

He scoffed. "You just wanted to spar so you could talk to me alone about this?" He crossed his arms. "You must feel pretty strongly about this."

I nodded and crossed my arms. "I do. This guild is the only family I have here. Everyone means too much to me to see you tear it apart."

Laxus crossed his arms and nodded. "Don't worry, you won't have to," He assured me. He pat my head. "Now go on back to the guild. I'm done sparring for now."

I look at him for a moment to see if he was serious, then smiled. "Alright." I turned around and started walking back to the guild. "I'll see you and the Raijinshuu at the Harvest Festival, right?"

Laxus snorted and rolled his eyes. "You'll see us there, don't worry, I heard him say as I walked away. "Are you going to enter the Miss Fairy Tail contest?"

I stopped walking and looked at him. "I'm not interested in contests; you know that." I crossed my arms. "I'll just be on the sidelines, cheering some of the other girls on like usual. Why do you ask?"

Laxus turned his head away. "Just checking. You should probably compete, though. I think you have a good chance at winning."

I smiled and turned around. "I'll consider it then, Laxus." I waved goodbye. "I'll see you there!"

On the day of the Harvest Festival, all of Magnolia was busy preparing for the Fantasia parade. I went into the guild early that morning to help Mira prepare for the Miss Fairy Tail contest. I was wearing a red tank top, black shorts, knee-high black socks, and my black boots. I had my hair tied up in a high ponytail. At the moment, Mira was helping the Master get some supplies.

When the contest was about to start, I decided to wait in the back of the guildhall to greet Laxus and the Raijinshuu when they came in. "You're not going to enter the contest?" Max asked, walking up to me.

I laughed. "I'm not one for competing," I said, crossing my arms. "I'll let the other girls do their thing."

"That's too bad," Max sighed, crossing his arms. "I think you could have had a chance at winning this year." He turned to the stage. "I better get up there and get the competition started then." I waved at him as he walked off.

The guildhall had filled quickly. I grew tired of waiting for Laxus, so I walked over to where Natsu and Gray sat with Elfman. "The guildhall looks great," Gray commented, looking at me. "You did a good job."

I smiled in appreciation and looked up at the stage. "So glad you could make it!" Max shouted. "The battle of beauty between our female Fairies...Let's start the Miss Fairy Tail Contest! I am Max, the sand wizard, and I will be your host!"

"You don't care about this stuff, right?" Gray asked. Natsu seemed indifferent and was stuffing his face with a loaf of bread.

I smiled and turned around to face the stage. "It's sure to be interesting to watch."

And it was a good competition. All the girls were introduced, and they performed a little bit of magic to impress their guildmates. Mirajane didn't even try as she just made her face look like Happy and Gajeel. Happy and I were probably the only ones to laugh at the performance. Erza's performance was probably the most impressive when she requiped into a Gothic Lolita style dress.

Lucy was about to do her cheer routine when it was interrupted by Evergreen. "If you want a Fairy, then you want me," She said, walking up. I looked on in concern. "If you want beauty, then you want me. Yes, I am all you want! The winner is obviously me, Evergreen!" She smiled at the crowd. "Okay! The idiotic contest is now over!"

"Evergreen?" Gray asked, surprised.

"She's back?" Elfman asked, looking at her. I put my hands to my forehead, annoyed. I was hoping Laxus would listen to me and end this.

"Hey!" Lucy shouted. "Don't get in my way! My rent is counting on this, you know!"

"Lucy!" Gray shouted. "Don't look into her eyes!"

"What's with this kid?" Evergreen asked, lifting her glasses and looking at Lucy, turning her to stone.

Max turned to face the audience. "Everyone quickly escape!" He shouted. Everyone started running to the exit.

I stood up with Gray and Elfman, but didn't try running. "What are you doing, Evergreen?" Master Makarov demanded. "Do you plan on ruining the festival?"

Evergreen chuckled. "You need some entertainment for a festival, yes?" She asked. The curtain behind her rose to show all of the contestants were turned to stone.

"You fool!" Master said. "Return them to normal at once!"

Lightning crashed to the stage and revealed Laxus standing there. "Hey, you Fairy Fails!" He exclaimed. "This festival's just getting started!" I turned around and found the rest of the Raijinshuu were already in the guildhall. They had come in during the contest. "Let's play, old man."

"Enough of this foolishness!" Master demanded. "Return them to normal at once!"

"I wonder how many will be left to be in the Fantasia?" Laxus wondered idly. He made some lightning hit close to where Lucy was frozen.

I growled and stepped forward. "Stop it, Laxus!" I shouted, purple lightning traveling down my body. "You said you wouldn't do this!"

Laxus looked at me and sneered. "I said you wouldn't have to watch, didn't I?" He asked. "I also asked you to compete. You would have been frozen so you wouldn't have had to see it if you had done what I asked."

"What is he talking about?" Gray asked, looking at me. "What is this?"

"These women are my hostages," Laxus said, leaning against the Lucy statue. "If you break the rules, I'll shatter them, one by one. I told you, remember? This is entertainment!"

"What is happening?" Gray asked again, frustrated. "Alex, what do you know?"

I ignored him while Freed jumped down to join Laxus on the stage. "Let's just see who the strongest is in Fairy Tail," He said.

"Time for fun!" Bickslow said, joining them.

"The rules are simple!" Laxus continued. "The last one standing is the winner! Battle of Fairy Tail!"

I growled and stormed up to the stage, thunder crashing through the sky. "You won't get away with this, Laxus. I warned you. You will fail today."

"Better watch where you throw that lightning, Sparky," Bickslow said, sticking his tongue out. "Don't want anything to happen to these girls, do we?"

I snarled a little, but turned off my magic for the moment. He was right; I couldn't risk hurting Lucy and the others while they were so close.

Natsu punched the table and stood up. "I like it!" He said. "Simple! I'm getting fired up!"

"I like that eager spirit of yours," Laxus said, looking at Natsu.

"It's a festival, Gramps, Alex," Natsu said when I looked at him. "Let's do this." He started walking up to the stage.

"Don't you remember when you got beat by Laxus before?" Warren asked, when Natsu walked past him.

Natsu jumped up and threw a firey fist at Laxus. "But I hate that you have no sense of flair," Laxus continued. "So cool down." He blasted Natsu with some lightning.

"Natsu!" Gray shouted, alarmed. Natsu fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Aww," Happy said, flying over to him. "And he had just recovered..."

"If you want these girls returned to normal, you must defeat us!" Evergreen said, hand on her hip.

"There are four of us, and around one-hundred of you, right?" Bickslow asked, laughing.

"You have three hours," Evergreen added. "After that, they turn to dust I'm afraid."

"Stop hiding behind them, and I won't need ten minutes," I promised, glaring at them.

"The field of battle is the entirety of Magnolia," Laxus continued, ignoring me. "When you find us, the battle begins."

"Laxus!" Master roared, growing in size. "Stop this foolishness!"

"I said, cool down!" Laxus laughed. "It's entertainment for the festival, see?"

The Master roared angrily. Laxus merely laughed and used his lightning travel to leave the guildhall with his team. "What is happening?" Gray asked me. "What are they doing?"

"It's the battle of Fairy Tail," I said, crossing my arms angrily. "I would have said something earlier, but I was hoping to convince them to not go through with their plan."

"Well, that didn't work," Gray muttered, crossing his arms. "What are you going to do about it?"

I growled and turned into my demon form. "I'm going to end this before anyone gets hurt," I promised.

Hey everyone! The Battle of Fairy Tail is about to start! This will be the only chapter I'm able to put up this week since I'm getting carpet installed tomorrow. Thank you for reading my story guys! It means so much to me. Please feel free to share legitimate concerns about my character and where I'm going with this story.