ZAP-ZAP Time!

AN: This is the song Benedict, Jennabeth, and Portia are playing at the beginning. watch?v=1UeZ85UQ3YQ The girls play the blue part, Benedict plays the green. Benedict and Jennabeth only play the first twenty seconds while Benedict and Portia play the whole thing.

This is the song Benedict plays with Vera: watch?v=iWbKrq-oEJo

Also, this was requested by Shadowwolf1997

Also, also, 100 CHAPTERS, BABY! WE HAVE MADE IT!

"Okay, almost-wait, no, scoot your hand over just a bit," Benedict instructed as he sat on the piano beach of the guild hall, patiently teaching Jennabeth how to play a simple tune.

Jennabeth frowned in concentration as she carefully pressed the keys in a slow, labored rhythm.

"Okay, now try going a little faster," Benedict suggested.

Jennabeth stuck her tongue out as she obeyed, and actually did fairly well.

"Alright, now do it again," Benedict said, placing his own hands on the keyboard.

After Jennabeth had played the tune for a few seconds he began playing a different one alongside her. Jennabeath gasped, smiling as the both of their playings meshed together, creating a nice little tune. It only lasted for a few moments longer, still Jennabetth giggled and smiled at her accomplishment.

"Wow!" she gasped.

"There, see, you're picking it up," Benedict encouraged before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He glanced behind him to find Portia standing shyly at his side.

"Benny, can we play the fancy version?" she asked.

"There's a fancy version?" Jennabeth asked, curious.

"Yeah...it takes a little longer to learn, I've been teaching it to Portia for months," Benedict said, afraid of discouraging Jennabeth.

He didn't need to worry, though, because Jennabeth's smile widened as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Oh, can I hear it?"

"Sure," Benedict shrugged.

Jennabeth got off the bench so that Portia could take her place. Benedict counted them down and he and Portia began playing. Jennabeth smiled all the wider as she swayed side to side while listening.

She then glanced, made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder and began laughing, for standing behind her were Igneel and Koree, floundering around the guild hall in a mock ballroom dance. Realizing he now had an audience, Igneel took it a step further, climbing onto one of the tables and continuing his dance on top of it.

Portia too noticed, and began to giggle as she kept playing. Benedict just smiled and shook his head as the song drew to a close.

"Bravo! Bravo!"

Benedict smiled at the familiar voice, and turned to find Farrah drawing closer to him and Portia, applauding.

"Bravissimo! Encore!"

"Do you have any idea what these words even mean?" Benedict asked, smirking.

"Yes, I do read on occasion, thank you!" Farrah snapped back.

"Anything other than murder mysteries and creepy conspiracy stories?"

"Okay, don't push your luck," Farrah frowned, though there was still a hint of fun in her eyes.

"Can I play something else?" Portia asked her older brother.

"Oh, actually, I was teaching Jennabeth, so maybe later," Benedict replied.

"Oh, it's okay, we can pick it up later," Jennabeth said. "I like listening."

"Me?" another voice called.

Benedict and Portia turned to find Vera standing behind them.

"She knows how to play?" Jennabeth asked, surprised. Vera was so little!

"Kinda," Benedict said as he picked Vera up and set her in his lap. She smiled as she waited for Benedict to set his hands on the piano. Vera set her hands over his, doing her best to set her tiny fingers over his. Benedict then began playing a slow, soft tune, Vera's hands still on top of his as she "played" along. As this song was slower Koree and Igneel did not keep up their silly dancing. Koree instead, went to find something else to do while Igneel drew closer to watch. None of them noticed the crimson hair boy with green eyes slinking in, a frown on his face.

"Ugh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Sanjay groaned at the sight of the small crowd around the piano.

"Nobody asked you, Sanjay!" Farrah shouted towards him.

Vera who, though she had not had a personal encounter with Sanjay, knew about his tendency for cruelty, and whimpered as she turned and grabbed onto Benedict's shirt. Benedict set his arms around his little sister, keeping his eye on Sanjay to make sure he didn't try anything.

"You all think you're so big and bad, but you're sitting around here playing sissy songs and wasting time."

"And aren't you scrubbing toilets? Who are you to judge?" Farrah asked.

"Only because-"

"Sanjay, come with me," out of seemingly nowhere Montie appeared, grabbing his brother by the shoulder and dragging him off to an empty hallway. Sanjay tried to fight and get away from him, yelling and cursing the whole way, causing Benedict to cover little Vera's ears.

Montie sighed as he tossed his brother into the empty hallway.

"What are you doing!?" Snajay demanded to know.

"I'm going on a job today," Montie said. "Could you PLEASE try to stay out of trouble?"

"Hmph," Sanjay sniffed, crossing his arms.

"Sanjay, I'm serious!"

"Whatever."

"Sanjay, you do realize this is it for us, right?" Montie sighed. "You get us kicked out of here and we have nowhere to go!"

"So what?" Sanjay huffed. "It's not like this all that great a place to be, anyways."

"Sanjay-"

"What happened to our plans of never letting anyone order us about ever again?" Sanjay demanded to know. "Did you forget about that?"

"Sanjay, this is different," Montie grumbled running a hand over his face.

"Doesn't seem that different to me…"

"Sanjay, they just want us to follow the rules! Okay? That's it! They aren't making us work sunup to sundown like they did back at-"

"Says the guy going on ANOTHER job today."

"Do you want an apartment to go back to or not?" Montie asked. "If yes then we need money to pay rent!"

"So this isn't any different then-"

"Do you even remember what it was like back then, Sanjay?" Montie asked. "We got up at dawn, worked until noon, took a thirty minute break for lunch, and then worked until sundown. We didn't get to see ANY of the money we made. We didn't get an apartment. We just got a one-room shack, and we only had what the factory cafeteria was serving for food. Yeah, we've still got to work here, but now we can pick the jobs. We get days of breaks in between. We can afford a nice place, nice food, and decent clothes. All they are asking us to do is follow the rules and NOT be a jerk!"

"We said when we finally paid off mom and dad's debt we'd never let anyone order us around again," Sanjay insisted. "And yet here we are-"

"Sanjay, just, UGH!" Montie tugged at the crimson mop of hair on his head. "Why are you making this harder than it has to be!?"

"Because this isn't what I wanted!"

"Well, it's not my first pick either. But we're not getting our old home back, okay? We have to start over, and they're gracious enough to give us a chance. Multiple chances, actually, considering all the bridges you've burned!"

"Hmph!" Sanjay crossed his arms and stared at the ground, a deep frown on his face.

"Okay, so this is what you want, what DO you want?" Montie asked.

"I want my home back, I want the good life back, and I don't want to have to listen to anyone telling me what to do ever again!" Sanjay shouted.

"Well, sorry, that's not possible!" Montie snapped. "Our old house is gone! Mom and dad are gone! That old life we had as kids is gone! But now at least we've finally paid off our parents debt and we can start over, IF you'd stop pissing everyone off!"

"Why should I-"

"We're the new kids, Sanjay," Montie said. "The rest of these kids have been here their whole lives. We have to pay our dues to get them to trust us. And it seems like every single day you are pushing us two steps back!"

"What about that ghosty girl? They've taken her under their wing."

"Because she's not pissing people off every step she takes!"

"Hmph!" Sanjay crossed his arms again.

"I'll be back in two hours," Montie sighed. "Just please don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

Montie turned and left. Sanjay stood in the hallway and frowned at the ground.

Stupid Montie giving into system already! Had he not learned? Had five years of being an indentured servant taught him nothing?

Life had been perfect before. Just him, his brother, their parents, and a little farm in the country all to themselves. Then that accident happened. Their parents died. The wealthy factory owner they'd taken a loan from to build their farm came knocking. Their home was taken away from them, foreclosed on, bulldozed, and turned to a general store. Then he and his brother had been forced to labor hours upon hours, days upon days, years upon five years to pay off their parents' debt.

Finally, a few months ago, they paid the debt off and were free to go. Montie and Sanjay had promised each other that they'd never let themselves be stuck in that situation again, with some high and mighty stuff-shirt ordering about them, taking everything from them, leaving them helpless to do nothing but obey.

Yet here they were! In this stupid guild! Going on stupid jobs! Paying money to stupid land lords! And taking orders from stupid wizards who were just favoring their kids of them!

Sanjay huffed as he stomped out of the hallway and back to the main room. Why did he have to put up with this? Had he not put up with enough in his life? Why did he have to deal with being at the bottom of the barrel again?

There had to be away from him to jump to the top of the totem pole, right? He'd spent far too long at the bottom, it was time he took that leap.

He saw the group of kids he'd argued with before still mulling about, though no longer around the piano. They had instead moved to a table where they'd joined a bunch of the other kids.

Jennabeath was still amongst them, sitting as if she'd been a part of this group her whole life. How was it that she instantly gained respect while he was still spat upon? Probably because she was a pretty girl! Stupid double standar, pretty girls got away with everything!

An idea suddenly sprouted in his mind, perhaps he could benefit from this. Maybe he could build off her quick acceptance. If he could get her to date him maybe…

...but, not. That'd just be a pain! The girl was such a scaredy cat! She was probably that type of person to get spooked by her own shadow. Putting up with her would be too much of a nuisance. You'd think someone who spent all her time with ghosts would have a bit more of a backbone.

He'd only been half-way joking when he told that punk Romeo he wanted to steal his wife. The woman was way too old for him. But Sanjay wasn't stupid. Dating a powerful, pretty wizard was a quick surefire way to get respect in a guild.

Jennabeth fit that category, he guessed. He hadn't seen enough of her magic to make a guess of how strong she was. But that didn't change the fact she was an annoying scaredy cat.

As Sanjay watched the group of kids carry on and laugh, Farrah stood to her feet, reached over, and gave Nashi a high-five. Sanjay's eyes narrowed as he continued pondering.

What about Farrah? She was strong, everyone knew it. She was a dragon slayer for crying out loud! Not to mention she was really pretty. And she was the guildmaster's daughter…

Oh, boy! Dating her would be the jackpot!

As Sanjay came up with his evil plan Farrah stood up from the table and made her way towards the kitchen. Sanjay smiled and followed along behind her, unnoticed by the other children.

He found Farrah in the kitchen, pulling a stray out of the cabinet and stacking a set of cups onto it.

"Hey, Farrah," he called as Farrah had just turned towards the refrigerator.

"Oh, hey," Farrah said flatly as she opened the fridge and began rummaging through it.

"So, what are you doing?" Sanjay asked, leaning against the wall next to the fridge, trying his best to flex his muscles.

"Getting juice for everyone," Farrah answered, pulling the juice out of the fridge and closing the door, never taking notice of Sanjay.

Sanjay frowned as she began heading back to the tray of glasses without so much as giving him a sideway glance. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and followed after her.

"Juice, huh? Pfft! Lame! That's like a kid's drink."

"But they are kids?" Farrah said, finally turning to Sanjay, utterly confused.

"Well, yeah, uh, I...I mean…" Sanjay flustered, confused. "I mean they are. Little kids. Just. Pfft. Lame little kids."

Farrah arched an eyebrow and went to fill the glasses up. "Nah. They're pretty cool."

"I mean, sure, as far as little kids go."

"You do realize you're a kid, right?" Farrah asked.

"Am not, I'm a teenager!"

Farrah arched an eyebrow and turned back to Sanjay, thoroughly unimpressed.

It was then Sanjay remembered he was trying to seduce this girl. "And...you are too!"

"Wow, great observation," Farrah deadpanned, returning to filling the glasses with juice.

"I'm just saying you're a lot older and cooler than them, so why do you hang out with them?" Sanjay asked.

"Just because they're younger than me doesn't mean they're 'lame,'" Farrah said as she realized she ran out of juice. She tossed the empty bottle over her shoulder, landing it right in the trash can. She then went to get another bottle.

"They're actually pretty cool."

"You're kidding right?" Sanjay muttered.

"No," Farrah said as she opened the fridge and began looking for another bottle of juice. "Nashi's one of the bravest people I know. Storm's a sweetheart. Cato's the best friend anyone could ask for, though I may be biased because he's my brother. Persephone's sharp as a knife. Koree's a hoot. And Roman's kinda like a guard dog."

"Guard dog?"

"Yeah, he'll tear the limbs of anyone who attacks you, but otherwise he's a cute lil softy."

"Ugh," Sanjay groaned. So stupid! Then he remembered why he was here. "I mean, I guess so. Sure. Fine. They're fine. But you...you...you're cooler than all of them put together so why are you hanging out with people who are, I guess, cool, but not as cool as you."

Farrah found the juice and slammed the fridge door closed. She turned and faced Sanjay, arms crossed.

"What are you trying to do, Sanjay?" she asked.

"I'm just suggesting that maybe it's time you upgraded," Sanjay said.

"Upgraded?"

"Yeah."

"To what?"

Sanjay grinned, this was his moment. "Well, how about me?" he asked, flexing his muscles.

Farrah's eyes widened in surprise. Then she grinned. Snickered. And finally rolled her head back and laughed.

"Oh! Oh that's good! That's a good one! Bahahahaha!" she laughed.

"Hey!" Sanjay stamped his foot, thoroughly offended.

"First of all," Farrah said, wiping the tears of her still grinning face. "I already have a boyfriend. Second, if that's what you call a pick up line, then I'm a starfish. Third, just, no. No. Just no!"

Farrah giggled again as she walked back to the tray and began filling the cups once again.

"But-but-COME ON! You can't just say 'no!'"

"Can. Did. Will do it again. NO!" Farrah replied animatedly.

"You should at least give me a chance!"

"No…" Farrah frowned, now less amused and more annoyed. "Because I already have a boyfriend. And even if I didn't, why would I date someone who has made not one, not two, but three little kids cry? One of which happens to be my cousin. And another one happens to be my boyfriend's little sister."

"I didn't even say anything to that two-eyed freak!" Sanjay shouted.

"Excuse me?" Farrah's frown deepened.

"What? She has two different eyes, it's weird-OUCH!" Sanjay winced as Farrah whacked him on the back of the head.

"Yeah, word of advice, learn to be a nice person before you as a girl out," she said as she finished filling the glasses with juice and screwed the top back on the bottle.

"Oh, why should I take advice from you?" Sanjay asked, now thoroughly peeved off as Farrah walked back towards the fridge. "I mean, you're the girl who'd rather date an overcooked, patchwork-mess of a monster over me!"

Thump.

The bottle of juice slipped out of Farrah's hand as she stopped mid step and turned back around, a look of death in her eyes.

"What did you just say?"

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"...so then I taught them some self-defense moves, and then we headed home," Nashi said, recounting her first job to her friends.

"Wow, your job went WAY better than mine," Storm muttered.

"Why, what happened at your job?" Nashi asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Strom grumbled.

"Say, what's taking Farrah so long, you think she needs help?" Cato asked, noticing his sister hadn't come back.

Suddenly Koree sat straight up, her mouth falling slightly open.

"Hey, you okay?" Persephone asked her sister. "Did you hear something?"

Koree grinned widely and began patting her sister on the back. "Sephy! Sephy! Get a screen ready and point it at the kitchen door! You're gonna wanna record this!"

Persephone frowned in confusion, but did as her sister said. And just in the nick of time.

"WWW AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sanjay screamed as he busted out of the kitchen, a trail of smoke following along behind him, Farrah hot on his heels, lightning cackling around her hands.

"WHAT THE-" Cato shouted, standing to his feet, a look of shock on his face.

ZAP!

A bolt of lightning shot out from one of Farrah's palms and struck Sanjay right on his butt.

"YOUCH!" Sanjay screeched, jumping at least a foot in the air before he started off running again.

"GET BACK HERE!" Farrah screamed, still chasing after him.

ZAP!

"YOUCH!"

"COME BACK HERE!"

Sanjay scampered behind one of the longer tables in the guild hall, jumping behind it to try and use it as a shield. Farrah stood at the other teen and the two teenagers stared at each other. Sanjay tried to move one way, Farrah followed him. Sanjay tried to go the other way, Farrah followed him.

"Farrah…" Sanjay gasped, trying to explain himself. "I only meant-"

"I KNEW WHAT YOU MEANT!"

ZAP!

A bolt of lightning struck the table right in front of Sanjay. Sanjay yelped in fear and jumped back. Farrah jumped onto the table and began running across it towards him. Sanjay squealed again and took off running. Farrah jumped off the table and chased after him.

"Man, she's pissed!" Storm gasped as he and the other members of the Birthday Gang gathered around Persephone who was still recording the ordeal with her archive.

"What did he do!?" Nashi wondered, eyes wide as she watched the scene play out.

"He made fun of Benedict's scars," Koree answered.

"Oh…" the other five tweens said in unison.

"Yeah, he's dead," Cato declared with a sad nod of his head.

ZAP!

"YAAAAHHHHOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!"

"Oooohhhhhh!" The birthday gang groaned in unison as Sanjay did a flip in the air from the impact of the lightning bolt to his nether regions.

"Well...it's not like he would have made a good dad anyways," Koree shrugged.

"Koree!" Persephone snapped while Cato, Storm, and Roman all cringed and crossed their legs at the sight.

"Remind me to never make Farrah angry," Roman said.

"Same!" Storm agreed.

As the Birthday Gang watched the chase ensue from Persephone's screen, a group of girls were watching from the upstairs balcony.

"Get him, Farrah! Avenge me!" Lorelle shouted over the balcony railing.

"Somehow I don't think this has anything to do with when he hit you," Layla said.

"I don't care, GET HIM!" Lorelle screamed.

"What did you think he did?" Eva asked.

"I dunno, but whatever it was he messed up big time!" Minette chuckled.

ZAP!

"YOUCH!"

"Oh, that one was to the face!" Layla cringed.

"Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark…" Bianca muttered.

"Oh, I hope it's not too bad…" Portia whispered.

"Okay, seriously, P, you're too good for this world. We all know this guy deserves it," Bianca said.

ZAP!

"YOUCH!"

"Ooh! ATTA GIRL FARRAH!" Bianca cheered. "Man, you're right Minette, he'd definitely messed up this time!"

"This is worse than when Uncle Romeo beat him for going after Aunt Wendy and Isla!" Eva declared.

"You think he'd learn, the idiot!" Bianca snickered.

"Man, I'd hate to be him right now," Layla said.

"Or tomorrow," Eva added.

"Or the day after that," Minette continued.

"Y'know, I would just hate to be him in general," Layla finally decided.

"Same, but since I'm not him, and I know he probably did something scummy to get this smackdown, forgive me, but this is the most entertaining thing I've seen all week," Bianca chuckled. "GET 'IM AGAIN, FARRAH!"

ZAP!

"Yeah, like that!"

Downstairs, seated on top of the bar, three young boys were also watching the chase.

"Uh...should we try and help him?" Von asked.

"Help him!?" Meeko exclaimed. "He's being chased by an extremely ticked off Farrah! There's no helping him! He's gone! Lost cause! Dead!"

"Besides, this is too good of a show to stop!" Igneel chuckled.

ZAP!

"OH!" all three boys cringed.

"Still, she's going pretty hard on him," Von said.

"Didn't he make you cry two days ago?" Igneel asked.

"Well...yeah...but…"

"Then just enjoy the show, Vonny boy!"

Sanjay began scrambling up the steps to try and escape Farrah, but she still stayed right on his heels. As he began running past the small crowd of girls Lorelle grinned evilly.

She flicked her fan open, trying to look innocent as she stuck her foot out in front of him and tripped him.

"Oopsy!" she said in a faux innocent voice.

"You brat!" Sanjay shouted, but he didn't have time to do anything else because by that point Farrah was on top of him. Sanjay squealed and tried to shield his face with his arms as Farrah sat on top of him and began trying to pry his hands away.

Luckily for Sanjay, though, someone ran up behind Farrah and lifted her off the squealing boy.

"Farrah, what's gotten into you?" Benedict asked as he held his still thrashing girlfriend by the waist.

"Lemme at 'im!" Farrah shouted, still trying to charge at Sanjay who was just staring wide-eyed at her.

"What's going on?" Benedict asked, stunned.

"He was making fun of you!" Farrah said, still trying to get at Sanjay.

"Oh, for the love of-Farrah, it's fine! I don't care what he says about me!" Benedict said.

"Well, I do! Lemme at 'im!"

"Don't you think he's had enough?" Benedict asked, staring at the now smoking boy with several burn marks through his clothes.

Farrah finally stopped thrashing as she glared down at Sanjay. "Maybe."

"Okay, leave him alone. I think he's learned his lesson," Benedict said, setting Farrah on her feet, but making sure to keep both arms around her waist.

Farrah frowned as she set a hand on his arms. Sanjay scrambled to his feet, still staring in terrified awe at Farrah. Farrah took a step, pretending she was about to lunge at him. Sanjay screamed and then ran off, down the stairs, across the main room, and out of the guild hall.

"Alright," Benedict sighed. He tried to let go of Farrah's waist, but she still had a hand on his arm, so he relented into hugging her from behind, leaning his chin on her shoulder.

"You almost killed that guy!" Benedict exclaimed.

"Nah, he's fine," Farrah muttered.

"Uh, far from it!" Benedict declared.

"Whatever, he deserved it!"

"I'm not sure about that."

"Hey, it was your honor I was fighting for!"

"Fighting? I don't know if I'd call that fighting."

"What would you call it?"

"A beatdown? A smackdown? Mopping the floor with his face? A near murder?"

"Whatever, my point still stands."

"Farrah, I really don't care what he-"

"He was making fun of your scars!"

"Whatever he said I'm sure I've heard worse."

"And that makes it okay?"

"No, but still, I'm just saying, you're gonna get yourself in trouble."

"Eh, I can handle it."

"That's not the issue."

"Then what's the issue?"

"I don't like seeing my girl in trouble," Benedict said, kissing Farrah on the cheek. "That's what."

"And I don't like people talking smack about my man, so we're even."

"Even? Excuse me, I'm not the one who nearly killed Sanjay."

"If he had been doing something to me would you have?"

Benedict's eyes narrowed at Farrah as he answered. "Probably…"

"Okay, good, because he was trying to steal me from you before he made fun of you."

"Okay, he's dead, wait one second," Benedict said as he let go of Farrah and started walking towards the stairs.

"Ah, ah, ah," Farrah playfully scolded as she grabbed his wrist. "I thought you said he'd had enough."

"I lied. He hasn't. He's dead."

"Ah, c'mon!" Farrah giggled. "I already mopped the floor with hi once today, let me have my moment."

"This is your moment?"

"Yes! You can beat him up tomorrow."

"I don't think he's going to be walking tomorrow. "

"Then next week."

"Hmph."

"Aw, why are you so grumpy?" Farrah asked, poking her bottom lip out in mocking sympathy.

"Am not," Benedict frowned at her.

"Yes you are."

"No! I'm a little peeved, but not grumpy."

"I thought you said it as being 'territorial' not 'peeved.'"

"Okay, you little…" Benedict's frown deepened at Farrah as she laughed at him. "Can I not be both?"

"You can handle more than one emotion at once?"

"Didn't you just beat up Sanjay for making fun of me? Now you're doing it?"

"Because I'm the only one who's allowed to tease you, that's why."

"That's not how this works!"

"Sure it is."

"Farrah…"

"You know you love me!"

"I never said I didn't."

"Aw! Love you too grumpy pants!"

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, you killjoy."

"Or that!"

"So what will you have me call you?"

"I don't know."

"Then kill joy it is."

"Would you stop bugging me and just kiss me already!"

"Okay, fine, sheesh, so needy," Farrah teased before taking Benedict's face in her hands and kissing him.

"Ugh! You two make me sick!" Lorelle whined from behind the two teenagers.

"Aw, I think they're cute," Layla said.

"When will I find a love like that!?" Eva asked dramatically.

"We haven't even reached the double digits yet, sis, don't you think we're still too little for that?" Minette asked.

"I dunno, maybe you should ask Meeko," Evan said, eyes narrowing mischievously.

"I…" Minette turned her back to her sister, face blushing. "I dunno what you're talking about!"

"Ooh! Sounds like someone has a crush on my lil bro!" Bianca said teasingly.

"No I don't!" Minette insisted. "Eva doesn't know what she's talking about!"