AN: It took me a lot longer to start writing this than I'd care to admit, mostly because I spent a while trying to convince myself to write a fight scene. I failed in this. And that's terrible. Every author has weaknesses. Mine are fight scenes. I do not like them. Aside from Harry Potter fight scenes, but those are just standing around and pointing sticks. Well, I'm doing my best. Without further ado (whatever the fuck that means), I present to you the continuation of chapter six: chapter seven! You know, that sounded cooler in my head…
Story the Seventh: Nicknames and Denial
The fight was over fairly quickly. This was more of a testament to Erik's abilities than anything else but it didn't stop the younger three Dragon Slayers from sulking about the difference in skill.
"That was boring," Sorano complained. "Nobody even died."
"A good fight. Oh yeah!" Richard proclaimed. "Those three held up well against Erik's abilities. Oh yeah! Impressive indeed. Oh–"
"Would you stop saying 'oh yeah'?" Sting snapped at him.
"No." Richard replied. "Oh yeah!" Sting groaned.
"I don't see why you're so upset," said Minerva innocently. "You two lose to me all the time. Sure, there was a third person this time, but why would you expect to win against someone stronger than myself?"
"That's a bit harsh, Minerva-sama," Yukino said, trying to hide a smile. "After all, they weren't able to beat Natsu-sama either, and he's not even as strong as you."
"Weak." Sawyer said flatly. "I'd kick your rears."
"'Rears'?" Sorano repeated incredulously. "Sawyer, you're making us look bad." The long-nosed man grimaced.
"Sorry," he replied. "Captain Planet must be getting to me."
"'Captain Planet'?" Rogue asked. "Is that your nickname for Jellal or something?" Richard sighed.
"The others all came up with their own nicknames for Jellal-san," he explained. "They claim to have done it to annoy him, but I think that being evil stunts your hormonal growth, and puberty is now catching up to them. Oh yeah!"
"That would explain a few things," Yukino said thoughtfully.
"What do you all call him?" Wendy asked curiously.
"I call him 'Jelly'," Sorano said cheerfully. "Erik calls him 'Bossman', Macbeth calls him 'Senpai', and Sawyer calls him 'Captain Planet'."
"Really?" Rogue said thoughtfully. "What about Merudy?" Erik snickered.
"She calls him 'Mom'." He said, grinning. Wendy choked on her giggles.
"Why don't you guys come up with names?" Macbeth suggested, probably still asleep. Sorano practically cackled.
"Oh god yes," she laughed.
"I'm going to call him 'Onii-chan'," Wendy decided.
"I'll call him 'Jell-o'," Yukino said loyally, glancing at her sister, who squealed and hugged her.
"I'm going to stick with Jellal," Rogue and Minerva said together.
"I'll call him…" Sting puffed up his chest as if he were about to make an important announcement. He held that position for a moment, and then deflated. "I can't think of anything," he mumbled in defeat. Sawyer smirked, and whispered something in the blond Dragon Slayer's ear. Sting turned red. "I can't say that!"
"Can't say what?" Merudy asked skipping up to them. It looked like her sugar high had mostly gone.
"They're coming up with nicknames for Jellal," Minerva told her.
"Milady and I have chosen to remain mature young adults," Rogue added.
"Bo~ring!" Merudy sang. "I say you call him 'Sock Puppet'."
"Where did that come from?" Wendy asked, genuinely curious.
"Her mouth," Erik told her. "That's not sarcastic, by the way – she literally didn't think about it at all." Sting twitched.
"Forget all that crap!" he yelled, turning to point at Erik. "I want a rematch!"
"Forget it, Natsu," Erik said flatly.
"I'm Sting!"
"Keep telling yourself that," Erik grinned. Wendy cleared her throat.
"Cobra-san, could I ask a favor?" she smiled up at him sweetly. Erik was reminded of Sorano whenever she was about to blackmail someone.
"What?" he asked cautiously.
"Can you train me?" she asked. "I'd like to become stronger before Fairy Tail gets back together."
"Do you really think they will?" Yukino asked hopefully.
"Of course they will, silly," Sorano cooed, embracing her sister. "Otherwise, you'd be sad. I'll duck tape them back together, if I have to." Yukino giggled.
"And why should I help you?" Erik asked, folding his arms and ignoring the Agria sisters.
"I'll tell Kinana-san if you don't," Wendy told him bluntly. There were more than a few shocked gasps.
"W-Wendy!" Merudy exclaimed. "When exactly did you turn out like that?"
"Clearly Fairy Tail has corrupted the poor girl," Rogue said, shaking his head.
"Maybe she was the dark and devious type all along," Minerva mused.
"Yeah, I thought it'd come to that," Erik grumbled. "Fine, brat, I'll train you. I hope you don't think I'll go easy on you."
"I'm sorry, what's going on?" Jellal asked, walking towards them.
"Oh, you're up?" Sawyer asked, looking surprised. "I thought you'd be taking the chance to get a nap." Jellal shrugged.
"I spent the last six years with Merudy," he replied. "I'm used to minimal amounts of sleep." Merudy pouted.
"Jellal!" Sting yelled, pointing at him. "Fight me!" Jellal blinked.
"Did Natsu dye his hair?" he wondered. Sting scowled.
"I'm Sting!" he protested.
"Oh, sorry," Jellal replied. "It's just nostalgia."
"Whatever. Fight me!" Sting rushed towards him.
"Absolutely not," he said, sidestepping Sting's attack and causing the Dragon Slayer to fall over. Sorano rolled her eyes.
"The Master of Saber Tooth, everyone," she murmured sarcastically.
"I believe that fighting Jellal – even with all three of you – would be quite foolish," Richard said, helping Sting up. "He did recruit the other four by defeating them, you know. Oh yeah!" Minerva, Yukino, Sting, Rogue, and Wendy stared at Jellal, who shifted uncomfortably. Carla and Frosch had apparently taken a page from Macbeth's book and gone to sleep. Lector was staring at Carla as if she were the only visible thing in the world, causing Merudy to absently wonder what the coat-wearing cat would look like painted blue.
"Well, yes," Jellal acknowledged. "But I–"
"We were trying to kill you," Sorano cut him off. "And no matter how much you protest, it doesn't change the fact that you crushed the four of us with minimal effort." Jellal opened his mouth to argue, but Erik beat him to the punch.
"Boss, your only injury was self-inflicted," he grumbled. "And it was healed within a day. Go drown in a pit of self-loathing somewhere else."
"Isn't that a little harsh?" Minerva wondered, watching Jellal give up and sit down. "I mean, he surely knows how powerful he is, right?" Macbeth snickered.
"He still doesn't believe that a Thought Projection being capable of magic is unheard of," he said. Rogue rolled his eyes.
"It is unheard of," the Dragon Slayer said. "Thought Projections are used to send messages, or, occasionally, have people think you're somewhere you aren't. A Thought Projection isn't used in combat because it takes up half the caster's magic."
"Jellal's infiltrated the Magic Council by pretending to be his older twin brother, became a Wizard Saint, and was in Sorcerer Weekly's 'Mages You'd Want to Be Your Boyfriend' list." Merudy told them. There was an awkward silence.
"That… that's a joke, right?" Sting asked weakly. Richard chortled (he was the only person that any of them had met who chortled).
"Not at all. Oh yeah! Jellal's power is truly incredible! Oh yeah!"
"On second thought, I'll pass on fighting you," Sting decided. "N-not because I'm scared or anything! I just, y'know, feel bad for you. Hey, we've been gone from the guild for a while. Let's head back."
"Subtle," Rogue told him, picking up the still sleeping Frosch.
"Can it," Sting growled at his friend. Rogue just snickered. Yukino gave her sister one last hug, Sting and Rogue gave said sister one last cautious glance, and Minerva absently picked up Lector, who was still staring at Carla.
"I'm going to stay to train with Cobra-san for a while," Wendy said, after the Saber Tooth members had vanished from sight. "Is that alright?" Jellal nodded.
"Sure, but don't push yourself too much," he replied. She nodded.
"Thanks, onii-chan!" she chirped. Jellal gave an absentminded nod.
Then her words registered, and he fell off his rock.
AN: It just occurred to me that, of the three main characters outside of Crime Sorcière, only one has shown up so far. We've had Minerva, Sting, Rogue, Yukino, Wendy, Carla, Lector, and Frosch guest starring, but Kinana and Erza have yet to show up outside of being mentioned. By the way, if she appears again, should Wendy keep calling Jellal "onii-chan", or should she just call him Jellal? Well, whatever. I've already teased Kinabra and Jerza (mostly in the author's notes, but…), and I've played with RoYu and Stinerva, so I'll need to tease something else… Well, next time, our wacky group of wackos drops Wendy off at Lamia Scale (probably; even I don't know what I'm gonna write), so maybe I'll throw some Chendy in… what do you guys think? Just don't ask me to write StingYu or RoWen or Dorendy or GrayLu (I don't actually dislike GrayLu, but it's hard to find it done well, and they've got a great friendship in canon) or NaZa or GrayZa or– well, you get the point. Thanks for reading!