answers to reviewers questions or statements:
MCRasengan: It's gonna be a long night for them all.
superpierce: In Elfman's eyes, he's protecting his big sister's 'virtue' and 'honor'... poor clueless bastard.
Mr Guest: It was less Ultear finding him charming and her simply annoying Cana because she felt like it. Hopefully Erza and Mirajane don't find out about the kiss on the cheek...
Zayden StormVoid: Nah, since he's with Mirajane, no one's willing to risk her wrath by beating the crap out of him. Elfman may be her brother, but he has no idea what's in store for him. Erza's gonna be more annoyed with Natsu than Elfman, she cant quite 'discipline him' without a hell of a good reason to Mirajane. Hmm, Venom or Carnage in Tartaros… interesting idea.
Kamencolin: When did I say she'll be getting one? Just because she's a woman and part of the harem doesn't mean she wont face repercussions for her actions.
Rougarou144: I've had the first several chapters of this story written up for a while, just never found a reason to post it.
Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Fairy Tail characters seen, mentioned or used.
"You know for a cell that's several stories below the ground and designed to prevent us from using our magic to break out, this place ain't half bad"
"Yeah, it's pretty manly, ain't it Natsu?"
When Peter had finally awoken from the borderline coma that Elfman put him in because of Cana, he was expecting to either find himself back at Fairy Tail or at the very least back on the train ride home. What he hadn't expected was to wake up in a freakin jail cell with Cana, Elfman, Natsu and Erza for cell mates.
It was official... Peter Parker had died and gone to hell.
"Oi, I demand a retrial!" said boy yelled as he slammed his fist against the cell bars, causing a jolt of pain to race up his arm as the magic had nullified his superhuman strength "Or at the very least, why am I locked up too? I was knocked out when this crap was going on! Why do I gotta stay in a cell with these people too? Can I get get my own or something? I'll gladly take isolation-"
"Peter shut up and sit down before I knock you back out" Erza said with a twitching brow, causing Peter to let out a 'eep' and fall down on to his rear.
"Yes ma'am" Peter said nervously while Natsu snickered at him.
"Oh, you find that funny Natsu?" Erza growled in anger towards the pink haired teen "Because of you, we're all locked up in here! Words can't even begin to express how furious I am with you! That trial was just a formality!"
"A formality, for what?" Elfman asked with confusion.
"To keep the illusion that the Council was still in charge and calling the shots, they needed a scapegoat for the destruction of the Guild Master conference Hall and the damages done to the strain station at Onibus" Cana said with a tired sigh from her corner of the cell "And given Erza being so well known for her power, between you, Gray and Lucy, she was the perfect choice to send a message to the rest of the Guilds that if you screw around, you'll face repercussions"
"So this whole thing was just for show?" Natsu said with surprise.
"Worse she would've gotten was a good old slap on the wrist" Peter said with a sigh as he glanced down at his stingers with a frown at the sight of the magical runes inscribed on them 'Well, at least they didn't try to tear them off... rather not wake up to find my arms mutilated and missing it's skin'
"But because of you!" Erza pointed a finger at Natsu with a glare "I'm gonna be spending my night in a jail cell! And what's worse, you dragged three of our Guildmates down here with you!"
"Ease up Erza, guy was doing what he thought was right" Peter said with a wave of his hand as he looked around the cell "Sides it's like what Natsu said, far as jail cells go this one ain't too bad compared to the last one I was in"
"Spent some time behind bars Peter?" Cana asked with a snort "You bad boy?"
"Eh, just a week" Peter said with a shrug, causing the others to look at him with surprise that confused him a bit "What's with the looks?"
"What'd you do to get any kind of jail time for a week for?" Erza asked with a frown.
"Wrong place wrong time" Peter said with a embarrassed grin "I also may have made things worse when I insulted one of the guard's mother"
Erza couldn't help but shake her head at this "Of course you would..."
"When'd this happen?" Cana asked as she propped herself up on her elbows and gave Peter a curious gaze "I've never heard of you getting locked up for any period of time"
"It was back before I joined the Guild" Peter said.
"Does Mira know?" Elfman asked with a expectant look.
"That I spent seven days in a cell for pissing someone off after they booked me?" Peter asked as he tapped his chin "I don't know. I think I did when I was having her ri-"
"That's enough Peter" Erza said with a faint blush on her face, already knowing what her Guildmate was about to say, and based on the glare Elfman was sporting, he did too.
"What was Mira doing when you told her?" Natsu asked, mercifully clueless as ever.
"I'll tell you after you hit puberty" Peter said with a snicker.
A tik mark formed on Natsu's head at this "What was that web boy?"
"You heard me you walking matchstick" Peter fired back with a laugh, causing the Dragon Slayer to attempt a lap at him only to be stopped by a solid elbow to the heads from Erza.
"Sit down Natsu" she said in a stern voice "I'm still upset with you"
"A-Aye..." Natsu groaned as he rolled around on the ground rubbing the bump that was growing "Ouch..."
"And you Peter!" Erza's gaze snapped towards Peter so fast that he swore he heard the crack of a whip go off somewhere "Stop antagonizing people!"
"Can't, it's too much fun" Peter said with a sheepish grin on his face.
"Stop before I make you" Erza said with a angered glare that caused him to pale while Cana scoffed.
"Lay off him Erza, your not his girlfriend, or his mom. Leave it to Mira" she said as she slumped back to the ground and went back to staring at the ceiling.
"What was that?" Erza growled.
"You heard me!" Cana snapped.
"Why you insufferable little-" Erza began as she shot to her feet and made to lunge at Cana before Peter was suddenly front of her with his hands raised in a manner to calm her down.
"Whoa, easy there Erza. Much as I think she deserves a beating for that little remark, she's a part of team Manly Drunken S-" Peter began before Cana cut him off.
"Actually, the team's now disbanded on account that you and Elfman had all but blown this job for me- I mean us- no, you know what? I'm gonna come out and say it!" Cana said as she sat up and pointed towards Peter and Elfman "You blew this for me! This was my time to shine and show the Guild that I could lead a team but you two gone fucked it up beyond salvation"
Peter and Elfman stared at her for a moment before Peter suddenly side stepped "On second thought Erza, I have no idea why I just got between you and her. Please, continue with what you had in mind"
Cana paled while Erza simply gave Peter a small grin "Thank you Peter. You dedication to your teammate's welfare at the time was commendable"
And with that, Erza leaped at a screaming Cana with a yell while Peter wandered over to where Natsu and Elfman were huddled to see what they were doing while Cana was properly punished.
"What'cha guys up to over here?" Peter asked as he crouched down next to them.
"We're planning our escape" Natsu said with a devilish grin as he held up a crude looking metal shank.
"Your planning to shiv someone with that?" Peter asked with a snort of amusement.
"No idiot, we're gonna use it to dig out around the bars that are connected to the floor for the cell" Elfman pointed towards the cell bars "And than I'm gonna use my strength like a real man and tear them up!"
"Their never see it coming" Natsu nodded in agreement.
Peter stared at the two for a moment before he decided to speak his mind on the plan "this has to be one of the dumbest, most idiotic things you've ever done with little to no chances of it working in any shape or form and I'm with you two one hundred percent"
"Sweet/Now that's a real man" Elfman and Natsu high fived one another as they proceeded to start trying to dig out around the cell bars.
It was a foolish endeavor, Peter knew, all five of them will grow old and die of old age before Natsu even made a scratch in the floor with that crude shank. These cells were designed to hold S-class wizards in the event they were apprehended, but it'll kill some time and it wasn't like Peter had anything else to do. As the hours ticked by, with Cana's yelps of pain and the near demonic laughter of Erza as she 'punished' Cana continued, Peter watched as Natsu and than Elfman had all but filed down their makeshift digging tool to a mere stub the size of a thumbnail. They asked at one point if he could use the small hidden stingers in his gauntlets before showing them the runes on the magically enchanted armored pieces.
"Now that I think about it, why did they keep those on you?" Elfman asked as he stared at the gauntlets in question.
"Yeah, you'd think they'd take them off if for nothing else just to take them" Natsu nodded in agreement as he, Elfman and Peter all sat in a small circle while Erza continued to beat Cana silly.
"Their magically attached" Peter said as he held one of them up to show "Also, hundreds of these small little 'hooks' that dig into my arms to keep them from coming off easily"
"Ouch" Natsu thought with a wince as he rubbed his own arms "Bet it hurts when someone yanks on them while their on"
"Not really" Peter said with a shake of his head "The little hooks secrete a sort of toxin that numbs my arms to them. Honestly, they just make my limbs feel a little heavy. Plus, I'm jus that awesome"
Elfman nodded "It takes a real man to wear something like that day in and day out"
"The woes of being a holder magic type" Peter said with a chuckle.
"Well, can you still use all of those creepy abilities you usually do with those rune things on them?" Natsu asked as he held his hands up and mimicked the hand signs that Peter makes when he shoots webs from them "Like those web thingies?"
Peter deeply inhaled and exhaled through his nose at this "No Natsu, the runes completely shut them down. So no webs or any of the other abilities these babies give me"
"Thank god for that" Cana moaned from where Erza left her, beaten and battered "Last thing I need is to see you crawling on the walls like some sort of fucking demon from those movies we used to watch"
"The Magic Council seems to have quite a bit of knowledge about your Stingers if they were able to neutralize their abilities for you" Erza said with a pointed gaze aimed at him.
It seemed that it didn't escape the red headed beauty's notice that this was the most information that Peter's ever shared about his Stingers outside the occasional comment or vague explanation on how his magic item works.
"Not really" Peter said as he held a Stinger up and pointed to the runes "These are a sort of catch all and nullify all rune. They sense any and all kinds of mystical energy that flows through a magic item or person and completely suppresses it with the aid of these power enforcing runes. It's pretty simple and much more economic than making a long drawn out formula like Freed would've probably done"
"Heh, better not let him hear that" Elfman said with a grin "Might take that as a challenge"
"I'm game if he is" Peter said with a shrug as he leaned against the bars of the cell and sighed "UGH, how much longer are we down here for?"
"Possibly until morning" Erza said with a sigh as she made her way over and sat down next to Peter before pulling her legs in close and resting her chin on her knees "It's not even midnight yet"
"Greeeeeat" Peter said with a eye roll at this.
...
"So what was in the letter that Makarov sent?" Ultear asked as she lazily lounged on one of the chairs in the office that she and Siegrain, Jellal, were using.
"Nothing important" Jellal replied curtly "Just his thoughts and theories on the current civil war plaguing the Alvarez Empire"
"Their going through a civil war?" Ultear asked with an amused grin "How tragic"
Jellal glanced at Ultear with an unreadable expression on his face "The war has already claimed two of the Spriggan Twelve's lives"
"How tragic. Is it too much to hope that it was Irene and August that perished?" Ultear said with a snort as she stood up from the chair "I fail to see why your so concerned about this. Once our little project is complete, some obscure civil strife in some far away land will mean nothing"
"That 'civil strife' could make things difficult" Jellal warned "The tower is still far from ready to be used"
Ultear's amusement quickly faded at this "Than double the workers efforts. Triple them if it's needed"
"I already have" Jellal revealed before he froze and frowned at something before he returned his attention back towards his co-conspirator "There's something I need to see to. I'll contact you shortly"
"You'll know where to find me" Ultear said with a grin as Jellal's thought projection faded away, leaving the purple haired beauty alone.
Once she was sure that Jellal was gone, all trace of amusement faded from her completely, leaving a cold dark beauty in it's place.
'He sure does love to hear himself talk' Ultear thought with grim amusement 'I can't wait to finally shut him up when the time comes'
It was a day that Ultear was looking forward to eagerly. It was almost sad how much he believed that his precious 'Tower of Heaven' would resurrect the great Black Wizard, Zeref. The fool was completely unaware that Zeref himself still lived, sealed away in a state of peaceful dormancy, waiting to be awoken again by his faithful. Perhaps when she kills him and he draws his last breath, she'll whisper that bit of knowledge into his ear, just to see the look of realization mixed with fear and anger at understanding he was and will be nothing more than a mere pawn.
'It's almost enough to have me spare him' Ultear thought with a smirk as she prepared to depart as well, she had some business to attend to on Galuna Island and didn't want to be late.
"Miss Ultear?" a voice called from the other side of the door to the office she was in.
'Dammit' Ultear thought with a sigh before she took a deep breath and turned towards the door with a small polite smile "Yes?"
The door opened to reveal one of the frog like people that served the council "Miss Ultear, I've come to inform you that we've seen to the securement of the Mages from Fairy Tail"
"Excellent" Ultear said with a nod "I trust their accommodations are equal to their status"
"Yes miss" the frog person said with a nod.
"Than that'll be all" Ultear said with a wave of her hand.
The frog person nodded and turned to leave before they stopped and looked back at Ultear with some uncertainty. This caused Ultear to frown as she gestured for them to say what was on their mind.
"Uh, miss...?" the frog person said as they rubbed their hands together nervously.
"What is it?" the double agent for the Dark Guild of Grimoire Heart said with a hint of impatience in her tone.
"Well, it has to do with one of the mages. The one they called Peter I believe" the frog person said nervously.
The image of the white clad Mage came to Ultear's mind, along with the kiss she gave him on the cheek to annoy his female teammate. She couldn't help the small smirk from forming on her face before she quickly wiped it off "What of him?"
"Well, you see miss..." the frog person began "He has on these pair of gauntlets, enchanted items that seem to be the source of his magical powers. Well we tried to remove them when we first imprisoned him and his Guildmates in the cells but..."
An uneasy feeling grew in Ultear at the look on the frog person's face "But?"
"But it couldn't be removed" they revealed with some confusion "They seemed to be both physically and magically secured to the boys arms. I feared that any serious attempts to remove them may cause serious injury to him, thus we opted to simply placing several restrictive runes on them, and increasing the power of the barrier for the cell he's in"
Ultear frowned at this, wondering just what in the hell this Peter kid had with him that he needed to be secured like some S-Class Mage. From what she saw earlier, he didn't seem to possess any significant magical power, hell just about anyone from Grimoire Heart that wasn't part of the Seven Kin could beat him with little effort. And based on the report she read not too long ago about him, and his fellow Guildmates, he hasn't done anything to really stand out in her opinion.
'Still for those stingers of his to require restrictive runes placed on them...' Ultear thought as she walked over towards the room's desk and sat on it's edge with a contemplative look on her face 'There's something I'm not seeing here. And I know for a fact I've seen something like those before, but I can't seem to recall at the top of my head'
Perhaps this Parker fellow warranted a bit more watching, if nothing else it'd give her something to pass the time as Jellal finishes creating the Tower of Heaven so they can enact the next faze of master Hades' plan.
And she'd be lying if she said he wasn't a little cute.
...
Almost an hour of silence had passed when Peter finally said the one thing that's been on pretty much most of the cell's occupants minds since they were all thrown in there several hours earlier.
"Soooo... where's the bathroom in this thing?" Peter said as he glanced around the barren cell with a bored look on his face "Cause, I kinda have to tinkle"
"Your telling me" Natsu said as he rubbed his stomach "I had a sandwich on the way here and I tell ya, it ain't agreeing with me"
"You two are disgusting" Erza said with a look of revulsion on her face.
"A real man can hold it until we're out of here" Elfman said from his place in the cell, the very center, with a confident nod on his face before his stomach grumbled and he made an annoyed scowl "Though I would've liked if they gave us some food at least before throwing us in here"
"Or a drink" Cana moaned as she slid down to the ground with a saddened sigh as she looked up at the dark ceiling of their cell "I don't think I'll be able to make it through the night with at least a sip of something alcoholic"
"I'm sure you'll survive" Erza said dryly as she let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair while Peter sat up and approached the cell bars and kicked them.
"HEY! I need to use the bathroom here! You mind letting me out real qu-" Peter began before a magic circle formed in a corner of the cell.
"What the hell is that?" Elfman asked with a frown while Natsu took a sniff at it before he made a face and covered his nose.
"GAAHHH! Man that smells" he complained while Cana and Erza both made a face.
"A magic circle is supposed to be our toilet..." Cana said with a twitching brow "are you fucking kidding me?"
"It makes sense in a warped sort of way" Erza said with a grimace "There's many mages out there who practice size alteration magic and easily could use those abilities to escape from a cell such as this by-"
"I'd rather face the gallows thanks" Peter said with a shiver "Also, I've decided to simply hold it until we're out of here"
Elfman scoffed at this "A real man wouldn't need to crawl through a toilet to escape when his own two hands can do just fine"
"Than by all means Elfman, have at it" Cana gestured towards the cell bars.
"Fid, stand back and let me show you how a real man-" Elfman began before Erza's armored fist found it's mark in his gut, knocking the wind out of him and dropping him to his knees.
"Id' rather you not give the Council anymore reason to keep us in here" the scarlet warrior said with a sigh before she turned towards Cana with a glare "And stop edging him on like that!"
"Can't, too much fun" Cana said before she paled as Erza was suddenly in front of her again with an evil look on her face.
"Do I need to discipline you again?"
"N-No ma'am" Cana stuttered before the sound of flushing could be heard and the two turned to see Natsu pulling his pants up with a satisfied sigh.
"Man, that feels way better now" the pink haired slayer said with a grin as he turned back to the rest only to shrink back in fear at the dark look on Erza's face.
"Natsu... did you just relieve yourself in the presence of two ladies?" she asked with a hiss as her entire body was shaking in rage.
"Uhhh" Natsu said with sweat on his brow while Peter simply shook his head.
"Told ya to hold it man" Peter said as he adverted his gaze as Erza lunged at him.
Peter couldn't help but wonder if that the Council took toilets out of these cells so he wouldn't be able to stick his head down one and put himself out of this never ending misery.
...
Hours ticked by as one by one, Peter's guildmates all slowly drifted off to sleep.
Natsu and Elfman were the first, having decided to take the opposite wall of him and lean against one another. Cana had settled for staying in her corner on her side with her back to everyone else. Meanwhile Erza had settled for sitting next to Peter and resting her head on his shoulder as she slowly dozed off.
'I really hope Mirajane doesn't find out about this' Peter thought with a sigh 'She always gets annoyed when Erza dose something like this'
Granted Mirajane's response to these displays usually end up with her having amazing sex with him but after the other night, Peter could do with a bit of rest. Even near superhuman stamina has it's limits and he'd rather not make the slight headache he's gotten from Elfman any worse than it already is by having a crap ton of blood pump through it and it's internal temperature raised.
Peter was dragged out of his musings when he heard Erza make a faint noise as she seemed to snuggle into Peter even more, causing him to blush a little. It didn't help that she had requiped her armor off so that he could feel her body pressing against his own. One would think that after being with the likes of Mirajane, who was overly affectionate with him, he'd be used to having an attractive woman pressing up against him like this.
'Well, those people have never had the likes of Erza Scarlet being the one pressing up against them' Peter thought as he noticed some of Erza's hair was lying over her face and he gently brushed it aside 'You know, she looks kinda cute like this. Also, I just realize how creepy this is making me'
He quickly looked away to see that everyone else was asleep too and was just about to join them for however much longer they all had down here when he felt a faint chill crawl up his spine followed by a faint buzzing at the base of his skull. Peter's eyes narrowed as he slowly turned his head towards the dark hall outside the cell to see a mass of shadows move before it stepped into the light a little, giving him a clear view of what it was... a man.
"The hell...?" Peter whispered in shock, causing Era to make a sound before she settled and resumed her sleep.
The man's attire was very similar to Peter's own with a few glaring differences, the first and fore most being that where's Peter clothes were white and black, his were black with red markings. His head was also covered by a more leather material like mask compared to Peter's metal helm and the tear drop lenses were blood red. His stingers were decorated with numerous small red markings that looked like little spiders compared to the web like designs of Peter's.
'What in the hell is he doing here?' Peter thought with wide eyes as he and the man held one another's gaze for several moments before a distant sound came up from further in the detention area, causing them to slowly slink back into the shadows.
He could still sense the minute magic power coming from the man before it too faded away as the distant voices of a few Rune Knights could be heard approaching.
'Well that's unsettling... for someone like him to be able to get in here of all places' Peter thought before he felt Erza move and turned to see that her eyes were open and focused on where he saw the man.
She seemed to notice his gaze on her and looked up to meet his eyes "Peter, who was that?"
'Scratch that, this is unsettling' Peter thought before he shrugged and adverted his gaze from the red head "No idea. Figured he's just with the Magic Council or something"
"...He was dressed similar to you" she pointed out with a frown.
"Could be some kind of fan maybe" Peter said as he reached up to rub the back of his head.
"You seemed to recognize him" Erza said with a look that clearly showed she didn't believe him "And even if it was suppressed, I could sense the magic power that man had Peter"
In fact, Erza was willing to bet it was almost up to par with her own.
"N-Nice to know that someone that powerful is a fan" Peter said nervously, causing Erza to sit on her knees and look at Peter with a hardened gaze.
"Who was it Peter? You clearly know the man on a far more personal level than your willing to divulge"
"Don't worry about it" peter said with a shrug.
"Why shouldn't I?" Erza said with a glare "An unknown, clearly powerful mage that your familiar with seems to have taken some sort of interest in you. Your a member of Fairy Tail and therefor a comrade. I'm not going to simply sit by while your being harassed by this person"
"He's not harassing me, he was just..." Peter paused for a moment a he tried to think of a appropriate response "He's just reminding me he's there is all. Nothing too serious. He does that from time to time"
Though the last time Peter saw him was the day he joined Fairy Tail almost two years ago. Peter hoped that by joining a Guild like them would dissuade the man from staying, but it seems all t did was cause him to operate even more discreet.
"Does Mira know about him too?" Erza demanded with a hint of warning in her voice "Because if not, than I believe she should be made aware given you two are currently dating. It's only fair"
"I know" Peter snapped with a sudden intensity that it actually took Erza back a bit.
Peter opened his mouth to follow up before he caught himself and took a deep breath to calm himself "I know... believe me, it's been on my mind ever since we did start dating"
For the first few weeks into his and Mirajane's relationship he was haunted by the thought of waking up one day to find that she'd been attacked by his 'watcher'. It's what made him so hesitant to take it any further for the longest time. Mira, he theorized, just simply chalked it up to him being shy and nervous about seeming to be to forward or eager.
"Who is he?" Erza pressed.
"He's..." Peter began before he felt a faint tingle in his arms that caused his face to tighten "He's someone that I used to know back before I joined Fairy Tail. At least, I think I still know him... it's been a while. People tend to change a lot in two years"
Erza sensed there was more to it than what Peter was letting on but for the moment was willing to accept his answers. She was still unsettled that someone that powerful and clearly skilled is following around Peter like this, and for such a long time too but it's not like she can do anything about it now. She suspected that the Master Makarov is aware of this, few things get by his keen eyes, but she made a point to speak with him when they were released and return to the Guild.
And than, much as she hates to do it, speak with Mira about this.
'She needs to know' Erza thought as she settled back into her previous place on Peter's shoulder, much to said boy's discomfort 'I have no doubt Peter will tell her eventually, but for this man to make himself appear so brazenly like that, it means he's becoming embolden'
An embolden harasser or stalker could end up being a very dangerous person... just like Gargan.
'I refuse to let something like that happen again' Erza thought with a determined expression on her face.
As Erza laid there, lost in her thoughts, Peter returned his gaze to the shadowed corner that he sensed the man disappear to with a frown on his face. It was unsettling for the man to appear so close like he did, and with so many of Peter's Guildmates so close but there really wasn't much he could do about it.
All he could hope for was that being seen by someone like Erza will dissuade him from trying anything like that again... or worse, going to 'them'.
Now that was something Peter wouldn't be able to live with, if 'they' become involved.
…
And done.
Next chapter, Peter finds himself dragged into another one of Natsu's shenanigans… to Galuna Island!