Fairy Tale is a great band. They make great music. They perform well, but there's one thing that even they can't avoid. That's the fact that their bus gets caught in traffic and they can't go much further.
"You've got to be kidding me." Gray said. "We've been caught on this highway traffic for nearly twenty minutes and we've barely moved."
"You can't control the flow of traffic, Gray." Erza said. "There isn't much that we can do, but sit here and wait."
"Just be glad that we actually got a fridge and other stuff to keep us entertained in here." Gajeel said. "Those other people don't have the luxury we have in here."
"Gajeel's right. Try and be a little more respectable because those people aren't as lucky as we are at the moment. So just relax." Erza said. "I'm sure it will start going at any moment. We just need to be patient."
"I'm kind of with Gray. This is so boring. What's causing this traffic jam in the first place?" Natsu said.
"There was an accident further ahead. It's going to take some time for it to clear." Levy said. "I suppose the good news is that no one really got hurt. The bad news is that this might affect some appearances we were suppose to make. All we can do is just wait it out." Some are more patient than others, but it can be hard to wait.
"Where's Lucy?" Erza asked.
"She's in the back, but she has been back there for a while." Natsu said. "I wonder what she's doing back there?"
"I'll go check on her." Erza said. She headed for the back to see Lucy. Lucy was in the back of the bus and was looking at some deck of cards she had. "Lucy?" Erza opened the door and it spooked Erza and she dropped some of the cards.
"Erza, don't surprise me like that." Lucy said as she moved quickly and tried to get those cards in a box before Erza could see anything.
"What are you doing? What are those cards?" Erza asked.
"Nothing." Lucy said. She had one card left to grab, but Erza grabbed it first. She got a good look at the card and was a little surprised at what she saw.
"Wait. Isn't this a card used for one of those child games that has monsters and such?" Erza said. "Didn't they make some sort of show revolving around this too?" Erza looked at Lucy and Lucy seemed a little embarrassed. "Lucy? Why do you have this?"
"Close the door!" Lucy said as she acted quickly and closed the door so the others wouldn't hear. "I don't want the others to know. Knowing the guys, they will laugh if they find out I have a whole deck of those cards."
"Why do you have these cards?" Erza said. Lucy took a deep breath.
"The truth is...I still collect those cards. I have ever since I was a kid." Lucy said. Erza really didn't know what to think of this. Meanwhile, the others were trying to make the most of the situation.
"Since we're stuck here, might as well do a little web surfing." Natsu said as he turned on a laptop. "Let's see what our fans are saying on our websites."
"Just don't overreact." Gray said.
"Overreact? Overreact to what?" Natsu said.
"To some of the comments people leave." Gray said. "Hold on. When was the last time you checked out some of the comments people leave online?"
"I don't know. Why? Everyone loves us." Natsu said. The others looked at each other nervously. "What?"
"Lately...we've been getting a few negative comments." Levy said.
"Say what?" Natsu said.
"It's true." Gajeel said as he walked over and took the computer. "Take a look." Gajeel typed in some stuff and brought up a few comments that did not sound all that nice.
"Fairy Tale look so stupid? They're just a bunch of fakes? Natsu is really a talentless singer?" Natsu read some of those comments and he couldn't believe what he was reading.
"Natsu...? You okay?" Levy asked.
"Don't overreact, man." Gray said.
"I'm not going to overreact. I'll react the right amount!" Natsu shouted. While that was going on, Erza took a quick look out the door and closed it so it would just be her and Lucy.
"Looks like they're going to be occupied for a while." Erza said as she turned to Lucy. "That means you and I are safe since you want to keep this a secret. Why do you have those cards with you?"
"I know it's a child's game. I know some people probably think it's dumb or something, but I can't help it." Lucy said. "I've collected these cards since I was a kid and I actually love playing the game."
"But why keep it hidden?" Erza asked.
"I don't know. I was embarrassed." Lucy said. "You know how those guys are. If they would have found out about it, they would have laughed and poked fun at me. It's something I love, but I didn't think any of you guys would like it. So I thought the best thing to do was to keep it hidden?"
"If that's the case, why did your bring those cards? You took a risk bringing those cards with you." Erza said.
"I know, but I wanted to." Lucy said with some shame. "I was actually hoping to hit a few stores during the tour and find some packs to make my deck a little stronger." Erza really didn't know what to think of this. "Erza, please don't tell the others. If they find out about this, I might die of embarrassment."
"Lucy, are you sure you're not just overreacting?" Erza said. "It might not be a big deal."
"I don't think I really want to find out." Lucy said. She's just too afraid the others are just going to make fun of her.
"Are you kidding me?!" Natsu shouted.
"What's going on over there?" Lucy asked.
"Not really sure." Erza said. Natsu kept looking over the negative comments and he didn't like them.
"This Life is Mine sounds like their meanest song ever?!" Natsu said. "It's not mean? It's suppose to say that you can live your own life and still be special!"
"Natsu, just stop reading them." Levy said.
"Seriously. You're going to drive yourself crazy with all this." Gajeel said.
"How come you never told me about these comments?" Natsu said.
"Because it's not a big deal. They're just haters." Gray said.
"Yeah. Haters gonna hate." Levy said. As soon as she said that, they all looked at her strangely.
"Don't ever say that again." Gray said as it just didn't sound right coming from her.
"My point is that they're just haters." Levy said. "They're going to say stuff like that, but it's not a big deal. Maybe they're saying that stuff because they're just mean, jealous, or they just don't like it. That's fine. We can't expect everyone to like our stuff."
"Seriously. Just ignore them." Gray said.
"How am I suppose to ignore this one?!" Natsu said. Gajeel looked over the comment and he was shocked at what he saw himself.
"Someone should really be monitoring these comments." Gajeel said.
"If I ever find the guys that did this, I'm going to let them have it!" Natsu said.
"That's going to be good for our publicity." Gray sarcastically said. Natsu is getting really worked up from these negative comment and the others could see this could lead to trouble. As for Erza and Lucy, Erza was still trying to convince Lucy she shouldn't be afraid.
"Lucy, this is nothing to be embarrassed about." Erza said. "If you enjoy this, who are we to judge. Some people might think it's weird, but there are probably others out there that are just like you."
"Maybe, but I still don't want the others to find out." Lucy said.
"All because you're afraid they're going to make fun of you?" Erza asked. "Lucy, we're your friends. We might poke a little fun, but if you really think it's going to bother them so much, just tell them to stop. Tell them you don't like it. Natsu won't make fun of you. Neither will Gray and Levy. Gajeel might, but he's a bigger softie than he shows."
"I don't know." Lucy said as she still wasn't certain.
"Would you feel better if I told you something about myself that no one else knows? Something I would be embarrassed about." Erza said.
"You really do that just to make me feel better?" Lucy asked.
"I would." Erza said as she sat next to her. She took a deep breath and pulled Lucy closer as she whispered something in Lucy's ear. Lucy was shocked at what she heard with Erza blushing.
"Are you serious?!" Lucy said.
"I am. Feel better." Erza said.
"Yeah. My little secret pales in comparison to that. No offense." Lucy said. "Thanks, Erza. Maybe I am being a little silly." Erza was glad she could help out. Once they got a problem solved, they walked right into another. They joined the others and saw Gray and Gajeel were keeping Natsu back as Levy held the computer away from him.
"Give me that computer! I'll show those haters a thing or two!" Natsu said.
"No way! You smash computers when you get this mad and we can't lose this one." Levy said.
"You're just going to add fuel to the fire. Simmer down, you hotheaded idiot." Gray said. The four of them kept arguing and Erza knew just how to stop it.
"That's enough!" Erza called and the fear stopped them all from acting out. "Now what the heck is going on here?"
"Natsu found a bunch of negative comments online and he's not handling it well." Levy said.
"Seriously? I thought we agreed he shouldn't really see those." Lucy said.
"So all of you know about this and didn't tell me?!" Natsu said.
"It was for your own good." Gajeel said.
"We knew you would act like this, idiot." Gray said.
"Natsu, you've just grown use to all the positive feedback we've been getting." Erza said. "However, there are some people out there that don't like us and that's just fine. You didn't expect everyone to like our music, did you?"
"Well..." Natsu said as he wasn't sure how to answer that.
"It's only a few compared to the hundreds of fans we do have." Lucy said. She took the computer and brought all the positive feedback. "See. Look at all the great stuff people say like how they love our music and think we're the best."
"And a little negative feedback is good because it helps us grow and develop in areas we're weak in." Erza said. "Someone once claimed I'm a terrible bass player. So I worked on my skills and got better."
"And the only way to deal with people like those haters is just ignore them." Gray said. "Fighting back like you were about to would just make thins worse."
"Here. Just take a look at some of the good stuff people say about you and you'll feel a lot better." Lucy said. She handed him the computer and Natsu took a look at some of the stuff. When he saw all the good comments their fans say about him, Natsu was feeling a lot better.
"You guys are right. Maybe I am acting a little crazy." Natsu said.
"I don't blame you since we're stuck in this traffic." Gajeel said. That was when the bus really started moving and traffic was going again.
"Looks like things are going along again." Levy said. Being stuck in traffic might have driven them a little crazy, but they've worked passed it and they're moving once again.
...
Later
The band made it to their next appearance. Once they did what they needed to do, they were hitting the road once again with their fans cheering them off.
"Feel good getting some positive feedback?" Levy said.
"You bet." Natsu said. "It also looks like Lucy is also coming out of her shell." They looked to the side and spotted Lucy playing her card game against Gajeel.
"And with that combo of spells, I win." Lucy said.
"Darn it!" Gajeel said. "Best two out of three."
"Why? You want to lose badly again?" Gray taunted with all of them laughing. They hit the road again and they were on their way...until they came to a stop. They looked and saw they were out in another traffic jam. None of them were looking forward to this.