disclaimer: i don't own fairy tail.
title: onstage
summary: let's all be psychos
dedication: lol myself jk probably my friend's mom for bringing those amazing chocolate chip cookies i ate two of them then distanced myself from them so i wouldn't gulp the entire bag down, but i ended up eating one more because i won a rock paper scissors match with my friend and damn those were good cookies
notes: i needed to end it because i didn't want to write anymore also writing is a lot harder now that my muse is sleeping from nanowrimo exhaustion so cut me some slack if this chapter sucks honestly i don't ever go back and edit my chapters…..i write them in an hour to three hours and then post them as soon as im done. i finished 5 min ago
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There was an explosion first, and an outcry second. Then, the outcry turned into laughter as Laxus staggered onstage, steadying himself and wiping invisible sweat from his brow. Then, there was another explosion. This time, people began screaming. Black-garbed guards herded them from inside the ballroom to out as fast as they could, but the majority was still stuck inside when the third explosion went off.
Laxus, onstage, looked around hurriedly at who was around him. The only magic users were the Locksers, himself, and…that was it. Damn, he'd forgotten about the rest of the magic users all trapped underneath the floor. He needed them now more than ever.
"You have to open up the floor," he ordered Lord Lockser. He knew for a fact that the daughter was the only one truly gifted with her magic. They would be of more use freeing up the others. Against these hidden enemies, their power would be more useful than ever. No one ever fought against Mira and lived. That was part of what he respected about her - that strength and yet the modesty and kindness of her usual persona.
"What floor?" Lord Lockser asked, face confused. "What is going on, even?"
"The floor. The one that collapsed and trapped everyone underneath it." A powerful boom shook the floor, but there wasn't a white-plumed explosion cloud. Among the screaming and running and escaping, Laxus could clearly tell it was still coming from beneath his feet.
He walked offstage, leaving the Locksers to figure it out, then punched the floor with lightning. He grunted as he continued to force his power upon the floor and saw it begin to cave – and then felt his magic power being drained away by the floor. As his power left him, so did consciousness. His vision blurred then disappeared.
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"Shit," the blue-haired lord swore under his breath. He had no idea what was going on. With a sigh of relief, he saw a familiar red headed figure charge into the room.
"Just exactly what," she fumed. "Is going on here, Lord Lockser? Why is the Crown Prince unconscious on the floor? We could hear those booms all the way from the main castle."
"I don't know!" he cried. "I did not plan this."
Her eyes narrowed and she whipped around, but the people approaching her were not dangerous figures. Gajeel, Juvia, and three commoners she didn't know.
"Who are you?" she demanded of the commoners.
"I'm Gray, and this is my brother Lyon," he replied.
"And I'm Ultear," the woman with the long black hair introduced herself.
"Gray what," said Erza impatiently, tapping her foot against the floor.
"Fullbuster."
"If I may interrupt," Lord Lockser cut in. "Before Laxus went down, he did say that the rest of the magic users were trapped underneath the floor." By now, everyone else had filtered out of the ballroom aside from the people currently standing here.
At this, Erza summoned a sword from her vast treasuries of armor and weapons and struck the floor. But as soon as the blade hit the floor, she retracted it again. "This floor drains magic power." She hit it again, harder. "The more force you use, the faster it's drained. No wonder Laxus collapsed so quickly."
Looking around, Lord Lockser called for backup guards. "Take Crown Prince Laxus to a bed where he can rest." Unfortunately for the guards, branches twisted up their form and strangled them before they could even move.
Juvia gaped. "Wh-wha…" Gajeel stepped in front of her protectively, a move that did not go unnoticed by the Ice trio, who adopted their own fighting stances. Erza was already on guard, looking around for the perpetrator.
"Not so soon," a deep voice drawled from the doorway. All eyes and heads turned as a tall, broad man with thick dark hair strolled into the no longer festive ballroom almost casually, as if he wasn't looking for a battle at all. No one noticed as the three shoemakers froze upon hearing the voice and quickly slipped into a nearby hallway, out of sight.
"Azuma," pronounced Erza quietly. "One of the Seven Kin."
"Glad you know my name," he said, smiling, not with malice, but just with the grin of a warrior looking for a good, honorable fight. "I'm here to take Laxus, but seeing as you are probably less than willing to give him to me for free, how about I win it with a fight? Erza Scarlet…or rather, Knightwalker – care to battle?"
"How do you know who I am?" Erza snarled, backing away.
"You're holding a sword. Scarlet hair." Azuma shrugged, not giving away any information on a spy. Damn, she'd been careless, too worried about the Prince on the floor than concealing her identity. Then she could only assume that the dark figure that night had been one of Silver's. Erza decided not to tell him – if he didn't already know, that the floor drained enery; as she watched astounded, a branch twisted into the doorway and onto the floor, yet he didn't seem drained. Did he set this? If so, she was at a ridiculous disadvantage.
Quickly, she ex-quipped into her standard armor, not noticing the way the nobles' mouths gaped open in shock. Lord Lockser and the Lady realized there was nothing much they could do here except avoid the fight, and quickly retreated, taking Juvia with them. Juvia, however, struggled. She wanted to stay and watch – she wanted to help Erza and Gajeel, who was getting into a fighting stance. But one look from Erza silenced her.
"This is my fight," Erza told them. "Leave if you do not wish to be crushed under the debris." Gajeel and Juvia took their leave as well. Azuma was already twisting roots and branches across the ceiling and walls so that they'd hold for as long as their battle.
Erza quickly moved Laxus' body to where the shoemakers were hiding, in the hallway, and left him with them.
Then the fight began.
Several shoots of wood twisted everywhere, batting at the scarlet haired warrior and nearly destroying the elaborately decorated stage. Erza dodged them all with her armor of speed on, leaping nimbly and sonically fast from branch to fast, landing faster than he could track and departing quicker than he could retract the branches.
In surprise yet respect of her speed, Azuma increased the velocity at which the branches were flying, especially those above in order to force Erza to land on the floor. Every time she did so, she lost magic power, because she was literally cloaked in it as her armor. It worked. Erza lost her power, growing slower and slower.
She ex-quipped into the Purgatory Armor, that which was strongest and no one had ever lived to see twice. With a smirk, Azuma easily broke through the armor, knocking her backwards with a branch and many others after that, launching her across the room. And all the while, he'd never moved, but the ballroom was a forest what with the looping branches and trees sprouting everywhere. Finally, his vines and branch-ropes caught up to Erza and trapped her onto one lone branch.
Both out of power and out of ways out, she racked her brain for one last chance. And it came to her surprisingly fast and sudden, too. The floor. It wasn't covered with branches in order to sap her strength. All she had to do was…
Struggling through the branches that were holding her down, she ex-quipped into her flight armor and flew around the room, lightly tapping down on the floor in order to not lose that much magic power. Her plan worked like a dream. Although she was already exhausted, she found the strength in her welling up at the thought of the Skyrrgia winning and taking away her friends – or rather, family. Azuma, trying to hold her down, smash branches down beside her, following her speed but never surpassing it and never catching up to her.
The floor, unsupported by branches, collapsed under the weight and caved in, leading to one very rambunctious figure nearly shooting out of the rubble.
"I'm all fired up!" Natsu. Erza smirked in victory as she saw Mira, too. She knew Mira was invited but never saw her, and had only concluded she was in there with Natsu. Mira was one of the strongest people she knew.
"The floor drains magic power," Erza shouted down. "The enemy is the man with the black hair over there," she said, pointing to Azuma, alighting on a branch. The opponent realized he was outnumbered.
Fighting Mira's Satan Soul was not something that you lived through, and he could sense the power radiating off of her. "Damn," he muttered. "This was supposed to be a respectable, honorable, solo fight. Where's your honor?" he called up to Erza.
"My honor is with my friends," she replied, gesturing at them – Natsu with his flaming fists, Mira in her demon form, Fried with his hooded cloak on and quill ready, Lucy with her keys, and Evergreen who was lifting her glasses with a delicate finger.
"We'll see how many of your friends are actual friends," he sneered, then took a step backward as if he'd just realized that he had given away a piece of crucial information. Then he spun on his heel, walked out the door, and promptly disappeared. When Erza alighted on the floor, she realized that the properties of the magical draining floor had been destroyed when she tore a hole through it.
Laxus was beginning to come to inside the hallway, and immediately, the entire group went in to check on them.
"You got them out," he croaked weakly as he stared up at the people crowding around him.
"Yes," Erza said simply, then helped him up.
Gray stared at the crowd but could not find the two he was looking for. "Where're Gajeel and Juvia?" he asked quietly.
"And who are you?" Natsu replied rudely. "Oh, that's right. You're that shoemaker."
"Lyon and I are ice mages, and Ultear is a mage of many different sorts of magic," Gray explained, ignoring Natsu. Erza seemed shocked that commoners knew magic, but that sort of thing wasn't uncommon anymore after so many books on magic became available and those with innate power weren't only born in the court.
"Ice mages!" Natsu exclaimed in protest.
"Fire mage," Gray grumbled back, glaring at him. Ultear hit him on the head, and he shut up.
Gajeel and the Locksers ran back into the ballroom, stopping at the doorway when they realized that there were huge branches, vines, and leaves running everywhere.
"I think we should just demolish this whole thing and start over," said Lord Lockser ruefully. "I don't think there's a chance of saving it now."
Juvia, on the other hand, had eyes only for Gray. He wasn't looking at her, but it was taking a lot of his willpower. Fortunately for her, her sight found another distraction. Lucy was running towards her.
"Juvia!" she cried and enveloped her in a huge hug. "You didn't tell me you were engaged," she scolded. "And to Gajeel, no less."
Gajeel shrugged. "Nothing to go around saying," he rumbled.
It was the first time Gray had heard his rival speak. Although he did not have any feelings for Juvia, he still considered any contenders for Juvia's love as his rival. He wasn't used to sharing, nor did he particular like sharing. Then, he stared in confusion as Gajeel picked up a piece of iron furnishing that had been torn off the demolished stage, chewed it, then swallowed it.
He looked around and no one else looked bewildered. Lyon and Ultear hadn't even seen the event.
"Gajeel!" Juvia reprimanded. "Gajeel cannot just go around eating metal off the floor."
"Yeah, Metal-Head," Natsu jeered and then freaked out when Erza's glare landed on him. Gray didn't blame him. Erza was one scary lady.
"Why is he eating iron?" Gray muttered, loud enough so everyone could hear him.
Lucy, the blond haired woman with a huge chest turned around to face him. "Ancient Dragon Slaying magic," she replied. "Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy have it, along with a couple other dragonslayers from other countries."
Gray looked around for a would-be Wendy, but couldn't find one.
"She's sick," Lucy added. "And she is having trouble healing herself, so we told her to stay in bed."
Accepting the answer, he melted back into the shadow of the hallway and watched the bored group of people. Most, like himself, were leaning against the ruins and being bored, but others were talking to each other animatedly. Lady Lockser was sending a messenger to her architect to build a new ballroom, while the lord was hurriedly giving apologies to the general public on the flawed state of affairs. Laxus chatted to Mira, and Natsu was having a glare war with Lucy, who thought he should've been a little nicer.
So while the others talked, Gray kept his gaze on Juvia – and more importantly, Gajeel.
Gray didn't take well to the long haired brute of a man…but yet he couldn't do anything about it.
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