Chapter 12
Magnolia Fairy tail guild
Strife was trotting gently down the Streets of Magnolia on Mayhem after the two had just completed their first Solo job and was now returning to the guild, "yo guys i'm back" he called out to the guild as he trotted in. The guild raised their glasses to the horseman as he entered, Dismounted and despawned Mayhem, "welcome back Strife" Watcher said, carrying a large stack of books.
He strained as he placed them on the Table where Levy was sitting, "here you are Levy" he said as he placed them on the table, "thanks" Levy said, "uh did you get Arnold Munkjacks book on Animal based Magic?" the Watcher groaned, "i Shall return" and with that he floated off looking very knacked, "why doesn't he just teleport the books in?" Strife asked, "well not long after you left-" Jet began.
A few hours earlier
"Hey Watcher you still haven't found the right book" Levy deadpanned as the Watcher returned another book after about 10 failed attempts at teleporting the correct book, "oh why don't you take the whole Library and find it yourself!?" the Watcher snapped in frustration, summoned a portal near the roof of the guild and dumped every book through it and flooded the guildhall.
Present
"Okay..." Strife trailed out, "anyway i'm gonna go get my sabers" he walked over to Ibojils forge where she banged away, "ah there you are" she said as she noticed the horseman, "was just putting the finishing touches on them" she told him as she gave his sabers, or more accurately a double sided saber, Strife saw what she had done but he separated the two with their newest gimmick just to be sure he then put them back together and experimentally twirled it around, it felt good. He then boomeranged it around the guild nearly taking the heads of seven members, "watch it!" the Watcher exclaimed as ducked, Huninn and Muninn scattered away from their lunch before they got struck, Cana's keg got cut in half, "hey what gives?" she asked.
Wakaba managed to duck down out of the way, his pipe was not so lucky neither was Nabs ponytail, "sorry" Strife called as the weapon returned, "geez if you want to test your weapons can't you do so outside?" Bisca asked, "you're going to kill someone" Laki agreed, "you keep being downers and i might die myself '' Strife whispered to himself, "anyway where's the Master?".
"I've been wondering that myself" Erza said walking up to him, "he's at another meeting, not far from here he should be back soon" Mira said, "alright good to know" Strife said, he then watched the rest of team Natsu look at the board they were looking at a rather odd job request to say the least.
All it said on the paper was 'Read this' and the reward was 500,000 jewels, the rest was in a language appeared to be made up, even demon or angel dialect wasn't like this kind of toddler nonsense, "man this is an odd job request, can't even read it" Natsu said, "yeah" Gray agreed, "you two are still off limits to job requests" Erza said bonking them on the head, "so are you" Strife said and shot her in the head, non lethal rounds and made a bump on her own head.
"Oh real smooth" Lucy said sarcastically, "uh how come you're always so casual?" Romeo asked, "well Romeo it's just part of my personality" Strife said, twirling Mercy, "hey what happened to your revolver?" Macoa asked, "what was it called?", "it was called redemption and it's in a much better place now" Strife said, "i'll get it back at some point, don't ask me when". "And you know this for a fact?" Gray asked.
Strife gave a nod, "oh and horseman" Ibojil called out, "made yah a new weapon" she held up the new weapon, it was a specialized rifle that covered the forearm with a shield like structure made for the left hand obviously. "besides every sword needs a shield", the Maker tossed the weapon to Strife, he caught it expertly and fired three shots from it.
Shooting three large holes in the book Levy was unfortunately reading and would have killed Levy had she not have ducked, "hey watch it jerk" she yelled, "sorry" Strife said back, "call it retributions Bow, after all it only adds more punishment to them" she gestured at Lucy and Happy who were cowering at the sudden gunfire.
"Hey there's some modern letters here" Gray then pointed out to Natsu, "ugo, deru rasuchi boro kania…"Natsu recited it was too much for his brain to understand, "man what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked clutching his head.
Then quite all of a sudden, the request paper began to glow in array of colors, every color of the rainbow as it happened, "what the-" Macao said, "those kids are so scared of Strife they're sweating rainbows" Wakaba observed, "so sad", "i think you had too much booze" Macao commented.
Then the light finally died down, "okay what was that?" Strife asked, then Gray began shivering and hugged himself, "why am i so cold?" he asked, "Cold?" Elf man asked incredulously, "But you're an ice wizard, you cry baby".
Unfortunately This didn't make Gray any better, "someone get something warm or I'm gonna kill someone" Gray said angrily, "What the?" Erza snapped out of her stupor, very confused. "What's going on? My chest feels weird all of a sudden, like its heavy! My back's killing me."
"Uh, you feeling okay Erza?" Macao asked, stupefied.
"What are you…" Gray trailed off. When he caught sight of Erza, his mouth fell to the floor. "What the hell?!"
"Oh wow!" Natsu squealed happily, however, his cheeks seemed to be rosier than before. "Natsu, where are you?"
"I'm right here. Hey, did you guys get taller or something?" Happy, who was standing on the wooden table, asked. Suddenly, his eyes widened a bit. 'Uh…what happened to my voice?' The azure feline brought up his paws to his face. His jaw almost fell off from shock.
"What the?! I'm a cat?!" Happy shrieked.
"Uh…yeah Happy, that's kind of a given." Wakaba noted, though in a confused fashion.
The blue cat turned to him and glared. "I'm not Happy, I'm Natsu!"
"WHAT?!" Wakaba, Macao, and Elfman all shouted in unison.
"Damn" Strife said, then he looked down and he realised he was in Lucy's body, "well at least I'm not in war's ugly mug". Then he registered this, "gah I'm in Lucy's body!" He exclaimed.
Lucy, who was now in Strife's body, squealed which sounded a little odd, "I'm in Strife's body!" She yelled trying to take a step but the Armor was heavier than she thought as she fell over, "how do you lift this?" Lucy/Strife asked, "I don't know it's not that heavy" Strife/Lucy said.
Elfman, Wakaba, Macao, and Mira were left dumbfounded by what they were witnessing.
"Okay, something here isn't right. First Kurt says he is Lucy, and then Happy says he is me. What's going on?!" Natsu/Happy yelled.
"Ugh? What are you talking about?" Gray/Erza asked, cocking a brow in confusion.
"How can you all be so foolish?" Erza/Gray demanded sternly, in a commanding voice they had never heard before. "Isn't it obvious? We've all switched bodies!"
"WHAT?!" the remaining members of the team shouted. "Odd, I thought that magic was lost years ago by psychics?" The Watcher said he too had been watching with interest at the display.
Natsu/Happy stepped closer to Erza/Gray, panic in his eyes. "Stop fooling around, Gray!"
"I'm Erza you dimwit!" Erza/Gray retorted.
"W-wait…" Lucy/Kurt stuttered, "So…is that why…."
"Yes," Erza/Gray replied. "Natsu and Happy, Gray and I, and Lucy and Strife, we've all switched bodies."
"HUH?" everyone in the Guild, besides Strife/Lucy and the Watcher, said in astonishment.
"Well," Strife /Lucy shrugged, speaking in Lucy's voice, "this is definitely awkward.", "Still better than having to swap bodies with War" he then Thought.
"Well duh!" Lucy/Strife said, flailing her/his arms around. "You better not do anything perverted with my gorgeous body!". "Oh don't worry about me just don't scratch my Armor or weapons" Strife warned.
"It seems that the ancient Unpela-ese spell has been cast." A wise, grave voice said.
Everyone turned to see Master Makarov standing at the front doorway, his head down and his hands grasping his smiley-faced cane behind him.
"You kids aren't feeling like yourselves today, huh?" Makarov quipped. "No shit" Strife/Lucy said, "Master, you're back!" Erza/Gray said in relief.
"I had noticed that request on the board." Makarov explained. "Reading what was on that page allowed you to cast a powerful personality transference, and that spell is called the Changeling."
"Sounds really scary!" Lucy/Kurt commented. "Pah-lease stop acting so girly in my body it is not a good look" Strife said exasperated.
"So, you're really Natsu, right?" Gray/Erza asked.
Natsu/Happy glanced back at him/her. "Yeah?"
The red haired wizard grabbed the swapped azure feline by the green backpack. "You idiot! This is your entire fault! Because of you, Kurt and I are stuck in girls' bodies!"
"Hey, all I did was read the stupid job request! At least I'm not in a girl's body, ice prick!" Natsu/Happy countered.
"That's enough Erza…uh…I mean, Gray." Makarov corrected. "However, this spell does more than switch your bodies; it switches your magic too."
"What?!" the group shouted.
"There's one more thing you should know." Makarov said grimly. "If the Changeling spell isn't reversed in thirty minutes from the time it was originally cast, you will never return to the way you were before. Or says so the legend, at least."
"What?!" the team cried out.
Even Strife/Lucy was shocked by this startling new development. He certainly did not want to be trapped in Lucy's body for the rest of his life. A man being stuck in a woman's body would be extremely uncomfortable! But being uncomfortable was the least of his worries.
Natsu/Happy flew up to Elfman and Mira, who were standing a fair distance away, along with the other Fairy Tail wizards present. "Do you know how long we've been mixed up for?!" He asked frantically.
"Sixteen minutes," Mira answered, "which means you have fourteen left."
This only caused the group to scream even more, shocked by how little time they had left. They immediately turned to their orange and blue clad master again.
"Gramps, isn't there anything you can do to reverse the spell?!" Gray/Erza cried hysterically.
"Hmm," Makarov scratched his nose in contemplation. "Since this is such an ancient magic, it would only stand to reason that I…don't know."
The team was struck with horror, "nope! that does it kill me now, me and Lucy at least I can have my body in the afterlife!" Strife/Lucy yelled dementedly. "no please don't" Lucy panicked.
"I must say I am very disappointed." Makarov sighed. "I was looking forward to punishing you…but it looks like you've got your hands full right now.". The old mage then walked away. "Well, best of luck to you kids." He said in a cheery tone.
"Oh give me that gun Lucy I'm gonna shoot myself" Strife/Lucy said, lunging at his weapon but he was mercifully knocked unconscious by Makarov giant Magic.
"Strife seems a little stressed, let's let him have a break for a little bit" Makarov said, Strife was not the only one.
"Okay, that does it!" Gray/Erza yelled as he/she was lifting up his/her shirt. "I can't take it anymore!"
All the boys rushed over to see the supposed strip show that Gray/Erza was going to unfortunately make, but Erza/Gray managed to stop him/her in time, "Gray, get a hold of yourself!"
"I don't care Erza! I need this! Let go!" Gray/Erza roared out. Natsu/Happy sprouted a pair of white, feather wings from his back and flew a few feet off the ground. "I got to say, flying sure is fun, BUT I NEED TO BE ABLE TO BURN STUFF AGAIN!"
"I know! I'm so hungry, but all the fish keep burning up in my mouth!" Happy/Natsu complained as he bumped into Lucy/Strife and hit his head on the metal Armor head first and overheating his Armor, "YEOWCH" Lucy/Strife squeezed jumping a foot in the air and was caught by Mayhem.
"Oh thanks" Lucy/Strife said but then was immediately bucked off and into Elfman's nose giving the giant of a man a bad nose bleed. Mayhem then Nuzzles Lucy's body where Strife was inhabiting.
"Even in Lucy's body the horse knows it's rider" the Watcher said rather poetically.
"You are not going to stop me Erza Erza! Requip!" Gray/Erza yelled in anger as his/her body glowed yellow. Still wanting to Stripe but Erza wouldn't allow him
"Gray, don't you dare!" Erza/Gray pleaded.
When the flash died out, Gray/Erza was now dressed in a tight, one piece black outfit that showed off his/her voluptuous body and a staggering amount of cleavage. He/she wore black stockings, red heel shoes, and a pair of long, gray bunny ears that were attached to a band on his/her head. Around his/her neck was a cute red bowtie.
"What the?! I wanted cool armor, not to look like a showgirl!" Gray/Erza cried out.
The sight of Gray/Erza in such a revealing outfit, caused the men of Fairy Tail to drool in excitement, Even Lucy in Strife's body couldn't help but not look away.
"You bastard!" Erza/Gray cried as she/he was about to punch him/her, only for him/her to automatically switch back into his/her regular armor at the last second, badly bruising Erza/Gray's hand.
"Oh man, now I can't even strip with this stupid thing on my chest." Gray/Erza said as he/she was visibly trying to remove the breastplate.
"Should have just done that in the first place." Erza/Gray said as she/he was rubbing her/his bruised hand.
Suddenly, everyone looked to see fire drooling out of Happy/Natsu's mouth and onto the floor. "What's happening to me?! I have fire dripping from my mouth!"
"You've got to control it, Happy!" Natsu/Happy yelled.
"I can't sir!" Happy/Natsu said, continuing to breathe fire around the Guild. In an attempt to stop him, Erza/Gray tried to use her/his magic, but only succeeded in drooling out ice cubes from her/his mouth.
"Do I really want to know what's going on?" Ibojil asked Mira as she came through the door leading to the forge, "it's a long story" Mira said, sweat dropping.
"If only we had Virgo'' Lucy/Strife moaned as she looked at Strife/Lucy unconscious body, "why is he unconscious to begin with?" Ibojil asked , "he was having rather suicidal tendencies" the Watcher explained.
Then a gun pellet zoomed past his head, "how do you shoot this thing?" Lucy/Strife asked while holding Mercy in both hands.
"No need to worry, Lucy!" a feminine voice cried out. They all turned to see a petite, blue haired girl named Levy. Behind her were her two teammates; the orange haired one with a brown hat was Jet and the black haired one with a yellow bandolier across his chest was Droy.
"Levy, you're here!" Lucy/Strife squealed happily, "Don't worry! Team Shadow Gear is here to save the day." Droy stated confidently. "You guys will be back to normal in no time."
"Oh yeah," Jet added as confidently as Droy. "We got this, no sweat."
"Now do your thing Levy." Jet and Droy said together.
"You're so kind to help us!" Lucy/Strife said.
Levy chuckled a little. "Anything for a friend; besides, I really want to read your novel and it would be weird talking about it in front of Strife." She said, whispering the last part.
"What are you going to do?" Gray/Erza interjected.
Later, Levy was sitting at a bench, holding the request paper in her hands. A few books were stacked around her. The others gathered behind the blue haired mage.
"Well, I do know a little about ancient texts." Levy explained. "I'll start with what was written on the flier itself."
"Sounds good," Gray/Erza said, "but do it quick!"
Strife/Lucy took this moment to wake up, "damn" he cursed, "am I dead?" "Uh no" Lucy/Strife said worriedly, "oh good because I do not want to die in this body, my sibling would never let me live it down" Strife/Lucy said in relief and turned to the master.
"Thanks for knocking me out before I could commit suicide" he said, "welll if your going to die you can at least die in your proper body as it should be" the Master said.
"Also I would no longer get to-" "Don't even think about saying it" Mira then warned the master, making said master sweat nervously, "anyway" he coughed, "Levy is working on getting you all back to normal."
Normal was a good thing, because things were getting out of control, Virgo was summoned to make a whole so that they put out any fires Happy/Natsu might have started. Unfortunately Virgo dug a little too far down and destroyed the floor, so Virgo after being told off by Strife/Lucy handed him a paddle.
At first, he/she was not sure where Virgo was going with this, until she removed her skirt and panties, leaving her naked bottom sticking up in the air as she got on all fours.
"Forgive me Princess. Please punish me!" Virgo said in a sadomasochistic tone.
"Lucy, how do I send your perverted maid back?!"Strife/Lucy desperately cried, immediately looking away in embarrassment.
"Close the gate! Close the gate! Close the gate!" Lucy/Strife rapidly said, trying to cover her eyes.
"Oh wait I have an idea" Strife/Lucy said drawing Mercy from Lucy/Strifes holster, aimed and fired, shooting Virgo literally up the ass and out through the mouth. The sight made everyone wince as Virgo disappeared back into her gate. "Right up the ass huh" he quipped, no one was too sure whether to laugh or be disturbed.
Levy began reading a book as quickly as she could before more incidents occurred, her red reading glasses cast a beam of rainbow colored light over the pages, allowing her to read much faster, the Watcher helped out as best he could observing the papers while Huninn and Muninn retrieved books from the library to get information. "Okay…ugo deru…" she mumbled.
"Please hurry," Gray/Erza said calmly, although his/her expression suggested otherwise. "We only have ten minutes left."
"Are you sure that it's a good idea to be reading those words out loud?" Strife/Lucy asked cryptically, crossing his arms over Lucy's ample chest.
"Don't worry," Levy replied nonchalantly, looking between her books and the poster. "It's totally safe as long as you don't read everything in the right order."
"Alright but if everyone gets their body swapping then I'm gonna ring your neck" Strife/Lucy threatened, it made some a little concerned of his mental state.
"There's not much time!" Natsu/Happy shouted hysterically. "I need to be able to burn stuff again! Change me back!"
Levy was silent, still looking at the request paper. "Have you figured it out?" Natsu/Happy asked. "No," Levy replied disappointed, "I'm stumped!"
"No!" Happy/Natsu cried. "I can't stay in a body where I can't even eat fish!", "I'm with you! I need to burn stuff again!" Natsu/Happy cried out.
Lucy/Strife whimpered. "I can't stay in the body of an S-class armed to the teeth psychopath forever! Especially if it's a boy!".
"She'll be going through a lot worse if the apocalypse starts" Strife/Lucy thought, "my sibling are never going to let me live this down, especially Fury, war would disgrace me, and death would be…himself"
"This is crazy! I can't stay in the body of someone where I can't even strip!" Gray/Erza cried out, once again trying to remove his/her breastplate, to no avail.
"Surely my fate isn't to remain in the man's body for the rest of my life, especially one that's so cold." Erza/Gray whimpered.
"Look, I know you guys are freaking out, but I'm still working on it, okay?" Levy reassured the panicking wizards.
Natsu/Happy turned to Macao. "How much time do we have left?"
"Eight minutes, Macao answered, holding up a board with the number eight on it. "Hate to say it kids, but you might want to start preparing for the worst."
This statement made the whole team freeze in fear. The possibility of never going back to their own bodies was frightening. Even Strife/Lucy and he's had to face demons of hell on a daily basis for a living.
"So, what happens if we wind up getting stuck like this?" Gray/Erza inquired, his/her chin resting on his/her hand.
"What are you implying, Gray?" Erza/Gray cocked a brow.
"Are we just going to adjust to our new bodies and head back to work?" Gray/Erza clarified. "When you put it like that, I guess we'd have to. It's not like we have any other options." Erza/Gray said.
"I just want to eat fish again!" Happy/Natsu cried out, bawling like a baby. "Stop making me cry, Happy!" Natsu/Happy yelled.
"Not to mention none of us have any control of our powers" Strife/Lucy pointed out, "how long did it take you guys to master your powers?". That statement struck harder than it really should have for the team as they considered the question.
"Oh, crap, you're right!" Erza/Gray agreed. "We're useless and that means…"
"WE'RE THE WEAKEST TEAM IN FAIRY TAIL NOW!" they shouted simultaneously. "Oh well I faced a lot worse pain" Strife thought not joining in the shout as he thought back…back to the Nephilim eradication.
But It was sadly true. If the spell was not reversed, they would be stuck in another person's body with no knowledge on how to use that person's powers. In addition, being trapped in another person's body, especially for Strife, Erza, Gray, and Lucy, would not only have ramifications on their missions, but their personal lives as well.
"Oh man, I hate this!" Natsu/Happy roared out. "What's the point of living if I can't burn stuff anymore?!"
"I'm a cute celestial mage! No offence Strife but Mayhem hates me and I can't stay looking this scary forever!" Lucy/Strife cried out. "Looking scary is the least of your worries" Strife/Lucy deadpanned
Happy/Natsu was busy bawling his eyes out. "I just want to eat fish again!"
"This is unacceptable!" Erza/Gray shouted. "I'm an S-Class wizard and I refuse to be part of Fairy Tail's weakest team…if only I was back in my normal body."
"Okay I get it you're all not good with the idea, well tough because if this fails we will have too, and complaining ain't going to change a damn thing!" Strife yelled slamming the table creating a few cracks and making Lucy's knuckles bleed a little.
The exclamation stopped any complaints short at Strife's statement, "do as Elfman says and man-up" he continued, "yeah be real men" Elfman added Happy that Strife was going down that route.
Immediately after that exclamation, the team crowded around Levy with a mix of excited and relieved looks.
"Really, so you can lift the spell?" Natsu/Happy asked excitedly.
"Go on! Do it!" Gray/Erza added.
"This is what it says: May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness." Levy smiled. "Kind of cute, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is." Lucy/Strife gushed.
"Eternal torment is more the word" Strife/Lucy could not help but say.
"Yeah, and?" Natsu/Happy demanded.
"In other words, everyone who switched bodies will live happily ever after!" Levy replied. "I'm so glad I figured it out."
At that moment, it grew deathly quiet as the horrifying realization hit them like their idiot dad backing up the car through the living room wall. Finally though…
"No freaking way!" Natsu/Happy yelled. "You're telling me I'll never be able to burn stuff again?!"
"Levy, we wanted you to lift the spell, not translate it. Are you sure you aren't blond?" Strife/Lucy deadpanned, only to get a murderous glare from Lucy/Strife. "It's just a figure of speech." He said raising his hands defensively.
"Oh, that's right. Sorry!" Levy apologized.
The Watcher floated next to Levy and placed a supportive, strange, four-fingered hand on her shoulder. "You got this. I have faith in you, but you got to work faster, okay? Maybe there's a hidden message or code or something in that request?" The Watcher said
"Yeah," Levy answered, more determined. "Good idea." "That and I'll kill if it doesn't work" Strife thought jokingly despite it being an actual threat but he was trying to be light hearted to get his mind off other troubling stuff.
As Levy resumed her work, Jet and Droy continued cheering her on, the latter banging a drum while the former waved around a fan.
"Go! Go! Go Levy!" her fanboys cheered.
Wakaba stared at this scene with a perplexed expression. "Isn't this entire racket going to distract her?"
"Nah," Elfman grinned in anticipation. "They're just trying to get her pumped up!" Elfman jumped in with Jet and Droy and began cheering her on.
"Ugh," Levy moaned, "I'm still not seeing any kind of pattern here. It doesn't seem to make any sense."
Macao pulled out a purple board with a yellow three on it. "Three minutes left," he said.
"Three minutes?!" Lucy/Strife cried out.
"Well, this is it." Erza/Gray whined. "This is how I'm going to spend the rest of my life…as a…man." Erza/Gray fell to her/his hands and knees, and whimpered. "I've worked so hard."
"Gods can things get any worse" Strife groaned, "yes the apocalypse could start at literally any minute and you'll be left here while Lucy in your body is sent to meet your sibling learn about your past have to deal with mayhem, demons, angels and your siblings while you are ridiculed by your siblings" the Watcher whispered with a chuckle.
Strife's only response was a glare.
"Have you figured it out yet?!" Natsu/Happy demanded.
Macao held up a white poster board with a red number one at the center. "Your situation is drier than a kid about to wet himself with only one minute to go."
Strife/Lucy looked at the middle-aged wizard confusingly. "Where do you keep getting all of these posters? Was there a sale or something?"
"I don't recall asking for the time! So shut your mouth, okay?!" Happy/Natsu roared, veins throbbing on his forehead.
"Geez, I was just trying to help." Macao muttered.
Levy, meanwhile, was hard at work trying to undo the spell. "Okay, I think I've almost got it worked out." She mumbled.
Behind her, Droy continued to bang the drums while Jet and Elfman waved around fans.
"Work it Levy! Yeah! You're on fire!" Elfman cheered.
Wakaba sweat dropped. "He's too good at this."
"I'm pretty sure he's had a lot of practice at strip clubs."Strife/Lucy said sardonically.
Meanwhile, Makarov stood behind Natsu/Happy and Gray/Erza. "Still trying to break the spell, huh?"
They both turned to the old man with annoyed expressions. "Look, if you're trying to teach us a lesson here, we've learned it already, okay?" Gray/Erza said.
"Oh!" Makarov's face lit up as if an idea had popped into his brain.
Suddenly, the group nearly gasped in anticipation. The rest of the group crowded in front of him immediately with hope in their eyes.
"Yes, master?" Erza/Gray asked eagerly.
The diminutive master was silent for a moment before he shrugged, "Never mind kids, I've drawn a blank."
At that, the group fell over in exasperation; besides Strife/Lucy who stood stationary with his arms and jaw hanging down.
"With all due respect, master, fucking hell that was not cool" Strife/Lucy yelled.
"You guys have about forty seconds left," Macao informed, holding up a sign with a big number forty on it. "More or less…starting right now!"
"What do you mean, more or less?!" Natsu/Happy shouted angrily.
Suddenly, Makarov's face brightened once again. "I just remembered something about the spell!"
"Then spill it master before I spill someone's blood?!" Strife/Lucy exclaimed.
The master turned away. "While it can be lifted, I'm afraid that it has to be done one pair at a time." He then glanced over his shoulder. "Meaning, it's impossible to change you back all at once!"
"What?!" Natsu/Happy shouted.
"Thirty seconds…ish." Macao said, holding up another sign with thirty on it. "Seriously, was it buy twenty, get nineteen free or something? Geez" Strife/Lucy asked in frustration. "So, which pair's going first?" Gray/Erza asked crossly.
"It should be me and Happy!" Natsu/Happy answered.
"Aye sir! Sounds good to me." Happy/Natsu agreed.
"But that's not fair!" Lucy/Strife cried out. "It should be me and Strife!"
"Hold on!" Erza/Gray shouted, her/his vein throbbing violently. "Since I'm an S-Class wizard, Gray and I should go first. It's for the good of the Guild!"
"Amen to that, Erza" Gray/Erza agreed. "Hold on you guys!" Levy screamed. "I got it!"
The majority of the team ceased their fighting as they all gathered close to Levy's worktable. "Really?" Lucy/Strife asked.
"Yeah, but listen, I'll try to explain this as quickly as I can."
"And nine…eight…" Macao counted down; however, before he could continue, he received a wicked haymaker from Happy/Natsu on Natsu/Happy's behalf, sending Macao crashing through a bench, unconscious.
"No time!" Natsu/Happy shouted. "Just change us back! Hurry!"
"Yeah…right, here it goes." Levy said. Suddenly, the request paper glowed brightly once more. She then held out her arms as she chanted, " Aruborya tesura rugi gou! Aruborya tesura rugi gou! Aruborya tesura rugi gou!"
The rainbow colored light appeared and sparkles descended over the team. Then, an awe-inspiring helix of bright colors and magical ciphers appeared over the page, casting light throughout the Guild Hall. The beam then shot into the sky, where anyone in Magnolia could see it.
After a moment, the light died away and the group let out collective sighs, team Natsu stood still for a few moments before Strife blinked a few times. When his focus finally returned, he looked himself over and smiled. He was back in his own body.
"Oh yeah I'm a badass gunslinger again" Strife said triumphantly twirling his four barrelled revolver, Erza, who was standing a fair distance to his side, examined herself shortly and smiled too. "I am in my own body again."
Lucy, Happy, Natsu, and Gray blinked a couple of times. They looked over themselves and were pleased to find that they were back in their original bodies.
"Hey!" Natsu shouted. "We're back in our bodies too!" "Aye sir!" Happy said in a muffled voice as he began to devour his fish with gusto.
"Man, I'm glad that's over." Gray sighed in relief; unexpectedly, ice chunks started drooling out of his mouth.
"So, now you're drooling ice cubes on purpose?" Wakaba asked. Lucy ran up to Levy and held her hands. "Levy, you're awesome!" she squealed.
"That's right!" the blue haired wizard fist-pumped. "Oh yeah." Droy said. "Our cheering worked, huh?" Jet commented. "You got to tell us…" Lucy asked, "How'd you do it?"
"Well, when I realized that the words themselves had no meaning, I decided to read them backwards." Levy explained. "It's actually an old trick. Ancient languages such as this didn't really didn't really have that many letters. Therefore, sometimes they had to be a little more creative with their word usage. That is why when I reversed the words, I reversed the spell too."
"How cool," Lucy remarked. "At least it's all over." Natsu said. "We owe you big time, Levy." Gray added. Levy giggled a bit. "Don't worry about it."
"Good work you kids." The group turned and met with quite a confusing sight. Mira was sitting cross-legged on the bar countertop, but she was holding Makarov's cane behind her back.
"Huh?" Lucy and Levy asked.
"Hey guys, something's wrong." Makarov, who was standing on the floor, said a bit girlishly. "Did I get shorter?"
"Oh no!" Lucy cried out. "You don't think that…", "Don't finish that sentence please" Strife begged, "That Mira switched bodies with Gramps?" Gray finished.
Strife facepalmed and glared at Levy. "Did you pronounce it right, Levy?" "Wow!" Makarov/Mira beamed brightly. "You won't hear me complaining about this!"
"No!" Mira/Makarov started waving her/his little arms around in panic. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh no…" Erza muttered. "Who else has been…?"
Sure enough, the evidence was sprawled out when Elfman began chugging beer and Cana was not. In addition, Jet and Droy had apparently switched bodies, much to everyone's confusion on this turn of events.
"Gah I'm hideous" Ibojil said as she examined herself in the Watchers body, the Watcher in turn was struggling to balance on two legs, "how do you move like this" the Watcher/Ibojil asked as she stumbled forward and backwards. Huninn and Muninn cawed at each other, "Even Those two had swapped places" Watcher/Ibojil exclaimed
Levy and Team Natsu stared at their body-swapped friends, who were bickering among themselves. They were all clearly confused by what had just happened.
"Oh no…" Levy gasped. "I think I'm a little over my head here." Strife gave her a death glare, "remember my threat about ringing your neck if you messed up?" Strife asked with deceptive calmness.
Levy ran out the door at a speed that even Jet couldn't go as she ran from Strife on Mayhem who was shouting bloody murder as he chased Levy.
Most of the words he shouted were probably made up. Anyway that's it for this chapter and remember Magic is not a toy...
"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO END IT LIKE THIS?!" Levy shouted as she ran for dear life