Disclaimer: I don't own Middle School or Fairy Tail, but I do own this fan fiction.
Previously:
Gray tapped on a sleeping form, which was cuddling with a cat. She turned and groaned.
"What?" Meredy asked.
"Up for a drive?" Gray whispered.
Meredy's eyes shot open. She smiled wickedly. "With Carl's car?" She asked. Gray nodded, smiling evilly as well.
"Good. Because I know just how to get the keys." She said, patting on Happy's fur, her evil grin intact.
Chapter Ten
Grak-Tung!
"Are you sure about this?" Gray whispered to Meredy.
They were currently in the drawing room, crouching behind the counter where Ultear usually flipped her pancakes, and made their daily dose of orange-mulberry-cookie-gooseberry milkshake in the mixer. Carl was watching Game of Thrones Season 4 for the fourth time on television, while reclining on the couch, and said 'Tch!' every now and then when something he wished wouldn't happen happened. In his hand, was a plate of instant steak cooked by Ultear (Carl had told her, quite rudely, that he preferred meat for dinners, and didn't like experimental food like deconstructed custard, or salad stew.) On a far corner of the counter, lay Carl's car keys, within Carl's eyesight.
Meredy nodded slowly, and set Happy down. "Go boy, go. Do your thing." She whispered. Turning behind as if to nod to his current master who had the same hair color as his previous one, Happy marched towards Carl like a cat on a mission. Carl noticed Happy's presence as soon as the cat brushed his tail against Carl's toe. Carl smirked.
"Tch! I told that brat to keep her damned cat out of my sight! What's the matter with you, boy? Want a piece of this?" He sneered, waving the piece of steak on the fork in front of Happy. Happy looked like he really did.
"Well, too bad. 'Cause it's going in my mouth! Har har har!" Carl roared, and popped the steak in his mouth. In that moment, Carl failed to realize that he f***ed up.
Happy lunged at Carl, knocking the plate out of his hands and attacking the Bear with his claws. Carl cried out in pain.
"You stupid cat!" Carl yelled.
At that moment, when Carl was kept busy by Happy, Meredy nicked the keys from the counter, and both her and Gray sneaked back upstairs.
When they reached upstairs, they bumped into Juvia. She smiled at Meredy.
"You must be Gray's sister. Hi, I'm Juvia." Juvia said.
Meredy looked up and down, scrutinizing Juvia. "I like your hair." She blurted. Juvia grinned, and tucked a strand of her wavy hair behind.
"I like yours too." She replied. Turning to Gray, she spoke: "I contacted them. They'll be there at the school campus."
"Great. Let's get going." Gray said.
X.X
"I thought you told me she could drive!" Juvia screamed, as Meredy sent two cats yelping and five dustbins flying in the air. She then turned the car towards the side, scraping its shiny red paint. Juvia yelped, and Gray winced as the deafening noise sounded like a chalk on a blackboard.
"Oh, I know how to drive! I just thought that Bear's car could do with a bit of warming up!" Meredy hollered while a smug smile was plastered on her face.
Gray and Juvia looked at each other, fear etched on their faces.
Thankfully, they survived the trip. In a few minutes, they reached the grounds of Magnolia Middle School.
After Meredy parked Carl's car which now held scars of an intense battle with a couple of dustbins and a brick wall, the three youngsters ran to the place where the Principal's prized '1' bush was situated. Gray's entire class, as well as some of Juvia's more sympathetic classmates which were Levy and Mirajane was also there. Gray noticed a girl with long blonde hair also present.
"Lucy! How come are you here?" Gray asked in surprise.
"You know her?" Juvia asked curiously. Her eyes also held an unfamiliar glint within them which Gray was a little shocked to see.
"Ah…yes, he does Juvia! You see, I was his brother's girlfriend!" Lucy said cheerfully, immediately clearing up any misunderstandings.
"Oh." Was all that got out of Juvia's mouth.
"Well, I asked if her she wanted to come along…" Levy started saying.
"And I came along! I wanted to be part of something I never had the guts to do! And I'm so glad that it's for a good cause." Lucy said earnestly.
Gray smiled at that statement. Juvia tapped him on his shoulder.
"Apparently, we are not the only ones harassed by Keyes." She said with a smirk. She looked behind her, and signed towards Taurus who was leaning on the '1' bush, his expression set.
"We have our school's janitor helping us out, too. Also…" Juvia whispered something into Gray's ear, which made him grin brightly.
"That's amazing! That's just what we need to give Keyes a dose off! Good that you contacted him, Juvia!" He exclaimed.
"Incipere bellum!" Taurus yelled.
"Did you just have a seizure or something?" Meredy asked, with sincere concern.
Taurus frowned. "It is Latin! It means 'begin the war'!" He explained.
The others nodded as if they understood what he said, but were just being cautious of not getting on the bad side of the janitor.
Just then, a white haired guy who had tried to make every day of Gray in the school miserable, stepped ahead.
"Wait, you're the one behind the so-called Rules Aren't For Everyone?" He asked, quite loudly. The rest of his class turned to look at Gray, and waited his answer. After a moment of hesitation, Gray finally spoke.
"Yes. It was me." Gray admitted.
"Okay Fullbuster, what's the plan?" Lyon asked. Gray stared.
"Did you just say my name right?"
X.X
The rest of the night was spent in the preparation of the destruction B.L.A.A.R.
After the meeting session, the group of about roughly fifteen teenagers excluding Taurus was engaged in different activities which involved using their intellectual and physical strength. Taurus, at the moment was doing something which he longed to do for quite some time.
Looking at the '1' bush towering over him, he used to give a sigh of resigned dignity. Not anymore. Not Today.
(A/N: I just had to. I'm one of the biggest BTS trash on the universe.)
Taking the shredder in his hand, he chopped the bush that Keyes had so lovingly groomed and maintained, into an ugly, green stump.
Lyon dragged the benches of various classes outside in the school lawn. Gajeel and two other remedial boys from his class helped him arrange those benches in two neat rows.
Meanwhile, inside the school building, Cana took pictures of the B.L.A.A.R. test papers and mailed them to Juvia. Juvia, who was in Keyes' office, which Lucy had helped her to get in (by picking the lock) was shredding the pile of test papers into neat little strips of white confetti.
"Oh, Cana has mailed the test paper to me!" Juvia exclaimed. Turning to face Meredy who was watching them, she asked her to go to Gray.
"Tell him that we can start the next phase of R.A.F.E." She said. Meredy nodded, and rushed out to find Gray.
Gray was at the moment picking a lock of a cupboard which had a huge parrot onesie/costume which Keyes had confiscated. Pulling out the costume, he turned behind to find Meredy.
"Juvia's sent me to tell you that the next phase is about to begin." Meredy said.
"Oh, that's great! Here," Gray said handing the parrot costume to her, "Give this to Lyon. He's outside with Gajeel. Tell Gajeel to come to Keyes office right now. We could use his help." Gray said. Meredy gave him a thumbs-up, and ran off outside to deliver the messages and costume to Lyon and Gajeel. Lyon grinned at her, and slung the onesie on his shoulder. Gajeel headed off to Keyes' office after giving Meredy a nod in recognition of the message.
Levy, Lucy and Juvia were already there. Gray and Gajeel arrived at the same time. Juvia opened her laptop, and started typing out the new questions prepared by the five of them as per the paper pattern designed by Keyes.
After she was done, she mailed them to Mirajane who was near the school printer. She started printing out copies of those papers.
Cana was outside, taking pictures of all these events. She then heard a shout from the rooftop of the school. When she looked up and saw that it was Lyon, she started laughing.
"STOP THAT AT ONCE! DON'T YOU HAVE THE B.L.A.A.R POSTER?" Lyon yelled.
Cana nodded, and rushed upstairs to give it to him.
In another hour, the teenagers were done with their preparations. Now all they had to was wait. Mira glanced at the time on her watch. It was 6:00 am.
X.X
It was 6:00 am. With no Ice-Devil Slayer or Celestial Beauty to shut his alarm, Gray's alarm rang obnoxiously so that its sounds could be heard in the entire house of the Fullbusters.
Soon, the time passed, and now Gray's alarm clock showed 6:45.
Ultear came on his door, and knocked on it.
"Gray! Please open the door. It won't be so bad. It's just a visit to the military school."
Despite her continued attempts, there was no answer. She continued to keep knocking on the closed door. Soon, Carl came upstairs.
"What's the matter, sweetie?" He asked with fake concern.
"It's Gray…he's just not opening the door." Ultear said, sounding tired.
"Hm…why don't you get breakfast ready? I'll get the boy outside." Carl said.
"Really? Thank you so much, Carl!" Ultear said with a tired smile. She went downstairs to prepare breakfast. Checking that she wasn't anywhere closer, Carl then rapped smartly on the door.
"Hey boy! Open up!" He said sharply. When Gray didn't respond, Carl knocked even more ferociously on the door.
"Hey! Open UP!" No answer.
"If you don't open this instant, I will break this door open, I swear!" Still no answer.
Carl started pushing his enormous weight against the door, trying to 'break' the door open, but ended up hurting his own plump shoulder.
"Ah! Oh, it's not locked." He said, turning the knob of the door, and opened the door. Emptiness greeted him.
"UGH! ULTEAR, GRAY IS NOT IN HIS ROOM!" Carl yelled.
X.X
(A/N: I'm listening to ft right now, for some unknown reason.)
Ultear got out of the house, and slipped on a tartan jacket. She was just about to take out her car keys, when Carl also came out of the house trying to fit in a black jacket. When he took one look at the empty space where his prized red car used to be, he let out a cry of shock.
"My baby? Where is she?" He cried.
Ultear gushed, thinking that he was thinking of Meredy, who also wasn't in her bed.
"Oh, don't worry; she might have gone to sleep over at a friend's place or something. She didn't have school today." Ultear consoled a grieving Carl.
Carl glared at her. "Not that pink-haired brat! My beautiful car!" He spat.
Ultear's eyes grew wide, and she stared at him with disbelief. She pushed Carl away from her, and glared at him so intensely that he shrank a bit.
"How dare you! You know, I must be stupid to think a guy like you could make our lives better! Gray and Meredy were always right! I should've listened to them! Now, please get out of my way! I have to look for my siblings!" Ultear hissed, and got into her car and sped towards Gray's school.
It was 7:00 then. The B.L.A.A.R had begun.
X.X
It was 7:00. Keyes stepped out of the school building to find all the students of the school sitting outside on the benches. The papers had been distributed to them.
"Why are they sitting outside?" Keyes wondered aloud. Strucker gave him a shrug.
Keyes turned to face them. "Well, there's no time to waste. You may begin, now!" He announced to the students.
There was sound of flipping the question booklets being opened. Within a minute of the beginning of the test, a boy from the second row started reciting aloud with a disbelieved expression.
"'True or False: An entire batch of students was suspended in order to rig this test.'" He looked up, and still wore the same expression.
"Now, now you aren't supposed to say the questions aloud. Let me see that question paper, now!" Keyes said, sounding tensed. He grabbed it from the boy and scanned it. His beady eyes grew wide. He cleared his throat.
"Now, how many of you have the first question printed as: 'True or False: Principal Keyes has three nipples.'?" He asked.
All the students raised their hands, and there was quite a lot of giggling.
"Well, put it as False! I have no nipples!" He said, resulting in echoes of laughter. "And it looks beautiful!"
"What is wrong with the paper? Why do they have such…questions printed?" He asked Strucker urgently. But before she had time to answer the question, a ravenette sitting amongst the students stood up on the desk.
"Funny how weak your security is, Keyes. They couldn't even check that an expelled student got in." Gray said with a smirk. Keyes' eyes grew so wide, that it looked as though they would pop out of their sockets.
"You!" He hissed.
"Yes, me. Everyone," Gray said, turning towards the students and the teachers present. "Principal Keyes has indeed rigged the B.L.A.A.R. by suspending the batch of remedials, by putting the blame on them of being behind Project R.A.F.E, even when the mastermind admitted to having admitting to the crime. And we have proof, in this tape," He said, holding up the tape that Juvia had shown him "that Principal Keyes sets rules on others, but never bothers to follow them himself."
By that time, Keyes had started to march towards Gray, his hand outstretched to grab the VHS tape from his hands, when Gajeel who was hiding among the students as well, stuck his foot out, causing Keyes to fall flat on his bony face.
Strucker started striding towards Gray as well, who hopped off the bench and ran away from where the two rows where situated, but she also fell victim to Levy's foot (who was one of students giving the B.L.A.A.R) and fell flat on her dumpy face.
Taurus sped in front of Gray in his tractor. "Get in!" He cried, and Gray jumped in without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Keyes got up and grabbing an innocent third-year's bicycle and starting to ride behind Taurus' tractor.
Gray looked behind and saw Keyes behind them.
"Taurus! He's gaining on us!" Gray moaned in despair. An ugly stench filled his nostrils. "Ugh…what is horrid thing you have in your dickey?"
"Manure, for the school gardens!" Taurus yelled.
And right before Gray's eyes, they seemed to be entering into the world he had created: He was Ice Devil Slayer and Taurus resembled like a cow more than a man with a huge axe behind his back, while he was driving like a madman. Keyes had assumed the form of Zombie Keyes, and he resembled more like a skeleton than ever. The surroundings were no longer that of their school campus, but that of a
Soon, he was right beside Taurus' tractor, and his empty socket-like eyes (actually beady) were glinting maliciously.
"How are you so fast?" Gray shouted.
"I was the champion of under-20 state bicycling event! And I cycle at least 15 laps everyday!" Keyes shouted back.
"Slow him down, Gray!" Taurus yelled.
Gray took out the diary Natsu had gifted him which was filled with his new creations. He removed an ice hammer from it and threw at Zombie Keyes.
It managed to push Keyes behind them, but did not throw him off his bike, and he was still behind them in top speed.
Gray threw an ice snake, an ice bathtub, a dustbin, a couple of warts, but Keyes managed to dodge all of them. Cackling devilishly, he gained on the two of them.
"We have to do something, Gray!" Taurus said urgently.
"Stop the tractor! We're there!" Gray shouted.
And when they did, they also stepped out of Gray's world. Gray whispered something in Taurus' ear, and he nodded. Soon, Keyes stopped behind them, and then Taurus clicked on a button, and the dickey full of manure turned over and fell on Keyes.
He looked at the janitor and the mastermind in shock. Pushing the bicycle away, he marched in front of Gray, who jumped out of his seat and ran forward. Just then, a black car drew up in front of them, and out stepped Jellal and behind him was none other than Superintendent Erza Scarlet. She was a tall, beautiful red-haired woman with an imposing personality. Privately, Gray thought that she resembled a lot like his character Titania.
"Ma'am, you've got to see this tape. It has important evidence that Principal Keyes has rigged the B.L.A.A.R te –" Gray began, but Keyes cut him off.
"Don't listen to this boy. He's out of hand, and his head is filled with nothing but devious schemes to ruin this school's spotless reputation." Keyes spat.
"In my opinion Keyes," Jellal spoke, dropping the formalities "Gray is a very gifted boy who knows how to use his wits. He's also exceptionally intelligent –"
"Intelligent? Don't make me laugh." Keyes scoffed, dusting a bit of manure from his shoulder. "Have you seen his test scores? And his results from his previous schools were pathetic as well."
"Why do you have to judge someone's intelligence on their grades? If we keep stuffing standard tests on our students, they will be the type who mug up answers and know nothing of how to apply the things they have learnt in school in life, ever! If we keep going this way, all we will have in the future are robotic people who know nothing of application of learning!" Jellal argued.
Erza Scarlet was quite for sometime, but her lips pursed up at the end of Jellal's argument, and she had a deep frown etched on her face.
"Mr. Fernandez had lodged a formal complaint of being fired from his job under extreme unfair measures. And seeing how the run-up of the school is under your hands, I have to take some action…" She began, but Keyes screeched loudly.
"You have no power to do that! I am the Principal of this school!"
"I have all the power to do so. And seeing how hard you are trying from preventing the boy from seeing the tape, means that you have done something wrong. Adding up the unfair firing of Mr. Fernandez, you have two serious charges against you." Erza said in a firm voice. Turning to Gray, she spoke with a smile.
"Now let's see that tape." She said. Gray grinned and handed it over to Erza.
X.X.
"You can't fire me like this. I shall appeal to the court." Keyes argued.
They were in Keyes' office, and he and Strucker were putting their stuff into a big cardboard box, while Jellal and Erza looked on.
"Rigging school tests is against the law, so whatever you say to the court, we'll be ready." Erza said placidly.
Keyes huffed impatiently, and took his coat from the coat hanger. After wearing it, he slipped on his hat but then felt something cold trickling down his face. When he took his hat off and stared into the mirror, he looked at himself with a suppressed scowl.
"Green, this time." He muttered, looking at his newly dyed hair. Shrugging, he left the office with Strucker.
X.X.
Meanwhile, Ultear had driven up to the school and had found Meredy who was sitting on Carl's damaged car.
"Oh, sweetie! How are you?" She said, enveloping the girl in her arms.
"I'm fine, sis. Just had the time of my life. Oh, here comes Gray." She said.
Gray jogged in the direction to his sisters. "Hey Ultear." He said with a smile.
"And what have you been doing?" Ultear said in a mock-stern voice.
"Oh, nothing much. Just going against the rules, but for good this time. Apparently Keyes was rigging tests and we caught him in the act, and handed the evidence to the Superintendent, but not before shocking him with breaking a ton of rules overnight." Gray said nonchalantly.
"Always the dramatic ending." Ultear said, but had a broad grin on her face.
Just then, a taxi drove up to where they were, and Carl's hairy face stared out of the window.
He got out of the vehicle, and looked at his prized car in shock. He howled like an injured animal.
"You…how dare you! How could you ruin my precious car? You'll pay for this!" He roared.
Ultear took out the ring on her left ring finger and threw at Carl.
"Here, pay for the collateral damage with this. And keep the change." She said sarcastically.
"What?" He looked up, disbelieving.
"And get your stuff out of my house, quickly if you can."
"You!" He looked as though he beat up someone. Ultear held Gray and Meredy close to her, but stood straight and glared right back at him.
"You know, I feel sorry for you guys." Carl said, earning confused looks from the three siblings. "You sorry guys can't handle all of this," He pointed at himself "All of this concentrated awesomeness." He now got eye-rolls from all three of them.
"You people are just so jealous." Carl said, scoffing. He tried to get in his car. Meredy tossed the keys to him. Giving her a withering look, Bear got in his car, and sped off.
Just then, Gajeel came running to Gray. "Hey man! Party, in celebration of the finale of R.A.F.E.! You ladies can join in too!" He said.
Nodding at him, the siblings followed him inside the school building.
X.X.
Gray looked up at the starry night. It was quarter to nine then. He looked behind to find Natsu behind him.
"Hey man! Didn't think that you would be there today!" Gray exclaimed.
"And miss the grand finale of Project Rules Aren't For Everyone? I couldn't miss it for the world!" Natsu said. "Also, congratulations on the success of the R.A.F.E!"
"Are you kidding me? You were the one who was behind it!" Gray said.
"I may be the one who suggested it. Don't give me that look dumbass, we both know that you were the one behind it." Natsu said.
Suddenly, a space ship appeared in the sky. It was one of Gray's creations called Cristina of Blue Pegasus, which many of characters from the Fairy Tail world had been on for adventures.
"You called the Cristina for me?" Gray said, his eyes growing wide.
"Nah…that's actually my cue to leave. I gotta go now, bro." Natsu said, looking up at the ship.
"But you're my best friend! None of this would have happened if you didn't help me!" Gray insisted.
"No Gray, you stupid ice block, it was all you! Your creativity and you! I just…gave you the push you needed. Look around you, you will find someone who will be a good friend to you. After all, they did help you in Project RAFE." Natsu said softly.
"But nobody could be a great friend like you." Gray argued.
"Glad to hear that from you. See ya…" Natsu said with a knowing smile.
Natsu and Gray bumped fists for the last time, and then Natsu stepped under the beam light on Cristina. As he slowly became one with the light, he turned to look at Gray.
"Hey Gray, Grak-tung!" He said, and soon, he merged with the light, and the ship started flying away.
"Grak-tung." Gray whispered, and bumped his fist into the air.
Just then, Juvia who was watching Gray silently uptil now from a distance approached him.
"I've heard you say that in the tape. What does it mean?" She asked.
"Oh…that was something that my bro and I would say when we achieved something. It means 'Victory is ours'." He explained.
"Well, I'd hate to break it to you, but victory isn't 'ours', yet." She said, with a bit of a smirk.
"What?"
"You didn't break every rule in the code of conduct. There's still one left." She said slyly. He looked at her with a knowing smile, as the truth dawned upon him.
"Rule no. 86." They said together.
Gray looked at Juvia, and without a moment's hesitation bent down and kissed her. She closed her blue orbs shut and kissed him back under the starry night.
The space ship hadn't really gone that far away. A pink-haired dragon slayer stared at the couple and grinned. He took out Gray's old diary (RIP) and crossed out the only rule which wasn't crossed out.
Rule no 86: No kissing on the school campus.
"Way to go, bro." Natsu said with a grin. Turning behind to face the crowd behind him which consisted of characters that Gray had created.
"Grak-tung!" He shouted. The crowd whooped and started dancing in celebration. Somewhere on deck, Bear and Zombie Keyes were in a cage, looking thoroughly miserable.
Gray and Juvia broke apart, and he looked up at the sky one last time.
"Your brother would have wanted you to move on." Juvia said.
"That's true…but I'll never forget him. He was the one who actually pulled me out of my misery." Gray said.
Juvia nodded in understanding, and smiled at the sky. Though she couldn't see what Gray could, she knew that Natsu thought the same as well.
They weren't perfect students. Some thought that they were juveniles. Few understood them, and knew that their hearts were in the right place. Sometimes, rules really aren't for everyone.
And that's a wrap! Thank you for follows, favs and reviews! Also thank you for the support on Tumblr as well as Wattpad! Also, check out my profile on Wattpad, which also under the name TitaniaTia! Some originals there, and also some more fanfictions!
Love you guys!
Grak-tung!
~Tia