Okay, chapter 9 of Devil Tail. Now, I know some of you might be thinking I'm just following Ultimate Fairy word for word. Well, I would like to put those thoughts to rest and say, no, I am not doing it word for word. I'm taking inspiration from the story.
To that end, I have similar reasons as to following a similar path by skipping the next episode in Fairy Tail because Nero would have very little purpose in "Natsu and the Dragon Egg" as it is mostly flashbacks for the Dragon Slayer. Also, I just find the episode too much more funny and deserving for being the next chapter. Similiar to Ultimate10 I will be using the Nero/Erza when the characters switch bodies.
Anyway, onto the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. My therapist has told me this multiple times.
Devil Tail
Chapter 9: Personality Problems
"Believe it, bun," retorted Nero, leaning back into the booth and kicked his feet up onto the table.
Within the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, Nero Sparda, the newest addition to the guild, was seated in a booth, a small mug of beer in his hand. He wasn't unfamiliar with the alcoholic drink, having spent many a night, drinking due to circumstances. However, ghe demon hunter did find the beer tasted slightly different. Though considering he was in a different world, it wasn't really surprising.
It had been a solid week since he first arrived in this universe. Yesterday, he and Fairy Tail's strongest team had just arrived back from Galuna Island, and he was told the tragic truth to why he couldn't return home. While it did annoy Nero to an extent, that he couldn't get home, at least an immediate way home since he did have Yamato in his possession, but using it was out of the question. Truth he told, he did miss Dante and the others, but he wouldn't let it get him down.
In his universe, jobs had begun to slow down a little, Demons hadn't appeared as much as they used, taking a big dip after Fortuna, and Nero didn't really mind that his career as Demon Hunter was laxing. It was good that peace was coming around, but for him, what was the point of having a sword, gun, and demonic arm with unique powers, if he couldn't help people. Fortunately, in this world of magic and questionable physics, problems seemed to be written into the fabric of reality. Something that was just fine for the Demon Hunter that was Nero.
To make his integration into Fairy Tail official, Nero, this morning, he had his mark "stamped" on him. The demon hunter had it stamped onto his left hand, the colors he chose were a red outlines by a cyan blue, similar to the colors of Devil Bringer. Wanting to add a little more to it, Nero decided to get the symbol stitched into both sleeves of his jacket with the same colors. Courtesy of Mira.
At the moment, Nero was having his beer, necking the drink with Wakaba, Elfman, Mirajane, Macao and Cana. He was telling them the story of how he defeated Bael and how he stopped a small herd of Dagon's.
"You defeated a giant demon toad by jumping down its throat then burst out the back before smashing it around. And then you stopped more of them with one punch?" Cana said in a stunned manner.
"Well I punched one of them and it was basically a domino effect," clarified Nero as he placed his beer mug down on the table. He rested his right hand on the table. One other thing that was different was that he managed to replaced his glove that used to cover Devil Bringer. A gift from Mira since he told them he lost his other glove and asked if he could get a replacement. His reasoning was because he had some really bad scars and wasn't very comfortable with displaying them.
"Wow!" Elfman exclaimed, and then he smacked his hand into Nero's shoulder, almost knocking the hunter down, but remained seated, "Finally, we have another man in this Guild besides me!"
"Figured, I'd add to the populous," Commented Nero as he rolled his shoulder, "but would prefer if I were a man that didn't have a dislocated shoulder."
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Macao accused indignantly toward the white spiky-haired giant.
"You know what it means you little wuss!" Elfman yelled.
Suddenly, before anything else could be said, the front doors to the Guild opened. Stepping inside was Erza with Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy behind her. The ice mage and Dragon Slayer were wearing their usual attire whilst Lucy had changed into a blue shirt with brown shorts.
"Is Master Makarov here?" Erza asked in her commanding voice, "He never could get around to punishing these four yesterday."
"You just don't give up, do you Erza?" Jokes Nero as he turned in the booth to face them, folding his arms in the process.
"Hey! Why isn't Nero getting punished?! He's a member of our Guild now!" Gray demanded.
Erza turned and gave him a glare, which made the ice mage flinch back in fear, "Because Nero wasn't a member of Fairy Tail at the time you fools went on that quest, thus he can't be punished for his actions."
"Tough break, guys," Teased Nero as he leaned back, "I'll be sure to keep you in mind when you get what's coming."
The three mages and cat looked to the floor with downcast looks, "Shut up, Nero," Lucy mumbled.
"And here I thought we were friends," said the hunter as he placed a hand over his heart in mock offense.
"I'll ask again, where is Makarov?" Erza demanded.
"He went out of town for some kind of last minute council meeting or something like that," Macao answered.
"Left about a few hours ago," added Nero.
Immediately, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy let out collective sighs of relief.
"Well, that was a close one!" Natsu beamed brightly.
"Yes," Gray fist-pumped, "we won't have to deal with that until Gramps gets back."
"Oh thank goodness!" Happy added, crying in joy, "I was so afraid of staring in the face of death!"
"I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!" Lucy shrieked, pulling her blonde hair in frustration, "YOU GUYS ARE REALLY FREAKING ME OUT! HOW IS HE GOING TO PUNISH US? I'M SO YOUNG AND I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Erza commanded.
The group instantly ceased their talking and shivered in fear. Natsu and Gray even held onto each other, both afraid from the redhead that haunted their nightmares. Nero was even fazed, having dealt with worse.
"Do you know when the master is planning to return?" the scarlet haired mage inquired.
"No," Mira replied, "but I would imagine he'll be coming back any time now. The meeting place isn't too far away."
Erza nodded, placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative matter, and turned to face the four behind her, "Okay listen up, you're not getting off the hook!" she said in a raised voice, "You broke Guild rules by taking on that S-Class quest, prepare to be punished."
Natsu, Gray, and Happy immediately hugged each other in support, whimpering in fear.
"How do I prepare myself when I don't even know what's going to happen?!" Lucy screamed.
"Man, you don't mess around when cracking the whip," said Nero, mainlynto himself. In a way, she was like Credo when he was Captain of the Holy Knights.
"Well, it was nice knowin' yah," Wakaba joked. His smile then turned into a frown as he looked away, "It's a crying shame. Those two boys are one thing, but I can't believe Lucy's getting punished too. Oh you poor girl,"
Lucy paled, a sweat drop running down her face, "Oh you poor girl?"
Natsu and Gray, meanwhile, overheard Wakaba and started walking toward him with angry looks.
"Hey! What's the deal, man?!" Natsu demanded furiously, "How come you don't feel sorry for us?!"
"Why are you involving me with this loser?!" Gray added.
Before anyone could stop it, a fight broke out between Natsu, Gray, and Wakaba. The former two traded insults back to one another as they fought Wakaba and each other. Nero just watched them fight, an amused grin on his face.
'People around here sure like to fight,' Nero mused; however, that thought made him reflect on when Natsu and he fought a few days ago, 'he called me out. It's not like I went looking for a fight.'
"The big part of being a man is owning up to your actions," Elfman stated, "You hear that you two?! It's high time for you to man up!"
"It's not fair!" Happy cried as he flew around, trying to get the others' attention, ""I'm the cutest one here! Why doesn't anyone feel sorry for me?"
"Will someone please tell me what's going to happen to us?!" Lucy said in an obvious panic.
At this point, Nero startled chuckling, "It's like watching a sitcom, but better," mused the demon hunter. Though these people were crazy, they did provide quality entertainment that you had to pay for back in his universe.
Later, Natsu, and Gray were standing in front of the Request Board, Nero leaned against it as the Dragon Slayer looked over it. It was a board on the wall with various wizard jobs posted all over it. However, the trio was mainly focused on a particular job request in the center. The request was printed on black paper with white ink, had two eyeballs at the top, and a bunch of indecipherable scribbles all over it. The only thing readable was the big "Read This" at the top and a "500,000J" reward at the bottom.
Needless to say, it quickly caught their attention. That was a lot of money, and Nero knew that if he was stuck here, he had to start making some money as a wage and profit. The hunter had no intention of living in the Guild Hall for the remainder of his time here, the storage wasn't the most homey place he could've asked for.
Nevertheless, this request was really drawing blanks with the three. It was kind of hard to accept the job when you couldn't even read the request.
"That's a weird looking job request," Natsu commented.
"Yeah, it is," Gray agreed.
"Pretty sure I've seen a demons handwriting and it was more readable than this," Commented Nero cynically, agreeing with the two.
turned around to see a teenage boy around his age. He had orange hair, glasses, and wore a dark green jacket with white fur trim around the hood.
"Hey Loke," Greeted Nero, taking a second to recall the teen's name before getting it.
"Not much man," Natsu replied nonchalantly, "What the heck? I can't even read it."
"Read what?" Lucy asked, stepping forward to see why they were gathered around the Request Board.
All of a sudden, Loke flinched away in shock. His eyes were wide open while his jaw looked ready to fall off his face.
"Whoa! You're back too Lucy?!" Loke shouted.
"Geez, it's really nice to see you too," The celestial mage said sardonically, "What is your problem with me?"
"I…uh…nothing," Loke quickly turned and made a break for it; however, he smacked straight into Erza and fell on his back unconscious, groaning in pain.
"Eyes forward, bud," Teased Nero as he snickered a little from the impact Loke had with Erza and then the floor.
"No way!" Erza yelled, ignoring the knocked out Loke on the floor, "You two will not be taking any requests!" She was of course referring to Gray and Natsu.
"Real smooth," Lucy commented.
"Do they have to be so noisy?" Cana asked, sitting at a table while drinking a mug of beer.
"Who cares? They're like the coolest, especially that Demon Slayer Mage," A black haired kid sitting by Cana named Romeo, said.
Cana looked at Romeo incredulously, "You're kidding me, right?"
"Decipher this text and I'll increase your wealth by five hundred-thousand jewels," Natsu read out, and then turned to Happy, "This sounds like a winner to me, what do you think?"
"Sure does!" Happy agreed.
"So it's a translation job?" Gray inquired, "That's a weird request for a Guild."
As the ice mage studied the paper further, he noticed something odd about the writing, "Hey wait a second, that's some crazy ancient stuff. No one's gonna be able to read that, "He then turned to Nero, "Nero, you have any idea what it says?"
"Demons never had the best writing skills," shrugged Nero as he stepped away from the board to stand in front of it, "but not harm trying, right?"
"Hold on, it's written in modern letters too," Happy noted.
"I thought I told you no jobs," Erza stated firmly.
"Don't think that's gonna stop him," Commented Nero as he stood beside Erza and folded his arms.
"Yeah, I can totally read that!" Natsu said, ignoring the redheaded mage. The pink haired wizard looked down at the paper and read out, "Ugo deru rasuchi boro kania…."
Natsu groaned as he grasped both sides of his head, "What?! That's crazy!"
Suddenly, the request paper began to glow brightly, casting different colors of the rainbow on the group who were transfixed on the glowing paper. The light show caught Macao and Wakaba's attention as they sauntered closer to it.
"What's going on?" Macao asked quietly.
"That's just sad," Wakaba commented, "Those kids are so scared of the master's punishment that they're sweating rainbows."
"That's enough booze for you," Macao replied.
A few seconds later, the light died away. The group stood there momentarily until…
"What gives? I'm so cold," Gray remarked, wrapping his body with his arms as he shivered.
That statement puzzled the other mages as their eyes opened slightly. Since when did Gray get cold?
"What? Ice mages don't get cold you big cry baby!" Elfman shouted.
However, Gray was chattering his teeth as his body shook to the core. "I-I'm serious, I'm super cold right now!" Gray shivered.
All the wizards present stared at the raven haired teen, dumbfounded.
"What the?" Natsu snapped out of his stupor, his face sweating a bit, "What's going on? Why do I feel so…hot?"
"Uh…Natsu, are you alright?" Macao asked stupefied, "You've never complained about being hot."
"What are you…?" Gray trailed off. When he caught sight of Natsu, his mouth fell to the floor, "What the heck?!"
"Oh wow!" Lucy squealed happily; however, her cheeks seemed rosier than before, "Check me out, Natsu!"
"Hey! Did you guys get taller or something?" Happy, who was standing on the wooden table, inquired. Suddenly, his eyes widened a bit. 'Uh…what happened to my voice?' The blue cat 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 bewildered fashion.
The azure cat turned to him and glared. "I'm not Happy, I'm Lucy!"
"WHAT?!" Wakaba, Macao, and Elfman all shouted in unison.
"Why is everyone behaving so foolishly?!" a male voice demanded.
The wizards turned to see Nero standing tall, firm, and more composed than any of them has ever seen. The platinum blonde demon hunter was staring hard at the group in a way the other mages had never thought possible. Although, the way he was looking at them did remind them of one person…
"What...the...," Demanded another, feminine voice, causing everyone to turn to look at at Erza. She was holding out her armored hands, studying them as well as the rest of her body in a perplexed matter. She looked at them and asked, "Why the hell do I look like a girl?"
The present group of Fairy Tail wizards, minus Team Sparda. looked at the redhead strangely. However, the second Nero caught sight of Erza, his composure faltered while his baby blue eyes widened tremendously.
"W-w-wha…" Nero stuttered in shock.
"Uh…I'm no doctor but I would guess it's because you are a girl, Erza," Macao implied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Wrong person, stupid," Replied Erza sharply, "I'm Nero."
That was the real shocker. First Happy says he's Lucy and now Erza was saying that she's Nero. What in the world was going on?
"Oh wow!" The groups turned to Lucy and were met with a shocking sight, "I could be wrong, but I don't think I've always had these. Have I?" The blonde mage remarked, fondling her large breasts.
Wakaba, Elfman, and Macao were left dumbstruck; they were hypnotized and drooled in excitement. Happy, meanwhile, was absolutely appalled as his eyes bulged out. Immediately, the blue cat eyed down the blonde angrily. Happy quickly leaped off the table, flying straight toward the blonde girl.
"Why you!" Happy yelled furiously, "Lucy kick!"
The azure feline landed a direct hit in Lucy's stomach; however, Happy's blow only caused Lucy to grunt a little while he himself received more pain. Happy collapsed to the floor, his right leg throbbing in pain. Lucy and the others stood above him.
Lucy/Happy rolled over to her paws and knees, "What's going on here? Why am I, Happy?" Lucy/Happy mumbled softly, "I'M TOTALLY FREAKING OUT HERE!" she yelled out.
"Ugh…," Loke finally came to as he steadily got up from the floor, "Man, my head." As the orange haired teen's vision focused back to normal, the first thing he saw was a certain blonde mage in front of him.
When she turned away from Lucy/Happy on the floor to look at him, she smiled and waved sheepishly, "Hi!"
"AAHH!" Loki cried out, flinching backwards before bolting in the other direction, leaving a confused Lucy behind.
"That was weird," Happy/Lucy commented.
Elfman, Wakaba, Macao, and Mirajane were left dumbfounded and speechless over everything they were seeing.
"What's going on here?!" Lucy/Happy cried, "First I'm a cat and then there's this creepy lookalike of me!"
"Uh? What are you talking about?" Gray/Natsu asked, cocking a brow in confusion.
"How could all of you be so foolish?" Erza/Nero demanded sternly, standing in front of them. Her voice obviously sounded like Nero's but with a more commanding tone to it, "Isn't it obvious? We've all switched bodies!"
"WHAT?!" Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy shouted simultaneously, while Nero/Erza just facepalmed.
"This is Karma because I shot you, isn't it?" Said Nero offhandedly.
"WHAT?!" Cried everyone who hadn't heard that story, all of the turning to look at Nero/Erza.
Natsu/Gray stepped closer to Nero, panic in his eyes, "Stop fooling around, Nero!"
"I'm Erza, you dimwit!" Erza/Nero retorted.
"W-wait…," Lucy/Happy stuttered, "So…you mean…"
Yes," Erza/Nero replied, "Natsu and Gray, Lucy and Happy, and Nero and I, we've all switched bodies."
"HUH?" everyone in the Guild, besides Nero/Erza, said in astonishment.
"Yep," sighed Nero/Erza pinching the bridge of his nose, "definitely karma for shooting you, Erza."
"Wait, wait, wait," cut in Macao as he looked at the redhead in shock, "you shot Erza?!"
"Yep," nodded Nero/Erza, popping the 'P' in Erza's voice.
"Are you insane?!" He Demanded, shocked that Nero would actually do that.
"No, I'm a demon hunter," responded Nero cynically as he folded his arms, "What do you think is gonna happen when you aim a sword at my throat. But will admit, this is a first, me being inside a girl's body."
Dante could make so many jokes with that statement.
Erza/Nero glared at him intensely, "And don't you even dare think about getting any ideas." She growled in Nero's voice, and from the way it sounded, it actually sent shivers up the spines of a few wizards.
Meanwhile, Nero/Erza just gave her a smirk, "I wouldn't dream of it, babe," Nero/Erza smirked, and then threw her a playful wink.
Erza/Nero lightly gasped and turned away, a bit of red flushing on her face. Thankfully for the strong female mage, no one had seen that. Otherwise, their predicament would've just gotten more awkward. Nero/Erza only raised an eyebrow in confusion as he was the only one who saw.
'Huh? I did the wink as a joke, didn't expect her to blush,' Thought Nero, but wasn't a joke was the promise he wouldn't try anything. In some aspects he was like Dante, he would always honor his promises, even if he acts like a jokester and sometimes a jerk. Nero himself was a respectable person, once you got to know him and he respected Erza; and while he didn't have his powers anymore, he doubts it would take him long to figure out how to use Erza's powers. Also, he still had his skills as a swordsman.
"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 not feeling like yourselves today, huh?" Makarov quipped.
Team Sparda walked up to the aging master.
"Master, you're back!" Erza/Nero said in relief.
"I had noticed that request on the board," Makarov explained, "By reading what was written on that page allowed you to cast a powerful personality transference, and that spell is called the Changeling."
"Sounds really scary!" Lucy/Happy commented.
"So you're really Natsu, right?" Gray/Natsu asked.
Natsu/Grey glanced back at him. "Yeah?"
The pink haired mage grabbed the onyx-haired teen by the shirt, "You idiot! This is your fault! Because of you now I'm stuck in your body, loser!"
"Hey, all I did was try to read the stupid job request, ice prick!" Natsu/Gray countered.
"That's enough, Natsu…uh…I mean, Gray." Makarov corrected. "However, this spell does more than switch bodies, it switches magic too."
"What?!" the group shouted.
"There's one thing you should know." The old man said grimly. "If the Changeling spell isn't reversed in thirty minutes from the time it was initially cast, you will never return to the way you were before. Or so says the legend, at least."
"WHHAAA?!" the team cried out.
"Fuck me sideways," groaned Nero/Erza as the hunter began to pace in frustration. This was definitely karma. He certainly didn't want to be trapped in Erza's body for the rest of his life. A man being stuck in a woman's body would be extremely awkward, not to mention, he would never hear the end of it from Dante if he found out!
Natsu/Gray ran up to Elfman and Mirajane, who were standing a fair distance behind them along with the other Fairy Tail mages present. "Do you know how long we've been mixed up for?" He asked hysterically.
"Sixteen minutes," Mira answered, "which means you have fourteen left."
This only caused the group to scream, even more, shocked by how much little time remained. They immediately turned to their orange and blue clad master again.
"Gramps isn't there anything you can do to reverse the spell?!" Gray/Natsu cried frantically.
"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."
Suddenly, the group's eyes became bigger than dinner plates while their jaws fell to the floor, expressions of horror plastered on their faces.
"I must say I am very disappointed," The old mage sighed, "I was looking so forward to punishing you…but it looks like you've got your hands full right now!"
"Hey!" Snapped Nero/Erza, storming right up to Makarov, "I wasn't even supposed to be punished!"
"Hmm," the master nodded, "Yes. It is rather unfortunate that you got caught up in this Erza…uh, Nero."
"'Unfortunate'?! Fucking, 'Unfortunate'?!" Repeated the hunter, in total fury.
The short old man then walked away, "Well, best of luck to you kids," He said in a cheery tone.
The team was left dumbfounded. Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy were both lying on the floor, their bodies twitching in shock. Gray/Natsu was on his hands and knees; he too was too horrified to stand. Nero/Erza just began pacing, muttering something's to himself in his anger and annoyance.
"THAT'S IT!" Gray/Natsu yelled, "I can't take it anymore!"
Gray/Natsu swiftly pulled off his black vest and threw it aside, leaving his toned upper body exposed. He was just getting ready to take off his pants too until Natsu/Gray tackled him to the floor.
"Keep it together, perv!" Natsu/Gray exclaimed, wrestling with himself. Excuse the pun.
"No surprise there," commented Nero/Erza, folding his arms across his armored chest, "doesn't matter which body he's in, Gray's still Gray."
"It would appear so," Erza/Nero agreed, watching the two guys wrestle.
Lucy/Happy sprouted a pair of white, feathered wings from her back and flew a few feet off the ground, "I gotta say flying sure is fun, BUT I DON'T WANNA BE STUCK AS A CAT FOREVER!"
"What's so bad about being stuck as me?" Happy/Lucy accused, crying a little bit.
"HEY!" Gray/Natsu cried out, ceasing his fight with Natsu/Gray. Everyone looked to see fire drooling out from his mouth and onto the floor, "What's going on?! I got fire dripping out of my mouth!"
"You idiot!" Natsu/Gray shouted, "Control it!"
"I can't!" Gray/Natsu said; suddenly, the former ice mage's panic caused the flames to come out in torrents, lighting the floor on fire.
The fire began to grow larger and more intense, causing the group of mages to step away.
"Gray, wait, Natsu," said Nero, calmly, "you mind using your ice magic to put this out?"
"I don't know how!" Natsu/Gray replied. Just to humor him, he held out his hands and fiddled with them. Instead of blasting ice like he wanted, he coughed up ice cubes from his mouth, "Aw man!"
Nero and Erza both sweatdropped in frustration. The fire began to expand. If something wasn't done soon, it could burn down the entire Guild.
"Okay, screw this," muttered Nero as he reached for Red Queen, but his hand didn't catch the handle, causing the hunter to glance back before realizing his sword was back with his body, "right, body swap."
Nero/Erza swiftly turned his head to Erza/Nero.
"Erza, use Red Queen to put out the fire with my strength," ordered Nero/Erza.
Erza/Nero only looked at him strangely, "What?"
'Right, she doesn't know what the names of my weapons are,' realized Nero as he pinched the bridge of his nose, 'no wonder she doesn't know what the fuck I'm talking about.'
"The giant sword your back," simplified the hunter, pointing behind Erza/Nero.
She lifted upper right across her chest and took out Red Queen before immediately taking notice of the Exceed System. She heard that Nero was an expert swordsman and combatant, but his weapon just confused her. Just why did need a throttle on his sword.
"Uh..." Erza remembered Nero twisting the handle.
"Wait, don't twist the-" began Nero when he saw that the vent was aimed at her head.
However, his warning came too late and Erza/Nero twisted it too full, causing a massive burst of fire to erupt from the exhaust, right into her face. Titania let out a surprised shriek as the flames shot passed her face caused her to drop the sword.
"Crap," swore Nero/Erza as he went over to check on her, "you okay."
"I'm fine," Replied Erza as she held the right side of her face.
The Guild mages gasped as they took fearful steps back. They knew the unique trick that Red Queen possessed and how Erza claimed to basically be the master of every single weapon and sword. If the mighty Erza couldn't control the sword, then that just makes Nero's skill all the more impressive.
"Why do you have that on your sword?" Demanded Erza/Nero as she looked up, removing her right hand, giving Nero/Erza a clear look that his body's eyebrow had been burned off and some of his hair, "What purpose is it supposed to serve?"
"I'll tell you later," Replied Nero/Erza, momentarily forgoing the fact that his body was now without his right eyebrow or a bit of his hair.
Lucy/Happy flew in-between them. "You guys, that fire is kind of getting bigger," She said sheepishly.
"Right," answered Nero/Erza as he turned to Gray/Natsu who had finally stopped himself from hurling fire, "Gray, inhale the fire like Natsu does!"
Gray/Natsu looked at him dubiously, "Are you kidding?! I don't know how to do that!"
"Just do it!" Nero/Erza yelled; sounding a lot like Erza, which made the ice mage turned Dragon Slayer flinch.
Gray/Natsu stood before the flames and closed his eyes, concentrating. Letting out an exhale, he reared back his head as he inhaled deeply. Amazingly, the hot flames were pulled into Gray/Natsu's mouth. In mere seconds, the fire was gone as Gray/Natsu had consumed it all. He let out a big burp, rubbing his mouth.
"Wow," Gray/Natsu breathed, "That actually tasted pretty good."
Natsu/Gray crossed his arms over his chest, "Nice job, ice prick. You almost burned down the Guild."
Gray/Natsu glared back, "What'd you call me!"
Nero/Erza, ignoring their bickering, "Nice job, Gray."
"Agreed," Erza/Nero.
"I believe you dropped something," Commented Makarov, who was sitting on the bar table drinking a mug of presumably alcohol.
"Fuck off," Nero/Erza snapped at Makarov, "You've been sitting there this whole time?"
Makarov laughed, "Well…I was amused."
Erza/Mero turned to Nero/Erza, the memories of what she did prior to twisting Red Queen's handle, "How bad does it look?"
"You look like Adam Savage during that one episode," Commented Nero/Erza as he folded his arms, "you lost an eyebrow."
"Yeah, and you lost a lot of hair too," Wakaba said, standing with the other mages.
"As manly as that sword is, the flames are just dangerous," Elfman added.
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," reassured Nero/Erza, walking over to her and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. Well, technically it was really his shoulder, "It won't look weird in a few hours when my healing factor kicks in. And it takes time to get used to it."
Erza/Nero turned to him, "How can you possibly accomplish anything with it? And by the way, other abilities do you have?"
"Practice," Replied Nero casually a smirk forming on his lips, "and I have Blue Rose which should be in the holster on your, Uh, my left hip. I also can summon a ghost hand and shoot ethereal swords from my right hand. And I can absorb magic and the essence of demons I've beat to make myself stronger."
"How many demons have you defeated?" Asked Erza, raising an eyebrow.
"I lost track after ninety-two," shrugged Nero.
Erza/Nero's eyes widened. She was very impressed. Before Nero and the others left for Galuna Island, she remembered Mirajane telling her that Nero was a demon hunter and had dozens of kills under his belt, each time absorbing a small portion of the demon. But more than Ninety? He had just as many abilities as she did armor and weapons!
"Impressive," Erza/Nero commented, "but since I wasn't here for when you first came to the Guild, do you mind me telling me what all they can do?"
"Uh, let's see," began Nero as he smirked, "super-strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, durability, healing factor, Spectral Bringer, the spectral arm I told you about, Summon Swords, the ethereal swords," listed Nero/Erza, looking up to think for a second before continuing, "Then there's Red Queen, Blue Rose...and that absorption trick which means it's a question of which ability I don't have yet. Well you if we're gonna be stuck like this."
Erza/Nero was left dumbfounded. If what Nero said was true, then he was just as powerful as she was, if not potentially more!
"Great," Lucy/Happy moaned sadly, still flying at eye level with everyone, "All of our magic has been switched but we all stink at it. I hate this. Why me?"
"No need to worry, Lucy!" a feminine voice called out. They all turned to see a petite, blue haired girl named Levy standing by the front doors with the other two members of her team, Jet and Droy standing on either side of her.
"Levy it's you!" Lucy/Happy squealed happily.
"Levy?" Natsu/Gray said.
"Don't worry! The Shadow Gear team is here to save the day," Droy stated confidently, "You guys will be back to normal in no time."
"Oh yeah," Jet added with the same level of confidence as Droy, "We got this, no sweat."
"Now, do your thing Levy," Droy and Jet said together.
"When you guys said 'we got this', you really meant her, huh?" Mirajane joked.
In response, the two men only chuckled.
"You're so kind to help us!" Lucy/Happy said, flying around Levy in joy.
Levy laughed a little, "Anything for a friend; besides, I really want to read your novel. And it would be kinda weird talking about it in front of Happy." She whispered.
"What are you gonna do?" Natsu/Gray interjected.
Later, Levy was seating at bench holding the request paper in her hands. A few books are stacked around her. The others gather 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/Natsu said, "but do it quick!"
Erza/Nero walked around the table to stand in front of the group. "Listen up everybody; we need to let Levy work in peace."
"Yeah," Lucy/Happy agreed, although her voice was muffled. She then realized that she had a fish in her mouth and gasped in shock. She lowered her wings and fell to the floor on her hands and knees in disappointment. "Why do I have a fish in my mouth?"
"Because they're yummy!" Happy/Lucy replied, and he too had a small fish in-between his teeth.
Levy begins reading a book, her red reading glasses casting a beam of rainbow colored light over the pages, allowing her to read much faster. "Okay… ugo deru…" she mumbled.
"Please hurry," Gray/Natsu said calmly though his expression displayed panic. "We only have ten minutes left."
"Pretty sure saying those words out loud is what got us into this mess," pointed out Nero/Erza, "don't think it's smart saying them again."
"Don't worry," Levy responded nonchalantly, looking between her books and the request. "It's totally safe as long as you don't read everything in the correct order."
"There's not much time!" Natsu/Gray shouted hysterically. "Ugh…I can't take it! I can't take being so cold! Change me back!"
"So how's it going Levy?" Lucy/Happy flew up to the stand on the table edge.
Levy was silent, still looking at the request paper.
"Have you figured it out?" Natsu/Gray asked.
"No," Levy replied disappointed, "I'm stumped!"
Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy both let out frustrated yells, whole Nero/Erza said one word, "Fuck."
"No!" Lucy/Happy cried, "I can't stay as some (strange flying) cat forever!"
"What's so terrible about that!?" Happy/Lucy demanded indignantly.
Erza/Nero whimpered, "Surely my fate isn't to remain in a man's body for the rest of my life."
"Get over yourself," muttered Nero/Erza, as he folded his arms across the armor chest plate, "this isn't a day in the past for me either."
"NO!" Natsu/Gray roared. "I hate this! I can't remain in this ice bastard's body forever!"
"Hey!" Gray/Natsu shouted, getting in his rival's face. "I don't wanna stay in your body either, loser!"
"You wanna fight!?" Natsu/Gray demanded.
Erza/Nero groaned gallingly as she fixated a deadly glare upon the duo. "SILENCE!" she yelled, which immediately made them hug one another and shiver in trepidation.
'Whoa,' Nero thought, 'I didn't know my voice could get that powerful.'
"Look I know you guys are freaking out, but I'm still working on it, okay?" Levy reassured the panicking mages.
Natsu/Gray 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, but you might wanna start preparing for the worst."
That statement made the whole team freeze in fear. The possibility of actually being trapped in another person's body was frightening. Even Nero found himself unsettled by this. Being stuck in a girl's body was certainly not how he wanted to spend the rest of his days.
A moment later, the newly dubbed 'Team Sparda' was seated on a bench across from Levy as they left her alone to let her work. Her teammates Droy and Jet were cheering her on behind her. The team was dead quiet and remained that way for a couple minutes.
"So what happens if we wind up getting stuck like this?" Gray/Natsu inquired, his chin resting in his hand.
"UH…what do you mean by that?" Natsu/Gray cocked a brow.
"Are we just gonna try to adjust to our new bodies and go back to work?" Gray/Natsu clarified.
"Well, yeah I'd guess we'd have to, it's not like we have a bunch of options," Natsu/Gray said.
"Whatever happens is totally fine with me!" Happy/Lucy smiled.
"WHAT?" Lucy/Happy shouted, "No one asked for your opinion, now did they? Stupid cat! I just want to be a cute girl again."
"Give it a rest, Lucy," cut in Nero, attempting to reassure her, "Nobody's-"
Suddenly, Nero/Erza paused as a realization came to his mind. This made the others look at inquiringly.
"What? What is it, Nero?" Erza/Nero asked, catching onto his pause.
"None of us know how to use each other's magic," answered Nero/Erza as he pinched the rige of his nose, "That said, if we were to take a quest, we'd have better luck getting Cana to stop drinking than completing it."
Shocked looks crossed over the team's faces.
"OH geez you're right!" Natsu/Gray agreed, "We stink, and that means…"
"WE'RE THE WEAKEST TEAM IN FAIRY TAIL NOW!" they shouted simultaneously.
It was true. If the spell wasn't undone, they would be trapped in another's body with no knowledge on how to use that person's powers. And being trapped in another person's body would not only have ramifications on their missions but their personal lives as well.
For Nero, he spent years training in secret with Devil Bringer, learning all the tricks, and when Dante showed up he learned to adapt to changing situations even faster. That being said, he was trapped in a redheaded female mage's body, Nero would have to adapt and learn to use Erza's magic, which shouldn't be difficult. What was difficult, was adapting to the life change. It would be incredibly awkward, a male demon/human hybrid trapped in the body of a woman. Dante would never let him hear the end of it.
"OH MAN, I HATE THIS!" Natsu/Gray bellowed violently, "What's the point of living if I can't burn anything anymore!?"
"I'm a cute Celestial mage! I can't be stuck as a cat forever!" Lucy/Happy cried out.
Happy/Lucy turned to her with an angry look, "You're mean! I happen to like being a cat!"
"This is unacceptable!" Erza/Nero shouted, "I'm an S-Class wizard and I refuse to be a part of Fairy Tail's weakest team…if only I was back in my body."
Nero/Erza narrowed his eyes as he went over to Erza/Nero. As she was ranting, he lifted Blue Rose from the holster. Opening the cylinder, seeing that it was fully loaded, he snapped it closed. Makarov saw what he was doing, but was too slow to stop the hunter from aiming at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. Blue Rose let out a resounding, gutural crack, that caused every single mage in Fairy Tail to jump.
"Everyone, calm the fuck down," stated Nero/Erza calmly as every wizard turned to him, "I agree with you guys, this is bull crap, but whining, griping, and complaining isn't gonna fix our situation." As he spoke, he was deathly calm, which actually unnerved a few wizards, even as he spoke softly, his words echoed like thunder, "That being said, we'll do the only thing we can do and adapt to our new situation. If we have to adapt to our new bodies and powers then fine…that's what we'll do."
The team looked at Nero/Erza in shock. The way Nero spoke calmly, after getting their attention via gunshot, and got them back under control with a commanding voice that rivaled Erza, even though he was technically in her body. Erza/Nero looked at him blankly; the way he took charge and tried to reassure everyone that everything would be fine appealed to her.
However, before anything else could be said, Levy cried out, "Yes that's it!"
Immediately after that exclamation, the team crowed around Levy with a mix of excited and relieved looks.
"Really?" Natsu/Gray asked excitingly, "So you can lift the spell?"
"Go on! Do it!" Gray/Natsu added.
"This is what it says: May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness," Levy smiled, "Kinda cute, isn't it?"
"Ahh…yeah it is." Lucy/Happy gushed.
"Cute," drawled Nero/Erza, "but how does that fucking help us?"
"Yeah, and?" Natsu/Gray demanded.
"In other words, everyone who has been affected by this spell will live happily ever after!" Levy replied, "You're so lucky! I'm so glad I figured it out."
At that moment, it grew deathly quiet as the horrifying realization hit them like a pile of bricks. Finally though…
"OH NO WAY!" Natsu/Gray yelled, "You're telling me we're stuck like this forever!?"
"We wanted you to lift the spell. Not read it, remember?" Gray/Natsu deadpanned.
"OH, that's right. Sorry!" Levy apologized.
Lucy/Happy flew next to Levy and laid a supportive paw on her shoulder. "You got this. I have faith you can do it. But you gotta work a little faster, okay? Maybe there's a hidden message or code or something like that in the request?"
"Yeah," Levy answered more determined. "Good idea."
As Levy resumed her work, Droy and Jet continued cheering her on, the former banging a drum while the latter waved around a fan.
"GO! Go! Go Levy!" Droy and Jet cheered.
Wakaba stared at this scene with a perplexed expression, a sweat drop falling down his face. "Isn't all that racket gonna distract her?"
"Nah," Elfman grinned exuberantly. "They're just trying to get her pumped up!"
Elfman jumped in with Droy and Jet and began cheering her on.
"Ugh," Levy moaned, "I'm still not seeing any kind of a pattern here. It doesn't seem to make any sense."
Macao pulled out a purple board with a yellow three printed on it. "Three minutes left," he said.
"Three minutes!" Lucy/Happy cried.
"Well, this is it," Erza/Nero whined, "This is how I'm gonna spent the rest of my life…as…a man," Erza/Nero fell to her hands and knees and whimpered, "I've worked so hard."
Erza/Nero was about to cry until she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Nero/Erza smiling at her, "If it's any consolation, I know how you feel."
"You do?"
"Yep, being stuck in a woman's body for the rest of my days? Not exactly fun for me," admitted Nero/Erza, "But if I know my track record, we'll get out of this. Somehow, we'll get out of this and back to normal."
Erza/Nero looked at him puzzlingly, "How can you be so sure?"
Nero/Erza shrugged, "Call it experience. It might look bad, but it'll turn around at the last second."
Erza continued to look at him, 'We have less than a couple of minutes left before we are stuck in each other's bodies…yet, he's still confident that everything will work out?' She thought, 'Who are you, Nero Sparda?'
Erza/Nero smiled at him and stood up, 'Whether I'm in this body or hopefully back in mine…I have a gut feeling that I'll enjoy fighting alongside him.'
"You're right," Erza/Nero conceded.
"Have you figured it out yet?!" Natsu/Gray demanded.
Macao held up a white poster board with a red number one in the center, "Your situation is dire with only one minute to go."
"Where the hell did you even get that?" demanded Nero as he looked at the black haired mage.
"I DON'T RECALL ASKING FOR THE TIME! SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH, KAY?" Natsu/Gray 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 sweatdropped. "He's too good at this."
Meanwhile, back with Team Sparda, Master Makarov stood behind Natsu and Gray. "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/Natsu said.
"OH!" Makarov's face light up as if an idea had popped up in his brain.
Suddenly, the group nearly gasped in anticipation. The rest of the group crowed in front of him immediately with hope in their eyes.
"Yes, master?" Erza/Nero said eagerly.
The orange clad man was silent for a moment before he shrugged, "Woops! Never mind kids, I've drawn a blank."
At that, the group fell over in deflation; besides Nero, who just stood stationary with his arms and jaw hanging down. However, his shock turned into anger as he glared at the short elderly man.
"I'm this close to shooting you," stated Nero/Erza, holding up his hand, bringing his index and thumb painstakingly close but not touching, "and don't think for a second I'm bluffing."
"You guys have about forty seconds left," Macao informed, holding up a sign with a big number forty on it, "More or less…starting now!"
"What do you mean 'more or less'?!" Natsu/Gray shouted furiously.
Suddenly, Makarov's face brightened once more, "I just remembered something about the spell!"
"What? IS. IT?" demanded Nero/Erza through gritted teeth.
The master turned away, "While it can be lifted I'm afraid it has to be done one pair at a time," He then glanced over his shoulder, "Meaning it's impossible to change all of you back at once!"
"WHAT!?" Natsu/Gray shouted.
"Thirty seconds…ish," Macao said, holding up another sign with a 30 on it.
"Seriously! Where do you keep getting- you know what? Not even gonna ask anymore," Nero/Erza stated.
"So, which pair's going first?" Gray/Natsu asked crossly.
"It should be us!" Natsu/Gray answered.
"Hmph, sounds good to me," Gray/Natsu agreed.
"But that's so unfair!" Lucy/Happy cried out, "It should be me and Happy!"
"Hold on!" Erza/Nero shouted, her vein throbbing violently, "Since I and Nero are Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, we should go first. It's for the good of the Guild."
"Not a wizard!" interjected Nero/Erza exasperated at this point and seriously considering fixing his headphones so that he can make a recording of himself stating that because at this point, he's just wasting his breath.
Immediately, a big argument broke out between five of the six-person team, Nero being left out. He only stood to the side, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, 'They're just as bad as Dante and me!' he thought.
"Hold on you guys!" Levy screamed, "I got it!"
The team instantly ceased their squabbling as they gathered close to Levy's work table, "Really?" Lucy/Happy asked.
"Yeah, but listen, I'll try and explain this as quick as I can."
"And nine…eight…," Macao counted down; however, before he could continue he received a wicked haymaker from Natsu/Gray, sending him crashing through a bench unconscious.
"No time!" Natsu/Gray shouted angrily, "Just change us back! Hurry!"
"Yeah…right, here it goes," Levy said. Suddenly, the request paper that had started this mess began to glow brightly once more. She then held out her arms as she chanted, "Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou!"
Rainbow colored light 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 from Magnolia could see it.
After a moment, the light died away and the group let out collective sighs. Team Sparda stood frozen in place for a second before Nero blinked a few times. As his focus returned, he looked down at his hands and saw one was gloved and the other was not. A grin formed on his face.
"Everything back in place!" stated Nero as he kicked up Red Queen which had been left lying on the floor for the majority of the time and caught it in his left hand. Sheathing it across his back, he walked a little to the side and stooped down to pick up Blue Rose which was dropped by Erza when she was returned to her own body.
Erza, who was standing to his side, examined herself shortly and smiled too, "I am as well."
Lucy, Happy, Natsu, and Gray blinked a couple times. They looked themselves over and were pleased to find that they were back in their original forms.
"Hey!" Natsu shouted. "We're back in our bodies too!"
"Aye," Happy agreed, flying above his head.
"Man, 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 now?" Wakaba asked.
Lucy ran up to Levy and held her hands, "Levy you're awesome!" she squealed.
"That's right!" the petite girl fist-pumped.
"Oh yeah," Droy said.
"Our cheering worked, huh?" Jet commented.
"You gotta 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 backward," Levy explained.
"Really?" asked Nero, as the others blinked.
"It's actually an old trick," Levy elucidated, "Ancient languages such as this didn't really have that many letters. So sometimes they had to be a little more creative with how they used their words. That's why when I reversed the words, I reversed the spell too."
"How cool," Lucy remarked.
"At least that's 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 was met with quite a confusing sight. Mirajane was sitting cross-legged on the bar countertop, but she was holding Makarov's cane behind her back.
"W-wha…," Lucy and Levy stuttered.
"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…"
"That Mirajane switched bodies with Gramps?" Gray finished.
"Fuck..." groaned Nero as he facepalmed.
"Wow!" Makarov/Mira beamed brightly. "You won't hear me complaining about this."
"NO!" Mira/Makarov started waving her little arms around in panic. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh no…" Erza muttered, "Who else has been…"
"All of you just need to man up and get over it, okay?" Cana yelled.
However, that wasn't what was grabbing the team's attention. It was Elfman, sitting on a table across from her, chugging down an entire barrel of beer.
"Hey," Cana said, "what's the deal? Why do I smell like a brewery?"
Suddenly, Elfman set down the barrel and looked around with big, wide eyes. "Wait! What! How did I…Ugh…" his face then began to turn green. "Oh man….I…ugh…I think I really need to take a nap right now." With that said, Elfman fell over and passed out.
"Elfman and Cana?" Gray said. "Anyone else?"
"Hey Droy," Droy looked over to Jet only for his face to fall into shock.
"Yeah? What is it now, Jet?" He looked over and was met with similar shocking results.
"Hey!" They both shouted, pointing at one another. "Stop looking like me!"
"You had to ask didn't you?" demanded Nero as he glared at Gray.
"I don't think anyone's gonna be able to tell the difference with you two." Makarov/Mira commented, and then her expression brightened. "But in my case, having a body like this is a dream come true."
"Please help me, Levy! Help me!" Mira/Makarov cried comically.
Levy and Team Sparda stared at their fellow, body-swapped friends, who were bickering amongst each other. Dumbfounded expressions were plastered on their faces while sweat drops rolled down their faces.
"Oh no…," Levy gapped, "I think I'm a little in over my head here."
"We should be getting paid for this..." sighed Nero as he ran his left hand across the side of his head.
"And you're still missing some hair and your eyebrow," added Happy in a cheeky manner.
"Fuck you."